Things were a little more difficult for Steven after the whole thing on the internet. Social media tended to be quite harsh, with people digging their heels when he might try to talk to them. The young teen was never very good at talking to people, and it wasn’t like it wasn’t going to get easier since people ‘refused’ to talk to him.
He mostly just got given the cold shoulder… but such was more then enough to feel very isolated. What followed were a couple of weeks where he was generally ostracised from most the school. After a while, people forgot about him and moved on to other things…
Steven wasn’t too sure what to say to Luke either, someone who actually ‘wanted’ to be changed. It was something the teenager found hard to fathom… given that other people changing made him lose his school and all his old friends.
It was a very tense confrontation with him one day in the school halls. He looked quite upset with Steven. “Do you really think you can’t be friends with the changed?” Luke asked uneasily when they had a moment to eat lunch. “I shouldn’t really be talking to you. People will think…”
“… that we might be friends?” Asked Steven quietly glancing around. “It’s fine if you don’t want to be, but… I only wanted to be friends with everyone.”
“Because I’m not a changed yet?”
Steven groaned. “Dude come on. I said that because there was a changed, I wanted so badly to stay in contact with. The demon-girl… I saw her online and she just went ‘crazy’ and blocked me. I was fishing for sympathy, okay?” Steven didn’t look very ‘proud’ when he admitted that. He clenched his fists a bit.
“Sympathy on the internet?” Luke laughed suddenly.
“Yeah…” Steven sighed but couldn’t help but give a sheepish smile back. “I thought it was different in the school chat rooms… but it’s actually worse. People here just ‘look’ for a mistake.” He shook his head. “So… how bad is it?”
Luke shrugged. “Maybe just keep a low profile for a while. I think you might struggle to join any clubs at the moment. They are really pushing it hard that you’re … not worth hanging out with.” Luke gave a somewhat sympathetic look. “Anyone who is near you too. I got to be careful. I’m pretty low on the pecking order anyway so… I’d like us to stay friends.”
“Was never a question to me,” He said giving a bit of a ‘bro-shake’ of the hand. Steven wondered why things were like that. Schools were always a mess. Of course, he wanted so badly to make some new friends… but everything just seemed to go really badly for him lately.
Luke thought of something that might cheer Steven up. “So… I got a picture of Damien.” Like grinned. “Here she’s on a website- it got deleted but I quickly screen grabbed it.” He showed his phone.
Steven looked the girl over. Rather pretty…. Horns on the side of her head with pointed ears giving a vaguely impish look on soft red skin and hair. She had a rather ‘shy’ look about her with a devilish tail sneaking out under what seemed to be a long coat and wearing loose sporty clothes. That really was Damien? He couldn’t believe it. Damien?!
Steven stared at the picture quietly. It was so hard to get a picture of the changed… “She looks nothing like what I remember,” The dark tanned teen admitted. “Damien was always rather headstrong… Though… I did think a demon transformation might… suit him- er- her-“ Could a transformation suit someone? He liked to think so.
“She’s been caught in fights, a lot of guys have been trying to hit on her I think. There’s a rumour someone figured out a way to ‘summon’ her with magic.”
“What- come on really?” Steven laughed. “No way that’s true.”
“I dunno.” Luke admitted more relaxed now anyway.
Seeing Damien did cheer Steven up. He sighed a bit. “Hopefully I’ll see her again.”
“I am sure you will,” Luke nodded. “Anger is a funny thing. It’s not possible to stay angry forever. If you do, there’s something else going on… at least in my experience.”
Steven blinked at that. “Surprisingly insightful,” He agreed. “Yeah, that make sense. I’ll wait, It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
Luke suddenly became quiet and gestured Steven closer. “So… I still want to try getting into the old classroom. I know there are guards and stuff but… I think it’s possible. You know the school better then anyone. Is there any way in?”
Steven grimaced slightly. Luke really had not given up on this plan. It had been a long time now after all the initial changes so there was less security. It now looked more like a derelict building. “Well, if the main doors are guarded… I don’t think so.” Steven quietly shook his head. “There are some other ways in. A fire-exit on the side of the building but it’s down a long corridor… too far to get to the classroom itself. I think there’s a way up on the roof but I’ve never been there.”
Luke gave a half smile. “I have someone who wants to know the truth… you know. The uh- Janitor…”
Steven gasped. “You got in contact with one of the changed?!”
“Shh…” Luke whispered. “Yeah… I did. He gave me a key… some service corridor. It should lead us right in.”
Steven gulped. “What did the… Janitor turn into?”
“He’s a sphinx,” Luke explained. “Looks pretty cool too! So yeah… if we go there at night, we can probably get inside. They won’t be guarding that area so much. They don’t even know about it!”
Steven rubbed his hands. So.. they had a way in now after all. He did want answers, and Luke was right…
…there was probably no other way to get an answer without being bold…
Night fell…
Steven wad nervous. This was the last possible chance to back out from Luke’s crazy plan. He rubbed his hands a bit… at the thought of visiting his old school. It was true that security there had become much lighter as the months dragged on… people were satisfied that there was ‘nothing’ there now and it looked like the building was just going to be condemned now.
Luke was dressed in casual dark clothes. Nothing ‘obvious’ that they were about to break in somewhere… well- not ‘break in’ just.. investigate. They were not going to take anything they just… had to find answers.
“You ready?” Luke asked.
Steven nodded taking a breath. What exactly did one bring to prepare oneself for this? He brought a flashlight… and made sure he had nothing that made a noise, tying a rubber band to his keys, as well as his quietest trainer shoes. “Well… I need to know what happened to my friends. I feel bad about Damien too…”
Luke nodded. “Come on.” He was confident… but then Luke knew what he wanted there…
They travelled casually towards the old school on the streets. It was now well past midnight. As far as Steven’s parents were concerned, he was just watching a movie and staying with a friend. He wasn’t sure they would buy it, but they knew he had been having a hard time in school so let it be.
The school itself had been abandoned. It wasn’t quite ‘fort Knox’ as Steven imagined it before.. there were some new security cameras and during the day there were some guards sure… but now it looked empty. “Security looks light,” Luke commented. “I have a good feeling about this.”
“Haha...” Steven laughed at the star-wars reference. “Okay Skywalker…” The two moved to the side of he building. A large fence was their first barrier.
“Aren’t we going to cut it?”
“Not unless you want to get done for property damage… that’s nine-tenths the law.” Luke explained. “Just climb.” He had brought some rope which he managed to tie to one of the poles of the fence with a quick motion. “I’ve been practicing this shot.” He chuckled.
It was a bit of a stuggle… but after a few minutes they managed to climb over the fence and onto some grass on the other side.
“Janitor’s room is that way.” Steven whispered. “You got the key, right?”
“Yep- ah duck!” There was a tense moment as a guard with a flashlight was looking around. The two managed to hide in some bushes as he walked past. “He’s gone…”
Steven’s heartbeat ran fast, his body sweating. This was nuts! Crazy! What was he doing? ‘Trying to find answers!’ Would this be any worse inside? Luke brought out a simple key and placed it inside a keyhole on the side of the building. Steven almost prayed it wouldn’t work… maybe they changed the lock or maybe Luke was wrong…
The door clicked…
Steven held his breath as the door swung open… and they were inside…
Back in his old school… dark as night… corridors he had wondered through for years growing up. A small memory in every part of it..
“So… this is where it all started… do you know the way?” Luke asked.
“Of course… I know this school like the back of my hand..” Steven and Luke wondered through the abandoned school. The doors had been bordered up… and it looked like numbers had been drawn on the ground. He had no idea what any of them meant. He looked a moment to look at an old display cabinet which still had some pictures of the students…
Steven looked at it quietly. Something felt... off there but he wasn’t sure what it was. He squinted slightly-
“Hey- come on!” Luke insisted. “We don’t have time they might be patrolling.”
“Uh- yeah sorry.” He rubbed his head as he quickly followed on. “The classroom is just over there.”
The classroom itself was… eerie to say the least. Two panels of glass had been erected forming some kind of barrier but it was still possible to go around them. The door itself had been removed. It looked like a makeshift ‘observation room’. A lot of cables were strewn around and what looked like cameras connected to computers.
“They really tried their best to figure out what happened here,” Luke thought quietly.
Steven nodded again staring at the mess… the place was certainly looking like it was about to be condemned. No wonder security was lax… who cared at this point? There were no more transformations happening… “I think we just took a big risk for nothing,” Steven quietly said as he glanced out the window. There was one brief sweep of a torch light- one single guard keeping an eye on things… but they were concentrating outside. Now that they were inside they were less likely to get caught. “They would have cleaned out and examined ‘everything’ Steven prodded at one of the computers.
Luke started to go through the cupboards, and desk anyway. “Come on there must be something! Maybe they were all given the same pens or ate the same food-“Luke looked in desperation. He was in the place where it all started… the one place where the impossible happened… A real miracle of transformation.
“Or maybe something just ‘targeted’ this place and has long moved on!” Steven explained with a groan. “It was an entity, not something environmental… you’re looking for a commonality but they were all here. That’s all it was. They were here at one point in space and time… and no matter how hard you wish for it, you’ll never be in that same space and time again.”
“It happened once! It will happen again.” Luke clenched his fists. “Please if you are out there… let’s see it happen…”
Steven sighed shaking his head. Luke was crazy he decided… maybe the entire school- no- the entire ‘world’ was crazy. They were at a place where either God or the Devil must have stepped… he couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive. The cameras made him uneasy… “Luke…” he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder-
“No- Just a little more time. There must be something here!”
“There’s… nothing here,” Steven spoke grimly. “You said my idea was a waste of time too… coming here was also a waste. They combed this area already… you’re not going to find anything.”
Luke dived through the teacher’s desk in a frenzy. There were some papers, old marking books, some pens and pencils… no magical glowing rock or weird medallion or some crazy sci-fi gun. What could it be…
“I’m… sorry.” Steven said looking down. “I want to find an answer too… I want to know but…”
“Oh, can it Steven! I don’t want sympathy. If you want to find an answer, then for the love of God start looking! Turn this place inside out. We’ll never get another chance!”
Steven reluctantly began to look around shuffling his feet a bit. He wondered over to where he knew Damien sat.. he sighed a bit remembering them all. Were they enjoying their new bodies? Maybe some hated them sure… but some could actually be happy too. He did wish that Luke got a body he would be happy with.
However, for all their efforts… it looked like this too was a bust. It was just an ordinary classroom in what was now a condemned building.
Another hour passed and they were getting tired…
The two had little choice but to return empty handed.
“…I’m really sorry,” Steven said in the end as they walked away. He was glad they got away Scott-free but at the same time saddened that there was no information in the very place it all started. “… I guess it could happen again somewhere else? You know… if it happened once, maybe it can happen again.”
Luke seemed crestfallen now and dejected. “…is there anything more wonderous in the world then magic? It makes life seem so much more…”
Steven looked down at that. “It took away my friends Luke… and it changed things so much that I can’t say the right stuff to people without them getting upset or angry at me. They view the changed as deities I think.”
“Deities... heh. I suppose that is a good way to see it,” Luke admitted. “I would probably worship them if that’s what they desired. If that would get me a transformation.”
“…yeah I’m starting to figure out why Damien has brushed me off,” Steven grimaced. He was rather excited to learn about Damien and really wanted to hear her story… but maybe that would come off as him being an absolute creep. “I don’t think they want that worship. I just want to know what happened to them and why… but I suppose life ‘does’ have to go on anyway.”
“Do you regret not being there? In that classroom… at the time?”
Steven shrugged thinking about it. “I’d have never been there, it wasn’t my class. I just knew them all from when I was in kindergarten... then we split up. I was saddened about that… I wish I had been in that class- uh- but only because I liked the teacher.”
“The same kindergarten… Could that be a link?”
“I doubt it. Otherwise, I’d probably be among the changed and there would be other changed people scattered around… no it all happened in that classroom.” He sighed wistfully. “Maybe if I had changed I’d be in some other school now… maybe I’d be keeping in contact with my old friends.. heck maybe I could help out with Damien and his own issues-“
“What about for yourself? Wouldn’t you be happier too?”
“What do you mean?” Steven looked to look oddly. “I’m happy with what I am.”
“It’s just... being human is boring!” Luke groaned. “There’s eight billion of us running around the planet like freakin’ ants. We’re all the same… but now there’s like two dozen that are not human-“
“Well some did just swab bodies, or change gender,” Steven quickly added. “Do those count as paranormal forms?”
Luke had to agree to that. “Okay fine so we got some humans but still! They are not what they used to be… I just wish I could be part of that.”
Steven sighed again looking down. “Yeah… it could be fun. But there’s no cause… we’ve now been to the crime scene and found nothing.. we’ve looked around and there was even more nothing. What more can we investigate?”
“I don’t know…” Luke admitted. “That was my one… and only idea. I guess... that’s it then.”
It started to rain…
The two walked quietly… and Steven’s mind was racing. The road would soon split and they would walk their own paths once more. He thought about the situation very hard… ‘What is magic?’
It gave and it take.. it affected reality… was there a limit? Steven ‘knew’ magic was real… as did the entire world. What else could it have been besides magic?
The young teen wasn’t too sure ‘why’ he did it exactly… maybe it would just be nonsense… maybe it was partly an instinct of a prayer… for Luke to have some good fortune… to get his greatest desire.
He heard a song… in his head. A rhythm that he always heard, when he was alone in his thoughts. A beat… a pulse… as if light itself could manifest itself into sound intertwined with thoughts. He imagined the music rippling in the soul… if one could change reality with words… magic spreading through his hands…
Child of man before my mind,
Seeking a way to leave the flesh behind,
To leave the world of mankind,
Let reality’s weave be undone...
Flesh now as a woman
With this spell I won’t be…
He paused thinking as the flow got disrupted. “lyin’?”
Steven was not a natural poet perhaps… but the words came to him… he wasn’t entirely sure it was ‘him’ speaking them when he felt that way. Where did that spark come from… but the spark manifested itself into reality, much to Steven’s surprise. Magic flowing rapidly through his hands as it went out to ‘zap’ gently across Luke.
Steven had no time to react as he saw the strange circles of light manifest around Luke. He watched as his friend’s blonde hair suddenly spiralled lengthening into beautiful locks of golden tresses. The young teen looked a bit shocked as he stopped suddenly, feeling the sensation as if someone had put a wig on him. “Wha-“ He tugged it… the hair was real?
Though that was not the only change that would happen to Luke. Suddenly felt his clothes just ‘tug and pull’ away from him, like a great explosion of energy. Steven ducked as the clothes vanished. He looked bewildered and surprised. “Uh- Luke?!”
“Is this… a dream? Am I dreaming?” The girl stared down at herself naked… She had… small breasts but they were there. A brief sensation of her hands touching… and confirming everything. “Oh.. Oh God-“ She gasped in her high pitched voice. “It worked?!” Suddenly her nakedness- extremely brief as it erupted into light straw-fur. “Wh-what-s-“ She had no time to admire her form as she suddenly found herself on all fours. Her arms changing into a new set of legs… front legs, akin to a lion her hands quickly changing into large paws.
She glanced ack as her back legs became digitigrade, the ankles raising her haunches in a cat-like pose. A lion’s tail grew with that same sudden rapid finish. In less then three heart-beats her form had been completed. She tapered on her four legs nervously… horror in her mind as she felt all the changes. “W-What happened to me!”
Did they… did she actually manage to do something that activated the transformation in that room?! She couldn’t believe it.. it worked… but… but a lion girl thing?!
Steven bit his lip slightly. There was no doubt this was going to catch some attention. “Let’s uh- let’s just get back to your house and we’ll figure this out.” He tried to help her walk… but the teenager felt very nervous now. What the heck was that! Maybe.. was it just coincidence? He just thought of ‘maybe’ trying a spell…
… he dare not thing it was possible…
… it couldn’t really be possible… could it?
