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The Corrupting Commission

Part One

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Cheeseguy3412

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Sara's perspective

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I smiled, brushing a strand of my hair back behind my ear, tucking it neatly back away from my face, which framed it in a pale blonde halo. There was chatter in the house again, late afternoon light streaming in through the windows, though, in the early part of the year, it would not be all that long before the night closed in. The darker times of the year did bring out the cosy side of life, even if there were fresh buds on the trees outside, heralding the end of winter.

Still, the chill outside wasn't something that I, Sara, wanted to venture into at that time, dressed down in a cosy sweater that was a little fluffier and oversized with my slimmer figured tucked underneath, my hair loose around my face, my chin pointed. I'd always had a narrow face, but I didn't mind that too much, though I had spent a lot of time, when I'd been younger, contouring my face with makeup to make it look like my cheeks were rounder and more filled out.

I'd always been like that…kind of.

Even then, I had done little things to transform myself, things that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things but had fed into my liking for more erotic transformations in the future… Well, that was one way that I had thought that it had begun. That and the crazy fantasy transformation books that I had read when I'd been younger: a lead-in to something a lot darker and deeper in my adult life.

I blushed faintly, the sound of laughter from one of the bedrooms carrying down the longer corridor that went from the kitchen to the bedrooms, allowing me to look out on the sizeable garden. I couldn't be thinking about those things, no, not when my friends were around, I was sure that wasn't supposed to be done. I hadn't even seen them in ages and, well…I was still wondering just when I could get back into my favourite fantasises, pleasing myself with my hand between my legs or something kinky from my wide collection of toys. I did have rather a lot of those, though, since living alone, I'd been using them a lot more.

Not that first night though, not when I had my friends there again after so long, the three of us having moved apart after graduating university. The house was so quiet when I was there on my own, even when I had music playing, and sometimes I caught myself wondering and imagining if there was another presence there with me, something watching me. That had to be my mind playing tricks on me though... Right?

Enough of that. I had to keep my mind on the straight and narrow. It was good, simply put, to have my friends there with me, Ciri and Lara, for the summer. My home was out near the edge of town, a place that I had been exceptionally lucky to inherit from my dear grandmother, but too big, really, just for me. The big home with the forest behind it, however, was not something that I was willing to give up, reminding me far, far too much of all the good times I had had there in the summer, from the big living room where I had sprawled out on the rug playing with my models of mythical creatures to the big tyre swing in the back garden. I'd spent hours upon hours on that very swing, going higher and higher, wondering if, one day, I would let go of it, just to see if I could fly.

There were more than enough rooms there for all three of us to have enough personal space, the exposed beams of the home giving it a more homely feel than if it had all been done up in a modern style. I had not changed it all that much from when my grandmother had lived there, but I wanted to, at the very least, be able to give back to my friends too, offering my home up to them as a summer vacation spot, whenever they needed it.

My grandmother would have liked that. I was fortunate also to still have all the books that our family had left there, so many myths and legends, all filed away in an office where a wall-to-wall bookshelf took up the entire span of one wall. That was freaking awesome. That, in fact, was one of the things that had gotten me to speak to an artist on FurLife about a rather special commission story that she had in mind, inspired by those same very old myths and legends.

As if on cue, my phone dinged and I lit up, my grin stretching more widely, the heat in my cheeks, from my cheeky little fantasises nudging at the back of my mind, creeping down to her neck. Even then, I hoped it was not all that noticeable.

“Ohhhh…"

I let out a low, soft sound, heart beating a little more quickly, plonking herself down heavily in one of the big armchairs of her living room. They were set out, with the sofa, in a semi-circle around the wall-mounted flat-screen TV, so that everyone could be comfortable while they relaxed together in the evening. While alone, I often sat in the office that I had converted into more of a den space with a smaller TV and a little sofa that suited me better: just enough to stretch out on but not so big that I felt dwarfed and overwhelmed. I liked that cosiness.

And I liked even more that, finally, TFQueen had come back to me about my commission story. They weren't open for work all that often, which had made it imperative for me to grab a slot as soon as they had opened for one of their rare commission rounds.

TFQueen: Hey! I've come to your slot in the queue. Do you want to run me through what you had in mind?

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I held in her squeal, tucking my legs up under my body in the armchair.

Sara: OMG – thank you! I can't wait to see this story!

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I'd paid up already, so there wasn't anything for me to worry about there. It was good to have things all settled.

Sara: So, what I want is a little out there, but I've seen you write similar before, so I know it's going to be amazing.

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My cheeks heated up, checking yet again that Ciri and Lara were not at all close to me, for I wouldn't have quite wanted such a kinky thing to be revealed to them. They were rather astute at sneaking up on me when I wanted to hide something on my phone in particular – and probably knew some of the things that I was “into" as a result of that, though they had never said explicitly about it.

Sara: I was thinking of something like this… I want a story where the Fae come into the real world, like in a fantasy novel, but with a sexual, transformation twist. They rule this forest, but no one knows about it, so they don't know not to go inside. Then, when people do go inside, they start being transformed by the Fae. The Fae have been trying to avoid humanity, since coming to this forest, hating machines and all the stuff that human beings bring along with them, wanting a natural life. So, that's why they don't react all that well to humans still encroaching on their land, where they live.

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Sara: The increase of technology, people coming in closer and closer to the ancient forest, brings more and more people in, angering the Fae, even though people have no idea. They resolve to do something about humanity's habits – and that's where the transformations come in.

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Sara: I want the Fae to use and transform the humans that enter their forest into anything and everything, just so they're playthings for the Fae to warp and mutate exactly as they please. There aren't any limits to that, from turning them into animals to making body parts bigger, like what you write a lot of… You can take it as far as you like, I really just want to see what you come up with.

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It didn't take all that long for the reply to come and I bounced impatiently in my seat. I could send her the full plan, I had it typed up on the computer, but I wanted to make sure she was okay with the commission too!

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TFQueen: Wow, that sounds great! It sounds like you want a lot of detail in it too, with what you've got covered for the story, I can do that for you.

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Sara: That's great! And is it okay if the Fae give some of them a choice too? After forcing some humans to do things like play a more natural role in the world, as animals, turning away from machinery and stuff… So, the people would be transformed but have a twisted say in it. The Fae will love this, in this story world, mutating the humans and even giving some twisted pleasure, sexual things. Most of all, the Fae start to like the people that request depraved sexual things, like having their breasts grow so big that they can't move at all, liking the people that request to no longer be human the most.

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Sara: They'd grant these transformations, because it aligns with what they want to do, but they would not ever let a human escape as a human. A request just lets them have a say in what they are turned into, they'll still be corrupted. The details are up to you, I'm super happy for you to have free reign on that – surprise me! All is good!

The speed of their answers surprised even me. Were they sitting there waiting for me to respond? That was kinda nice that they were so switched on to me; I had paid a premium for the story, after all, and TFQueen was the best of the best.

TFQueen: That all sounds awesome, loving the detail. But are you wanting the story to be just the story…or do you really want this?

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I blinked. Was that even important to the story? I didn't get it. Still, I tried to answer her question.

Sara: Yeah, I'd love this to be as real as it can be, I want to feel like I'm there in the story experiencing everything. Does that make sense? I'd totally do all of this, anything.

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I hoped that that conveyed what I wanted enough, even if I wasn't so sure about what she wanted me to say.

TFQueen: This isn't an answer to make lightly, you know. This story is going to transform your entire life.

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I smirked a little. Wow, it was great that she was so confident in her writing ability! She was really going to knock it out of the park, truly, I couldn't imagine the story not doing exactly what she promised.

Sara: I totally get that, I would so do all of this, letting the Fae target me. I'm really ready for this.

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She really got my theme – well, frankly, I didn't know whether TFQueen was a man or a woman or non-binary or even how they preferred to be addressed, though I had seen that they, more often than not, merely used their name, TFQueen. That was the easiest way to make sure that I was being polite and respectful, but TFQueen just seemed to make everything about commissioning her so easy too. Even if she did ask some odd questions…

She must be getting really into the theme, that's kinda cool.

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I would do it though, if I ever had the chance. I wasn't silly, of course, I knew that that could never happen, but that would be pretty cool too, awesome to let my wildest, darkest fantasies completely and utterly run wild. To be transformed and never myself again, just a creature that the Fae could use, twisting and transforming for the rest of whatever lifetime I was there to lead. It didn't matter to me, not at all that much, just in having that control ripped from me, asking them to change me, while never quite knowing if they would do what I asked or go completely off the rails.

Some control but no real control… Yep, that was incredibly hot, I had to admit.

I settled up with TFQueen – and that seemed to be all there was for me to do. Result! She made it so easy and I made a mental note in the back of my mind to tip her once I saw the story in full. I was so sure that I was going to love every single word of it. There was no possible way that I could not.

Heading back into the house, my phone tucked away in my pocket, I went to make sure that they were comfortable. I found them both in Ciri's bedroom, her skin seeming a bit darker than usual from when she had been on vacation recently, mixed-race in her features with soft eyes and dark, straight hair that was cut sharply around her face. I'd always be envious of her cheekbones, Ciri rarely wearing any makeup at all, though she had always been stunning. Her tongue was quick and sharp, but she had a way about her of opening people up to her and her advice had always led me right.

Lara, on the other hand, was softer all around and seemed to come with a perpetual smile on her face, though that was just how her cheeks were plump and full, lips tucked up at the corners and a glow in her brown eyes. I was the only one out of the three of us who had blue eyes, though we all matched up well together. It was strange to think that we would never have met each other, most likely, if we had not all been studying together at the same time, despite our different courses. I would forever be glad that they were in my life and I don't quite know at all what I would have done if they were not my friends.

“Hey, guys," I said, leaning on the doorframe. “What are we all doing? Did you want to grab some takeaway food…maybe pizza? I have some board games that we could get out."

Ciri smiled, an eyebrow quirked as she leaned back on her hands from where she was perched at the edge of the bed.

“Are you getting old already?" She teased, lips pressed together as if she didn't quite want to let her smile out. “All those rowdy nights of drinking and going out after exams… It's all gone, is it?"

Lara rolled her eyes. It was difficult for her to look truly annoyed, however.

“Hm, no," I shot back. “Unless you want to drink playing cards – and you can bet that I'll whoop your ass when it comes to that!"

We could, after all, drink freely, if we wanted to, though I wasn't all that much feeling like a glass of wine, no, not that night. I was too buzzed knowing that my commission was soon to be started, waiting hungrily on my fantasies to, yet again, be realised in writing.

The board games, in the end, did capture Ciri's attention enough for her to sprawl on the rug in the living room, the coffee table pushed back out of the way, though Lara and I stayed up on the sofa, which was more than big enough for both of us, if we wanted to, to stretch out all the way on. That was kinda nice, kinda cool, though I hadn't actually had them around to “my place" before and I was still getting used to that.

As darkness fell and pizza was eaten, only a few crusts left uneaten in the boxes shoved back on the side table, the wind howled. I hadn't even realised that a storm was forecast for that night and a line of tension strung out across my chest, as if a metal band was encasing my torso, squeezing in more and more tightly, compressing my lungs, making it more and more difficult to breathe. Wincing, I stood to close the curtains against the lashing rain plastering the windows, the trees a few metres back down that side of the garden waving and swaying dangerously. Hopefully, they were all stable enough, but it was too late for something like that to command my attention.

“Jeez, it's really coming down out there, isn't it?" Lara said, making a face. “Is it always that bad in a storm?"

I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. I didn't want them to worry, even if it very much was unusual. I really should have seen something about a storm like that on the forecast…

But I hadn't and that was strange, very strange, in a way that stirred up a sense of deep unease and wrongness in the pit of my stomach. The trees, the old apple, waved back and forth, too close to the house, scraping the walls, though I pretended not to notice. There was an attic on the single-storey building, but I had never been up there. It did not seem like at all the time to do so then, despite knowing that there was very little between us and the dark belly of it.

I tried to shake myself off, to not pay attention to the strange noises outside. Just a storm, I told myself, grinning and topping up Ciri's glass of wine for her, though we really had not had all that much, not so far. Maybe it had rolled in all of a sudden and our reaction to it was just our old instincts, that primal part of our brains, thinking that there was something there, something to fear, telling us to hunker down and ride out the storm.

Maybe.

Still, I was ever-aware of the forest so close to us, wondering if there was something inside, just like…

“Hey, do you hear that?"

Lara had stilled, sitting up straight, the remote for the music system in her hand, turning it off. Sara grimaced. She'd put that on to hopefully dull the noise from outside, but, apparently, it had not had as much of an effect as she had hoped. Damn it.

“I don't hear anything but the storm, Lara, don't worry about it," I said with a smile, but it still felt shakier than I wanted it to be. “It's okay, seriously, this kinda wind picks up here all the time."

“And it was clear when we drove in," Ciri chimed in shrewdly, giving me a pointed look. “There wasn't anything on the news about it, nor the radio station forecast."

“Guys, come on," I said, holding my hands up. “It's just a storm. We don't have to go out in it, we don't have to drive anywhere, we're all perfectly fine right where we are. And there's plenty of food here too. We don't get crazy weather here, like tornados and stuff, so there's really nothing to worry about."

A loud bang from outside had us all jumping and the other two looking at me accusingly, though, to be fair, it had come at the worst possible moment. I shrugged.

“Well, I wouldn't advise going out in it if there are things blowing around out there…"

Only, there wasn't something to be blown around out there. I didn't have the garden furniture that I wanted yet and there was something more, a rising wail that I had mistaken earlier for the wind.

I froze, Lara and Ciri shuffling closer to each other, Ciri sitting up with her back against the sofa while Lara was still up on it, though it was obvious, even then, that they needed that closeness and support of one another.

“Ooooohhhh…"

“What was that?"

Lara snapped, eyes glistening, as if she was on the verge of tears, though, truly, I could not have said. I'd never seen her in such a state of panic before, shoulders rounding forward, hunching in against her own body, as if she was about to curl up into the foetal position.

“Just the wind," I said, though I didn't really believe it myself. “It hast to be the wind."

It was always full of strange sounds, that forest, I told myself. Yet even I could not deny that I had never heard anything at all quite like that before. It was like a groan and a wail, not high-pitched or low-pitched, but somewhere in the middle.

“I hear shouting," Ciri said, serious, gulping down her apparent nerves. “This… This is weird."

It wasn't like Ciri especially to be that concerned and I took a breath, but there was still the wind, even if the rain seemed to have eased off for a while. And yet I could still hear water falling, as if it was further away, and furrowed my brow. That was weird. But there wasn't a damn thing that seemed normal right then either.

The shouts and cries, like panicked people moving at a quick pace, came from the street, the house attached to it via a garden path, though there was a gate and a hedge between the front door and the street. It had always given me more privacy there, but not even peeking out the curtains of the living room, set on that side of the house, showed me what was really going on outside.

I couldn't make it out, what they were saying, like one person was shouting at another.

“Ggggggrrrrwwwaafff!"

And that! I shrank back, yanking the curtains back into place, my heart pounding, sweat dampening under my arms, shamefully so. I was meant to be the strong one there, I was meant to be the one reassuring them that everything was okay – and there I was getting frightened by the wind and…

…And a growl that sounded like a very big animal. But we didn't have predators that big in the area, did we? None that came in near human beings…

“Sara? I don't have any phone signal," Lara said quietly, clutching her phone to her chest, the device shaking in her grip. “I can hear them… It's… I don't know…"

I stood.

“Let's make sure all the doors and windows are locked, room by room. And turn off all the lights. I don't know what's going on out there, but we're sure as hell not going to be involved in any of it."

A screech sliced through the air, unwittingly close, and we jumped, scurrying to make sure that everything was locked up and sealed tight as the wind eased a touch and thunder rumbled in the distance. I tossed them torches from the kitchen, thankful that I had had the foresight to leave a few tucked away within the easily accessible junk drawer, and we went around the house, each going in a different direction.

Thankfully also, only the back door was unlocked and a bathroom window at the back of the house, which was just because we had taken separate showers earlier and the steam had needed to dissipate. Annoyingly, the extractor fan in there had not been working and I hadn't gotten around to calling someone out to fix it – or digging into online videos to see whether I was capable of diagnosing just what the problem was.

We reconvened in the living room, closing the door, settling down with our backs to the sofa, away from the windows. Every curtain was closed and we knew everything was locked, though it, for some reason, didn't make anything any better.

Ciri kept checking and rechecking her phone, but even the internet connection was down, as if we had been completely cut off from the local area when the storm rolled in.

“There's probably a disruption," I said, more confident than I felt. “It's normal, seriously."

Ciri glared.

“And what do you say about those sounds though? It sounds like there's a load of fucking animals running around out there!"

She rarely swore and, when she did, I knew she was far gone, holding down her nerves with all the force she could muster deep inside her. I knew she was right too, as much as I was striving to hold on to myself, to stay fast, to be safe, to try to reassure them through any means possible. After all, if the doors were locked, even if something pretty bad had happened, we'd surely be okay in there and we'd find out what the hell had gone on in the light of the morning.

Right?

That was, at least, all I could hope for.

The animal growls continued and we crept close to the window, turning off the torches and peeking under the curtain. We had to see, one way or the other, even if we knew too that we should have shrunk back and away from everything that was happening, putting it down to perhaps tiredness and the storm. However, there hardly seemed to be any trace of the storm left outside, leaving a deadly eeriness cast across the street where the snarls and grunts and groans echoed across a stalemate of an expanse.

“What's that?" Lara hissed, jabbing me in the shoulder. “There… Past the gate?"

I had quite a wide gate set at the end of my path, but I rarely opened both sides. Something big and lumbering crossed our vision, the hedge shaking as if it was pushing up against it too from the other side. All I caught was a glimpse of thick fur, clothing hanging off its body, tattered and torn, a snarling muzzle that pulled back from sharp teeth.

Fuck. We really were in the thick of something there, weren't we?

“There's…lights," Lara pointed out, a little too bold, pressing forward, though there was a yowling cry like a big cat in the air too. “You… Can you see them too?"

I could. I just didn't want to admit to it, as if something was happening out of a sci-fi film that, really, I might have been into at another time. Or horror. It wasn't all that much better when horror was happening right in front of you, to be fair, but the lights floated and bobbed, each one roughly the size of my closed fist. They didn't seem to move with any sense of direction, floating down the street, some even coming into the garden and hovering around the flowerbeds.

“It's got to be an illusion," Ciri said, even if it was not quite like her to deny the truth that lay there right before her eyes. “Or a prank, right? Are any of your neighbours, like…kinda pranksters? Or what?"

Her voice shook and I hated that. Maybe they would never have had to be so scared if I hadn't invited them over. Then it would have just been me there, stuck in the house, even if I did not know at that time whether that would have been better or worse.

It was kind of a toss-up. No one wanted to be alone.

And then the strangest thing yet happened. Two balls of light condensed, flitting to the driveway, which was set to the left of the window and entered via another gate with a security code. I'd liked having that put in, because I always wanted to be able to make sure I was safe at home, stopping people from parking outside and making sure that things were nice and private for me. Maybe I got that from my grandmother too.

Yet the balls of light swelled, growing into small, human-like forms, crouched and hunched over like little goblins, though no features could be seen. Lara's hand gripped by shoulder and, despite the pain of her fingers digging in, I didn't do anything to stop her. It just didn't seem right, but nothing was right at all, not as the glowing figures came closer and closer and closer, ducking down, though it was not as if they didn't want to be seen.

Maybe everything would have been okay, if we hadn't been at the window. Maybe everything would have been okay, if we had just pretended that we weren't there until daylight, that we didn't exist and never had done in that house. But something big, like a wolf – bigger than any dog that I had seen – stumbled into the driveway gate with a resounding crash. Lara could not help but shriek and, even later, I could not blame her, for it took every ounce of control I had in me not to scream either. Ciri merely stiffened, but I could tell that she was barely holding it together.

The wolf-like mammal, whatever it was (did it have too many legs? I couldn't see, couldn't tell) stumbled away, tripping over its own feet, looking like it was half-clad in trousers. That was absurd, surely, yet I didn't have time to think of more as those two little glowing faces turned on us, our faces there in the window, half-hidden – but not nearly hidden enough.

“We should get away from here," Ciri said, shaking Lara and me out of whatever stupor it was that we were in. “Come on – we've got to…"

“Look!"

The figures strode up to the house, straightening up even though they still seemed shorter, maybe around four feet tall. They did not stop, moving quickly, with purpose, right up to the door with the clear pane set into the middle of it…

And they simply vanished. I cursed and ran through to the hallway by the front door, heart pounding, expecting to find something there, someone there, but there neither was anyone or any indication that there had been anyone there either. They had walked into the door…and disappeared. Like nothing had ever happened.

I gulped and turned back to my friends, their torches switched off. I could only imagine how they were feeling, their hearts pounding, palms slick with sweat, breath raking and catching in their chests. At the very least, it was a struggle for me to breathe, straining to take in a full breath.

It was wrong, all wrong.

“Let's…" I hated how shaky my voice was. “Let's go to the office, the little one with the library in it. The window has always been stuck in there, I've never been able to shift it or open it at all. I don't know what's going on, but we will surely be safe in there."

It was all I could say, slipping up into stranger word choices, trying to convince even myself too that I thought we were all going to be okay. Just who did I think I was to be trying to tell them that, hm? They knew as well as I did that something really weird was going on.

I didn't tell them what I saw next. I didn't tell them about the book sliding from the bookcase as we shut ourselves in the library. All I did was close the door a little harder than necessary behind us, to make sure that the sound of the book falling to the floor with a dull, soft thump was hidden. Mostly.

I picked it up, turning it over in my hands, swallowing hard. Yet that didn't do anything to settle the nerves all bundled up in my stomach, twisting all up into one another, churning, writhing, like my intestines had come alive and were all grumbled up inside me.

“What have you got there?"

Of course, Lara would have been the one to notice that, coming over with the torch to peer over my shoulder at it.

“Oh, just a book of myths and cautionary tales, stuff like that," I said, knowing that they were not into the stuff I was into. “I must have, ah…been reading it earlier."

“That's creepy."

Ciri plucked the book out of my hands and I let her, thinking that she could use the distraction. I wasn't all that sure that the stories in the book, however, were going to be any more comforting, considering what was going on outside. There were some quite disturbing tales in there, though, thankfully for me, they were on the cleaner side of what I usually read.

Ciri flipped through it as I fidgeted uncomfortably.

“You do read some weird things, Sara," she said. “But you do you. What's this one about a cat collector? Do you remember it?"

Of course, I did. It was one of my favourites for the felines that it contained and, well, I liked the animal transformation aspect too, even if it was not my favourite of all. I nodded, pretending to be a little distracted, but Ciri was not deterred. Maybe she needed something to fixate on right then, considering everything else that was happening outside. I had to allow her that, surely?

“Yeah…" I took the book from her, trying not to stiffen up as there was another wail from outside, one that we all, rather studiously, ignored. “The cat collector… It was, uh, weird, reminded me of a crazy cat lady down the street from me when I was younger, though this is a bit more twisted."

Lara and Ciri looked interested enough, so I shrugged and followed the story on the page with the tip of my finger, which was not at all like the claw of a cat, my nails kept short and neatly trimmed. Ciri, on the other hand, was quite feline when it came to her hands and I never had understood just how she managed to type as well as she did with nails as long as that.

“It's a cautionary tale about a sprite with a feline affiliation, one that often takes the form of a big cat, prowling forests and moorland. There're lots of different tales about them, but, in this one, the sprite walks down the road like a mature, elegant woman, flanked by a guard of exotic cats. They follow her, day in and day out, and no one interacts with her – because they knew to heed the tales."

“Until, one day," she continued, “a young man, old enough to know better, stops her in the street. He asks her what she's doing, why she had so many exotic animals, the big cats…and all the cat collector does is smile at him."

Lara shivered and even Ciri made a face at that. I shrugged, not wanting to go too deep into it, for it was one that I had dog-eared the page of for a reason, a story that I liked to explore, time after time again, letting my lusts for transform rise. Ciri and Lara didn't need to hear or know about that, not right then, even if the book had proven to be a good distraction for them so far.

“The warning is not to speak to the cat collector, the woman guarded by exotic felines…unless one wants to join her guard, of course. And that is exactly what happens to this young man, fur sprouting all over him, out of the neckline of his T-shirt, huge paws filling his shoes and changing the shape of his feet until he can't even keep his feet inside them at all."

“Ugh…" Lara grimaced. “That's really gross. So, he, like, becomes a cat. Like when you got super into that story series where the protagonist turns into a cat and then goes the rest of the time trying to turn back. And then…stays like that. Weird."

I nodded, unable to help myself from finishing the story. So, they did know a little more of what I liked, though I had not made a secret of the clean side of things, the stories that could be found in the young adult aisle of fiction at the bookstores, some even in the fantasy sections too. Transformation stories had fascinated me, of course, even through our studies together and it had not been all that unusual for me to wind down on a Sunday with a good book. It made sense that they had paid enough attention to my likes that they had noticed what I was reading too.

“Yeah, pretty much. He transforms right there in the middle of the street, the embodiment of the cautionary tale, and becomes a beautiful leopard, with black spots all over. Of course, he doesn't want to be a leopard, his clothes falling off him, all naked except for his fur, but whenever he tries to plead with the cat collector to transform him back, all that comes out of his mouth are cat sounds."

Ciri barked a laugh.

“Oh, could you imagine that?" She laughed, though there was only a touch of humour in it, more disbelief. “All that…mewing and yowling and cat-screaming. You've heard them in the middle of the night, right, when two of them are roaming outside and get into a fight? And, what, this guy just gets stuck as a leopard then?"

I nodded, closing the book and passing it back to her. It wasn't needed and Ciri could entertain herself with it further if she wanted to, as I didn't want to go too deeply into things, not as heat built between my legs. And it very much was not the time for that. The sounds outside, at least, seemed to have dulled.

Perhaps we had imagined the small figures walking straight through the door of the house.

Perhaps.

“I don't know, I remember some transformation books, fiction stuff, when we were kids, but I never got into that, that was all my brother's side," Ciri commented, though she seemed interested enough in flipping through the pages of the book, taking a look further. “It was the horror show though, the gross one, the one that boys liked… Oh, I don't even remember what it was."

“Well, you've got plenty of time to remember," I joked, leaning back against the wall and grinning. “We're here all night and all of your vacation too! So, chill out, we'll get everything back to normal soon enough and I bet we'll find out that there was just something crazy going on like a wolf escaped from the local zoo. Maybe everyone is running around trying to catch it right now?"

“Hah… Yeah, that would be scary," Lara said, “but alright, I guess. It's not like a wolf could get in here."

“And those lights could have been searchlights," Ciri added, a look of strained relief on her face, tightness around the corners of her eyes. “That would make a lot more sense… We were just getting really freaked out back there, there's nothing out there."

We didn't mention the figures. We didn't talk about how they had walked, seemingly, straight through the door. We just let the lie stand, putting it all down to a trick of the eyes.

Still, it didn't distract me from the reminders of the stories that I had spent so long pouring over, following each word on the page as my lusts had grown. It was a good thing that I hadn't had my sexual awakening too early, for it would have been pretty awkward to explain, honestly, why I was as enraptured and as turned on by those books as I was.

Of course, what I didn't tell Ciri and Lara, despite them being my friends, was that I was, well… It was strange to even think of it, but I was jealous of the victims in stories like that one, people who had what was left of their humanity stripped from them, ripped away violently as if they had never truly deserved to be able to move around in a humanoid form to begin with. To be transformed into an animal was hot, though not my favourite transformation kink, for there was so much more to explore there that it was more the taking away of humanity that appealed there.

My thoughts drifted and I had to gulp, trying to drag my attention back to reality and the present moment. It was so easy to get swept away in fantasies sometimes, even when I was around my friends. Still, at least I did know and understand what curses, the transformation mutations, would mean for my life, if things did turn out like one of those stories… The characters in the stories had no choice and I still wondered if there were people in the world, where those myths and tales had originated from, who had been transformed like that, who were alive, even then, as their transformed forms.

I couldn't pity them, even if I was meant to. And I knew every tale by heart, all of my favourites.

If someone had walked up to me and offered for me to swap places with them, I would have done it in a heartbeat.

That wasn't something I was going to tell Ciri and Lara, however, even if they had figured out bits of the transformation stuff that I liked reading and re-reading. Never before had I detailed the true, sordid extent to which I would want to be transformed, if that had ever been presented to me. They certainly didn't know about my online accounts for transformation roleplaying and the sheer volume of decrepit transformation stories, for much more adult audiences, that I consumed.

And then everything shifted.

Continued in part two…