lost camaraderie. (Alice Mare)

♣

♣ ʙᴜʀɴᴛ. ♣

The violent transformation finally ceased, allowing Joshua to take a breath of air. He completely forgot what happened, but did realize he was laying on the ground in his bedroom. How did he end up on the ground? The last thing he remembered was standing in front of the mirror in the boy's bathroom, feeling sick to his stomach. He did not remember being dragged to his bedroom. He also did not have a strange feeling in his stomach and brain, which gave him a strange headache. Sitting up, he put his hand in his hair, which felt a bit thicker than usual. Something's wrong here.

He didn't remember having thicker hair. Looking down, he noticed something different, as well - he was wearing a completely different outfit, which seemed to be in more purple and dark blue tones. He never remembered this. I really have to look in a mirror or something - I feel different. It hurts.

Sitting up, he winced, realizing there was a pain around his tailbone area. He didn't even want to feel what was there, a little afraid of what it could be. No way was he checking until he arrived at a mirror, because this wasn't something he wanted. Teacher has to have an answer. Teacher's smart, and Joshua has no idea what's going on. It could be a prank, and the children could have done something to his hair and outfit to freak Joshua out. That's it, right? This couldn't just spontaneously appear. None of it could.

As Joshua stood up, getting his bottom off the ground, he did feel a weight in his tailbone area, as well. Had to be a prank. There was something on him, and he didn't want to know what it was. Oh, he'll get them back somehow*.

Walking slowly to the boy's bathroom, he felt extremely uncomfortable, his legs feeling much thinner than they were before, rather unstable. His unstable legs actually began to make him feel sore, even after a few steps. It shouldn't hurt this much, it never did. At times, he had to stop to wonder what was wrong with him. Finally, he decided to check his legs. Seriously, what's going on...?

Joshua looked at his legs. But they weren't his. They never were.

Joshua covered his mouth in surprise, actually feeling a small stitch near the corner of his mouth. Seriously, what the hell...?!

Wolf legs, he'd never, ever, ever, ever, ever had wolf legs. He'd never expect them. This cannot be a prank. All of this was impossible, he was dreaming. Excuses. A coma, a hallucination, a nightmare. Anything to get whatever this is off of his mind. Or really good makeup from Letty.

Could he even open his mouth? The stitch from before was obviously still there, when he reached his shaky hand up to touch it once more. It stung slightly when he began touching the bases of the stitches, but that was when he quickly realized it was, really, inside his mouth, as well. Stitched, from front to back. His mouth was numb, aside from the slight sting. And he could taste the bitter, deep red blood coming from the holes in his pale skin from the stitches.

Moving his jaw only slightly, he realized it's difficult to do so. Will it ever loosen?

He brought his hand back. All of his fingers touched at least one bloody stitch, and now he realizes that it was a mistake. Every touch made every nerve feel free again. And now it really started.

This is the moment in time when he realized he grew sharp nails and teeth, feeling the change in his mouth from the soreness. His biggest wish was to know what was happening. Whining, he finally managed to look in the mirror.

It's a monster. This monster was doing anything Joshua was doing. He couldn't stop pulling the stitches, wanting to scream for help. 'Teacher, Teacher... I've turned into something I know I'm not. You know me better than I know myself, so you hafta know I'm not myself, you old man...!'

Every hand motion was the same, and every twitch and salty tear.

Getting angry with himself, he swiftly pulled the threads out forcefully. A sigh emitted from the small teenager. At least he still had his hat and his shirt. And a new tail. Wait, a new tail? A wolf tail. Great. That was only the least of his problems. He wanted to find out who did this, and it couldn't have been anyone from the orphanage. No one was that cool! Although, he did know someone who wasn't in the orphanage who may be up to this. Only one that was in a dream. Well, they weren't that cool either, but his point still stands.

And that one was Cheshire Cat. As if they'd waste their time with Joshua, though, only for him to be confused and questioning himself. He isn't in as much despair as he bet Cheshire would want, so he only thought a word three times, 'ha, ha, ha'.

...Alright, no, he was in despair. He couldn't escape it now until his questions are answered. That's why he thought of Cheshire. If they can be in dreams, they can be in real life and in the children's minds, right? That was Joshua's logic. Finding Cheshire was possibly one of the hardest things to do. Not so much physically, but more like 'God, this guy is annoying and I really don't even wanna see their face'. Their covered face. What a wimp, not showing off their face, no matter how narcissistic they always are!

Finally pulling off the final stitches, Joshua sighed and wept. "Teeeaaacher..." He groaned for his guardian's help, even though the man would probably find it a joke. Joshua always plays pranks on him, so he couldn't get any help from Teacher, could he? He probably hated Joshua. Didn't everyone? Everyone hated Joshua. Everyone was leaving him behind.

All of his hope was lost at that moment, realizing the sad truth of everyone in the orphanage. No one will help him because he doesn't deserve it, right? No one will help him because he's always been rude and mean to everyone else. The children all have a sadder past than Joshua, right? No one should give him anymore sympothy and empathy, all of it was a lie. Joshua kept the crying to a minimum so no one would come in and see him like the despairing monster he became.

"Monster."

♣ ʙᴜʀɴᴛ. ♣

*Think about it.