Wonder- Chapter Eleven

I woke up that night covered in sweat. My breathing was shallow and my heart was racing. I jolted upright, sure that I was hacing a heart attack or something. But I wasn't.

"Oh crap, now?" Andy asked, more to himself than to me. "What? What's happening?" I asked, scared out of my mind. "Well, you see," he fumbled around for an explanation. "You're sort of starting to Change." Oh yeah. Part werewolf. I'm stupid. "Now?! At-" I looked over at the clock next to the couch. "Five in the morning?!" I might've been going hysterical. "Why me?" "Shh, Audrey, calm down." Andy said. "It won't stop unles you relax."

Then I got a killer headache. Oh God, a vision? While I was about to Change? Talk about pain. Well, I thought. Maybe this is just part of the Change. Yeah, that sounded like it could be right. Or God's way of punishing me for failing my math test, I added as an afterthought. I writhed around, resulting in my falling off of the couch and smacking my head on the the coffee table. Ouch.

A burst of white light appeared in the back of my head, telling me that yes, this was indeed a vision, not just part of the transformation. I saw myself as a beautiful Husky. I was yellow, like my hair, with cobalt blue lining my eyes. It looked exactly like me, only in wolf form. I didn't have my customary neon orange lipstick, but hey. I wore that all the time, I didn't need it as a wolf too.

Concentrating on the vision helped ease the pain. Until it disappeared and I was thrown at the mercy of Changing. I screamed. This wasn't at all what I imagined it would be like. I was gonna have to have a word with my mother next time I visited the cemetery.

Now hear comes the gross part. I started heacing, throwing up all over their carpet. Well, I was gonna have to clean that up later. Thank you so much, I thought, without even knowing who I was talking to. The god of werewolves, I guess You couldn't have let me start Changing outside?! Ms. Parker's gonna kill me.

For those of you who think being a werewolf would be awesome, I can officially tell you first hand that it's like a living Hell. This Change business was going to be the death of me. I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

I felt Andy next to me, trying to cool me off with a damp towel. All I could say for that was that the water started steaming. That's how hot I felt right now.

I finally stopped spasming and throwing up all over the living room. I'm going to have one hell of a day tomorrow. I shook, trying to breathe more evenly. Then Andy's words popped into my head. "It won't stop unless you relax". That's it. I just had to relax. I tried taking deep breaths, and sure enough, two minutes of that and the pain stopped. For all of five seconds.

It started getting harder to bear. So much for stopping it if you relax. Even through all the pain I could still feel my clothes being ripped to pieces as I transformed into a giant Husky. Great. Now I was naked in a pile of my own vomit. Gag.

I sat up straight, but it wasn't me making my body move. It felt like somebody else was doing it. Only I was being touched. Even in my current state, I'd still know f someone was touching me.

My heard jerked back painfully and I heard a snap. Ooh, that was gonna leave a mark. Then my hair shrank back into my skull and popped up on the rest of my body. The change was done. I was now a wolf.

I tested out my new wolf body for a while, trying to get a feel for it. It felt as natural as my normal human body. I loved it. But, I decided I felt like sleeping as a human tonight, so I focused all my energy into changing back. And I did. Huh. I guess I was really getting the hang of this werewolf stuff.

"Thank God you're alright," Andy whispered, pressing his lips against my cheek. "It only happens like that once. The first time you Change. I promise, you never have to go through that again." I smirked. "So," I said. "Did you enjoy the view?" He rolled his eyes.