James attempted to clear the strange encounter with Kayla from his mind as he left the tent. Has she been mocking him in some way? Or was she just a really bad magician. Either way there was no point in hanging around this stupid carnival anymore. He may as well just head back to the hotel he was staying at while he was stuck in this strange and backwards town. It seemed like there was nothing else to do.
James arrived back at the hotel after a short walk. The cute girl who always seemed to be stood behind the reception desk smiled at him as he walked past.
"How was the carnival?" She enquired "I was thinking of heading that way myself later"
"I wouldn't bother, there wasn't much there...gribbit!" James responded. The pretty girl politely pretended not to notice the strange involuntary croaking noise he had let out at the end of his sentence. Where did that come from, James wondered to himself?
"Maybe I'll give it a miss then" the young woman smiled "Is there anything you need for your room?"
"No, I'm good thanks - griiibbit!" James replied. The woman was visibly trying to stifle a laugh now.
"Um sorry, frog in my throat" an embarrassed James mumbled by way of explanation as he quickly headed to his room. When he got there he laid down on his bed and spent a few moments trying to convince himself that he hadn't just made a complete fool of himself and it had probably just been a strange case of the hiccups when all of a sudden he let out the croaking sound again. This time he hadn't even been attempting to speak. He clasped his hand firmly over his mouth when he noticed something even more bizarre - there was clear and unmistakable webbing between his fingers. He checked his other hand to find it was in the same condition. Ok, that DEFINITELY hadn't been there before.
James thought for a moment, that girl at the carnival had said something about 'animal magic' before she muttered some kind of incantation. But, no, there was no way. James was way too logical to believe in witchcraft or anything supernatural like that. There had to be another explanation.