Raven (22 page)

As I
ran, I could feel a dramatic change within me. A fierce pain shot
through my entire body, stopping me dead in my tracks. I screamed
out in agony and at the same time noticed that Oliver had stopped
abruptly and turned to see why I had yelped so loudly. For a
moment, Oliver became the least of my problems as I felt my body
trying to shut itself down. It was trying to black out. I fought
the feeling to lose consciousness and remained awake throughout the
process in which my body began to radically change beyond all
recognition.

I had
been wondering when this would happen but had not prepared myself
for the fact that it might happen during the most inopportune time.
Why, oh why did it have to happen while Oliver was
there?

The
ferocity of the pain continued to attack my every pore and I felt
as though I wanted to die, and although it felt like this change
took a long time, I knew deep down that it had almost been
instantaneous.

I knew
then that I was no longer the innocent young fourteen-year-old girl
that had been chasing after Sammy and Oliver in the forest. And as
I looked down, I saw the full extent of my new self. I saw that in
place of my long pale arms and legs were four limbs of a completely
different nature. Long, lean, incredibly strong and covered in soft
black fur, I knew that my change into a feline was complete.
Judging from my size, I realised that I wasn't your average house
cat but a much larger animal. To my horror, it dawned on me that I
had become one of the most fierce feline creatures in the region. I
had morphed into a black mountain lion and I will never forget the
look of absolute terror on Oliver's face at the sight of me. It
would haunt me forever.

I had no
idea what to do. For some reason I had not questioned Rose enough
about the physical changes that happen during a transformation and
we had certainly never discussed what I should do when it did
occur.

After
witnessing Sammy fly off into the distance, Oliver had then seen me
become something terrifying, especially in his eyes. I watched as
the utter shock of it all caused him to collapse right in front of
my eyes.

Terrified that the shock had killed him, I rushed to his side
and put my head above his mouth. I could feel his breath and his
heartbeat was strong yet incredibly fast – I could hear and almost
feel the rhythmic beating without even touching him. I dared not
touch him in case he suddenly awoke. That would be an even greater
shock, I was sure of it.

I came
to the conclusion that he had most likely fainted. He needed to be
taken back to the house but, being on four legs I knew I couldn't
do it myself. I had no choice but to call out to Sammy and hope
that he was merely hiding and had not flown too far
away.

Forgetting that I couldn't call out his name, I tried to make
some kind of noise to get his attention. It was difficult but I
managed a deep howl. He returned almost immediately, landing just a
few metres away from us. I could just see his face and I knew that
he was not afraid of what I had become. He had witnessed his own
girlfriend change into a cat, albeit briefly, and so the sight of
me changing wasn't something that caused too much
concern.

As if
reading my mind, he approached quickly, bending down to pick up the
still unconscious Oliver. He walked as fast as he could back to the
house, while at the same time I rushed off into the distance,
heading towards the one person I knew would be able to help me in
these strange circumstances. I ran as fast as my hind legs would
propel me, trying to keep myself hidden, until I reached Rose's
house.

I let
out another howl as soon as I arrived, causing all of the other
cats in the vicinity to howl back. Rose appeared quickly in the
doorway, a look of concern across her face.

I
approached her, not knowing how to tell her what had happened but
she knew something wasn't right. As she peered down at me
fearlessly, I bowed my head and looked to the ground, trying hard
to think of a way to let her know that it was me. But I needn't
have worried, for she knew immediately who I was.

“
So it
has happened, Lilly,” she said softly and I nodded, “I knew you
would become a special beast. A black mountain lion, eh?
Excellent,” she chuckled.

Rose
then stepped right up to me and bent down so our faces were
parallel to each other. She looked deep into my eyes and sensed the
urgency.

I
watched as she made the immediate decision to change too, “for
speed,” she had whispered while still in human form. I nodded and
then watched as the old lady morphed into a creature of grace,
beauty and speed – all in a matter of seconds, completely silently
except for the ripping of her clothes. It appeared that her change
had happened painlessly.

It was
only when she had become a smaller cat than me that we could
communicate effectively. Although we were unable to physically
speak to each other, we were able to read each other's minds. I
explained to her exactly what had happened and I listened intently
as she responded, telling me that we needed to get to Oliver
immediately.

She
sprang into action, leaping quickly and effortlessly down through
the tall trees in the direction of my home. I followed as quickly
as I could, noticing that we were using a different route to that
which I had become accustomed. An easier route for beasts that
could move the way we could, fitting through gaps within the trees
that I would have struggled with in my human form.

I had
little time to dwell on the change that had happened to me but I
did notice a few things. My senses were like nothing I'd ever
experienced before. Not only could I smell things I would never
have even noticed, my eyesight and hearing were second to none too.
But I couldn't think about that. I needed to think about Oliver.
What had I done? We would never be the same again. He would hate me
and wouldn't even want to lay his eyes on me, probably for the rest
of his life.

I knew
there was nothing I could do to change his feelings for me. I just
hoped that he would be able to keep our secret. That was even more
important than anything else now.

As I
followed behind Rose, my mind strayed again and I couldn't help but
notice how gracefully she moved. Graceful in human form, graceful
in feline form – she was a true beauty.

Minutes
later as we arrived at home, I wondered how I would change back. I
had no idea how I had changed in the first place so I didn't know
what to do. I watched as Rose didn't even give it a second thought.
Well practised in the art, I watched as the cat grew larger, the
fur giving way to pale skin and the whiskers disappearing from her
face, her claws becoming long slender fingers. I was about to
discover an unfortunate side effect of the change though, as she
stood up proudly, I saw that she was completely naked.

She
looked down at me and smiled, “It's something you'll have to get
used to, I'm afraid,” she said.

“
I've
had many years to come to terms with it,” and then she opened the
front door and tiptoed in quietly. I skulked in behind her,
watching her as she opened a cupboard that I hadn't even noticed
before and pulled out a pair of black trousers, a grey sweater and
a pair of black pumps, which she hastily dressed herself
with.

“
I'll
explain later,” she whispered.

Sammy
appeared then, recognising Rose's dulcet tones.

“
He's
still out cold,” he whispered, “I didn't want to try and wake him
in case he freaked out again. I think he's okay though.”

Rose
nodded and told us to stay out of the room. She didn't want him to
wake up and see us before he saw anyone else. She asked Sammy to
call Gabriel immediately.

After he
had done so, he came over to me and gently put his hand on the back
of my neck, “Don't worry, Lilly. I'm sure everything will be all
right.”

I let
out a sigh and sat down on the cold stone floor, wishing I could
morph back into human form. I wanted to speak to Sammy so badly but
I couldn't. There was no way he could understand me so I just
curled up on the floor, waiting. Waiting for something to
happen.

We heard
Rose's voice from Gabriel's bedroom, where Sammy had lay Oliver
down until he came to. Although we couldn't hear what she was
saying, we could tell that she was reasoning with him.
Occasionally, his voice could be heard too – but he never shouted.
There was no anger there, which was at least something to soothe my
worrying head.

It
wasn't much later when I heard the sounds of an engine roaring up
the driveway. Gabriel was home. I leapt up, not sure what to do
with myself but before I could do anything, Gabriel was at the
door, opening it.

As he
rushed in, he gasped at the sight of me with Sammy.

Speechless for a second, he suddenly gushed,
“Lilly?”

I nodded
and rushed to his side, brushing my head against his legs gently. I
was afraid he might be angry but he looked so proud and he smiled
at me warmly for a moment until Sammy filled him in on the
evening's events.

“
Oliver?” he said, “Where is he?”

“
Rose
is with him now. They're in your room.”

He
patted me on the head and told us both to just stay in the living
room out of the way until he had spoken to him.

I was
desperate to see Oliver for myself. I was desperate to speak to him
and plead forgiveness for keeping this from him. But the sight of
me wouldn't help my case.

I
watched as the door shut slowly behind Gabriel and waited
patiently, not able to do anything but pace up and down the living
room floor.

“
Come
and sit down, Lilly. There's nothing you can do,” said Sammy
kindly.

I shook
my head and sighed heavily, wishing that there was something I
could do.

Then the
phone rang. Knowing that he shouldn't answer it in case it was
someone other than a family member, he picked it up without saying
a word and listened carefully. It was Jo, however. Relieved to hear
a friendly voice, he recounted what had happened and she told him
she would be right over.

Luckily
she only lived a stone's throw away so she arrived within a few
minutes.

With a
gentle knock on the door, Sammy gingerly peered through the window
to make sure it was her. When he saw that it was, he opened the
door and she stepped in, becoming speechless at the sight of me in
all my feline glory.

“
Wow,
Lilly. This is amazing. You're a... you're a mountain lion. A black
one!” she exclaimed, stating the obvious. “Do you mind if I stroke
your head?” she asked tentatively.

I shook
my head and she moved closer to me and I felt her hand softly touch
the top of my head and move slowly down my back. It was a soothing
motion, helping me to feel a bit calmer after everything that had
happened.

Suddenly
the bedroom door opened and Rose appeared, shutting it behind
her.

“
It's
good of you to come, Jo. I think Lilly needs as much support as she
can get right now. I'm afraid Oliver's not taking this very
well.”

I sighed
loudly once again, wishing I could rewind time and save Oliver and
myself all this heartache. Although he was probably feeling
something far more than heartache – shock, outright disgust,
perhaps?

As the
three spoke amongst themselves for a few moments, I tried to will
myself to change back, closing my eyes hard and thinking, 'change,
change, change'. But nothing happened and so I had no choice but to
wait until it occurred naturally.

“
Well,
I have said everything that I can say and done everything that I
can do. Gabriel is the best person to reason with Oliver at this
stage, so I think you and I should go back to my house, Lilly. Jo,
can you stay for a while? Gabriel might need you.”

Jo
agreed and asked whether she should call anyone else.

“
I'll
leave that up to Gabriel. He will let you know. Just wait for him,
okay?”

Again
she nodded, “I'll make us some tea, Sammy. You two go. Don't worry.
I'm sure everything will be all right.”

Rose
beckoned me to follow her as she opened the front door and so we
walked in silence for a few minutes before she turned to look at me
and smiled.

“
A
mountain lion, eh?” she said with pride. “Your mother would have
been so proud of you, Lilly. Of course we knew that you wouldn't
just be any old cat... or raven,” she added.

It was
then that I thought about ravens. I had become a cat, not a bird.
Gabriel must have been a little disappointed that I had inherited
my mother's genes and not my father's. Especially considering there
was no other family member, at that stage, that was able to become
the bird of our ancestors.

I
thought how great it would have been to be able to fly, but as I
looked around at my surroundings and smelled the wonderful things I
could smell and heard the extraordinary things I could hear, I
didn't feel any disappointment. Although I still wondered how I was
going to return to my old self and I dreaded the pain that I had
felt earlier that evening, I was still amazed at my whole
transformation.