I cower near the toilet, scared out of my fricking mind as the door opens, hoping to everything holy that she would not freak out, which is stupid considering who would not freak out when they see an animal in a room where they initially left a human in?But to my utter surprise, when Estelle opens the door, she does not scream or throw anything at me.Instead, she blinks.Once.Twice.And then she opens her mouth to say, “Oh.”I blink at her. What did she mean oh? There’s a fricking dog creature in her bathroom and no sign of a human, the human that came to her house naked in the middle of the rain! Why does she look so calm and curious? Why is she looking at me like this was every other Tuesday in her life? I feel so confused that a whine falls from my throat, and that seems to snap her out of her contemplative stare.“I didn’t realize that you were one of them,” she tells me in a confused tone, brows furrowed, “I mean, it’s not like I’m new to this, I should’ve been able to smell y
“Oh, fuck!” I let out as I spring away from where I’d been lying with my head on Estelle’s lap. “Holy shit, I’m normal! I’m normal!”I pat at my body, and sure enough, it’s two-legged, hairless, and my hands are actually my hands! With fingers and pink skin, with only some fine hair on my forearms, and no black fur in sight!I immediately look behind me, and nearly cry in relief when I see that I have a normal, human posterior, not one with a tail.And to my surprise, my clothes are still intact though I had ripped them when I had turned into a dog, but they were still here. Thank God, because I did not fancy getting naked for the second time today.“I did not think that would happen,” Estelle comments, and I turn to her. She doesn’t look too shocked at my reappearance as a human. She stands up from where she had been sitting, brushing off her pants as if on habit before turning to me with a smile, “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t call that hospital.”I stare at her for a moment, won
Rain fell from the skies, splattering loudly on the warm asphalt of the road. It mixed with the stench of burned rubber and garbage stocked on either side of the alleyway. The alleyway is empty except for the lonely cat who had taken shelter inside a garbage can under an upturned cardboard box. The cat’s glistening amber eyes stare at me, and I stare back, unwilling to get up from where I lay even though the rain is making my clothes all soggy. My whole body hurts from the beating I took, and I’m pretty sure there are cuts on my face, given how it fucking hurts when I try to move my mouth a little. The water flowing down the road is dangerously close to rising to be leveled with my mouth.Because I did not fancy taking a gulp of road-washed water, disregarding the pain in my body from the blossoming bruises, I shake myself and get up.Each step I take toward the direction of the road hurts. The rain gets harder and harder as I trudge towards the miserable building my studio apartment
The new school year is here.The first class of the day is Economics, so I make my way to the lecture hall and take a seat in the back. I love Economics, mostly because Stone and his goons don’t take this particular class.As the lecture is about to start, a girl comes running towards me. She’s very pretty with curly black hair and hazel eyes. I’ve never seen her before, but I can’t help but feel myself blush as she comes near where I’m sitting.She smiles brightly at me, and points to the chair next to me, “Is this taken?”“Oh? No, no, you can take it,” I sputter. Wow, a pretty girl wants to sit next to me? I was not what you would call model handsome. I think I’m okay in the looks department, I just look average. But this girl, she’s way out of my league.But as soon as she takes a seat, she turns to me and grins again, “Hello, I’m Kayla. Kayla Sherwin. It’s nice to meet you.”I stare at her hand that is stretched towards me for a moment before taking it, “Hi, my name’s Jace Greyson
“Who the hell are you?” Stone, looking mad, demands Gerald, and Gerald gives him the most disgusted look.“That’s none of your concern,” Gerald snaps at him before turning to me, and his face softens, “Are you alright?”“Not really,” I find myself saying, desperately trying to hide myself with my hands. “Oh, isn’t it? What’s up, Jace? Is this your dad? Your grandpa? Did you call your grandpa to come and rescue you? Ewww.”That’s when ten men in black suits who were twice the size of Stone storm into the room, looking as intimidating as mob bosses. I recognize them all, and something like homesickness hits me squarely on the chest. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen them all, and the humiliation just increases.But Stone’s expression changes at the arrival of the men. Gone is the arrogance and the snark, he looks like he’s scared.“Who are you? Who are these people?” he questions, “Whoever you are, you better get out of here. I booked this room, and my father is the richest, most
“Oh, fuck off,” Stone, not believing that we are being genuine, scoffs, “What’s a beggar going to do to me? Your empty threats won’t work. I’m going to give my father one call, and he’s going to come for me. And he will destroy you all.”Gerald ignores his prattling and goes on to make several calls, whispering furiously into the phone. Kayla hangs onto her boyfriend’s arm, looking frightened at the ten men in black glaring at them.“I did what you asked,” I hear her plead from her boyfriend, “Can we leave now? I’m getting scared.”“No, Stone will take care of it,” The bully reassures her, “The twerp can’t harm us. Who even is he? A nobody with some actor friends.”“My master is anything but a nobody, your man,” calmly, Gerald locks his phone and shoves it back into his pocket, “And in thirty minutes time, you will see what exactly we’re capable of. I know everything about you, Stone Jeffreys, and your father. I know about your family corporation, your father’s business. And in thirty
My pace is swift as I make my way through the hotel, followed by Gerald and his crew of men in black suits, who were actually security personnel my father had hired ever since I was a child. I feel like I should get the hell out of this place soon because the stress and anxiety from the whole incident are starting to get to me. Tears are right behind my eyeballs and regret pangs in my chestSuddenly, as we near the lounge, a voice comes from behind us.“Please, Jace, stop!”Kayla.Anger and despair war in my heart as I debate ignoring her and continuing on, but she calls my name again and again. As much as I don’t want to talk to her, I don’t think I can ignore her.After all, she is right next to me. She looks as panicked as Stone was, her eyes stormy, her cheeks flushed.The security personnel move to keep her away from me, but I raise my hand, signaling them to stop.“What?” I growl at her.“Jace, please, you have to undo what you did to Stone’s father,” she pleads, and my heart si
My father and I didn’t talk much that night. The level of awkwardness between us was embarrassing. I knew that he was nearly bursting with all the questions he wanted to ask me and all the things he wanted to tell me. Our relationship was never the best, but I don’t think it’s been this strained. Father tells me that we both need to handle this carefully, so he will be giving me enough space.Fine by me. I am in no hurry to venture through this particular no-man’s land.***The next morning, I’m mildly startled by the unfamiliar surrounding as I wake up but before I can panic the memories of the night before flood my mind. I sit silently on the bed as I go through them, one by one as not to overwhelm myself. The hurt I feel is significantly less, but not enough to be called faded.I really don’t want to go to school today. I don’t want to face whatever awaited me there.But the other choice was to stay here in this house and face my father.The choice is easy when comparing the option