The Shifters: Katrina
Part One - Ch.1: A Room of Animals

Why was I screaming, you ask?

Well instead of seeing my Mom or Mum, since that's how we told them apart, in my living room, I was met face to face with six different animals, all at least double the size of the real-life versions. A tiger sat in one corner, a wolf was curled up on the couch, a parrot balanced on the lamp, a crocodile lounged around under the table, a polar bear was slumped against the wall and a python was coiled around a shelf. The second I began screaming, all six humongous animals looked my way, but seemed unfazed.

I know I'm the troublesome one, but really?! Giant wild animals?!

The wolf snorted, opening its eyes to stare at me. None of them moved as I shrieked and carried on, growing out of breath easily. Before I could run and call animal control -- or the military -- I found my ankles being tied up by a slithery body, one belonging to a snake. It curled up and around my leg, slithering toward my face. Fear shot through my body, and I felt myself tense up, my joints locking in place as I watched the snake move. It's face came close to mine, and I swore my heart stopped.

Then, I heard a growl. It was the wolf, the couch rumbling as its chest let out a deep sound. I froze further, unable to move as the snake descended and slithered toward the bear. The commotion caused them all to be alert, their eyes never leaving mine.

"I'm going to die," I thought aloud, staring back at the predators in front of me. I grew conflicted, unsure if I wanted to escape or not.

Tears brimmed on my eyes and I ran for the front. Instead of going for the door, I was diving for my bag -- and phone -- when the wolf leapt at me, knocking me to the floor.

Don't move, it growled, but this time, it took the form of English words in my mind. My tears overflowed as I began to panic, thrashing as I lost control of myself.

The only reason why I regained control were the teeth pressed against my neck. To subdue me, the wolf placed it's jaws around my throat and squeezed just enough for me to feel it. My heart pounded as I froze, feeling the thumping footsteps of the other animals coming toward the front.

Let's just knock her out.

Sure.

After that, there was a flash of pain, and it got dark.

The first thing I felt was rope. It was tied around every part of me, my wrists and ankles, but also around my legs and body. I couldn't even separate my thighs or move my arms from my sides. Once I could convince myself to open my eyes, I saw the dark ceiling of a moving van. Brief flashes of people appeared in the edge of my vision, but I couldn't turn my head to look at them. Something, like a collar, kept my neck pinned to the bottom of the vehicle, and pinched my skin every time I tried to turn my head.

"Must be one of us. She's awake already," someone muttered unhappily. Faces began to appear and stay in my line of sight. I could see two different people, both with unique hair colours, their eyes cold as they stared back at me. I flinched as someone grabbed my arm, holding me still as another began to loosen the collar. The second it was off, I began to breathe deeper, my neck raw from being pinched.

One of them pushed me up to sitting, allowing me to get a good look at the six adults around me. Four of them were intimidating women, while the other two were strangely handsome men. The women all had long, elegant bodies and shorter hair, the colours vibrant. On the other hand, the boys both seemed to prefer darker hair dye and were built like body builders. I felt like a shrimp around these people, but more scared than anything. After all, it did appear like they'd kidnapped me.

I exhaled through my mouth, trying to calm my heart. I didn't have a way to contact anyone, but I knew damn well I wouldn't give up and let some strangers cart me off to who knew where. Determination flowed through my veins as I set my goal; escape. Obviously, it would take some working on considering I was currently tied up, but I would figure it out.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice dry and raspy. One woman with neon pink hair and green eyes crossed her arms, lifting an eyebrow at me.

"Why should we tell you?"

"Do you know who I am?" I countered, frowning as she sighed. Normally people didn't kidnap others on a whim, but I didn't know exactly how crazy these six were.

One of the boys, a man with brown and stormy blue hair, crossed his arms and stared down at me. "You actually have a point. We want to know who you are," he admitted, glancing at his partners. They said nothing as he willingly gave away the fact that they were also uninformed.

"My name is Katrina Roberts. Who are you?" I answered. It wasn't like a name was hard to find when they had a face to match it to. The man chuckled dryly rubbing his hands over his eyes before glancing down at me, trying to decide whether I was downright stupid or rather clever.

"Ivan Koren," he introduced himself, "but I prefer Koren. I'm the wolf."

The wolf? I thought, tilting my head in confusion until a wave of nausea hit me and I leaned my head back onto the cold surface behind me. My head pounded as my own screaming echoed through my ears, followed by being knocked out cold by a wolf that was abnormally large.

My eyes widened and I stared at Koren, who grinned back at me. His eyes, whose colour I was unsure of, were now a sparkling black that caused my hands to shake. The pounding in my head worsened, something trying to break free. A memory, one long forgotten, trying to make itself known. Whoever had pushed me up to sit forced me back down, the collar clipping in around my neck. The metal was cool against my skin, but the second I began to thrash, it pinched and nipped at the raw flesh, and the pain caused my anger to increase.

"What the hell are you guys doing back there?" The driver yelled, the van screeching to a stop. Loud stomping caused me to freeze as the doors were yanked open, sunlight streaming into the trunk. I panted, breathing heavily, aching to be free of the collar.

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"Tying up a shifter? Really guys," the driver muttered, gentler footsteps coming my way. Another male, with bright orange hair, bent down near my face. His hands began to fiddle with something on the collar, and I felt the metal release for the second time. I shot up on my own, scrambling for the door whether I was tied or not.

A hand closed around the back of my shirt, holding me back. It was the same woman from before, the one with pink hair. She growled at me, pinning me against the wall of the van. Surprisingly, I'd noticed that the vehicle was painted blue instead of black, what I assumed it would be, and looked like a nice van from the outside. At least, that's what my momentary glance had told me.

Another woman slammed the doors shut, enclosing seven adults in the back of the van along with me, who was shaking as I stared back at the pink haired woman. Her pupils were dilated to the point where it was inhumane, her grip stronger than I'd anticipated.

"You need to calm down," she snarled in my face, "before I choke you into submission."

Kinky, my smartass mind thought, but I kept silent as I forced myself to relax. Everyone else was on edge too, but if they were alert, I had no chance of escaping.

"Better, Katrina?" Koren asked me as the woman stepped away, allowing me to slump against the wall. Beside him, the ginger, and Miss Pink, the others were equally strange. It was three males and four women. The other man had hair that was dyed cherry red, and his eyes were bright blue. The women were similar to Pinkie -- two were blondes, while one had dyed her hair to have blue highlights. Three out of the four of them had warm chocolatey eyes, while Pinkie was the special one with green eyes.

I huffed, crossing my arms and sliding down the wall until I was plastered against the wall.

This would take a lot of planning.

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