Sam's roar of distress echoed throughout the house. Within moments, he heard a commotion out in the hallway followed by a gentle knock at his door. The teen boy stepped forward to open it and then stopped in his tracks. 'Oh shit, I look like a fuzzy freak. I can't let Mom or Cindy see me like this!' he thought to himself.
"Open up Sam. It's Cindy," came the voice of his sister through the door. Sam dove to the floor to try and find something to put on in the pile of clothes lying alongside his bed. "Ummm, j-j-j-ust a minute," he stuttered, struggling to fit his broad footpaws through the legs of a pair of skinny jeans, the boy's new toeclaws snagging on the fabric and tearing gashes in the lower leg. "Sam, don't be silly just let me in! I bet I know why you're freaked out right now," Cindy said with a slight teasing undertone. "You have NO idea why I'm freaked out right now," Sam shot back, quickly pulling a dirty tee-shirt over his head and wincing as the elastic neck rubbed across the furry bear ears at the top of his skull. He had to hide the changes to his body. He couldn't let anyone see what a freak he'd become!
"Okay, ready or not here I come. One. Two. Two-and-a-half. And..." Cindy was slowly turning his doorknob. Sam leapt across the room to lock it but instead stumbled over a pile of books as Cindy reached "Three." Opening the door, his sister stepped into the room. "No!" cried Sam but it was too late and the teenage boy landed in a heap at Cindy's feet. "Are you okay little brother?" Cindy asked, looking down with some concern. It was a pretty hard fall after all, and it seemed like Sam may have gotten the wind knocked out of him.
Sam was speechless, however, not because he was jarred by the fall but because with his eyes now level with the floor he could see that Cindy's feet had changed just like his! His sister's toenails had grown at least an inch from the tips of her toes and looked strong, sturdy and sharp. They were moreso toeclaws than toenails, a fact underlined by the sparse brown hairs that had begun to sprout over the tops of her feet.
Sam gazed up in shock. "What are you so surprised about, brother? Did you think you were the only one who'd changed?" Cindy said grinning, her semi-snout wrinkling as she smiled. It was clear to Sam that his sister's nose had started to tip up into the start of an animal muzzle and her upper and lower canines seemed sharper than they should have been. "Come'on, let me help you up so I can get a look at you," she said kindly, reaching down a furry clawed hand and helping pull the boy to his feet. "Wow, you're definitely more changed than me. That's interesting," Cindy remarked, noticing Sam's bear ears and brown furry cheek ruffs, not to mention the patch of chest fur that was bunched uncomfortably under her brother's tee-shirt.
"What the hell is going on, Cindy? We're werebears or something and you're acting like it's totally normal," Sam shot back. "What happened to you? What happened to US?! I mean, we need to go to the doctor or the vet or something to undo this!" he said, the teen's voice starting to crack. "Calm down, Sam. Just stay calm. Why don't you give me a good sniff with that partial muzzle of yours? Bajoo told me bears learn a lot from scent and that's what social bears do when they first meet," Cindy said, trying to sooth the anxious boy as shed held out her furry arm. Unsure of what to do, Sam slowly leaned forward until his nose rested against the patch of brown grizzly fur that ran down his sister's forearm. Taking a deep breath, the teenager relaxed and allowed himself to take in the comforting scent that wafted from his sister, one that to his addled brain signaled a mix of shebear and human -of a sibling from the same den as himself. Cindy couldn't help but giggle as her brother snuffled up and down her furry arm. He was acting more like a curious bear cub than he could possibly have realized!
"Enough. Enough! Hahaha. Okay, now my turn." To Sam's surprise, Cindy tugged down the collar of his shirt exposing the tuft of tan bear fur that had sprouted between his pectorals. "Hey!" Sam cried out in surprise and blushed. He felt strangely exposed at having his previously hidden body fur revealed. But before he could do anything his sister stuck her semi-snout into the thatch of hairs. Inhaling through her twitching nose, Cindy allowed her instincts to process her brother's musky scent. She could detect the sharp smell of human boy, of course, but mixed with that was a deep oaky animal musk that spoke of young male bear and reminded her somewhat of Bajoo. Like Bajoo, she could tell that this young grizzly was now in his reproductive years and virile -he could definitely sire cubs of his own- but he was also from the same den as her and so mating was definitely not an option. Her bear side told her that should would need to find a different mate, one who would have an equally lush chest tuft with a thick pelt and big strong muscles. He would certainly need to be older and more confident than this young grizzly before her who was just exiting cubhood.
Cindy shook her head and pulled away, trying her best to clear the bearish thoughts from her brain. With care she gently tugged Sam's tee-shirt back down over his chest fur. Looking at her brother, Sam seemed much more calm as he casually scratched at the lump of fur beneath the shirt fabric. "So how did this happen. Why did we...change like this?" Sam asked. "Well," Cindy answered, "it's a virus but it's a good virus, you see. It turns people into half-animals and animals into half-people. Brenda, and Greg, and Jeff and I were all there when it started. They caught it from different animals and so did I. And then I came home and I guess I gave it to you. I think it's spreading all around the city now -maybe even some of your friends have now caught it because it's probably in the water supply. Anyhow, it doesn't matter because soon everyone will be like this and I doubt there will be any cure." There was something about this story that didn't quite add up for Sam -it certainly didn't explain his wet sheets or the heavy smell of what he somehow knew was another male bear that permeated his room- but the shock of becoming a half animal had not yet worn off and he was too dazed to second-guess his sister's explanation.
"That's crazy! I mean, are you sure? Everyone is going to be like us?" Sam asked in disbelief as he anxiously curled his toeclaws. The young bearboy was too nervous to notice the gouges he was leaving in his bedroom floor. "Well, it may take some time but I bet some of your friends are already beginning to transform. Trust me, school is going to be totally different," Cindy replied. "Now, come downstairs. Mom's in the kitchen -she's changed like us. And there's someone else I want you to meet too. He's really nice and he's going to teach us a lot. I met him at the zoo. I'm sure you'll like him. Now come on!" Cindy squealed, grabbing her brother's clawed hand with her own and pulling him down the hallway toward the kitchen.