"How could I have missed that?"
It had been a little less than a week, and to Erick's surprise, the item he had ordered had shown slightly earlier than he had thought. But, unable to deal with the arrival of the package, he'd found his attention diverted toward dealing with his uncle, who was having one of his moments again. First, the man had demanded to know where Cybil was. After Erick had been able to convince his uncle his wife had died a few years prior, it seemed things would calm down and Erick would be able to deal with the mail.
But this wasn't to be, as his uncle was next convinced someone had broken in and was taking stuff. Working to calm the man down, Erick soon figured out the cause of this was because Uncle Louis was unable to locate the television remote. Setting about to first straighten up the tv room, something his uncle first opposed before grudgingly accepting needed to be done, Erick shifted a few things about when he’d finished, put them back before his uncle could complain, fished about in the couch and recliner cushions, and finally located the clicker where it had fallen next to the television after it had been set atop the machine the last time his uncle had watched the thing. Getting his uncle settled, he'd thought he'd be free to deal with the package, but as Uncle Louis clicked through the channels, he'd demanded to know where his dinner was.
Supper wasn't for another hour or so, and Erick had tried to explain this, but his uncle wouldn't listen. Adamant it was time for his evening meal, he accused Erick first of trying to starve him, then of eating him out of house and home. Figuring having an early supper wouldn't hurt, Erick had fixed his uncle a tv dinner and after he'd made sure Uncle Louis was okay, he headed for his room. Closing the door, he sat down once again at the card table, set on the table the Amulet of Zulo, which he'd taken from his coat pocket before going to his room, the shirt a few inches away, and the package he'd received in the mail. Checking the return address, confirming it was from the company Boucher and that it was from Great Britain, he open the small box and pulled out a clear baggy that had a label stuck to it. Reading "Canis Lupus Occidentalis Baculum" Erick assumed the fancy words meant what he'd been shipped was the penile bone of a timber wolf.
Not wanting to take it out of the bag, he instead turned it over and studier what he'd bought. Thinking it was smaller than he'd expected, he wondered why this was, and considered maybe it was because the baculum was from a younger wolf. Wondering if the penile bone grew as the animal aged, he set the baggy down and almost decided to do a quick search of the internet, but changed his mind and instead reached for the shirt. Unfolding it, he laid it flat on the table, careful not to get to close to the Amulet of Zulo, and looking at the three-quarter length red sleeves, the grey bodice, he flipped it over when he noticed something sticking out of the bottom, and pulling on the tag to fully expose it, he wondered how it was he could've missed that the shirt was new, that he'd word a similar one when he'd been younger, but not this one.
Curious to know if this would effect his change in any way, he absently pulled the tag off. Biting off the plastic piece that had attached it to the shirt, he dropped the garment in his lap and looked at the necklace and his purchase. Still wanting to try and see what would happen if he combined the them together, he also tried to figure out if he'd regress back to about the age of when he'd worn the shirt, or if he'd become someone else.
"Of course I'll become someone else," he reasoned after a bit, and certain that if it did work combining the three things would mean he'd cease to be Erick, human, but would instead become someone who was a humanoid wolf, which left him trying to imagine who'd he be.
When he drew a blank, Erick sighed, "Doesn't matter I suppose," and reaching for the bag, he carefully opened it and shook out the contents.
Grasped firm in his hand, scared he'd dropped it, Erick took a moment to work out how he was to accomplish what he planned. Still feeling doubt about whether it'd work, he settled on grasping the shirt by the sleeve, made sure he held the baculum so that it was exposed to both the fabric and the flesh of his hand, and reached for the Amulet of Zulo. Picking it up, he took a look at it and again considered how his life might change, and if it did, if it would be almost similar to what he'd seen in the department store. Unsure, he turned his attention to the present and finding himself ready to find out if the thing worked or didn't, he shifted his grasp on the two items and after a moment more of hemming and hawing, he touched the necklace to his fingers, the sleeve of the shirt, and the penile bone, making sure as he did that all three touched at the same time.
Like so many before him, Erick felt what seemed to be a static electric shock. Surprised, he dropped the things he held and resisted the urge to wave his hand in an effort to get the strange sensation to wear off. The tingle going through his hand, up his arm, then spreading throughout his body, he shivered. Waiting to see what else would happen, Erick was disappointed when after a bit he experienced nothing. Convinced the thing was a phoney, that he’d been wrong, he roughly grabbed at the penile bone, returned it to the baggy, and tossed it aside. Folding the shirt, he set it and the necklace to one side, a couple inches apart from each other, figuring as he did that the garment could go back to where he’d gotten it, whilst the medallion he wasn’t quite sure what to do with, but toyed with the idea of chucking it away or taking back to the department store and leaving it where someone could find it.
“Like the jewellery department,” he thought as he wondered if the air might be too dry and that it was the reason he’d gotten zapped.
Disappointed that it hadn’t done anything, he stood and peered down at himself. Seeing what he usually saw, he sighed and pulled the neckline of his shirt forward and looking down his shirt. Staring at his chest, the slight pudge of a belly he’d started to develop, but still not seeing anything, he let go and as the shirt snapped back, he reached down. Grasping the hem, he pulled the shirt up and over his head. Kicking off his shoes next, he undid the button on his jeans, unzipped the zipper, and pushed down until they puddled around his ankles. Stepping out and away from them, he examined his naked body, barely giving the little hair he had on his chest and legs a second glance, nor the dark curly mass that surrounded his dick and balls. Seeing the only thing appeared to be off was that he was standing out in nothing but a pair of socks, he muttered, “Guess I was wrong. The necklace doesn’t do anything, and is nothing more than a cheap piece of costume jewellery,” before he started to get dressed.
Angry more so with himself and how he’d allowed himself to be taken in, Erick snatched up the shirt off the table and stormed out of the bedroom. Deciding that now was a good time as any to return it to where he’d gotten it, then get some dinner. Finding he was really hunger, he didn’t give a single thought to the fact that he was hungrier than he normally was, or that something in his room had changed. Had he given it a second glance, he would have noticed the dresser wasn’t the one his Aunt Cybil had put in the room shortly before he’d moved in, as well as that the floor was no longer carpeted, and that he was experiencing cravings for specific foods.