In Training

I’ve been busy since my last post, trying to learn how to use my new abilities. Summoning things into existence somehow came naturally to me. I even managed to create a doorway back to the human world on my first attempt but learning to open my seams and extend my limbs was more of a challenge.

“Are you afraid it’s going to hurt?” Wolf asked, after another failed attempt at extending my arm.

“Maybe?” I responded. I’ve taken plenty of pain over the years but that doesn’t mean that I like it, and it’s different when it’s self-inflicted. “I just keep thinking about how it felt when my finger was cut off.”

“That’s the problem, you’re thinking about it too much,” she said. “You aren’t cutting anything off, you are simply moving a limb within its new natural limitations. At most it will ache in the same sense that exercising when you’re out of shape does.”  

“I’ll try again…” I muttered.

“Before you do, can I see your phone for a second?” she asked

“Why?”

“I just want to try something”

“Okay..?” I handed it over

“Thank you” she said, before throwing it.

“HEY!” I yelled, as I reached for it. The phone didn’t hit the ground.

I fell to my knees in shock, staring at my arm. It had come away from my body and was separated in segments, supported by thick clumps of “threads”.     

“Good catch” Wolf said. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah” I stammered. My arm ached, but it was nothing like what I was expecting “I think so.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but I figured that making you act on instinct would be the best way to get around your fear.”

“You bitch!” I said with a laugh, getting over the shock.

“Yeah, but I was right, wasn’t I?” she said with a laugh of her own. “Now let’s see you make your other arm match that one.”

I did as she asked. This time, my arm came away without a problem, stretching out just as the other had. Without her prompting, I tried to do the same with my legs, extending them enough to let me balance comfortably on all fours. Leaving my phone on the ground, I took my first steps in this state. I was shaky at first, but soon enough I was walking, then running- moving faster than I ever had before. Suddenly Wolf was by my side, running with me. I laughed as we raced around the island.

The first time using my stomach mouth and tendrils was a bit easier. Wolf told me to fast for a day so that I’d be good and hungry. After I did that, she cooked a steak and set it on the table in front of me. I could feel the teeth moving under my skin as my stomach growled. I let the seam go and felt my maw open up. God that was weird. The sensation only got weirder as I focused on sending a tendril out of it to pierce the meat before dragging it in. Imagine the feeling of chewing and tasting but in a completely different part of your body than it should be. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to get used to that.

I’ve also been learning how to fight using my new body- forming claws, sending out tendrils, extending my limbs to move faster and give my punches and kicks more power, etc. I need to be comfortable with my abilities, and Wolf is making sure that I get plenty of practice.

Happy New Year

I made my decision. I actually did that a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it would be appropriate to wait until the new year to go through with it. On New Year’s Eve, I asked Wolf if we could visit our old home so I could see it one last time as a human. She said yes, and a few minutes later, we were walking through familiar neighborhoods. Thankfully, no one decided to crash the party while we were out, so I was able to take the time to think about things in peace. Knowing that this was my last chance to back out of my decision, I thought about my life, over all the shit I had gone through to get here and how much I had changed. I was already so far removed from the kid who left his dad’s house and never looked back, so why not go a little further? I had been hesitating, but my reasons boiled down to fear and self doubt, and if I had let that stop me in the past, I would have died, so why should I give into it now?

With that line of thought, I looked up at the fireworks that had started erupting above us and felt satisfied.  

The next morning, I sat at the table, staring at the “meat” Wolf had cut from that thing. It looked like a disgusting blob of veins and jelly and didn’t taste any better. I had to cut it into tiny bits just so I could get it down without having to chew because the texture made me gag.

That’s how it was at first anyway. After a few pieces, it started to taste better. After a few more, my stomach started growling. The texture stopped bothering me too, though that was probably because I was going numb all over. Blood started dripping onto the table, which I realized was coming from my mouth. I spat out a glob of it along with some of my teeth and kept eating. All I could think about was how hungry I was. My vision started to go blurry and the next thing I remember was waking up on the bloodstained floor surrounded by the shreds of my clothes. 

Everything looked so bright. I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up, shocked to see that I had all my fingers again. My pinky had grown back attached by seams to my hand, as all my other fingers were. There were seams all over my body at every joint, like Wolf’s, except that they were thin, with tiny light stitches. I’m not sure you’d notice them unless you were up close. Raising a hand to my face, I felt the seams at the corners of my mouth, but not across my lips the way that hers are. I stood up, planting a hand on the table to steady myself, feeling my lost teeth under my fingers. Moving my tongue, I felt the inhumanly sharp new ones that had taken their place. I started staggering towards the door, but a weird sensation made me stop. I could feel something hot in my gut and something else was moving under my skin. Pulling up my shirt (my body had apparently created new clothes, just like Wolf’s did) revealed another seam on my stomach. When I put my hand on it, I felt the shape of teeth inside.

Not knowing what to do with that for the moment, I stepped through the door and… was awestruck. The whole island seemed more alive and vibrant than it had before. There were little yellow lights that moved among the blades of grass, like fireflies. Looking up, I saw a large cloud with what looked like lightning flashing in it. I don't have words to describe the colour of it, as it's not like anything I've seen before. Either way, it seemed to get something going in my head, because I suddenly wanted to create something myself. I looked out at the abyss that surrounded the island and imagined shimmering water. As I focused on the idea, it took shape in front of me. A pond formed on one side of the island with endless water spilling off its outer edge into the darkness below.    

The sound of applause drew my attention back. Turning, I saw Wolf standing there with a huge grin on her face.

“Wonderful work!” she beamed as she stepped closer to me. Her eyes shone with a light that I hadn’t seen before. “Look at you!” she clapped my shoulders with her hands before pulling me into a hug. “How do you feel?” she asked as she let me go.

“I feel amazing” I said with a grin of my own. It was true. I felt so much better. Even the sores had disappeared. “Everything looks and feels so different”  

“Excellent!” she said, “We’ll have to do some training to get you used to your new abilities, but for now, enjoy the experience.” She hopped up and down in excitement “I’m so happy for you! So proud!”

Since then, I’ve been looking all over the island analysing the colours and running my hands through the grass, enjoying small sensations in a way I couldn’t before. I’ve even added some fish to the pond, little splashes of colour swimming through the water.

It’s beautiful.