You care for Clarissa and so you’re not going to abandon her, even though the sound of her laughter is putting you on edge. It’s a cruel sound, as if someone has played a horrible joke on someone and you’re afraid that it’s you.
“Clarissa, are you alright?” You ask and Clarissa’s mirth subsides. She shakes her head a couple times before standing, having trouble with her balance from all the sudden changes in weight. She looks at you deeply, hungrily, and she licks her lip, liking what she has to see. “Clarissa, that’s as good a name as any, yes, call me Clarissa.”
You take a step back from the predatory way that she is surveying you. “What’s happened to you Clarissa? You look, are acting, different.” Clarissa traces a clawed finger across her cheek and sighs as though you’re an unusually slow person. Fast as a bullet she is standing in front of you and grabs you by the shirt and slams you against the wall and holds you there. Her nine tails swing every which way as though they’re caught in a turbulent wind. “Now, now, I just woke up and you already think I’m acting different. Little boy, you have no idea. I’m Clarissa, a very special part of her that now has a way to express herself.” Clarissa said these last words with sweet affection and she kisses you on the mouth passionately until you think she’s trying to suck your tongue out of your mouth. Once she’s done you feel your lips tingling as if they were asleep and they just got circulation. “It’s a pity that you’re so slow. I could have so much fun with you, my pet. You’d give me hours of fun but the end result would be your death. I’m a practical girl so I’ll just kill you and go on my way.”
With a strength brought on by desperation and terror you swing and solidly connect with the side of Clarissa’s head. The blow worked well enough Clarissa let go of you to grasp the side of her head. Rather then just merely letting you go, you feel her claws tear through flesh leaving deep gashes. You fall to the ground, your blood dripping out of your open wounds but you are still able to stand and run. You make the mistake to look back and see that Clarissa has already shaken off the blow and is steadily walking towards you, grinning. “Ah, I love the smell of fresh blood in the evening. Run, run, as fast as you can, little man. I enjoy a good chase, it makes the hunt more fun.” You decide to take her advice and do just that. You don’t want to die. You might take some comfort in the fact that Clarissa doesn’t want to kill you. She still will but she doesn’t want to.
Meanwhile, in Clarissa’s mind.
Clarissa was standing in her house. Like she looked before she had changed. She knew something had happened to her, something important but she didn’t know what. She had changed into some kind of fox woman and then everything went dark and now she was here. She didn’t understand. She wondered what she should be doing here when she heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. Curious she went and opened the door and what she saw surprised her. Sitting in front of her was a giant fox with nine tails with the tips burning. Baring its fangs in what might be termed a smile, the fox said, “Hello Clarissa.” Clarissa screamed at the sight of the monster and slammed the door shut. Clarissa heard someone knocking on the door again but this time she wasn’t going to answer it. She was going get as far away from the creature as she could. She turned around only to see the fox sitting right in front of her. Trapped, Clarissa found her voice and asked the creature, “Who, what are you?”
“Oh, such a good question Clarissa and I think I’ll give you the same answer that I gave your friend outside your body. I’m you, a very special part. The part that you’ve always tried to repress, to pretend doesn’t exist. I’m free and plan to use it to the fullest.” In a flash of light that was almost blinding, the fox was replaced by Clarissa as she now was. Nine tails waving freely as golden eyes looked into sapphire blue eyes and Clarissa had to admit that she was beautiful in this form. “So what do you want with me? Why are you talking to me?” Vixen-Clarissa placed a furry black hand in Clarissa’s golden locks and let it slide freely down until her hand was lightly placed on Clarissa’s shoulder. Vixen-Clarissa then bent forward until her lips were right next Clarissa’s ear. “I want you gone. When I was set free, you should have been destroyed but you always were persistent and stubborn. Stay away from me and never leave this house, I will not have you interfering with my fun. I don’t have the power to get rid of you but you shouldn’t take that as any comfort. Because while I cannot kill you,” Vixen-Clarissa’s claws tore through Clarissa’s shoulder severing muscle and tendon like a hot knife through butter. Clarissa howled from the pain and fell to all fours in front of Vixen-Clarissa, “I can make you hurt like hell. Remember that. I think I like you like this, bowing in front of me. It makes me think about a vassel swearing allegiance to his lord. In fact…”
Clarissa was shocked to find herself then bound in chains by her hands and feet. Except for her fetters she was completely naked and she shivered from having her pale skin resting against a hard marble floor. Standing in front of her on a raised dias with a crown of gold and a purple velvet cape on was Vixen-Clarissa. “Whatever I think of is reality. Remember that too.” Clarissa had never felt so helpless before, so embarrassed and there was nothing she could do about it. Seeing the look of despair on Clarissa’s face, Vixen-Clarissa nodded with satisfaction. With that Vixen-Clarissa disappeared and Clarissa was back in her house.
Lying on the floor Clarissa felt her shoulder but there was nothing wrong with it and only the memory to remind her anything had happened at all. Clarissa was gripped with a fear she had never had to deal with before. She was afraid of what lay just out her front door. Angered by the fact, Clarissa slammed her fist in the ground and swore from the pain. Clarissa wanted to strike back at the bitch. For doing this to her, she didn’t care if it was a part of herself that was doing this as it claimed. She wasn’t going to give up and before this was over she was going to carve that imposter into pieces. She decided to indulge in the thought and even thought about what she would use to do it. What it would look like, how it would feel in her hand and then she was surprised to see she was holding an ornately carved, silver dagger. Just like the one she had been thinking of. “Whatever I think…” Clarissa realized then that she wasn’t as defenseless as she had been told but she was a force to be reckoned with. Vixen-Clarissa just wanted to prevent her from realizing it. Even with this new knowledge, as Clarissa stepped forward to the door, she was assaulted with a great anxiety at the thought of what pain and degradation she was going to be put through. Clarissa wept, whether tears of fear or of anger, not even she knew.
Back in Reality.
With all the running you’ve done today, you’re feeling a little tired. The fact that your leaving a trail of your own blood behind you isn’t cheering you up either. You had ran out the door of the house and had started to run down the street, wanting to get more distance from whatever Clarissa had become. When you looked behind you, you had been comforted to see that she wasn’t there. Then you had looked to the trees to the side and you saw Clarissa balancing on a tree branch looking down on you. You ran. It didn’t matter where just as long as it was away from her. But all the blood you were loosing was slowing you down and making you feel weak. You aren’t surprised that you weren’t able to lose her but she is now standing in front of you. Scared you look around and find you are at the edge of town with lights glowing at you in the distance. “You tricked me into running this way.”
“I didn’t even have to work to hard to do it. Really you weren’t much sport but I guess that’s to be expected from such simple prey. Now I really must kill you now.” You start backing away from this monster and end up tripping on a root and land on your back. Stunned and exhausted, you wait for her to come for you. You just look up at the sky and try to listen to Clarissa’s footsteps as she closes in for the kill. You aren’t surprised when you don’t hear a thing and you stare up at her, wishing she just wouldn’t kill you. She slashes down with her right hand but it strikes the ground next to you.
“No,” Clarissa yells, “I told you not to interfere. I will kill him and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Wrong, I’m not going to let you kill him. Foolish girl, you can’t hope to defeat me! You’re wrong, you couldn’t destroy me, you can’t and I have power as well.” Howling with pain Clarissa drops to her knees, her silver pendant swaying freely from side to side. You don’t understand what’s happening now but you know it all started when Clarissa put on that pendant. Barely having the strength to hold on, you take your only chance to grab the pendant and tear it free from Clarissa’s neck, the pendant’s thin silver chain snapping from the force. You watch with satisfaction as the pendant flies across the room. You look back to Clarissa and your eyes widen to see that your last ditch effort was in vain. Clarissa looks at you with great affection in her eyes, as if you have surprised her in overcoming some great limitation, “You think that did anything, fool. The pendant was only a vessel until I could find a new host, after that the pendant became only decoration. Still such ingenuity deserves to be rewarded and since I am not allowed to kill you, I have something better in mind for you.” Clarissa places her hand gently on your forehead and begins to breath deeply as if she is entering a trance. A green glow began forming, with all the blood you’ve lost, you just can’t stay awake long enough to figure it out.
“What are you doing to him?” Clarissa asked.
“I’m not killing him. I said I wouldn’t,” Clarissa’s mind hadn’t been set at ease when she had heard that. It still wasn’t. “I’m making him into a demon, he has proven himself worthy of such a great honor. See how I am molding our spirit and feeding it to him. Even slight variations in the process can result in a different kind of demon.” Clarissa watched in fascination and fear as she saw your face gain a wolf’s muzzle and black fur sprouted all over your body. Your wounds closed up leaving faint scars that were quickly hidden by your growing fur. Your frame seemed to swell and grow and what little remained of your clothes ripped from your change in size and shape. A bushy wolf’s tail grew out and Clarissa noticed that your nails had turned a dark shade of blue and were claws. Your transformation finished, Clarissa wondered what color eyes you now had. She had always loved the color of your eyes. The exertion from the change has drained Clarissa and feeling exhausted she decides to just lay on your shoulder. She has to think about some things. Get everything straightened out. She doesn’t think it’ll take to long.
Deep in Clarissa’s mind again.
Clarissa and Vixen-Clarissa stared at each other, the fire of hatred burning in their eyes. Clarissa pointed at her clone and shouted, “You aren’t a part of me, you couldn’t be if the pendant was your vessel. So I don’t want any part of you.”
“True, I wasn’t a part of you before but I am a part of you now. Fight it as much as you want but you will never defeat me and I will always get around whatever ultimatums are forced on me. As your precious boyfriend can now bear witness to. So what can you do but give up and allow me free reign.”
“Fine then. I’ve tried but apparently I can’t do this by halves. If I can’t fight you then I will join you. We’re parts of a whole right? So lets be whole.”
Vixen-Clarissa screamed with rage, “No. Idiot, if you do such a thing then you will no longer be you.”
“And you will no longer be you and I think that’s enough for me.” Clarissa’s hand lashed out and grabbed hold of the Vixen and drew her in to a hug that no matter how she fought it, she could not overcome. The vixen howled with impotent rage to be joined with Clarissa’s cry of exultation before their two voices became one. Clarissa looked down at herself and saw that she was still furry but she was okay with that and she also saw that she only had two tails now. They draped down to the floor and Clarissa sighed as she felt the sensation of her tails touching the floor. For a part of her, it was rather dull and regular, like feeling in her hands but to a different part, it was brand new and utterly amazing. She wonders if you’ll like it. She hopes so.