Chapter One

It was the first time I had felt such intense emotions. The guilt, hate, desperation, and hopelessness. It was difficult to cope and I could hardly think properly. It was difficult breathing and controlling my tears. Just a simple thought could make me break down again. After a long time, I was finally able to control my emotions but I was mentally exhausted and my body was terribly sore.

I died in a house fire trying to rescue the children. I remembered how they were crying and clinging to me. How I pulled their bodies close to me as a part of the ceiling fell. How when I died, there was nothing but black. Before I awoke I remembered feeling strange, but I couldn't remember it clearly now.

It was dark and it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the little lighting. A cave. I noticed a small river nearby, which somehow illuminated the cave. I dragged myself to the river, some small pebbles and dust rubbed against me. I felt an odd sensation in my neck. As if a limb was numb and being dragged across with the rest of me. My breathing was heavy and rather ragged. My mouth was dry and my lungs burned every time I took a breath. 

As soon as I reached the river, I stuck my face in. The water was a little cold but the flow of it against my face felt wonderful. Some pieces of hair fell in and stuck to my face but I could care less. After a moment, I lifted my head up and took a few breaths before lapping at the water.

I stared at the water with blurry vision before my eyes adjusted to the mysterious lighting. There was barely enough light but I could somehow see the reflection of a teen boy. The face was rather androgynous. But the eyes were a little scary. The irises were of three different colors: light green, dark purple, and light red in a mysterious swirling pattern with no pupil but three small black spots in them.

A pinch suddenly rose up to my neck. When I turned my head a bit, I noticed that there were long tentacles attached to both sides of my neck. The tentacles were the same color as the irises, beginning with dark green going on with light purple before ending in light red.

I stared at the face in the water, shocked and confused. I bent down and laughed a little. I was surely dead. Now I was in another person's, or creature's, body.

I lifted my head and looked at the eyes again. I wished the irises could be of a different color. Slowly the colors began to swirl and mix into a gentle brown color. My mouth parted a little and I bent down closer to the water. I stared at them again, attempting to replicate what happened. It didn't work.

A thought crossed my mind. Did it change only when I wished for it too. I stared at the tentacles. I wished for it to retract or disappear. A sharp jolt of pain snapped across my neck, I plummeted my face into the water. The pain didn't end but continued to increase as the tentacles slowly retracted into my neck. I attempted to lift my head but pain shot across my neck and face. Slowly spreading to the rest of my body.

I slowly began to descend into the water. As soon as I was fully submerged into the water, the current carried me away. The current was surprisingly fast. I bumped my head against something hard.

I coughed up water. My eyes slowly readjusted to my surroundings. It was an abyss with multiple cave entrances. Three waterfalls gushed thereby, its water disappearing with no sound of crashing. I laid on a bridge of rock, my head just over the edge, almost perpendicular to the rest of my body.

I lifted my head, my neck incredibly sore. I came to stop, wide eyed. A white half paw half hand-like object was pressed against my chest. As I followed the hand upwards, I noticed it was connected to a skinny white limb. It was a rather odd looking creature.

It was table-like. Maybe around three meters tall with four limbs all thin and spread out. It had two joints, attached to its shoulders and the end of its hand. The creature was practically all skin and bones but its face is what surprised me. Its face was human-like but just holes for a nose, white popping eyeballs, and a thin, practically lipless, mouth.

It opened its jaw. It opened it almost eight inches before closing it again. It did that a few more times before making sounds.

"U,uh… uh.. n.. y… yo," it sounded. It closed its jaw for a minute before opening it again. "Y-you ha-ve transformed?"