Anima: The Bird House Chapter 1
ANIMA SYMPTOM LOG
DATE: August 27th
NAME: LYALL WILLIAMS
AGE: 20
SEX: Male
HYBRID: Unknown assumed B.O.P.
SYMPTOMS: Golden iris, increased vision perception, corners of eyes have small rust colored feathers. Feathers have since disappeared, vision has improved but iris remains gold in color.
SPECIAL NOTES: Patient was unaware of the condition until today. Has no family record of condition
RECOMMENDATIONS: Patients should have blood testing and samples(if able) of hybrid materials to test for proper species. Recommended to local support group. Depending on results of testing, patients may be chipped for wildlife tracking.
END OF REPORT
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I woke up to my alarm screaming and quickly shut it off.
It was Thursday morning, and my classes at Silvermen College started in about forty-five minutes. It was a clear, sunny day, and this year had been hot for late August. I grabbed my bag and laptop and headed out toward the college. It’s only a fifteen-minute bike ride, but I like getting there early and chatting with my friend Kole.
Many family members told me to keep my distance from Kole, as he was a deer hybrid. By that, I mean he was an average human, but he also happened to have the ears and tail of a whitetail deer. He had this new condition that first appeared around five years ago that everyone calls Anima. A few people started changing, gaining features of different animals out of nowhere. Kole started about a year ago when he woke up with a sore spine, and over the day, he grew a small white tail. His doctor had tests and photos sent to a research lab, where he was identified as a whitetail deer hybrid. Nothing could really be done about it, and no one really knows why it happens. It just seems to happen one day to a few people.
Like some in my family, some people think it’s contagious and that being around someone with the condition can pass it on to you like the flu. But so far, all research seems to point away from this. It is believed that it isn’t contagious, but instead something environmental. Research is ongoing, and they seem to make new discoveries almost weekly.
I’ve hung out with Kole since middle school, and neither of us were really close to any hybrids. But sure enough, Kole was one of the unlucky. I only say that because research has shown there is no way to entirely stop changes, let alone revert them. Once your changes begin, you will eventually lose yourself. It’s unknown whether any of you will remain once you change entirely. Some people hold onto the hope that their loved one is still in the animal’s mind and that, someday, a way to revert the changes will come around. I think it is just people who cannot cope with the knowledge that their loved one is gone.
While on my way to class, I passed a couple walking down the street a few hundred yards from the college. The man was a youngish twenty-something, and his, what I’m assuming, significant other was walking alongside him. They were holding hands, or well, if you can call it that. The female was very clearly a bear hybrid and pretty far along. Except for her face, which was that of a mid-twenties caucasian lady, she was entirely covered in black fur. She wore no pants, which did not matter as her legs didn’t look human. She had shorter legs ending with clawed feet. Her gait was much shorter than the man beside her. She had an almost stumble or waddle as she walked. Her hands were still human-like, but she had claws on her fingertips.
After fully passing by them, I turned and looked at her back. Seeing her from behind, you would almost think it was a black bear standing on its hind legs. I thought, ‘How long has she been like that?’ She seemed happy, even in the face of such an unfortunate circumstance.
As I arrived at the main building, I pulled up and locked my bike to a lamp post outside the front doors. Making my way down the street, the hot August sun was beating down heavily. The humidity was relatively high, especially for the morning. Kole was standing just inside the doorway to the college.
“Kole!” I shouted louder than intended.
Kole’s ears lifted, turning towards me, and his head followed shortly afterward. Kole was an engineering major, vastly different from my computer sciences major. Although we primarily had different classes, we still shared general education classes.
“Hey Lyall,” Kole responded, “here a bit early, no? Usually, I don’t see you until after your first class.”
“I decided to get here a bit early today. Maybe it’s living life last minute like usual,” I joked back, but in reality, my morning was a rush to get to class on time.
We spoke briefly about Kole’s family and how awkward it would be at his mother’s family reunion next weekend. His parents supported Kole in continuing his goal of becoming an engineer, even with his changes. Most people who find themselves affected quit their current jobs or responsibilities as it’s almost like being told you only have so many years to live. Some people quickly change entirely, while some of the first people affected are still mild. It affects everyone in vastly different ways. Kole had been changing for close to a year now, and, so far, he only had two noticeable changes, which was pretty unusual. He could control himself well enough that you would never be able to tell he was changed, had he not had ears that moved independently.
We made our way to our classes. Kole had a research study class about architectural failures, and my first class was on computer networking. Our next class was algebra, one of the few we were in together.
Sitting in my usual place in the second row, I reached into my bag to grab my contact solution. It felt like something was caught between my right eye and the contact. I removed the problematic contact and placed it back into its case to clean it. While washing it with the bottle of saline I kept in my bag, my left contact began bothering me. Once I finished rinsing the first, I returned it to my eye and repeated the process with the other. Even after having cleaned both lenses, my eyes were still irritated. My sight was blurred because of my eyes watering like they were. I promptly removed both contacts, put them in the case, and began searching my bag for my backup glasses case. Having found the case, I opened it to reveal that my glasses were nowhere to be found.
Thinking back, I realized I had last used my glasses when working on my research paper Monday night; they must still be on my desk at home. I tried the contacts again, but they were still irritating my eyes and, frankly, making my sight worse than if I just went without. So, I spent the class half struggling to see what was on the projector screen.
This went on for the entirety of the class. It was not too much of an issue, thanks to my closer seat. After the class ended, I made my way to the student lounge.
The lounge was more of a room in the basement no one used. Inside were a few couches and some recliner-style chairs with small flip-out desktops. A row of various beverage and snack vending machines hummed away to the left side. No one seemed to use the lounge, as most would leave the building between classes. It made a great place to go if you wanted somewhere quiet to sleep or study. The motion-tracked lights were off most of the time.
I took a seat on one of the recliners and waited for Kole’s class to end in about half an hour. While leaning back, I slowly fell asleep in the chair.
I was walking in the woods behind the college. It was getting dark, which meant I either missed my evening class or the rain was finally coming in. Looking up at the sky, I could not get a clear image through the thick branches of the trees. I kept walking, wondering where the path led. A small bridge ran over the creek, and thinking about it, I hadn’t ever explored the woods yet. I knew many of the students who lived in the dorms used them as a walking path between the dorms and the main building. On the bridge, I saw someone staring down into the creek. As I walked past, I couldn’t see the details of his face, but it seemed almost like he was hiding it. I kept walking past when I heard someone say, “Hey!”
I turned around to look at the figure on the bridge. They were standing about fifteen feet away, looking directly at me. Something about them just didn’t seem right. Suddenly, they said, “Lyall! Wake up, dude.”
I woke up in the student lounge, and Kole was staring me down.
“You good, dude? You look like you’ve seen a ghost of something,” Kole questioned me.
“Nah, I’m good. Just dreamt some weird stuff. What time is it?”
Kole looked at his phone, “About one-thirty. We have fifteen minutes till algebra. I was helping my professor move some things, and I lost track of time.”
I started to get up and grabbed my bag, “It’s all good, dude. I also lost track of time.”
We started our way upstairs. I turned to Kole, “Hey dude do you mind if I get a copy of your algebra notes today after class? I left my glasses at home, and my contacts have been bothering me today.”
“No problem, my dude! I can send you a photo after class if you want.”
We walked into the classroom and sat in the last row, a good twenty-five feet away from the projector screen. As we sat down, I could not clearly make out much on the projector screen, and my vision was just barely farsighted enough to read the board. As the class started, I tried to take notes based on what the professor said and what little I could make out on the board. I wasn’t writing a lot down, and the professor noticed.
“Mr. Williams, I hope you are getting this, as this is foundational to the next four classes. Without it, you will struggle,” the professor said to me.
“Sorry, Professor, just trying to get situated,” I responded.
He kept teaching, and I tried to write more down. I squinted to try and see the board better. It seemed to help a bit, and I kept trying to concentrate and make out what was being written. Suddenly, I could see the board. By see, I mean really see it without any effort. I started jotting notes down, and realized this was the clearest I’d ever seen, even compared to my glasses. Taken aback, I looked around a bit, eventually looking out the window at the end of our row.
The window was facing the woods, and I could see every leaf of the trees. I could see every small creature in the woods. It seemed almost like my eyes were attracted to any movement. I could see squirrels running around the ground and birds going branch to branch in the trees. As quickly as I would see one thing, my eyes would become distracted by another.
“Mr. Williams, if I have to remind you to pay attention again, I will have to ask you to leave.”
“Sorry, professor! I’ve been getting my notes down, sir.”
“Very well, please keep your eyes… uh, please keep your eyes up here,” he stumbled.
Odd, usually he is very formal sounding. I kept taking notes, and eventually, we were dismissed. I started gathering my things and looked over to Kole, who was trying to take photos of his notes.
“Don’t worry about sending me a copy. I was able to see the work pretty easily. In fact, I could see very well! Wondering if maybe I left my contacts in from yesterday.”
As I said that, I thought about my bike ride to class. I could see clearly then, so how would I see clearly if I had contacts doubled up? I followed Kole down to the student lounge. We didn’t really talk on the way there. Once we arrived, Kole went to the middle machine of the three vending machines. He put in some coins, and the machine spit out a can of soda. He picked it up and turned to look at me.
“So did you have the wrong contacts in or wha…” Kole stopped.
“I don’t know. It’s weird because I can see just fine now,” I looked up at Kole, and his face was shocked.
“Your… your eyes are…” Kole stuttered, looking with wide eyes at me.
“My eyes are what?” I responded a bit more worriedly.
Kole pulled out his phone and opened the front-facing camera. He turned it so I could see myself. I looked at the face on the screen, but it wasn’t entirely what I expected. I blinked, and the image blinked along. I closed one eye, and it did the same.
The face was my face, but the whites of my eyes were a golden brown. The pupil was jet black, and the skin on the side of my head around my eyes had brown feathers peeking from it. I reached up with my finger and rubbed the feathers, and they pulled and moved with my finger. But they snapped back into place as soon as I moved my finger away.
“No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening, dude! What should I do? How do I stop it, Kole!” I yelled, looking at him.
“Uh, how long has it been like this? You said your vision got better during class, right?”
“Yeah, about halfway through, it cleared up for me. Is that bad?”
Kole stood there thinking. “Well, that means you’ve had them for about forty minutes, and we gotta get you back to normal before it’s too late.”
“How do you go back? This has to be just a little fluke, and there is no way I’m changing!”
“Relax, Lyall. Just close your eyes and think about what your face normally looks like,” Kole said soothingly. “Take a deep breath and imagine yourself.”
I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and tried to think of how my face looked, what I see every morning in the mirror. I could see my face, and it looked as plain as possible. I kept thinking of putting my contacts in, but then I saw it change. I saw those golden eyes and brown feathers. They were multiplying! My face was surrounded by brown feathers, and my teeth began to push out, fuse together, and turn yellow. As it finished pushing out, the tip turned black and took on a hooked shape. I started to hyperventilate.
Suddenly I heard Kole say, “STOP! Think of you! Not what you could be! You need to think of the normal you. Stop thinking about the changes.”
My eyes darted open, and I could see something in the middle of my vision. I reached my hands up to push it away, but instead, they landed on a beak extending from my face. My thumb went under the hooked beak, and without hesitation, I tried to open my mouth and scream. What happened next was the single most terrifying thing I had ever experienced. I opened my mouth and expected an “AHHH!” But instead, I let out an almost raspy, high-pitched sound somewhere between a yell and a squeak. It was certainly not human, and it sounded alien to me. My heart was racing and felt like it could burst through my chest at any moment!
Kole yelled to me, “You need to stop! Stop thinking and look me in the eyes.”
I looked him dead in the eyes. His eyes were normal human eyes. I thought about his eyes and face and focused on his plain-looking face.
“Keep looking at me and think about drinking a nice glass of water. Your smooth lips on the rim of the glass.”
I looked at him and thought of a cool glass of water. My breathing sounded similar to the raspy noises I had made earlier, but I ignored it and kept thinking of the glass. Eventually, the thing I knew was a hooked, sharp beak started disappearing from my vision. My face went from feeling very warm to feeling much cooler.
Kole grabbed his phone and started typing. As he did, he looked back up at me. “Now, hold that thought.”
He pulled up a photo of me from my Instagram profile and turned it so I could see it.
“Now look at this. This is you. Just concentrate on the photo. Nothing else matters right now. Just you and this photo.”
I stared at the photo. I saw myself about three months ago. The clear skin and blue eyes looked right back at me. I thought I would see this if I looked in a mirror.
“Great, you’re almost done! Think about your eyes, your white and blue eyes.”
I kept thinking about them. Nothing else was on my mind. “I can’t think any harder, Kole.”
Kole looked at me with a mix of relief and defeat. “Well, the beak and feathers are gone, bird boy. Gave me quite a scare! Any more, and I think you would have taken flight. Well, good thing you’re back to mostly normal.”
Mostly normal? I thought. Those words echoed in my head. What could he mean by “mostly normal?” I wasn’t a hybrid. I was an everyday human living a normal life. I reached for my pocket and grabbed my phone. I opened up the camera and looked at myself.
I saw myself. My lips were perfectly human, and my nose was typical. The skin around my face was clear of feathers, but my eyes, a set of golden brown and black eyes, looked right back at me. I looked up and down. Left and right, there wasn’t a lick of white to be seen.
“This can’t be happening, and this isn’t happening,” I shouted, clearly in denial.
“Lyall, it’s real, and it’s happening now. You need to just relax a moment, dude. I think you may want to get checked out. Maybe give your mom a call and see about talking to her.”
“Kole, I can’t go out like this, and I can’t look like some frea…” stopping myself as Kole’s ears perked up.
“You can’t be seen like that? I think you’re exaggerating a bit.” Kole turned completely around. His white deer’s tail was sticking straight up from the waist of his pants. “Just think, you don’t have to worry about sitting on it, Mr. Mile Eyes!” he said jokingly.
I looked at him. “Well, I need to get out of here without anyone seeing my eyes. I need to find the best way to go about this.”
Kole reached into his bag and produced a set of sunglasses. “Maybe these can help you out? I don’t need them. Frankly, I can’t even wear them with my ears moving.”
I took them in my hands and put them on. The already dim room was now a bit darker. “Well, I guess I should make sure nothing else has changed, right? Do I go to a clinic or something? I really don’t know where to start here. This is all too quick.”
“Well, I’m no expert, but I know my Doc wants me checked out anytime something changes and does not go back. Some concerns with internal structure and stuff. Now I could be remembering wrong, but I think going from a mammal to a bird might be more extreme, right?” Kole said with a bit of sarcasm.
He’s right. What if something in me is changed that could be dangerous? What if I somehow poisoned myself because my digestive system changed? As if worrying about feathers sprouting out of my face wasn’t enough!
“Where should I go? Is there a special doctor or something?” I asked Kole. At this point, he’s pretty much the expert between us.
“I can give you my Doc’s address. She’s nice and allows walk-ins, and she’s been dealing with changed people for quite some time now.”
“Maybe I should wait till tomorrow. I think I need to sleep this off. I can’t go from normal to growing a beak and making bird sounds to a doctor in less than two hours. Plus, it’s getting late, and I can see about going tomorrow.”
“If you say so, my guy. I’m both nervous and excited for you. Nervous about how it’s going to go down with your family,” Kole said.
“And how exactly are you excited?” I asked Kole in a bit of a rhetorical sense.
“Well, maybe now I won’t be so alone, changing and all,” Kole said more quietly.
Thinking about it, Kole was pretty much alone. He lived at home and, other than me, didn’t really have anyone else. Come to think of it, what was my mom gonna say? I was always told to keep my distance from hybrids, but now…
Kole wished me luck for tomorrow. He started his way through the woods and back to the dorms. I hopped on my bike and began pedaling home. I left the sunglasses on even though the sun was starting to set. After riding a bit, I made it to the house. I went in and saw my mom cooking dinner. I tried to sneak up the stairs without her noticing.
“Lyall! When did you get home?” my mom said.
“Oh, I got in a bit ago. Just finished my class, and it went over a bit.”
“That sounds exciting! Any word on that Kole friend of yours? Also, what’s with the sunglasses?”
I was dead. She had to know! Why would I be wearing sunglasses this late?
“He’s doing fine. He gave these to me to wear home. Trying to keep bugs and stuff out of my eyes.” I tried to say casually.
“Well, dinner will be ready soon. I’ll call for you when it’s all finished.”
“Do you know how long?” I asked, trying to not seem suspicious.
“Oh, about twenty minutes or so. You hungry?” she asked.
“Not too hungry, really. I had a bite at the college.”
I went upstairs to my room and locked the door. Looking at the mirror on the door, I took inventory. Everything seemed perfectly normal except for my eyes. The black pupils were much more prominent, and the orange ring was so large that you could not even see the whites of my eyes. I needed to find a way to hide the changes quickly.
I opened my laptop and searched Colored eye contacts. The search found a site selling eye contacts that changed the look of your eyes. Most seemed to change just the standard colored parts, but I found a set that fully blacks the user’s eyes. After a bit more searching, I found what I was looking for. They looked to be made more for stoners than for changing people, but these would make my eyes appear the typical blue and white again. I put in my info and paid for overnighting them to my house. Everything would be okay if I was able to make it to tomorrow.
“Dinner is ready, Lyall!” my mother called to me, but I could not go downstairs looking like this! I pretended I didn’t hear her but heard my door open a few minutes later. Instinctively my head started to turn toward her but then turned my face to the monitor.
“Are you hungry? It’s getting cold,” Mom said.
“I’m not hungry right now. I’ll just heat something up later. Thanks, though,” I replied back quietly.
“Is everything ok?” she asked.
I didn’t know what I could say that wouldn’t raise suspicion. “Everything is going good. Just stressed about school.” I was not wholly lying to her.
“Ok, but if you need to talk or vent, just let me know,” she assured me. She then closed the door and walked down the stairs. I felt like I dodged a massive bullet with that one.
I decided to just go to bed early. Everything would be easier once that package arrived in the morning. Today had been just too much for one day.
I slowly woke up. I never set my alarm. I didn’t really have any plans for today. I started my way downstairs and out to the front room of the house. It seemed that my mom had already left for work. I checked the porch, and there sat a small brown box. I brought it inside and opened it to find the contacts.
Putting them in was quite the fiasco. It was weird, though, once they were in. I’m not sure if it was terrible quality or they were not made with my eyes in mind, but everything was slightly blurry. Thankfully, looking at my reflection, I looked at least a bit more normal than before.
Last night, Kole sent me a text with his doc’s info. That would be my first stop today, but, judging from the map, it was a bit of a distance away. I started off on my bike, and the total ride time was about twenty minutes. I locked the bike to a nearby pole and approached the door.
“DR. LESLIE MICHAEL - PHYSICAL ANIMA SPECIALIST”
This had to be the right place. I walked in and made my way to the front counter window.
“Do you have an appointment with Dr. Michael today?” the lady at the desk asked.
“Uh, no, I heard she accepts walk-ins?” I stammered.
“No problem! She should be able to fit you in. What species?” she asked.
Confused by the question, I asked back, “Species?”
She seemed a bit confused. “What species are your changes? Equine, bovine, rodent?”
“Oh… is bird an option?”
“Avian. Got it. And what kind of avian?”
“I’m not sure exactly. All I know is my eyes are different, and at one point, I had a, uh, beak and feathers.”
“Well, your eyes look pretty normal to me. Are there any changes that stuck with you?” she asked, looking me up and down with slight confusion.
I reached up and removed the contacts, revealing my golden-brown eyes.
“Ahh, I see what you mean, honey. I put you down as unknown, and the Doc can see if she can tell. Go ahead and take a seat over there, and she will be out for you,” she said in a friendly voice while gesturing with her eyes at the waiting area.
As I started to put the contacts back in, she quickly stopped me. “No need, honey, no reason to hide anything here.”
I sat down and waited, gazing around the room, looking at the other people. Three others were sitting around in different sections. One was a lady with a dark-furred outline around her face. Beside her was a mother with a younger teen next to her. She looked normal, but he had a feathered tail hanging behind him. His feathers were black with white on top and a little bit of red underneath.
A middleaged lady with long brown hair poked out from behind a door. “Benji?” The mother and son stood up. To my surprise, he was wearing only a sweatshirt and hat. His legs were covered in black feathers down to where his knees would be. Below that were light blue feet. By feet, I mean like a bird’s clawed feet of some sort. The claws clicked on the hard tile floor as he walked. His walking had a bit of a rhythmic hop to it.
About twenty minutes later, they came back through the door and exited the clinic. The same woman from before called out again. “Lyall?” I stood up and walked to the door.
“Good Morning, Lyall. Penny said she thinks you may be new to all of this,” she said to me.
“Yeah. Up until yesterday, everything seemed normal. But apparently, I now have the eyes of something feathered.”
She laughed a little. “Yeah, your first changes can be a little surprising. But to let you know, we will do a few things that may seem out of the ordinary compared to your normal doctor’s visit. All of this is just standard stuff to document your progress.”
We walked up to a room with a sign that read Imaging room.
“We will start with some photos. I’ll need you to strip down once we are in here and stand on the square next to the wall. We will take the same photos each visit to look for changes you may not have noticed.”
“So, just strip down to my boxers?”
“No, if you can, just take everything off. It’s only for a moment, and I promise, I’m not seeing anything different than I see every day.”
Reluctantly, I took everything off, turning to face her but using my hands to cover myself.
“I will need you to hold your hands out to your sides. In a T shape, if that makes sense.”
I slowly moved my arms up, revealing my stripped body. Never had I felt this embarrassed before; standing in a room getting naked photos taken by some lady I had just met. After a few turns and poses, we were done. I put everything back on, and she led me to another room.
“Forgive my manners, I haven’t even introduced myself, have I? I’m Dr. Michael, but you can call me Leslie. I’m going to have you start from the beginning for me. What happened yesterday?”
I explained the whole story to her. She asked some questions about family history and who knew about the changes. Afterward, she reached into a drawer, took some papers out, and held them out to me.
“Ok, Lyall, it appears you may be a hawk of some sort. This is great, but it also brings some other challenges for us to work on. Hawks, as you know, are birds, and you may remember from high school biology that birds are pretty different from humans and mammals. I have some paperwork for you to read and some resources.” I accepted the packets of information from her.
“Ok, so what’s the good news?”
“Good news is you will share features with a fierce bird of prey, which can be seen as a positive. Plus, avians have quite a network of support groups compared to other species. There is a local group I think you may want to visit, at least to give it a try.”
She handed me a card that read Avian Associates! It also had an address and a meeting time written on it.
“I have a member as my patient, and he loves the group. It can help you overcome new challenges to have others who can truly understand. By the way, will you let your mother know anytime soon? You may want to tell her now, before she finds out on her own.”
I knew I needed to talk to her sooner rather than later. Otherwise, she would find out on her own at some point, and that would just make things worse.
“I’ll try and find a way to break the news to her,” my voice groaned.
“Don’t view this as a curse. It’s honestly an experience that is as good as you make it. Be proud of it!” Leslie said excitedly, giving a smile.
She had me fill out several more forms, and I was on my way back to the house.
While I was making my way home, I looked at the card she had given me.
Avian Associates, it read. I re-read the address and meeting times. Honestly, it sounded like a glorified Alcoholics Anonymous thing, and the whole idea seemed cheesy.
Looking over the times, it seemed that tomorrow evening was the next meeting for the group. I guess it’s worth a shot, and I can always just decide not to go back afterward.
I pulled into the driveway, stored my bike next to the garage, and climbed the stairs to my room. Maybe Kole could give some input on this. So, I gave him a call.
“Hello?” answered Kole.
“Hey!” I replied as I made sure my bedroom door was good and shut. “I was wanting to ask you a few questions.”
“Figured you may have a few, shoot.”
“So, I talked to the doctor today, and she recommended me to a support group? Is that like a normal thing?”
“I don’t know of any. I think that’s more of an exotic change thing. You know, I’m a mammal turning into a mammal. Mammal to bird or reptile is kind of a bigger deal.”
“What do you mean bigger deal? It’s just a change like yours, right?”
“Well, my biggest thing is becoming an herbivore. Other than that, the general idea is the same when it comes to body parts. Birds, though, have different anatomy, right? So, the changes you have may differ from those I would have.”
“I get that, but how different can it really be? Feathers instead of fur, beak instead of antlers…” My questions seemed to bounce off Kole.
“Well, you remember high school biology, right? You know reproduction in animals…” Kole’s voice sounded reluctant to speak.
“Well, that is different, but if you mean like laying eggs, that is a female thing, and I don’t think that’s too much to worry about.”
“Well, just know it can be different, and because of that, it can be hard to wrap your mind around,” he laughed. “If you don’t know now, you will later.”
Kole was audibly getting uncomfortable, so maybe now was the time to end that bit. We talked in general about the appointment, trying to avoid going deeper into anatomy.
“So, taking nude photos of my body is normal?”
“Yeah, I get them whenever I have a change between visits. You get used to it.”
“I guess I don’t get how that helps me any. It’s not like I’d love to have an album of me losing my humanity.”
“I think they are still trying to find out why it happens. I mean, I wish I knew why.”
We finished up shortly after. I decided to work on some assignments for class tomorrow, hoping to get my mind off breaking the news.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIING
My alarm clock scared the hell out of me, as usual. I got up and started getting my stuff ready for class. I started putting on some shorts and a T-shirt, but when I pulled up my shorts, I felt a pressure where my shorts elastic landed on my back. I pulled them a little high, and it went away.
I hopped on my bike and made my way to the college. Upon entering, I noticed Kole was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone to class early. I’d just catch him in between classes.
I walked into my “Basics of Programming” class, sat down, and tried my best to pay attention. Unfortunately, the contacts I got to hide my eyes were just terribly annoying. I was glad I wasn’t struggling in that class, because my mind could not stay on topic.
The class was over, and in between classes, I could not find Kole anywhere. Assuming he’d chosen to take today off, I decided to skip my next class. My grades were doing well in it, so one day shouldn’t hurt. I left the college on my bike and made my way down the street.
Glancing down at the card in my hand, the printed text read out the place’s location.
Avian Associates
1765 Grayson Street
The building was actually a house in the middle of the college neighborhood. As I walked up to the door, I heard multiple voices talking inside. Should I really be here? Is this all just too cheesy? I quickly knocked before having a chance to rethink it anymore.
The door opened. Out looked a man with feathers covering the majority of his head, feathers of black, white, and red. As he looked at me, I could see red feathers on the top of his head lifted up, almost looking intrigued.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
I didn’t know what to say to him as I stood there, mouth agape.
“Wrong address, maybe? Are you sure you’re not looking for AKO?” he asked, the feathers atop his head raised further.
I slowly shook my head no.
“Here for the meeting, maybe?”
I slowly nodded my head up and down.
“Ok then, are you able to speak? Because I’m sorry, but twenty questions isn’t my game tonight.” He laughed as he stretched out his hand. It was pretty standard looking, other than his arm covered in feathers, with a few longer feathers hanging about a foot and a half down. The skin of his hand was dark gray and looked utterly wrong on his arm(wing?)
“Name’s Damien, yours?” the feathered man asked.
“Lyall… I’m kind of…”
“New to this? he interrupted. “It’s cool, everyone has to start somewhere. Come on in, and I’ll introduce you to the crew.”
Not knowing for sure what to do, I just followed him in. Once in the house’s great room, I saw a few others standing around chatting. In the corner, I saw a red bird talking to what looked like an almost entirely changed crow of some sort. I saw the bird kid from the doctor yesterday sitting on a chair sideways at the end of the bar, making room for his tail feathers to hang unobstructed. Behind the bar, was one with black feathers. Standing beside them was another person with dark gray feathers around her face.
“So, this is the crew. Say what you want, but it’s a pretty fun bunch.”
Everyone was starting to take notice that I was now in the room.
“Guys, I’d like to introduce you all to Linus…I mean Lyall. He is here for our meeting,” Damien said, almost seeming like he was trying to give a hint to everyone.
The red bird spoke up, “So what are you then?” He approached me. “Are you another damned crow or something different for once?”
I didn’t know what to say to that, really. I stood there dumbfounded, staring at the short man adorned in red feathers.
“I’m sure he is here with nothing but good intentions,” Damien said to the red bird, then turned to me.
“Don’t let him get to ya. Nash just can’t come to terms with the fact that he will be the prettiest one here.” This got a chuckle out of a few of the others.
“Let’s get names out of the way then.” Damien pointed to the partially changed black bird. “This is Barclay, and he is our resident crow.” Next, he looked at the other black bird.
“This is Mathew. He may look like a crow, but he’s actually a Raven. Truly I don’t care what he is, but he and Barclay seem to care a bit too much about it.”
“Same family, different species,” said Barclay.
“This is Benji and Rylie. They are our Toucan and Peregrine,” Damien said, pointing to the other two.
“And as you know, I’m Damien, the woodpecker, and this is Nash, our little hot-headed cardinal,” Damien said sarcastically.
“Whatever, Mr. One-of-a-kind,” Nash joked back.
“So why don’t you tell us about yourself? Maybe a name and how you found us,” Damien said, shuffling his arms.
“I’m… uhh, Lyall. I just found out two days ago that I’m a hawk of some kind and was referred here by my doctor.”
“Hawk, you say?” Nash replied questioningly, “What makes you think that?” Nash’s eyes squinted as he panned his head down.
“Well, I guess my eyes and something that happened to me.” Reaching up, I removed my contacts and everything became crystal clear. Now that I could see some detail, I could see that everyone had a mishmash of clothing, and some had very little.
“Those are definitely not human, that’s for sure,” Nash remarked. “Is that your only change so far?”
“Well, as far as I can tell. At least, the doc didn’t notice anything else.”
An arm wrapped around my neck and onto my shoulder, the feathers scratching my skin. The black feathers hanging from it bent and led to the arm, lifting up slightly. I looked over to see it was Damien.
“Well, welcome to the club, Lyall,” Damien shouted. “You have a long way to go, but now you’re here. Do you need a room, or what can we do ya for?”
“A room? I thought this was a support group?”
“Well, I guess since we know you are legit, we can spill the beans. You could say the whole Avian Associates thing is kind of a front, but not in a terrible way. It’s really just a way for us to fund space to hang out or live. The original guy who started it just needed a way to fund a place for him and some friends to stay after they were kicked out for changing. So, make up a group that sounds like an Alcoholics Anonymous rip-off, and they were set,” Damien explained, unsure of the explanation’s quality.
I tried to wrap my head around it. Everything was fake? Did I somehow get wrapped up in a bird-themed frat house?
“So, what exactly do you guys do here?”
“I and two of the others live here full time. Rylie and Matthew live here with me.” Damien looked over at the two. “Matthew lived alone anyways and used to work as a store clerk. It’s hard to keep working when a beak slowly emerges from your face.”
Matthew looked over at us after overhearing Damien. “It’s a bit distracting! But hey, life is short, right?”
Damien continued, “Rylie lived dormitory-style but was forced out a few months after her changes started. She’s a bit upset over the whole situation.”
Rylie started, “Well, apparently, changes are fine if you’re a dog who reeks of heat every few weeks. But as soon as springtime rolls around, apparently, birds take it too far.”
Both Matthew and Rylie were pretty far into their changes. Rylie had a lower half that looked more falcon than human. She wore no pants as every bit of her skin was covered in scaly skin or feathers from the chest down. Matthew wore pants, but the rear had a divot, making room for his tail feathers. He sported a black beak that was curved at the top and had feathers going down his neck and chest, which had no clothing covering it. Small feathers peppered his arms.
“By the way,” Damien interrupted, “You may see some things here that could be a bit uncomfortable. Spring can be a… rough time for some of us more advanced people. If you ever feel uncomfortable, just say something. We all understand.”
I had heard of some folks having issues with their changes during different seasons. Some mammals can find their bodies trying to hibernate. Not a huge deal for most, but still a pain to go through.
Benji walked over to us. “Don’t worry, bro. At least you’re not someone from the tropics. When I finish, I don’t have too many options like-“
He was quickly cut off by Damien. “Yeah, uhh, Benji, let’s not discuss that right now.” He gave Benji a bit of a half-serious and half-joking glare.
I looked at Benji a bit better now that he was in front of us. Black feathers covered the back of his head, neck, and back. A few were starting to grow on his chest, but it mostly had bare human skin still. His feet were bird’s feet, light blue in color. When he walked, he tended to make a skipping motion. The underside of his tail was white, and red feathers covered what I assumed were his pride areas.
While talking with Damien and Benji, my phone began to ring. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was my mother; a lone text message was displayed.
“Get home soon we need to talk about some mail here”
Could it be a letter from the college? I missed a few registration papers deadlines, but they got turned in.
“Looks like I need to head out.”
Everyone said their goodbyes, and Damien walked me to the door.
“Remember, you can swing by anytime for as long as you want. See this as your second home. We have all been through it.”
It cooled off some while riding my bike home. On the way, I put on the fake contacts to hide my golden-brown eyes. I knew I would have to tell my mom, but wasn’t sure when would be a great time to break that news.
Walking into the house, I saw Mom sat at the table with some folded-up letters in front of her, and she looked beyond pissed. The low light made it hard to make out the logo on the letter, but there was some sort of eagle and a few letters.
“Hey, Mom, how has your day been?” attempting to break the silence. She slowly looked up and turned her head.
“Quite. Eventful.”
“Well, mine was a bit of a day. I went-“
She interrupted me, “A bit of a day? Sounds like it has been a few.”
Did she somehow know? What could I have done to set her off this bad?
“I knew that Kole was a bad influence,” her face turned bitter as she shook her head. “I knew he was bad news since he started changing.”
She knew. There was nothing else it could have been.
“Now I get letters from the CDC about someone who claims they live at this address being found to have the same thing he does! Are they really trying to scare a two-person home into believing one of them is becoming a freak?”
Sweat started to soak my shirt, nervously trying to keep my hands from shaking. She didn’t seem to know that the letter was talking about me.
“I could never raise a child and not know they would change into some freak. What do they take me for?” She roared.
“I’m not sure, but I really don’t think it has anything to do with Kole. They just got the wrong address, no big deal,” trying to keep the image of confidence as I spoke.
“Well, I still think you should rethink spending time with that kid without knowing how this spreads. It’s a death sentence, if you ask me.”
Warmth overcame the back of my neck like a hot rag. This whole situation had my nerves in a fit. I reached my hand back to try and cool my neck, but when my hand made contact, it was not with skin but a soft padding before I felt the pressure. Trying not to react, I froze. I tried to relax but was unable. The more I thought about it, the worse it was. The warmth spread up my neck and down my back.
“… If you hear anything in class, let me know,” she finally said in a calmer voice.
I didn’t realize she was still going on about it. I brought my hand down to my side. I could feel the feathers rubbing the wrong way on my shirt and into my hair. I tried to keep a calm face. But she could tell something was off.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed. Have an early day tomorrow,” I said while backing towards the stairs.
She looked at me, almost puzzled. Once I made it out of view, I started up the stairs. Once in my room, I looked in the mirror. The feathers were falling out, and I tried to catch as many as possible as they fell. I had known before that certain things could trigger accidental and purposeful changes. If you can revert them quickly, they are not always permanent. The further the changes go and the longer they stay, the harder it is to return.
Collecting as many feathers as possible, I heard the thumping of the stairs. Someone was coming up!
I tried to think quickly. My options were either to have feathers falling from me or try to hide them as is. I closed my eyes and imagined the warmth again. It slowly became a reality as I did, and reaching back once again to feel the feathers. The doorknob jostled as it turned.
I turned to face the door, and it opened. It was again my mom; a rusty brown feather was in her hand. I looked into my hand, cupping it away from her, and inside was an identical feather. She looked directly at me and asked a simple question.
“When were you going to tell me?”