7
ETHAN
"Then let's enjoy it while we can," Jessica said, snuggling her gorgeous--and naked--body against mine.
I was having the weirdest fucking day.
Waking up feverish in my office, being led home in a daze of medicine and shivering and blankets.
And then, you know, the whole gryphon thing.
And as ridiculous as that whole ordeal was, it wasn't even the highlight of the day. I'd been sitting there, naked and embarrassed and confused on the grass, and a totally hot woman threw herself at me as if I were irresistible.
I knew I had a good body, but I wasn't used to that kind of reaction.
Even weirder, it felt right. During the sex, it felt like I had a connection to her that went beyond our physical bodies. It was as if I had her brain on speed-dial, and could feel her every emotion as she felt them. It made the sex more of a dance, or a duet, rather than two bodies bumping together.
Which made the sex pretty fricken awesome. And not just on my end.
Beyond that... something else had changed within me. Before shapeshifting into the gryphon there was a strange rumble in my chest. Like a cell phone on vibrate, but extremely faint. It wasn't a bother, not compared to the rest of the weird flu-like symptoms I'd had, but it was a persistent sensation.
And now, laying back on the grass with the weight of Jessica's body on mine, I could feel that vibration again.
"I, uhh, think I can do it again."
Jessica let out a giggle that made both our bodies tremble. "I'm still trying to decide if doing it once was a good idea."
"No, not that." I paused. "Although that was definitely a good idea."
She twisted her head on my chest to smile up at me. "I think I agree."
"But what I meant was my... transformation." I looked up at the sky. "I can't explain it, but I know I can change into a gryphon again."
She pushed up onto one elbow. "Then let's see it, bird-brain. Spread those wings and fly!"
"Your teasing isn't helping."
She sneered playfully. "Sorry, I didn't realize weird gryphon-human dudes got stage fright."
"But I don't think I can do it myself right now. And when it happened the first time... it was like it was happening to me, rather than controlled by me. Does that make sense?"
"As a matter of fact, that does make sense," she said, poking me in the ribs, "because it's exactly what I told you earlier: you transformed when I pressed the emerald into the figurine."
She frowned, and looked off in thought. "What?" I asked.
"Totem."
"Totem, yeah. The stone one with the aforementioned emerald."
She shook her head. "No, I mean, what you mentioned earlier. You said, he called it a totem. So? Who is he?"
"Oh. That." I drew a shuddering breath. "You're gunna think I'm crazy."
She laughed in my face. "I promise you, there's literally--literally!--nothing you can say that would increase the crazy-o-meter of this whole situation."
I stretched my arms out to the side and slowly rose into a sitting position to buy myself a few seconds. Jessica slid off me and sat cross-legged on the grass, casually grabbing her blouse to cover her chest. Modesty sometimes returned slowly, but return it always did.
"When I was a gryphon, flying here with you in my arms, I heard a voice inside my head."
Jessica froze while putting on her blouse, one arm halfway in a sleeve. Slowly she looked up at me, her face a mask of thought.
"Okay, I was wrong. You're fucking crazy."
I felt a pang of embarrassment, and the hurt must have been obvious on my face because Jessica quickly leaned forward. "No, hey, I was only joking!" She put a reassuring hand on my chest. "A cruel joke. I'm sorry."
I looked off in the distance. "The voice was deafening in my head, so loud that it shut out all other thought. It... told me things."
She waited for me to continue, and when I didn't she said, "Things like what?"
But I was looking off at a growing cloud of dust. A truck on a dirt road, and driving in our direction.
"I think the farmer whose cow I killed is here," I said, getting to my feet. "Hand me your bra."
We watched the farmer approach, park the truck, and walk up the hillside toward us. He took one look at Jessica, and then swung his confused eyes at me, completely naked save for the peach-colored bra I was using to cover my junk.
"It's not what it looks like," Jessica quickly said.
The farmer stared, slack-jawed.
"His fraternity pranked him," she continued, giving me a quick follow my lead glance. "Kidnapped him from his dorm, then dumped us out here. Thankfully they had enough decency to leave me with my clothes."
He looked at me for confirmation, so I bobbed my head in agreement. But then the farmer twisted to examine the dead cow.
"And, uhh, a pack of wolves found us," Jessica added. "I was able to jump out of their way with only a few scratches. But I'm afraid your cow wasn't so lucky."
A light finally went on in the farmer's eyes. "No wolves around these parts," he drawled.
Jessica faltered, so I quickly jumped in. "Coyotes, maybe. It happened really fast, we're not sure what it was. We're exhausted, and dehydrated..."
The farmer didn't buy our story, but he didn't question us any further before leading us to his truck. Because two people without any weapons or tools certainly couldn't have caused that much damage to the bovine. That would have been crazy.
I hoped there wasn't the smell of blood on my breath as he drove us back to his house.