Is this the beginning, or the end?

Jess stared out the window of the bus, the landscape a fortress of trees and shadows. She didn't really know where she was going, but she knew why she was on that bus. Several days before, she had posted on her social media that she wanted to try something new, someone suggested a trip, and then someone else made a thing for people to put places into, have it randomly draw on and then give her a bus ticket to there.

By the time she realized what had happened, the bus ticket was already in her account and all she had to do was scan the code at the station. Lucky for her she'd been fired from her job and had no other commitments, the ticket was a round trip set for a week later, so she just had to go there and spend a week and then she'd be back home in no time. Maybe with new stories to tell!

The friend of hers that made the program was nice enough to inform her what kind of weather she'd be having, so she was able to pack accordingly. On the ride to somewhere, she thought how crazy this was. Not knowing where you're going, being able to just get up and go, it's nuts, she thought.

"Miss?... Excuse me, miss?" Jess shook her head and turned towards the voice, somewhat dazed. "Sorry, yes?" The singular bus attendant was smiling at her kindly. `Who knew bus attendants were a thing anyway?` She thought to herself.

"We arrived at our destination a few minutes ago, is everything alright?" The attendant spoke softly, but clearly.

"Oh gosh! I'm such a spaz, I was lost in my head, thank you." The attendant nodded and walked off, checking the bus. Jess stretched and stood up, grabbed the bag she had with her and walked outside to the luggage side of the bus, retrieving her suitcase. She walked through the station and out into her new home for the week.

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As she walked through the doors she felt odd but couldn't explain why. There were storefronts, and the smell of food coming from restaurants, people were walking around and cars driving past. She pulled out her phone and brought up page that had the code for the bus ticket and clicked through to the hotel information, she followed the directions from the bus station to her hotel.

About a half hour of walking later she found herself in front of a beautiful hotel, a shiver went up her spine when she thought how much it would have cost and thanked her followers silently for paying it for her.

She made her way in, marveling at the architexture, the lighting and the smell wafting from the cafe to the right of the lobby. She walked up to the front desk and smiled at the clerk, placing her phone with the code on it in front of them.

"Good afternoon miss, did you have a nice trip?" The clerk asked as they processed the reservation. Jess thought for a moment before replying. "I certainly did! The drive here was very peaceful and the scenary was gorgeous! I was almost sad that the drive was over."

The clerks smile looked almost as if they understood but with a hint of sadness. Jess shook off that feeling as she was handed her room key and the given the basic directions, waved and walked off to her room.

After she got to her room, she settled in, unpacked and checked out the room and looked at the information menu on the table. She noted the restaurants, a few of the historical sights, a few local businesses that helped build the city, and an interesting little local legend.

She finished up her day, grabbed dinner at the cafe and then called it a night. She took a relaxing bath, found something good to listen to on the tv and then pulled out the book she brought with her. She read and listened to the tv as she waited for sleep to come to her, she almost fell asleep before setting the bookmark and placing the book down.

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The next morning she stretched and yawned, the sound she made at the end of it startling her. It didn't sound normal, making her worry she was getting a sore throat. She hopped up and went to the bathroom to look at her throat in the mirror but froze halfway through the door as she saw a large furred creature above the counter.

Her eyes widened, so did the creatures, she stepped back, the creature got smaller, she gasped, the creature seemed to be gasping silently. She slowly touched her cheek, feeling the fur as she watched the creature in the mirror mimic her movements, if her face had skin, it would have been ghost white, and then she passed out, her body smacking into the wall behind her and thudding onto the ground.

She awoke a few minutes later to urgent knocking on the door, the voice of the clerk she met yesterday evening ringing in her ears. "Miss, miss are you alright? Your neighbors to the left and under you reported a loud thud and bang and seeing as you came in alone, I wanted to come check on you. Miss, if you don't respond soon I'll be coming in!"

Jess groaned, rubbed the back of her head, her new large furred ears folded closer to her head from the clerks loud voice, much louder than it should have been in this situation. She stood and walked to the door, glancing through the peephole before reaching for the door handle, stopping just short of turning it.

`Oh yeah, just open the door while you look like a fuckin' beast, that won't cause ANY problems. Good job Jess, at it again!` She cleared her throat and tested her new voice gingerly. "U-uh yes, I'm okay, I think I was more exhausted from the trip than I thought and kinda fell asleep standing on the way back from the bathroom. Thank you for checking on me, I quite appreciate that."

She stared through the peephole at the clerk, who visibly relaxed and put on a sad smile. "I'm glad you're okay Miss, if you need anything just let me know, I've been assigned by my manager to be your tour guide if you need it. I know everything about this place, everything."

They blinked rapidly after they finished speaking, their eyes almost sorrowful. Jess thanked them and went back to the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. "What the hell are you, Jess and why does that clerk seem to know?"

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She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to process what's looking back at her. She reached for her new ears, conal triangles sticking up from the top sides of her head with little tufts of fur at the end. Then her hands shot forward, admiring the newly formed terrifyingly sharp claws that extended and then retracted as she flexed her hands. After she figured those out she looked at her eyes, slits in the hotel light, her previously brown eyes now a golden amber. She had a slightly pronounced snout and bared her new teeth, most of them have turned into large canines, similar to a dogs or tigers teeth. Her new fur covered every visible part of her body, the length of the fur changing based on location, with the hair on her head being replaced with a mane, her fur colors range from a dark red to a light brown.

She looked closely at her new fur, seeing patterns and stripes between the changing colors. She shook her head, took a shower and got dressed. Her stomach started growling and she groaned. "Great, I've got no food here and I look like this, the hell am I gunna do? Oh! Room service, thank god."

She ordered her food and had it left at the door so she could avoid anyone seeing her. She ate and tried to relax herself. Nothing good can come from panicking. "Okay, what I am doesn't matter, I know who I am. What matters is how this happened. Let's go through the checklist."

She gave her body a check over, inspecting for injuries, bites, injection marks. She tried her hardest to find spontaneous tattoos, or curse marks or something under her fur, parting it the best she could but she found nothing new. She wrote down everything that happened between now and yesterday morning.

She couldn't find anything out of the usual, no strange interaction, no weird strangers, no bad omens, no noticeably cursed items or locations. She ran her fingers through her mane and growled, tugging at her mane. The growl she made scared her, she instantly looked around for a wild animal before realize that she made the growl.

It was getting close to lunch time and she figured what the hell, she's seen some weird people in really weird costumes, maybe she'll win a random costume contest in the middle of spring. She went to the door, grabbed the handle, took a deep breath and then opened the door and stepped outside.

She walked down to the cafe, nodding at anyone who looked at her, but none of them seemed even mildly surprised at her appearance, which really confused her. She sat in the corner of the cafe and ordered her food and quietly ate lunch. No one who came to the cafe gave her more than a polite smile or nod with a glance.

Either the town she's in now is full of crazy shenanigans, or full of monsters, and she was beginning to think it was definitely full of monsters. If it was full of crazy shenanigans, people would be commenting on it amongst themselves, comparing things they've seen.

She paid for her food, left a tip and walked out, heading straight to the front desk hoping the same clerk from last night was there, and they were. She took a deep breath, got to the counter and let it out. The clerk started talking first.

"Good to see you again Miss, I'm sure your room was adequate and that you have some questions for me?" She looked up from her computer and smiled sadly at Jess.

"U-uh y-yes, yes I do. Why am I like this?" She was shocked that the clerk recognized her, but then it hit her, this has to be expected. She was expected to be turned into something, and the clerk knew as much yesterday and she wasn't allowed or capable of saying anything.

The clerk looked up and down Jess, admiring the visible fur, claws, and eyes. "Well Miss Jess, destiny is a funny thing, it's time for my break, let's go discuss this in the break room, do you mind?" Jess shook her head and then followed the clerk into the back and sat in a chair across from her.

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