13 (Thirteen)

She stood in front of the mirror; her father’s diary had fallen from her hands and lay open at her feet. Father had left it to her with a note, she shouldn't open it until the first full moon of May the year she turned 13. That, was tonight, she had read it at first surprised, then in horror and finally in disgust. But now she understood many things, things that had always been a mystery to her. She could feel the glow of the moon shining on her back and decided to strip off her clothes so as not to get them ruined. Standing in front of the mirror she decided she'd try to hold on to her true self, the one she could see now, but was this really it?

She felt her skin go taut and dry, almost powdery, yet milky white. She could feel as if she was made of dust and it was slowly being blown by the wind. She couldn't see any real changes yet, except for the paleness and the feeling of dustiness. She wanted to lift her hand and run it down her body, but she decided against it, staying still seemed much better.

Her mother had left too, she was now living with Muriel, her mom's best friend and she was sleeping upstairs. Kayla knew Muriel wouldn't understand, after all, she was normal. But she knew she'd have to leave after tonight, so she didn't need to leave a note for her.

She saw her nails fall off her hands, it wasn't painful, but it didn't seem strange and disgusting. She saw her toenails fall off too and frowned, but then her toes began slowly contorting, stretching and twisting like little balls as her feet contracted. Her knees bent and she dropped to the floor. She could feel hair, no fur, springing out from every pore on her body, she felt a need to lick her lips but her tongue felt strange. She had her eyes shut tight now, but she wanted to open them, to see what was going on with her.

Slowly and fearfully she opened her eyes, everything looked odd, more detailed, as if she were looking through a close-up lens but without enlargement of things. She could also hear things. First she looked down at her hands, but they were now paws, and they were on the floor. She seemed to be in a crouching position and could also see her hind legs. They were covered in snow-white fur. She finally breathed deeply and collected enough courage to look at her-self in the mirror.

She could still remember her other self, the human one, but now, she was a feline, she was a beautiful white panther. The animal she saw in the mirror was mesmerizing, with enormous yellow eyes that didn't blink much, and golden whiskers. She could also see her tail moving gently behind her to her side, she felt restless, as if the room had grown smaller around her. The window was open and she could hear a rustle of leaves in the distance, she turned towards it and caught a scent, rabbit. She could smell Muriel's cat too, but she'd never harm Libby or any other feline, after all, they could be relatives.

In one swift move, she collected her pile of clothes in her mouth and jumped out of the window and into the forest behind the house. Rabbit would be a good dinner, but another scent perked up her senses, a much stronger scent, of another predator. She sniffed the air cautiously; there were two other predators, with similar scents. She looked intently and was able to discern two shapes among the thickness of the trees. She felt the scent was familiar, the shapes to be trusted.

Slowly, Kayla walked towards the black and the white panther. They welcomed her, after all, they'd been waiting thirteen years to be reunited with their child.