Amber's foot struck through the ball again, clean and violent, the impact echoing across the empty pitch as it tore through the cold air and slammed into the net hard enough to rattle the frame.
She didn't slow down.
Another ball. Another run-up. Another strike.
Her breath came fast, but not strained, heat coiling under her skin in a way the night couldn't touch, her bare forearms exposed to the cold like it was nothing more than background noise.
Not thinking about it. Not tonight. Absolutely not tonight.
She set the next ball down with unnecessary force and stepped back, rolling her shoulders once before driving forward again.
The shot went higher, harder, the net snapping tight on impact.
"Cool," she muttered under her breath. "Great. Very therapeutic. Definitely fixing whatever the fuck this is."
She grabbed another ball.
Don't call it anything. If you name it, it becomes a whole thing.
She lined it up, adjusted her stance, and kicked.
Harder.
The ball screamed off her foot, cutting through the dark like it had somewhere urgent to be, slamming into the goalpost with a hollow metallic crack before rebounding out across the pitch.
She exhaled sharply through her nose.
"Again," she said, to no one.
She jogged out, retrieved it, set it back down.
Her movements were efficient, controlled, just slightly too sharp at the edges.
This is fine. This is normal. People go outside and kick things when they're—
She cut that thought off before it finished forming.
Run-up.
Strike.
Harder.
The ball hit the net and dropped, rolling back toward her feet like it was asking for it.
She didn't hesitate.
She planted and drove through it with everything she had.
The moment of contact felt different, something in the resistance giving way too easily, and then the ball didn't travel at all.
It burst.
The sound was wrong, a sharp, violent pop that echoed louder than any impact before it, fragments of synthetic leather snapping outward as the internal pressure blew apart under the force of her kick.
The remains collapsed at her feet, deflated and torn open, seams split wide like something forced past its limit.
Amber stood there, her leg still extended slightly from the follow-through, staring down at what was left.
The field went quiet around her, the absence of the ball's usual recoil leaving a strange, hollow pause in its place.
She lowered her foot slowly.
For a second, she didn't move at all.
Her gaze stayed fixed on the wreckage, on the jagged edges where the material had split, on the way it hadn't even tried to hold together under the force she'd put through it.
There was no satisfaction in it.
Just a flat, dull weight settling somewhere under her ribs, heavier than the frustration she'd been trying to burn off, heavier because it hadn't gone anywhere, just shifted shape.
She hadn't meant to hit it that hard.
She dropped down onto the cold grass without thinking, the damp seeping through the thin fabric of her shorts as she braced her hands behind her and tilted her head back, dragging in a breath.
"Okay," she said quietly. "Cool. Love that for me."
Her chest rose and fell, steadying.
Something wet slipped down the side of her face.
She froze.
"…no," she said, immediate and certain.
Her hand came up, brushing under her eye, fingertips coming away damp.
She stared at them.
"Absolutely not," she muttered, a short, disbelieving laugh slipping out right after. "We are not doing this. We are not crying over a football."
She huffed another laugh, shaking her head at herself. "That's… wow. That's actually impressive. New low."
The laugh lingered a second longer than it needed to, then faded.
A click cut through the quiet.
A beam of light snapped on behind her, bright and sudden, sweeping across the pitch before settling on her back.
"Hey!" a voice called. "You're not supposed to be out here this late!"
Amber didn't move.
She stayed exactly where she was, back still turned, shoulders loose but unmoving.
"Fields are closed after hours," the man continued, his footsteps crunching faintly over patches of snow as he approached. "You need to head back to your dorm."
She said nothing.
"Did you hear me?" he added, closer now, the flashlight beam tightening on her. "Come on, get up."
She remained still.
There was a pause.
Then his tone sharpened. "Alright, that's enough. Stand up and face me. What's your name?"
Her fingers curled slightly against the grass.
He stepped closer.
"Hey," he said, irritation creeping in. "I'm talking to you."
The light shifted as he moved, the beam angling over her shoulder.
"Up," he said, reaching out. "Now."
His hand landed on her shoulder.
She moved.
Her hand snapped up, fingers closing around his wrist before he could react, the bones shifting under her grip as pressure spiked instantly.
There was a sharp, wet crack.
He screamed.
Amber rose in the same motion, turning, her posture unfolding upward as her body expanded, muscles distorting and stretching, bones lengthening with a series of rapid, sickening snaps as fur burst through her skin in a ripple of gray and white.
The world seemed to shrink around her as she grew, her head lifting higher, shoulders and hips broadening, her form settling into something towering and unmistakably inhuman.
Eight feet of muscle and fur, her silhouette blocking out the weak beam of his flashlight as it dropped from his hand and clattered uselessly to the ground.
At the crown of her head, streaks of pink cut through the gray, the color stark against the rest of her coat.
He stumbled backward, clutching his ruined hand, his face twisting in terror.
"W-what the—"
Amber tilted her head, lips pulling back to reveal rows of sharp, gleaming teeth, her expression almost curious.
"Oh," she said, her voice deeper now, edged with something that wasn't even trying to sound human. "Now you're all humble again."
He tripped, falling onto his back, scrambling away from her.
"Please," he choked. "Please, I didn't—"
"Didn't what?" she cut in, stepping forward, each movement deliberate, heavy. "Didn't realize who you were bothering? Didn't realize you should maybe not put your hands on strangers in the dark?"
He shook his head rapidly, panic spilling over. "I'm sorry, it's my job, I'm sorry—"
She crouched slightly, bringing herself closer to his level, her eyes gleaming a bright, predatory amber.
"You get paid enough for this?" she asked lightly, almost conversational. "For walking up to things that could kill you and telling them to go back to bed?"
He sobbed, the sound breaking apart in his throat.
"Because if not," she continued, smile widening, "this feels like a really bad career choice."
He tried to crawl backward, his movements clumsy and desperate.
She let him.
For a second.
Then she moved.
Fast.
Her hand shot out, catching him by the collar, lifting him off the ground like he weighed nothing at all, his legs kicking uselessly in the air.
He screamed again.
"Yeah," she said, almost cheerfully. "That sounds about right."
She pulled him closer, her grip tightening, claws pressing into fabric and flesh alike.
"In the next life" she added, her voice dropping just slightly, "maybe think about whether it's worth it."
Then she tore.
It was quick.
Brutal.
The body came apart under her hands with a series of wet, tearing sounds, blood spilling out in a sudden, violent rush that painted the ground beneath her in dark, glistening streaks.
Silence followed.
For half a second.
Then Amber laughed.
It started low, a breathy huff, then built, rising into something brighter, sharper, almost giddy as she dropped what was left and stepped back, looking at the mess she'd made.
"Oh my god," she said, grinning wide, the sound of it breaking into a giggle. "Okay, that was— that was actually kind of fun."
She stepped forward again, nudging part of him with her foot, watching it shift across the grass.
"This is such a bad idea," she added, not sounding like she believed that at all.
She spun once, light on her feet despite her size, a small, almost playful movement that sent droplets scattering.
"Look at this," she said, gesturing vaguely at the carnage. "I should not be enjoying this as much as I am."
Another laugh slipped out, bright and unrestrained.
***
The hand on her shoulder tightened.
"Hey!" the guard snapped, much closer now. "I said—"
Amber blinked.
The world snapped back into place.
Her hand wasn't wrapped around his wrist.
There was no blood.
No body.
No torn mess at her feet.
She was still sitting on the grass, his hand resting on her shoulder, whole and unbroken.
Her eyes flicked down to it for a fraction of a second.
"Get your fucking hand off me," she said, low and sharp, every word precise. "If you want to live."
The man froze.
She stood in one smooth motion and turned to face him.
Up close, the changes were smaller, contained, her eyes holding only a faint amber tint, her canines just slightly longer than they should be, visible when her lip curled.
Recognition hit him instantly.
"Oh— shit," he said, stepping back, his hand dropping away like it had burned him. "Amber, is it? I— I didn't realize it was you."
"Yeah," she said flatly. "You do now."
"I'm sorry," he added quickly, hands lifting slightly in a placating gesture. "I didn't mean— I was just—"
"Scram," she cut in.
He didn't argue.
"Right. Yeah. Sorry," he said again, already backing away, turning and heading off the pitch at a pace just shy of running.
The beam of his flashlight swung wildly for a moment before disappearing entirely as he left.
Amber watched him go for a second, then turned back and dropped down onto the grass again, the same spot, the same posture as before.
The field settled into silence.
No voices.
No movement.
Just the faint whisper of wind moving over the open space, the distant hum of the campus far beyond the pitch.
The cold was still there, a fact of the world she registered without feeling, the damp grass pressing against her skin, the torn remains of the ball lying a few feet away.
She stared out across the dark field, her breathing steady again.
For once, nothing interrupted the quiet.
It stretched.
Held.
And somewhere under all the noise she refused to look at, something small and honest slipped through anyway.
She wished it were this quiet inside her head too.