Morph.

Chapter 8

Shit. I freeze. Staring right into Chris's eyes. He stares back, frozen.

He takes a step forward out of the bushes. I freak and let out a screech before grabbing my backpack in my beak and wildly flapping my wings, taking off in a matter of seconds. As I reach altitude, I whirl my head round to see Chris standing in the clearing looking up, sheer confusion and shock on his face.

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I see my house and begin descending. Eyes keeping a lookout to make sure no one's around the vicinity. Screw it, I fucked up. No more morphing in public spaces, even if it's the roof of your own house. I stop on a branch nearby, spotting my room window. It's open. Good.

Swooping down into my bedroom, I drop my backpack on the floor and land on my bed. Can anyone peer into my room? I scan all possible vantage points from my window and find that no one can, my bed is angled away from it.

Eyes closed. Concentrate. Nothing happens. What the fu-? Try again. Steph, relax. Relax. He's seen you, it's too late. You won't get anything done if you don't change back. Relax. I keep telling myself for the next few minutes - a hawk with its eyes closed on my bed.

Soon enough, I feel warm and twitchy. Something's shifting inside. Good.

RGHRGHRGHRGHRGH RGHRGHRGHRGH RGHRGHRRHG

FUCK!!!

My phone vibrates loudly from my backpack, interrupting my focus and halting my shift.

RGHRGHRGHRGHRGH RGHRGHRGHRGH RGHRGHRRHG

It goes silent after that. I take a deep intake of air before it starts to tingle again. I keep my eyes open this time, too paranoid to shift without constantly looking out the window - afraid some nosy neighbour with a telescope might come across this.

I feel myself growing, frame expanding and lengthening, widening in all sorts of directions. Cracks and pops begin to become audible as I see my wings before me slowly grow longer and their feathers melt away, bones underneath reconstrue into my forearms, wrists, and fingers slowly emerge at the tips. It still hurts a bit, but it's gone from burning skin and muscles to just an uncomfortable stretch. My arms slide back into shape, fingers and all, before my entire torso squirms as my organs and skeletal structure speed up to get into formation.

Great. Looking down at myself, I see a human girl's body and arms coupled to a hawk's feet and talons and a-WOW!

My line of sight strays to my bedroom mirror and I catch a glimpse of my face. My blonde hair is almost at its full length, eyes still at the sides and very much hawk-like. Ears have begun taking shape at the side of my head. My beak is now a pliable stick of pale yellow as it droops down and begins to crawl its way into my face, fattening my head to normal size as it separates into my nose and lips. I look at my legs and realize it's almost human, toes almost forming.

Finally, my eyes begin moving back to their normal positions, changing colour and shape in the process from a deep gold to pale blue, my vision going blurry for a few moments as my human perspective comes back.

I'm on all fours on my bed, naked, and staring back at my own reflection. What have you done? What has just happened? I begin to feel sick and soon enough, tears are trickling down my face. I don't even know why I'm crying. Why?! I run to the bathroom and stare at myself, hoping that my 'cry-face' would be so horrendous I scare myself into submission from crying. It doesn't work, and I start to bawl my eyes out.