Chapter 5

Wednesday, October 18, 2045

Laura checked on Wendy while I prepared breakfast and reported that it looked like stage two would run its course before the day ended. School proved to be more than a bit of a distraction. Darryl and his cohorts continued to wage a rather open war against me. I had spent much of my last class on Tuesday in the office after a fight, and on Wednesday, one of Darryl's favorites kept trying to start a fight with me during lunch.

Allan and I were finally forced to throw him in the fountain and hold hum under the water until he surrendered. Worse, my mind was mostly back at the house, as I was worrying about how to make sure Wendy found a happy future once she woke up.

Despite this I managed to avoid any major embarrassments during classes.

Practice didn't go as well. We had a big game coming up against Central on Friday, and Coach Davis was really putting pressure on the team to practice at a high level. My worries about Wendy, caused me to lose concentration enough times that he finally pulled me out of a drill to talk to me.

I told him about Wendy and the fact that she was expected to wake up today and he nodded. He told me that he understood and that he respected my taking a stand. He then warned me to get my head back into the game or he'd line up the offense and give them each a free shot at me, which definitely got my attention. The rest of practice went smoothly, although I knew I could have been performing much better.

I felt like the team had been practicing for hours when Coach Davis finally called an end to practice. Normally I would hang around and chat, especially as I was finding more and more of the MORFS survivors on the team willing to approach me and start conversations, but for once, I rushed through my post practice shower and took off for home at a run.

It seemed that the lights for every street I had to cross were against me, and when I finally arrived at the house the sun was just finishing dropping below the horizon.

Since it was late and the lights to the insurance office were out I entered through the side door, to find Laura, Evelyn and my father waiting there.

I stopped as I set my backpack down. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

Laura smiled. "No. We just expected Wendy to wake soon, and the thought was that having some people around to talk to might help her. We were hoping that you'd be here though. She doesn't know the rest of us, and as you said her family is anti-MORFS, waking up to Evelyn or myself might be too much of a shock."

I was thinking on this when we all heard a scream from the room above. Without a thought I dashed up the stairs and opened the door to the room where Wendy had been sleeping.

I looked up as the door opened and then immediately turned my head as I found myself looking at the naked back of a distressed girl. She was covering her face with her hands and crying. I looked over at the chair sitting next to the bed and seeing a robe hanging over the back, picked it up and used it to cover Wendy.

I was going to put my arms around her when I suddenly had a desperate urge, to rip the robe off of Wendy and show her something other than tenderness. A huge part of me was completely appalled by the thought and I summoned my willpower to tame my rising libido. The feeling subsided a little, but persisted even as I tried to get Wendy to calm. I was putting my arm around her while a titanic struggle between my honor and my lust warred within me. I could not understand the feeling, or its intensity, but I finally beat it down enough to take a breath and speak.

"Wendy. Wendy! Look up. Look at me," I said as she continued to sob into her hands. The crying had slowed, and then stopped with a gasp. Her right hand grabbed the robe and pulled it tightly around her body as she reached out with her left hand and squeezed my arm. I held still and then Wendy raised her head and looked directly at me.

To say I got lost in her eyes for a moment would be an understatement. Her face was largely unchanged from that of the shy and frightened girl I remembered bringing drinks on the football field, except for her eyes. Her eyes were now a scintillating dark green that spoke of deep forests and gentle breezes. I looked up and found that her ears had become rabbit ears. The ears had migrated to the top of her head, much like where they would rest on a rabbit's head. The fur over her ears and her hair itself was now a strange combination of brown, grey, white and black. The hair seemed fuller and longer, but was trapped under the robe, so I could not determine its length. The color reminded me of the wild rabbits that raced around the fields at school around dawn or dusk.

The near overwhelming urge to push the robe off her shoulders increased and I was starting to worry when she suddenly spoke. "Hector? Where am I? What happened to me?"

I choked back a cry and then sighed. "Wendy, you collapsed in civics class on Friday. The nurse identified it as MORFS. The talk I heard suggested that it would be extremely dangerous for you to return home, so this room was made available until you finished stage two, and could decide on your own what you wanted to do. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need."

Wendy's hand gripped my arm even more tightly. I found my fingers going numb, as she whispered back, "Thank you." She then let go of my arm and used her left hand to pull her hair out from underneath the robe. As it came out I was surprised to see that the mottled pattern continued throughout each strand and that the hair fell in a wave to her waist. It was an incredible sight. Wendy didn't seem to notice her longer hair, or its new color. "I'm an animal now," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" I looked over her, and then sat down on the bed. "You are one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. And I can assure you that you are no animal. MORFS cannot change a person's soul, merely their appearance. If you were human before MORFS, you remain human in your heart."

Wendy smiled sadly. "That's not what I was taught. But what I was taught never did feel quite right to me. When Veronica went through changes in seventh grade, she didn't suddenly start attacking people. She ended up looking like some monstrous half- lizard. I never talked to her much after that though, my parents ordered me to stay far away from her."

I remembered Veronica. She had undergone a rather shocking transformation, but come through with her pride intact. Once she discovered that her new lizard form could swim much better than a human, she had turned her attention to swimming and lifeguarding. The local pool had received quite a few howls when they hired her three years ago to be a swim instructor, but most people stopped protesting once they saw her work. I made a mental note to see if I could bring Wendy and Veronica back together in the future.

Wendy threw her arms around me and gave another strangled sob. I found my arms going around her instinctively. The waves of lust continued to flow through me, and I started to get some idea that Wendy was causing them somehow. I pushed another wave of lust into the background and spoke. "Wendy, you have friends. Your true friends will care for you, no matter what. I'm just one of your many friends. And I assure you, that none of your true friends will worry about what you look like."

"But I've got a tail!" wailed Wendy into my shoulder. "Only animals have tails."

I looked down, but the robe hid Wendy's body from her shoulders down. It was clear that she had a tail, but I could not see it without removing the robe, and with the strange attacks of lust still surging through me, I felt it unwise to head down that path.

Instead, I pushed Wendy away so I could look her in the eye. "Who says that? People like your parents? Have they ever met and talked to one of the many humans who have survived MORFS and acquired tails?" Wendy seemed uncertain and I continued.

"Perhaps you should talk to one. Dad! Laura! Can you come up here?" I shouted towards the open door.

Wendy seemed to cringe at the noise and then her ears twitched. "Three people are coming, but you only called two," she said.

I looked up at her ears, which twitched back and forth as if trying to isolate individual sounds. "Well, Evelyn was downstairs earlier. She must be coming up the stairs with Laura and my father. She's survived MORFS as well and might be able to offer you some advice."

Wendy seemed a bit nervous, but before she could protest, Laura entered the room, followed by my father and Evelyn. I noticed a strange fire in my father's eyes, and he began to step closer to the bed. He had only taken a step when he shook his head gathered Laura in a tight hug, giving her a hard kiss. The kiss made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but strangely Wendy relaxed a little in my arms.

"Father," I warned. "We are here to help Wendy adjust, not to engage in foreplay with my stepmother, the lovely and passionate Laura."

Wendy choked in my arms. Immediately she pushed me away to stare at my face as I smiled at Laura. Laura giggled, and then looked at my father. "He's right. Not that I minded the kiss, but what brought that on?"

My father started blushing. He looked at Laura and then over at Wendy. "I'm sorry. When I entered the room, I suddenly had this nearly overwhelming urge to..." he paused and blushed. "I cannot understand. I have in my arms the most beautiful and loving woman I can imagine. One who will do anything for me. But I suddenly wanted to take you, Wendy."

Wendy blushed and her arms tightened around my body. "Why? I'm not special.

And I'm some kind of animal now."

Evelyn had been standing in the back, but whispered. "Pheromones. Wendy now puts out pheromones."

There was silence in the room and Wendy's grip on me tightened. Everyone looked over at Evelyn, and I noticed that her hands were gripping the door so tightly that her knuckles stood out white against her tan skin. She looked unusually agitated. The silence continued and then Laura spoke. "You're saying that..."

Evelyn whispered again. "That's what it appears. Horace says he felt a strong pull to go to Wendy, and it's all I can do to stand here and not rush towards her myself, although I've never been interested in women before. I'm not sure how Hector can just sit on the bed and hold her like that."

I could feel Wendy shift to look up at me. She had been resting her head against my chest and holding me tight, but loosened her grip. My father also looked at me and raised an eyebrow in question.

I sighed. I wanted to claim that I did not feel the waves of lust, but I was sure everyone could see it in my face. I looked Wendy directly in the eyes "How I feel about her doesn't matter. To do something like that now, when she needs a friend she can trust would be inexcusable. I won't say I don't feel it as well. I do, and it is very strong. But if anything is going to happen, it will be because Wendy loves me and is wearing my engagement ring. Until that day occurs, I will not overstep my bounds. No honorable man could do any less. That is what my father taught me. Although I must admit the thought of this beautiful woman in love with me excites me."