The Late Bloomer

‘She’s waking up.’ Ava heard from a long distance as the swoosh sound ended and she realized she was back in her body. She felt pinned down, as if a heavy drum had been rolled upon her. The pain in her broken leg was back and she could not move any part of her body.

‘That shouldn’t be,’ she heard the doctor said. ‘She is not supposed to wake up for the next five hours.’ Ava remembered how she had fainted when she saw the long needle in the doctor’s hands.

So these rogues are bent on taking my blood. I need to get up and stop them. Ava thought in her heart. Before the thoughts finished forming, she felt herself sit up. Her eyes were still closed but the things that tied her down were falling off by themselves. Ava felt her broken leg crackle and the bone straightened. She only felt a slight pain at the ankle and her leg was healed.

‘Impossible!’ She heard the doctor scream and suddenly, Ava lost control of her body as a force, greater than her, took over. It was a bright night, the moon was at its peak, full, casting its rays upon the inhabitants of the abandoned house in the woods, where the temporal laboratory was put together.

Ava stood beneath the full moon, its silvery light casting an ethereal glow upon her face. She felt the familiar stirrings within her, the primal call of the wild that she could no longer deny. With a gentle sigh, she surrendered to the transformation, her body beginning to shift and contort. Her limbs stretched and shortened, her senses growing sharper as her body hair thickened and darkened. Her hands and feet transformed into paws, her fingers and toes merging into razor-sharp claws. Her face elongated, her nose and mouth reshaping into a snout.

Ava's clothes tore and fell away, unable to contain the powerful muscles that now rippled beneath her skin. Her skin itched and prickled, as a thick, luxurious coat of fur burst forth, covering her in a soft, silky layer. As the transformation took hold, Ava felt her mind expand, her thoughts growing sharper and more instinctual. She was no longer fully human, but a creature of the wild, driven by primal urges and desires.

‘She is shifting!’ One of the rogues exclaimed as the human doctor opened his mouth wide at the magical transformation he just witnessed. Sensing that he could be in danger, the wise doctor quickly ran out of the room, to bear the tidings to Marcus.

With a final, triumphant cry, Ava stood on four legs, her body fully transformed into that of a majestic wolf. She raised her head to the moon, her eyes shining with a fierce, yellow light, and let out a long, haunting howl, announcing her presence to the world.

Tim, in a bid to prove himself and acquire the post of Marcus’ beta, commanded the rogues to tackle Ava.

‘Get her! Don’t let her leave this place. We still need her blood.’ He shouted at the rogues around.

‘B-but, she now has her wolf…’ The timid rogue answered, still shaken from the sudden transformation of a wolfless wolf.

‘She is still a virgin!’

Four of the rogues moved closer to Ava, and tried to tackle her. Understanding their intention, she fought back. With a fierce growl, Ava launched herself at the rogues, her paws barely touching the ground as she charged. Her fur stood on end, and her eyes blazed with a fierce yellow light, as she targeted Tim, the leader of the group.

The rogue, a snarling mass of teeth and muscle, swung a vicious blow at Ava, but she dodged with ease, her agility and quick reflexes allowing her to avoid the attack. With a swift counterattack, Ava sank her teeth into the rogue's shoulder, her jaws closing with a satisfying crunch. The other rogues closed in, snapping and snarling, but Ava was a force to be reckoned with. She spun and twisted, her claws flashing in the moonlight, as she took down each attacker with precision and skill.

Her fur was matted with dirt and blood, but Ava's eyes shone with a fierce triumph, as she defended herself against the rogues. She was a wolf on a mission, driven by instinct and a desire to protect herself and her werewolf world. With a final, decisive blow, Ava took down the last rogue, her teeth closing around his throat. She stood panting, her chest heaving with exertion, as she surveyed the carnage around her. The rogues lay defeated, their plans foiled by Ava's bravery and strength.

She shifted back into her human form and vented her anger on the laboratory equipment, turned the bed down and burst the little bag containing a little quantity of blood collected from her. She saw the urine bottle, and, imagining the evil they might do with it, smashed it on the ground, pouring its contents on the spilled blood on the ground. Better to waste those things than to let her precious body fluids get into evil hands.

Ava wanted to spoil the place more but her ears suddenly perked up as she heard footsteps walking fast towards her. She tuned her ears to get snippets of their conversation and was surprised that she could hear them clearly, as if they were in the room with her, whereas they were still about twenty meters away from where she was.

‘She changed to a wolf! I saw it with my own eyes!’ The doctor screamed at the top of his voice.

‘She transformed? But Tim said she was wolfless…’ Marcus answered, waiting for someone’s answer.

‘Maybe she eventually came into her wolf. Her blood is useless now.’ Ava heard a nasal voice answered Marcus, who laughed hysterically.

‘She is not totally useless. My snakes are hungry as you can see just now when we checked them, we can use her to feed them. The more they eat the better for us.’

Ava knew she was still not safe. Nadia sensed her fear and calmed her down.

‘This way,’ Nadia shifted Ava’s face to the window.

‘Let us jump!’ Suddenly, Ava’s eyes could see far beyond the window. She saw a cliff, with unending depth thereafter. She hesitated because jumping there might mean death. She saw Marcus opened the door of the laboratory, and jumped. Is this how I will die? Ava thought as she flew in space, afraid to land inside danger.