FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, admiring the sharp-fanged visage that regarded me back. A smile crossed my lips as my sharp canines glinted, the shape and texture looking perfectly in place over my human teeth. These fangs looked so real! They were so comfortable in my mouth, it hardly felt like I had prosthetics. I clenched my jaw a few times, their comfort in my mouth selling the look. They were amazing!

I had been looking for the perfect prosthetic fangs ever since early September when all the Halloween supplies hit shelves. Sadly, everything in the box stores was cheap and gaudy as hell. I didn't know why I was expecting anything better.

I decided to look into the annual Halloween shops next, despite the worry of inflation for the same quality products as the box stores carried. I even spent an entire afternoon combing every inch of those stores for the perfect vampire fangs. It was silly, I knew. Yet, I was determined.

I had the perfect costume in mind for an upcoming party. It would be far superior to simple vampire fangs and a cape. I wanted to be more authentic. Full-on prosthetics, a real Bram Stoker-type of face. I had already secured all the necessary make-up and supplies to apply the costume by myself. Yet the perfect teeth still eluded me.

I was about to leave in defeat when something caught my eye. It was a series of small boxes in one of those metal carts, shoved into the back of the store out of the way. Through the plastic, I could see the perfect pair of fangs. The edges did not appear to be cheap plastic like every other pair I'd come across in recent days. The shading and size were exactly what I'd envisioned. I was elated!

Excited and relieved, I took my purchase up to the cash. Greeting the heavily made-up clerk, I noted that her goth look suited this establishment well. I handed her the box and went to pull out my card. I hadn't seen a price tag on the display. I didn't have too much cash to spare, but I figured I could splurge on these since they were exactly what I'd been hoping for.

The cashier tried to scan the item, but I didn't hear the distinctive beep. She tried a few more times with no luck. Frustrated, she called up a manager while playing the awkward game of trying to not make eye contact with me, lest we have to speak. As an introvert, I understood the game well and tried not to make eye contact with her either.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through social media until a portly woman strode up. Lifting my gaze, I was greeted with a confused expression and a couple of lightly muttered curses.

"I'm so sorry sir, but the item isn't in our computer. Must have been a mistaken shipment. " replied the woman in a practiced customer service voice.

"Oh, does that mean. . . can I buy them? " I asked, confused. "They were in a bin and everything..." I sounded a little sad, and in truth, I was. Still, the degree of my sadness was a practiced act. It was always better to attract flies with honey than vinegar. I wouldn't get anywhere being rude to the clerks.

"Were they? They shouldn't have been! Weren't we trying to return them? " the manager asked. The clerk simply gave her a shrug.

"Isn't there anything I can do? They were on display, after all..." I said, feeling a little apprehensive. I just had to have them!

The woman sighed. A line was starting to form, and the customers were beginning to get a little rowdy. After a few more minutes of haggling, I was able to get them at the same price as the usual fangs on display. It was still a little expensive, but it was worth it!

The first thing I did when I got home was to try them on. I had to admit, I'd always had a love of vampires, and I had toyed with the idea of wearing fangs around at all times, smiling at people just to expose the tips. Taking them out of the box, I was surprised at their length. They were much longer than any of the other vampire fangs I'd seen, more akin to cobra fangs.

I pulled out the resin that came with them, filling the teeth before donning them and allowing it to harden around the shape of my canines. I was sure to do it fast lest they hardened too quickly, and I'd have to get a new pair. Since acquiring these were such a hassle, I'd rather get it right the first time.

It took little effort to get them around my teeth as they settled into place. It felt so right having them on! I looked at myself in the mirror, smiling at the sight of the massive fangs that perfectly accented my teeth and facial features. They were perfect! I couldn't wait to see them with the rest of my costume!

As I reached out to touch them, a sharp pain assaulted my finger. Looking down, I realized that I had pricked my finger on the edges of one of the fangs. I yelped in surprise and pain. Were they really that sharp? There was a thick drop of blood running down my finger, so I quickly grabbed a towel to wipe off the spot. I was momentarily worried I'd stained my fangs, but then thought that blood spatter would simply add to the look, especially if it was actual blood! Just to be safe, I went into the bathroom to pour some disinfectant in the wound and wrapped my finger up.

As the big night came, I took the time necessary to meticulously apply the face make-up. It took longer than it should have, but I was pleased by the results. I really did look like I could walk onto the set of one of those old vampire films and sink my fangs into the film's helpless maiden!

The party went well, for the most part. At least, I thought it did, best I could recall. I didn't have work the next day, so I allowed myself to indulge in some choice beverages. Towards the end of the night, I was feeling pretty good. My costume was a real hit! I was applauded for its details all evening!

It was getting a little harder to recall the details as the night dragged on. It was more than just the booze that did me in. I was definitely ill by the time I got home. I couldn't explain it. It must have been some sort of stomach bug or the like. Whatever it was, it only worsened the longer the night dragged on. By the time I entered my bathroom, I felt like shit!

Wanting to get in the shower to cool off, I did my best to remove my prosthetics and clothes without damaging them. I think I was successful, for the most part. The last thing I removed was my fangs, placing them in their protective casing. The warm water did help me feel more human, at least. By the time I was done, I was tired as hell, ready for bed!

It was then I noticed the bandage still on my finger. What I saw when I removed it startled me. My finger was a bruised purple and brown color. To my chagrin, the small cut had not healed. As I peeled away the bandage, a foul smell hit my nose. I turned towards the toilet, throwing up, unable to keep all the booze in my stomach down.

I took a look at the cut again, shocked at the sight of a strange, orange sticky fluid oozing from it. I'd never seen anything like it before. I immediately poured more disinfectant on the wound, hoping to rid the smell. Yet, it still lingered. I wrapped the oozing wound once more, hoping that it was just some kind of after-effect of drinking too much. Spent, I crawled into bed and quickly passed out.

The next morning when I woke up, I felt a little dizzy. Nauseated. At first, I thought it was a hangover. But as I lay wrapped in my cocoon of blankets, I realized I felt feverish. There was a faint odor of something foul wafting up from the blankets, but I paid it no mind as I tried to sleep it off.

It was then reminded of the wound on my finger, and I forced myself up. Bracing myself to overcome the wooziness, I started to cross the room to my door. Yet the instant the light from my window hit my eyes, I hissed, feeling the blinding light painful. I quickly drew my curtains back before I made my way to the bathroom.

The sight of my visage in the mirror made me gasp. I looked very sick. My skin was a ghastly yellow, pallid, and sweaty. That faint nauseating odor seemed to emanate from every pore, though I was starting to grow accustomed to it by now. At least, it didn't make me throw up right away.

Recalling the source of the bizarre illness, I pulled the bandage off, afraid of what I might find. It peeled away slowly, as though it was stuck with something more powerful than the adhesive. I gasped as the stench hit me-tenfold. More of that same orange. . . stuff was oozing from where the wound once was. Yet, my finger was no longer injured. There was no longer any trace of the scar, as though it had never even been there.

I took one more glance in the mirror, looking for any sign that might explain this unexpected illness. As I did so, I noticed that my eye teeth were sharp, the spitting perfection I had been staring at all yesterday. Hadn't I taken my fangs out? I recalled distinctly that they were on my mantle in their protective casing.

I reached out to touch them, sure I must have been mistaken in my drunken stupor. I tugged at the fangs, expecting them to come out as easily as they had before, Yet, to my shock, they didn't. They were stuck! I felt underneath the fangs, trying to find the space between them and my gums. But, to my horror, it simply didn't exist. After a few moments of struggling, I gave up, too tired and ill to continue.

I went back to bed. It was all I could think of in my current state. Part of me was concerned about the bizarre stench and the fangs in my mouth. Yet, before I could formulate a plan, sleep quickly overtook me.

The dreams haunted me. I was sure I tossed and turned in my sleep, desperate for escape. Yet, no matter how bad they were, I couldn't wake up. I was surrounded by darkness, trapped, unable to move. There was a fear, a primal terror of being vulnerable. Yet, there was a modicum of safety in my private little world. The stench from before was there, though not as pungent to my senses. In fact, as I grew accustomed to it, it brought with it a comforting sense of familiarity.

There was something else, a hunger welling up in my stomach beyond anything that I felt as a human. I was ravenous, certain that I would perish soon without sustenance. Yet, in my current state, I was immobile. I tried to move, to free myself, but I was stuck. I couldn't see, couldn't hear. It was terrifying!

I woke up to a putrid stench in the room. It made me wretch almost immediately. It carried the same notes as the slick fluids that I had oozed from my fingers. Only now, it seemed to permeate the entire room, as though it had been sprayed with a nozzle. It stank to high hell!

I tried to rush out of bed in a bid to escape the putrid odor. But I immediately fell back, as though stuck. Looking down, I was fucking covered with that disgusting fluid! It clung to my skin, my hair, and the blankets. Where the hell had it come from?

After several moments of struggle, I finally managed to get loose with a loud sucking pop. Desperate, I ran to my bathroom, barely making it to my toilet before I emptied the entire contents of my stomach into the bowl. My face remained there for what felt like an eternity until all I was retching was a bit of bile. Shivering, I lay there for a few minutes as tears ran down my face. I hated throwing up, but at least I was done. The smell still permeated the room, but it was weaker now, and I was starting to grow accustomed to it.

I took a shower, desperate to wipe the sticky liquid off my body. Even soap and scrubbing did little to remove all the stains. It was a struggle, but enough of the fluid was washed away to keep me occupied. After twenty minutes under boiling water, I felt clean enough to get out. Yet even as I dried myself off, I could feel the towel catching on some areas where I had failed to completely remove the hardened resin.

I checked myself in the mirror once more after that. Though it wouldn't do me any good, I still had to know. The yellowed skin looked even worse than last night. I looked like a man struck with jaundice. Even my eyes were a little yellow! I appeared sick, far more than what a bad hangover would allow. No ailment I'd ever heard of could explain the sight of my face and body!

I checked my teeth once more, recalling my fangs and wondering if they had fallen out during the night. Though, at this point, I would be happy if they'd simply loosened. To my horror, they had not. It was worse than I remembered. The damn things were stuck! They seemed to be protruding from my gums even longer than they had been before, from what I could tell. How was that possible?

As I struggled with my teeth, I noticed my fingernails were longer too. Careful not to prick myself, I raised them to my face for closer inspection. On my thumb and two of my fingers on each hand, the nails had noticeable mutations. The nails were thick, losing their translucent pink color as they extended outwards. They looked almost like claws!

There was little I could do in my present state to fix what was happening to me. Instead, I washed my sheets and blankets, trying to remove the foul sticky fluid. I must have been extremely sick to secrete so much of that... stuff.

I made a quick call to my doctor and booked an appointment as soon as one was available. Though I was panicked, my need wasn't bad enough to consider immediate treatment, to my chagrin. Thank goodness I didn't have to work that day, at least!

While my sheets were in the wash, I stumbled my way out to the kitchen to get something to eat, hoping I could keep it down. As soon as the light pouring in from the kitchen window hit my skin, however, I jumped back, as though struck with a jolt of pain. Looking at my shoulder, there was a noticeable reddish spot where the sunlight had touched me. It looked almost like an allergic reaction. What the hell was happening to me?

I stayed in bed the rest of the day, cocooned in my little pile of blankets. It was all I could do. The smell had not entirely dissipated, but that wasn't concerning to me anymore. Though I was afraid of what was happening, something was comforting about my present state of being. I felt safe here, protected. Even though I was sweating profusely, I still had no desire to leave the warm embrace.

In mere moments I was able to relax enough to fall asleep. The dreams came back stronger than ever. I was in a warm cocoon, safe from light and heat and danger. I could change here, become my true self. It was truly bliss, a feeling beyond anything my human self could even fathom. I didn't understand the meaning of the change, but my body and soul desired it. There was something more I could be, so long as the process continued uninterrupted.

I awoke sometime later, drenched in that foul-smelling sweat once more. Groaning, I lay there for a few moments to gather my strength. I was stuck to the bed again, barely able to move. I felt as though every pore was excreting more and more of that stuff. I was covered in gunk-like sweat!

I bolted upright, scared I would be stuck to my bed. A thick rip echoed through the room as I popped out of my cocoon. Yet, as I did so, I felt suddenly afraid. Exposed. It had been uncomfortable lying in my own filth, but I missed the warmth of the bed. The sheets were once again covered in that foul-smelling fluid. The smell no longer bothered me as it had.

I wanted to turn on a light and look at myself, but I was afraid to. Not just of the light, though a part of my mind was aware of that as well. I didn't want to see how sickly I looked, how grotesque. Whatever was happening, it was getting steadily worse!

Instead, my gaze turned towards a dark corner of my bedroom, completely obscured from the window, even if it was open. Some part of my mind was drawn there. I wasn't sure why, but I found myself compelled to move towards it. The wall, in particular, seemed to be perfect for... what?

I put a hand out to touch it when suddenly my entire hand started oozing pints of the sticky fluid! It dripped onto the walls and quickly congealed, still clinging to my fingers as it did so. I couldn't pull my hand away! I was stuck!

I wanted to panic. Yet I couldn't. I suddenly felt tired, lethargic. I desperately wanted to nap. Yet, my bed no longer held appeal. It could still be exposed to the light from the window, and the sheets were uncomfortable and might stick to my flesh. The wall, somehow, seemed more enticing to rest my weary body.

I stepped closer to the wall and turned to lean my back against it. It felt comfortable to rest here, even as more foul-smelling ooze poured out of my body and attached me to its surface. It was more than enough to cover me completely. I could feel it puddling around me, covering the floor and hardening fast around my body. I was being cocooned by my own bodily fluids!

Despite my placid state, the realization of what was happening sent a chill of panic through me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry for help. But I could do nothing as the ooze swelled over me, covering my chest, my hands, and face. I closed my mouth as the ooze started seeping inside, but I could do nothing to resist it. It soon sealed shut my throat, as well as my nose and ears and eyes.

I found myself wondering how I was still alive. I could feel my heartbeat slow, my breathing stop as my body shut down. Yet, I was not dying. It was more akin to falling asleep. Even as my brain began to shut down, I had the notion that whatever was happening to me would keep me alive long enough to complete its purpose.

It was over. I was trapped, imprisoned in a cocoon excreted from my own body. The substance had congealed into a solid form far stronger than any biological material I was familiar with. I was left in here to transform as I had desired to in my dreams. A part of me was aware that this prison would be the catalyst for my metamorphosis. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. And soon, I was too tired to even care.

******

I had no idea how long I remained there. It could have been hours, days, maybe weeks. The passage of time seemed irrelevant while in my cocoon. I would be here as long as needed, my changing mind reasoned. I was safe and secure here. No one could harm me until I emerged.

No one came to seek me, or at least that I was aware of. My senses were nearly useless beyond the confines of my new prison. A part of me worried that someone might check in on me if I were absent from the human world for too long. What would become of me if I was discovered in this state? I could do nothing about that fact.

I was asleep for most of it, but there were periods of wakefulness where I was aware. I found it difficult to differentiate between my fantasies and my waking state at times. My dreams were all centered on the cocoon that had enveloped my world. My mind and body did not need anything beyond this space. At least, not yet.

I realized I was changing, transforming into a new shape. It was gradual, it was subtle, but it was there. My legs were the first thing I realized had altered. I could feel them extending, tearing off my pajamas as the cocoon dissolved their remains. I knew my legs were getting bigger than the cocoon could support, but I was not hindered by the confines of my prison as I grew larger inside it.

My legs felt as though they had too many joints. Without the ability to actively move them, I couldn't be certain. My ankles felt as though they'd stretched. And from what I could tell, I didn't have the same number of toes I'd once possessed. My hips felt as if they were sinking into my chest in the area just above my ass.

Odder still, I could feel my ass becoming massive, nearly too large for the cocoon. Each time I awoke, the protrusion had expanded further. I could feel the weight of it pulling on my back as its growth progressed. I couldn't be sure, but it felt as though my junk was gone, lost in the massive expanse of ass I had developed. A passing thought made me think I had grown an insect's abdomen, as impossible as it should have been. But, what else could explain the resin and cocoon?

My hands were not spared either. I think I still had a thumb, but my fingers were longer, and again, multi-jointed. Two on each hand might have fused together, giving me two fingers and a thumb remaining on my hands. My arms seemed thinner, their musculature gone. They, too, seemed to have snapped in unnatural places, but I couldn't rotate them to find out.

It felt as though I was growing new pairs of legs from my chest. Their dimensions seemed to increase each time I awoke. They were the same as my arms, complete with three-fingered thin arms. It was an alien sensation to have another set of limbs where none existed prior. Even if I couldn't move them, their presence was disorientating.

There were other changes, some more subtle as time went on. My skin was becoming harder, more durable. The flesh had dried out, likely a protective covering far sturdier than my human flesh. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed as though my hair had dissolved. Not just on my head but my entire body. I couldn't imagine what I must have looked like!

I could feel my internal organs sloshing around inside me, altering my physiology. I wasn't breathing anymore, at least not from my lungs or mouth. Those were still closed off from the resin. I didn't know how I was taking in air, but I still was. My body's metabolic needs were greatly reduced in my cocoon-induced slumber. My heart was still beating, but I couldn't hear or feel it. Did I even have a heart as I understood it, anymore? It felt as though my organs were dissolving into something simpler, slowly pumping some sort of viscous fluid that had replaced my blood.

Something was growing out of the skin of my shoulders as well, down along my back. I couldn't tell what it was. There was no human equivalent. They were hard and lengthy, like some sort of protective casing. Something underneath stirred slightly every so often, triggering muscles that I'd never had before. I shuddered at the possibilities.

I think the most unnerving changes were to my head. I was scared of losing my human visage, the one that looked back at me in the mirror each and every day of my life. It was terrifying to feel the numbness in my mouth give way to something elongated and coiled where my tongue had been. Also, I could feel something long and thin sprouting from the back of my head that had not been there prior.

My eyes bulged from their sockets ever further, though I could still not see. I was larger than I had been, and I was clearly no longer human. The changes were in line with something insectoid, further backed up with the resin I had excreted. I should have been disgusted, but I often passed out before I could reflect on my future.

In recent days I could feel my body getting stronger as the cocoon around me began to thin. The process was nearly finished, I realized. My changes seemed to slow to completion. Or at least, I wasn't aware of any new differences when I woke each time. My periods of wakefulness became more extended as time wore on. I would be free soon, to be whatever I had become.

I was equal parts excited and terrified. What would I look like? What would my life be like with whatever strange new body I now possessed? How had this happened to me in the first place? I was soon to find out.

******

One day I felt it. A crack in the cocoon that surrounded me. It was small, but it was enough. I could feel air currents rushing in. I didn't breathe them in. I no longer had a nose or the ability to breathe that way. Still, it was enough to stir me from my hibernation.

I tried moving, feeling all my parts stirring in tandem within the weakened casing. I wasn't sure how to work all the appendages I now possessed. There was certainly more of me than when I entered my cocoon-induced slumber. Each attempt at movement caused a stirring in the other parts that created a chain reaction of sorts. My body was desperate to be free from here, it seemed!

I pushed and pushed, feeling my additional limbs unfurl from my chest. They began pressing ever so slightly against their former prison as the weakened resin began to break apart. The more I struggled, the more the resin gave way, and the greater my mobility became. I imagined this was what a butterfly felt before hatching from its cocoon. It was wonderful and frightening all the same.

I was being reborn, yet I had no idea into what exactly. I wasn't anything earthly, or at least nothing I was familiar with. What sort of creature could infect another life form and change them so fully? It wasn't taking me over, at least not entirely. I was still here in my mind, even though my body was very different than what I was used to. Stirrings of instinct, in particular, that to escape, were also present. But faced with returning to the waking world, it was impossible to differentiate between my drives and those of the creature I had become.

At last, with an almost audible pop, I fell forward out of the casing where I had metamorphosed. The first thing that came to my awareness was the feeling of my three-clawed nails on the bedroom carpet. It was strange. I was aware there was a structure under my feet. But I couldn't detect it, not exactly. The tactile sensations I was accustomed to were absent in this state, much to my chagrin.

It was dark outside, that much I could tell. There was no light streaming in from my small window. Yet my new body was not hindered by lack of light. It was the alien inputs that left me confused. It took a few moments to reinterpret the dimensions of the once-familiar space. My abilities to smell and hear were jumbled, and my distorted vision made little sense.

I took a moment to orientate myself, forcing my vision to settle on familiar images that I could begin to interrupt with my new eyes. As my eyes started to focus in a meaningful way, I was suddenly startled by the sight of my changed visage in the mirror. Even with the shattered field of view before me, I took a moment to be face to face with the creature I had become. A creature out of a horror movie, like nothing that could have existed on earth. The image scared me to the core, even more so knowing that it was now my body.

The first thing that came to mind was that I appeared to be some sort of insect. Yet I was far larger than any insect to endure in the history of the planet. Far larger than even most people. If these things existed on earth they might be a contender for the dominant species.

I was at least 8 feet tall, too large to stand erect in my tiny room If I reared up to my full height. My legs naturally remained hunched over, my back and head ducked down as I tried to better see myself in the mirror. My legs looked, for all intents and purposes, very similar to my human ones. Yet, I could see that they carried a few extra joints, in particular, around my hips and just above my ankles. My ankles had extended backward, like a second pair of knees. Combined with my massive, flattened, three-clawed feet, they stabilized my weight and kept my balance well.

My skin was hard and brown, made of interlocking plates in many places to allow superficial movement. It appeared to be some sort of chitinous material, like an exoskeleton. It was far lighter than my bones had been. In some areas, it was smooth, almost shiny. In others, the fleshy carapace was rough and pointed.

Each of my limbs had several protrusions ending in what looked like spikes. These same protuberances ran down my pointed, tapered abdomen. I wasn't sure how they were used, but they looked dangerous or deadly upon contact.

I wondered how I was to use my new legs. They were currently restricted in my abdomen and seemed smaller than what had become of my arms. I tried extending them slowly, hearing a crinkle of flesh as the new limbs moved for the second time. They had seven segments each, allowing them to contract into my rather small thorax, thus limiting their movement side to side. The tips of each had three fingers, tapering into fearsome claws. I tried flexing them experimentally, feeling the strength in each.

My own hands had altered into a similar structure. Two fingers and a thumb, each hardened and segmented with wicked looking claws at the end. Joints connected them to my torso where my shoulder once was and allowed greater articulation that my former human arms could ever manage. They, too, possessed a strength I never had as a human.

My back was covered with a thick, shiny carapace, not unlike a beetle. I could feel a series of muscles underneath the surface, though they did not respond to my mental commands. I found myself wondering if they were some kind of wings under a protective covering. The 'shell' ran down my back, tapering at the end just where my massive ass began.

My backside had extended out into what was clearly an insect abdomen. I could flex it slightly through the thick layer of the carapace that connected it to my thorax segment. It was impossibly large compared to the rest of me, though still remained relatively weightless. I didn't have a cock or asshole anymore, just a single opening that I could open and close at will.

I wasn't aware of any organs inside me. No heartbeat, no chest rising and falling. Nothing. I felt. . . somewhat empty. I had to have internal organs, but they must have been radically different. I could feel a sloshing inside me that I assumed was blood or whatever fluid had replaced it. What color would my blood be? I didn't want to find out.

I was still breathing somehow, yet not in a human fashion. My nose was absent, and I felt no air enter my lungs. Soon I became aware of many tiny holes opening and closing on the sides of my thorax and abdomen. Spiracles, I recalled from my university entomology.

My head was the most bizarre sight of all. It reminded me of a praying mantis. A pair of long, waving antennas sat atop my scalp. The contours of my head were bulged out with black, multi-faceted eyes. After a few moments of visual discovery, I became used to the level of visual acuity they now possessed. In some ways, they saw even better than my human eyes. I could detect trails of heat in the room, though none of them were recent. Three more sets of eyes on my forehead left me confused about their purpose. I guessed they could detect different light spectrum levels that my human body would be unaware of.

My mouth was the least insectoid part of me so far. I had a prognathous jaw extending out from my face. I had no nose to speak of, nor any external ears. My mouth was surrounded by tiny arm-like structures that I could move if I tried. They wriggled back and forth and seemed to have some ability to grab and hold.

But that was where the insectoid appearance ended. My mouth was filled with cavernous teeth, so sharp that I was sure they were meant to rend flesh. They were frighteningly reminiscent of the vampire fangs that had likely infected me. Only instead of two, my entire jaw was filled with the deadly daggers.

More curious than frightened, I tried to run my tongue over them, but it no longer worked that way. When I tried to move the organ, it only pumped in and out rapidly, a stark contrast to the range of motion my tongue once had. The end was covered in a thick point that made it look like a spear. It reminded me of the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. It didn't have a mouth of its own, but I was sure it was used to kill while the other mouthparts drew food into my body.

I don't know how I was able to stand there so long, just staring at my changed form. I think the entire process left me a little stunned. I stared over and over at my new body, trying to move the new parts and watching their motions reflected at me.

An assault on my senses broke me from self-reflection. I felt something waving atop my head, the antenna I had noted earlier. They were twitching frantically now, bringing with them a wealth of sensory information that I had no idea how to process. But my changed mind did. Tiny, twitching filaments collected scent molecules in quantities that excited some alien center in my mind. Similar, longer hairs were stimulated by movement, though currently, it was my own body causing the distortions.

It amazed me how quickly I found I was able to interpret the new information. I could identify my human scent had been here, mingled with the markers that made up what I was now. But I also detected signs from a multitude of different beings like the former me, all human.

That realization unnerved me. The scents in the room indicated the presence of other people while I was in the cocoon. I wondered why they had not broken me out. Had they been unable?

The implication finally hit me. If other humans had found my trapped form, when would they be back to check on me? And if so, did I want to be seen like this? On the one hand, they might be able to find a cure for me. On the other hand, I didn't want to be some kind of lab rat under scrutiny for study. I didn't deserve that!

A stirring of something in my mind suddenly shifted my focus. I was assaulted with a pang of hunger more intense than anything I could imagine. The drive was so insistent, so primal that I was left with no other choice than to obey it. I needed to hunt, to feed. And I could not do so in this tiny enclosure.

I broke out of my window easily enough. I barely felt a thing, none of the shards of glass able to pierce my flesh. I fell to the ground unharmed. My new body was surprisingly agile, in addition to the strength it possessed. There were no humans around, thankfully. I lived near the woods, and it was late at night.

The hunger in my belly became more and more demanding. I found myself slowly moving across the lawn towards the woods. Though I had little control, I could sense that my current gait was insufficient. It was a notion shared by my new psyche, it seemed. Even as I scuttered along, I could feel something strange and new stirring along my back. All of a sudden, the sheath covering my back tore open, and an intense buzzing was picked up through my antenna. Without warning, I was airborne. I was flying!

The sensations of flight were nearly indescribable. One minute I was on the ground, and the next, I was in the air, hovering over my house. It took no energy at all to soar over trees. It felt a bit overwhelming being so high up, but my instincts felt safe in the air. That sense of ease allowed me to truly immerse myself in the experience. It was exhilarating!

I flew for a long time, hovering soundlessly over the woods behind my former house. I say soundless, though I could easily detect the vibrations of my wings. I doubted any mammal could. At least, given my current altitude. Only my shadow would give away my presence, but it was no matter. No mammal on earth would have ever experienced the creature I had become. They would have no defense against me.

At last, I spotted a herd of deer feeding near a clearing at the edge of the forest. I could easily make out their outlines and the heat signatures, but what alerted me to their presence most were the pheromones. Scent molecules wafted in the air around me, though my body needed only a few to signal that a source of meat was present to nourish me.

I was famished, and my body went into automatic at the sight of prey. I lit on a branch, surprised at its ability to hold me up, yet it barely shook under my weight. My new claws gripped tightly into the bark, keeping me stationary in my hiding place. There were plentiful branches and foliage to obscure my presence, and surely the deer wouldn't be looking up.

I could sense that my prey was getting closer. I was downwind without having realized it. My hunting instincts were on point, it seemed. And my internal calculations had been correct. The deer were indeed moving closer and closer to my location. One, in particular, was at the head of the herd, a male. Likely the rut buck for the herd. Oh well. Males were more expandable, my human mind reasoned. And my new insectoid mind cared little except that it needed to feed.

I gazed forward, watching it getting closer and closer while my body remained still as death. I was perfectly content to stay motionless for hours if need be. I would wait till my prey was either close enough to drop on or had moved too far out of sight.

Fortunately, in this case, I did not have to wait for hours. The buck was nearly in range, blissfully unaware of the death that would soon rain from the sky. Just a little more. . .

I lept down on its back, piercing the flesh of its skull quickly with my massive, tapered tongue. The deer was dead in an instant. The motion scared away the rest of the herd, but that was OK. I didn't need them that night. Not with this amount of meat to feed me.

I wasn't sure how I was to feed in this body. The anatomy seemed all wrong for a typical insect's ingestion. I found myself wondering if my new mouth was suited for the quantity of meat I would need to sustain my much larger body.

My new instincts quickly took over with the prospect of a meal before me. I lowered my mouth, drooling onto my prey. My saliva was thick, burning into my prey's flesh. I could see it slowly eating away at the carcass that I had killed. Breaking it down into chunks that could be grabbed by my multiple mouthparts. Easily fitting into my mouth where the rows of jagged teeth turned the meat into a slurry.

I ate my fill. The flesh was surprisingly satisfying. I dove in, devouring the skin, fur, meat, muscle, and even organs like the eyes and brain. Nothing was safe from my ravenous hunger.

Within ten minutes or so, I was done. Satisfied, I looked over from the remains of my meal with human curiosity. There was hardly anything left, save for the bones. I was full beyond belief. A part of me knew that now I did not have to eat for several days. I could devour massive amounts of food in one sitting. My abdomen was a bit bloated and distended from the quantity of food I'd consumed.

Now that the hunger had been satisfied, the instincts in my mind had other priorities. I was open and exposed. I had no home, no nest to return to. My scent was not present in the area. I had to change that. Without realizing it, my shell parted, and my wings lifted me into the air to search for my next goal.

******

I've lost track of the days now. My new form didn't care about such things with its own prerogatives and agendas. It didn't matter how many days it took to achieve them. It simply did what it needed to do to survive and follow its instincts. And I was content to exist in such a fashion.

My body was active at night for the most part. During the day, I entered a kind of torpor state not unlike my time changing in the cocoon. It was deeply relaxing, like resting after a hard day's work each time. Unlike my human life, I had no concern for deadlines or appointments. My new existence allowed me to relax in a way modern human life no longer afforded.

As time passed, I was beginning to feel my mind blend into the instincts and drives of the creature I had become. It wasn't a perfect melding. I still retained control at some points. But for the most part, I was content to allow the creature to take control. It knew what it needed to do to live in its new form. I was more of an observer, studying the behavior and lifestyle of this new species.

I found this life's fulfillment was in its simplicity. I had no obligations. No work, no school, no bills. Part of me missed my family and friends, of course. But part of me imagined what it would be like to bring them here instead of going back to my human life with them. Could I infect others as I had been? My mind toyed with the possibilities.

I had found a secluded cave in the forest from which to hunt. It protected me from the light, which my body did not like. My skin was sensitive, but it did not burn. Still, it made me uncomfortable to be out during the day. Sometimes I could venture out on a cloudy or rainy day, but I preferred to go about my business at night.

The area my body selected for my nest was perfect. There hadn't been a human scent in the area for many months that my senses could detect. The work was laborious, but it was satisfying. Each of my hands could secrete a thick resin, not unlike the cocoon that changed me. My saliva was potent enough to melt rock while my resin built up a suitable nest for myself. I was reshaping the land to suit my needs!

I had to eat about once every week or so. I could eat a variety of animals, as I quickly discovered. Larger mammals were best, given the quantity of meat that was present. There was no difference in taste that I could tell. Deer, Moose, Bear, Coyote. The species did not matter. Smaller animals escaped my notice. They were beneath my needs.

I supposed if I came upon another human, I would find them potentially prey as well. I was so much stronger than any human, and unless they were thoroughly prepared, they would not overpower me. The part of me that was human didn't want to know how I would react if I came across others of my former species. It was strange to think of myself as anything other than human. But the longer I existed in my new body, the more it made sense that I was now this creature in body and mind.

There was another thought that came to mind whenever I considered humans. I was lonely. I was the only one of my kind. At the idea of another being like myself, a strange ache emanated from my crotch. I had a faint idea of why, and the notion was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. Either way, it was a sensation I desired to explore further, should I have another of my kind in proximity.

There was enough human in me to be aware that if I was to retrieve more of the store's fangs, I could make more like myself. That the chemical markers for the change may rest inside them. Were they tainted with alien DNA, or were they directly harvested from a being like me? If the latter, perhaps I could change others with a bite from my fangs. Soon, I would test my theory. Either way, I would not be the only one of my kind for long...