Masks and Underwear

Chapter 4

It happened only seconds after Dean left. The pain, the loud raspy breathing, his eyes changing. Jonah was happy he wrapped things up when he did or Dean would've witnessed something not so human. Was Jonah himself even still completely human after this? No, he was something else. Something entirely else...

Luckily his mother was already fast asleep during his transformation. The same happened as before. The eyes, the scales, the pain. His back slowly ripping open, mercilessly tearing his flesh apart. He fell to the ground on hands and knees, groaning, trying to bite away the pain on his lip. But that only caused it to start bleeding.

Wings sprouted from his back. Big dragon like wings, filled with the same scales as his body. There was blood, a lot of it, like it would never stop. After the wings, a tail appeared, ripping through his body with the same immense pain. It took 20 minutes to transform, but for Jonah it felt like an eternity.

Slowly but steadily he crawled back up, his body still sore and his mind not comprehending what just happened. The light was burning in his eyes, so bright... He didn't remember it to be so bright... And the walls, they seemed to be made of paper. He could hear everything. Every little sound in the whole building and even those around it. All TV's playing, people arguing or just talking normally. The sex! Oh Gods, how many people were doing it?! Jezus Christ just stop!

He groaned, holding his head, his eyes closed. To much input! He couldn't handle all those signals, he couldn't control it! His head just started spinning, his whole body once again in pain. He wanted to scream so badly but he couldn't, he just physically couldn't. Something was holding him back, and maybe for the better.

Dean glanced back at the building with a small smile lingering on his lips. His evening was more than successful to say the least. Maybe this was a positive different? Who knows? "Gabe! Tell my father I've got a new assistant" he grinned, looking at his driver. "And I think this one is a keeper". "You've met a girl on your trip today, Mr Davis?" Gabe responded. "No, the boy" Dean grinned, surprising his driver.

"He is a minor, sir". "I am aware of that" Dean grinned. "It's not like that has stopped me before". "He didn't seem like your type" Gabe stated, driving up to DI. "Do I have a type in assistants?" he asked, tilting his eyebrow. "Tall, thin waist and volume on the right places" Gabe answered, making Dean chuckle. "You forgot blond" was all he said before stepping out of the car.

He walked up to the Davis private elevator, taking it up to the penthouse where he lived. His father was on the phone while furiously typing on his computer. A normal sight, really. They never really talked if it wasn't about the business so Dean didn't even try to say hello, fearing he'd upset his old man.

Instead he went to his room, which was as big as Jonah's entire appartement. His own bathroom, a small shooting range and training area, a chill lounge... He even had a partial second floor where his actual bedroom was, you know, with a bed. Did I forgot to mention his walk-in wardrobe the size of a normal room? But rich is a subjective concept, right?

Jonah did what every curious teenager would do after going through what he just went through. He started experimenting. He practiced the change and every time it became less and less painful. He discovered how to fly, how to use the big clumsy wings to his advantage. He still tripped over the tail every now and then, that was really annoying. Jonah also discovered he could control fire somehow, even though discovering that particular power lead to a school fire... Whoops?

Well, at least school was cancelled for a week now, so that's something right? And nobody suspected him of starting the fire cause he was just a weak little nerd. Why would a nerd burn down the school? This week was also his last week at Cassey's Coffee. He only needed to finish up today and he would be gone, working at Davis Industries. Today was Tuesday, 17:36, 24 minutes before the end of his shift.

Only Cassey knew though, he didn't want the others to know he'd taken the job at DI. He didn't want them to know he was quitting cause he was bad at saying goodbye. Cassey would bring the news tomorrow, telling the staff Jonah wasn't coming back to work. "Hey Jonah, pay attention" Jennifer stated, snapping her fingers a few times. "You're totally out of it today, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing, just uh an important test coming up, that's all". "I thought your school building burned down yesterday?" she asked confused. "Yeah, so I'll have twice as much work next week to catch up to scheme" Jonah quickly made up. It was probably true though and he didn't look forward to that. "Besides, I like school". "You're such a weird kid" she muttered while finishing up the cup of coffee she'd been making.

She left the counter to bring it to her costumer only seconds later. Jonah sighed, looking down at the sink filled with dirty cups and plates. This really was his last day... He had mixed feelings about it. I mean, he's gonna get a better job with a higher salary but he was going to miss the people that worked here. They'd become friends and he didn't know how he would be able to sustain that relation now that he worked somewhere else. He wasn't one for social media, you know.

"I-is Samuel coming in today?" Jonah asked as Jenny returned. "No, he asked for the day off" she explained. Oh... So he wasn't gonna see Samuel anymore... He really wanted to joke around with him one last time before he left. Guess that's not happening... Well, there are worse things in life, right?

Six pm, his shift ended quicker than he'd thought. He sighed, pulling off his apron and walking to Cassey's office next to the staff room upstairs. Jonah knocked, gripping the apron tightly. How long had he worked here? Five months? Something like that? "Come in" he heard from the other side and opened the door.

"I-I came to return this, you know, before I go" Jonah sighed, placing the apron on her desk. She sighed as well, handing him an enveloppe. "Your last pay check Adams" she said with a certain sadness. "I'm really forced to let you go, am I?". "I'm sure you'll find replacement soon" Jonah said with a small smile. "None as enthousiast as you at 5 in the morning" she stated.

"Good luck out there"