Strange Happenings
Midnight. They always came at midnight. The chimes from the old grandfather clock in the den jolted Daniel out of his restless dreams. It wasn't the chimes that woke him so much as the knowledge that They were coming. It was the same horrifying ritual, every single night.
The room was illuminated by an eerie pale green glow. Three figures in haz-mat suits stood around his bed. One of them held a large briefcase, another held a gun, and the third--the apparent leader, from the way he acted--was making entries into a large handheld computer. Daniel tried to escape, to run, to even move, but some unseen force held him in place, as immobile as the bed itself. The leader looked up from his computer and signaled to the one holding the briefcase, who set the case down and began to open it. Daniel strained to see its contents, but couldn't from his position. If only he could move...
The leader reached forward, grabbed the bedcovers and--
The shrill blast of Daniel's alarm clock filled the room. He'd had that dream again, the same one he'd been having every night for nearly a month. Except that it didn't feel like a normal dream. It felt more like a memory, but one that had been partially forgotten. Anyway, Dan had more important things to worry about, so he pushed whatever it was aside for the moment. Today was the last day of school, finally. All he had to do was survive his last few final exams, and he'd be home free. He wasn't about to let a creepy dream get him down.
***
Dr. DiCaoz glanced over his biology classroom. "Is anybody still working on the final?" he asked tiredly. He paused for a moment, then said, "If everybody is finished, you may talk quietly amongst yourselves for the remainder of the period." As the class erupted in chatter, he went back to nursing his hangover.
Daniel loved his biology class. It wasn't just that he was good at it, or that it was the last class of the day. By some bit of luck or fate, he happened to be in the same class as his four closest friends, Gassan, David, Pammy, and Jake. Gassan, David, and Pammy had become absurdly popular since coming to high school. Gassan was Lebanese and therefore "exotic," David was a star swimmer, and Pammy was a cheerleader. In retrospect, popularity was an inevitability. To the other popular kids, Jake an avid follower of the Furry subculture (he called it a craze, but nobody else did) and Daniel, the introspective writer, were social liabilities. Still, Gassan, David, and Pam never let their newfound "friends" keep them away from Jake and Dan. Privately, Daniel was grateful that he had managed to befriend the four people who appeared to be immune to high school drama.
"So, what'd you guys think?" Pammy whispered.
"I'm pretty sure Dr. Di is a nutcase," Gassan answered quickly. He was met with a chorus of approval from his companions.
"Anyway," Pam continued, "are we having our annual Thank-God-The-Schoolyear's-Over party tonight?"
"I can't go," Jake said, "I've got a convention."
"I can't go either," said David, "My dad's taking me camping. He's on a back-to-nature kick."
"I'm visiting my grandma," Gassan said. Pammy rolled her eyes.
"Alright," she sighed, "when do you guys get back?"
"Sunday"
"Sunday evening"
"Sunday, but it'll be late."
"So," Pammy continued, "is Monday night alright with everyone?"
***
The days passed quickly. By the time Monday arrived, he had gone an entire weekend without his mysterious dreams. He was mostly relieved, but part of him wished the visitors would come back so he could find out what they were up to.
The streets were charged with an eerie calm. A summer storm was coming. As Daniel reached Pam's door, he couldn't help but feel a strange foreboding. Something was decidedly wrong. He rang the bell.
"Come in," called Pammy. Dan opened the door and found friend sitting on the floor in a tidy circle. They were all staring at him, an unsettling hunger in their eyes. "We are playing Truth or Dare," Pammy intoned mechanically. "Please, join us. Truth or Dare?"
"Please choose Dare," Gassan said, in the same unearthly voice.
"The Truth is never any fun," agreed David, still in the same tone. Throughout the exchange, none of the four took their eyes off of Daniel.
"Is everything alright?" he asked. "You all seem...different."
Pammy answered in the same monotone as before: "We are collectively unnerved at a series of recurring dreams we have been having. Perhaps you too are experiencing these visions?"
"Yeah," Dan said, "but I'm not acting that weird about it."
"Perhaps," Pammy said, "All will be made more clear if you answer this simple question: Truth...or Dare?"
Written by Zodiac on 31 May 2008
Setting up
“It’ll be fun,” they said. “It’ll be cool,” they said. Well… so far it’s not that fun, and it’s certainly not seeming very cool for Daniel, in fact, he feels a little bored with the whole idea, but then again… it sort of was his idea to begin with; so why should he even complain?
Gassan, a foreign-exchange student from Lebanon who happens to be one of Daniel’s newest and closest friends, decided that it would be neat to experience something like this. After all, it was only a dare.
Pammy and David, who were dating at the time, had a reputation to uphold. They were what the other students would call “the popular” people.
If Pam and David were to turn down something this simple, what would everyone think of them?
“It is only a dare, I believe it will be fun to explore it!” says Gassan in his Lebanese accent, “Is this not what you do on weekends? Hanging out and having fun?”
“Yeah,” says Daniel, looking over at the two lovebirds leaning against the school building; David kisses Pammy on her neck and watches her giggle, “When we aren’t doing things like that, in public!” he yells, kicking a loose pebble over to David’s shoes.
“Easy there, twerp!” David teases playfully, “These are new! Anyway… what was the dare again?”
Daniel crosses his arms, “We’re supposed to spend the night in that old military complex thing outside town.”
“Ew,” Pammy complains, “I don’t want to sleep anywhere where I can’t shower! There’s probably no lights on, how am I supposed to do my hair?”
“It’s only one night, besides, you look pretty no matter what,” David sucks up, snuggling his little Pammy again, “So you gonna come with?”
“Oh… fine. I guess,” says Pammy.
Since then it was settled. The four would spend the night in the abandoned complex. Rumors had it that the place was haunted. A lot of people could swear they heard ghosts or even things that sounded like gunfire.
Others experienced something completely different. Some say their desires were heightened, like they were tempted to do or say things they never thought they would do or say. It was as if their bodies were taken over. It was as if… the longer they stayed, the more susceptible to the strange entities they would become.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 25 April 2015
Jake
At his home, Daniel decides to pack for the weekend ahead. He packs a sleeping back, a change of
clothes, a first aid kid, and his cellphone, just in case of any emergencies.
Gassan was responsible for bringing enough food for everyone, where Pammy would be in charge of water. David’s only requirement was to have his car in top condition, just in case they needed to go somewhere in an emergency. Stalling and any other car problems would not be suitable for an emergency situation. It’s safe to say that the four kids were more than ready to go.
Daniel’s cellphone rings: Jake is calling. He probably wants to spend the weekend gaming at his house with a few buddies. As usual, he’d be inviting Daniel over. Daniel answers the phone and immediately, Jake starts to ask questions.
“I heard you guys were doing it! You’re really going to that old place?” Jake says, excitedly.
“I guess so,” Daniel responds, zipping up his camping pack, “Let me guess… you wanna come, too?”
“You bet I do! Should I bring anything?”
“Just yourself. I think we have pretty much all we need,” Daniel says, “Just anything you might need, I guess.”
“Cool! I’ll see you guys tomorrow!”
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 26 April 2015
Heading Out
The next day, Daniel stands outside his house with his large pack slung over his shoulder. His mind wanders toward the myths and legends about that old spot, eager to know if any of it is true.
What if the place really is haunted? That’d be kind of cool, I guess, but what if it’s… I dunno. This is crazy. I can’t back out now, though. Everyone will think I’m chicken.
An eerie gust of a light breeze combs through Daniel’s hair, compelling him to look over his shoulder.He sees nothing out of the ordinary. He sees his home, his father’s car, his every day, usual front yard.
David pulls up in his car, “Hey dork!” he jokes, “Hop in, we got breakfast for ya.”
“Sweet, whatdja bring me?” Daniel asks, smiling as he opens the back seat, tossing his bag into far, far back. For a small car, there sure is a lot of room inside.
“We got you a muffin from McDonald’s and I don’t know what you wanted to drink so we just got you a power aide,” Pammy said, passing back my breakfast.“Nah, this is perfect, thanks!”
Gassan is seated next to Daniel, eating his own breakfast, listening to his iPod. Daniel can hear his music blaring from his earbuds as he looks over to him and smiles, giving Daniel a short, small wave.
“Uh, David,” Daniel says, “We’ll probably have to swing by Jake’s place, too.”
“We’re going to a haunted complex, not some convention, did you explain that to him?” David laughs.
“Kinda,” Daniel replies.
“Oh Jake? Yes! Let’s bring Jake, he’s always so nice to talk to,” Gassan smiles, pricking an earbud out of his right ear.
“Alright, he’ll have so squeeze between you guys, though,” David says.
“That’s fine,” Daniel says
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 27 April 2015
All together in the car.
If the car wasn’t full enough, Jake is now nuzzled between the two in the back. Gassan and Daniel made just enough room for Jake to join them.
Jake adjusts his fox-ear headband and smiles at David through the window.
“You really had to bring them?” David smiles.
“Of course!” Jake smiles, “I know you guys think it’s weird but I like them. Part of my personality!”
“Whatever you wanna do, Jake,” Daniel smiles.
The entire trip, Jake decided it would be a good idea to brush up his classmates and friends in the car on the education about the furry fandom.
Honestly, Gassan has learned a lot.
“But it’s not all porn stuff. I mean, being ‘furry’ just means you like you express yourself with your inner animal. As you can see… I love foxes, and I think they’re really cool and if I could live my life as a fox… I think I’d be the happiest person alive,” Jake explains, “Otherwise, I
just role play online. Nothing too sexual, though, I’m just in it for friends and fun.”
“I think it’s cute!” Pammy says, smiling back from the front seat, “I think I’d be a kitten. Like, maybe a tiger or something really cute.”
“I could see that. You’d be a pretty good tiger. I like tigers too, though. Maybe I could be like a cross breed,” Jake laughs.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 28 April 2015
The complex
The conversation dulled down as the five neared the complex. The trees slowly began to look more and more unkempt and wild. The property where the complex stands can be seen from a distance, and it truly looks as though nature is slowly reclaiming the land and everything on it as its own, engulfing the walls of the old complex with greenery and grasses.
Getting out of the car, Jake, Daniel, and Gassan are stuck with grabbing everyone’s bags, including their own.
Pammy’s excuse was that she would help, but for fear of breaking her newly manicured nails, she could not.
“So this is the place?” David says, looking at the front of the complex. The paint on the building is chipping and old. The front gymnasium-like doors are slightly opened and a light looks like it’s on, flickering a bit.
Daniel thought it was a bit odd. If the lights are on… does that mean someone is still running this place?
“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Jake says, a big smile on his face, “Let’s go!”
“How are you so excited about this?” Daniel asks, hauling a couple bags over his shoulders.
“I, too, am just a little excited. It might be scary!” Gassan smiles, “I do not believe in ghosts, but if there are some in there, it is bound to be a grand experience.”
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 29 April 2015
Inside
The five walk inside, the fluorescent light weakly shining, fighting the flicker and pushing itself to give the building some life.
Their footsteps echoed only a little. Not even ten steps into the building and already, Pammy was getting the chills and creeps.
Holding onto David’s arm in fear, Pammy’s gaze shifted from left to right, examining the run down, old, creepy environment.
“This is weird, Davey,” Pammy says, clinging a bit harder as the five walk through the old, abandoned military building. Pammy could swear she heard someone whisper her name, “What was that? Did you hear that?”
“I heard someone say my name. Did you, Daniel?” Jake asks, using his cellphone as a light as they delve further into the building.
“No… and it wasn’t Gassan… he wandered off that way,” Daniel says, pointing off to the left down a hallway covered in cobwebs and sprinkled with debris.
“We’d better find him, we shouldn’t get separated,” David said, leading the four down the messy hallway.
Boards from the ceiling have fallen, making for make-shift ramps for the rats and insects infesting the place. Pammy immediately gasps.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 30 April 2015
She stays behind
“No way. I’m not going down there. I’ll wait in the room we just came from! Ew… ew, ew, ew… rats and bugs? Ugh! Count me out.” Pammy turns away and heads out of the hallway, leaving the three boys to themselves.
As the three boys go off to look for Gassan, Pammy sits near everyone’s bags, taking out her cellphone and starting an app. The glowing screen of her cellphone flickers, and suddenly, at full battery, the cellphone’s screen turns black.
“What the hell? Ugh… stupid thing…” Pammy mumbles quietly to herself. Inspecting her phone, she tries to turn it back on.
Nothing.
Suddenly, a gust of a harsh wind blows the steel door shut all the way, leaving Pammy alone in the dark.
She becomes immediately frightened, dropping her phone. The flickering, buzzing fluorescent light is her only means of vision.
Turning around to feel for her phone, she sees it.
It’s been standing there the entire time.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 01 May 2015
Gassan
Gassan stands in an old closet-like room. Scattered among shelves are old books, pieces of paper with illegible writing on them, and even some weapons scattered about.
Gassan picks up a small pistol from the ground. It looks too out-of-place for a complex like this. All the other weapons here are AK-47 and similar… all rifle-type guns. Why would a pistol be laying at his feet, plain as day?
“There you are,” Daniel says, looking at Gassan in the closet, hunched on the floor. He stands erect and quickly slips the gun into his pocket, “Scared us, dude! Come on, let’s try and stay together.”
“Where’s Pammy?” Gassan asks, “Was she not with you?”
“She decided to go back into the main room. She was kinda creeped out by bugs and stuff,” Daniel chuckled, “I’m actually about to go back and keep her company. She seemed pretty freaked.”
“I’m sure that would be okay,” Gassan says, “I’ll keep these two company as well.”
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 02 May 2015
Daniel
Daniel decides to go ahead and just immediately go catch up to Pammy. The walk back seems a bit different from before. That eerie feeling Daniel first experienced, the wind brushing over his shoulder, happens again.
Turning around, he can see it. It’s smile. He can see its damn smile. It can’t be that late already… there’s no way. They just got here. It’s not possible.
They always only follow him at night.
Shit… they aren’t safe. This was a bad idea… I can’t let get hurt just because of me!
For as long as Daniel could remember… they would follow him. Shadows, possibly bad memories or just bad dreams took on a physical form and followed him. They’ve never really harmed him, but eerily, they would follow him.
Their smoky entities were too hard to make out.
Were they spirit? People? Maybe they were a kind of animal? Daniel never knew what they were… so he would call them “they”.
“They” have followed him.
In an effort to escape, Daniel darts down the hallway, trying to find his way back to the main room, even back to David and Gassan, but instead, Daniel pants violently in fear as he comes to a strange hallway.
He travels the hallway, slowly, carefully listening around him. The debris on the ground scattered as his shoes lightly kicked it, walking slowly. The hallways slowly comes to an end and extends off in two different directions.
The left way, he can see that “they” are waiting at the very end. The same is on the right. Daniel stands frozen, slowly walking backwards, trying to escape their gazes.
He is stopped by a cold, freezing wind, shoving through his back and out his chest. Suddenly, a strange thought enters his mind.
Go to the left. You’ll like it… there is a surprise for you. Come… follow. Go to your special surprise.
Daniel’s body gains a mind of its own, traveling down the left hallway. He sees that “they” are smiling. They are smiling and waiting, seeming to be further away the closer he comes to them.
After what seems like hours of walking, he finally comes to a door.
David’s mind finally snaps back to reality; he sees the door before him. He could open the door and face whatever lies behind, or he can turn right around and go find the others.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 03 May 2015
Open the door.
He decides to open the door.
Slowly, the door creaks open. There are two mannequins standing, headless. What? What are these doing here? This is a military complex… how is any of this relevant? Maybe they were for uniforms… Daniel walks closer to the mannequins; an eerie feeling emits from them.
Wear one. Put a costume on.
Daniel shakes his head. No way he was going to do that. The costumes were far too girly! The left of them looked like a white tiger costume; it was revealing and held firmly the shape of a very fit young woman.
The costume on the right looked like a horse – a pony, rather. A girly rendition of a horse. The accessory hanging around the neck of the mannequin was a unicorn’s horn.
I have to put one on… I… I feel like I… need to.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 04 May 2015
Tiger
Daniel slips on the tiger costume with ease. Why am I doing this? This is so embarrassing… and… girly!
The costume begins to feel less like clothing and more like skin. For some reason, Daniel’s neck begins cramping. No amount of stretching or flexing would make the cramp go away – in fact, the cramping became worse.
Daniel’s spine began to tingle, cracking a bit as his shoulders became less broad. What is going on?! My body! It… it feels…
Daniel’s face began to morph. His cheeks grow fuzzy and cat whiskers, like needles sprout from his face. His face is truly becoming the face of a white tiger.
It did not stop there. Daniel’s body changes. His chest becomes swollen with female breasts. Immediately, Daniel gasps, but is unable to move.
No… why can’t I… oh my god! My… my hips!
Daniel’s hips widen, curving femininely as his legs turn muscular. The costume’s fibers are changing, almost fusing to his body and becoming his new skin, becoming fluffy. The fur… it was suddenly… his own.
What startled Daniel the most of this bizarre, strange transformation was not the animalistic ears
sprouting from his transformed head, nor was it the long, luscious tail sprouting from lower spine, swishing back and forth with ease.
What startled Daniel the very most was the absence of what made him a man. His manhood. He could feel it shrinking, cramping his pelvis and pulling at the muscles and tendons inside his body.
Buckling over, Daniel feels for his manhood… and feels nothing there.
“God! What is going on!? Who are you! Why are you making me do this?!” Daniel shouts into the dark.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 05 May 2015
Back to Pammy
In the main room, Pammy sits in waiting as Gassan finally makes it back to her. Gassan’s head begins to feel strange.
Use it. Use that gun… impress her. She’ll think it’s really cool.
“What? Did you…” Gassan says, looking at Pammy who is still looking for her phone.
“Gassan! There you are… I can’t see too well. This light… it flickers. I can’t find my cell, help me look?”
“You know,” Gassan says, “there’s something I want to show you. I found it in the closet down one of the hallways. I wish to show you now!”
Gassan takes the gun out of his jeans pocket.
“What is it? I can’t see it,” Pammy says, squinting, crawling a little closer to Gassan.
Shoot her. Show her what it is… shoot her.
Gassan’s hand shakes as his mind is taken over. His thoughts are suddenly not his own.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 06 May 2015
Another change
Lifting his hand, he cocks the hammer on the gun.
“What was that?” Pammy asks, getting closer, reaching her hand out to feel for a closer look.
Gassan’s mind goes black and he pulls the trigger.
A loud, explosive gunshot echoes through the building, and Pammy falls to the floor.
There is no blood, however. Instead of a wound, Pammy’s skin ripples, changing her. Her flesh turns scaly and dry, shiny like reptilian scales.
Daniel makes his way back out into the main room, “Pammy! Gassan? Are… are you guys here? David? Jake?”
“Ah… Agh!” Pammy screams, watching her hands turn into reptilian claws, webbed between her fingers, and her hair receding into her skull.
Gassan can only watch blindly as Daniel slowly walks into the light, revealing her new animalistic form.
Jake and David rush to the three, panicked.
“We heard a huge sound, is everyone all—Oh, God! Jesus!” David panics, watching as his girlfriend writhes on the floor, her smooth skin slowly changing into scales.
Her mouth lengthens, stretching and shaping itself to look like a gecko’s face. Her spine crackles softly as a plump, smooth tail jets from her back, and her toes fuse together, forming three, plump, sticky toes.
Pammy has become a gecko.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 07 May 2015
David's turn
“What is going on?! What… is… is that… Pam?!” David is flustered and panicked, while Jake on the other hand admires with excitement.
“Oh my God! You… you’ve turned anthro!” Jake exclaims, “How freakin’ awesome is that?! Wow! Is… Daniel? Are… are you a… girl?”
“Y-yeah,” Daniel says, looking down at her anthropomorphic feet, “I… I guess I… am.”
Gassan stands silently, cocking his gun again, aiming it as David as he is distracted, kneeling over Pam’s newly changed form.
Shooting, David is stricken with the bullet. In a painful reaction, he falls to the floor, wriggling in panic, searching for blood. He does not bleed, but instead, his body begins to change just as Pam’s did.
Daniel smiles a little as he watches David slowly transform into a reptile like his lover, looking to Gassan, Daniel swishes his tail and shifts his weight to one foot, extending his hip. Pointing to Jake, Daniel giggles,“What about him?”
“Yeah,” Pammy says, batting her big, cute gecko eyes, “What about him? He said he likes foxes,
remember?”
“Oh my god… yes. So-o-o cute!” Daniel says, “Oh my god, do it, do it!”
“D-do what?” Jake says, nervously backing up toward the exit, his hands up as if under arrest, “I… I like furries and stuff but I don’t know if I…”
“Join us, Jacob,” Daniel says. Pammy and David wrap their arms around each other, and move to Gassan’s side as Gassan aims the strange pistol at Jake, terrified.
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 08 May 2015
Not who he seems
“On second thought,” Jake says with a smile on his face, one that Daniel remembers all too fondly, “Why don’t you join them, Gassan? Do it… Gassan.”
Jake’s face becomes painted with an eerie smile as his body fades into a blackened entity as the room fills with the loud, explosive sounds of the pistol’s firing.
“Strange, is it not? How one person can bring together so… so many.”
Jake smiles as he watches Gassan change into a leopard; Gassan’s new female shape is a lot for him to take in, but his mind, like the others’ have changed.
In a trance, the four anthros chatter together in the room, laughing and living on as if nothing changed.
“Now… now we can make this work out, I think,” Jake says, vanishing, returning to the darkness, blowing one last gust of wind through Daniel’s back, whispering,
“It’s all thanks to you, Daniel… truth or dare was
your best idea yet… I knew my brothers and I could count
on you.”
Written by Sparrow the Wolf on 09 May 2015
The end (for now)