Fading Fast (Patreon)

Emily pushed open the bathroom door, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps as she staggered inside. The cheerful chatter and clinking of glasses from the restaurant faded into the background, replaced by the pounding of her own heart in her ears. She stumbled to the sink, gripping the edges of the cold, hard porcelain as if it were a lifeline.

Raising her head, she stared into the mirror, her eyes wide and haunted. Her skin was pale and clammy, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. She looked like a woman on the edge of madness, teetering on the brink of some dark, unspeakable abyss.

Suddenly, a wave of pain wracked her body, starting at the base of her spine and radiating outwards like tongues of white-hot fire. Emily cried out, doubling over as her muscles spasmed and convulsed. It felt as if her very bones were shifting, breaking, and reforming under her skin.

With trembling fingers, she scrabbled at the zipper of her dress, desperate to relieve the suffocating pressure that was building inside her. The fabric felt too tight, too constricting, like it was trying to strangle the life out of her. She tore at it frantically, the sound of ripping cloth mingling with her ragged, panting breaths.

As the dress fell away, Emily froze, her heart seizing in her chest. Dark, coarse hair was sprouting from her skin, growing thicker and longer by the second. It was like watching a time-lapse of some unnatural metamorphosis, her smooth, pale flesh giving way to a dense, furry pelt.

A scream bubbled up in her throat, but it came out as a strangled, inhuman whimper. Her hands, once delicate and slender, were twisting and deforming before her eyes. Her fingers elongated, the bones cracking and popping as they reshaped themselves into something bestial and grotesque. Her nails, once perfectly manicured, split and peeled away, replaced by thick, curved claws.

Emily's jaw ached fiercely, and she clutched at her face, feeling the bones shifting and elongating beneath her fingers. Her teeth, too, were changing, growing longer and sharper until they filled her mouth like the fangs of a predator. She ran her tongue over them, tasting blood where they had cut into her gums.

Agony lanced through her as her spine arched and contorted, her vertebrae popping and realigning with a series of sickening crunches. Her legs, once long and shapely, bowed and bent, the muscles bulging and rippling under the skin as they adapted to a new, four-legged posture.

Through the haze of pain and terror, Emily's mind reeled, trying desperately to make sense of the impossible changes overtaking her. This couldn't be real. It had to be a dream, a nightmare brought on by stress or too much wine. But the agony, the visceral sensations of her body warping and reshaping itself, were all too vivid to be mere figments of her imagination.

As the transformation reached its horrifying climax, Emily risked one final glance in the mirror. The face staring back at her was no longer her own. Amber eyes, glowing with a feral, predatory light, peered out from a muzzle bristling with razor-sharp teeth. Her ears, now pointed and tufted, swiveled and twitched, attuned to sounds no human could hear.

A howl tore from her throat, primal and full of anguish, as the last shreds of her humanity were burned away. Emily, the sweet, gentle girl who had entered the bathroom, was gone. In her place stood a creature of nightmare, a beast driven by hunger and instinct.

The werewolf threw back its head and howled again, the sound echoing off the tiled walls and reverberating through the restaurant. It was a declaration of its newfound power, a challenge to any who would dare to stand in its way. With a snarl, the creature turned and loped towards the door, ready to hunt, to feed, to revel in its dark, untamed nature.

And deep within the recesses of its mind, in a small, quiet place untouched by the beast's savagery, the last remnants of Emily's consciousness trembled and wept, helpless and afraid, as the monster wearing her skin ventured out into the unsuspecting world.