Page 23 of It's A Little Bit Bunny
“Why then does it feel as if it is the other way around, Barnabas?“
That day in the forest I had been found. I had wandered the darkness, and I hadn’t even realised it until the sun peeked through the clouds again. Until my wondrous human with the golden hair brought the light back into my life.
“I miss him.“ I stroked my hand over the thick trunk of an oak tree. I had seen her grow from a tiny acorn. I had cared for her and kept her safe so she could become this beautiful strong version of herself—so she could become what she had always been intended to be.
Being with Nikolai felt a lot like that. The version of me I was when he was around was who I was supposed to be. A gentle shiver ran through the tree under my touch. She shook her leaves and a few rained down on me as a gift from my old friend.
The person I was with Nikolai was the best version of me. It scared me how much I craved his presence, and how much I wanted to protect him. I knew I would turn the earth upside down to keep him safe.
That was the week my dreams started again. Dreams ofher, beautiful and terrible at once. My mother, with her golden hair so much like Nikolai‘s, and that terrifyingly beautiful face. In the dreams—the same one I’d had when he’d stayed at my house—she tried to take him away from me.
‘Oh, what a nice plaything you found for yourself, Julius. A pretty human toy. I knew you would in the end.’
My mother came up to where I stood and caressed my cheek. Her ice cold touch made me shiver.
“There is no escaping destiny, Julius. And I appreciate seeing that you’ve come to your senses, my child. I had almost lost hope for you. You don’t know how happy it makes your mother’s heart to see you with your own human.”
She scrutinised me and pinched my cheek. I stood rooted to the spot unable to even lift a finger. I had to watch my mother glide over to where Nikolai cowered in fear. My mother evoked that reaction in humans.
“You will do nicely in my collection, human.”
“He is mine!”
His eyes met mine behind my mother’s back. He looked angry and confused, not scared anymore.
“I think the human disagrees, Julius.”My mother gave a tinkling laugh.‘You’ll come with me, won’t you?”
I knew it was her magic that made him rise to his feet and place his hand in hers, but that didn’t stop a dangerous snarl from escaping me.
“Leave him alone! This human is mine. I claim him as mine!”
I changed. My body grew without my direction and something burst out of the top of my head. It weighed me down. My spine arched and my legs? They changed, too.
I looked down, almost toppling over when the things on top of my head dragged my head down. My trousers were gone.
By my forest, what is happening?
I didn’t have normal legs anymore, either. I had split hooves and furry legs like a stag.
Is this my mother’s magic at work?
It took me only a moment to get used to the weight on my head, and then I was no longer rooted to the spot. I could move. When I looked up at my mother and Nikolai, something I had never seen there was etched on her face. Pure terror. Bunny’s face only showed awe and wonder.
“How did you do that?”my mother whispered.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
The laugh that burst out of me was terrifying and monstrous. Nikolai shuddered as goosebumps raced down his body.
I took a step towards them, my lips pulling into a dangerous snarl when her hand let go of him.
“Go! You have no power here! This is my forest and my human. Don’t ever return.”
The rest of the dream made me ashamed. I woke drenched in sweat and other bodily fluids. When I threw back the duvet, I found my normal legs. My head felt strangely light without the weight of the antlers. It was as if they were meant to be there and had not been a figment of my imagination.
Shame flooded me when images of Nikolai’s beautiful body writhing on top of me surfaced in my mind.
I stood up and tried not to get the evidence of my release on the carpet, as I crossed my room and into the hallway beyond to rinse in the shower.
