She pitched forward, landing on her hands. As she clawed at the ground, she looked directly at the man who stood ten steps away. A mask of pure horror had replaced his cocky arrogance. His jawhungopen.
“Wha...what are you?” he asked as he backed away. “No! Don’t come anycloser.”
Killhim.
The voice came from deep within her soul, as if her survival instinct had kicked in to transform fear into rage. She’d never wanted to tear someone apart with her bare hands before, but in that moment, she knew she was capable ofkillinghim.
On all fours, she crawled forward. A strange huffing sound blasted from her throat. She couldn’t understand why he was suddenly so afraid. But she didn’t care. Whatever she’d done to make him turn as pale as death was good enoughforher.
He stumbled over a fallen branch before turning to run. She chased him through the trees and into the street. Horns blared and cars swerved to avoid her but she didn’t pay any attention to them. All she cared about was tearing his head off anddisembowelinghim.
As she ran down the slick sidewalk, she hit a patch of ice and skidded toward a building with mirrored windows. She rammed into it hard enough for her to see stars. As she stood, she caught a glimpse of herself in the window. She couldn’t believe what was staring backather.
A huge grizzly bear with saliva dripping from its teeth roared at her. She jumped back, but so did the bear. Stunned, she held up her hand. The beast didthesame.
Holy shit… how was this possible? She’d turned into afreakingbear.
She leaned forward until her nose pressed against the frozen glass. It stuck for a moment. When she pulled away, the tip of her nose hurt. She raised her hand up to rub it, then realized she couldn’t because her hands were gone. She held her paw up and twisted it from side to side, marveling at its size. The damn thing was as big asherhead.
Shouting caught her attention. She turned to find cars stopped in the middle of the road. Several people pointed their cell phones at her and snapped photos. A ripple of fear cascaded down her back. She ran away from the crowd and turned into the first alley she could find. As she lumbered past a dumpster, her nosetwitched.
Famished, she shoved the lid open and swiped her paw inside. A half-eaten banana lay near the top. As she shoved it into her mouth, she watched the entrance to the alley. What the hell was she going to do now? Was she stuck like this? How would shegethome?
She tossed the banana peel on the ground, then padded to the end of the alley. After looking both ways, she hurried down the street and ducked into the next available hiding space. Using this process, she made it through the darkened streets of New York and eventually stopped in the alcove of an abandoned building across the street from herapartment.
It wouldn’t be unusual for some of her neighbors to be up at this time of night. She couldn’t exactly sneak her huge, furry butt up the back stairs. Unsure of what to do, she sat in the cold until the pounding in her heartslowed.
Gradually, and without a recognizable catalyst, the fur receded. The tormenting pain returned as bones twisted and cracked before reshaping. She wasn’t sure how she knew what was happening, but she was returning to herhumanform.
Naked, she wrapped her arms around her quaking body and raced across the street. She ran up the stairs and managed to make it to her apartment door before realizing she didn’t haveherkeys.
The door across from hers opened and her neighbor Helen peered out. When she spotted Carol’s naked form, her eyeswentwide.
“What the hell happened to you?” Helenasked.
“I don’t have my keys, can you letmein?”
“Let me grab thespare.”
Helen returned a few seconds later and handed her the keys. After unlocking the door, Carol scurriedinside.
“What happened to you?” Helen asked as she followed her into thelivingroom.
“I took a shortcut through Central Park and gotmugged.”
“Oh honey. Do you need to go to thehospital?”
“No. He ran away before Icould…”
Before I could what? Before I couldeathim?
How the hell was she going to explain this to Helen? Although she’d known her neighbor going on three years now, they weren’t that close. They only had each other’s keys in case the century-old building caught on fire and they needed to save the other person’svaluables.
“Go get dressed. I’ll make you some tea,”Helensaid.
After putting on her thickest sweater and a pair of flannel pajama pants, Carol found Helen in her tiny kitchen. She slid into a chair at the small breakfast table and wrapped her hands around a steaming mugoftea.
“How many times have I told you not to cut through the park at night?” Helenasked.
