Chapter 2 - Sharks

𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞

My phone buzzed just as I turned onto my street. Coach Martinez's name flashed on the screen.

I answered, tucking the phone between my ear and shoulder while I adjusted my duffel bag. "Hey, Coach."

"Selene! Great news, kid." His voice boomed with enthusiasm that made me pull the phone slightly away from my ear. "The mayor wants to meet you personally to present your cash prize at the annual South Pine Gala next weekend."

My heart skipped. "The gala? That's—wow, that's huge."

"Gets better," he continued, excitement bleeding through every word. "They're engraving your name on the Lunarstone at the town museum. You'll be immortalized alongside every champion North Vale has ever produced."

The Lunarstone. The massive meteorite fragment that sat in the museum's central hall, names of local heroes etched into its surface dating back over a century. My name would be there permanently.

"Coach, I don't know what to say. That's incredible."

"You earned it, Jameson. Ten goals in a single final? You made history." He paused, and I could practically hear his grin through the phone. "Oh, and I already called your Aunt Agatha to tell her the good news. Figured your family would want to celebrate."

My stomach dropped like a stone into cold water. Dread flared bright and hot in my chest, blood rushing to my head. I felt myself go faint from the horror

"You... called Aunt Agatha?" My voice came out flat, carefully controlled. 

"Yeah! She sounded thrilled. Said she'd make sure the whole family knew." Coach Martinez continued, oblivious to the dread coiling in my gut. "I know things have been rough since your mom passed, but this is a moment to share with the people who care about you."

I forced a smile into my voice even though he couldn't see me. "Thanks, Coach. I appreciate it." And I meant every word, my coach had been more family that does whose blood I shared even if she lacked boundaries at times. She had her heart in the right place

"Just one more thing before I let you go," his tone shifted, becoming serious. "Stay away from the West Pine Trail. I mean it, Selene."

I frowned, slowing my pace. "The hiking trail? Why?"

"People have been disappearing out there. Three in the last two weeks." He exhaled heavily. "Some turned up eventually, but they were disoriented, dehydrated, couldn't remember what happened to them. And the investigators found paw prints near where they were found."

My wrist started to tingle. The crescent moon tattoo pulsed against my skin like it had its own heartbeat.

"What kind of paw prints?" I asked, trying to ignore the crawling sensation spreading up my arm and rippling through my spine. 

"Too big to be a wolf or any other animal they know of," Coach said grimly. "Some of the prints measured nearly a foot across. Whatever made them isn't natural or so they say." 

A sharp howl cut through the air in the distance, long and mournful, raising every hair on my arms. I whipped my head back, looking for the source but only houses and roads surrounded me and it was too early for the wolves to be howling. 

"Selene? You still there?"

I blinked, realizing I'd zoned out completely, frozen mid-step on the sidewalk. The howl echoed in my ears even though it had already faded.

What the hell was that? Again?

"Yeah, sorry. I'm here."

"Promise me you'll stay away from that trail," Coach pressed. "I know you like to run in the mornings, but stick to the campus track until this blows over. I can't lose you." Her voice grew emotional. 

Tears prickled my eyes, if only she knew I would not be around for much longer. "I promise," I said quickly, my mind still tangled in the sound of that howl and the way my tattoo had responded to it. "Thanks for the heads up, Coach."

"Anytime, kid. See you at practice Monday."

The call ended and I stood there for a moment, staring at my wrist. The tingling had subsided but I could still feel the phantom pulse beneath my skin, like something had woken up and was waiting.

I shook my head, forcing myself to move forward. I had bigger problems than mysterious disappearances and weird tattoo reactions.

Coach had called Aunt Agatha.

My family knew about the money now.

The same family that had kicked me out the day after my mother's funeral, the family that made me work two jobs just to earn the right to keep half of my own mother's ashes, the family that treated me like a stain they couldn't scrub out.

They knew I'd won a million dollars.

My gut twisted as I approached my building, dread building with every step. I rounded the corner to my apartment and my heart seized in my chest.

My door was wide open.

Voices spilled out from inside, loud and careless, treating my space like it belonged to them.

I broke into a run.

I burst through the doorway and the scene that greeted me made my blood turn to ice. My little cousins, Aunt Agatha's twins who couldn't be older than six, were in the corner tossing my mother's urn between them like a ball.

"No!" The word ripped from my throat as I lunged forward, dropping my duffel bag.

The urn sailed through the air in what felt like slow motion. I dove, my hands outstretched, and caught it against my chest before it could hit the ground. My knees slammed into the floor hard enough to bruise but I didn't care.

I clutched the urn to me, my heart hammering so violently I thought it might crack my ribs.

"Be quiet," Ryder's voice cut through the room, sharp and commanding.

I looked up, still cradling the urn, and found my brother sprawled on my couch with a lit cigarette dangling from his fingers. He'd burned holes into the cheap fabric, the acrid smell of scorched polyester mixing with the stench of smoke.

His eyes bore into me, cold and annoyed. "Where the hell have you been?"