Author's Note: This was one of the most fun books to write because it blends the craze of social media influencers with the traditional horror of a werewolf monster. The story plays with the idea of people being negatively affected by too much "influencing", but also being unable to recognize or stop it.

Chapter 1

Riley Thompson stared out the car window as the small town of Ridgeview came into view. The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the sleepy streets, where neatly trimmed lawns and tidy houses lined the road. To anyone else, Ridgeview might have looked like the perfect place for a fresh start. But to Riley, it was just another town where she would struggle to fit in. Her mom, seated in the driver’s seat, glanced over with a smile.

“What do you think, Riley? It’s quiet, but it seems nice, right?” 

Riley shrugged, her eyes tracking a group of kids riding bikes down the street. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Inside, though, Riley was already feeling that familiar sense of unease. In every town they had lived, Riley had never quite felt like she belonged. Everything about her was just a little… off. She wasn’t even allergic to the same things as other kids—poison ivy, for instance, made her feel stronger, not itchy or sick. She had an odd knack for sensing things before they happened, and while other kids seemed to get a kick out of the latest trends, Riley found herself drawn to the strange and unusual.

Even her physiology was odd - her blood type was Rh-null - one of the rarest in the world. Her red hair and green eyes seemed to draw a lot of attention and comments, but all she ever wanted socially was to “blend in” and not be noticed. But here in Ridgeview, she was determined to keep her head down and just get through the school year. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could finally blend in.

As they drove through town, something began to catch Riley’s attention. Every few houses, she noticed posters with the same logo: a snarling wolf’s head in front of a bright yellow background. The words “Beast Mode” were emblazoned across the top in bold, jagged letters.

“Beast Mode?” Riley murmured, frowning as they passed a store window filled with T-shirts and merchandise sporting the same logo. 

Her mom chuckled. “I read about that online. It’s a popular YouWatch channel run by these three boys—Blake, Tanner, and Jax. Apparently, they do all sorts of wild stunts and give away a ton of money. The whole town is crazy about them.” 

“Great,” Riley muttered under her breath. 

Just what she needed—an entire town obsessed with something she didn’t understand or care about. They turned onto a quiet street lined with tall trees, and soon they arrived at their new house. It was a modest, two-story home with a small front yard and a porch swing that creaked in the breeze. Riley’s mom parked the car and turned to her with an

encouraging smile.

“This is it, Riley. A new start for both of us. I know it’s going to take some getting used to, but I really think we’re going to like it here.”

Riley forced a smile and nodded. 

“Yeah, Mom. It’ll be fine.”

But as she stepped out of the car and looked around the neighborhood, that feeling of being out of place only intensified. Across the street, a group of teenagers were hanging out on a lawn, laughing and talking animatedly. Each one of them was wearing something with the Beast Mode logo—hats, shirts, even a backpack. One of the boys was drinking from a can with the same snarling wolf’s head on it. 

“Hey!” one of the teens called out, noticing Riley. “You just move in?”

Riley nodded, giving a small wave. “Yeah, just now.”

“I’m Parker,” the boy said, jogging across the street with the can in hand. He was tall and lanky, with curly brown hair and a friendly grin. “Welcome to Ridgeview. We were just talking about the latest Beast Mode video. Do you watch it?”

“Uh, no,” Riley said, glancing at the can in his hand. “I’ve never seen it.”

Parker’s eyes widened in surprise. “No way! You’ve got to check it out. The Beast Bros are the coolest! They do all these crazy stunts, and their pranks are epic. Plus, they give away money all the time. And this,” he held up the can, “is their new energy drink—Beast Fuel. It’s supposed to give you a huge energy boost. You should try it!”

Riley shook her head, trying to smile politely. “Thanks, but I’m not really into that kind of stuff.” 

Parker looked taken aback, as if he couldn’t comprehend how anyone wouldn’t be interested in the Beast Bros. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. Everyone in town is into it. We even have Beast Mode Fridays at school, where everyone wears their merch. It’s a blast.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Riley said, hoping he would drop the subject.

Parker gave her a thumbs-up, still grinning. "Cool!

Maybe I’ll see you around. And seriously, check out the channel—it’s the best.”

With that, he jogged back across the street to rejoin his friends, who were still chatting excitedly about the latest video. Riley watched them for a moment, feeling a pang of

discomfort. She had barely arrived, and already she felt like an outsider.

Chapter 2

Everyone in this town seemed to be on the same wavelength, totally in sync with this Beast Mode craze. But for Riley, the idea of fitting in with a crowd that idolized a bunch of YouWatch pranksters just didn’t sit right. As she turned to head inside, her mom called out from the porch.

“Need any help with your bags, honey?”

“No, I got it,” Riley replied, grabbing her backpack from the backseat. She slung it over her shoulder and headed up the walkway, trying to push the nagging feeling of unease to the back of her mind. Inside, the house was cozy and welcoming, but Riley couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

As she unpacked her things in her new bedroom, she couldn’t stop thinking about the strange looks Parker had given her when she said she wasn’t into Beast Mode. It was as if he couldn’t understand how anyone could be different, how anyone could not be completely obsessed with the same things everyone else was.

Riley sighed as she sat down on her bed, staring out the window at the kids across the street. Maybe she could try watching one of their videos, just to see what all the fuss was about. But even as the thought crossed her mind, a part of her resisted. She didn’t want to conform to something just because everyone else was into it. She didn’t want to be like everyone else. 

After a while, Riley decided to take a walk to clear her head. She wandered through the quiet streets of Ridgeview, taking in the sights of her new town. As she walked, she noticed more and more Beast Mode posters, billboards, and even murals painted on the sides of buildings. The whole town seemed to be plastered with the snarling wolf’s head logo.

Eventually, Riley found herself near the town square, where a large crowd had gathered. Curious, she moved closer to see what was going on. In the center of the square, a massive screen had been set up, playing one of the Beast Mode videos on a loop. The crowd was watching intently, laughing and cheering at the pranks and stunts on the screen.

Riley stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as the Beast Bros—Blake, Tanner, and Jax—pulled off another over-the-top prank involving a giant water balloon and a trampoline.

The crowd erupted in laughter, but Riley just felt a deep sense of unease. Something about the whole scene felt… scripted and unnatural. It was almost like everyone was just faking excitement to get attention from a remote audience. As the video ended and the crowd began to disperse, Riley turned to leave, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. She glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her.

“Just your imagination,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she started to walk back home. As she rounded the corner near her house, Riley froze. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something move—a shadow, slipping between two houses. It was large, hunched over, and moving on all fours, like an animal. Riley’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned her head to get a better look. But whatever it was had already disappeared into the darkness. She stood there for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest, before shaking her head and forcing herself to keep walking.

“Just your imagination,” she repeated to herself, though she didn’t entirely believe it.

As she reached her front door, Riley glanced back over her shoulder, half-expecting to see something lurking in the shadows. But the street was empty, silent except for the distant hum of the town. With a final shiver, Riley stepped inside and locked the door behind her. She couldn’t explain it, but something about Ridgeview felt off—like there was something lurking just beneath the surface, something that no one else seemed to notice. 

And as she lay in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling, Riley couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was wrong with this town, it had something to do with Beast Mode.