All of this is impossible. At least that’s what Sarah told herself when thinking upon her situation. She looked at the tablet in her lap playing a movie she didn’t care about. Her mind repeatedly wondered and attempted to compile everything she’s learned into a coherent order. It never worked.

  No matter how many times she tried to organize everything, some impossible or unexplainable variable showed itself and de-stabilized everything. It was like she was trying to get a string of Christmas lights going but every time she fixed a bulb another one shorted out. She could have simply accepted it as impossible and unexplainable, but that simply wasn’t in her nature. She needed to analyze and legitimize everything she could. She was somehow no longer panicking.

  She checked her watch to find that it was still before dawn back at the dig site, meaning they probably wouldn’t notice her absence for a few more hours at least. She glanced at the still motionless Logan and the pointed eared and tailed Miyuki. If what they were saying was true, they’ll make all her coworkers think she died. Her throat clenched when she realized that when her coworkers found out, they'd probably contact her family. She felt tears swell at the thought of never being able to see her family again and the pain the belief in her death would bring them.

  She looked at the tablet in her hands and was immediately tempted to somehow try to contact them. Just as the temptation entered her mind it was dashed away by the warning she was given. She glanced at the sword on Logan’s back and Miyuki’s guns. She would probably be killed before she pressed the send button. She put down the tablet and forced back her tears.

  She once again began to mentally analyze the information that was stored in the database she was given. Most of it was how to communicate and deal with beings. Just as Miyuki had recommended, she focused on beast-cursed and Hindu mythology. There wasn’t much on the mythology while there was an entire section dedicated to beast-cursed. Most of it was the dos and don’ts of interacting with them. There was nothing as to the beast-cursed's origins. All it said was that they were all originally normal humans and generally retained their ability to reason. The main points where they were often short tempered, bestial in nature, and rare.

  As she began to review the information, she began to piece some things together. The tiger statue must have held the curse, and when she touched it, it would have jumped to her. She looked at the empty artifact sitting awkwardly on a nearby seat. A sudden urge to go up and smash the block of cursed stone burned, but her logical mind won out and told her that would only make her situation worse.

  She continued to think and analyze. She looked at every angle she could on how to get out of her pitiful situation. She eventually resigned herself with a sigh while starting up the second, sappy romance movie. It wasn’t until the third before she began to fall asleep. She was amazed at how she had spent so much time unconscious, yet she was still tired. Her eyelids eventually became heavy and dropped.

  After she closed her eyes and drifted off, she felt something. It was both natural and unnatural. She opened her eyes to find herself in a jungle. She slowly stretched and extended her claws and readied herself for the day’s hunt. Hunt? What hunt? As she tried to remember why a hunt was unnatural, she heard a sound to her left.

  She shifted and looked toward the sound. She focused but didn’t hear anything else. She relaxed, she was the alpha predator in this jungle, no one would dare try and hunt her. With a quick leap she moved forward. Her paws easily moved her through the undergrowth with silent steps. She knew her stripes would shift her figure and allow her to hide among the vegetation. Silent death searching and waiting for her next meal. Wait, why paws? What happened to her hands? She paused in the forest for a moment. What are hands?

  As before, she disregarded it before moving forward. She had hunted between the trees for countless years. She watched small saplings turn into towering figures; mighty boulders be worn down to pebbles. As she started losing herself in memories there was a strange smell. It was something she never smelled before. A massive feeling of joy rose within her. A new prey, a new taste. She slowed and followed the scent.

  It was strange. It didn’t smell like a normal animal. It was similar to a mammal but was missing the musk that came with it. She continued to follow the trail of her prey for what seemed like hours, though with her excitement it was probably only a few minutes. The more she flowed between the trees the stronger the smell became. She finally heard a breaking twig from ahead. The hunt was soon over but the battle would soon begin.

  She moved closer and closer and was finally able to see the animal. It was weird. It stood on two legs, had strangely shaped paws, was missing almost all their fur, and wrapped strange skins around their body. It was walking through her territory without a care. She would teach the animal to intrude on other’s land. Her instincts were soon acting strangely. They were telling her not to attack, but to bow down and worship the intruder. Despite the warnings from her instincts, her need for a new hunt was too powerful.

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  When she was at the edge of attack range the animal stopped. It looked around itself as if searching for its predator. That shouldn’t have been possible. Her stealth was perfect. She used all her abilities to remain hidden. There was a moment of hesitation, but the animal turned its back and began moving away.

  She saw this as her best chance and launched herself forward. It was exciting, her claws biting into roots and soil as she pounced. Her mouth salivated at the hope of a new flavor. She was almost upon her prey, her teeth ready to tear into the animal’s throat. It might have been fun to fight it, but her instincts’ reaction convinced her otherwise. It was almost over; a new prey and new flavor was there. But it disappeared.

  Her teeth were right about to penetrate its skin, it’s delicious blood flooding her mouth. She landed and looked around her. Her instincts were yelling at her one instruction, run! She wanted to follow but her pride kept her there. She was the predator. She was the one who hunted. She turned left and right looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  A sound came from behind making her jump forward and turn in midair. Her flexible spine and tail keeping her balanced. As she landed, she looked to the origin of the sound, it was the animal. It was standing with a weird look on their flat face. It opened its mouth and made some sounds that made no sense. She finally decided to follow her instincts and tried to run. She turned to retreat but the animal was blocking that path. How did it do that? There was no sound or movement.

  Apparently, the animal wouldn’t let her run, so the only option left is to fight. She pounced at the animal again with a roar and claws extended. The animal just bent its legs. Just as she was about to grab hold of the animal there was a sharp pain at the base of her skull. Before she could react, the pain turned into a mighty force that pushed her down headfirst.

  Her muzzle was pushed directly into the dirt. She struggled to pull herself away from the force, but it held fast. No matter how she pushed and struggled her head remained flush to the ground. During a final struggle a strange warmth was coming from the force pushing down on her. The warmth flowed from the base of her skull and into her mind. She felt information and knowledge flow into her. She suddenly knew things that would have made no sense before. The ability to understand language, the concept of rules and law, and most importantly, the existence of gods and the origin of her creation.

  Her instincts no longer told her to run, but instead told her to calm herself and to worship the animal, the goddess, her reason for existing, holding her down. When she finally stopped struggling, she heard the animal make sounds again, but now she could understand it.

  “You are mine.”

  Sarah awoke with a start. She began with checking her body. Hands, check. Feet, check. Lack of fangs, check. Lack of fur, check. Upon seeing her having her normal body once again she sighed and tried to calm herself. She tried thinking through what happened. She concluded that it was a dream brought on by stress and the sudden influx of life-changing information she was flooded with.

  Sure, that was it. Although, it all felt too real for it to just be a dream. She could still feel the jungle floor shifting beneath her paws, the scent of what she assumed to be a goddess, and the pain of her head being grabbed and smashed into the ground.

  After checking herself she looked around the cabin to find both Miyuki and Logan awake and sitting across from her. Miyuki had retrieved her tablet playing some sort of game and Logan had his hands knitted together in a strange shape in his lap with his eyes closed. She assumed that he was doing the meditation thing she had watched Miyuki do. But something was different, something inside her was telling her that she shouldn’t interrupt. That the stronger beast needed to be left alone.

  Sarah shook her head to disregard the feeling and turned to Miyuki. Once again Sarah had a feeling. She felt that there was something unnatural about the girl, something…elemental. Miyuki looked up while Sarah was still figuring out what her feelings meant. She watched as Miyuki frowned and stared back at her.

  “This is happening faster than I thought,” she said seriously.

  Sarah became nervous once again, “What’s happening?”

  Miyuki hesitated before answering. “Your beast is waking up.” She put down her tablet, stood, and walked to the plane’s cockpit. After opening the door and having a quick word with the pilot she returned.

  “Luckily enough we’re almost starting on our descent.” She said and returned to her seat.

  Sarah became confused. “Weren’t we going to Los Angeles?”

  Miyuki nodded, “that’s right.”

  Sarah began doing the math, the time simply didn’t add up. “How long was I asleep?”

  “A long time. Probably close to fourteen hours. Honestly, I’m glad you slept so long. The more you sleep the less I have to deal with.”

  Sarah couldn’t tell whether or not to be offended by that comment. Just as she was about to respond the pilot spoke over the sound system and told them the descent had begun. Miyuki punched Logan in the shoulder at the news and brought him out of his meditation.

  As soon as they landed, the two soldiers collected their belongings. There was a brief moment of hope that maybe she could escape when they reached the ground, but a firm hand and blank stare from Logan dashed that hope. The three of them were then loaded into a waiting black SUV and driven somewhere, the windows tinted so she couldn’t see out.

  Once arriving at the location, they were practically shoved out of the car into the waiting arms of a security force and brought inside a massive building. Sarah knew that whatever happened next would shape the rest of her life.