Everything was aching, the burns on my skin were sore and as I surveyed what was left of my living room, moving house was beginning to become an attractive idea. Despite that, I was simply too tired to even contemplate that course of action. A sigh whooshed out as I realised I couldn't even collapse onto the couch that was lodged out in a garden bush.
Gravel crunched underfoot en route to the bathroom, and for once I turned the heating on instead of warming the water myself. I had to perch on the edge of the tub as it filled up, not trusting my ability to stand back up if I sat anywhere else. As soon as the water was ankle height, I kicked off my shoes, poked a toe in to see if the temperature was acceptable and slumped in, ankles crossed, hugging my knees. The water immediately saturated a reddish brown, full of blood and dirt. Specs of grass floated amongst the mud spots.
As the water reached my arm I whimpered, hugging my knees closer. With the dried blood washed away the extent of damage was visible. The blisters were already starting to reveal bruising under angry skin, and even more worryingly was the webbing of skin around the gem.
With my arm looking clearer I could see where each of the individual links had burnt their way in. Gold was my favourite thing of all time, but this was a little too close to comfort. The gem stared mockingly. Would it remain if I entered my true form?
From the other room, my morning alarm began to trill and I groaned. My day off was officially over, I'd had no sleep, my magic was running half empty and if I thought it couldn't get any worse, I was wrong. Placing the remaining necklace over my head I ran a thumb absently over the surface.
On the way to work, I purchased a bandage to wrap around my arm from the local pharmacy, despite the staff insisting on a hospital visit, my assurances that it was merely a flesh wound seemed to fall on deaf ears. Finally managing to console the staff by taking a leaflet on 'domestic violence' they allowed me to leave the premises.
My boss David pounced on me when I finally managed to find a way to drag myself into the shop. I was one gust of wind away from crawling on my hands and knees.
Beet-red he yelled "Andy!", rushing over, his Dybbuk was eerily slow floating after him. Silently its hollow sockets focused on me, leaving a chill jarring my spine.
David continued, "Paul's called in ill, I need you to take security. No talking to customers involved, just make sure no one takes anything they haven't paid for."
"Urrr..."
He paused studying my face. With a disdained curled lip he asked "Andy, did you get into a fight? You look terrible."
Quickly I reassured him, "No one died," pivoting the subject to the former; "Security?" There was always security at the club. They got to drag out the drunk handsy guests. That wouldn't be too bad, especially if they lost a finger or two. I saluted him. "Yes sir!" His eyes followed my bandaged arms.
"Ohmygosh what happened Andy?" A high-pitched voice squealed. It was the new teenage girl that had trailed me the other day. Her bright blue eyes were ringed in eyeliner, only making them look wider as she blatantly stared at my injuries.
I grunted. "DIY accident, honestly I'm fine." If I worked security she'd not be following me around. "Happy to secure the premises," I told David.
He sighed, rubbing his nose bridge lethargically. "Andy, you're an awful employee, you're rude, you don't listen and you're about at helpful as a soggy doormat."
Here I was trying to be a model employee, yet it was hard not to grin at the thought of being absolutely useless. I tried my best after all. He took a deep breath.
"Just watch the security desk, don't make eye contact with the customers."
Before I could ask how I was meant to both watch and not make eye contact, a tannoy announcement summoned him away.
"They look like burns." The human girl gasped, pointing at my arm.
"Yeah, DIY got crazy."
She bit her lip. Meanwhile, I was trying to recall her name. Was it Jody? Josie? Jo continued, "Hey, I know you don't know me well but if you ever need someone to talk to or a place to stay, let me know. No questions asked!" She added hurriedly.
Oh great, it was like the pharmacy all over again. In a bored tone, I repeated what I'd told them whilst purchasing a bandage. "It's not domestic abuse, I am single. I live alone. I do not tolerate other people." My tone was boring and repetitive.
For a moment she seemed pacified, turning to leave. Suddenly over her shoulder, she added, "If you're that bad at DIY, maybe you should consider tolerating someone who isn't." Her lips were in a sly smile. "Just-a-thought!" Her cadence bobbed in a sing-song tone, walking away.
Not quite sure how to answer that, I took a seat at the security podium. Security guy Paul had the best job. On the tiny little screens, I could see everything. The man on aisle seven was scratching his ball sack. The girl on aisle ten was picking her nose. When she put it in her mouth I almost levitated out of my seat. Marvellous! What a legend. Perhaps David would let me have popcorn.
The shift went quickly. I had a few slip-ups, Mrs Marie didn't realise the knickers hanger was caught in her hood, and apprehending her was borderline aggressive.
Jo, as predicted ended up trailing a different member of staff today, who got her going on scanning at the tills. Still smiling offered me a wave and she took a seat opposite where I was. In return, I offered a glare, which she didn't seem to take offensively.
By the last hour of my shift, most of the customers had left and my attention kept wandering away. My arm was hot and itchy and the lack of sleep was catching up. Whilst I was used to long hours at night, daytime shifts without any rest at all were turning into an eye-closing experience.
The monotonous beeping of scanned items turned into a metronome. My eyelids slid closed for about two seconds until I jolted awake again, scanning the cameras for anything I could've missed.
The shop was empty apart from a hooded figure approaching Jo's till. I glanced up and could see them a few metres away. Their gait was odd as if it was their head holding them up instead of their legs. I let my eye slide closed for a few more micro nap seconds since it wasn't too much of a concern. Had a bit of excessive tequila intake over there.
Jo watched the figure approach, tilting her head oddly, before mouthing words I couldn't catch. Sitting up a bit straighter and blinking away sleep I observed curiously. When the customer was at the till her eyes narrowed, but she smiled hesitantly, ready to serve. That was until she completely froze, her mouth falling open.
Jolting to attention, muscles tense I waited to see if I needed to spring into action. Gaze transfixed on what was before her, slowly she pushed her chair away from the till, rolling back. The wheels rattled across the linoleum.
"An... Andy" Jo stuttered, quickly shooting me a side glance.
Snappishly I shouted back "What?". She cringed. The figure swayed, and she started to shoot glances between us both mouthing another word.
Run.
I tilted my head quizzically, only realising too late it was the irksome non-human gesture I'd been trying to phase out of my repertoire.
Just what was her problem?
The figure in front of Jo was shaking, reaching out a trembling hand. Ever so slowly, the girl's knees tensed, and leaning forward her weight shifted to her toes. The hiss of the chair as the pressure decreased filled the store.
The figure's weight shifted quickly towards her. Never one to back down from a fight, I stepped out of the podium, pushing strength into my foot with a little bit too much force. The tile under my foot shattered with a loud crack, causing the figure to stumble as it tried to turn towards the new sound.
"Hey, you!" I shouted, storming closer.
Jo looked back at me like there was a second head erupting out of my shoulders, shaking her head quickly and mouthing 'go, go, go' gesturing me toward the exit.
The individual turned slowly.
Grabbing its arm, my hand contacted something cold, slimy and wet. Snatching it back, the thing's skin came off too, stuck to my fingers; pulling off like a slime toy.
"Urgh!" I cried trying to shake it off. The stuff slid off like a slug.
"Ewwwwww!" I shrieked. Surely I'd had enough weird things on my hand for one day. The figure had redirected its attention away from Jo. As I met its gaze my first thought was that was one heck of a look for next Halloween. The scent of wet dog, saliva and meat, crossed with a human and the sour pit of rotting flesh offended my nose.
Whilst not an expert on lycanthropes, the mixture of dog and human suggested the heritage. Stories always seemed to suggest they were a seamless blend and notoriously fast healers. Staring at what was left of the girl in front of me, I'd have to disagree.
Bone jutted out from her cheek as if it had been broken previously, or gotten stuck midway through the change. She had an eye left, but it faced somewhere over to my right side, whilst her other socket was a hollowed dark hole. She had a maw, the canine teeth intact but the rest of her skull was still warped human and too small to fit such a large mouth. Her muzzle exposed ripped flesh where a white fat maggot wriggled from the gums. Leisurely it twisted from the hidey-hole, before ungraciously falling to the floor.
I realised now why she had walked so weirdly, her kneecaps were in the wrong place, one leg was partway to wolf, whilst the other remained somewhat humanoid.
Jo didn't need to be told twice now that it was focused on me, out of the corner of my eye she attempted to slink away, the best idea she'd had since I'd met her.
The walking wolf-corpse growled.
Cool, two could play that game.
Drawing in a deep breath I snarled back louder from deep in my chest. Shelving of homewares vibrated in the stores.
Unperturbed the creature opened its maw, flashing blackened teeth, and a barely attached tongue. Behind it, Jo bolted, leaving the chair spinning emptily. As much as I wanted to chase her, I couldn't have something scarier than me. Throwing back its head, a long howl escaped. I'd sound ridiculous if I tried that. However, the thing didn't seem like it was done at that, it began to snap oddly, hunching over. Its head widened, and its legs evened out until it was on two stretched dog limbs.
Trying to figure out where the bones and muscles would be just to walk made my head hurt. The arm bones didn't quite join correctly, the forearm stayed outside the skin, and its back stayed arched. Maggots and flesh chunks cascaded to the floor escaping the changed anatomy. The previous bones that had already jutted out of the skin were now just about able to hold onto the body they belonged.
The sudden amplification of the rotting odour hit the back of my throat, sending me staggering backwards. A flickering red light drew my attention upwards where I gazed into one of the store security cameras. Now I had a problem, it was inevitable I was going to be on camera. I'd promised the councilman I wouldn't cast any magic. Plus if this was on tape who knew what copies late-night rental stores would be selling out the back room?
Honestly, I'd rather be in bed. Even thinking about summoning magic was enough to give me a headache. If I gave the creature a blast of magic, not only was I going to be in a lot of trouble, it was more likely I'd collapse. On the other hand, it also seemed like it was already dead, so I wasn't entirely sure how to stop it. I paused, listening closely through the ripping muscles. Yep, no heartbeat.
Could this be one of the zombie things? Wait until I told Willow about this!
The creature launched itself at me. Did I decide if I could hit it with magic?
Too late, trying to step out of the way, it collided with a smack, its teeth sinking into my shoulder.
Not cool.