Before Jessica could open her mouth, her father's radio erupted with static, and a frantic voice cut through. Sheriff Tumblerlee clenched his jaw as he listened, the lines around his eyes deepening. He exhaled slowly, fixing Jessica with that cop stare she'd known her whole life.

  "Downtown needs me," he said, voice gruff with frustration. "Something's happened. Get yourself home—straight home—no detours."

  "Got it," Jessica said, the lie bitter on her tongue while her pulse raced beneath her skin. "Stay safe out there."

  Her father's gaze lingered a moment longer, searching her face before he strode out of the gas station. The echo of his boots faded, followed by the crunch of tires on gravel. Only then did Jessica's shoulders drop from their rigid pose.

  Salina sank to her knees, leaving damp handprints on the polished floor. "I swear he can smell deception."

  "Well, he is a cautious sheriff doing his job," Kevin muttered, running trembling fingers through his hair. The building's shattered window cast moonlight across the destruction Mark had left behind. "So what's the brilliant plan now? Because that..." He gestured at the mess. "That wasn't human strength."

  Jessica's thoughts collided like atoms in a particle accelerator, fragmenting and recombining. "The cure," she murmured, then louder: "We need the antidote. Not muscle—science."

  "PharmaTech?" Salina's eyes widened, catching the moonlight like a cat's.

  "Where else would Dr. Turner keep his research?" Jessica's gaze fixed on the shattered window. The moon gleamed through it, calling to the part of her she kept caged and muzzled. "It also must be where his dad created the serum—"

  "But your dad literally just ordered you home," Salina interrupted, her voice pitching higher with each word.

  The corner of Jessica's mouth quirked up. "Dad hits his pillow like a dead man after night shifts. He'll be snoring before I sneak back in."

  *****

  The crescent moon hung like a hunter's blade in the velvet sky. Thirteen hours from full, Jessica already felt its pull stirring her marrow. She crouched on PharmaTech's rooftop, concrete scraping her palms, still radiating the day's stored heat.

  Kevin huddled beside her, breath clouding in puffs that smelled of the cinnamon gum he'd been chewing to calm his nerves. "Just so we're crystal clear—breaking into a pharmaceutical company crosses about six laws I'm aware of. Even if we're playing heroes."

  Jessica caught the acid tang of adrenaline seeping from his pores. "You smell like fear," she whispered. "And there's another option—we could let Mark hollow himself out with that poison he's shooting up. Maybe attend his funeral after he rips someone apart."

  Kevin adjusted his backpack, the nylon rustling. "Just pointing out that Sheriff Dad would handcuff his own daughter if he found out about tonight's extracurricular activity."

  "Dad would handcuff me for half my life if he knew the whole truth." The approaching championship game—then prom night—three days away. Typical that her werewolf problems chose now to explode.

  The walkie-talkie at her hip crackled. "Security's making rounds on the west perimeter," Salina reported. "Fifteen minutes until he circles back to your position."

  "Copy." Jessica tucked the device away and turned to Kevin. "Last chance to bail."

  He flashed her a mock salute, the quiver in his fingers barely noticeable to anyone without enhanced senses. "Just your average Tuesday night in Moon Valley—laboratory heists and jocks turning into rage monsters."

  A genuine smile tugged at Jessica's lips—this felt like before, when her double life wasn't split between popularity and supernatural secrets. When Kevin and Salina were her only allies against the strangeness infecting their town.

  The service door didn't so much unlock as surrender when Jessica applied pressure. Metal groaned and warped under her fingers, the sound piercing the night.

  "Maybe announce our presence to the entire town next time," Kevin muttered, ducking inside after her.

  The laboratory sprawled before them—stainless steel countertops reflecting the blue-white glare of LCD monitors, centrifuges humming beside racks of test tubes labeled in cramped handwriting. The air burned Jessica's sensitive nose with bleach and ammonia, underlying notes of something bitter and medicinal that made her wolf-senses recoil.

  "Turner's office should be down that hall," Kevin pointed toward a shadowed corridor. "According to the building schematics I downloaded."

  Jessica slipped forward, every sense flared open—catching the distant shuffle of the security guard's orthopedic shoes, the electronic whir of cooling systems, the steady plink of a leaking faucet marking seconds like a metronome.

  The door to Turner's office gleamed with a fresh brass lock. Kevin eased her aside, producing a slender leather case from his jacket. "Step back, Wolverine. Some problems need finesse, not finger-strength."

  Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Since when are you a cat burglar?"

  "Since I spent last summer learning lockpicking instead of chasing popularity." His tools clinked softly against the tumblers. "Some of us embraced our inner weirdos earlier than others."

  A soft click rewarded his efforts, and Kevin's smirk gleamed in the darkness.

  Turner's office looked like a tornado had targeted it specifically—papers colonized every surface, sticky notes fluttered from the walls in a riot of neon colors. A framed photo caught Jessica's eye—Mark beaming with fishing gear, looking so ordinary and young beside his father.

  "Even mad scientists have families," she murmured, setting down the frame.

  Kevin attacked the filing cabinets, rifling through folders. "We need anything labeled 'experimental,' 'enhancement,' 'augmentation'—"

  A leather journal half-buried under research papers snagged Jessica's attention—not by sight but by scent. It carried the same chemical signature that now clung to Mark, beneath his cologne and sweat. She tugged it free, golden embossing spelling out "Classified" across its cover.

  "Kevin," she whispered, tapping his shoulder.

  The journal's pages revealed Dr. Turner's private obsession—"Project Titan" outlined in precise diagrams and dense chemical formulas. Jessica's eyes widened as she deciphered his cramped notes. "He was engineering the strength enhancement serum here," she breathed, tracing a diagram of a human muscular system outlined in red ink.

  Kevin leaned over her shoulder, his heartbeat audible to her enhanced hearing. "Check these dates—he's been at this for years, even after losing official backing."

  The pages told a grim story—military funding, test subjects, catastrophic side effects. Rage episodes. Physical mutations. System failures. Death.

  "Turner was trying to fix it," Kevin murmured, pointing to more recent entries. "These notes describe a stabilization compound to counteract the aggression and mutation."

  Jessica's finger skimmed down to the final entries, her heart hammering against her ribs. "But he never completed it." The last page detailed an antidote formula labeled "theoretically viable; untested." In the margin, scrawled in frustrated capitals: FUNDING TERMINATED.

  Kevin scrubbed his hand over his face. "Mark is so stupid, and his dad is a mad man.”

  "But there's an antidote formula here," Jessica said, her finger tracing the chemical notations. "If we could—"

  The walkie-talkie erupted with Salina's voice, pitched low and urgent: "Security changed routes! He's heading straight for you—get out NOW!"

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

  Kevin's eyes flashed with panic. "We need that journal—"

  Jessica was already tearing out the pages with the antidote formula, crumpling them into her pocket. "No time. They'd notice the whole book missing."

  They barely cleared the office doorway when a flashlight beam speared the darkness ahead. Jessica yanked Kevin behind a storage cabinet, pressing him against the wall. His heart pounded so loudly she feared the guard would hear it.

  The guard paused at Turner's door, light playing over the freshly picked lock. Jessica held her breath, counting her own heartbeats. One... two... twenty-seven... The guard moved on, muttering about maintenance issues and budget cuts.

  "Too. Damn. Close," Kevin breathed when the footsteps receded.

  They fled through the service entrance, night air washing over them like a baptism after the sterile laboratory tension. Salina waited in Kevin's car, engine purring quietly.

  "Success?" she asked as they tumbled into the seats.

  Jessica pulled the crumpled pages from her pocket, paper edges cutting into her finger. "Maybe. If this formula works."

  Salina squinted at the complex chemical notations. "This is graduate-level biochemistry."

  "My cousin Liam works in the university lab," Kevin said, easing the car from the parking lot with headlights off. "He owes me for retrieving certain photos from his corrupted hard drive that his girlfriend was never meant to see."

  Jessica slumped against the headrest, exhaustion slamming into her like a physical blow. "Those notes said the side effects create terminal conditions. The serum causes 'catastrophic cellular breakdown' with continued use."

  "So it's killing him," Salina whispered, still studying the formula. "And if we don't stop him, he might take others with him."

  *****

  Morning sunlight streamed through the hallway windows, mocking Jessica's gritty eyes and foggy brain. She, Kevin, and Salina had huddled in her bedroom until dawn, poring over Turner's notes while her father's snores rumbled down the hall.

  "You look like something the cat dragged in, chewed on, then regurgitated," Tiffany remarked as Jessica fumbled with her locker combination.

  "Physics test," Jessica mumbled, the lie automatic now.

  For once, Tiffany's perpetual perkiness seemed dimmed, shadows bruising the skin beneath her eyes despite careful makeup application.

  "Everything okay?" Jessica straightened, suddenly alert. "You seem off."

  Tiffany glanced over her shoulder before leaning closer, the scent of her lavender perfume almost overpowering Jessica's sensitive nose. "It's Mark. He called me at midnight ranting about becoming Moon Valley's quarterback legend. He sounded... wrong. His voice kept changing pitch, and when I tried calming him down, he hung up on me."

  Ice crystallized in Jessica's veins. The serum was accelerating Mark's transformation, pushing him toward complete loss of control. "Is he here today?"

  "No," Tiffany twisted her silver charm bracelet—Mark's Valentine's gift. "He didn't meet me this morning. I'm worried."

  A crash exploded from the far end of the corridor—metal buckling against impossible force—followed by shouts and screams. Students scattered like startled birds, pressing against walls and doorways.

  "What's happening?" Tiffany stretched onto her tiptoes.

  The scent hit Jessica before she could see him—Mark's familiar musk twisted with chemical undertones, sharpened with the copper tang of rage. "Stay here," she ordered, shouldering through the crowd.

  Mark loomed at the hall's end, fist buried in a locker door crumpled like aluminum foil. His body strained against his letterman jacket, seams splitting at the shoulders. Veins pulsed beneath his skin with an unnatural crimson glow that seemed to move beneath the surface.

  "Where is she?" The question rumbled from his chest like distant thunder. "Where's Tiffany?"

  Coach Harris approached with his hands raised, caution in every step. "Mark, son, let's talk this out—"

  Mark's hand shot out, fingers clamping around the coach's shirt collar. He hoisted the man off the ground as effortlessly as lifting a kitten. "Don't tell me what to do!"

  "Mark!" Jessica pushed to the front of the crowd. "Put him down!"

  Mark's head swiveled toward her voice, and Jessica's breath caught in her throat. His eyes flickered between normal and toxic yellow, pupils contracted to pinpricks. Recognition flickered across his face, followed by confusion that softened his features to something almost human.

  "Jessica?" His voice cracked, suddenly that of a frightened boy. "What's happening to me?"

  He released Coach Harris, who stumbled backward, gasping. Mark stared at his trembling hands as if they belonged to someone else. "I can't control it," he whispered. "Something's wrong inside me."

  Jessica inched closer, palms out like approaching a wounded animal. "Mark, we found out what's happening. We can help you."

  The veins in his neck bulged, pulsing visibly beneath his skin. "Nobody can help this. I'm too far gone. I shouldn't have stolen the damn stuff. Dad will kill me when he returns after his long business trip.”

  No wonder we couldn't find him, Jessica thought.

  "We found your dad's notes," she insisted, close enough now to smell the chemical cocktail seeping from his pores. "There's an antidote, Mark."

  Hope sparked in his eyes, quickly doused by shame. "Really?”

  Jessica managed a nod. "We can fix this. But you need to come with us. Now."

  For a heartbeat, he seemed ready to agree. Then his gaze locked on something behind Jessica, and his expression twisted into something feral. "Tiffany."

  Jessica turned to see Tiffany pushing through the stunned onlookers, her face pale. "Mark? What's happening?"

  "Back up!" Jessica hissed, but Tiffany kept moving forward.

  Mark's face contorted, the veins at his temples writhing like snakes. "You," he snarled, eyes flashing that toxic yellow. "You've been avoiding me. Talking about me behind my back."

  Tears welled in Tiffany's eyes. "What? No—I've been worried sick!"

  "LIAR!" The word exploded from Mark like a thunderclap. His skin flushed darker, muscles swelling visibly beneath his clothes. He lurched forward, movements jerky like a marionette with tangled strings.

  Jessica inserted herself between them, planting her feet. "This isn't you talking—it's the serum. Fight it, Mark."

  For a terrifying moment, Jessica thought he might attack, but something in her words penetrated the rage clouding his mind. He staggered backward, fingers clawing at his skull. "My head..." he gasped. "Can't think... getting worse."

  With an animal sound that raised the hair on Jessica's arms, Mark spun and crashed through the nearest exit door, setting off the shriek of the fire alarm. The hallway dissolved into chaos as students fled in all directions, teachers barking orders that no one heeded.

  "What the hell?" Tiffany grabbed Jessica's arm, her fingernails digging crescents into the skin. "What's happening to him? His eyes were yellow, Jessica. Yellow!"

  Jessica steered her into an empty classroom, away from the stampede. "I need to find Kevin and Salina."

  She spotted them fighting against the tide of evacuating students. Kevin clutched a folded paper, his face grim beneath his disheveled hair.

  "Liam came through," he announced without greeting. "The formula looks viable. He's already mixing a batch at the university lab."

  "We need it now," Jessica's words tumbled over each other. "Mark just hulked out in the hallway. He's deteriorating fast."

  "Deteriorating?" Tiffany's voice cracked. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

  Jessica had almost forgotten her presence. "It's... complicated."

  "His eyes turned yellow and he punched through metal!" Tiffany's voice climbed an octave. "I'm not accepting 'complicated' as an answer!"

  Kevin and Salina exchanged glances with Jessica. They couldn't reveal everything—especially Jessica's own supernatural nature—but Mark was Tiffany's boyfriend. She deserved something.

  "Mark's been injecting himself with something," Jessica began carefully. "A compound his father developed at PharmaTech. It's making him stronger but damaging his body and mind."

  "A steroid?" Tiffany's eyes widened. "So this is about football? About being stronger for the championship?"

  "Not just any performance enhancer," Kevin cut in. "This stuff is experimental, unstable. It's altering his cellular structure."

  "And destroying his body from the inside out," Salina added, examining the chemical formula again.

  The color drained from Tiffany's face. She sank into a desk chair, her charm bracelet clinking against the laminate surface. "Can you save him?"

  "We're trying," Jessica said, surprising herself with the fierce certainty in her voice. "We have the antidote formula. Now we just need to find Mark and convince him to take it."

  The fire alarm cut off abruptly, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Through the classroom window, Jessica watched students milling on the lawn, teachers counting heads, everyone bewildered.

  "Prom's in three days," Tiffany said, her voice small. "He kept talking about it... said he had something special planned after the championship game."

  A chill skittered down Jessica's spine despite the stuffy classroom heat. A crowded gymnasium, Mark losing control completely—the possibilities unspooled like a horror film in her mind.

  "Then we have three days," she said, meeting Kevin and Salina's eyes with renewed determination. "Three days to prepare the antidote, before the game and prom night."

  Kevin unfolded the paper, revealing the complex formula. "This better work. From those notes, we won't get a second chance."

  Salina's expression hardened. "And if we fail?"

  Jessica remembered Mark's bulging veins, those sickening yellow eyes, the inhuman sound that had torn from his throat. The changes were accelerating, pushing him further from humanity with each heartbeat.

  "Then prom night becomes a bloodbath," she said quietly.

  The words hung between them like a physical presence. Outside, sunlight bathed students laughing and talking, relieved for an unexpected break from classes. None of them knew what was coming.

  Jessica stared out at the normal world, a world she'd fought so hard to join. In three days, that world would collide with the darkness she'd been trying to outrun. And when it did, nothing in Moon Valley would ever be the same again.