The Animagus: Discoveries

"Anthony, you are apparently a warlock." Janine says quietly.

"I wouldn't know." I say.

"Well, the grimoire is instructed to be left with you. That you are to guard." She says.

"Why?" I ask.

"It's called 'Liber Phoenix' or 'Book Phoenix'." She replies.

What goes into a this? Why a book of Phoenix? I want to ask but, it feels wrong to.

"Ah, the Fuegocon." Daegwood says.

"You know it's modern name?" I ask.

"It was also once called the book of the Phoenix." He replies to my question. "I read alot." He smiles.

"Hey, what can I say? We all seem to be the inquisitive type." I laugh.

Janine and dad both laugh with me on that note. I notice my voice nearly howling with each breath of laughter. I stiffen on my laughter to hide the sound.

"So what, I am going to supposedly know how to read the ancient spells?" I ask.

"Apparently the ancestors will show you." Janine seems to know a fair bit from reading this journal.

"May I see this?" I point to the journal.

Janine seems surprised but, she passes me the journal. She seems curious but, I want to know more, faster. I need to know what's happening to me.

The rage of this urgency fills inside of me. My chest feels tense and I find myself breathing faster. I close my eyes and take a breath.

"I think I need to read this myself, actually." I say.

"Why the change in heart?" She asks.

"Well, I feel connected." I admit.

"Connected? How?" My dad asks from the side, I had almost forgotten he was here.

"I don't know. It's almost like it's meant for me." I say.

"Weird considering I found it." Janine laughs. "Fine, keep it here. I'll bring the scanner sometime this week." She adds.

"Thanks." I say.

Daegwood and my dad exchange glances. We just continue with dinner being prepared. I can smell the meat cooking on the grill. My stomach feels as if its going to give up all within it. I spring into the house and make my way for the bathroom. I slam the door by accident, locking it and hurling into the toilet. All within a few moments. 

I pant heavily, relching my stomach contents into the toilet. Why did the smell of the meat cooking bother me? Could I be experiencing like Cherisé went through back when she and my dad were kids. I relch again. 

"Oh god." I exclaim. 

How am I going to keep this hidden if this is the case. I feel my skin starting to crawl as hunger hits my stomach. I feel my eyes trying to change in some way. My head feels like it is going to split open. My face hurts. I stagger to my feet and look in the mirror to see my eyes are red, my hair is growing longer. I am fighting an inner beast.

I try to count myeself to being calm, realizing that I have not got much time before my dad, Janine and Daegwood catch on. Dad and Daegwood dealt with Cherisé. So, they probably know what's up. Maybe they would help me? No. Why would they when their sister was a killer?

My brain is racing as my skin burns once more. I groan and clench my teeth, trying to keep quiet as I feel torment taking over me. I writhe as I feel like my body is ripping at the skin. I groan as my stomach turns.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

The bathroom door has its wood getting hit. The sound startles me and I feel hairs stand on end that I didn't even know I had. I feel panic set in.

"Yeah?" I call out.

"You alright?" I hear Janine's voice enter through the door. 

"Yeah, sudden bathroom urge." I say. 

My gut throbs as my back feels like it's ripping open. My spine makes popping sensations through my back. I groan as i feel my skin burn once more.

"Okay, sounds rough, ill leave you to it." She says and I can now hear her footsteps until she hits the main floor.

"What's happening..?" I ask myself under my breath. 

My ears feel like i'm getting hung up by them all of the sudden and more searing pain washes over my body. I can feel bones stretching from my back to form something else. I find myself only a third as tall as i just was.

I try to speak and i hear a dogs whimper. I can't understand this. What's wrong with me?! I leap onto my legs to see myself in the mirror. A white and grey coated wolf greets me in my reflection. The whimper comes out as i realize I have changed into an animal. I am, indeed like Cherise.

Now all i wonder is how am i going to get out of the house without getting seen or worse, killed. I need to find Cherise or Clara, even better, both. I need to learn to control this magical force that has changed me, like it did them. I am about to start high-school this can not happen. Really, how am I gonna go to prom looking like a mountain wolf? I don't think that's going to go well with the principal. 

What could Cherise mean by my awakening and death to come? I have many questions. I look around the bathroom, only exits being the window and the door. I hate to do this to my dad. 

I leap through the bathroom window with all of my might. I only hope my dad can come to forgive me. I need to get away if I am going to be turning entirely feral, like what it seems happened to Cherise. I have to control this. 

I sprint down the street praying in my mind that I will not be caught by anyone on my way out to the forest. At least then I can try to get back into my human shape. Until then I have to stay away. I need to control this new form. It can't just force its way out this way.

I sprint along the street and surprisingly no one seems to notice. I seem to make it to the trails that lead into and through our local foresty reservation. I should be safe there. For now.

I howl out because i want to really be screaming. How can the have happened to me. Sure enough I can't do much. I curl up at the base of a tree and wonder how I can change back. Did I do the change or was it something else like magical spells? I only can debate helplessly now. I huff. I growl being frustrated at the different sounds i now make.

I can feel my paws under where my hands were. I shudder, the fur standing on end and I jump. I can't help but be startled by the sheer unfamiliar feeling. I start to walk, hoping I can find somewhere for me to wait. Hopefully this wears off, not permanent.

I take in the smells of the area. Pungent odors i never would have noticed before are right in my face. It reeks like a swamp. I gag. I can also smell the faint scent of elderberry and some kinds of flowers, all blending in together. I sigh and close my eyes trying not to get a headache from the overwhelming amount of smell. 

Every sound starts to become crystal clear, my breathing and heartbeat are nearly obnoxiously loud now. My heart beats a lot faster, it sounds like. I try to keep calm. Thats when the colors come into the black space I am staring into, behind my eyelids. 

'Am I... Seeing the scents?' I wonder. 'How the hell am I going to get out of this one?' I can only think to myself, that in itself feels like i am on an island of my own.

"So, you are the next animagus." I hear an old woman say. 

i turn around and snarl. I dont know who they are, but i can't imagine someone knowing what i am being any good. I flare my fur up on end and bare my fangs. It feels like its already a part of me. Who the hell is this woman?

"I get it, you're scared." She says.

i sit down on the ground, tilting my head. I am now curious now. She went through this too? Were there many animagus? Are there many of us? She may know.

"Your aunt Cherise is my daughter." She says.

'My grandmother?!' I stand upright and smell around.

I smell the elderberry on her. I understand now. She was watching the whole time, she knew one of us was to become the next in the family. I wonder why only one of us? What's the story there i wonder?

"Let's go to my hut and turn you back into a human for now." She chuckles "I remember my first transformation." She adds.