Path of Change

Part 2

"Cecil!" Adrian called out. "Dinner!" I pulled myself from the mirror and went into the flat.

Excluding the lab, (which was a converted barn) it was a small three room setup: A kitchen/living room, a communal sleeping room, and a bathroom. It was the best me and Adrian could afford pooling our money together. Adrian was setting a platter of grilled shreds of beef on the small table in the middle of the room. We each sat down in our chairs, grabbed our skewers, and tucked in.

"So," Adrian chimed in between mouthfuls. "Whad'ya gonna do now that you've finished school?"

I briefly paused mid bite to think about it. "I'm not entirely sure." I twirled the skewer around in my claws. At the other end, it's a spoon. "I think I'll continue studying and open an enchantment service.

"You gonna turn people into demons?" Adrian was dripping with sarcasm.

"Only if they pay well," I quipped back. Me and Adrian joked a lot. We were friends since we were kids. When we went off from our home in the Seventh City to go to the Academy, we decided to bunk together.

We continued eating when we heard a knock at the door. Adrian immediately turned to me. "Do you wanna go while I get the door?"

"No," I understood why he would ask me that. "I didn't go through this just so I could shut away from the world." I got up. "I'll get it." I headed for the front door with Adrian frozen in shock.

I opened the door to find Clement, a friend of Adrian. "Hey Clement," he just glared at me. "You here to see Adrian?" Clement continued staring at me while I turned back towards Adrian. "Yo Adrian! It's Clement!" Adrian just stood there. I turned back towards a still shocked Clement. "He'll be here in a minute."

Clement tried to form words. "W... Wh... Whoa!" Clement's face exploded with glee. "Cecil! How did you... What did you... Awesome!"

I was taken completely back by his enthusiasm. "You like?"

"Like?" He was still geeking out. "I love it! It's weird. It's dark. I love it."

"Dark?" Adrian had reached words. "He's purple. When is purple ever dark?"

"He's a demon," Clement was still euphoric. "That's awesome!" Clement was also part of the Counter-Culture community. He hated the status quo, so someone turning themselves into the traditional symbol for rebellion was a dream come true. Throw in the fact that the Flag of the Revolution was a purple demon against a beige banner, and you get both the reason that I picked this form (my grandfather was credited with designing it) and why Clement was so happy.

We pulled up a third chair and Clement joined us for dinner and the philosophical ramblings of a drunk guy and a furry purple demon. Again, I explained how I had come to do this; and he loved every word of it.

"I gotta tell the guys about this." He was still high and wasn't coming down. "They will freak out."

"Knock yourself out," I encouraged him. I started wondering why Adrian thought I wouldn't be "the most popular guy"; it seemed like I might have started something. I got up. "I'm gonna go and get some fresh air." I headed for the door.

"Knock yourself out." Clement chimed as I exited the flat out onto the street.

The street was pretty quaint. People were heading down the cobblestone road guided by gas lights. Out flat was at the end of a row of similar brick buildings with a wooden barn tacked on at the end. I leaned against the lamp post next to the front door, took a deep breath of the night air, and just mellowed out.

I just reclined against that post for probably not even a whole minute before I heard a high pitched scream. I looked up to see a woman being cradled in her significant other's arms. I stood up and extended my hand towards the couple.

"Hi," I smiled to the man's confusion and the woman's fright. "Lovely night." The man pulled his girlfriend away from me in a defensive reflex.

"Stay away from us, you monster!" My eyebrows and ears perked up in unison at the man's reaction.

"Monster?" It took a second to realize why he'd be afraid. "Oh... Don't worry, I'm human; well, used to be." They seemed to be both more confused and even more frightened.

"You... used to be... human...?" The man's confusion was starting to overstay its welcome.

"Yes." I explained for the third time that day. "I used to be human but I changed my form to this." The man's face changed from utter confusion to complete disgust faster than I could've processed.

"You, you, you," he was trying to get the words out. "You're an abomination!" He shouted out and pointed at me like a child who caught his brother with his hand in the cookie jar.

My ears perked back as he continued shouting various insults at me to the point that Adrian, Clement, and the entire street was coming out of their homes to see what was going on.