The clanging sound of the tuba seemed to echo longer than necessary, almost in tandem with Selena's heart. All eyes were on the sprawled Claire, who remained unmoving for almost a minute. It did, however, give Selena enough time for her breathing to slow down and to realize what she had done.
...The tuba has an indentation on its bell. Fucking hell.
I didn't kill her, did I?
Just as Selena was thinking whether she should grab something, maybe the flute, to poke the motionless girl, Claire's fingers suddenly twitched. The subtle action was noticed by everyone, and practically all heads made a collective leaning action with bated breath.
Claire moved slowly, pushing herself up to a standing position. Like a creepy marionette doll with their strings tangled, Claire then turned to Selena, her eyes wide, head tilted on one side, and face blank as a thin red streak dripped on the left side of her face. Her ponytail was also askew, which added to her deranged look.
"I think she's pissed," one of the spectators behind her helpfully murmured. Yeah, no shit, Sherlock!
Claire swayed a bit as she fully faced Selena, blood dripping from her face and staining her clothes. "I..." she breathed, her tone colder than her blank face. "... am going to kill you."
Her transformation was different from the one she witnessed at the Shifting Ceremony. And when she said different, she meant scarier. Her eyes quickly changed their color to gold, and tufts of fur quickly covered her face in seconds, followed by her mouth elongating into a snout dripping with saliva and sharp teeth longer than her thumb. Her body folded in half, the sounds of snapping bones almost like a firecracker as hands turned to paws, and fingers turned to claws. Really sharp-looking claws.
Claire's werewolf form was bigger than Selena ever thought. The fur a light grey color with some really light brown gradient effect near the tail area. It looked soft and fluffy, like some cute extra-large stuffed toy Selena would like to hug in bed, if not for the low growling and the angry gold eyes directed her way.
… Selena's soo dead, wasn't she.
With one roar, Claire quickly pounced, Selena barely managing to dive to the side. Her palms stung after she skidded on the floor, but she barely got a breath in before she rolled on her side, just in time before sharp claws poked her eye. She scrambled backwards, feet kicking frantically to put as much space from the giant growling wolf as possible. It's big, it's too big, probably reaching Selena's chest if she stood in full height— HOW WAS IT LEGAL FOR WOLVES TO BE THIS BIG?!
Her back bumped into something solid just as Claire pounced on her again. Selena barely managed to grab the tuba behind her and swung it at the giant wolf, hitting the snout. The action made another ringing sound and added another dent to the tuba's bell.
The audience was roaring and stomping wildly now, getting even more hyped after her last swing of the damn instrument, the air almost shaking with the volume. Selena couldn't even hear who it was they were cheering for now. Are these people insane, or what?!
Claire was quicker to recover that last time, even as blood trickled from her snout. It seemed like Selena knocked a tooth out. And apparently made Claire even more furious.
Selena raised the brass instrument as a shield as a giant paw came swinging at her. She underestimated the strength of the action, however, and she ended up tumbling out of the platform and landing on the ground, hitting her head in the process. Her vision swam as her temple throbbed like some ticking bomb, making her want to puke up her last meal.
A stabbing pain in her left shoulder made her cry out, feeling something trying to pull her muscles from her tendons while she was pinned from the back with something heavy, making movement difficult. She tried to turn her head, managing to see the sadistic gleam in Claire's wolfen eyes. She bit harder, making Selena cry as more pain erupted from her shoulder, and the cheers continued to grow louder. She could feel the back of her shirt getting damp and sticky, and her vision was getting hazy around the edges.
She needs to do something. Fast.
Grabbing a fistful of soil, Selena groaned in pain as she pushed to turn her body as much as possible and threw the soil in Claire's face. The sands caught her eyes, making her yowl in pain and surprise. Selena took the chance to tighten her hold with the tuba—which she somehow didn't lose yet, small miracles—with both hands and swung it to Claire's body, effectively pushing the werewolf off her.
Fuck this shit. I'm out!
As Claire was busy swiping the sands off her eyes, Selena pushed herself up with her shaky legs and started running. The crowd had about a second of silent confusion before they started hollering for her to come back, along with some creative insults about her and her honor, but Selena paid them no heed. To hell with all this honor bullshit, why the heck did she even consider subjecting herself to this was an acceptable decision?! Over some guy, no less, like some cliche high school angsty romance written by a lonely fifteen-year-old teenager! Claire could go off marry Chase or whatever, she's not losing her fucking head over this!
She heard the sound of crashing, making her look behind her and— OH HOLY SHIT, CLAIRE WAS ACTUALLY CHASING AFTER HER!
"Would you stop chasing me?!" Selena cried as she almost slid across the ground while trying to make a left turn. Why wouldn't the woman leave her alone?! They're already out of the venue, so shouldn't Selena be disqualified already?! Why didn't anyone give her a fucking rulebook for this?!
They soon reached the residential area, Selena taking every turn she could see in hopes of losing the feral werewolf hot on her heels. She tried toppling and throwing things as she passed, but the giant wolf was easily barging through them without pause.
The totalization of all bad decisions was summed up for her when Selena, idiotically and without thinking, dove through the first open door she saw. And after watching and rewatching every Tom and Jerry episode available since she was a toddler, she really should have known that running inside a building, which is an equivalent of a limited space, would most likely cut all remaining chances of escape for her. This was promptly proved when the door was all but smashed off its hinges as a pissed werewolf entered said building. Selena cursed and started running through the surprisingly opulent-looking corridor, the straight pathway offering no possible refuge. She reigned in the urge to push the dark-stained wooden stands that displayed some expensive-looking vases. She really didn't want to rack up debts on top of everything else.
Claire, however, had no such hesitance as she all but crashed against the wall and toppled more than a handful of ceramics and furniture. The crash also sounded too close for comfort, so Selena couldn't help but cry in frustration and fear.
What the heck did she ever do in her life to deserve to die twice in such painful manners? She was a dutiful daughter! She did what she could for her community. And while few, she had good friends and made no enemies. She's also an excellent student! She should have been in heaven! Not running around being chased by angry werewolves while having excessive blood loss!
All her mental cursing and crying made her miss the opening of a stair that goes down to the lower floor. Running straight into it, Selena had no time to even brace herself as she slid down the stairs, her head suffering another round of banging as she rolled to the ground floor. At this rate, she won't be surprised if her skull’s already cracked open.
Selena turned with a pained groan, crawling forward until she could feel something solid she could use to pull herself up. She seemed to have ended up in some sort of kitchen. Two sides of the wall were installed with cabinets, the surface littered with boxes of fruits and vegetables, and an absurd number of large bottles of what looked like spices. There was a long wooden table at the center of the room, its surface littered with chopped green leafies and potato peels.
She shuffled around the dim room as fast as she could, looking for something, anything, she could use.
The sound of a beast growling made something cold travel down Selena's spine. On top of the stairs, blocking the only exit , the werewolf eyed Selena, moving slowly as if stalking a tasty prey. The claws make a clicking sound at every step, almost like the heel of a shoe, and the sound terrified Selena more than she would like to admit.
There was a second of shift, a delay, as Claire positioned herself to pounce on Selena. Selena managed to roll out of the way in time, but the action had sent many of the items on top of the cabinets rolling down the floor, some of the bottles breaking into sharp pieces that nicked Selena's arm.
And, as if the universe is not done with her yet, one of the large bottles of spice fell right on Selena's nose, adding to her know throbbing head. Seconds later, she felt something wet dripping down her nose, staining her clothes with more red.
Fucking great .
On top of that, the spice smell was so gaggingly strong that a childhood memory unbiddenly jumped to the forefront of her mind.
It was from when she was still young, probably around ten or so, when her mother had a peculiar phase of trying to cook as many exotic foods as she could find. Most of them were absolute failures.
She used to put her own serving on the floor where the family dog would often sleep during mealtimes, offering her mother some reassurance of her cooking skills and saving Selena the pain of an upset stomach. One day, however, her mother accidentally dumped an entire bottle of spice on the pot, unnoticed, and their dog ended up acting weird shortly after dinner, so they quickly drove to the nearest vet.
The memory remained clear for Selena even years later.
She watched as Claire shook her head and started stalking towards Selena's, all sharp teeth visible, eyes glowing and almost mocking. Every available path was now blocked.
Selena gulped as she gripped the bottle. She didn't have much time.
She pulled the cover of the bottle in one pull. The action spurred the werewolf to move forward, mouth open for a bite. With a cry, Selena hurled the powdered aniseed in Claire's face.