Path of Change

Part 2

Part Two

I heard the door open. My new ears perked upwards almost immediately. I forgot to bolt the door to my flat. And because I have a roommate, I probably should've bolted it even more. I prayed to Raida that it was Adrian.

"Cecil?" I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it was Adrian's voice. "You in here?" He asked as he entered my lab, carrying a basket of groceries. "I went and bought this week's food. So next week, it's your turn-" Adrian stopped in his tracks when he saw me.

We just stared at each other. I couldn't move since I felt incredibly awkward and he couldn't move because he was staring at what looked like a demon. I wrestled against the awkward and broke the silence.

"Hey Adrian," I casually waved my hand. "It's me, Cecil. Whad'ya think?" Adrian just stood there. The fact that it was still me seemed to make him even more confused.

"Wh... Wh-What is this? I don't even..." Adrian's mind seemed to have been broken. After some facial contortions, he was able to form words again. "Let me get this straight; you're Cecil."

I replied, "Yes."

"And you look like a demon," he continued. "What happened?"

"I turned myself into one."

"Oh," he took a deep breath. "Why would you do this?!"

He seemed more weirded out than angry or hateful, so I felt a bit optimistic. "Let me start from the beginning," I sat down and began to explain to him how I had grown to resent my humanity as a child and how I made my decision during the presentation. The whole time, he seemed to understand.

"So you decided to turn yourself into a demon;" he was still trying to take all of this in.

"Yes," I hoped he would be accepting. "To be honest, I feel more alive in this new form than I did before."

Adrian looked down in contemplation and took a deep breath. "Well," he began. "I've seen weirder things." He gets back up. "Besides," I get back up too. "I've done some pretty weird crap so I can't judge." His words made me optimistic. "If this is what you want; and since you've gone this far it probably means it is."

"This is what I want." My voice didn't falter the slightest. "This is what I am."

Adrian picked the basket back up. "I'm gonna put this stuff away." He started heading back for the flat. "Next week, it's your turn." He went inside.

"Okay," I chimed. I looked back at the mirror. A furry purple demon looked back at me. I ruffled my claws through my still brown hair.

"Hey Cecil!" Adrian popped his head out through the door. "How do you plan on going out in public?"

"I'm just gonna act like I did before," I didn't really understand why he asked the question. "Why are you asking?"

"I don't think you're gonna be the most popular guy." Of course I wasn't the most popular even guy when I was human.

"So?" I didn't really care what people thought.

"This should be interesting," Adrian muttered to himself and shrugged as he went back inside again. I walked back up to the mirror and inspected my still green eyes.

I looked at and tested my new form for the rest of the day until the sun was down. The sensation of being covered in fur, having claws, and a tail was fascinating. The fur made it so that I could feel the slightest touch or breeze against my skin. The claws felt like my fingertips were solid. (probably because they were) And the tail was the most fascinating; it felt like having a fifth limb that I could feel and control. I couldn't grip anything with it, but I still loved it.