The dream always began the same way.
Ethan stood in the middle of the forest behind town, surrounded by towering pines that stretched endlessly into darkness. No wind stirred the branches. No animals called from the undergrowth. Everything was silent.
Waiting.
Then came the heartbeat. A slow, heavy thump echoed through the trees.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The sound wasn't around him.
It was inside him.
Ethan looked down at his hands. Black veins spread beneath his skin like cracks in glass, creeping from his fingertips toward his wrists. The sight should have terrified him.
Instead, something else did. The fact that it felt natural.
The darkness moved beneath his flesh as if it belonged there.
As if it were waking up. A low growl echoed somewhere among the trees.
Ethan spun around.
Nothing.
The heartbeat grew faster. The veins climbed higher. The growl came again closer this time.
And then two glowing eyes opened in the darkness.
Not an animal.
Not human.
Something in between.
Something familiar.
The creature stepped forward.
Its shape shifted with every movement.
Fur became shadow.
Shadow became smoke. Smoke became flesh. And when it finally stepped into the moonlight—It had Ethan's face. Ethan jolted awake.
His chest heaved as he sucked in air. Sunlight streamed through the curtains of his bedroom.
Morning.
Just a dream.
Except his hands were shaking.
Again.
He stared at them for a moment before pulling the blanket aside. The shaking stopped almost immediately. It always did.
But lately it had been getting worse. A lot worse.
"Ethan!"
His mother's voice drifted up from downstairs.
"You'll miss school!"
He rubbed his face and forced himself out of bed. The dream lingered in his mind as he got dressed.
The eyes.
The growl.
The version of himself standing in the forest. He had seen it nearly every night for the past month. Ever since his seventeenth birthday. The same age his father had been when the curse first showed itself.
Ethan froze.
Even thinking the word made his stomach tighten.
Curse.
The family secret no one talked about. The thing his father had spent years trying to hide. The thing that eventually took him away. The town believed his father had simply left. That was the story everyone knew. But Ethan knew better. His father hadn't left. He had lost control. And someday Ethan might too. The thought followed him downstairs. His mother stood in the kitchen making coffee. Dark circles rested beneath her eyes. She looked up and managed a tired smile. "Morning."
"Morning."
"You, okay?"
Ethan nodded too quickly.
"Fine."
She studied him for a moment. Parents always knew when something was wrong. Especially his mother.
Especially lately.
But after a long pause, she simply turned back to the coffee maker.
"Your friends are waiting outside."
Ethan glanced through the window. Two familiar figures stood near the mailbox. Mara paced impatiently while Talen sat on the curb tossing a rock into the air and catching it. Ethan smiled despite himself. Mara and Talen had been his best friends for as long as he could remember. They were the closest thing he had to family.
Which made keeping secrets from them feel even worse.
"Tell them I'll be out in a minute."
His mother nodded. As Ethan headed toward the front door, her voice stopped him.
"Ethan."
He turned.
For a moment, she looked frightened.
Not worried.
Frightened.
The same expression she wore whenever his father was mentioned. "Whatever happens," she said quietly, "remember you're stronger than he was."
Ethan's heart sank. "What does that mean?" She opened her mouth. Then, it closed it again. "Just be careful." The answer left him with more questions than before. Outside, Mara immediately pointed at him. "There he is. Sleeping Beauty." Ethan rolled his eyes. "Good morning to you, too." Talen stood and grinned. "You look terrible."
"Thanks."
"Anytime." For a few minutes, things felt normal.
Comfortable.
The three of them headed toward school, joking and arguing the way they always did. For a while, Ethan almost forgot about the dream.
Almost forgot about the shaking. Almost forgot about the thing growing inside him.
Then it happened.
A sharp pain shot through his chest. He stumbled.
"Ethan?" Mara grabbed his arm.
The world tilted.
For a split second, he heard that same heartbeat from the dream.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His vision blurred.
A shadow moved across the edge of his sight.
Not a real shadow.
Something alive.
Something watching.
Then it vanished.
The pain disappeared.
Everything returned to normal.
"Ethan?" Talen asked. "You, okay?"
Ethan forced a smile. "Yeah." But he wasn't.
Because for the first time, the darkness from his dreams hadn't stayed there. It had followed him into the waking world. And deep down, Ethan knew exactly what that meant. The curse had finally begun.