Bets walked through the front door of her house and dropped her backpack on the floor with a thud. "I'm home," she said loudly, the echo of her words bouncing of the walls. She waited in expectant silence. Knowing there would be no response, but still hoping there would be one.
Being the daughter of a city councilman and a powerful lawyer wasn't as easy as everyone believed. Sure, she didn't have to worry about money, but unless she was with her friends, she was usually alone. Even on weekends, her parents would be busy and leave Bets to do what she would.
Bets walked into the kitchen and looked at the calendar that was hung on the side of the refrigerator. She hoped to find today's date empty, but knew that it wouldn't be. Her mother had meetings with clients scheduled till 9 o'clock that night and her dad would be attending a city council meeting and then go to the grand opening party for the city's new police headquarters.
"Figures," was all she said as she removed a jug of milk from the fridge and proceeded to drink straight from the container.
The emptiness of her home was oppresive at times, usually driving Bets to the private sanctuary of her room. She spent most of her time there, which suited her fine. Everything she needed and more was in her room; tv and dvd player, stereo, giant walk-in closet full of the coolest clothes and her own private bathroom with jacuzzi tub.
For some reason, unknown to Bets, she seemed drawn to the windows of her room. The warm afternoon sun felt wonderful. She looked over her backyard with inground swimming pool and the large, old oak tree with limbs that reached to her room. In the past, she had used the sturdy limbs to help her escape from her house late at night. She opened the windows to allow a cool afternoon breeze to flow into her room.
She couldn't explain why, but it just felt good to stand there, soaking up the sunlight. Bets felt wonderful all over. Her body was tingling with new and wonderful sensations.
"I wonder if this is a side effect of that hit of ecstacy I took a couple of nights ago," she thought to herself. Dismissing the thought and just enjoying the way she felt, Bets hugged herself tight and rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
The strange thing was, her skin felt diffent. She expected her skin to feel smooth, but it actually felt kind of soft and fuzzy. And it felt really good to keep stroking her arms.
Slightly curious, Bets stopped stroking her arms and looked down to see if what she was feeling was real or a strange hallucination. What she saw surprised her, but didn't shock or scare her. Her arms were covered with a fine coat of blonde fur, just slightly lighter in color to the hair on her head.
A tiny part, somewhere deep inside her self, was scared, but the feeling of euphoria was so intense that it overruled her fear. It was wonderful, glorious. She never felt so alive and free before.
On instinct, Bets began stripping off her clothing. Partly because she was curious to see where else she had fur, but mostly because her clothing felt too restrictive. She hated the feel of it against her body.
When she had finally removed the last of her clothing, she looked at herself in the full length mirror that hung on her closet door. What she saw both stunned and excited her. Her entire body was covered in a fine coat of fur. She turned around and examined herself all over. Bets could hardly believe her eyes. To make sure she was not hallucinating, she began to feel her body. Not only did it feel silky to the touch, but it felt even better where her hands stroked.
She was delighted, simply giddy with happiness that she couldn't explain. When she looked at her face, something looked wrong with her smile. This puzzled her, so she moved closer to the mirror to get a better look. Again, she was surprised by what she saw, but not frightened. Her nose had turned up, forming a little triangle, and mouth were pushing out from her face, forming a short furry muzzle. White, almost clear whisker began to grow from her transformed features. Tenatively, she opened her mouth to see how it worked now that it had changed. Her teeth had become sharp and pointed, and her tongue seemed slightly longer with a rough texture.
When she closed her mouth, Bets caught sight of her eyes. They too had changed. No longer were they round and blue, but a deep green cat's eye.
When she pulled back from the mirror she noticed that her ears were changing as well. They had grown to points and were moving to the top of her head, moving easily through the hair on top of her head. She knew that she should feel something other than happiness. But the thrill of what was happening to her was too much.
"This is so cool," she thought silently to herself as she continued to examine herself.
As she looked at her body, she was becoming disappointed that she didn't have a tail. It was wrong not to have one. Almost in response to her thoughts, she notice a tiny bump growing at the base of her spine. It continued to grow longer and longer as she watched happily in the mirror. In no time at all, a long furry tail, that nearly reached to the ground had sprouted.
The more changes that took place, the harder it became to stand up normally. She wanted to sit down, but sitting on the bed wouldn't let her look at herself in the mirror. So she decided to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. As she crouched down, Bets realized that her legs had changed too. Her knees bent backwards and the balls of her feet pulled away from her toes. This allowed her to sit on the floor yet keep her legs underneath her, in case she had to leap away quickly.
For some reason that she could not explain, Bets felt a little dirty. Without thinking, she began licking the fur on her arm to groom herself. Deep, deep down inside she knew this was wrong and that she should scream in terror, but it all just felt so right.
She then noticed her hands had changed too. They still looked more like hands than paws, but her fingernails had reformed into sharp claws that protruded from the tips and her palms had rough lethery pads on them.
Bets knew that the changes had run their course. She stretched her body and decided to curl up into a ball and take a nap in the afternoon sun light.
When Bets awoke from her nap, she noticed that the sun had just set. She couldn't explain why, but she knew that she had to go out. It was almost as if she were being called to somewhere. As she stood, Bets stretched again and lept through the open window to the branch of the oak tree.
Silently she prowled through the backyards of her neighboorhood, taking great care not to be seen. Bets reveled in the incredible sights, smells and sounds of her town at night. Before long, she found herself at the backdoor of a small ranch style house on the outskirts of town.