FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

Trees whipped by as Sophia ran through the forest. She bounded over a tree log, landed all fours and resumed chasing the deer ahead of her. The claws on her forepaws dug into the dirt...

Sophia awoke, her stomach churning again. Head still pounding and shivering, she made it to the bathroom and suffered through another round of vomiting. After washing as best as she could, she made her way back into her bed.

Pups nursed from the two rows of teats along Sophia's belly as she rested. Her ears swiveled as she heard movement outside the den...

She woke up in a puddle of sweat as her alarm went off. Nausea still racked her stomach and her head still hurt, but her fever had broken. Pushing back her blanket, she tried to get out of bed, but that only resulted in her nausea intensifying and the room spinning. She sat back down on the bed and removed her sweat-soaked sweatshirt and jeans before laying back down again.

"Sophia, mom was in an accident... she didn't make it. Sophia?"

"Sophia?" her father's real voice brought her to consciousness. "Are you still here? Are you sick?"

Sophia groaned, her head was feeling better, but the rest of her body was still tired and achy. She looked at the clock; school started in ten minutes! Then the taste of vomit in her mouth and churning stomach reminded her she was in no shape to go anywhere.

"Yeah, dad?" she called shakily. "I think I caught a stomach bug. I've been throwing up all night."

"I saw the mess in the bathroom," he responded, concerned. "You weren't drinking, right?"

"What? No!" Sophia exclaimed in indignation.

"Alright," her dad replied hastily. "You need me to call school for you?"

"That would be great," Sophia answered.

"I'll call and then I have to get to my job," he told her. "Take care of yourself and give me a call if you need anything."

"Thanks dad," she responded graciously.

He left and she quickly fell back asleep, this time blessedly unperturbed by dreams.

Several hours later, Sophia awoke feeling considerably better. She still felt fatigued and some achyness, but whatever it was seemed to have passed. Her sheets had dried, although the faint smell of vomit still pervaded the room. Sitting up, she leaned back against her headboard, contemplating her dreams. They had been so vivid. She had dreamed about being a wolf many times, but it never felt as real as it did the night before. Apparently, messing around at the party had made quite the impression on her subconscious.

Shaking her head, she cautiously got out of bed. Once she was sure she wouldn't fall over, she made her way to the bathroom and looked herself over. Her face was still a bit ashen and her brown hair was a complete mess, but she otherwise looked fine. After cleaning up the vomit that had missed the toilet, she jumped in the shower. By the time she was done, the previous night's unpleasantness was fast fading from her mind.

The rest of the day Sophia spent either catching up on school work, drawing or with her laptop, watching funny videos online. By the time school normally let out, she was feeling like her old self. Well, not quite like her old self; something she couldn't put her finger on felt different.

Several times throughout the day, she found herself looking out the window at the brightly lit forest and mountains. She had always preferred the natural world, but over the last two years, before her mother had died, the feeling had become something akin to a pull. It had not been something she could explain, much less talked about. Today, though, it felt like a part of her was missing and could only be found out in the mountains and trees.

Sophia was contemplating calling into work and taking a walk to the forest when Candice called her cheap flip phone to check on her. After a brief conversation in which Sophia assured her friend it had just been some kind of stomach bug and she felt much better, she closed her phone and shook her head. No, she couldn't miss work as much as she wanted to. Missing the income wasn't something she could do and certainly not when she felt well enough to go in.

After eating her first bit of food since the previous night, she put on her work clothes and headed out the door.

Sophia's shift was thankfully far less stressful than Monday's. Although the illness itself seemed to have passed from her system, she was still feeling the effects from the lack of food and water. By the time her shift ended, her hunger was getting ravenous and she was eager to get home. She purchased an energy bar to snack on and - giving into the tantalizing aroma that had been torturing her all night - a box of leftover fried chicken from the deli. Her manager looked a bit amused as he rang her up, but thankfully said nothing.

Prizes in hand, she left for home. She had planned on eating the bar first, but found herself far more interested in the chicken. Even cold, the first bite from a leg was ambrosia and she quickly stripped all of the meat off of it. Next, she grabbed a breast and proceeded to devour that too. As she walked up her driveway, she felt around for another piece and was shocked to feel nothing but bones left in the carton. Taken aback, she stopped and looked in the box for a moment. Of course, she had been sick earlier in the day she reminded herself and that probably was all there was to her uncharacteristic gluttony.

Feeling sated and a little embarrassed, she threw the box in the garbage can in the garage and tucked the unopened bar in her bag. As usual, her father still wasn't home even though his job should have ended several hours before. He also hadn't even bothered to call all day to see how she was doing, she noted bitterly as she checked her phone for messages. A bit hurt, she considered waiting for him and letting him know it. However, with her hunger satisfied, fatigue was starting to weigh heavily on her and she instead began getting ready for the night.

She had just closed her eyes for the night when she heard her dad's truck pull into the driveway.

"Sophia?" her dad called from the kitchen.

"I'm in my bedroom," Sophia replied.

She heard footsteps and then a knock.

"I've just laid down," Sophia told him. "I'm still not feeling the best; I'll see you in the morning."

"I'm sorry I didn't call or check in," her dad tried to apologize. "It was a busy day."

"Well, I managed on my own," Sophia said acerbically.

"I'm really sorry," her dad apologized again. "I'll make it up to you; I promise."

Sophia stayed silent and, after a few moments, she heard him walk away. Bitterly, she wondered if he would even notice or care if she did run away. After a time, anger and loneliness finally gave way to sleep.

Hunger woke Sophia a few minutes before her alarm did. Usually, she only needed something small in the morning to keep her going until lunchtime. That morning though, she felt like she hadn't eaten in days and quickly found it impossible to wait even the few remaining minutes until her normal wake up time. Annoyed, she sat up and canceled her impending alarm. She then threw on a pair of sweatpants before making her way to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she grabbed a cereal box from the counter, a bowl and a carton of milk from the fridge. She quickly fixed a bowl and barely took time to breathe as she scarfed it down. Finding she was still feeling famished, she ate another full bowl - and then another. Two tall glasses of orange juice soon followed the cereal. Finally feeling better, she stared at her empty bowl. What was going on with her? She never ate this much!

After cleaning up her breakfast dishes, she set about getting ready to leave for school. By the time she was ready, she found she was hungry again and downed a couple toaster waffles and another glass of orange juice. When she finished cleaning up her second round of dishes, she quickly made her way out the door and headed towards school.

Candice surprised Sophia at her locker, giving her a hug.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better today!" Candice exclaimed. "We were all really worried when my dad took you home. The party pretty much ended after you left."

Sophia was gratified, but brushed it off, "I'm alright, just a stomach bug. After you called I even was able to go to work. I hope no one else got sick."

"None of the other girls got sick as far as I know," Candice assured her. "I'm fine and so is Lynn. It looks like whatever you had, you kept it to yourself!"

"Glad to hear that!" Sophia replied.

With that, the two left for their separate classes. Sophia made it to her second class before the waffles and cereal completely wore off. By the third she could barely pay attention over her stomach yelling at her that it was empty. The energy bar she had luckily saved in her bag took the edge off long enough to get through gym class. Normally, lunch was easily enough to fill her and she often had leftovers. Today, though, she found herself still feeling hunger pangs and went back through the serving line for a second round.

"Damn girl!" Candice exclaimed after Sophia came back. "You run out of food at home?"

"I've just been really hungry since getting sick yesterday," Sophia replied, a mouthful of food. "I guess it really took a lot out of me."

"I'll say!" Candice replied in awe as Sophia proceeded to wolf down her second helping.

Lunch thankfully stuck better, although she still found herself getting hungry again as she left school. At the grocery store, she bought a lunchable and sports drink. It was during her shift that her bladder finally took notice of her increased consumption. Thrice, she had to excuse herself to use the bathroom and, by the time her shift was over, she was getting desperate again.

"You pregnant or something?" her boss sarcastically asked as Sophia once again made a beeline for the ladie's room.

Sophia considered buying another box of chicken, but thought better of it as it would mean she'd have to bear more disapproval and sarcasm from her manager. Instead, she grabbed her things and headed for home. As she stepped outside, the strange feeling that had been nagging at her over the last hour intensified. It felt as though every cell in her body was being tugged and she ached to be away from the world of pavement, brick and steel.

The growl from her stomach reminded her she hadn't eaten dinner yet and she set off for home. It was fairly cloudy and the lack of natural light slowed her journey home. By the time she arrived, she was absolutely starving and quickly went about ransacking the kitchen. She didn't even bother warming up the package of hot dogs and quickly scarfed down the four remaining dogs. Next, she thawed out two Hot Pockets in the microwave and was easily able to eat both. Finally, she grabbed the half gallon of milk and downed nearly half of it.

Pressure on her bladder reminded the teen that all that liquid had to go somewhere and she once again found herself perched on the toilet. It occurred to her then, that she had not needed to poop all day despite everything she had consumed. Curious, she stepped on the scale and was both unsurprised and horrified to see she had gained three pounds in her binge. Back in the kitchen, she tidied up and then headed for her bedroom. It was Thursday and her dad was rarely home before midnight.

Sitting in bed with her sketchpad, she found herself staring out the window at the nearly full moon peeking through the clouds. The moonlight was making her oddly restless and strange tingling sensations played across her skin. It was as though her body was expecting or waiting for something, yet she didn't know what. Not knowing what else to do about her anxiety, she got out of bed and closed the curtain, leaving only the unnatural light of her lamp. It didn't really help how she felt, but at least her attention was no longer being drawn by the moon.

An hour later, she had finished a detailed drawing of the wolf that had crossed her path three nights before. It was drawn entirely from memory, but overall she was pleased with it. Gazing at the drawing, she wished she knew where he was and dearly hoped he was safe. It was strange missing an animal she had only just glimpsed for a few seconds, but right then she ached to see him again. In all likelihood though, he was long gone and far from town.

Sighing, she took one last look at her drape-covered window and turned off her lamp. She fell asleep holding her sketchpad tight against herself.

The next day, Sophia's hunger returned and she managed to finish off the box of cereal in the morning. Thankfully, her body's obsession with food wasn't as intense as the day before and seemed to wane throughout the day. Replacing her hunger though, was a building anxiety she just could not explain. Her body felt like a coiled spring waiting to be unleashed and, to top it off, she felt strangely aroused. In her English class, she couldn't help staring at Logan and imagining his strong arms around her... among some other things which made her feel very warm.

Even without her crush distracting her, keeping focused in her other classes proved impossible. She even forgot to look for Candice at lunch. So preoccupied with trying to keep herself from finding and escaping out the nearest exit, She didn't notice Candice was already seated until her friend came and tapped her on the shoulder after she had sat down to eat.

"You okay Sophia?" Candice asked after Sophia had relocated to Candice's table.

"Hmm?" Sophia replied.

"You seem really distracted today," Candice said with a worried expression, studying Sophia's face. "What's up?"

"Um," Sophia forced her attention on Candice. "I don't know; I just feel really tense."

"Well, at least your appetite seems to have gone down," Candice replied, looking at Sophia tray.

"Mm hmm," Sophia absently responded while looking past her friend and out the cafeteria window.

Candice could only laugh and shake her head.

In sociology, Sophia inadvertently started noisally drumming her pencil on her textbook, inviting a reprimand from the teacher and a flustered apology. When the last bell rang, Sophia was the first out the classroom door, nearly tripping over a kid in the back row who was getting out of his desk. Stepping foot outside the school brought tremendous relief followed by a new round of frustration as she remembered she had work that night. Grumbling to herself, she reluctantly headed towards downtown.

"Woah, Sophia, what's the hurry?" Karent asked as Sophia practically jogged past her.

"Just have a lot of energy today, I guess," Sophia replied after forcing herself to stop.

After giving the older woman a reassuring smile, Sophia continued towards the breakroom, though at a slower pace. In the bathroom, she realized she had forgotten to pack her work shirt that morning. Thankfully, the evening manager for the weekend was Linda and the woman found her a spare with barely more than a light chiding. After changing, Sophia found herself pacing in the breakroom and invariably couldn't sit for long no matter how much she tried.

By the time her shift started, working the checkout had become a Herculean task. Several times, she forgot what she was doing while in the middle of ringing up an order and was reminded by the customer that they also didn't want to be in the store all night. By the time the light outside started fading, she was starting to sweat and several customers commented she looked pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" Linda asked Sophia with a worried expression about two hours into the latter's shift. "You don't look very good."

"I... don't know," Sophia replied shakily.

Her clothes were starting to chafe and cling due her perspiration. Every cell in her body felt like it was vibrating and her heart was racing. The feeling of being trapped was rapidly starting to overwhelm her and it was increasingly all she could do to keep from bolting.

"Well, several customers asked if you were okay and said you had trouble with their orders," Karen told her. "Why don't you punch out and go home and get some rest. I can handle the register tonight. Just get that uniform laundered and back here next time you work."

Relief flooded through Sophia and she barely managed a 'Thank You' as she rushed to the back of the story. She punched out and barely remembered her bag before heading out the automatic doors.

The night air was cool and a welcome respite from the fire she felt raging within. Although she was out of the store, every fiber of her being was telling her she was still in danger and she broke into a run. As she ran, her skin began to itch and she felt an odd pulling sensation begin on her ears while her gums began to ache. Heat was also building below and she was all too conscious of the growing dampness in her underwear. A tingling sensation in her nose drew her attention and an increasing number of strange smells she couldn't identify started to bombard her brain.

Even as she neared home, strange instincts were telling her she needed to get away from the stone, pavement and glass of town. Even the thought of seeing another person brought an unfamiliar dread. The intense feeling she needed to seek the familiarity and safety of her home warred with the equally intense feeling she needed to head towards the open fields and forest. Increasingly terrified and confused by the cacophony of foreign emotions and sensations, she settled on completing her journey home.

As quickly as she could, she unlocked the front door with a shaking hand and practically threw it open. Equally as quick, she slammed it shut and locked it, rattling the windows. Not even taking the time to turn on the lights, she headed for her bedroom. Automatically, she flipped the lightswitch, prompting her to close and shield her eyes from the sudden glare. After a moment, her eyes adjusted and she dropped her bag and tore off her shoes before heading for her mirror.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and let out a scream of pure terror.