“Okay, okay. Calm down,” Ambrose said to himself, still not used to his new deep voice. He slowly breathed in the cold morning air, filling his new Minotaur lungs. He could feel his heart beating rapidly, efficiently pumping blood to all of his newly grown muscles.
Ambrose decided that idling by the woods would not be the best course of action to take. Who knows what other beasts are out there, roaming and waiting to attack him...or worse...change him...like what the Minotaur did. No. He decided to sneak home and find his brother. He’ll just have to try to explain what happened to him, if he’s lucky his brother won’t faint out of shock.
He carefully put one hoof forward to try walking on his new legs. It was such a strange sensation for him. His legs were now the hind legs of a bull, and they very much quite different from ordinary human legs. He put another hoof in front of the other, making the leaves beneath him crackle like a fire place. It was such a blessing that the ground did not collapse beneath him due to his larger mass.
He kept walking towards the direction he thought where the park was; all the while using his new bovine tail to balance himself. Eventually, he reached the old park, and he found the clothes he wore the night before, which disappeared right before he got transformed into the strong humanoid bull.
As he grabbed his clothes, he felt something vibrate within his hoodie pocket. He used his large hands to reach for what was inside, almost tearing and splitting the seams of his hoodie apart. When he realized that it was his phone ringing, he immediately grabbed it out to see who was calling.
It was his stepfather, Jay.
And Ambrose had already gotten 30 missed calls from him.
Ambrose knew he shouldn’t answer it, due to him being changed into a Minotaur. So he just waited until the phone stopped ringing.
The ringing of his phone made Ambrose think of Andrew, and how he must be worried sick for his older brother. If only he could tell Andrew of his predicament without exposing himself to his stepfather.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He immediately took his phone and started texting Andrew to meet him at the small forest area behind their backyard. Unfortunately, Ambrose’s Minotaur fingers were now too big to even type a letter on his phone. He thought for a moment, and then cleverly summoned the A.I. assistant on his phone. He thought to himself: Hah! I may have lost my humanity, but I still got my brains.
The phone A.I. answered him. *Hello. What can I do for you?*
Ambrose cleared his throat. He rubbed his now rather large Adam’s apple and spoke in his deep Minotaur voice, “Send a text message for me.”
*Bling! Okay. To whom shall I send the text message?*
“To Andrew Godfrey.”
*Bling! Okay. What is your message?”
Ambrose thought for a moment. “Meet me in the woods behind our backyard. Tonight.”
The phone processed his text. Ambrose anxiously waited. He may have had the strength of a bull, but waiting for this method of communicating to his brother to work proved to be difficult to wait for.
*Bling! Okay, shall I send it?”
Ambrose didn’t miss a heartbeat to say “YES!”
His phone sent the message to his little brother. Ambrose hoped that his brother would read his message. Otherwise, he would be stuck alone on this situation.
————————
“Where the fuck is that boy?!”
Andrew watched his stepfather prance back and forth in the living room, holding his phone to his head. He had never seen Jay so upset before. Usually, his stepfather didn’t care much about the two of them. Ever since their mother died, Ambrose had been the one looking out for Andrew. You could say that he’s been the new head of the household, while their stepfather, Jay, was usually never around the house much. He only ever went home for dinner, sometimes drunk after the day’s work. He rarely got mad at the two boys, but his laziness and carelessness for taking care of the household was enough for Ambrose to hate him and call him an ass (or more accurately, a pain in the ass). He has now been unemployed for a week. Ever since the accident he’s been getting fired at multiple jobs. He got fired at his last job because he managed to smuggle in vodka in the work space.
Jay tried calling the police again. He had been up all night, trying to contact his stepson. His usually combed straight dark hair was now a ruffled mess, as if an eagle had tried to make a nest out of it. Dark circles could be traced beneath his reddened eyes.
“Hello? Officer?” Jay demanded. “Have you found him? ... No, no, don’t you DARE tell me that! Don’t tell me that you’re not fucking doing your job well enough! Find him or I will do it myself.” He hung up and turned to Andrew. “Stay here. I don’t want another fucking Godfrey going missing.” He stormed out the front door.
Andrew, who was now slowly getting better from his cold, was shocked to see his stepfather that way. It was the first time he had shown any worry and concern for his stepsons.
But then again, this was the first time one of his stepsons went missing.
Suddenly, Andrew’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked to see who it was, and when he saw it was from Ambrose, his eyed widened with relief. But as he opened his inbox, relieved face turned into a confused one.
*Meet me in the woods behind our backyard. Tonight.* That was what he read. Andrew checked to see if it really was from his older brother. He viewed the sender’s profile. Yep, it was from Ambrose alright.
Andrew got suspicious. What if this was all a scam? He had to verify that it really was Ambrose who sent the text, and not some random stranger who just so happened to possess Ambrose’s phone.
He looked for Ambrose’s contact number and started to call his older brother. The ringing went on for a few moments until it stopped, indicating that there was no response.
And then, after a minute, Andrew once again recieved a new text from Ambrose.
*Can’t talk. I’ll explain later.*
Out of pure suspicion, Andrew texted back. *How do I know this is you?*
After a few moments, there was a reply. *Your full name is Andrew Percival Ashley Godfrey*
Yep. It was Ambrose alright. Besides his mom, Ambrose was the only who knew his full name. And he’s always teasing Andrew about it, since he thinks his little brother has a girl’s name.
Andrew recieved another text. *Bring food. Any food, except anything beef-related*
What a weird request, Andrew thought. But, then again, he is meeting Ambrose in the woods that night, which in of itself is something out of the ordinary.
That night, Andrew crept out of his bedroom and peeked downstairs. His stepfather was still by the phone, waiting for a call from the police department.
He went back inside his room. Andrew was dressed for a quick travel into the woods. He was wearing a thick and comfortable sweater paired by his school’s sweatpants, and complemented by a pair of brown rubber shoes. He quietly stuffed his blankets with pillows to make an illusion of him sleeping, if ever his father decides to check in on him.
Once the deed was done, he grabbed the food bag he prepared for his brother: it contained a pack of white bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jam. He turned off his lamp light, grabbed a flashlight, and opened his window. A gust of cold wind chilled his bones as he crawled on to the branch of the tree right outside his window. He climbed down the trunk, and as his shoes hit the ground, he turned on his flashlight and carefully sneaked into the woods to find his brother in the dead of night.