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I sat alone in my dorm room in front of the computer one Thursday night after class, tooling away on the internet and thought about the wolf that had attacked me and my friends as we were walking one night. I hadn't felt at all well since I'd been bitten, but I'd had my rabies shots and all the other appropriate vaccinations for normal wolf-bite scenarios. This wasn't a normal wolf-bite scenario. I leaned back in the chair and looked out the window. I was having difficulty getting my thoughts together, and I was feeling agitated. The full moon seemed different that night, more alluring, brighter than usual. All of a sudden I felt as though someone had struck a match on my brain. I fell out of the chair, clutching my head, and drooling slightly. I wiped my mouth and tried to stand up.
I looked back at the moon, and that's when it felt as though who ever struck that match on my brain had used it to set my skin on fire. I was shaking, almost convulsing, and I backed against the wall, sat under the poster of Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan in "Sin City" and pulled my clothes off. It didn't make it any easier to breathe, as my chest was now heaving as I tried to force air into my lungs. I watched as the nails on my shaking hands grew and thickened into claws, and so I held my arm steady and walked over to the computer, and turned on the camera program so I could see what I looked like without risking one of my suite mates walking in on me in the bathroom if I had checked the mirror. I was able to see my teeth grow out into fangs. I felt faint, and braced my hands on the desk and let my head fall limp. I felt fur growing in at various points all over my body, and I cried out, feeling the tears run down my face as my feet stretched out, turning me digitigrade. My muscles tightened and expanded, and the fur grew thicker and thicker, warm dull gold and white fur covering all but my face. My pain grew into a symphony of agony, I listened to my bones pop as my tail took shape, growing from my vestigial tailbones, renewing their purpose.
I looked at my laptop screen and saw that my face was stretching into a muzzle, that my ears were becoming pointy, and that my nose was turning black and cold. I screamed again, listening to the sound of my voice shift into that of a beast, and at last, when the changes were mercifully over, I fell to the ground, feeling the cold air on my bare skin and fur. When my strength returned, I shakily stood, beholding what the camera was taking in. I looked myself over, the cruel, hard, sculpted musculature, the thickness of my legs, but the graceful digitigrade shape of them, and my arms set with gleaming claws. I opened my mouth and saw the powerful fangs, the long tongue. I put up my hands and felt my head. It was real.
"This can't be..." I thought. I tried to speak, but my mouth and throat could only manage barks and whines. That's when I knew that everything was about to get a hell of a lot more difficult. Far from a calm frame of mind, I had but two drives: first, seek help and second, but more urgent, find food. "The transformation into my new form must have consumed a vast load of calories in order to fuel the change." I reasoned. I knew that if I were spotted in the form I was in, I'd likely be killed, and that my body was crying out for sustenance, and I couldn't just wait it out. Another possibility I had determined was that maybe I wasn't a werewolf, perhaps I was never going to change back, instead just become more and more bestial, until at last, not a shred of my humanity was left. I decided to risk seeking food, and possibly, help.
I grabbed my keys and strode towards the door, amazed by how fast I was getting used to my new shape. I leaned in and attempted to look through the door's peephole, almost forgetting my muzzle, and bumped my nose against the door. I turned side ways and looked kiddy corner through, and saw no one. I walked out and locked the door, risky, yes, but I didn't want any evidence that anything strange had happened. My eyes adjusted quickly to the inky darkness before me, and I lowered to all fours, that way, I could insure I'd be moving more stealthily. My nose picked up all manner of smells from the hallway, and at this point, I loathed with renewed passion, the presence of all the sweaty jocks on my floor. Normally, it was almost undetectable, but it was so strong to my canine olfactory sense that I was tearing. A new smell presented itself, liquor. And it was getting stronger. I could also hear voices from the stairwell, coming closer. I heard them speaking to each other.
"Tiffany... you... you so crazy girl... you crazy."
"Like, shut up, Janinininin... Jane... Jan...Jani... like, Omigod, I totally can't say your name! I am like, SO ducking frunk."
"'Janine'... You can say 'dat. Tiffany, my friends all said white girls can't hold they liquor. They was right..."
"I'm your friend, right, Janine? Hey, I said it!"
"*****, shut up... you gon' get us in trouble... yo' skinny loud a**... An' yes, you my friend."
"Oh thank God, they're drunk!" I thought. "They might not remember if they see me!" The door opened and the dynamic duo laid their glazed eyes on me.
"Omigod you are so cuuuuuute!" said Tiffany, hugging me. On all fours, to a blitzed college student, I imagine I looked somewhat like a big dog. "Janine, he has no tags, can we keep him?"
"Now how the hell are we gon' do that? Tiffany, get yo' dumb*** off that thing. Ugly motha****a prolly got fleas or heart worm or some ****. You know ain't no pets allowed in the dorms anyway."
"I'll totally take like, full responsibility and stuff. He's so cute... and look, he's all alone an' he's hungry, I can hear his stomach rumbling..." she said, pressing her head against my gut. I tried my best not to become aroused through this or just the sheer nervous tension I was feeling. I played up the act, staring sadly at Janine.
"An' what you suppose we feed him anyway?"
"I dunno. I can sneak in dog food."
"An' what about walking? Or when he's gotta take a ****? What then?"
"I don't care! I'm keeping him an' there's nothing you can say to make me change my mind!"
"I'm only agreein' to this to shut yo' dumb a** up. 'C'mon, girl, we on the wrong floor." I was brought to their room, and given some jerky that Tiffany bought somewhere. All I could do was try to figure out how to escape. Still drunk, they changed, and both went to bed. When I figured they were both asleep, I inched toward the door. Tiffany awoke from a nightmare, and saw me crawling toward the door.
"Hey Cody..." she said sleepily. I figured Cody was what she'd decided to name me. "Hey Cody... you can't sleep either, huh? Let mommy make it all better." she climbed down from her loft bed and wrapped her blanket around me. I hadn't noticed Tiffany or what she'd supposedly put on after changing, but it was clear now. She had forgotten to put her pajamas on in her drunken haze. She didn't even notice. Neither had I, I was watching Janine, who was just taking her time in everything that night. Now I was screwed. She had her arm and her head on me. If I tried to get away, I ran the risk of waking her up. I was so tired... the first transformation had worn me out, and it was getting harder and harder to summon the energy to move, let alone keep my eyes open. I fell asleep amidst the protests of my common sense. I awoke with my eyes closed, still far too tired to open them. I thought for a while, that I was back in my own bed, the warm sunlight just reaching me.
"Oh, thank God, it was all just a dream." Then I felt an arm draped over me, and realized that it wasn't a dream. "Marvelous, I'm on the floor naked under a blanket with a nude girl who likely has no recollection of the night before and who under the circumstances is going to probably assume we had sex. My clothes are back in MY room, and I haven't called my folks in... God knows how long. Great. ****ing spectacular. Let the lying begin." I thought. A piercing scream behind me awoke Janine, and soon I was on the spot, feeling her and Tiffany's respective death glares as she seized the blanket, leaving me naked, afraid, and vulnerable in the middle of the room, trying desperately to cover myself with my hands.
"Like, who are you?" Tiffany asked, furiously.
"Y-you don't remember?" I asked, faking surprise. "You wanted to take me back to your room when I met you at the bar.
"I thought you were Samoan last night."
"Yeah, I think I saw her talkin' to a Samoan, or somethin' last night."
"Oh, well, we were all pretty drunk last night, Janine." I said, laughing nervously.
"This is pretty serious... do you have any diseases?" Tiffany asked me.
"I really don't think we had sex. Though we are naked, I don't think we had sex. I'd know. You'd be able to smell it."
"Well, okay... I guess. Hey, where's Cody? Cody?"
"You did find my dog, come to think of it. I was at the bar asking around, and..."
"You were talking about like, a boat last night."
"Well, I wasn't the Samoan guy. We talked too, you probably just don't remember."
"Well... uh... what's yo' name?" Janine asked.
"Alex."
"Well, Alex, if the dog's yours, where is it now?"
"Oh, I called my parents and they picked it up. Real nice and quiet-like."
"Okay... but where you clothes at? 'Cuz you butt-nekkid an' I don't see any of your clothes anywhere."
"To tell you the truth, they're back in my room."
"Umm... I have a robe. He can like, wear it and I'll follow him back to his room. He can get dressed there and I'll like, take the robe back."
"Well, okay, Tiffany. But you best not be too long, 'cuz yo' mama'll be back for you at twelve." I looked at the clock. 11:15! Tiffany walked me back to my room in her tiny robe. I pulled the hood up and hid my face.
"Your dog is like, big and stuff. What kind is he?"
"He's a wolf-hound golden retriever great dane, et cetera... mix. He's basically everything. There might be some horse in there. We don't know."
"Omigod you are so FUNNY! ... Um... hey... Alex?"
"Uh... yes?"
"I like your beard."
"Beard?" I wondered. "What beard? I don't have a..." I saw my reflection in the full length mirror in the hall. "Damn." I got in to the room, dressed, gave Tiffany back the robe and proceeded down to the dining commons, where I ate until it hurt. I called my family on the phone, saying I'd explain everything another time, but that I was fine. I then began to wonder how I'd break the news to those I could trust...