Jen's body felt strange. It felt numb, like sludge. She panicked as she felt her bones disintegrate, her limbs becoming soft and floppy. Her muscles followed as her arms sucked into her torso, her legs following suit. Eventually she was left as a nondescript blob, with her human head sitting atop it. She felt a few new limbs grow on the end of her body, but she could only move with them using all of her strength. Her body was simply too heavy. As a final insult, her neck softened, and her head sunk into the top of the blob-like form until it was all that was left. She wanted to cry.
Hee skin felt wet and strange, and she couldn't move. She had a soft carapace covering all but her face. She realized she wasn't breathing, and despite her panic she couldn't feel a pulse in her ears. But she could feel an urge growing in her distended, blobby form. An urge to mate.
And she knew, instinctively, what she needed to do. She didn't know it, but Jen had become a
Sacculina carcini sphinx. And Kyle was about to become her host. She was an oversized cyprid-stage larva, waiting to attach. Her body was a large, heavy mass, with a soft exoskeleton. At one end of her body was her head, and she had a few small limbs on each side. She couldn't really pull herself around, her weight far too heavy for her underdeveloped, aquatic musculature.
She looked over and saw her phone next to her blob-like body. Using all of her strength, she drew air into her mouth, and weakly called out, "Siri, call last number." Much to her relief, it worked. Her phone began to buzz next to her. Kyle picked up.
"Jen? Haha, what happened, what did you turn into?"
Jen couldn't draw any more air into her mouth, she was too weak. But the curse listened as she mouthed the question. Transform or dare, Kyle?.
"What? Cat got your tongue, Jen? Are you there? Hello?"
No answer.
"Hello? This isn't funny." Panic rose in his voice. "Jen?? Hello??? Why can't I hang up? WHY CAN'T I HANG UP??!!"
Minute's up, you get both she mouthed. I'll start with your dare. I dare you to come to my bedroom and carry me outside as quickly as you can. For your transformation, you'll become a male crab centaur, the same scale as me. You'll be able to live outside of water, but we live on the coast, so it's not a big deal. Everyone but us will think you've always been a crab taur.
Kyle went pale as an urge filled his head, pushing his racing thoughts out. He didn't know why, but he needed to get to Jen's house now. As for Jen, all she heard was the line go dead as Kyle dropped his phone, and a door slam in the distance as he bolted out of his house. It worked, she thought, it really worked!.