Winter Coat

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Woman changes under winter's cold moon.
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Lycandope
Lycandope
1,058 Followers

"I need another blanket," Susan muttered. "This is ridiculous." The walls of the young woman's tent rippled against the light wind and she shivered under her blankets as the cold settled densely around her. The constant light snowfall pelted her tent with muttered pattering sounds. Susan peeked over the edge of her covers to watch her small tent sway. She could feel the cold somehow reaching through the blankets to seep into her and her bones ached from it. She weighed her options. On one hand, she felt like she could survive well enough with her parka, clothes, gloves, hat and four blankets. Going outside meant opening the tent and letting the sparse heat out. But, on the other hand, she had another thick comforter in the back of her Subaru. Susan shifted on the thick padding as she considered.

"The beach," Susan said, her voice muffled by covers. "Hot tea just brewed. Oh, hot coffee. That's a good one. Walking into a bakery during winter. Fireplaces. Summer. In Florida. Aw, man." Susan wriggled from beneath her blankets and gasped at the sudden sharp hardness of the surrounding cold. Once she'd pulled on her boots, she unzipped the double lining to her tent and moaned as the wind wrapped its invisible arms around her. "J... just a little... oh Jesus. Just a little..." The ground and trees around her were covered with thick, smooth snow. The sky was the color of a dark bruise and she could barely see through the distance. A small part of her whispered in fear that she didn't know which direction she was parked but she was sure she'd faced the tent towards her car. Mostly sure.

Susan set off, crunching through the snow as lightly as possible. She used small tree trunks as handholds when she passed them and occasionally tested the ground when she wasn't sure about her footing. While this wasn't her first camping trip in the Northern Cascades, it was her first in winter and her first in this spot. She was fairly certain the area had no drop-offs but she wanted to take no chances. Silvery moonlight occasionally lit her way when the clouds parted enough to allow light through. This is taking too long, she told herself. I should be at the car by now and I can't even see it. Real fear started setting in as she paused to look around. Her feet ached in her boots so she tried to move her toes.

Through the near silence of the forest around her she heard the sound of a car engine. Susan's heart leapt in relief. If there's a car coming then that means the road is nearby and the turnoff should be close, she told herself. Susan tucked her arms into her armpits and hid her face. She couldn't see the road but she decided to angle slightly to the right. With a low howl, the wind picked up and snow flurries thickened. She could feel her ears burning in the hood of her parka. The light from the car flashed and then vanished as it took turns and went over hills. It sounded louder but-

Suddenly, the vehicle was in front of her. Susan had a moment to make out a large pickup truck with a small snowplow mounted on the front. She squawked and stepped back. Susan's brain registered the soft snap of thick, semi-solid snow breaking but it was too late. Her eyes caught the startled eyes of the driver as she fell over backwards. Too slow, she pulled her arms from her sides and flailed at the tree next to her but she was already falling. Tumbling and turning through the air, she tried to scream but the cold stole her breath. Her life story did not flash before her eyes. She said no prayer and formed no coherent though. Over and over in her mind she thought, I'm falling! I'm falling! I'm falling! I'm-

The ground appeared suddenly and violently and she mercifully couldn't remember the impact. Susan woke to herself gagging and, when she coughed, she tasted blood. Her head spun violently when she opened her eyes so she closed them again. Her whole body was in pain but it seemed to radiate from her left side. Every time she breathed in, she winced. Susan rolled to her right and groaned as her left side sent waves of nausea down her body. She forced her eyes open to look.

"F... fuck." Susan groaned. A rib. A rib was halfway out of her left side. The blood soaking it was shockingly red in the sudden harsh moonlight and Susan wanted to throw up. "Wait... just... wait..." Wisps of steam spiraled above the wound and the cold burned her. Far above her she heard a voice call out but she couldn't make out the words. Susan slowly reached for the rib and then touched it gingerly. It moved and she felt the tip of it digging deep within her. With trembling hands, she pulled and the bone came out. Susan hissed through clenched teeth at the feeling of it moving through her flesh. Now, with the bone out, the pain in her side lessened and she rolled to her back. She'd made a small snow crater when she hit the ground and she now lay within. She felt tired. Susan held the bone above her eyes, squinting through the pain to look at it. It was old and pocked with small holes and dark with age or dirt. "Not... not... not mine. Hah. Haah."

Susan's numb right arm dropped to her side and the bone tumbled away. "Pretty," she whispered. Snow whirled above her in the semi-darkness. She couldn't feel the cold much anymore. Someone was yelling and crashing around but all she saw was the delicate dance of the snowflakes as they fell ceaselessly from the sky. Her breath melted smaller flakes as she talked quietly. "Warm... warm showers. Hot pockets straight from the microwave. Gross but so good. Hot tubs. The sun on... on... on..." Susan's eyes slowly closed and the world winked out around her.

-----

She was falling again. All around her were trees reaching and pulling at her but she felt the weight of gravity and she was falling. Susan gasped, suddenly awake. Lights. Lights and a weight on her chest. And noise. And smells. But lights. So bright. Old springs groaned under her weight as she shifted, wide eyed. The dream still clung to her.

"Hey, whoa whoa. Hey," a voice told her. Susan looked to her left and winced at the movement. A young man walked quickly toward her. Susan grabbed the blanket and pressed herself against the corner of the wall. The man had both of his hands up in front of him as if showing her that he wasn't a threat. He was tall and had a light beard over fair skin. His hair was brown and curly and there were a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He wore a loose, green long sleeved sweater and an old pair of blue jeans. "Don't- hey, don't move so much. You're hurt. I'm a park ranger. I saw you fall."

The man pulled a simple wooden chair from a small table and brought it over to her bed. "Do you mind if I sit?" He asked her.

Susan shook her head slowly. The man was handsome in a rugged kind of way and, despite everything she'd been taught growing up, she felt immediately relaxed. His eyes were kind and worried. His voice was smooth and low and comforting; she had thoughts of her father holding her in his arms, rocking her to sleep. Still, she held herself tight and close to the wall. Men were men and she'd left her innocence back in her teenage years. The man sat carefully, five feet away from her.

"How-" Susan's voice caught on the words. Her mouth was incredibly dry. She swallowed but still her tongue clicked against the inside of her mouth.

"Oh, crap, hold on," the man told her. He walked away from her to a small kitchen at the opposite end of the cabin. "I'm Chris, by the way," he yelled as he filled a cup with water. "Well, Christopher but I go by Chris." Susan eagerly drank the ice cold water when he returned with it. A sudden cracking, popping noise made her choke on her water; base thoughts of branches cracking as she fell made the fear return. But, rational thoughts returned and she realized the man, Chris, had a fireplace warming the cabin.

"How long have I been here?" She asked .

"A few hours," Chris replied. "I'm surprised you're awake, actually. It was a pretty long fall. Although, you missed every tree so you're lucky there. And the snow helped. I'm - I'm sorry - I had to lift your shirt up a little to look at your side. You had some blood on you."

At the mention of her shirt, Susan pressed her hand against her left side. Heat rose to her dark cheeks. Heat and anger.

"I swear I didn't do anything else!" Chris' hands fluttered around him as he spoke rapidly. "All I did was lift up the bottom a little bit and look and I didn't do anything else. Except take off your jacket. And your shoes. And your socks. But that's it! I swear!"

Susan's fingers explored her side as the anger faded. It was stupid and she knew it. He'd had no other choice and everything else felt fine. Still, the thought of her asleep and someone she didn't know touching her... she shivered from it and pulled the blankets closer.

"How bad was it?" She asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Chris shrugged in return. "Surprisingly good. The bruise is massive but I didn't feel anything broken. I have some EMT training so I checked what I could. And you seem to be-"

"No," she interrupted. "The wound. The... the stab wound. From the bone."

"I- what wound? What bone?" Chris' brows knit together in confusion.

"You said you looked. How could you miss-" Susan carefully pulled the left side of her long sleeved shirt up. A brilliant purple and yellow bruise radiated from where she'd pulled the bone from her side but there was no cut. No scar. Nothing to show where the bone had impaled her. "It's- I landed on a bone. I thought it was my own rib coming out from my chest but it was old and... I don't understand. It was halfway into my side."

Chris stared a moment but then nodded. "It probably just looked bad. You could've just landed on top of it and pulled it out from under you? And the blood... well, you hit really hard. That could've been from biting your mouth or something inside and then spitting it out or... or something."

Susan touched her side, long black fingers gently rubbing the area just below her rib cage. She knew he was wrong. She knew the bone had cut into her. But, he was right, there was nothing there. It seemed impossible.

"Does it hurt anywhere else? Inside or out?"

Susan shook her head. "No. Hurts a little on my left when I breathe but- oh, and I have a headache pretty bad. But, huh, that's it. Shouldn't it be worse?"

"Well, there was a lot of snow," the man said. "I've heard of people falling from buildings and walking away so why not on snow? Consider yourself lucky, I guess? You can sleep here for the night and we can get you out in the morning, maybe find your car and campsite?"

Susan nodded. "I can take the couch."

The man's sharp, sudden laugh startled her. "No way. No ma'am. I'll take the couch, you take the bed. I wasn't the one that just dropped fifty feet. No way I make a lady take the couch. Besides, I already changed the sheets and I only do that once a year so it'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

Susan smiled shyly but arched her eyebrow. "'Lady', huh? I can take care of myself, you know. I've slept on quite a few couches, thank you very much." Chris' grin widened and Susan looked back over her words. "At... at friends' houses! Jesus, what're you, my mom?" The man laughed again and Susan blushed.

The sudden silence widened between them and Susan's blush deepened. Chris smiled down at his hands and coughed. "So, what is a la- a young female like yourself doing out here a week before Christmas? If you don't mind me asking?"

What am I doing out here? Susan wondered. Out loud, she said, "I... Peace. That's what I was looking for. Quiet. Time alone and away from people. Time to clear my mind." Chris nodded, the understanding clear in his eyes. Susan took another sip of her water, relaxing again as she leaned back against the corner. "I do web development for a startup and it's just non-stop work, work, work. A week ago my boyfriend broke up with me. Just left me a little note saying, oh gosh, what was it? Oh, right: 'You're never around to talk to me so I thought I'd write it out for you - we're done.' And, he was right. I didn't make time for him. I looked at the note, crawled into bed and woke up four hours later to drive to work. Today was my first day off in a month and I'm not sure I'm going to go back."

"Because they're working you to death?" Chris asked.

Susan rolled the water glass between her hands. "Yeah. But I also get the shit work because I'm a woman. I don't even think they're doing it on purpose. It's just that every single job I've had since I got my degree has been me trying to prove that I can hang with them. I thought putting in all this time with a small group would finally do it but I'm still stuck with the clean-up work. They do the big cool jobs and I just get the left-overs. Error handling and test cases and-" Susan stopped and looked up. Chris watched her and she saw a kind of sadness in his eyes. Was it for her? "I'm just rambling. Sorry. Nerd stuff. So, I got away. And I thought I could handle camping out but it looks like I can't even do that."

"Hah," Chris laughed, bitterly. "Not very many people are good at camping during winter. I'd rather they all stayed away until spring or summer. Way safer."

"Even you?" Susan asked.

"No, I like the quiet. I always have."

Susan rolled her glass again. "Always?"

"I-"

The radio blared to life and Susan thought she would either have a heart attack or pee herself. From the sudden, loud noise.

"Chris. Chris, come in." The female voice ordered.

The man stood up and walked briskly to a desk nearby. He pressed a button on an old style microphone and answered. "Yeah, this is Chris. Go ahead, Jamie."

"We're gonna need your truck over in Big Beaver. Got some downed trees causing problems."

"All right. I'm headed out. I'll bring some extra chains and ropes. Is John there?"

Jamie's voice dripped with frustration, even over the old radio. "Can't reach him. Again. Probably sleeping it off. Again."

"Got it. There in twenty."

Chris came back to Susan's side. "I have to head out. Dunno how long I'll be gone but the place is yours. There's food in the kitchen and a little bathroom in the corner over there. Headache medicine is in the cabinet above the bathroom sink. Try not to move too much, though. The wood for the fire is right next to it but you should be good for a bit. I'll be back when I can. It was nice meeting you..." Chris stared as the sentence trailed off.

"Oh! Oh, gosh. I'm sorry. My name is Susan. Thank you so much for coming to get me. Jesus, I hadn't even said thank you yet, have I? I'm a terrible person. I'm so sorry."

Chris grinned at her and she blushed again. "No, ma'am. Just shaken. I'm glad it wasn't worse." In nearly the worst Arnold Schwarzenegger impression she'd heard yet, Chris said, "I'll be back." Susan groaned as Chris walked away.

With Chris gone, the house seemed less inviting. Susan laid her head against the thick logs of the wall, breathing in the old faded smell of tar and tree and lives lived alone in the wilderness. She felt a tiny hunger and realized she hadn't eaten since lunch earlier in the day. As she did earlier, Susan weighed leaving the comfort of her blankets for the food in kitchen. Food won and Susan untangled herself, setting the glass on the small bedside table. When she swung her legs over, she realized she was still wearing her thick winter pants. Susan tugged them off and then sat, testing to make sure the house was warm enough for her to only be wearing the yoga pants she'd worn beneath the other pants. Satisfied that she wouldn't freeze, Susan stood. The bare wooden floor made her shiver when her feet touched it but she scurried on until she reached the pantry.

Lightly stepping on one foot and then the other, Susan dug through the food until she found a box of trail mix. Moonlight filtered through the wooden slates covering the window above the sink. Susan sniffed at the trail mix and shook it, eyeing it suspiciously for any peanuts.

Susan's eyes flicked slightly to the side. The skin on the bottom of her left hand was darkening. Thinking it a trick of the overhead light, Susan pulled her hand closer. The slightly lighter color of her palms was turning to black. The carton of trail mix crashed to the floor, spilling nuts and grains everywhere. Susan's eyes widened and she turned her hand over and over. The back of her hand was still the rich mocha color she was used to seeing but the bottom of her hand - now the flesh under her fingers was changing, darkening the same as her palm. Susan gingerly touched the new skin and it was as rough as an old callus. The new growth puffed out slightly as she watched. Susan felt small tugs on her right hand and, when she looked, the same thing was happening.

"What the- ow!" The tip of her right index finger split open. She felt movement within the skin - something pushing flesh aside. Her fingernail broke apart as a pearly white claw pushed through her skin. In horror, Susan watched as the little finger and index finger of her left hand also split open. She could feel the flesh moving as the claws grew and, one by one, every finger flared with pain as all ten fingers grew claws. Small drops of blood fell from the deadly looking tips, each now extended half an inch from her fingers. And then, incredibly, they withdrew back into her hands. Unseen until now, the claws sheathed into new translucent growths at the tip of her fingers.

"What... what...? Oh fuck!" Susan dropped to her knees, clenching her stomach. Her guts felt like they were on fire and she screamed, beating her hands on the floor. The bones in her fingers popped, shortening as her hands thickened. As her hand struck the ground, her claws came out from their sheaths to tear strips of wood from the flooring. Susan screamed, stretching her back feet out, feeling bones crunch along their length, rearranging themselves into new, wider shapes as her toes splayed out. The same thick black skin from her palms darkened the bottom of her feet. Susan rolled to her side, kicking her legs while gripping her sides in pain.

The arches of Susan's feet broke as they widened and she could feel the muscles moving. The sensation flowed up her body and she screamed as her calves knotted. She looked down, shaking and nearly crying. Her calves bulged out, pushing the stretchy fabric of her yoga pants. Susan frantically worked her legs as far back as she could to try to ease the cramps but the pain finally stopped when she felt and heard her shin crack. Susan watched in horror as her legs stretched out slightly but her attention was drawn back to her hands.

Small gray and black hairs pushed through the skin on the back of her hands - hands now doubled in width and size. Susan flexed her fingers and they felt alien to her. She couldn't bend the fingers as well because of their stiffness but when she pushed a certain way, her claws pushed out. They seemed larger than before, perhaps an inch long and matching the increased size of her hands. The thick padding on the palm of her hand resembled at cat's paw - as did the shape, halfway between a cat's paw and a human hand. The hair grew thicker and patterns emerged, black blobs among her mostly light gray fur. Her skin itched as the fur grew along her hand, disappearing into the long sleeves of her shirt. She felt the fur creep up her arms and to her shoulders.

A sudden pain on her chest made Susan cry out. Her bra was cutting into her breasts and chest. Fumbling with awkward hands, Susan grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled, struggling to get it over her head. Her side was completely healed, light black skin free of any bruising at all. Her breasts pushed at the simple black bra, brown skin overflowing around the edges. As she watched, her left breast swelled, exposing one large black nipple just above the top of her bra. She bit her lip in pain and then cried out again as she tasted blood. She explored her canine teeth with her tongue and their sharpness scared her. All four canines were slightly longer and far more pointed than before. The pain in her chest brought her back as her right breast grew to match the left. Both of her fat nipples were exposed to the cool air and she felt them harden. Susan reached behind to unhook herself but her hands couldn't seem to work right and she yelled in frustration.

Lycandope
Lycandope
1,058 Followers