Dreamwalker

27- Transformation

Pain. Agonizing pain. Bell screamed so loud she thought her lungs might give out. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to witness her skin's transformation. Every drop of blood in her veins boiled and bubbled and her skin mirrored it. What once was firm and white grew clear and drooping to reveal black veins running, pulsating, squeezing, underneath. She felt like she might be melting. Was this death?

She took a few shuddering gasps as the pain faded. She found herself crouched on the floor, head in her hands. "Y-you--" she growled through gritted teeth, "you l-lied to me."

"My Lord, I couldn't know for certain--"

Bell jerked her head up at the woman in front of her, who stifled a scream in her hand when she saw Bell's face. "I am so sorry," she whimpered. It was Bell's mother.

Bell crawled past her on all fours, slowly, painfully. Each body part felt foreign. Nothing was hers anymore, her body wasn't hers. The fleshy blob hanging from her skeleton could hardly be controlled. But the mirror on the other side of the room could tell her what she needed to know. She looked up.

Her eyes were pupiless and sunken into her face. She looked like she had aged a hundred years in the span of a moment. Her skin barely clung to the bones in her face. Each strand of dark hair hung limp around her scalp. Something black and tar-like dribbled down her chin. "What..." she murmured. Her words came out of a wrinkled crack in her face that used to be a mouth with pink lips and ivory teeth. "What... did... you... do to me?" Even her voice was raspy and foreign. It belonged to a monster out of a fairy tale, one that lived in shadows and ate passersby for fun.

Devon still had her hands over her mouth. "I thought it would help," she whispered. "Really, I thought-- perhaps--"

Bell turned her head around. "Come here," she ordered.

Devon hesitated, scared to move any closer, but she obeyed, taking cautious steps forward until she was only a breath away. Bell clawed her way up Devon's dress so she could stand, using Devon's shoulder as a crutch. "Hold out your arm," she snarled.

"My Lord, please--"

"Now!" Bell barked. "I can't let anyone see me like this!"

Biting her lip, Devon rolled up her sleeve and held it out to Bell. Bell took it and sank her teeth into Devon's flesh. Devon tried to keep from crying as Bell pressed her lips to the wound to suck it dry of blood. She felt her skin tighten again, hair thicken, strength return to her limbs. When she could stand up straight again she let go of Devon's shoulder and released her arm. "Please excuse my impoliteness," Bell said, letting out a sigh of relief and running a hand through her own hair to ensure it was back to normal. It fell silky smooth and thick between her fingers. She caressed her own cheeks to make sure they were firm again.

"Of course, my Lord," Devon muttered. She rolled her sleeves up again. "Hello, Monsieur Violin."

"Violin?" Bell whirled around to come face to face with a speechless Soutine.

"My Lord," Violin murmured, bowing low to him to hide his expression.

Bell gestured for Devon to leave. She hurried out of the room clutching her arm and closed the door behind her. "I'm sorry you had to see that," Bell began. Her heart beat out of time in her chest. She suddenly became aware of the blood staining her lips, which she wiped away, blushing as she did.

"How long did you stop drinking before this happened?" Violin asked.

Bell shook her head. "Not long at all... I apologize. I know that you told me to drink on a regular schedule. I suppose I couldn't help myself."