NOVEL NEXT ch.6: Pain, Sweat and Growth
Popping open my eyes, I slowly turned to myside. I saw the clock, 4 A.M. was on its screen. Another two hours before I had to get up but thanks to that dream, I was wide awake. So I just let got up, trying to yawn.
“Ouch!” I yelped in surprise.
My checks hurt, sore like eating Chinese food too fast. Or…. smiling too much? The image of my melting self made my skin crawl that I had to rush to the restroom and wash my face. The cold water pushing away the stabbing pain in my cheeks, cooling my face and my mind. That was before I saw my reflection. Stepping back, my body trembled uncontrollably as my eyes filled with horror, sweat rushing down my back. There in the mirror I a saw a black silhouette, its dark body seemingly swallowing the surrounding moonlight. The room beginning to dim and darken as my void like refection shuddered and its shoulders and arms spasming and twitching wildly. Before the room went completely black, my head shook and swayed as my eyelids slowly closed.
“Oliver wake up already! You’re going to be late!” came a loud voice. “I’m going to get the ice water.” Chuckled the voice.
What! Water, cold water! No no no no no no!
THUNK
My body slid out of bed crashing into my square carpet. “Ooooh….” I whined as I rubbed my arm.
“Ice water my greatest weapon!” my mother smiled as she sat me up. “Is it just me or do you look a little brighter than usual?” she asked seeing my arms and face.
Without much thought I looked over at my arm to see my skin tone having a slight yellowish color. It was a little shiny and felt a little tight when I moved my arm like a shirt one or two sizes too small. Adjusting myself I felt a pinching in my ribs every time my chest straightened, leaving me in a crooked angle. Even my mouth started to feel like I was eating cotton balls, dry and sticky.
“water…. Please?” I asked realizing my dehydration. Only adding a please after my mother gave me a raised eyebrow.
She left quickly before returning with a cup of water, which I quickly downed like I just came from a baking, oven of a desert. “you feeling ok? Because we can go see the doctor if you’re not.” She asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
“Yeah, just a little thirsty, that’s all.” I said slowly getting up, my ribs still pinching. “I think I must’ve had a crazy dream last night.” I said rubbing my eyes awake. Everything last night was a blur, just a blank white void.
“Probably- I’ve heard that some people converging have strange dreams. Even one guy thought he’d become a burning salamander but became a ruby lizardman if I remember right.” She said thinking out loud. “well one thing is obvious…. You’re almost ready to converge! Which means you have to be careful while out there in the world.” She was excited but also warned me to be cautious. “remember if you’re indoors find a large space or room.” She reminded me.
“ok. I’ll be careful of my surroundings.” I said a little uncertain.
“I’ll let your doctor know too, so they can prepare a room in case you need it.” She said as she left the room to make a call.
After she left, I looked down at my hand. Closing and opening my fist, feeling my now tighter skin. “what happened last night?” I asked. I wasn’t sure but my mind just wouldn’t remember anything. The world was only white and nothing else. Shrugging, I got ready for today’s class, thinking I’ll remember it eventually.
Sitting in class, I saw, Free Period, written on the board with a cartoon version of Mr. Minnow flexing underneath it. Some of the students were missing, most likely meeting with their counselors. Hopefully they weren’t as weird a meeting as I had with Miss Lavigne. I hoped she really did control herself around everyone else.
In the corner, Mr. Minnow sat at his desk which was large enough to examine a tall person and a small almost medium dog together. He had papers filed into a white divider on his desk, a pink desk mat in the center with little cat faces. He had a metal statue of a minotaur holding a top hat and it had a fancy mustache. Mr. Minnow was reading a book while crushing a weird googly eyed slime toy. His book read, “I’m in a demon world”, the cover art was of a beautiful sliver demon in a black dress, with blue and green eyes. He seemed super absorbed in this book, as he started crying with his serious face hidden in his shadow.
I turned to Belle who was drawing a cartoonish picture of a very long cat that kinda looked like himself, munching on red cookies. Happily humming to himself as he drew a person on the long cat’s shoulder who he colored yellow.
“Hey could I ask you something Belle?” I asked, a little nervous about what I was going to ask.
“hm?” he stopped drawing and looked at me. “what is it, gold Oliver?” he teased.
“ugh… that I-I wanted to know about your um…” I wasn’t sure how to word my question without sounding somewhat insensitive. I couldn't help but look at his cat ears standing at attention.
“how I became like this…?” his voice was a little lower than normal. Maybe it really was a sensitive topic.
I nodded, “ if it’s too big of an ask you don’t have to answer me.” I added
“well, it wasn’t pleasant. But I changed a lot and I’m not sure how to word it, I just feel happier as this new me.” He said unsure of what words to use. “I feel more whole.” He said looking at me with a sincere look.
“really? W-well I’m happy for you.” I said stiffly looking away. He hadn’t really given an answer I was hoping for but then again I wasn’t very specific in what I was looking for.
He looked at me, his eyes becoming huge green orbs as he realized. “Oh! Um my body pinched in places and m-my…. Um…bu- lower back hurt a little.” He said, the last part seemed a super uncomfortable to say. “I-it was like that for a few days before I um converged into a nya-jin.” He blushed at the term nya, like it was taboo.
“really? Um I guess I could say I’m in a similar boat.” I said quietly before making a fist. “My skin feels kinda tight-“ I began.
“Like you’re wearing tight clothes right?” came a curious voice. Turning to see who it was, my vision was blocked by a olive face that slightly shimmered yellow, eyes that seemed as deep as the ocean, a straight nose and plump lips. She was a few inches away from my face.
“umm.. y-yeah?” I strutted out, a slight blush on my face. She eyed me with an examining eye. Her slit like pupil narrowing. I tried to back up.
“yeah. You’re definitely going to get scales.” She said nodding her head. “may I?” she asked pointing to my arm.
“sure?” her beauty made me more complaint, almost like she charmed me to agree.
She grabbed my arm, lifting up to her eyes as she used two fingers to gently pull at my skin. Using the part where her finger prints were, careful not to pinch me with her pointed nails. My skin gave little movement, just barely making a small mound. She nodded before putting my hand down then patting it.
“My skin was the same way before I converged too.” She said certain of it. “oh! I’m sorry for blindsiding you I charmed you by accident.” She said after realizing I was still blushing, she snapped her fingers several times as her skin shimmered. I was still blushing. “I guess I just stunned you then?” she asked herself, tilting her head.
Closing my eyes, I shook my head, the heat on my face was too much. It’s been awhile since someone attractive approached me like that. “so… you were saying about your scales…um?” I asked trying to ignore my red face.
“Steph! I’m Stephany. And yes, I had the same feeling for almost six days before I became a lamia. I can tell you I had no fun at all! My skin was so dry that I was too disgusted to leave my own room!” she exclaimed in annoyance. “But I guess I got this cool shimmer to my skin now. It’s kinda cool.” She said making a smug face as she turned her hand in the light.
“I’ll say, your skin is so shiny and glossy looking! I wished my skin was that pretty.” Belle said, his huge eyes sparked as he looked at her hand in astonishment. His tail waving in the air behind him.
Noticing Belle and his adorable eyes, Steph blushed, the tips of her ears turning red. She quickly looked at her tail which was drawing circles in the floor with the tip. “um, thank you Belle. You always say the nicest things.” She said trying to be calm.
“that’s just your hard work showing off! You put so much effort into your skin and scales, that shininess is proof of that.” Belle not letting her dismissal stop him from saying the truth as he leaned in close, making his serious face again.
Steph chuckled, rubbing the back of her head as Belle continued his praise assault. And from how beet red she is, I’d say it was super effective. Wondering if Belle had the same effect on other people, I looked around spotting the girl that gave that long explanation. She was failing to hide her face with a book as she watched Belle complement Steph. It looked like she wanted that to be her- wait! Was her nose bleeding! Before I could confirm it she disappeared behind her book.
Turning back to me Steph said. “if you need help with your scales then just ask me. I know all sorts of products and hygiene techniques that my doctors failed to tell me.” She said with pride after finally calming down from Belle’s sweetness.
“Alright… I’ll uh ask if I have trouble.” I said taken aback at her pure enthusiasm. It felt weird talking products with a girl, I never tried to put too much effort into looking good. Yet a part of me was curious and it made me feel some embarrassment.
Leaving class for lunch I felt an elbow bump to my left. “Hey-ya! How’s it going man.” Mark said with a huge smile. I could tell his eyes were on Steph as she slithered to the cafeteria. “Why didn’t you tell me you had such a dream boat, heart breaker combo at class.” He whispered after she was out of ear shot.
“because you’d end up doing this.” I said giving him side eye and motioning to all of himself with my hand. “monster girls are people too you know. Try treating them like it and maybe you’ll find some romance.” I said shaking my head.
“I know. It’s just that I freeze every time I try to.” He said giving me sad puppy eyes. “plus their so pretty! I really want to gush over them and ask all sorts of questions. Like her.” He looked at a succubus. “I want to know how they hide their wings and tail. How those short horns feel like, does it feel good to have them, do horns do something special for them like a wand helps focus magic for humans? If they bump them does it hurt like stubbing your toe?” he asked, wanting to know the real things.
“you could just read about it though. I’m sure there’s several books about different people’s convergence out there. Maybe a few unique ones too.” I said pointing out the obvious.
“I’ve read a few but those stories never focus on the feeling of having these body parts in everyday life. It’s like the authors filtered those parts or became so comfortable with them they forgot to mention it.” Mark stamped his foot in frustration.
That stomp sent vibrations throughout the floor, they were so strong that my legs started shaking. Throwing my balance as I felt like I was in a bouncy house. My arms started to tense up as my muscles twitched and moved uncontrollably as my skin felt hot and itchy.
Something grabbed my arm which only made me shout in pain. It was like my muscles were pulling apart from each other, making me shake and jerk in pain. My fingers clenched into my arm only to pull away in more pain as I felt my bones crack and pop. My spine felt like something was inside it using an ice pick to pierce through the bone. Suddenly my back pushed up making my skin burn and tighten feeling like wax paper that didn’t want to let go of me. The pain was too much, making me howl in pain as my bones pulled away, cracking and my skin felt like a million super-heated bee stings from inside out.
Venting my woes to my best friend, I told my blind friend that I wanted to experience the sensations of being a hot monster girl. Really how does it feel to have different body parts? Was the nerves changed to allow for functional use of these limbs? I so much wanted to feel it that I slammed my foot on the floor. I began shaking my head in annoyance before Oliver started to shake like he was having a seizure. His eyes were a bloody red as his body kept jerking. Realizing he was starting to fully converge I grabbed his arm and took him into an empty classroom, luckily a nearby teacher rushed in and pulled out a padded mat from the wall. She told me to put Oliver down on top of it while she pushed the nearby desks away from the mat. Putting him down, Oliver jerked so quickly that I flew back, the pain from being pushed away or from my landing didn’t register as I saw him.
Screaming at every crack or pop, I saw Oliver’s back violently push up. It looked like someone’s arms were pushing themselves up from a laying position under a thin blanket, ripping his shirt. The elbows started to pierce through the skin when suddenly the bumps of his spine stabbed up, cutting through the skin as sharp looking spines took their place. His screaming was so intense it squeezed my very heart. His arms and legs pulled outward as his bones where growing longer and thicker, his old skin stretching like old spandex, ripping holes around the joints. His back pushed away from his spine making room for new muscles to push up into place. That was when large muscular arms burst from his back pulling apart the left overs of his shirt, it’s long fingers covered in thick skin and claws. His screaming voice seemed to change as it looked like something pushed its way out his lower back.
He stopped moving, frozen on all fours. Was he! No please don’t be! You gotta be ok! Please!
Oliver shuddered as something slowly pushed up under his skin. From his fingertips up to his shoulders, even the new arms had it too. That was when he shouted a deathly mind blinding scream that left me in huddled against the wall. His skin exploded into sharp spikes that seemed to shake and move with a wet meaty sound.
It stayed like that for- I don’t know! His pain was- oh gods. I clutched my head as my body trembled rapidly. It was cold. So cold. I can’t- what happened! “Dad! Mom! P-please help!” I shouted as the world went black.
