FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sometimes I like to walk around the park of a night. It's peaceful and helps me collect my thoughts after a day of tolerating what you could call a life. The silhouette of nearby vegetation barely visible against the remainder of the daylight as my surroundings gradually fade to twilight. Work night for the adults and school night for the children, I'm alone in this place and I'd have it no other way.

A few hours out here would be worth any scolding I'd receive from my caretakers for getting back late, not that they really cared if anything happened to me outside of their employment obligations. I'm a child of the state, an orphan thrown to the care of the system, a statistic and nothing more. A strangers scolding would be of little significance, they don't know anything about me and I don't care to know them either.

Other people... Something I've found to be a conundrum. Having no parents I am reliant on others to survive, but the older and more knowledgeable I become the less I seem to want to do with them. How can I get close to other people? How can I empathise when those who were supposed to be closest to me left me all alone? All I've had to learn from is the ego trying to bully their way into classroom recognition, the adult authority figure telling me what to do and how to think. Who is there at the end of the day to teach me humanity; once the public servants have returned to their families and dropped the guise of their profession?

I take in a deep breath of the chilly air and continue my walk through the shadowed vegetation and rustling trees, little visual stimulus to distract my thoughts from the path they had taken. As much as I appreciated the silence and privacy, when the noise of other people had left the streets; there was little to stop my thoughts wandering into those darker areas. Continuously going over the same old questions, the same failings, the same insecurities that have never failed to cease haunting me throughout my short lifetime.

It wasn't as if I hadn't tried. When I was younger and less experienced on the ways of the world there were one or two I could have called friends. But either because of my character, or the taunting of others, they were driven from my side. No matter what school I was moved to the results were always the same. No one wanted to hang around the strange kid, no one wanted to be seen with... the freak. So is it really that surprising I took little interest in taking part in the work? No social recreation, no balance between work and play to create the motivation to give my all in the classroom. Just lessons with wasting the hours away between them.

Was I really so different and strange? Wasn't I just like everyone else, confused and frustrated with my position in the world? It started small. When I was little I could always find everyone in hide & seek within moments, as if I just knew where they were hiding. You'd think they'd appreciate that I could inform an unruly classroom that the teacher was on their way back down the corridor, giving them early warning to cease their unruly behaviour before an authority figure came within hearing distance.

I even helped find a lost child once but then got into trouble for my efforts. The adults didn't believe I could find them so quickly if I didn't already know their location. "Why didn't I tell them sooner if I already knew where they were hiding?" they demanded, as if I was part of the plot of them trying to run away. Some sort of punishment of course usually followed, I certainly learned that lesson quickly, no good deed goes unpunished.

I just have a knack for finding and recognising people. If a group stood behind me in a line, I could probably list them in order by name if I tried. I don't know how, it's as if I can 'feel' them there and everyone has their own unique presence. You'd think others would consider that a cool thing to be able to do, not an excuse to ostracise me from social activities and friendships. The weird kid left all alone, the freak no one wanted to go near. That's what you get for having a talent I suppose.

Even now as I walked down this path I could sense there was a group of people ahead, threatening my solitary walk. One of them I may even recognise, they felt familiar but I couldn't place them. I didn't savour the idea of bumping into anyone, but the alternative was to turn back now and go home. There was still plenty of park ahead of me, I hadn't taken in enough of the night to be worth the scolding on my return. So I simply continued forward, feeling the group gradually getting closer, hoping they would just pass by and let me be.

My hopes are rarely satisfied and this wasn't going to be one of those rare occasions, especially when other people are involved. The group came into view, an overhead street lamp inconveniently illuminating all of us and they homed in on me on sight. My heart sank. Encounters like this rarely worked out well, if something did go wrong; my caretakers would undoubtedly use it as an excuse to restrict my ability to go out of a night in the future. Faulting the victim for the actions of others, how very typical.

There were four of them, three lads all older and taller than me and a girl that stood in the background. What I noticed about her was a lively feline tail flicking and swaying in the background, cat ears sprouting from under long blond hair and poking out either side of her head. Clearly a mutagen user, people who used drugs to temporarily alter their physical appearance.

I had heard of people tweaking their bodies recreationally, but seeing it on television and having it right in front of you was a very different experience. A human with a feline traits. What such things felt like intrigued me, but this wasn't the time to be admiring some women's tail. Glancing the direction of her backside would undoubtedly aggravate an already concerning situation, should one of these men happen to be her boyfriend.

Mischievous expressions, the stank of alcohol, feigned confidence to put on a show for the lady. Not that the disdain I had for their attitudes was of any relevance, their physical presence was intimidating enough on its down. Three semi-drunk delinquents towering over me, undoubtedly looking for an excuse to prove their manliness in front of the young women and being too inebriated to realise a 15 year old wasn't the most impressive target.

I didn't recognise most of the group, but I recognised him. The feel of his presence had altered over the years, undoubtedly the result of chemical changes while growing up. But it was Jacob, undoubtedly. The mind is generally good at recalling memories connected with pain and distress and that face brought back a library.

Jacob was in his second to last year when I arrived at the same school and he quickly took note of me, making absolutely clear I didn't belong. Two years of harassment and random assaults. A game of cat and mouse in which my intuition of people's locations proved very helpful in avoiding bumping into him, but sometimes it was just unavoidable. I was of course glad to see him leave, not that things were radically better when he did but at least they were notably less violent.

So you can understand my distress seeing him now. Taller and meaner looking than ever, outnumbered by his buddies and all by myself. There would be no teachers to come to my aid, no one to break up a fight. I could only hope he had grown up since I had last seen him... With a sarcastic tone he simply looked me over and said "Hello Juno", before launching a clenched fist into my chest. The other men chuckling as I fell backward; hands protectively clutching my chest as I laboured for breath.

Why must people always disappointment me?

He turned to speak to the others, sounding particularly amused from his random act of violence against a defenceless teenager two thirds his size. He turned to them before boasting "This is my old punching bag from school. He still works just fine, anyone else want to have a go?". The other two getting a laugh out of his comment, the cat girl with them offering a obviously fake chuckle; before asking him to leave the kid alone.

He looked to me again. Still keeled over and unable to speak; I could only stare up at him, unable to move from where I stood. The despicable look I saw on his face. A malicious grin full of intent, currently enjoying a power trip, taking great pride in what he could do to others. What was so funny about pain, that I struggled to breath? Was he really getting that much enjoyment out of needlessly hurting others? If this was normal, if this is what it took to fit in, I didn't want any part of it.

Pain, as a thick leather boot collided with my face. My hands left my chest to the higher priority of shielding my face, the recognisable taste of blood in my mouth. I couldn't see past them, but I knew it was Jacob. He was laughing, his friends were laughing. The girls voice dropping the facade of amusement from his antics and turning to anger, giving Jacob a scolding for doing something so brutal.

No... I mustn't cry, I didn't want to cry. Dammit all I wasn't a kid anymore, I should be past this, I should be stronger. Yet I could feel them welling at my eyes and running down my cheeks, wetting my hands. I'm angry at myself for these tears, for my body acting of its own accord and showing such weakness. Jacob would undoubtedly love them if he saw.

I kept my hands there, refusing to give Jacob those tears, as he argued unapologetically with the only girl of their group. I spat out bloodied saliva, which she must have seen as I heard her talking about me being hurt. Jacob was getting angry with her, shouting profanities and that she should leave, the other two young men seeming to take issue with that from what I could hear. I don't understand why people had to be like this, they could have just walked past me and none of this had to happen.

I stood there with my face still covered, eyes closed and wishing for nothing more to happen. But I wasn't blind, I could still see them in my own way. Blocking my senses would not make their presence go away, that feeling. I knew Jacob, he wouldn't care what the others thought of him. If he was intent on hurting me he would, the arguing was just delaying his next act of violence. Sure enough his presence turned to me, leaving the group and getting into close range. I felt his leg raising high, ready to land heel first on the back of my head. Even now as I wasn't looking, the bastard had no problem inflicting more injury on someone who had done nothing to him.

I've had enough of this.

I moved out the way and caught his leg, eyes still closed. It somehow felt easier to see his movements like this, using those senses. I then twisted the foot to the right as hard as I could, sending Jacob tumbling to the floor as I forced it and knocking his head against the pavement. I opened my eyes to the sight of Jacob clutching his head and screaming. The others staring in disbelief. I think I hurt him really bad.

Once the initial impact was endured he looked to me with a rage I had never seen, even from someone like him. Those eyes. I honestly felt like he wanted to kill me, not just hurt but kill. A fear crept over my mind, my heart raced, I knew what was coming but couldn't bring myself to move. Jacob finally spoke. "You shit! You little fuck! Get him, get him now!" and with that the other two men jumped me. There was pain everywhere... then silence, the sounds fading into the distance.

I woke up lying in the dirt, a slight trickle of rain cooling areas of my body that seemed to be throbbing and hot. I just lay there collecting my thoughts, before crying out as the rest of my senses woke up. They had battered me. Even when I lay there unconscious, they had battered me. I eventually managed to regain control, forcefully silencing my voice and panting as I rode out the unpleasant experience, before taking note of my surroundings. It was very dark now. I don't know what time it was, but it was most likely quite late. I'd check the time but it appeared they had taken my watch as well...

Why? Why did that just happen? Why did it need to happen? I was just beaten to the point of losing consciousness and for what? To show off to a girl that wasn't impressed? To look tough? To feel powerful? Now I get to go back to the state care home and get yelled at for being so late, punished for being hurt, have my life made that little bit worse because of the stupidity and inability of other people to mind their own damn business.

Adrenaline pushed the pain into the background as I got up, mind numbing anger, more anger than I had ever felt in my entire life. I didn't just hate Jacob, I hated what he was, I hated what he stood for. I hated the people throughout my life that rejected me for just having a talent. The adults that simply managed my existence and didn't really care about me. But it wasn't just them, it was people, the Jacobs who had yet to wrong me.

The Jacobs that were educating me not to think for myself, so I can be a good servant to the Jacobs in charge; who will constantly expect me to work harder for the same and even less pay. The Jacobs in government greeting the public with a smile, while inevitably stabbing them in the back time and time again for the benefit of their friends. My entire life is being determined by and for the benefit of Jacobs, they want me to be a Jacob too. Six billion Jacobs demanding nothing less than the replication and conformity of their behaviour, ideals and way of thinking and there is no room to let me just be myself.

I screamed out to the dark cloudy heavens, years of anger and frustration erupting in that moment before falling to my knees, the pain of my beating reinstating its presence... I hate them. I hated society, I hated people and I hated myself for being part of it all. Just one more collateral damage of a screwed up world, fruitlessly venting about their place in it. Noticing a discarded spray can nearby, I inspect it to find it still has a little fluid inside. Perhaps some expressive vandalism would do me some good.

Feeling light headed and wobbly from my recent emotional venting, I get to my feet and make my way to a nearby wall to leave my mark. There I sprayed F, K, space, H,U, M, A, N, I, T,Y... Crude and simplistic but to the point. It would mark the location that the last shred of my faith in humanity was lost, when I finally gave up hoping for something better. This was my life, this was all I had and I'd have to make the most of it. I only had a few years left in the care home now and they'd throw me out to fend for myself. At the very least, I'll then be able to make up my own rules, to whichever extent the rest of society would allow me. It's all you can really hope for in this sort of world, hope to kindle a spark in the vast void of modern society.

With that I dropped the can, taking in the sight of my handiwork before turning to walk back to the care home. Normally I'd be anxious about the scolding I'd inevitably get, but right now at least; I really couldn't care less. Another shouting is hardly going to make my night any worse than it already was.

"Ow!"... a thorny hanging plant must have brushed against my face, as I felt something scratch deeping into my skin. All I really needed to help my mood right now. I didn't walk into it before when going this way, so someone up there must hate me to suddenly move it into my... my... I'm suddenly feeling very weak, concerningly so. My body felt heavy, it was hard to remain standing, I couldn't help but fall over. I feel numb, I cannot move. I don't know what is happening to me but I'm scared, I'd yell for help if only I could move my lips.

Suddenly there was a thumping sound as something large landed just behind me, and then a voice.

"I've worked with material in better condition than yourself, but I suppose you will have to do. Though I must admit, I enjoyed the show earlier, that was quite a performance; catching that man's leg like that. Eyes closed and all."

My fear grew all the more. A strange man was behind me and I couldn't move a muscle. Why hadn't I felt his presence? He was like nothing I ever sensed before. I wouldn't even believe it was a person if he wasn't talking now, he didn't feel right at all. My eyes were wide open but he wasn't in my sight, I couldn't turn my head to look. His voice was so strange, the sound of his movements difficult to identify. He spoke again...

"Fuck Humanity... My, aren't we in a mood. Where do you think you'd be right now if it wasn't for humanity? Banging rocks together in some cave no doubt. The young always have a way of taking their existence for granted".

I felt something slide under me, lifting my mid section from the ground as it made its way under and past my waist; before curling against me, tightening, wrapping around my body like some large snake constricting its prey. I had no clue what it was, what it could be. But as it tightened around my waist it was warm and strong. With its grip around me, I was lifted from the ground. My limp body rotating into standing position before my feet left the grass. It spoke again.

"Though that doesn't mean I don't think humanity could do with some improvements. Some... tweaks. The intelligence is very valuable, but that doesn't mean the body should be so neglected. Just because we value intelligence doesn't mean the body it resides in is of equal value, which is of course where I come in".

Whatever was keeping me in the air tightened its grip even more as the speech came to an end. It was then that I realised this thing, this strong meaty mass capable of suspending me off the ground, was under the control of who... whatever was behind me. Good god, what was it? There was some sort of a creature behind me and it was talking to me. It wasn't human, but it was talking. Mutagens could transform humans to an extent but nothing like this, it couldn't change their body so drastically that they could lift a teenager from the ground with an entirely new limb!

This couldn't be a mutagen user, it was too strange and strong. It was a monster of some sort and it had me. I couldn't move and it had me. I was completely at the mercy of this thing, there wasn't anything I could do. I could only imagine the horror of what was behind me and its intentions.

The limb moved me backwards slowly, bringing me closer to whatever it was. If it was food that it was after, I could offer little resistance. I couldn't even see it as it still stood behind me, bringing me towards it for whatever it intended to do to me. My movement ceased, hot breath against my exposed neck giving concerning confirmation of just how near the creature was to me now. It taking in a deep inhumanly sounding breath before continuing.

"Now then... what shall I do with this one? Maybe you'd be suited as a feline like your female acquaintance before? Or perhaps a canine would be more masculine? I prefer reptilians myself, but you can be anything really. I consider it a talent of mine to see what lays dormant, you'd be surprised what animals live under the neatest packages and..."

The creature paused, as if something had suddenly attracted his attention. All I could hear was... sniffing. It was sniffing me, taking great big whiffs, like it had found something of interest about my scent. I half expected claws or teeth to piece though my back when the sniffing had stopped, the silence before it took a bite out of its prey. But something most unexpected occurred behind me instead. It began to laugh.

"Well, aren't you a curiosity? I was trying to figure out whether to give you paws or talons and you've already got something inside of you. My my, this is interesting. I wonder what your story is? They have only been commercially viable in recent times, yet this..." He takes another long sniff of me, as if confirming something he smelled earlier. "This is old school. Very old, perhaps even first generation, yet it's nothing simple either".

The creatures ramblings about there being something old inside of me had little meaning. What mattered was there was a strong, intelligent creature with whatever it was wrapped around me and I couldn't move a muscle. I was terrified. It was going on about giving me animal traits, so could this then be... could this really be Dean?

The possibility was too scary to consider. Dean was a crazy scientist that used to work at a company producing those recreational transformation drugs, mutagens as they called them. For whatever reason he turned himself into a freak and decided to inflict the same fate on the rest of the world. Stalking around of a night, forcing people to take mutagens that radically altered their bodies in ways most couldn't believe. Nothing like the stuff you could buy, whenever his victims appeared on the news they rarely looked human anymore. Their transformations being permanent, average people becoming monstrous things and having to pick up the pieces of their lives.

He almost single handedly destroyed the entire mutagen market. Just the fact that this scientist that worked on them was stalking around forcing monstrous and permanent transformations on people was an absolute public relations disaster. Like a serial killer who swore by your brand of knife, it was hardly good for the products already controversial image.

I didn't want to consider it. But the paralysis, the talk of changing me. It was highly likely that this was in fact Dean behind me, and if that was the case he'd be intending to turn me into a monster like the rest. I wanted to scream, I wanted to yell out in horror but I simply couldn't move my lips. As the past victims said, they simply couldn't get away. He's going to turn me into a monster, and there is nothing I can do.

"I'd ask what you are, but my neurotoxin will be in effect for some time. So perhaps we can take this elsewhere and you can tell me all about yourself, hmm?".

With that the limb that was holding me up tightened considerably more. He is squeezing the air out of me like some kind of constrictor snake. My lips bursting open as the air was forced from my body, but the limb didn't ease to allow it to return. I cannot breath, I'm burning to let the air in but he won't let me. Everything is going dark... is this really it?

I wake up lying against flat and well maintained grass, moistened from the recent rainfall. It was still night but no longer raining, grey clouds slowly floating overhead as I simply gazed into space recollecting my thoughts. Then... I remembered. I quickly sat up as I tried to force my mind to break from the post unconscious haze and evaluated the danger of the situation, my heart rate cranking up upon remembering what had occurred. That monster had me, he had somehow paralysed me and rendered me unconscious. But where had he taken me and where was he now? More importantly, was I still human?

I quick inspection of my form brought relief as I found everything the way it should be. But this was short lived as my mind turned to my unique sense. He was very nearby, behind me, too the left! I quickly get to my feet and fix my sight on the direction of his presence, finding the creature lazily laying across some branches of a tree; conveniently structured to make a rest for him. The long and powerful limb that had held me earlier introducing itself as a thick muscular tail tipped with a strange fin, lazily hanging from underneath him and drooping towards the ground.

He simply stared back at me with a toothy and sinister grin, one not too unlike Jacob's fiendish expression but stretched across a beasts muzzle. A most human expression on a very inhuman shape, finned ears poking out from under his hair either side of the head made the human-easque expression all the more uncanny. This beast was certainly something to behold. Like someone had taken a human and moulded them like clay into something very different, recognisable anatomical traits but reshaped to be like an animal.

The skin appeared human, I certainly recognised the texture and mammal characteristics across his surface but they were pulled over a long and exotic form. Powerful looking digitigrade legs with long claws appeared disproportionately large in comparison to his upper arms, bone spikes puncturing through the heels offering a menacing looking offensive weapon. If Jacob had those when he attempted to slam the back of his foot into my head earlier, I doubt I would have survive. Like having horns rammed through the back of your skull.

His dominant trait was of course the tail, a long and flexible looking appendage that proved its strength earlier when it had lifted me from the ground like I was nothing. Numerous spines decorating the top of the thin at the tails end gave me clue as to where the paralysing neurotoxic scratches I received earlier had come from. Below the thin poking out from under its curve was a bone and fleshy looking scorpion like stinger, something I recalled from the news as being how he infected his victims with his mutagen.

Yes, this was definitely Dean. The monster, the mad scientist, the criminal that left deformed humans in his wake and he was before me right now. With all his attention focused on me, just me...

I noticed now as I gazed over the creature that he had been adjusting his body for my inspection. Returning to his face, he looked particular amused that I was so interested in his form. I realised now that his expression wasn't necessarily one of malicious intent, but taking delight in everything about being what he was. His fixation on myself being more of curiosity than contemplating violence. He certainly seemed to take pride in turning himself into a freak. Though I had to admit, I found his form and what the experience of it may be like most curious.

Human eyes locked onto me from behind old and neglected looking lenses, very human eyes considering the rest of him. The beastly lips part to reveal very human looking teeth with just a few additional canines filling his long muzzle, the odd mixture of human and animal traits leaving my mind feeling confused; as if my brain couldn't tell if it was looking at a human or an animal from one moment to the next. He looked at me with that unusual smile, before finally speaking.

"I can turn round if you'd like to see the rest of me. I've got a mane back there, but I'd have to discard what little clothing I do wear in order for you to see it." to which his toothy smile only grew larger. The suggestion made me red in the face. Everything about him was simply so confusing. It felt wrong to stare at his mostly nude form despite it being so animalistic, but there was nothing inappropriate on show, as there was lizard anatomy hiding anything you'd want to keep hidden. He was only wearing an open lab coat and some operation gloves, yet as silly as it sounds; the suggestion of him removing those few items and becoming fully nude was still awkward.

My situation returning to mind, I quickly glance around for a possible escape route. But large hedges blocked every possible direction, the tree in which Dean lay being at the corner of the only pathway out. I appeared to be in some sort of community garden, perhaps a hedge maze? Either way, the only way out would include passing close to him and I didn't fancy my chances of outrunning something like that.

"It's fun, isn't it?" his question taking me by surprise as I refocused my attention on the threat before me. "It's not simply a matter of performance but the feel, the experience". He rose his tail up to himself for closer inspection, delicately feeling across the inner layer of skin of the fin decorating the tip of his tail, seeming to take pleasure in the sensation of touching it. "Feeling things no human has felt. To be able to stretch your tail in the morning and savour each joint and aching muscle. To dig your claws into the ground before leaping forward onto all fours and breaking the streets speed limit under your own strength. Fun, don't you think"?

I step back as he maneuvers into a sitting position on the tree, his clawed toes dangling down and the tail adjusting to casually sway behind. There was nowhere to go behind me, but if he intended to jump down I wanted as much distance between us as possible. Luckily, he seemed happy to just sit there and do a little staring himself. What was it that he found so interesting about me? I should be a freak by now judging Dean's track record, but there was something about me he claimed to be curious about it. Was he referring to those senses of mine? At the very least I should be thankful for the delay, but Dean wasn't known for leaving people untouched in encounters.

Sheepishly I responded, not wanting to provoke him. "I... I wouldn't know. I don't want to know". But the response didn't seem to deter his mood, as that alien grin remained on his face; as he continued. "Oh but is that you talking or the world you grew up in? The human society that puts their form on a pedestal, even as they begin to explore new ones with the technology they have developed. People have always modified their bodies, whether it be a tattoo or a set of their own claws, and society has always pushed back".

He turns to inspecting his hands, human like in shape but tipped with claws. "Do you think having these makes me any less of a person? That because I have a tail and my face is pushed out into a muzzle, that I am no less able to function in society?" He stands on the branch as if announcing to an audience. "Those whose precious sensibilities on what it is to be human has prevented those who seek physiological self actualisation from achieving their potential. We're born human shaped by an accident of birth, that doesn't mean that is who we are. I'm simply the next level in self expression using your body as the canvas".

Why he was arguing this to me of all people left me scared and confused. Did he give all his victims this speech? Against my self interest, I couldn't help but react to his rantings by pointing out the obvious flaw. I may be his next victim, but that doesn't mean he could get away spouting such nonsense. "They don't hunt you for being different, they're after you for attacking people and turning them into monsters against their will".

He just looked at me, before jumping from the tree down to ground level. His tail landing on the floor behind him with a louder thud than when his feet met the dirt shortly prior, before returning to its raised position behind him. To my concern I felt like I had put my foot in it and sped up his routine, but really I would have just been speeding up the inevitable, right? He never left his encounters unchanged, and I doubt I was any different.

He just looked at me for a moment, giving an intense stare that grew the fear in me. Before seeming to just have a full body stretch, moaning in satisfaction before relaxing again, squatting casually on the floor and returning to his strangely playful manner as he continued.

"I'm sure that's what the televisions say. But they weren't there when they turned, when they were reborn. The expression of sheer glee as they tore the clothing from their bodies and cried out in feral delight at their new existence. Most resist before the change, but I have never seen a tear or a horrified shriek as they stand raw in their new forms, their true selves brought to the surface and their minds given excuse to remove the mask society had bolted to their faces".

He gives pause, as if giving me a moment to digest his claims. "I don't just select anyone at random, you know? There has to be something to set free before I consider approaching them and assisting in taking the chains away, else I would really be violating their bodies. I select those who want to be set free from humanity, who I see as having a true self locked away, and I sense that in you".

I'm growing weary of the monologue, as he seemed to be dragging out inflicting this apparently euphoric experience on me; whether I wanted it or not. I was both physically and emotionally exhausted and delaying his threat just made it all the more unbearable. So against my interests, I challenged him to get on with it.

"So why haven't you done it yet? Why are you dragging the inevitable on? We both know what you are going to do so you might as well get it over with and put an end to the threats". My frustration only seemed to amuse him, chuckling with his eyes closed and giving his tail a powerful flick. Before his oddly human eyes unnerved me again with a stare to accompany his toothy grin, as he went on to explain.

"Because mutagen transformations don't work when there is already a mutagen active".

His comment left me confused. Had he already infected me and the results were delayed? What did he mean there was already a mutagen active, I had never taken the stuff before. As if I could afford them on the allowance the care system provided me with. Before I could inquire as to what he was on about, he continued. "Not that you would be aware, as this one is so old it was likely implanted when you were just a baby. Which is why you're such an interesting subject, like a wrapped gift; I have no idea what's already inside of you. It will be interesting to see the results of unleashing it, don't you think?"

Unleashing it? Is he seriously suggesting that someone used an early mutagen on me as a baby and that it wasn't fully activated? The line of thought leads me to my senses, those special senses that alienated me all my life. Are they... are they the result of a mutagen? Had someone experimented on me as a baby?

"Juno, Juno, Juno..."

How does he know my name!? No, he must have over heard it earlier. He couldn't possibly know me.

"You know, I recall hearing about a Juno back in the day, or at least a rumour. A rumour of two scientists playing around with early mutagen experiments, long before they figured out how to initiate an actual transformation but they could implant the genes nonetheless. You wouldn't happen to be that Juno, would you? The Juno they was sent to prison for experimenting on, for experimenting on their..."

I couldn't help but interrupt "Shut up! shut up! I'm not some scientists pet project, I am a human being".

"Ah that Juno!" he joked, amused by my reaction. "Poor little Juno, left all alone and so insecure about his place in the world, not understanding that it isn't the world but him that is wrong. Poor little Juno, trapped under all that human mess. Don't you want me to let you out? Don't you want to receive the gift your parents worked so very hard to give you"... parents? Those scientists that experiment on... this Juno, those where his parents? My parents? No, they couldn't have been, it has to be a different Juno.

"But they took them away, didn't they? Other people... They took away your family before they could give you their gift. They stuck you in a government home and tried to domesticate you, make you stay and roll over. Poor little Juno, all alone and trapped inside, let me set you free".

His tauntings are aggravating me in ways Jacob could only hope to achieve. As if threatening to turn me into a monster wasn't enough, he's now making up things about the family I never got to know. Taunting an orphan with these wild stories. I couldn't help but yell back that "I'm not this Juno you think you know! I'm not a monster like you. Besides, you said you couldn't turn me, so what can you do"?

"Poor little Juno" he continued. "Who are the monsters? The innocent pup that lays within you, struggling to find its place in a world populated by a foreign species, or the people who took away your parents? Only human society would dare call beings like us monsters and when have you ever cared what they think?". The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes seemed sincere in his sympathy, but he could be an expert liar for all I knew. How could I really trust this creature? Or perhaps that was just my human conditioning talking?

"A mutagen cannot take effect when another is active. I'm an exception because I'm a custom brand" he said smugly. "You however are operating under the old rules but there is a way around that. Mutagens simply reprogram living beings by implanting a sample DNA, which I'm personally gifted in being able to customise to my whim. But if you were to inject pure mutagen into someones bloodstream, it would be reprogramming the subject with their own DNA. Repairing lifelong damage to the body that deviates from its genetics. Your DNA, Juno. Your true DNA given form using modern mutagens ability to transform. Please Juno, let me help you, I know you're not happy and I can help you".

Set... me free? My true self? Those words struck something in me. I knew what he was proposing, I had seen his previous victims in news reports and what they had become. Perhaps they too were persuaded, manipulated, misled into agreeing to allow themselves to be turned into something they would later regret? He had no evidence of his story about my parents having done something to me and something lay inside, despite my ability. He probably got something twisted out of convincing his victims to submit to him, to submit to have their bodies violated.

No, I had to ignore these feelings, push them aside. He was a monster and I was just his next victim, his next toy to play with and reshape for his amusement. I had to reject his offer, even though he'd inevitable force them on me, I had to deny him the satisfaction of my submission.

Words were apparently unnecessary, as he seemed to be able to tell from my expression alone what my answer was. Strangely I did not see anger or annoyance in what I could gather from his deformed expressions, but pitty. Simply pitty. Before he finally spoke again.

"Little Juno... poor little Juno, what has their world done to you? It wasn't enough for them to lock you away in that human shaped cage, but they taunted you, didn't they? They persecuted you, winded you up so tightly that you cannot even look out from the smallest possible ball in the tightest corner of your captivity." With that said, he took off his glasses and gave them a clean on his neglected shirt, eyes contemplatively closed as he did so; before returning them to his face and fixing his sight back on me. Eyes now lacking pity and turning to those of intent.

"Well then!" his tone being notable less serious and returning to the playful character of earlier. "If the real Juno is too locked away behind your human indoctrination to hear me, then perhaps your flesh will be more open to discussion?"

With that he launched himself towards me, flying forward onto all fours before very rapidly moving in my direction. He moved so fast I could barely budge a muscle before his face was right up to mine, the shock of it all and sheer overwhelming terror leaving me just staring right at him as that muzzle turned to his familiar alien smile. So close I could feel his breath on my cheeks. Suddenly, there was pain, in my chest. I was so scared he would do something if my eyes left his own that I tried to ignore it, but the painful pumping sensations coming from the area were too much to ignore. So cautiously, I looked down.

There, pressed against my chest, was the spine tipped back of the fin that sat at the end of his tail. Somehow it had tightly attached itself to me using some sort of suction, and under it I could feel the spike piercing into my chest. Pumping, forcefully pumping mutagenic chemicals into my body. Before I could gather myself to grab it and attempt to pull it from it, it detatched of Dean's own accord and returned to its position behind him. I was left to stand there in disbelief at what had happened. He had done it. He had injected me and I was moments from becoming a monster.

"You bastard!" is all I could manage to cry amongst the range of feelings drowning out all thought, flooding through my brain with fight or flee demands; but finding no way out of what had happened. I knew this was inevitable, that this would be the outcome of this encounter no matter what I did, but nothing could prepare me for the act, the sealing of my fate and making it a certainty. I would be transforming soon and that would be the end of me, just another statistic, just another victim.

Inspecting the end of his tail as if to ensure everything was in working order after its use, Dean returned his focus to me. "Don't be too angry with me, I only gave you a small dose that will be restricted to a single part of your body. Consider it a taster, as we were getting nowhere negotiating the real Juno's release when you have no idea what it is you're rejecting. Now... let's get a look at what lays underneath..."

With him saying that, I could feel the changes begin. They felt isolated to my left hand, it beginning to prickle with a pins and needles like sensation and gradually heat up. I was well aware of what was happening to that hand and I had been given no choice but to ride it out. But some part of me couldn't help but be curious, fascinated even, in what changes would emerge and the sensations that would be on offer. Even as I knew it would be monstrous, I wanted to know.

My hand visibly began to swell, pulsing as if it was gradually being pumped up, slowly growing in scale. Before I was overcome by a very sharp and agonising sensation, every centimeter of skin on the hand screaming in pain; as if thousands of tiny needless had suddenly pierced its surface. The feeling thankfully being short lived, but the sense of something sharp and fine piecing its way through my hand's skin remained. It revealing itself as a slight fluffiness all over the hand, before lengthening and thickening, fur taking its place across its surface. An army of fine flexible needles sprouting from my skin and obscuring it under an ever thickening forest. Until only fur remained were my skin was once visible.

I wasn't given the time to come to terms with my new fuzzy appendage when my fingernails felt as if someone had taken pliers to them and began tugging. Inspection revealed them growing at an outstanding rate, not simply lengthening as if I had neglected them for months; but converting into that of a different species. They grew thicker and to a sharp point, the tips of my fingers reforming to strengthen the base of what could now only be called claws that tipped each one of them. Strong, hard and dangerous. I didn't get the impression that if I were to use them defensively, that they would be at risk of bending or breaking as easily as my human counterparts.

Everything settled into its new shape as the hand ended its transition and the changes ceased. As Dean had promised, the change were restricted to just one area. Leaving me with a bright coloured fur and menacing looking hand, thankfully retaining its human functionality and not being a paw or talon of some kind. Opening and closing it several times, everything seemed to be in working order. It all being so strange and vivid, as I felt the fur brush against and softly shift amongst itself with each motion. But this didn't change the fact that I was now disfigured with a monstrous hand, something that would further alienate me from other people. An animalistic, intimidating, inhuman and beautiful...hand.

I couldn't understand what had come over me. I should be furious, I should be feeling violated and damaged. But as I gazed upon that transformed limb it felt... whole. For the first time something about me felt right, that it belonged. It must have been the mutagen, Dean must have done something to me to make me more submissive and yet... No, it wasn't. He couldn't have given me these feelings, he could change the body not the mind. It felt more like the removal of a burden than an imposed state of mind. This was truly how I felt about the change and it made me feel... complete.

No, I wasn't complete. Only now do I notice the rest of me, only now having experienced the alternative do I comprehend what I am, and that isn't one of them. I am not one of those other people, I am not human. My life long disdain for humanity wasn't simply a series of bad life experiences, I didn't belong amongst them, I never did. Dean was correct, I've been trapped all this time, trapped for so very long. But I could feel the world now, my hand was outside the cage and I could feel the night air blowing through my fur.

I didn't know, how could I have possibly known? How do you know the sun when you have spent your entire life in a box? You're sole experience of the outside world being through a digital screen. Seeing people walking through the world countless times and believing to know the experience of it without ever having done it yourself?

I cradled that hand. Held it in my inferior other and simple experienced it. So strong and yet also so very sensitive, so fresh and raw, every hair offering its own unique sensation. It needed time to become used to the outside world, having been wrapped in cotton all its life. But it wouldn't be accepted. No, the people back in the care home would reject this hand. The people and the Jacob's of this world wouldn't stand for it, wouldn't tolerate it. They had denied me so much in my life, would they deny be this as well? No matter how important and precious it was to me? I was tired of accommodating and compromising for other people, what about me? What about what I want?

"I could turn it back"

My face shot up from the hand and to the direction of the offending comment. Dean still standing there, having backed up a few feet to give me room during the experience. Those human yet reptilian shaped lips neither smiling, neither grinning or irritated. Just the stare of a human skinned reptilian muzzle my direction with eyes obscured by the moonlight reflecting from his lenses. Pausing for just a moment before continuing.

"If you're worried about what other people may think, I could reshape your hand back into that of a humans and hide its natural shape again. Despite what you may think, I'm not here to force anything on you, I simply wanted to see what lay beneath. The sample was most interesting, good work for a technique so old. While I'd like to see the rest, if you want it turned back, you need only ask".

Turn... it back? Put it back in the cage and pretend it had never felt the fresh air of the outside world? He knew exactly what he had done, how could he possibly ask me to put it back in there, to hide it away and never feel its soft fur and strength again. He knew I couldn't put it back, he knew and yet he asked anyway to provoke me. I couldn't put it back now... I simply couldn't... the very idea brought tears to my eyes.

What to do. What to do, what to do, what to do! Those three words drummed in my mind over and over again. I couldn't give it up, but I couldn't keep it either. How to solve this? My emotions were conflicting with the reality of my situation. It felt like giving up a piece of myself, a piece of the family I never knew, but the rest of society would make my life hell for keeping this hand. Hell, like it is now, like it has always been and always will, no matter what. No matter what...

No matter what I do, there are going to be negative outcomes. Society does not look kindly on monsters, but I'm already very familiar with the alternative. I know that road, I've lived it, I know where it takes me. The only question is what sort of outcast do I want to be? I looked again at that hand, gently pushing a finger through its fur with a slight smile, allowing myself to get lost in its experience for just a moment more.

"Finish me".

Dean's muzzle provided a wider grin than anything a human could offer, showing off a few of his fangs in the process. "Well then, you know what's coming next, see you at the end of the ride!" and with that he launched at me, and I was still. Embracing the beast as he took hold of me and pulled me up from the ground, hugging me tightly against his exotic form; before plunging that tail into my back. My heart raced but I stayed calm as the mutagenic fluids were pumped into my veins, saturating my body with flesh altering chemicals. My decision had been made.

A moment past before I fell to the ground, Dean's presence disappearing from my awareness as my blood burned. The fire spreading from the wound and enveloped me, all sensation of the outside world being buried under a thick ocean of numbness and heat. Lost in it, consumed, ceasing to exist for a time in that brilliant blaze. Before finally surfacing from it all and gasping for the cool feelings of the outside world once again. My body was being prepared for the change, it felt like being born again.

Cold, wet, dark. The world came back to me and I was trembling with heat and energy, feeling like I could run the length of the world or jump on top the highest mountain. Boundless endurance bursting out of every muscle, every cell, it had to go somewhere. That energy found its direction as I could feel my body growing. What specifically I could not describe, but it felt like being healed and becoming healthier, stronger! New vitality refreshing my form and mind.

Sharp prickling sensations dominated the surface of my skin, feeling so itchy and uncomfortable against the fabric of my shirt. I took a look under its surface and glanced down at my chest, the pale moonlight being my only source of illumination. There I found my skin taking on a strange fluffiness, fine strands filling in the area between me and the cloth. The same layer of fluff I had witnessed earlier as the fur began to develop on my hand.

Fur! I'm growing fur! No surprise given the hand, but the very idea lit up my world with a new excitement. It was fur, and it was mine! That it felt like someone was tugging on all these hairs to pull them out from my skin, producing the previously experienced pain across those areas where it grew, was something I tried my best to push aside. But my, did it hurt!

I watched it slowly fill out, thousands of fine strands coating my skin but not obscuring it as of yet, it would take a little while to develop into a thick coat. Watching it now I couldn't help but notice it was a different colour to the fur on my hands. A shade of brown similar to my own hair, puffing up my chest and appearing to be isolated there thus far. My attention was then drawn to the swollen aching of my other hand, beginning to claw just like the other one did, it was nice to be getting symmetrical again. But as much as I would have liked to watch it also develop, my attention was again demanded elsewhere by something much more significant.

Pain, in my feet. The pain was everywhere, but this was much different from the hundreds of little needles attacking my flesh. My feet felt as if they were growing, and they were being restricting by the shoes. It was becoming increasingly unbearable as they continued their development despite the restrictions surrounding them. I quickly dropped to my backside, caring not for my pants getting soaked on the wet floor and frantically pulled at them. They had to come off, and now! Each additional second of delay being that of agony.

I unapologetically sighed loudly as the last shoe came off, the sharpening tips of my toes just then beginning to test the material of the socks and push their way through. What pieced their way out of those socks was not toe nails like I knew them, but thick sharp claws of the sort you only saw from the greatest of nature's beasts. Them being followed by bulky long toes much larger than my former ones, and growing even larger!

Although I couldn't see it, a most exotic sensation occurring under the surface of the socks material prompted me to remove them. I think I knew what was going on under there, and the socks had best be removed before it happened. Having to thread the damaged cloth over the still lengthening toes. Once released from them, I watched curiously as my little toes merged with the one next to them. The flesh melding together, the indescribable experience of muscle and bone blending together into a unified form. I was left with four beastly toes, and becoming more so by the moment.

My big toes then took their turn to deviate from the human norm. Creating a sort of pressure behind them, coupled with the concerning clicking of rearranging bones, as it travelled further back along the lengthening foot. Strangely becoming smaller than the others, taking on a much shorter and different shape. Before finally settling much further along by feet, almost as far back as my heel! I recognised these and they weren't something a human was supposed to have. Dew claws, common amongst canines and felines, now another exotic trait of the animal kingdom that I could call my own. They offered little use in helping me keep my balance, but my remaining three toes had grown so large that it shouldn't be a problem.

When they seemed to reach their maximum size, the skin of them felt as if it began to thicken, to harden even. The skin strangely turning a similar colour to the fur on my hands, while still lacking that fur. The skin grew so hard that my feet were eventually immobilised! I would've began to panic, until this hard shell suddenly crumbled and I regained movement of my strange feet again. The skin cracking into what looked like scales! Smooth plates coating long clawed feet, feeling like my own plate mail as I wiggled them, each plate moving appropriately for great protection without hurting mobility.

Eagerly I rose to my feet to test them. Only to wobble and fall down onto my knees, onto the wet grass and soil below me; worsening my pants all the more. I knew it would take time to learn how to use them, but damn! How were these supposed to work? Pushing my hands against the wet floor, I attempting to pick myself up onto all fours and up from there. Only sending those powerful feet burying into the mud and me smack onto the floor again. Claws on both hands and feet leaving their mark in the dirt as I went. Again, I tried to push myself from the ground, thinking I just needed to get used to them. But I was then hit with cramps, terrible cramps in my legs!

At first I thought I had pulled something, but that familiar feeling of growth and aching transitioning muscles dominated my lower body once again. Perhaps, I couldn't stand because they weren't completed? I hadn't even finished speaking it to myself in my mind, when suddenly I found the strength to rise again when legs spasms suddenly forced me up onto all fours. Both the feet and legs aching considerably as my thigh muscles bulged considerably, tearing holes in either side of my pants buttocks and down the legs!

There was also that familiar sensation of growing fur along them, but this was pushed far into the background by the shear stress and sense of power of my aching and bulging leg muscles. The clawed foot of one leg involuntarily kicking across the floor, as I looked back helplessly at it, watching the legs bones change length and its form distort. The other one doing the same, but instead pushing against the floor and leaving a deep imprint on it.

I thought I was about to fall face first to the ground again, but I managed to regain control and put each shaking leg under me for support. The sheer power of them, the muscles now so large and dense; I felt as if I could kick a car over! My pelvis then began to make the most concerning noises. Cracking and popping, feeling as though it was widening; as both legs were pushed further apart. Making my already neglected pants cry out for mercy in the form of more tearing cloth.

Looking back, I now saw they had been altered into digitigrade legs. No wonder they didn't work well before, these feet were designed for walking on your toes. But even now, I couldn't imagine them being very stable. Through new holes in my pants I could see thick bright fur filling their contents, likely all over my lower body by now. I even noticed a glimpse of what appeared to be... purple fur on my thigh? It was too distinct to just be a random patch, like some sort of colour pattern that had been placed intentionally upon it. I wanted to see it. I needed to get these unsuitable pants off my new legs and see their new form clearly, free the fur to feel the outside world as clearly as my hands did now.

I was about to make another attempt to stand when that all too familiar pressure returned to my lower body, so I remained on all fours to hopefully avoid another fall to the ground. The legs felt complete, what could possibly be going on down there now? The pressure grew at the base of my back, it kept getting stronger. Every time I felt it couldn't possibly become more intense, it just kept going! My entire lower back becoming painfully numb, it sapped the surrounding muscles of their strength and I felt as if I wouldn't be given a choice in avoiding a return to the cold dirt below. My feet and hands shaked weakly, struggling to keep me up during what felt like magnitudes the intensity of previous changes. What change could possibly be on its way to stress my body to such an extent?

The pants... I had to get the pants off! Even if they weren't restraining me too much, just the fabric against that sensitive area at my lower back was too much. But I couldn't move. It was becoming more intense but I couldn't move! I could barely feel my inner leg muscles any more, just because of their close proximity to the affected area. I cried out and grinded my teeth together, struggling to endure its intensity. Just then noticing that some of my teeth had developed into fangs, I struggled to control myself enough to avoid biting a chunk of my mouth off in the process!

Just when I thought I was about to collapse into a weak heap of twitching animal anatomy and human tears... it burst free. The back of my pants tearing open and the cold night air kissed the hot furry new flesh of my most recent change. It lively failing about behind me as it rapidly increased in thickness and length, filling out with fur, leaving a whipping noise as it swished side to side. Unable to support myself any longer, I fell down and rolled onto my side, sighing in great relief at the removal of such an extreme pressure. Even as it continued to expand and grow freely, my legs being forced even further apart as its connection to me bulked and took over the area.

Slowly, I regained my breath and began to glance at whatever this thing was. There, curled upward and happily swishing side to side, was my very own tail. A reptilian like tail at that. Thick, long and coated in that beautiful smooth bright fur. Just curled up into the air and towards me, twitching at its tip right above my head. Not involuntarily, but new instinctive movements I was discovering as my own. I just looked at it in a daze, recovering from the ordeal of growing an entirely new and very alien limb.

A smile returned to my face, one of those new fangs exposing itself on one side. Despite the weakness I now felt, I was being rejuvenated with a growing joy, the tails tip swishing faster and faster until I couldn't contain myself any longer. I grabbed upward and pulled the tails end down to me, a rush of new sensations as my fingers went through the fur down its length. A tail, I had a tail and it was beautiful! Both digitigrade legs lightly kicking at the air as I played with my new limb.

I let it go and rolled to my side, the long thick tail loudly cutting through the air as it moved behind me. Getting onto all fours, and then onto two, wobbling as I did so. But the tail seemed to know what it was doing, shifting wildly with me for a few moments before settling in its new place. On my toes and now stable with the adjusting weight behind me, I could stand again. I looked back with what was undoubtedly another fang decorated smile at my new fun friend, giving it a few swipes but having to steady myself again with the last one. Had best become more used to having a tail and walking on my toes before I try that one again.

The ragged pants were not helping much either. Removing them the traditional way when I still needed to get used to the new tail and legs would be difficult, so I just put the new claws to work and tore the cloth from my legs. Giving a slight growl with satisfaction when the cool wind greeted my freshly furred lower body for the first time. Feeling it across my new limb in particular made its fur puff out, one of many new experiences that awaited me; but I wasn't quite ready for that one. It made fur stand on end in places I didn't used to have!

Looking down over myself, it was really quite a sight. Like someone had removed the lower body of some exotic beast and had attached it to my own. Three powerful toes gripping into the soil, digitigrade legs giving my stance an unusual bend and a thick powerful tail enjoying its new freedom from the cloths. Thankfully the thick fur that now coated me down there saved me from any embarrassment while nude, covering everything up nicely. I could now see the purple fur on my legs properly, which almost looked like a symbol of sorts in how well defined it was, too much so to be natural patches of colour.

I looked quite the freak, and I enjoyed it. What had changed felt far more natural than my previous human shell, still slowly being eroded away as I felt fur now forming on my cheeks. My ears beginning to painfully stretch and distorted into a much longer and more feral shape. I welcomed it, the more of my former human self taken the away; the less I was like the people I had learned to loathe. The more I became connected to my parents and what they intended, what my family wanted me to be.

The back of my neck shivered, gaining goosebumps as that pringley feeling grew across it and continued down my back. With a welcoming smile I removed my shirt and the last of my clothing, freeing the fluffy chest fur I had developed earlier and welcoming the oncoming change. It also revealed another purple furred shape that had formed on my shoulders, similar to the other one on my legs. The meaning of the symbol was unknown to me, if it was a symbol at all and not just some markings. But it was something I was very curious about.

The sensations continued even further down my back as I could see my hair grow even longer right in front of me, it tickling my long pointy ears as it did so, all while aware of the sensation of hair growing much further down my neck than it should do. Continuing past the shoulders, even further down along my back. I looked behind and could even see it spread to the back of my tail. My hair was becoming a mane, maintaining its brown colour to contrast it against the bright creamy fur of my body, and it decorated my tail nicely. Ending in a brown bushy tip that made the tail all the more delightfully fun to swish through the night air.

More! I welcomed the changes more! Anxiously awaiting what treat the transition would grant me next.

It was a terrible time to develop a headache, but it wasn't too surprising given how much stress had been inflicted on my mind. Being bombarded with rushing blood, pain and sensations that simply weren't meant for the human mind. But even this I greeted, as I felt across my forehead and realised this was simply another stage of the change. The skin either side of my forehead becoming sensitive, swollen, before painfully bursting open as something new began to take its place. I was becoming accustomed to the pain now, as I knew it was worth enduring for what it granted me.

I felt along two strong and bony structures erecting either side of my forehead, growing in length and taking on a slightly curved shape. Pushing aside my hair as the base of the structure thickened to establish its presence, while at its top it thinned into a sharp point. They were horns... I couldn't tell exactly how they looked because they were perched on the top of my head, but they certainly felt as if they would look menacing and dangerous. The likes of Jacob wouldn't dare try to pick on someone with these, never mind the various other sharp tools now at my disposal.

Now my back began to ache and swell. Mmmph... more delightful changes were on their way. There was no clothing to restrict me now, so I simply stood and wait of my next advancement, the odd twitch and jerk as whatever was happening to my back got things started. My tail betraying the excitement with a fury of little wags at its bushy end.

The pressure grew like it did prior to the growth of my beloved tail, though not as debilitating, more isolated to a small area of my back. Suggesting I was about to be rewarded with another new limb. I endured it with a grin, even as the muscle spasms forced me to hunch over as things rearranged themselves under the surface, ready to greet what was to come. The odd growl from the pain forced from my lips, as it seemed my involuntary reactions had undergone some changes as well.

I shrieked as the new flesh and bone began to push its way out of my back. Both in feral agony and the delightful rush of the change, as if I was starting to enjoy it; despite the negative aspects of the experience. It grew in length and snapped frighteningly to create necessary joints, first what felt strangely similar to an elbow and then a wrist. Shrunken, disfigured and alien. But still familiar.

Fingers began to emerge from these freakish arms, but they weren't anything like hands. The space between the joints extending massively longer, a skin membrane growing along their massive length to connect the various digits. Growing longer and more disfigured from anything imaginable as a hand, until I finally gathered the courage to look back. Based on what I had felt, I wouldn't have been blamed for freaking out at these monstrous arms sprouting from my back. Instead I greeted them with delight. The same welcoming joy I offered to the tail that decorates my behind, which now joined in the celebration of my most recent change with a large excited sway.

I thought things couldn't get better than the tail. Now, I found myself with wings. The flesh a bronze shade with a red membrane, straight out of some demonic horror movie but wings nonetheless. I stared at them in amazement as they gradually ceased expanding, finding my instincts once again taking control and I could stretch and flap them with an ease as if they were always there. I had wings! Did that really mean... could I really... fly?

A few strong beats downward and I was sent into the air. Looking down, I saw the environment I had one just stood in rapidly shrink into the distance. A patient Dean sat nearby, watching me escape upward into the night without attempting to stop me. Incredible! Absolutely invigorating. Never had I been happier to have left humanity behind than this moment. I was flying under my own strength, and while others would undoubtedly detest me for having such freakish limbs; I knew deep down they all craved them for themselves.

I beat the wings down hard, sending myself soaring even higher. The thrill of cold air rushing through my fur and my tail happily trailing behind. All I could see around me was stars, both above and below as the night lights decorated the landscape. Amazingly I could feel everyone, I could feel the location of each and every individual. The change had enhanced my senses in ways I never dreamt possible, I was aware of everyone below me. I was free. For the first time in my life, nothing was holding me down. I wasn't human anymore, I wasn't one of them. Their society no longer applied to me and I would decide my life from here on!

Allowing myself to get lost in the currents of the wind, I floated for a while. Allowing that wind to kiss my new body with its violent fluctuations as I flew around, helping me become accustomed to those new sensations. From afar the sun was rising, producing a beautiful range of colours in the horizon. The stars perishing to reveals clouds above and city streets below.

As much as I enjoyed everything about this experience and what I had become, I honestly didn't know what to do with myself now. Where would I go, how'd I get breakfast. I was a wild beast now but urban landscape surrounded me as far as I could see, it's not like I could just return to the carers I lived with previously; they'd have a heart attack looking at me now. I needed time to form a plan and people would be waking up now.

Targeting a nearby park, I aimed to land there and find somewhere to hide for now. At least until I could figure out what to do next. Slowly I descended towards the area, heart racing as the ground became closer and closer and my human mind began to freak out, believing it was falling. I tried to stay calm but the panic took over. I was too inexperienced and the descent was unstable, I'm going to miss my mark!

My feet hit tarmac a few times as I struggled to stay down, the wings sending me painfully slamming into a nearby stationary car. The impact smashing the window and denting the vehicles shell, but thankfully my new body was up to it and I didn't feel it hurt me seriously. Picking myself up off the car I brushed off the safety glass and looked around, to find a rather shocked middle aged man drained of colour and holding some car keys... oh dear.

Trying to put on a friendly smile, but not accounting for the intimidation of my new fangs, the man was sent screaming down the street like a lunatic. Rather annoyingly attracting the attention of a few people also up to go to work, them looking my direction but many of them being too far to make me out. I quickly made my way over the car and into a nearby building to escape the sights of the local residents, them perhaps getting only a glimpse of a fuzzy tail as I made my way inside. Only to send several women and a hairdresser screaming out of the shop and into the street to alert everyone else of my presence even more.

Quickly, I looked around for any alternative exits to the building that would allow me an escape without using the main street. My heart racing as who knows what all those people are doing out there right now, what authorities they are calling or baseball bats they are acquiring. But instead, my eyes landed on the large mirror of the hairdressers. For the first time I could see myself, this strange furry and reptilian-esque creature. But it wasn't the animalistic traits that acquired my attention, I was in fact quite proud of those. Instead, what concerned me the most about the reflection before me was what had not changed.

Despite horns, pointy ears, fangs and some fuzzy symbols either side of my face. What I saw looked like a mostly human face. My arms for the most part were human, as was my torso. Most of the changes were isolated to my lower body, my upper body was for the most part... human. In fact, anyone that knew me would likely recognised me with little difficulty.

No new changes had developed since the wings. My body for the most part felt stable, it was just a matter of getting used to what had changed. But still, was this it? Was this the end results? If my transformation had completed, why was so much humanity left? Did something go wrong? Is this really what my parents wanted, or was I taken away from them before they could complete their work? No... this couldn't be the finished result. It was wrong, I was wrong. I was becoming something beautiful, had those bastards denied me my completed form as well?

The residents in the road were greeted with a monstrous roar, leaving many of them undoubtedly unnerved as to what was on the loose. Then suddenly, I burst out through the businesses window and landed on the car on all fours, wings spread wide and tail held high. Shards of glass raining down on the surrounding environment and sending the humans fleeing from the beast that was on the loose. Those that didn't run soon learned to, as I took flight and gave them another aggressive feral shout. Landing on a rooftop, I wanted them all to know that the monster was pissed and they had best stay away.

A background noise I had previously ignored grabbed my attention, when I turned I found a helicopter approaching in that direction. Someone knew who to call and they certainly were making good time. Hissing at the vehicle, I jumped from the rooftop and took flight. Some human on a loudspeaker commanded me to land from the helicopter, as if I was under their authority any more.

I may have been a flight novice, but I was small and far more agile than that clumsy machine. So I led them on a chase, circling buildings and diving diving through tunnels. If they had any sense they would stop their chase, but despite my best efforts they were never far behind, the man on the loudspeaker repeating rather annoyingly his demands.

After awhile they began to slow down, stopping and maintaining position behind me. It was about time they figured out I wasn't worth the chase, turning my attention forward and intending to fly far away. But a moment hadn't past when I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my right thigh. Not the sort I had become accustomed to during the change, but a sharp foreign pain. It would be too difficult to inspect while I was still flying, so I aimed for a rooftop to stop a moment. Besides, I was feeling quite tired now.

Perched on top of a roof, much to my dismay I pulled what look like a dart from my leg. The sudden sluggishness and fatigue suggesting it was a sleeping dart that had been fired from the helicopter... No! They weren't going to catch me, I would not submit to them! Once again I throw myself from the rooftop and go into a glide, but only to find myself steadily heading downward as the muscles of my wings turned to lead.

Rather painfully, I crashed into someone's garden and made a mess of it. Knocking a hole in their shed and finding a watering can dangling from one of my horns. I was exhausted, but I couldn't allow myself to be caught by them. So very tired, but I mustn't be caught... mustn't be caught...

Dean strikes again... that is what the newspapers said. Attacked a young orphan and turned him into a monster, what a villain. I glanced over it while sat on a bean bag, tail poking out of adapted sleepwear and drooping over the end. Even a velcro adapted top to accommodate my wings, but my fur felt ever so itchy under it all. They could have picked a better material if they intended to dress me up.

What a sight I was, this big beast in blue and white stripy sleepwear perched on a beanbag. But then there is the lizard women sat over there on the couch watching soaps in a dressing gown, they even dressed up the four legged fish man. It's all part of reconnecting us with our human selves, as they put it. Cloths are good for the mind apparently, makes you feel more human, even if you are all fur or scales underneath.

They put me in a sort of post-Dean attack clinic where "victims" are given psychological support to come to terms with their physical violation. All funded by the company Dean used to work for, no less. As if any of these creatures would become accepted in a human society. Dean's mutagens aren't like the store bought ones, they cannot turn people back to normal. No matter how much therapy they are given, they're still a freak amongst billions of Jacobs looking for any excuse to make someone elses life that bit more miserable.

As for me, I'm just tolerating the various bureaucracy of the system until they deem me safe for reintegration and let me out of this cage. At the very least they provide the sanctuary to become more accustomed to my new form, keep me warm and fed while I worked on my balance and even to fly around outside on occasion. With a big fat tag to make sure I come home, of course.

So I'm sort of the state's unofficial pet dragon for now, they're trying to tame me and make me behave. But being a monster is just too much of a good excuse, I do enjoy getting a little wild every now and then and they expect it because I look like an animal. I don't know if the change affected my mind or if I'm just playing along with the role my body suggests for me. Either way, it feels good to tear your clothes off and create a little hassle for them, even if it extends your time here a bit longer. Sometimes you just need to let your fur out and race down the corridor on all fours.

I'll let them tame me sooner or later. At the very least, let them think. It's a big world out there and these wings are eager to soar into it.