Anna clutches her pen firmly, in stark contrast to her normal feather-light touch. Wally had seen her draw before, mesmerized by how her hand danced lightly across the page. It’s probably just stress, he thinks, knowing how much pressure her mother puts on her to do well in school. But he can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

He notices little things, like how she chooses a seat in the front even though she hates being called on, or how unbothered she seems by even the more advanced concepts brought up in lecture. Or how hastily she draws her diagrams while taking notes. Before, diagrams were the only things Anna would copy from the board, taking her time to make sure they were clean and polished, as if she were in an art class rather than a physics lecture. Must be because she’s paying more attention to the lecture than usual, he thinks.

In a weird way, he misses her pestering and note-passing and jokes at the professor’s expense, even though they were distracting. All of the little things add up, and it’s almost like he’s sitting next to a different person. He recalls what Tucker told him the day before, but quickly dismisses the outlandish idea. There’s a perfectly logical explanation for all this, he reasons. She’s just going through a rough time, that’s all.

But his mind, traitor that it is, flashes back to his childhood. When he was ten, his father let him watch Body Snatchers even though it was an R-rated movie. For weeks after watching it, he was paranoid that everyone he knew and loved had been replaced by soulless replicas, ready to turn on him at any moment. The memory sends a shiver down his spine before he pushes it away.

***

Parting ways with Wally, I headed to calculus. As I entered the lecture hall, a petite, bespectacled girl with olive skin, hazel eyes, and a ponytail of frizzy black hair saw me and gave a small wave. Based on the profile picture in Anna’s contacts, this was Nessa. Pleased that she had already chosen a spot in the front row, I took the seat to her right. “Hey Nessa,” I said with a smile.

“Hi Anna, glad to see you’re feeling better,” she said, her voice soft and soothing. “Here are the notes. These are just copies, so you can keep them.”

I thanked her profusely as she handed me two neat stacks of paper. Just as I had finished putting them away and taking out Anna’s calculus notebook, a middle-aged woman walked briskly into the room and began writing equations on the white board. With that, a lecture about Taylor series expansions began. Compared to Wally, Nessa was much quieter and more reserved. She remained completely focused on the lecture, but never raised her hand to ask or answer questions. When the class ended, she packed her things, bid me a quick farewell, and left for her next class.

Satisfied with how smoothly things went with Nessa, I got up to leave when I noticed a strange tingling sensation on my arms and face. The feeling soon passed, and I attributed it to my nerves settling after clearing the day’s two biggest hurdles. The only class left was expository writing, and as far as I knew, Anna hadn’t been close to anyone in it.

As I was leaving, I received a text from Wally, asking if I wanted to grab lunch together. I realized I was quite hungry, and although I knew it would have to be a vegetarian meal, I figured something would be better than nothing. Plus, Wally would probably find it strange if I kept trying to avoid him. I had already resolved to be friendly with him, and if that meant eating together then so be it.

We agreed to meet at the dining hall on campus. When I arrived, I was overwhelmed by the vast array of options. Eventually, I decided to get a Mediterranean vegetable wrap along with chips and a sugar cookie. After paying with Anna’s debit card, I found Wally at a table for two and took a seat. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” I said, seeing that he was already halfway finished with his hamburger. My gaze lingered on the beef patty, until I was snapped out of my daze by Wally’s voice.

“Haha, no worries. I know the lines at the wrap station can take forever.” I hoped he hadn’t noticed how enthralled I’d been by his meal.

As we ate, the tingling sensation I’d felt that morning returned. This time, it remained for several minutes, gradually ramping up to a more acute prickling. Soon, it felt as though every cell in my arms and face were wiggling and rubbing against one another, and I had to concentrate to keep them still. I rushed to finish my food, straining to hide my discomfort while Wally gushed about a new satellite that was scheduled to launch soon. After making quick work of my wrap and chips, I took a large bite from the cookie, filling my mouth with an almost cloying sweetness. A moment after I swallowed, the odd feeling subsided. I let out a contented sigh, thankful for the respite.

“Wow, Anna, that wrap must be really good for you to be done so fast,” Wally said, not quite finished with his own food.

I blushed, realizing how rapidly I’d been eating. While Wally finished his meal, I nibbled on the remainder of the cookie, trying to figure out what had caused so much unrest in my body. If it was simply due nerves, it should have been worse in the morning, when I was much more on edge. Besides, I had been in equally nerve-wracking situations before without experiencing anything like that strange phenomenon. I was still lost in thought when Wally nudged me with his empty lunch tray. I was confused for a moment, before realizing he was offering to throw my trash away for me. I gratefully obliged. After that, Wally left for his next class while I made my way to the library. I had about two hours to kill.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After reading through Nessa’s notes, I began mulling over the odd tingling I had felt. Timing, I realized, was key. The first time it happened, my stomach was empty. I had skipped breakfast in the morning, too nervous to feel hungry. Then, it happened again during lunch, made even more intense by the proximity to Wally’s juicy beef patty. And it stopped almost as soon as I ate the cookie, a treat packed with sugar that could flood my cells with energy. Clearly, the sensation was linked with hunger, though it wouldn’t be satiated by vegetables or grains. I found it strange that it hadn’t happened before, but it had been several days since I killed that buck in the woods. Perhaps such a large, protein-rich meal had kept the tingling at bay. Until now.

I knew it would return soon unless I ate a substantial amount of meat. However, Anna’s next class was about to start, and I didn’t want to miss it. I resolved to hold out for one more hour. Arriving at the classroom, I noticed it was much smaller than the lecture halls I was growing used to, with actual school desks instead of the auditorium-style seats of the lecture halls. I chose a spot in one of the middle rows, hoping to avoid attention. Though I had perused the readings Anna had been assigned, I wanted to avoid having to speak as much as possible. The factual rigidity of science and math came much more naturally to me than the nuance and subtlety of good prose. And I wasn’t exactly in the right mental state to participate in thoughtful discussion.

As I passed the back rows to get to a seat, I noticed a pale, skinny girl with sharp cheek bones and deep bags under her sunken brown eyes shoot me a biting glare. Seeing her sent an inexplicable spike of rage through me, and for a second, I glared back.

It seemed Anna had an enemy I wasn’t aware of. Making a mental note to look into it later, I turned my attention to the front of the room, where the professor was setting up a projector. The class was less of a lecture and more of a guided discussion of the readings. About halfway through the class, the tingling feeling returned, progressively becoming more of an itching. It felt as though my cells were vibrating, chaffing under my tight control. Perhaps hunger was triggering an instinctual urge to transform my body into a weapon perfected for the hunt. Expending all of my energy and attention on maintaining a human appearance, it became increasingly difficult for me to focus on the class. Thankfully, most of the other students were eager enough to speak that I never had to be called on.

As soon as class ended, I collected my things and bolted out of the room. I entered the first fast food place I came across and ordered several cheeseburgers. The cashier raised an eyebrow, likely shocked at how much food I planned to eat despite my small physique. I ignored him, scrambling for Anna’s wallet so I could quickly pay, leave, and eat. In addition to my growing hunger, I ran the risk of bumping into Wally or Nessa the longer I stayed. I pulled out Anna’s debit card and jammed it into the card reader.

The cashier frowned and tapped the screen. “It says your balance is insufficient.”

“What?!” Starting to panic, I took the card out and inserted it again.

“Balance insufficient. Do you have another card?”

I shook my head. Anna’s mother never gave her a credit card, perhaps because she didn’t trust her with money or perhaps as just another means of controlling her. In any case, the debit card was all I had.

“Well, we also take cash…”

I hastily checked Anna’s wallet. Aside from some spare change which wouldn’t be enough for even one burger, there was nothing. I had spent it all on Thai food the day before. I cursed myself for being so frivolous with money. I had just assumed Anna’s debit card could provide as much as I needed. And now, I was paying for my carelessness.

The cashier crossed his arms. “Sorry, but I’ll have to cancel your order if you can’t pay.”

I apologized and went home empty-handed. By the time I reached Anna’s room, it felt as though my arms and face were blurring at the edges. My cells rippled, trying to morph and reform as I fought hard to maintain their shape. In desperation, I downed both cans of noodle soup Wally had given me the other day. They barely took the edge off of my hunger; I needed meat.

I spent a few minutes considering my options. Asking Wally or Nessa to buy me a meal would be pointless. Anything without meat wouldn’t do much to stave off my hunger. As far as I knew, Anna didn’t have any secret stores of cash, and I had searched her room pretty thoroughly before. Admittedly, I could have asked Anna’s mother to add money to the debit account, but I convinced myself that, with the amount I needed to consume, I would quickly run out again and draw unwanted suspicion. Really, I just wanted an excuse to hunt again. It was an instinctual drive that was becoming more and more difficult to suppress.

Having made my decision, I changed into a dark-colored t-shirt and leggings and packed a string bag with a change of clothes, just in case things got really messy. After slipping into Anna’s still-muddy tennis shoes, I poked my head out of the room to check that the coast was clear. With no one in sight, I quietly stepped out, locked the door, headed downstairs, and exited the building. I was completely oblivious to the fact that, as he was coming home from dinner, Wally saw me leave.

After navigating through town and reaching the forest, I began walking down a dirt trail, listening carefully for signs of prey. Deer overpopulation was an issue in the area, so I knew I’d have no trouble finding a meal. Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, I heard the telltale rustling of foliage in the distance. I swiftly turned in the direction of the sound and tilted my head, trying to get a more precise idea of the source’s location. More rustling and the snapping of a branch gave me all the information I needed, and I bolted through the forest towards my unsuspecting prey.

My arms split into three pairs of tentacles, releasing the tension that had been building all day. I quickly found my quarry, a doe standing in a small clearing, feeding on a low-lying bush. Just as it heard my approach, I wrapped two arms around its head and cleanly snapped its neck before it had the chance to escape. Even though I had a change of clothes, I wanted to create as little mess as possible. After a relatively painless death, the doe’s body fell to the ground with a thump. My face unfurled, razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the last few rays of the setting sun, and I began to feed.

I didn’t realize how famished I was until I took my first bite of succulent, gamey flesh. Everything around me faded as I ripped and tore at the carcass. I was so preoccupied with eating that I didn’t hear the rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs coming from behind me.