It was still night-time when Evan woke up. His whole house was dark, except for the unusually bright moon light peering through the window. He got on his hands and knees and looked down his body: it had returned to normal.

Evan shouted with glee: the nightmare was over. With a heavy sigh of relief, he made his way to the living room light switch to get himself ready for bed, when the room lit up into existence. Leaning on the kitchen bench was a strange man.Thieves! Evan thought in fright while throwing himself against the wall, but the intruder barely paid him any mind, nor made any attempts to look threatening. He was dressed in very casual clothes but his face - he looked so similar to Evan. In fact, it was exactly him.

‘W-Who are you?!’

‘Hm, well… You, I guess.’

‘But how? Why? What’s going on?!’

‘I am you...but not exactly you, the one in charge. My presence here is merely intended to offer help.’

Evan’s mind contorted into a mix of frustration and confusion. ‘What the fuck does that even mean!?’

‘As I just said, I am kind of like a helper to you. I would say my name is Evan but that’s not really helpful now is it, no. You can call me The Voice.’

‘The Voice?’

His doppelganger nodded as he stopped leaning on the kitchen bench and sat down on the couch, resting both his feet on the coffee table with his right leg crossed over the left. ‘Yes, because I am the voice of reason. That’s where we both are right now, inside your head while you are sleeping off that large chest you grew.’

‘Wh-wait, are you saying that this is just a dream? My body did not recover at all? Am I turning into a monster?’

The Voice sat up straight at that last word. He got up on his own feet and approached Evan.

‘Oh no no no no. You are not becoming a monster, no. You are becoming something wonderful. Soon you will embrace what happens next, and your life will be changed forever’

Evan looked down in defeat. Until he suddenly realised something.

‘Wait a second: How do you know this? How do you know what is happening and what’s going to happen? Unless…y-you aren’t really me. You are possessing my body so you can take over, is that it?!’

The Voice took two steps back as Evan raised his voice in anger, as though he was intimidated but when he opened his mouth, his voice still kept the same chillness.

‘What? No, you have it all wrong. I am not here to possess you, Evan. I only want to help you. That’s why I call myself The Voice as in the voice of reason. The little voice in your head that gives you advice when you need it, or gently nagging you that you forgot something. That is my purpose. I don’t want to take over your body; I mean, I can if I need to, but there hasn’t been a need for it. Anyway back to your question: I do know what is happening to your body and I do know what is to come. Evan, listen to me carefully now: what happens next, just relax and you won’t feel as much pain as you experienced today. I promise you, it will be beneficial: do not resist it.’

‘Well what if I do not want these changes to happen? What if I want to retain my body and get on with my life instead of changing into some kind of beast? Bet you didn’t think about it!’ Evan spat.

Sadness was all that could be found in The Voice’s eyes, almost as if he had been insulted. Nevertheless, he placed a gentle hand upon Evan’s shoulder. ‘My time here is coming to an end. Please embrace this. There is no reason for you to be in so much pain. When you wake up please don’t fight this-‘

Evan woke up on his couch in the living room. All his joints were trembling at the slightest movement.

He didn’t want to get up. If he did, the change to his body would resume. But something had to be done. Much like his dream, the whole house was dark, except for the bright moonlight coming in from the window. Evan slowly grabbed the top of the couch and tried pulling himself up, utilising all his strength to bring his heavy chest off it. He approached the light switch and stared towards the kitchen, expecting to see The Voice, but there was no one.

A deep sigh of relief left Evan, but there were still so many questions inside of him. Had he really communicated with his conscience or his inner self? Was The Voice really his mental helper or something more malignant to do with his body’s transformation? Because that was what it was, despite how awful it was to admit: he was transforming.

He only made two steps to the kitchen before finding himself on his trembling hands and knees. This time, the very foundation of his body began to hurt. His coccyx separated and reversed itself inside him, like a red hot metal poker stabbing him at the base of his spine. The sharp pain pressed itself on each nerve in his back, forcing tears out of his eyes. Bit by bit, a small nub budded its way out of his back.

He bent over, resting his head on the ground after his arms collapsed, begging for it to stop as the nub grew longer. New muscles started to pop into existence, making themselves known along his new appendage as it grew outwards.

He clenched his teeth in an effort to dull the pain. The distinct coppery tang of blood occupied his mouth, but amongst the new appendage growing from his rear Evan paid it no attention.

His new tail grew a few inches and began to move, swinging left and right wildly as he convulsed from his torture. Then finally, it ended.

Evan got immediately back up to his knees and turned back to look. The tail was easier to control than he initially thought: he focused on it with ease as it moved following his brain’s commands.. It was awful to admit it, but it was quite amusing.

There was still the taste of blood in his mouth. Evan ran to the bathroom and washed it out. The pristine white porcelain sink was covered in dark red as Evan began to realise what was going on. He ran his tongue throughout his mouth to locate the source, but as he saw in the mirror, another change appeared. This time, more than half his teeth were loose. The blood coated his mouth and even ran down his chin giving him the beastly look of an animal that just killed its prey.

A tsunami of thoughts came to Evans’s mind as his hands shook ferociously and his body went cold once more. The thought of becoming a monster that may have to hunt its food...The Voice may have said it was beneficial as much as he wanted, but Evan could not see it. The face in the mirror was what others are going to see him as...a beast.

Shakily he reached for one loose tooth in his lower jaw, trying to steady his hand but it didn’t help when it came loose as if it were to fall out on its own any second.

He backed away from the mirror and into a corner of the bathroom, desperately trying to escape what was going on. His tail bumped the wall sending new sensations up his spine as it swung wildly, occasionally hitting the walls of either end of the corner. It had already grown over a foot long and was surprisingly agile for its size as it began to thicken itself before growing outwards any further.

He started to hyperventilate once more and tears started to flow from his eyes. The tail tip was growing outwards and more teeth were coming loose. He leaned over the sink and spat them out in a spatter of blood coating the sink. His tail growing caused more pain, so much that he reached backwards and tried to grab and hold it steady amongst its fit of movements. To his shock, his hand grabbed his tail as it was a new sensation that he couldn’t process yet.Its growth remained unhindered whilst Evan tried to control it. It was a bit like wiggling his toes. His tail tip grew firmer into a spade-like shape and hardened, making it like a spear on the end of his tail.

Evan gulped in fear. That tail could be used to kill.

Finally, it stopped growing after reaching a length as long as Evan was tall. His balance shifted back to normal, aiding him with his heavy chest. His legs were wobbly from the added weight, but the burning pain had lingered in his tail.

His jawline felt like tiny daggers, working their way through his gums. Fangs and canines were growing out of his mouth, severely impeding his ability to speak.. His body refused to relieve him of the suffering and his tail snaked its way around his leg whilst he continued to explore this new appendage-wait, No! He couldn’t enjoy this! Was that all it took for him to lower his guard? He wouldn’t surrender his thoughts and his mind to this. His heart raced and he looked himself over as his teeth started growing. Eventually his larger, thicker canines even grew outside his mouth giving him a grotesque appearance, he grunted through the pain. Listening to his voice deepening once more. The base of his tail thickened adding weight to counterbalance.

At least this time the pain had been less ntense compared to when his chest became swollen. Still, the sadness and the shame at having to actually like this were enough to torture him. Was his mind going to be next? Was he going to fall victim to this change and be a monster thinking in the most simplistic thought patterns?

Resting on the kitchen bench alone with his thoughts, Evan turned to the possibility of facing a future of living feral. His attention was diverted by a new pain in his fingertips and toes. There, something underneath moving around them. He felt another sharp pain coming from his nails and Evan’s eyes went wide as he knew what was happening.