My cat Urus - 3

The rest of the school day dragged on, and Brad was finally starting to relax. Urus, thankfully, had gone silent again. Maybe he was tired of humans. Or maybe he'd found something shiny to stare at.

Either way, Brad welcomed the silence.

He sat outside on the low brick wall with two of his classmates, Marcus and Jenna, casually chatting while pretending to care about their conversation. His attention drifted until a strange sensation tugged at him from inside.

A sudden warmth, like his spine was stretching. He shifted uncomfortably, frowning.

“...You okay, Brad?” Jenna asked, sipping her soda.

“Yeah,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. “Just a weird.."

The warmth surged, rushing up and down his arms, his legs, everywhere. A pulse, like something inside him shifting and folding.

Then he felt it.

His chest tightened, then... pushed forward. His balance changed. His waist narrowed. His skin prickled as if touched by electricity, his limbs reshaping beneath his clothes. He gasped and stumbled off the wall.

“Hey, you good?” Marcus asked, eyebrows raised.

“Bathroom,” Brad mumbled, voice suddenly breathier, higher. “I gotta..just bathroom!”

He took off running, one hand clutching the front of his hoodie, the other yanking down the hem of his shirt as he felt his jeans getting tighter around now slimmer hips. Something was very, very wrong.

Brad slammed the bathroom door open and locked himself in a stall, chest heaving.

He looked down.

His hoodie now hung strangely loose in the shoulders but tight around his chest, where two very unfamiliar shapes now strained against the fabric. His hands trembled. His fingers were thinner. Even his hair felt heavier, brushing against his cheek.

“What the hell…” he whispered, but the voice that came out was soft, unmistakably female.

He whirled toward the mirror outside the stall, slowly opening the door to glance at his reflection.

She blinked back at him.

Brad stumbled back into the stall, slamming it shut again.

Then he heard it.

A chuckle.

A slow, satisfied, smug chuckle.

“Oh, there you are.”

Brad turned.

Urus hovered near the ceiling, glowing slightly, his body coiled like a satisfied serpent.

“What. Did. You. Do?” Brad hissed.

“I enhanced your form,” Urus said, clearly amused. “I grew curious. Female humans seem more capable of emotional expression. I wished to observe you... as one.”

Brad clenched his fists. “Change me back!”

Urus tilted his head, as if confused. “But you look... delightful. Perhaps you’re even more suited to this shape.”

“Urus, I swear.."

“You make a better girl.” And with that, Urus vanished, laughing as he passed through the wall.

Brad screamed into his hands.

Then ran.

His new form bounced uncomfortably with each step, his jeans now clinging like leggings, his shirt practically hugging every curve he hadn’t had fifteen minutes ago. Every eye in the hallway felt like it was staring at him. He ducked around corners, dodging students, heart pounding as he scanned for that glowing bastard.

“Urus!” he whispered fiercely. “Get back here!”

A shimmer. A laugh above his head.

He reached up to grab him, too late.

Then down the staircase.

Then behind the vending machines.

Each time, Urus stayed just out of reach, vanishing at the last second with maddening laughter.

Finally, outside near the gym, Brad pounced, both hands swiping through the shimmer of light and smoke.

Got him.

But just as Brad’s hands closed, Urus burst into fading sparkles.

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” he said, voice echoing in Brad’s head as the last specks disappeared into the breeze. “I’ll be watching.”

Brad stood alone, breathing hard, chest rising beneath unfamiliar clothes, fists clenched as the wind tugged at his longer hair.

“I’m going to kill him,” she muttered.