Anna stared at her palm with a mixture of emotions. First was horror, at whatever this thing was. Second was fear, for it certainly looked like a mark. Third, panic. What could she possibly do?
     She had many more feelings, but these conquered them. She grabbed her wrist with her left hand, trying to stop from shaking. She couldn't panic, even if she wanted to; it would simply make the situation worse. The spot was right in the center of her palm, about the size of a half dollar. It's edges were fuzzy, spanning out like water.
     Maybe it was nothing? It was a light brown color, darker in the middle. It looked a little like henna, although darker and sloppier. Gathering her thoughts, Anna proceeded to try and wash it again.
     It came out the same, except now it was the size of a silver dollar, and a darker brown. She rubbed it frantically, but it wouldn't budge. She was a few seconds away from terror. Her mind whirling, and she fell back on the grass. She had no idea what to do. Was it a mark? Probably. If only the books had more information on them, pictures, something, she was sure she would know.
     Hand still shaking, Anna took a look at it again. Gasping, she noticed it was still growing. It was now much larger then it had been, trailing like ink on coarse paper. It had almost reached her fingers. It was like color underneath her skin, something she couldn't stop. She helplessly sat and watched it spread.
     It stopped, finally, at her fingers. Some of the color trailed slightly up them, but for the most part they were untouched. But her palm was pure color. It wasn't like paint, on the surface. It was something under the skin, or maybe it was the skin.
     Anna flipped her hand over a few times, flexed her fingers, and made a fist. It was a little sore, but otherwise everything seemed fine. Yeah, sure. Fine...
     It had deepened in color, and was now an endless black. It didn't even brown at the edges; it was just black. She shivered as she looked at it. It was frightening just to do that, even if she thought it wasn't a mark.
A mark. She shivered again. What now? She wasn't to be another nameless person, taken from her home and family, never to be heard from again. How can I have a mark of I've never shifted, she asked herself. It didn't make sense. But, then again, when it came to marks, nothing did.
She wrung her hands, not wanting to look at the right. She self consciously looked over her shoulder, half expecting Shifters Inc. agents to jump out from the nearest bush, ready to haul her off. But no one was there, only a few birds, maybe some small animals hiding in the brush, and Pepper off to the side.
Letting out a large breath, she examined her hand again.
But it was gone. The entire, terrible, black spot was gone. She quickly turned both her hands over a few times, not believing it. This couldn't have been a dream, or illusion. She rubbed at her eyes, although they weren't foggy or dim. The mark was simply gone.
She clasped her hands together, and rolled on the grass. Whatever it was, she was free of it. Her panic was gone, her fear, her dread of what was to happen.
But, when she unclasped her hands, it was back. Bold as ever, black as coal. She would have almost been annoyed, if she wasn't so scared. It must be some sort of illusion, she told herself. What else could it be? It came, then left, then came back. Maybe I am still asleep.
Before she could think anymore, Pepper tromped up to her. He pushed her back, almost causing her to fall into the pond. She quickly jumped to the side, forgetting her fear for a moment. Now she was focused again on her naughty horse. He padded up to her, obviously asking for another treat...or perhaps a spank, if he wasn't careful. Anna, glad for the distraction, grabbed another piece of candy for him. Using her left hand she unwrapped it, then put it on her marked one. But, as she hovered her left over her right, the mark disappeared.
What?! Anna's mind whirled. She moved it over again; the mark reappeared. I feel like someone from Star Wars, she thought. She moved it over once more, and it disappeared. At least I can hide it...
Pepper, eager and impatient for his treat, was somewhat upset that she chose to wave her hand over the other, instead of feed him. Seeing his chance, he tried to gently grab the peppermint. It didn't work out that well. He pinched the skin on her hand, half on the side and half on the palm, drawing Anna away from her thoughts. Gasping, she pushed Pepper away, who scurried to the other side of the meadow. Anna dunked her hand in the pond, hoping the cool water would sooth it. It helped, some, but not much. She brought it back out, wanting to see what he had done to it.
There was an angry looking mark over most of her palm, and some of the side of her right hand. It wasn't deep, but enough to show. She wanted to yell at Pepper, but it wasn't really his fault; she should have been paying more attention while feeding him.
But the actual bite wasn't the worst part. Where it spanned across the side was a normal redish-pink, with some blood in certain spots. But where the mark was, well, that was a different story. It was as black as itself, even if the mark wasn't showing. And the blood that came from it, there was a great deal more, was as dark as ink. She wasn't able to hide that. It dripped down her palm slowly, landing in the water with a small splash. It spanned out in the water much longer then it should have, then faded and disappeared.
"Okay..." Anna said out loud, breaking the silence. She hadn't spoken a word this whole time, and her voice was cracked and dry. She clutched at her hand, trying to stop the bleeding. Another drop fell to the earth, this time onto the grass. It burned right through it, the grass sizzling and smoking. Anna jumped back, surprised. The black-blood stuff was definitely strange, but it don't feel as though it could burn her.
Another drop fell, despite her efforts. Again the grass burned, almost creating a small fire. She quickly, without thinking, put her hand over it. She felt no heat, no pain, and it was instantly extinguished. She glanced at her hand, it was her left, and only found a few grass-ashes on it, which quickly blew away on the breeze. She shivered. Violet has to come, she thought. Anna knew she could trust Violet, definitely. And, at this point, she wasn't sure how she hadn't kept from fainting.
Wiping her hand on her pants, which she noticed didn't burn, she ran over to her sack. She pulled her phone out with her left hand, and sloppily texted to Violet.
"Violet are u ther."
"Yes, and what happened, Miss Grammar?" Violet texted back with lightening speed. Anna ignored her comment.
"R u busy"
"No, and I hope your not doing this to remind me of my bad texting reputation." Anna rolled her eyes despite herself.
"No r u free can u com up to the medo"
"Yes..."
"Bring yor stuf."
"Ok...at this point, a pack of wolves couldn't stop me." Anna laughed a bit. She knew Violet's curious nature would get the best of her.
It wasn't even half an hour when Violet came galloping up. She quickly shifted back, her hair frizzed and her face red. She had a huge backpack with her, yet despite its bulk it was somehow still fashionable. Average Violet.
"So, what was the crazy grammar about?" She asked, slinging her pack down beside Anna's, but first taking out an apple to share with Pepper.
"Your going to freak out." Anna said, way past the point of butterflies in her stomach.
"Oh my gosh!" Violet jumped a little, then rolled on the grass. "Josh asked you out?!" Anna couldn't help but smack herself with her palm, mistakenly her right one. She cursed, out loud, for the first time in her life. It was a shifter curse, quite a bad one, too. She widened her eyes and clasped her left hand over her mouth, utterly surprised at what she just said. Violet was now sitting straight up, looking as shocked as she was.
"So...he did?"
Anna had to keep from slapping her face again.
"No, Violet," she tried to calm herself down, "and sorry."
"It's okay." She waved her hand slightly. "I'm afraid that after listening to so much gossip, I know them all."
"...That's not very reassuring." Anna stated dryly.
"So, what do you have to say!" Violet was still hyper. "Is it juicy?!" Obviously this mornings caffeine had yet to wear off.
"Violet, this is serious. No," she quickly stopped Violet as she saw her mouth open, about to speak. "This isn't gossip. It's practically a life or death problem." Anna wondered how true that statement was.
"Okay. Not gossip." Anna could visibly see Violet trying to calm herself down. "I'm not great at handling life problems that aren't gossip...but I can, I promise."
"Thanks." Anna gave a corner smile. "I know you can."
"So...?!" Violet asked. She was still energetic, even if it wasn't gossip. They were huddled close together on the grass, voices hushed. At least, Anna's was.
"Okay." Anna tried to calm her breathing. "You know...marks?"
"Oh my gosh who has one?!" Violet's face fell, and she shuffled closer. "Someone in your family?!"
"...Sort of." Anna winced. She was sure Violet had guessed it. And yet... maybe not.
"Who." Violet breathed, eyes wide and back, her horse side showing. It looked as though she was going to shy backwards and bolt. Anna tried not to swallow loudly, or drag this out any longer then necessary.
"...Me."