3 The Screens

"....staa-ay away from the screens!"

"they're gonna get you!"

"I just want you to live as normal as you can"

"the screens are cursed!"

"if you're on the screen, you're doomed"

"look at me! How do you think I became like this!"

"they will know...they will capture you on screen"

"they will know who you are from your eyes..."

"they will wipe us all out!"

Kismet hurled the blanket across the room, startled by the dream. It was still the same dream. Ten years ago, however, those words were spoken by none other than Kismet's mom.

Aliana had purple eyes, but as her condition got worse, they became rimmed with a band of red instead of its usual gold when the full moon is approaching. Kismet still felt how those eyes bore unto hers with a mixture of sadness, fear and regret. The dream felt very real.

She got off the bed, washed her face and studied her eyes in the mirror. The gold rim in her startling green eyes were getting wider now. Full moon is next week, and unlike when she was younger, the change in her eyes is more prominent. Back then, the gold rim was thin, the green more like olive than emerald.

She carefully took a pair of contacts from her vanity. Those were a mousy brown color and suits her year-round golden tan. She put it on to hide the true color of her eyes. Then she set off to make her breakfast.

A knock on the door of her dorm room startled her. She peeked at the hole and saw it was a little girl, about eight or nine. Kismet opened it.

"Hi!" the little girl beamed. "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"

Kismet was taken aback by the girl's offer. For no reason she saw in her mind the red color. "Uh, I don't-uh, okay," she mumbled. "How much are those?"

"It's $3 a pack, miss." The little girl remained polite and sweet. The red that seemingly flashed before Kismet's mind-eye was gone, too. "I'll take one", she said, fumbling in her pockets for money. Good thing she already changed into jeans before opening the door. She tool the cookies, and thanked the girl.

The girl left, and Kismet just forgot about the red flash as she started to get ready for school.

Kismet entered the computer rentals albeit reluctantly. She had not completely sworn off screens like her late mother wanted her to do, but she restricted herself to purely email. No social media profile of any sort that would give away her werewolf nature. Her friends from their last home thought that Kismet was simply backward-thinking for not having a social media presence, but they called her on her cellphone and landline anyways. Kismet did not own a computer yet; she was saving for it to use in school, but for now, she'll make do with the rentals.

She asked the attendant for a vacant pc. There was one luckily, next to a person in a green hoodie.

She tried to access Telegram's website, and proceeded to the signup page. It's ok, she told herself. No pictures. But her heart is pounding, as her mother's screams reverbrated through her head. "The screens are cursed!" She felt agitated even more when the person next to her dropped something that rolled to her feet.

A male voice then said, "Uh, excuse me, can you please get my pen? It's under your cubicle, near your feet."

"Uh, uh-oh...here it is," she said as she handed the pen to the guy next to her cubicle. Their eyes met-his was a cool blue, a normal blue. Kismet did a second take as the guy did not look like the kind of guy who should have blue eyes. He had almond eyes, porcelain skin-his face looked poreless-and his hair seemed to be jet-black as they peeked from under his hoodie.

"Thanks, I was just about to leave.See you around," the guy said and stood up, leaving Kismet wide-mouthed in awe. He was soooo handsome!

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