Shapeshifter Ch. 04

It definitely was time to try to change back, and now was as good a moment as any. I hobbled a few feet away from Noom and laid down, trying to remember the feeling I'd had when first changing. I even closed my eyes and concentrated really hard—

And nothing happened.

I tried again and again, but all it got me was pain in my hurt shoulder, nothing more. Minutes passed by with nothing happening, and I was ready to give up, when I heard a dull thud, and then Nooms voice.

"I know that you can understand me."

It got my attention enough to forget what I had tried to do just a second before. Noom was sitting next to the small entrance to the courtyard, both legs half stretched, one hand pressed against an evil looking gash at his ribcage, the other still holding on to the gun. He looked horrible.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing with me, but if you don't..." for a moment he stopped speaking, obviously fishing for words, then he just finished bluntly, "... if you don't change back to human, I'll put a bullet in your head, just because you creep me out."

It hurt in so many ways, I couldn't even decide which one was the worst. I had rescued him and he wanted to kill me? I had killed his pursuers, and he wanted to kill me? I had come for him—

There was a click when Noom demonstratively loaded the gun, then he pointed it straight into my face. I couldn't even fathom how he managed to aim that accurately in the pitch black darkness of night.

"Now." There was that promise of violence in his voice again.

But something in his voice, his face, tugged at my instincts in a way I would never ever feel again. That night it produced a second miracle.

It made me shrink, crouch, and then, out of nowhere, I changed back. The fur crawled back into my skin, bones elongated here and shortened there, the tail shrank back into my back, and when I finally laid on the cold, wet concrete, naked and bleeding, I couldn't suppress a moan of enjoyment. The sheer tone of his voice had made me shift, something my father had tried forcibly for years and always failed.

If I hadn't been hurting so bad, I would have smiled sated when I heard Noom come closer.

My shoulder was still bleeding a bit, my belly was crusty and reddened, my other shoulder swollen, but I was nowhere near Noom's condition.

I opened my eyes to look up at him, but my vision was still blurry and one eye swollen shut. All I could see was his scheme stretching upward and plucking something from the black sky.

"So, you're cat-boy now. Brilliant." A faceless, emotionless sounding Noom dropped something soft on me, then turned and started limping to the exit. "We're not done talking about this fucked up shit. Put that on and get going."

I felt for the cloth he had dropped on me, and discovered it was some kind of corduroy pants from a low hanging clothes line, at least one size too big for me. Since I was naked it had to be enough, and I slowly, hazily, worked my feet into it. What should I do? Maybe if I fled, now that I knew Noom was okay and free...

The thought alone was enough to make me jump to my feet and hastily jog after the huddled figure in front of me. Leaving Noom was unthinkable to me, even though I knew he still pondered about killing me. I'd just have to convince him. I didn't know of what or how, but I knew that there was a chance he'd be okay with me. My... species, or whatever I was.

I'd just had to convince him.

~*~

"Here, hold this."

We finally had found a hiding place in the central control room of an abandoned subway station, 30 feet underground. The ceiling was leaky and dust and mold lay in thick layers everywhere, but it was a safe refuge for the moment. We even had kind of reconciled, meaning Noom wasn't constantly pointing the gun at my head anymore, and even tolerated me being close enough to help him patch himself up.

I pressed my hand on the gauze wound pad on Noom's chest as he rummaged through the old, rusty first aid kit we had scavenged in the stair well on our way down. It was the first time he had talked to me since his little verbal spit in the residential courtyard, and the frown lines on his forehead were still there. He also was still angry with me, and I understood, kind of. That didn't mean I had to keep feeling guilty though.

Unfortunately he was angry with me for so many different reasons, I had a hard time choosing which one to comment on. I finally just went for the easiest, most harmless one.

"Would you rather I let you get killed?" I grumbled, staring down at the contents of the first aid kit.

"No," he huffed, and finally found what he was looking for. Pulling out the roll of adhesive tape he ripped off three pieces and taped the gauze in place, hissing, "I just wouldn't have pegged you for the stupid kind. But here you are, showing the world that you're still alive, and that I busted my job. Bloody good work, really."

At first I didn't know what to say to that. He was right, my rescue mission had been stupid. But even now I couldn't shake the feeling of satisfaction, and all my instincts told me that I had done good. It was hard to suppress the joy I felt over having Noom here and in one piece, and maybe Noom felt it. Maybe my happiness was what made him stay pissed at me.

Or maybe it was the fact that he had seen me shift shape. He hadn't said a word about that after his little freak-out in the factory, and that made me wonder. Were people supposed to act like this?

"Yeah, like you have a reputation to spoil. What went through your head when you just left me in your house unrestrained? 'Surely he'll just stay put, out of the goodness of his heart!' Or did you simply forget? Who's stupid now?" I finally bit back. I knew I sounded sullen, but his words stung deeper than they should have. This was, after all, the least of all our problems.

Noom's frown got deeper, but he didn't reply right away. He just threw the leftovers of medical supplies back into the kit and grumbled something noncommittal, then finally turned to face me.

"Why didn't you run?"

I blinked owlishly at him. "There was no time. Some guys woke me up when they broke into your house and I had to hide."

Noom sniffed dismissively. "Yeah, but you could have run after that, instead of chasing after me. Why didn't you?"

"I really don't know. It seemed like the right thing to do." I looked down at the kit, watching the lid being closed. It was easier to look down than to face him when he stared at me like that, with that look of innate madness lurking behind the piercing blue of his irises.

"You know, I could still kill you, save my reputation, and end all this trouble."

That tone was back in his voice, the one that told me he actually thought about killing me. He sounded just like on the first day, when he had pointed his gun at my head and nearly pulled the trigger.

A chill went down my spine and into my fingertips, so I balled my hands into fists.

"But you won't. Just like before. Maybe you can't, I don't know. I do know that you've already invested too much into me, be it emotion or just inconvenience, and you won't let that go to waste so easily." I knew my voice sounded small and hollow, but I just couldn't put more strength into it. I already had to fight the fear of death, because this time he did seem to seriously consider the easy way out.

I actually could hear his teeth grind this time, and I missed my moment to react. Hurt as he was, tired as he was, Noom still managed to surprise me when he jumped forward and tackled me to the floor, pressing his forearm against my wind pipe.

Soft, puffy clouds of dust rose around us and disappeared into the darkness outside the light cone the small emergency light produced. I struggled against his steel grip, but either I was too hurt myself or just not that into freeing myself, because I just couldn't seem to shake him off.

Maybe I didn't want to.

When my air supply ran out I definitely wished I'd gotten myself free, because when I looked up at him with blood-shot eyes, gagging, I could see a lust for murder in his gaze I had never seen before. I also saw his face, and found it to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, despite the scratches, bruises, and cuts. It was the only thing right in this situation... to see his face, and only his face, when I was about to die.

When the world started blacking out at the edges of my vision I stopped struggling altogether. It obviously was all that Noom had wanted, because he instantly let up.

As I dizzily gasped for air he grabbed my wrists, pulled his military grade linen belt from his ratty, bloody trousers, and hogtied my arms together. I blinked, coughing, and decided not to provoke him with more struggling. Instead I tried to reason with him.

"Please, I saved your life, didn't I? Why would you kill someone who risks so much just to get you out of trouble?" My voice was raspy and didn't sound right, but I didn't dare clear my hurting throat. There were so many confusing emotions on his dimly lit face, I didn't know what would provoke him and what wouldn't anymore.

His answer wasn't at all what I had expected.

"You're not human. I saw you. What are you? Some kind of mutated freak? A honest to god demon? I didn't even believe in god until I saw you do that."

His voice was raspy and harsh, and it vibrated with a rage I couldn't see on his face. His whole demeanor didn't make any sense, and that freaked me out more than the things he did to me. I even tried to answer, though I had no idea what to say, but he beat me to it.

"Where did the fur go? You look totally human now. You did before, too, but I saw you. I wasn't hallucinating, damn it! Or was I?"

When he ripped the trousers from my body he pulled me with it a whole foot. I whimpered with fear, but he didn't stop to check on me. Instead he leaned forward to muster my crotch.

I could feel his hot, moist breath on my balls, and despite my fear my dick gave a little twitch of interest. Not enough to get hard, but obviously his sheer closeness was enough for my body to get hot and bothered. That twitch wasn't enough to catch Noom's interest, unfortunately.

"I knew you were too perfect. I mean, look at you, it's ridiculous how good-looking you are, how well shaped your body is, and those eyes? Shit, I should've known you're not real. Maybe I'm still tripping from the stuff they fixed me up with back there. For all I know I'm still in that room with those goons, getting beat into a pulp, and you're just a figment of my imagination!"

He had talked to my balls, his hot breath teasing me without him realizing it, but now he crawled higher and trapped me with the weight of his body. My throat still hurt where he had gagged me, but for now he didn't seem interested in harming me any more. He was intent on finding some trace of the great cat he had seen before though, and he was angry, frightened and hurt. Maybe even a little bit high, if what he'd said just now was true, but definitely not murderous anymore.

"Please, I can explain everything, at least to a certain point—" I began, stuttering, but Noom clamped a hand over my mouth to stop my babbling.

His piercing blue eyes hovered inches over mine, our noses practically touching. His whole body laid on mine, touching every possible inch with his own. His warmth seeped through his clothing and into my skin, and even though breathing was still an ongoing problem, I felt myself become calm and relaxed. Noom was here, and he was alive. And I probably was crazy.

"Explain to me, cat-boy, why I simply have to touch you and be near you, even though you freak me out like a bad horror movie."

The words, though spoken softly, rang through the silence of the underground control room like a thunder clap. For a second the warm, reassuring weight of Noom's body on mine felt like shackles, like a means to pin me down and stop me from running, but that feeling passed quickly. Mostly because I could feel his cock pulse and swell in response to our closeness until it poked into my stomach like a balled fist. The size of it felt a little disturbing to me, especially since it was still confined to Noom's ratty trousers and would probably grow in length once he whipped it out, but it still quickened my breath and made me remember the first night.

How deliriously perfect he had felt inside me.

It was my muffled, lusty sigh that gave Noom the idea to take his hand off my mouth and actually give me a chance to answer his question. He swept his hand through my tousled and knotted hair to get the saliva off it, then dug his fingers into my chin-length mane and tugged once. Somehow his face had gotten back in tune with his emotions, making it possible for me to read him at least a bit, and I was able to guess his thoughts again: He very dearly wanted me to tell him that everything in the candy factory had been a dream, that he really was high, and that I was not a so called 'cat-boy'.

I was inclined to lie to him for about three seconds, because that was how long I drowned in his eyes. Only when those eyes got impatient did I snap out of it, and grudgingly decided that the truth was necessary.

"I've been feeling it since I first met you. You know, this pull. But I have no idea how it works, or why you feel it too... Normally I'm the only one suffering under my curse, and nobody ever felt any— well, pull, or compulsion— towards me. And I really, truly have not an inkling of an idea what I am. This I swear to you. I only know that I was born this way, and that it has something to do with my mother. If I knew anything more, I'd tell you, I swear, because—"

I managed to stop myself in the last moment. It was his eyes' fault, this babbling, this, as I had called it myself, compulsion to just go ahead and tell him every fucking thought rolling through my muddled brain, but I was able to keep it in check... for the time being. A part of my brain didn't really understand why I'd want to keep stuff from Noom, but for now it seemed to just go with whatever I decided. It was reassuring to know I still had some kind of control over my actions.

The weight above me shifted, just enough to let me breathe easier but not enough to worm my way out from underneath Noom. He was still staring at me, I could feel it burning against my temple, and it made me avoid looking up.

A few seconds of silence later he shifted again, this time to reach down and grab my testes in a very tight grip that made me whimper with fear.

"If you're lying to me, you little shit, I'll rip off your balls. You hear me?"

I nodded furiously. I didn't doubt his threat for one second.