Claws of Unity

"..Restless school night.."

I woke up in the middle of the night, the movie I had been watching on my phone long forgotten as my headphones were placed weirdly on my head. My body felt hot and clammy, a strange sense of irritability washing over me. As I reached up to touch my face, I winced in pain - it felt swollen and tender, a stark reminder of the chaos and fear of the day.

My head throbbed with a dull ache, a physical manifestation of the emotional turmoil I had been through. The events of the day replayed in my mind like a never-ending nightmare, each scene more haunting than the last. The fear, the confusion, the uncertainty - it all weighed heavily on my heart and soul.

I lay there in the darkness, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, feeling utterly alone and lost in my own sadness and trauma. The world seemed like a cruel and unforgiving place, and I couldn't shake the feeling of vulnerability that had taken hold of me since the evacuation.

I wished desperately for everything to go back to normal, for the pain and fear to melt away like a bad dream. But as I lay there, surrounded by darkness and my own turbulent thoughts, I knew that healing would take time, and that the scars left by today's events would not fade easily. I felt movement flick my pillow with a "swish" motion. I jolted awake, my eyes shooting open in alarm. The sudden movement caused a shooting pain in my head, making me wince and clutch at my throbbing temples. Ugh, my face felt like it had gone ten rounds with a boxer – it hurt so freaking much.

I groaned in annoyance, realizing I probably needed some Tylenol to dull the pain. Maybe I just had a stupid cold or fever or something, definitely not that crazy outbreak they were blabbering about on the news this morning. I huffed, shaking my head in disbelief at how my day had turned into an absolute dumpster fire. Just my luck. I dragged myself out of bed, still half-asleep with my eyes all blurry and unfocused. Mindlessly, I stumbled into the bathroom, my hand searching for the light switch. Flicking it on, I squinted against the sudden brightness, the door closing behind me with a gentle forced push. I lean on the sink feeling my heart in my head like a drum and open my eyes. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my heart pounding in my chest. My eyes widened in horror as I saw my face morphed into that of a freaking black bobcat, complete with piercing plum-colored eyes. What in the actual fuck is going on?! I let out a blood-curdling scream, scrambling back from the mirror in disbelief. This had to be some messed-up nightmare, right? Please, let it be a nightmare! Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse...- my septum piercing had somehow caused my nose to start gushing blood during this insane transformation. As if that wasn't enough, my ear piercings had turned into two open bloody craters. The pain was excruciating, and I felt like I was living in some twisted horror movie. I was a walking, furred man bleeding mess and there was nothing I could do about it. This was officially the worst day of my life.
As my mom's snoring reached a deafening level, I tried to gather my wits and calm down. I mean, at least her snoring was a familiar sound amidst this chaos. My sister, groggy from sleep, slowly stirred and called out my name. "Jannie?" she mumbled, her sleepy feet carrying her towards the bathroom. The dim light from under the door cast eerie shadows on the floor, making the scene even more surreal.