Virus

Chapter One

I tuck my hair into a knot cap, frowning as I have to adjust it to completely cover the new formations on my skull. It's been years since a giant chuck of sediment fell onto a wrecked Durango and most of the people at the site survived, my dad not being so lucky. Mum wasn't as pissed about me totalling the fifteen-year-old SUV as I expected, but she hasn't been happy. That day was ten years ago exactly from today, though it'll be technically be a few minutes before it's official. Right now, I'm not prepping to drive. I'm getting ready for my high school reunion and I'm not all that thrilled. For starters, my original school was converted from West Valley Regional High School into West Valley Regional New Baptist Church. Secondly, I'm part of the reason why half of the student body is no longer considered human.

That rock fell from the sky? It brought an illness with it. Those affected would display flu like systems for two months before the physical changes began. For me, it was bumps on my head and my clumsiness rapidly disappearing. After that, my ears were shrinking and I had a lot of pain in my lower back. In all, it took me three months to sprout cat ears and a tail for a lovely bonus. Aside from these features, my fingers and toes have claws protruding from that that I cannot retract and if I'm angry enough, my pupils slit themselves. I have fangs and I need to shave my whiskers off regularly. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who turned into a cat girl. That being said, I'm not the only one who is now a human/animal hybrid.

Don't ya just love radiation from outer space?

Shaking off the dismal train of thought, I shrug off my Sailor Moon hoodie and fiddle with the shiny zipper of my black velvet dress. The long sleeves do well to hide the small stripes on my arms and the thigh length dress is form fitting, so my tail is wrapped around my waist like an awkward belt with nerves. Once I've gotten my claws untangled from the zipper, I pull on leggings because pantyhose have become impossible since I literally have cat claws. When that's done, I slip my feet into some black leather pumps and check myself out in the floor length mirror. Considering that I'm a mutant freak, I think that I look pretty good. Adding in some last minute touches, like red lipstick, I grab my clutch purse and make my way out to my mint green vintage bug. It's not as sturdy as a Durango, which I've avoided like the plague my entire mutant life, but it gets me from Point A to Point B just fine and it plays my albums nicely. Buckling in and adjusting my mirrors, I feel my ears twitch and roll up the window to cut off the crisp nyght air. Most of my attention is on what it should be, but I'm also fiddling with the stereo until it plays the rock station.  I'm only vaguely listening to the song as I back up and pull out of my drive way, trying my best to spare any and all mailboxes.

"Rising up I'm a fighter,

Young and loud with desire.

Heroes blessed by the fire.. I won't let these demons

Drag Me to The Grave!"

I cruise down town, humming along absentmindedly as I drum my fingers to the beat against the stirring wheel. There's heavy traffic, so I sadly hit most of the red lights. On the plus side, it means that I can listen to more of this station. They seem to be streaming the entire album and I have to resist the urge to drive ten miles under the speed limit just to hear all eleven songs. To my surprise, they play them out of order and even have that one song that was only available on the deluxe version of the record. Alternating between focusing on the road and lip syncing, I feel the tension easing up inside me. Yes, my classmates are most likely still pissed about being half animal and they could possibly remain entrenched in the idea that it's my fault.... but this is a damn good radio station and this band saved my life multiple times.

"A personal slave the one you left to die in vain

Sold you changed you taught you all their selfish ways.

Faith becomes an addiction, not ambition.

Don't bow down to a world of hate.

From your cradle to the grave."

Sighing, I pull into the parking lot and squint at the gathering masses. There a few with animals on leashes and a couple seem to be wearing ginormous coats, but I'm definitely not the only person here wearing a tight dress. Nope, because Lizanna Niccolo of all fucking people would have to park next to me and she is -naturally- wearing something closer to negligée than actual clothing. That being said, it isn't full length as it hardly covers her arse.

"Oh, I almost didn't see you there! You're still so short Eloina," Lizanna slips around the hood of her Mercedes Benz, revealing that she is a slutty penguin.

"Are your feet webbed?!" I accidentally ask, staring at the malformed feet that she shoved inside of those bright red stilettos.

"Webbed feet are in this season, hairball," she rolls her green eyes at me.

"Does that mean that they detach for when they're not, or are they always in season like red lipstick?"

"You're still a weirdo, you're just a weirdo with a tail now. Figures," she flicks her hair over her shoulder, turning around before she walks away from me.

Now very excited to face the rest of my high school bullies, I slowly walk a good kilometre behind Lizanna and just contemplate jumping out in front of a moving vehicle. However, none of them seem to be going fast enough to kill or even fatally wound me. Reasonably agitated, I stoop my shoulders and sigh as I slink my way towards the place that had been a prison to me for four painful years. When I get to the door and give them my name, I start to question why I even came here. I'm also wondering if red lipstick is truly fashionable for all seasons and/or events, but that's beside the point. My friends were either in the below me or in the year above me, so they're not going to be in that building. That means that I wasted my time and gas, which means that I am a grumpy kitty.

Angrily finding the punch bowl, I do my best not to disembowel the man that they have serving the beverages when he stares at my arse. Giving him a glare that could kill his ancestors, I grab a plastic green cup and wander away from his lecherous gaze, realising my feet have cruelly taken me to the centre of the room and that Lizanna's clique of PenguSluts are giving me the stink eye. Turning around like my life depends on it, I bolt away from the beaked bitches and attempt to disappear into the crowd.

But, that's when the boy with a turtle shell in front of us starts coughing.

People make jokes about him choking on my fur, until he collapses and begins to spasm uncontrollably. Squealing, I jump away from him and watch in awed horror as his body contorts. Everybody seems to be dialling the Emergency Hotline for Inhumanes, their hushed and nervous voices filling the uneasy air around us. Unable to handle the sight and sounds, I flee the vicinity and start vomiting on the sidewalk a good few metres from the former gym's outer exit.

When somebody's hand touches my shoulder, I lurch away from them with a scream tearing through my lungs.

"Uh, are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine.. I'm okay," I mumble, anxiously running my trembling fingers through my dark hair.

"What's your name, miss?" he asks now.

I don't know he's from, but I'm digging that accent.

"Eloina Salvatore, and you?"

"Oh, I'm nobody special. Well, I've got to go now or my mother will worry. It was nice meeting you, Eloina Salvatore. I have a feeling that we'll meet again," he smiles, dimples rippling through his cheeks.

Please fuck me.

"It's a small town, so maybe?" I shrug, attempting to play off my hormones.

"We'll see," he chuckles before leaving, shoving his hands in his pockets.

When he's out of sight and earshot, I stare after him and groan.

"I wouldn't mind losing my virginity to him," I tell myself.

Nope, not one bit...