A Seahorse Tale

Chapter 8

Bright sunlight filled the room, disturbing Kenneth's sleep. It wasn't unusual for the hotel rooms, the curtains were cheap and thin. Kenneth shifted in the sheets, heart beating fast, mind swirling in circles. His neck ached, his forehead hurt. The nightmare was too fresh, too vivid, too real. It couldn't have been real. Yet a warning bell wouldn't stop ringing in Kenneth's mind.

He kept his eyes closed, scared to open them. Whispers of words of warning from Geoff, and taunts from his brother and Endotuer swarm in circles. Kenneth gritted his teeth. This was stupid. Magic wasn't real, it couldn't be real.

Kenneth shuddered. Pushing the thoughts away, he counted to ten before letting his rational brain speak. There was no metal table like in the nightmare. He was on something soft, possibly softer than the hotel beds but it was just as likely that he had grown used to the rough sheets overnight. Not metal should have been a good sign and yet it wasn't. The room didn't smell of damp or mould like the chamber nor did it smell like the hotel room. A cold draft was blowing over him which meant he was naked. He had fallen asleep clothed. Fighting panic, Kenneth stayed still. Maybe, I'd taken them over in the night. A suit isn't comfortable to sleep in after all.

He needed to open his eyes. He did not want to open his eyes. The idea was terrifying but he had to. He needed to know. Yet even as he screamed in his mind to move, to open them they would not budge. He could open them, he was sure of that but he couldn't bring himself to. His heart raced like it was about to explode out of his chest. He could still feel his limbs, his arms, his legs. Couldn't he?

Fear soared, crashing over and stealing the reigns from his rational side. He could move his arms, right? He whimpered, the sound escaping from his mouth. It felt wrong. His lips didn't feel right. His legs were numb. He tried to curl his legs up but they wouldn't move right. They didn't bend. A different sensation passed over him. Alien and wrong, it was wrong. There was no way to describe it.

Inhaling, he opened his eyes. What met them was unthinkable. No. Kenneth shut his eyes again. It was not possible. Right, Kenneth. Time to look again.

Counting down from ten, Kenneth opened his eyes again but the sight was the same. Instead of two human legs, there was a scaled tail which led to a flared out forked tail fin. His arms twisted and on the end of them were hooves. Not gloves for people who liked horseplay but hooves. He was no longer human, as the Mer had said. The nightmare had been real.

He was now a seahorse.

Kenneth moved. His eyes widened as he watched how the thin skin stretched over the bony plates which made up a seahorse's tail. The plates were arranged in rings spread throughout the body. It was repulsive. His stomach jerked and bile rose in his throat. It wasn't him, was it? It was a delusion. It had to be. It took an extra moment for the colour to sink in. The skin was now a deep blue, changing into a purple as the tail curled and flared into a tail fin.

He tried to roll over to his front. The hooves on his hands slipped on the sheets. He couldn't get leverage. They slid away. Panicked, Kenneth scrambled for grip, blicking fast and crying out. Unable to find it, he ended up rolling off the bed.

Something crunched. He screeched as he slammed into the tiled floor. A burning pain shot through his body as he landed on one of the edges of his bony plates. If he had been human it possibly wouldn't have hurt so much as the bed was human height. As it was, Kenneth seemed to have shrunk along with the transformation. The fall was a long one. Kenneth curled into a ball and closed his eyes. He wheezed and coughed in pain and a strange sensation washed over him as he began to cry. His tears rolling down his new face.