7:56 PM

5 hours, 53 minutes after tattoos emerged

The Seattle reporter was appealing for her age, maybe a lot younger than the anchors at the studio. In her tight, dark red suit and holding a black umbrella open, shielding her from the intense downpour of the Pacific northwest rain, she talked to a woman whose bed was on the benches of the crystal-littered Pioneer Square. I don’t know how to describe her without insulting anybody, but she was big, like two teenagers’ combined weight big. She was a black woman with donated clothes that were either too big or too tight all under a raincoat, wore no makeup, her black hair wound in dreads and tied in a bundle, an unrecognizable accent full of slurs, and she held a handbag full of all of her possessions. She had a glowing African tattoo that covered the right side of her face and neck.

Katie was sitting on my lap with my arms wrapped over her belly.

“At least you two didn’t get it on your faces,” Mike pointed out.

“Mike, hush, it’s still going,” Ashley said.

The woman was explaining to the reporter how she was the first in the city to get her tattoo, and how much it had hurt six hours ago. As the reporter was ending the interview the woman’s tattoo grew brighter and she complained that her face and stomach were burning with pain. I curiously cocked my head to the side and we all leaned closer.

In a minute she had collapsed onto the sidewalk, seizing and convulsing uncontrollably. The screams and curses she made caused me to hug Katie tighter and she gripped my scarred arms. The woman’s tattoo grew brighter and exploded, erupting with a bluish-white marbleized liquid growing and sticking to her body like glue. I yelled as it happened and felt my insides shift.

More liquid came from the rest of her body, dissolving and burning the clothes off her back. The reporter, cameraman and other witnesses pulled back, freaking out. The marbleizing woman crawled to the fence screaming for her life as a strange circle on the ground surrounded her. The liquid covered her entire obese, naked body as violent winds appeared. Everything was blindingly bright, and debris flew when a stray rod from the fence smashed through the camera, ending the video. The television cut back to CNN as everybody was scrambling to get more information.

“Shut it off,” I said calmly. “Shut it off, Mike.”

Mike grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned off the television.

The apartment was quiet except for the sound of our breathing. Mike and Ashley looked at Katie and me, their hands gripping each other’s tightly, and their bodies shaking slightly. Katie and I exchanged looks, our faces stunned, and we looked down at each other’s tattoos.

“Katie, what time is it?” I asked quietly.

She looked at the clock on the wall over the door, “Eight-o-one.”

I gulped and my mind went into panic mode. “My… god.”

It was two minutes after eight, and my hand and chest winced from explosive pain.

One powerful burst of squeezing pain in my gut made me scream. Katie slid off my lap as I coughed. My right hand lit up with pain and I was unable to move the fingers.

“Scott, what’s… ahh,” Katie grunted gripping her shoulder and stomach, then slumped to the floor.

Ashley became petrified. “Dear God, it’s happening!”

“Ahh… outside,” I grunted. “Must get… outside.”

I grabbed Katie’s hand and pulled her up, ignoring her plea of pain. My tattooed hand felt it was on fire, and pain jabbed through my palm. Not asking Mike for help, I jerked the door open and stood over the stairs. The cold air and snowstorm did nil for my comfort. My vision was blurred from the strain but I could see light from the fixtures mounted on the wall, and the orange glow from the ski resort’s lights in the clouds. Another sharp stab of pain hit my gut and caused me to let go of Katie before I tumbled down the steps. I landed in a pillow of snow, face up, and screaming in horror from several bruises. Katie followed, controlling herself enough to stay upright and descend the stairs while keeping a hold of the handrail.

I heard voices all around me, and saw shadows of people coming to see the commotion. Everything sounded muffled to me. “Scott, calm the fuck down. Did you break anything?” Mike talked louder than the rest, he must’ve run down after me and let Ashley take care of Katie. No bones were broken, but the pain in my stomach and hand grew, going from unbearably hot to an electric shock. Mike dragged me and propped me against the Element’s front bumper.

“Get, ah… away from me!” I screamed with my teeth clenched. “You’re going to die if you don’t da… get away!” My right hand began to shake uncontrollably. In my clouded vision I picked could see Katie in the snow on her back, screaming and convulsing. Ashley was on the stairs, staying far away from us and screaming at Mike to get away.

My chest felt like everything inside of me was moving, and raging raging hell against one another. My uniform shirt felt tight and I looked down at my large belly, it was moving on its own and I had an awful thought that it was going to erupt. Using my stable left hand, I lifted my shirt up. Something was moving inside of me, slithering through my organs and planting itself below my heart.

“Oh, god, no!”

My hearing began to fade, still barely catching Katie’s voice. I looked at her and saw her tattoo getting brighter and brighter, my tattoo was getting more intense as well. The mark on my hand had become its own light source in the night; my veins and arteries were engorged all over, deepening to a deep, dark blue. All of a sudden, an unseen force pushed the crippled car right out from under me, causing my convulsing body to fall back onto the snow-covered street. The car stopped twenty yards away, crashing into a building’s corner. The same force that sent the car screeching away hit Mike, and he was sent flying, nearly hitting the backside of his truck with his head.

Then the moment I feared happened. My tattoo erupted with white hot pain as a fountain of the blue liquid covered my hand, shrinking around into a tight glove. I heard Katie scream as her tattoo erupted and the blue liquid worked its way up her neck and down her arm.

It acted as a symbiote, feeling warm and smooth against my skin, moving menacingly and relentlessly to cover me. The blue kept growing to cover my whole arm, gripping the hairs and cells. I managed to rip some of it off with my left hand, but the blue grabbed onto my fingers and began growing up my other arm. Both growths reached my shoulders and chest, and dissolved my shirt into nothing. Isolated eruptions came from my legs, feet, and back, dissolving cotton and leather like my shirt before it. They felt more painful than the first. My lower half was smurfed and kept growing until I looked like I wore a skin tight catsuit, every crevice of my body touched.

I kept on screaming until my throat was dry and burned from exhaustion. The same circle from before appeared, it surrounded me and grew brighter in the snow. I blinked to clear my vision and saw a double circle with familiar Celtic symbols within the ring, the same as my pendent as it disappeared under the liquid. The last image I saw before the liquid swallowed my head was Katie, now consumed, naked, and seizing uncontrollably before the circle created a cocoon of blue light. The liquid covered her mouth, but did not shut it.

The liquid closed over my head and eyes before I made one last scream of agony, making one last impression on the universe before my body blew up and killed whoever was too close to me. The suit made me feel claustrophobic and I lost control of my body. This is it, I thought, I’m going to die. Please, God, don’t take my life. Give me a second chance!

I waited for the white tunnel.

In the darkness, my heartbeat was the only sound.

I saw no white light, no angels playing golden harps, no monastery monks singing, no gates for me to open, nothing. Just the sound of me… alive. The pain was gone. It didn’t feel right that I was alive while dead. I managed to settle my senses enough to find that I was face down on a cool, smooth surface.

I opened my eyes and was blinded a little from bright light. I sat up straight to take in a breath of cool air. The light died down enough for me to see a white and black marble floor, flawless, no cracks or imperfections. It felt real. My clothes were undamaged and the tattoo was still on my hand.

I looked around at the big round room that I occupied. The room was lit with woks belching flames, black pillars with brown stripes along their sides were perched to hold up the dome ceiling. Everything was black and white marble. Between the pillars were windows overlooking a lush green countryside in the high noon sun, with grey rocks in rolling hills. The marble ceiling held a Celtic symbol I did not recognize.

“Where am I?” I said to the emptiness, my voice echoed against the marble. “Is this heaven, or a dream?”

“What? Who said that?” A deep male voice called from behind me. “Eh, must be hearing things again.”

I whirled around to stare down a narrow hallway leading to another room in the same structure, and where the voice had come from. It was the only place for me to go and so I thought maybe there was a door out of here from there. I hoped that whoever spoke up on the other side could explain this place and how I could get back home. I got up and walked to the voice, curious and cautious of everything.

I was awestruck by the detail of the building, it was as if the whole structure was carved out of a single block of marble with the utmost care. Between the white and black marble, I felt no seams as I grazed my fingers over the pillars. I entered the hallway, leaving only a few inches of space between my arms and the walls. I blinked erratically, inspecting the walls, lined with Celtic symbols in different colors of marble, all similar in tribal design. One part was a battle scene, causing my spine to shiver. It was a man, humanoid, clad in armor, holding his arm up and shooting lightning bolts at a bug-like creature. Within the symbols, I could pick out the same as was on my pendant.

I reached to my neck and the silver pendant was still there.

It must be a temple, I thought. The Celts didn’t have something remarkable as this—Ireland and Scotland don’t have marble as far as I know—and if it was heaven, where is everybody?

I entered the other circular room, it was bigger than the last, and cluttered with familiar items: leather bound books, papers heaped in piles on the floor, a wide window taking up half of the room to let natural light pass through, and the center had a group of steps stacked like a wedding cake. In the center there was a tree-like pedestal holding a thick book bound in green and black leather. I could not find the source of the voice, but did hear some sort of low mumbling and whining coming from the other side of the steps.

“Oh, no,” the voice screamed, “how can this be happening to Scott? Holy shit, did his back crack and reshape? Is he dying from this? Man, I think I’m getting sick.”

I stepped onto the steps to peer over at a glowing circle carved into the floor displaying a blue, obese, convulsing body. I shuttered when I saw who it was—me. I saw myself in pain, yet I felt nothing.

At the edge of the circle sat a dog with its back turned; a brown and white Siberian husky with a black Celtic tribal symbol on its back. Its curled tail twitched in nervousness.

“Sir, where are you?” I asked, looking around the clutter of books and papers.

“Huh?” Huffed the voice. I then turned to the voice, from the dog.

The dog’s head turned to me, it’s albino eyes locking onto mine. It was curious at first, and then looked stunned as his mouth dropped. Eyes bugging, he said one word. “Scott?”

Hear me out: when you’re in a strange building and you come across a talking animal, witnessing whatever the hell is going on, you have every given right to freak out.

I turned and ran.

I heard the husky scuttle on the slick marble and come after me saying, “Hey, wait a minute, we need to talk.”

“No talk,” I yelled as I jumped over a stack of books. Once I was three feet from the hallway and thinking about breaking the windows to escape, something heavy plowed into my back. I careened and crashed into a tower of papers, but I felt no paper cuts on my face.

I turned over, removing papers from my face when the dog pounced onto my chest to knock the wind out of me, its head directly over mine. It started to sniff my chest and neck frantically. It gasped and started licking me, thick saliva coated my face. I thought oh shit, I’m this mutt’s dinner, but it talked again with a big fat grin showing off its white fangs, sharp to tear through flesh. “Scott, is it really you?”

I wanted to get away but I was too stunned to move.

“It is you!” It started rubbing itself against me like a damp towel in the summer heat. “Oh, it is so long since I’ve seen you, Scott. My host, my master, and my good buddy buddy finally present in his Inner Sanctum at long last. I can’t be dreaming, it has to be real. It has to.” The dog’s fur smothered me, keeping me silent. It began to sob in glee. “I-I thought I would never see you in person again. This is a dream come true.”

What the? What’s wrong with this dog?

“Get off me you freak,” I yelled.

I pushed the dog off of me and I was free to stand up. It collected itself and sat on a clutter of parchments to face me, a grin was still painted on its face.

“Now just, just stay the hell away from me, dog,” I said, backing up into a defensive karate position. “I am ready to defend myself if you do that sick move you did on me.”

Its ears lowered, “Scott, don’t you remember me? I’m your totem, Keeji. How can you not remember me?”

I blinked, “Totem? What are you talking about? You better tell me what is happening here or else I will wail on you like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Aw, don’t be so dramatic, I won’t hurt you. I’m your spirit guide, your conscious, the little annoying voice in your head. You know, that sort of thing. You just couldn’t hear me screaming at you for the past twenty-three years of your life.”

It had to be a dream. Dogs don’t talk, that’s a real world fact, plus he had said the exact same number of years as how old I am. “Look, whoever you are, I do not care. I want some solid answers from you of what’s happening to me.” I looked around and picked up an object. “If not, this will go straight for your head.”

“Oh, that’s funny,” Keeji laughed, “you’re willing to beat me with a book on your embarrassing childhood moments? Classic.”

Curious, I looked at the cover: Scott’s Embarrassing Moments, Bathroom Edition—Ages 0-5. “What the?”

“Titled it myself.”

I shook my head and tossed the book aside, “This has got to be a horrible nightmare.”

“If it was a nightmare, you’d be awake in a cold sweat and staining the sheets. Besides, it is you who finally found a way into your own mind to find me.”

“I didn’t. I was too busy feeling my body be torn apart and become a living bomb.”

“Bomb? Scott you’re still alive, I think, I don’t know. I can try kicking you in the nuts just because. Go see what is happening to your body’s image over there. Trust me, I’m more petrified than you.” Keeji pointed to the circle with his muzzle.

I looked down at him with a questioning eye, but sidestepped to the circle, making sure that the dog did not pounce on me again. The silent screaming image of me still made me wince.

My eyes scanned the blue body, but something was amiss. When my body was on all fours and whipping its head around, it started to act like it was throwing up. I cursed as I saw the image becoming thin and muscular, beer belly disappearing, forming into the likeness of an athlete. I still didn’t feel it, but the sight made my nerves twitch from imagining the pain.

“Okay, that’s peculiar,” Keeji said. He stood next to the pedestal. “Wait a minute, Scott look at your ass!” He meant the image.

The top of my crack on the image was bulging out and my spine lengthened, forming a three-foot tail with plated armor on top in a matter of seconds. More of the same plates appeared along my spine, neck, forearms, and shins.

“Jeez, you’re transforming into an anthro lizard!” Keeji yelled in panic.

I don’t know where he got that first word. I had never heard of it, nor would I want to know. He was wrong, by the way.

The last bit of the change was my ears, they grew and molded into elongated elf ears. My image then threw itself on its back and the convulsions eased, only to lessen as a small bulge in the center of my torso shrank.

The Inner Sanctum began to shake beneath my feet and a strong wind from nowhere disturbed the loose papers. Keeji whimpered where he stood, looking uneasy and vulnerable. The wind blew upwards and made me look at the ceiling, painted with a maelstrom symbol. The solid marble cracked and twisted to form a colorful vortex. I felt lighter and my clothes flapped against my chest, the vortex was sucking me in.

Keeji shrieked and used his front paws to hug the base of the pedestal. “Oh, please, I’m too young to die,” he protested, the wind became stronger and his back side sailed into the air, his claws digging into the wood with deep marks as he screamed for dear life.

I too grabbed a hold of it; the book lay undisturbed. My feet were lifted towards the vortex. Teeth clenched and grunting under my breath, I glanced at the book. It was dark green leather, decorated with silver and brown accents and handmade etches of a thick forest—quite beautiful if you ever get a chance to look at it. Celtic vines bordered the cover and it was shut closed tight by a silver lock.

Keeji lost his grip and went flailing into the vortex, but not before he ran himself into my face and jerked my head back. My grip was gone. He howled and flailed his legs while I cursed at him.

Inside I felt the familiar pain rush at me, hitting my nerves as hard and direct like as a train. The pain was excruciating, a lot more painful that than the liquid suit. But as what I saw from the blue body, I felt the changes, all at once.

Screaming, I blacked out again, hearing the husky howl once more.

I woke up on my back, my throat was dry and my lungs were exhausted. My eyes were still forced shut by the suit, but it loosened and tore itself from my face like a spa mask.

As I blinked, I could see the clouded night sky, I could feel the snowfall tickle my face. It felt soothing after the gut-wrenching pain. More of the suit left my body and I just barely gained control of my limbs, they shook from lack of energy. Instead of the pieces dissolving, they levitated above me for a second and then rushed to an identical but smaller circle to my right side, and collected into a floating blue orb. The ground inside my circle was clean and dry of snow, the blacktop felt warm from the transformation. The orb grew and molded into something grotesque but familiar.

Once the entire suit was gone, I was naked, exposing everything to the world.

The circle’s glow died, but its mark was burned into the pavement.

My nose was instantly filled with the hideous smell of burned fat. To my left and on my back I felt liquefied body fat—my body fat—mixed with putrid black stuff. Puking was beyond me.

Even worse, I heard voices from other people.

I attempted to sit up but couldn’t. I rolled onto my right side to use my arm for support. Keeji’s floating body was three quarters done; I was seeing all his internal organs, bones, skin, and pelt grow right before me. Once his head was complete, he was washed in a sea of light and dropped onto the street, taking in his first breaths of air in the real world. He looked around, then to me with glowing blue eyes. Keeji was frightened and started cursing. The people were too.

Sitting I stared at my improvements. I didn’t care if people looked; there was no way to run from it. I was thin, hairless and still had the same skin tone as before, but I had developed muscle everywhere, even an impressive six pack, leaving no evidence of obesity. Somewhere inside, I was happy to not have to deal with a beer belly any more, but that was snuffed by my fear. From my wrists to my elbows, shins too, scale plates embedded in the muscle surrounded them and felt firm to the touch. My right hand was free of the tattoo. The scars of my past, sadly, were still on my skin accenting the plates and abs. My hair grew out and hung down to my shoulders and over my eyes. As I pulled the hair from my face, my hands grazed over my new, elongated ears extending to the back of my head. What surprised me more was my fifth limb; a pale, scale-plated tail lying restless in the snow. By will, it moved and my brain went into overhaul of the new and alien sensation. The only item unharmed from the transformation was my Celtic pendant and even I couldn’t understand how that happened.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Mike said. I gazed at Mike and Ashley sitting on the stairs and gripping each other tight. Both sets of eyes were stunned; Ashley’s eyes were half buried in Mike’s jacket and red from tears, her body shook from primal horror.

More people came closer to me, including Mr. Conner and his wife. They both ran to their apartment.

Then my brain turned to the screaming in front of me. Katie, still in the blue suit, fell silent and collapsed to the street. Her transformed body stopped moving and I feared the worst. With little strength while my body shook, I crawled over to her. The snow touched my bare skin, but I didn’t care about the cold. The circle’s glow was dissipating and her suit began to give away, revealing a transformed woman with barely any energy to move.

“Katie!”