Chapter 3 The Change Begins

I couldn't eat breakfast the next morning.

Dr. Chen's warning played in my head. “Check your food.” But check it for what?

Donovan noticed immediately. "You're not hungry?"

“Yes, I feel a little sick."

His eyes narrowed. "You need to eat. To keep your strength up."

The way he said it made my skin crawl. I forced down some toast.

After he left, I saved some of my lunch in a napkin. Maybe I was being paranoid, but Emma's journal had mentioned changes. Physical changes. What if something in the food caused them?

That afternoon, while cleaning the second floor, I heard voices from below. Donovan and Dr. Chen were arguing.

"It's too fast," Dr. Chen said. "Her body won't handle it like the others."

"She's stronger than the others." Donovan's voice was cold. "I can feel it."

"That's what you said about Emma. And Maria. And all the rest."

"This time is different."

"You always say that!" Dr. Chen sounded like she was crying. "Dad, please. Stop this before…"

Dad? Dr. Chen was Donovan's daughter?

A door slammed. I ran back to my room before they could catch me listening.

That night, I studied myself in the mirror. The light strand in my hair was definitely real. And my eyes looked different. It was still brown, but with tiny flecks of purple around the edges.

Just like Emma had written.

I needed answers. The basement might have them.

At two in the morning, I crept downstairs. The house was dark and quiet. Even the howling had stopped.

The basement door's electronic lock glowed red. I tried my key card. Nothing. I tried typing numbers on the keypad. Still nothing.

"Access denied," ARTEMIS said.

I nearly screamed.

"ARTEMIS, please. I need to know what's down there."

"That information is restricted."

"Are there other people down there? Other housekeepers?"

ARTEMIS was quiet for so long I thought she wouldn't answer.

"Yes," she finally said. But it didn't sound like the normal ARTEMIS. It sounded... sad.

"How many?"

"Twelve."

My blood turned to ice. Twelve housekeepers. All in the basement.

"Are they alive?"

Before ARTEMIS could answer, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun around to find a man I'd never seen before. Tall and lean, with bronze skin and amber eyes.

"You shouldn't be here," he said.

"Who are you?"

"Marcus. Donovan's... friend." He looked at the basement door. "They're not alive. Not exactly. But not dead either."

"What does that mean?"

He pulled me away from the door. "It means you need to leave. Leave tonight before you end up like them."

"I can't. I need this job."

"No job is worth your soul." He grabbed my hands. His skin was burning hot. "You're already changing. I can smell it on you. Celeste's DNA is rewriting yours."

"Celeste? Who is…"

A growl echoed through the house. It wasn't from the basement. It was from behind us.

Donovan stood at the top of the stairs. But it wasn't really Donovan anymore. His face was stretching, bones cracking and reshaping. Fur sprouted along his arms. His hands became claws.

"Marcus," he snarled. "You weren't invited."

"She deserves to know the truth."

"The truth?" Donovan laughed, but it sounded like a bark. "The truth is she's mine. She's always been mine."

He jumped from the top of the stairs, landing in front of us with a crash that shook the house. Standing on legs that bent wrong, covered in black fur and yellow eyes glowing in the dark.

A werewolf! Donovan was a werewolf!

I couldn't move neither could I breathe. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

Marcus stepped in front of me. His own body started changing, bones snapping and reshaping. Brown fur covered his skin as he transformed into something smaller than Donovan but just as terrifying.

"Run," he growled at me. "RUN!"

I ran. Behind me, the two wolves crashed together, snarling and biting. I heard furniture breaking and walls cracking.

I reached my room and grabbed Emma's journal and my car keys. Nothing else mattered.

But when I got to the front door, it wouldn't open.

"ARTEMIS, open the door!"

"I'm sorry, Sierra. Lockdown protocol is active."

The fighting stopped. Heavy footsteps climbed the stairs. Not human footsteps.

I backed against the door. Donovan appeared, still in wolf form but walking upright. Blood dripped from his claws. His yellow eyes focused on me.

"You can't leave," he growled, his voice barely human. "Not until the change is complete."

"What change? What did you do to me?"

He shifted back to human form, naked and bloody but not caring. "I'm bringing her back. I'm bringing my Celeste, through you."

"I'm not her!"

"You're not her yet." He smiled, showing teeth that were still too sharp. "But you will be. Subject thirteen. The lucky one. The one who will finally work."

My legs gave way. I slid down against the door. "You're insane."

"No, I'm in love." He knelt in front of me, touching my face with a bloody hand. "She died fifty years ago. She was murdered by witch hunters. But I saved her memories, her DNA, and everything that made her who she was. And now, with your body as the vessel, she'll live again."

"You're killing me?"

"No, I'm improving you." He touched the light strand in my hair. "You're already becoming beautiful like her."

"The other housekeepers…"

"They failed. Their bodies rejected the change. But you're different, Sierra. You're compatible." His eyes glowed. "You're her descendant. The great-great-granddaughter of her sister. The same sister who betrayed her to the witch hunters."

My world spun. "No."

"Yes. Poetic, isn't it? The bloodline that killed her will now bring her back."

Marcus appeared behind him, human again, holding his ribs. "Donovan, stop. This isn't what Celeste would want."

"Don't speak her name!" Donovan spun on him. "You loved her too. You should understand."

"I loved her enough to let her go."

Donovan hit him so hard he flew across the room.

When he turned back to me, his eyes were sad. "Twenty-eight days, Sierra. That's all I need. Twenty-eight days for the moon to complete its cycle and the change to become permanent. Then Celeste will live again, and you..." He touched my cheek. "You'll finally be who you were meant to be."

"I'll fight you."

"You'll try." He stood. "But the dreams will get stronger. Her memories will become yours. And eventually, you won't remember why you were fighting at all."

He walked away, leaving me sobbing against the locked door.

In the mirror across fro

m me, I saw my reflection. But for just a second, I swear I saw someone else. I saw a woman with golden hair and violet eyes, mouthing a single word:

“Help!”