The Beast Within (The Elite Series) - By Jonathan Yanez Page 0,5

that left him in a cold sweat. In it he was running through the woods on the same trail he’d taken earlier that morning. But this time he was being chased. His pursuer crashed through the underbrush as it barreled through the woods behind him. The darkness surrounded Connor and would have engulfed him if not for the full moon shining down through the forest’s canopy. A light mist rose from the ground and consumed his feet every time they touched the dirt path.

Connor pumped his legs faster and faster; his heart beating like a war drum. Daring to take a look behind him, all he saw were two huge yellow eyes gaining on him. Looking forward, he increased his pace.

As he rounded a bend, he saw two figures sitting on a bench. The first was Katie, white as a ghost—unnaturally white. She wore a doctor’s coat and urged Connor to escape the beast behind him.

Beside her was his mother. Dressed in her green work apron, she added her voice to Katie’s, yelling at him to run. He passed them at record-breaking speed, unable to slow himself. His chest was burning; air came in sporadic gulps. He longed to rest.

That was when he saw another group of figures. There were a dozen of them, all wearing long brown cloaks and standing directly in the middle of the path.

“Move!” he tried to yell, but instead an oxygen deprived gasp escaped his lips.

As he approached the group, he realized he recognized faces. On the right was Laren, her piercing emerald green eyes and stoic beauty made her easily recognizable. On the left was her brother Lu. Standing like a wall, he glared at Connor as he approached. Yet by far the most disturbing figure out of the group was the one that stood immediately in his path.

Like the others, this figure wore a long brown cloak, hood pulled back from his face. Connor was sure he never met him before, yet he seemed somehow familiar. Like he’d known this man his whole life,

He was taller than most men. A square jaw and straight nose with light wrinkles around his eyes gave him a noble appearance.

Connor was mere feet away now, preparing to maneuver around the group, when the stranger’s eyes changed from brown to a vicious red. His eyes were the most terrifying thing Connor had ever seen. They were half human, half something else. The man moved towards him.

Connor couldn’t stop himself. His forward momentum was too great. The strange man opened his arms and rushed to meet him.

“It’s time to stop running!” the stranger yelled, waking Connor from his nightmare.

The next morning, Connor had to force himself to concentrate on something other than his dream. He took his normal morning run, this time opting to skip the trip to the forest, and jog around his neighborhood just to be safe.

He threw himself into work at the shop, moving fifty pound bags of fertilizer, stocking cinder blocks, and sweeping every square inch of the store. His mother couldn’t help but notice.

“Connor, are you all right?” she asked.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you haven’t stopped moving since you got here, and if you sweep the floor any harder, you’re going to start digging a hole.”

Connor relaxed his grip on the broom. “Sorry, there’s just a lot on my mind.”

“I understand, sweetie. Things with Katie can’t be easy right now and with all you have to do before you leave for college, I know things can seem a bit daunting.”

Connor bit his lip. He hated lying or even telling half-truths to his mom. He knew if he told her his plan of staying in town she would force him to go. It was better to tell her in a few weeks when there would be no possible way to do a late registration and he would have no choice except to stay.

Instead he just gave his mother a hug, “Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine. Really.”

That night, as Connor prepared to meet Laren for dinner, he wondered why he was so attracted to her. Of course she was beautiful and witty, but there was something else, a force that drew him to her and he didn’t know why. He hadn’t even felt this way about Katie when they first met. These thoughts of Laren led him back to his dream as he dressed for dinner. He tried to clear his mind.

He put on a pair of clean jeans, a dark grey button-up