At first nothing much happened but then Gabriella's skin started to ripple and bubble.
Once this happened she screamed in agony which brought Mrs. Bailey into the room.
"Who's hurt?" she asked her voice full of concern.
"Gabriella drank something," Janet said.
Gabriella screamed again as she started to shrink. Her face was pushing out into what
might have been a muzzle though it was hard to tell. Her fingers were becoming thin
and I thought her fingernails were becoming claws. White fur started to appear on her
face. Her ears were moving up her head and becoming more like mouse ears. She
opened her eyes for a second and we saw that they had become pink. She closed
them again as she screamed. She had been thrashing about and now she knocked the
box off her bed.
No one had moved watching Gabriella's transformation but as soon as the box hit the
floor and the vials broke I ran to the fire alarm. I pulled it and when everyone looked
at me I said, "Get out of the house now," with a commanding tone to my voice. To my
surprise everyone scrambled to get out though they did stop to pick up packs and
suitcases. I ran to Gabriella and picked her up noticing how much she had shrunk. She
was still squirming and her shoes and socks fell of revealing what looked to be the
paws of a mouse. I hoped that she wouldn't squirm out of my arms or hands if she
was becoming a mouse. I ran out of the room noticing that someone had grabbed
Gabriella's suitcase and my pack. I raced down the stairs feeling Gabriella slipping
around in her clothes. "Try to remain still Gabriella," I said as I ran down the hall. Soon
we were at and through the open door into the chilly air. I saw everyone standing at
the end of the drive and I ran toward them.
Behind me there was an explosion which almost knocked me off my feet.
Unfortunately I wasn't far enough away to avoid flying debris and I could feel shards of
glass and wood embed themselves all along my backside. I kept running to the others
and when I finally made it Mrs. Bailey asked, "How did you know we needed to get
out? If you hadn't acted so quickly we probably would have died."
"Where's Gabriella and how will we turn her back?" Denise asked looking worried.
"The return vial is gone along with the other vials."
"Put your pearls on the ground," I said wincing and looking at my sisters. They looked
worried but did as I said. During my flight from the house I had managed to hold onto
Gabriella and now I brought her out of her dress saying, "I need to put you down now
Gabriella. Please stay where I sit you down so we can transform you back. Gather
around everyone. If we are around Gabriella nothing should try to make a meal of
her." Everyone did gather around and I placed Gabriella the mouse on the ground
along with my pearl.
All four pearls immediately began to glow and they rose up circling around Gabriella.
They began circling faster and faster. Gabriella must have been scared since she tried
to run but she ran into some sort of wall then she started changing again. She twitched
as her tail began to shorten and her fur receded. Her skin rippled and bubbled again
as she began to grow. Her paws became hands and feet again as her ears traveled
back down her head. Her face reformed back into a human face and soon Gabriella
was before us as her normal self. Our pearls flew back to our necklaces and Semele
said, "Welcome back Gabriella."
"Get her dressed" I said feeling faint.
As they got some clothes out of Gabriella's case Mrs. Bailey looked at me and said,
"Oh my god Lisa. You're bleeding a lot."
I looked down and saw that I was indeed bleeding quite a bit from my arms and legs. I
must have lost a lot of blood which would explain why I was feeling faint. I smiled and
said, "It looks like I'm going to spend a couple days in the hospital." I then fell forward
and would have hit the ground if Mrs. Bailey hadn't caught me.
As I lost consciousness I heard Mrs. Bailey say, "Get some cloth so we can stop the
bleeding. Hang on Lisa don't leave us."