Shifting

"That'll be $31.23. Cash or card?" The cashier asked.

"Oh, gosh, card. Debit card." The young woman answered. Around her, customers browsed and laughed and made lewd comments to each other while holding up various outfits. Tara blushed as she watched them from the corner of her eyes. It was her first experience in a Halloween store and she'd had no idea how many skimpy outfits were available.

The cashier handed Tara a large plastic bag with a smile. "Here you go, miss. Your receipt is in the bag."

"Th... thank you. Have a good Halloween!" Tara said, shyly.

"You, too," the cashier beamed.

Halfway to the bus stop, Tara's phone buzzed in her purse. The young woman juggled her bag and purse with a small 'eek' as she tried to fish out the cellphone. "Hello?"

"Tara! It's Steph! Hey girl, did you get an outfit? You're still coming, right? You promised this year."

"I- Hey Stephanie. Yes, Yes, I'm still coming."

The girl on the phone squealed. "Yes! I finally got you to do it! Did you get a costume? Please tell me you got a good one?"

"Stephanie. There were so many. Did you know there is such a thing as a sexy bee costume? I thought it was a cute little bee thing but it's just tight black panties and a black and yellow bra with wings. They're all like that, Stephanie!" Tara's cheeks blushed as she remembered a woman stepping out of the fitting room while wearing a 'sexy fox' costume. She'd yelled out 'What the fox say?!' and her friends all laughed and giggled with her. It was even more skimpy than the bee costume.

Laughter echoed over the phone. "Girl, you should see what I'm going to wear. Sexy secret agent. No bra and all the way open down the front to show off the girls. And tight enough to show the freckles on my ass. If I don't get laid tonight then there's something fucking wrong."

"Stephanie, that's not funny. What happened to Rick? Aren't you two still going out?"

"Rick? We broke up last week. He's nice and all but a dud in the bedroom. I invited Jonathon over. Do you remember him? He used to go to high school with us but then he moved away. I found him on Facebook and he said he'll be in town to visit his parents and, damn, he's looking good these days. I'll tie him to a chair and interrogate his sexy ass." Stephanie's laughter bubbled over the phone again and Tara blushed. "So, what'd you get? Tell me you got something good, Tara. "

"Hold on," Tara answered. The young girl stood as her bus stopped in front of her. Mouthing 'hello' to the bus drive, Tara made her way to the back. "I... Stephanie," Tara whispered. "I couldn't do it. You know me. It took everything I had to agree to go."

"Oh my god. Please tell me you got something sexy. Please, Tara."

"I, well, no. Yes? No. I got a onesie. A mouse onesie. It's so cute, Stephanie. And I think it fits me and my personality. Mousey? Quiet and out of the way. Oh gosh, it has little ears and a tail and everything!"

"A onesie. You got a onesie for a Halloween party. Does it show off- no, it wouldn't. This is Tara I'm talking about. Tara, sweetheart, you're not ugly. If you wanted a guy, you'd get a guy. Why don't you let loose once in a while?" The exasperation in Stephanie's voice was clear over the small phone as Tara rode the bus back to her house.

"Oh, Stephanie. I don't- I'm not ready yet." Tara pushed her glasses up with the tip of her pinky finger. "I don't want to rush into anything and I'll eventually find someone. I'm just-"

"Shy. You're shy, Tara. I know. The mouse costume fits you and I'm sure you'll look really cute in it. It's just that we're not going for cute here. Look, the party starts in a couple hours. I'll send Jonathon over to pick you up early and you can grab a drink or two to relax."

"I can get a bus-"

"No, Jonathon will get you. He's a nice guy."

"But-"

"No. Jonathon."

"Stephanie, come on. And you know I don't like to drink."

"Tara, sweetheart, you're drinking. I'm not going to have you in the corner sipping juice in your mouse onesie while everyone gets all stupid drunk. You promised."

"But-"

"Gotta go! Jonathon's here! Don't worry - no naughty stuff until later. Too many people around right now. I'll send him off to you soon. Mwuah!"

Tara sighed, laying back against the bus seat. I shouldn't go. Oh my gosh, it's going to be terrible. So many people. I won't even know them. Why in the world am I going? Briefly she considered canceling but a promise was a promise and she'd sworn to go. Tara pulled the small handle to signal her stop. The bus squeaked to a stop as Tara made her way to the front. The girl smiled at the bus driver, thanking him for the ride.

The bus kneeled with a hydraulic hiss and Tara clutched her purchase to her chest as she exited. The moon lay fat and full on the horizon, murky yellow and dim of light. Tara shivered as her breath steamed in the air. She hated this time of year - the scary movies and decorations always made her uncomfortable. Usually she would curl up in bed with her outside light off and read some happy little novel. Her current book was about a woman's experiences in college. It was both hilarious and sweet and she was even able to make it past the semi-steamy parts without blushing too hard. At least the party will be bright and full of laughter and fun, she told herself. Not gloomy and scary or anything.

With a turn of her key, the door unlocked and Tara let herself in. The woman dropped her purse before turning her heater on for the evening. Glancing at the clock, she muttered under her breath at how little time she had before the party started. With the store's bag in hand, Tara made her way to her bathroom, turning lights on as she walked through the house. The young woman placed her bag on the edge of the bathroom sink.

"So much to do still," Tara told herself. The young woman stepped to the bath tub to turn on the water. It took the old water heater a while to work and she wanted it nice and hot for her shower. Kicking off her shoes, Tara reached down to pull off her white and blue Doctor Who themed socks. She smiled at them - her favorite pair. The new season had just started and she missed Matt Smith already. Capaldi just seemed so serious. But, she was just a few episodes in to the new season and she felt like she needed to give him time to develop. She'd thought Matt Smith was goofy and weird when he first showed up but then fell in love with him over the seasons. The young woman fingered the small silver TARDIS on her necklace as she pulled her costume from her bag. She wished she'd been brave enough to buy a cat costume - she'd briefly considered dressing up as one of the cat nurses from Doctor Who. But, the only cat costumes were Tigress bikini ones and she had no idea how to sew or make her own clothes.

Holding up the light gray mouse costume, Tara smiled to herself. It is perfect. A mouse costume for a mousey girl. I'll sip a single glass of wine the entire night and say hello to Stephanie and then she'll forget about me with all those other people there. And that's just fine by me. I'll have my phone to play with and then I'll just sneak off without a sound. She set the costume down to stare in the mirror, checking for any obvious pimples. Tara gathered her shoulder-length black hair into one hand, moving it to her back before releasing it. Her simple brown eyes flicked over her round chin, smooth cheekbones and slightly pointed nose. And it'll give me a good chance to watch everyone, she continued. Staring at them. In all those shorts and panties and outfits. Showing everything off without shame. Mmmmm.

Tara brushed a loose hair back behind her ear and then winced in pain. Something had cut into her and she gingerly touched the side of her head. She felt blood but nothing hiding in her hair that could've caused it. The young woman leaned in closer to her mirror, pulling her hair away from the side of her head. Blood seeped from a thin line cut in her skin. Absent mindedly, she brought her finger to her mouth to suck the blood off and a quiet growl purred low in her throat at the taste. There's nothing there. That's weird. I was-

Sharp pain lanced into her ear and Tara gripped the bathroom sink as the world titled before her eyes. The woman's stomach protested the sudden shift in her reality and a cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck and her forehead. And then, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. Tara groaned as the vertigo fled from her head and stomach. She pressed her hand on the back of her head as she breathed slowly in and out through her nose. She felt cold and clammy and... fuzzy? She wondered. Tara glanced at the back of her hand. Fine black hair lined her knuckles and the area around her wrist. What the hell? She thought, the curse slipping unnoticed through her mind.

A dog barked in the distance and Tara felt her ears twitch in response. The shower suddenly roared with the volume of a waterfall and the woman twirled, her heart racing. The sound abated, lowering to a louder than normal 'shushing' sound but the girl stared at it. Around her, the house groaned. The heater warmed the cold wood in the floor and walls and it shifted around her, croaking and moaning like an old pirate ship hiding in the mist. The dog continued to bark and another joined in as Tara's eyes flicked around the suddenly unfamiliar house. It'd never sounded like this. Everything had a high-pitched edge to it and a volume she couldn't understand. Glass windows screeched minutely and she heard the sound of every single car that passed. "Will someone... will someone make that dog be quiet?" She said, her voice loud with fear.

The tips of Tara's ears pushed away from her head. Slowly, cartilage and skin moved, opening her ears to allow for better hearing. Sounds whistled and groaned and roared and screamed around her as the skin of her ears thinned and grew until they were inches longer and tipped with a fine point. Tara felt her hair move around her growing ears but the steadily increasing volume of the world around her held her complete attention. "The... the dogs," she said. "Someone, please, the dogs! It's too loud!"

Goosebumps rode along the length of the woman's spine, raising flesh all the way to the base of her neck. In response, more small black hairs pushed through the flesh at the back of her neck and around her spine. One or two hairs became three and five and ten and more. Tara nervously scratched at her neck, barely noticing as two black claws scratched bloody marks into her skin. While she scratched, three more fingernails fell away as deadly claws pushed through the suddenly empty nail beds - long and curved and tipped with a razor sharp point. The timbre of the dog's barking changed. They sounded frantic to her ears now. No longer just barking but emoting, telling the world they were mad and scared and something was wrong.

"Somebody... somebody! SOMEBODY SHUT THOSE GODDAMNED DOGS UP!" Tara screamed. Blood dribbled from the edge of the woman's mouth. With a sickening crunch, she felt her throat seize up. Tara's eyes widened in fear as breathing became impossible. Air whistled from her throat and she fell to her knees, fingers around her throat while she tried, in a panic, to force air into her lungs. Something popped in her neck. Flesh slid through her fingers as her neck lengthened. Another popping followed a crunch as muscles in her neck continued growing, pushing her head further from her shoulders. Vertebra and veins and nerve endings attached themselves to her spine as it lengthened. With a third pop, Tara's throat relaxed and air flooded her throat. She tasted blood and spit and her tongue unrolled from her mouth as she panted in the warm air. Long and flat and thick, her tongue made a circuit of her mouth and then lolled out again, laying against her chin while she gasped for the warm, moist air.

The fine hairs along her neck continued to sprout, more and more growing up the new expanse of flesh until a black mane ran from the base of her hair to between her shoulders. The change in perspective from the longer neck was subtle but noticeable; everything seemed slightly further away and a little off. Her long, flared out wolf ears twitched in fear. The black fur on the back of her neck crept up along the side of her hair to her jawline and then up to her larger ears.

Tara suddenly cried out in pain as her lower back cracked with a sickening, bone breaking sound. Falling to the ground, she weakly picked her head up to look back. The longer neck allowed her to watch as her hips slowly pushed away from her body. She could see the bones of her spine pressing against her skin. Wincing in pain, she closed her eyes and laid her head on the ground. Something moved on her hands and she looked at them. "What's, oh god, what's happening to me?" She cried. Tara's necklace came free from her thickened neck with a snap of the faux silver chain.

Trace amounts of blood leaked from under the fingernails of her left hand. With a faint 'click' noise that tickled her sensitive ears, she watched as claws as black and sharp as the ones on her right hand tore through her fingernails, pushing them aside. The bones of her hand were twisting, shifting, moving under the skin. She could feel muscle tearing within her hand as both of them stretched, pushing her fingers away from her thumbs as they lengthened into long paws. Underneath the fingers and on the palms of her hands, skin darkened into a dull black. She could see the callouses forming under that dark skin as she lay, listening to her back pop and grow. "It hurts," she whispered through the pain. Tears leaked from her eyes. Small slices of yellow coloring speckled her irises. Like dawn rising over the hills, the yellow bloomed from the center of her eyes until they nearly glowed in the light. "It fucking hurts," she cursed between breaths.

The hair on the back of her hands was thickening into black fur. Tara gasped as her entire body suddenly flushed with warmth. With the heat came an odd sensitivity. Her clothes rasped harshly against her skin. Her teeth felt on edge from the way they fit and touched her. Tara sat up, groaning as unfamiliar back muscles held her longer body erect. The bottom of her simple top lay high above her waist and she curved her longer neck to look down at the taut flesh of her belly. Tara groaned, hooking her sharp claws into the top of her shirt and, pressing down, she felt her bra. The woman pulled and her claws tore through the fabric. Pulling harder, she sliced and yanked, throwing both bra and yellow shirt away from her. Tara purred, rolling her long neck as she exposed herself to the air; it was almost sensual in the way the moist air caressed her naked body. Her small pink nipples hardened suddenly and she groaned in appreciation. The thick tuft of fur along her neck crept down her naked back and again, the sensation was incredibly erotic to her suddenly over-sensitive body.

With little hesitation, Tara fumbled at the zipper on the side of her short skirt. Her long hands were awkward on the material and she couldn't work the zipper carefully. With each try, an unfamiliar anger burned hotter and hotter deep in her chest. "Stupid... stupid...." she growled. "Fucking... Goddamned zipper... FUCK!" Tara tore, slicing both flesh and fabric with her claws. She hissed at the pain and then leaned over to lick at the wounds with her thick wolf's tongue. The same deep growling purr resonated through her body at the taste. Grabbing the tattered skirt, she pulled and threw it to the side.

The heated, moist air of the shower tickled the fur growing along her back and Tara shivered in return. She looked to the living room with her golden eyes. The heat within her rose higher and she panted again. I need something cooler. Too hot. It's too hot here. The human side of her told her to stand walk to the living room but the emerging wolf scoffed. Tara went to hands and knees and slunk into the living room, long body swaying with each movement. Stopping near her couch, she sat back, leg tucked behind her. She looked down again. Breasts. Small breasts, her mind said. Two? Two breasts? Why... hard to... think...She hefted her small, slightly drooping breasts and then explored the long expanse of her stomach. Something felt wrong to her but she couldn't place it.

Tara's feet were a sudden bright point of pain. Like her hands, the bones within her feet felt like they were melting, reforging into a longer mold. She watched with her teeth gnashed together as her toes pushed out. Bone screeched in her feet as the skin stretched to accommodate. Her small toe on each foot stayed in place as her feet lengthened into paws. As the front of the foot moved, three spots of black appeared in a triangle shape at the ball of her foot. Slowly, the spots puffed out and grew into thick black padding until all three touched and merged into a wolf's padded paw. More black spots appeared on the bottom of eight of her toes as her wolf's claws sliced through the delicate flesh behind her toenails. Her little toes shrunk on her feet until they were barely exposed. Smaller claws pushed through as her dewclaws grew into place. Something cracked mid-foot as the bones adjusted to allow her to stand properly, on paws rather than feet.

The heat from her core pulsed down and Tara moaned, feeling the muscles within her pussy relax. She felt the liquid within her pool in lazy excitement. With each deep throb in her lower belly, her nipples ached in return. Tara reached a paw down to the soft wetness between her thighs. Carefully, she dredged a thick clawed finger between her folds, shifting and groaning as her lips parted wetly. As if in response to the sensation, six black points appeared along her stomach. Tara's fading intelligence made her rub harder in hopes it would bring the six developing nipples faster. The new nipples pushed forth from her body and the woman felt pinching pain beneath each of them as her milk came in. Two of the six leaked a drop of pink milk, blood mixed with the white.

Fine hairs grew among her short, spiky pubic hair. The soft black hairs sprouted quickly, covering her pussy as she grunted, rubbing herself harder and harder. Pussy juices made the growing fur slick, holding her scent and flooding the room with the smell of her sex. The fur around her pussy grew thicker and thicker before racing up to cover her hard, lithe lower belly. She could feel the fur along the smooth skin of her wrist and the way she pulled at it with her dense, clawed fingers as she masturbated. The folds of her pussy darkened while she rubbed, the engorged lips growing denser and larger to accommodate a possible mate and his knot. Tara plunged her finger insider her dripping wet hole in sudden excitement at the thought of a mate mounting her.

The black fur along her spine reached the base of her back and, suddenly, flesh bulged out into a point. Muscle and tissue dimpled out to a furry black tip as the beginning of Tara's tail grew in. She could feel the way everything pulled and pressed and a deep aching pressure made her leg go numb as nerves rearranged themselves on her spine. The tip of her tail wagged slowly back and forth as it grew. The rough black padding of her finger pressed on Tara's clit and she smiled. As she did, her teeth cracked and her four canine teeth pushed further from her gums. All four teeth came to deadly points and Tara pulled her hand from between her legs, clenching it as intense pain suddenly bloomed in her head. Her damp black hair hung loosely to the side of her head.

She opened her mouth with her eyebrows knit, whining in pain. It. Hurt. Hurt. Pain. Human thoughts faded slowly as the changes reached deep into her head. Tara growled, slowly working her long neck back and forth. The woman's lips blackened over her white teeth. A gentle crunch sounded from the bridge of her nose as It bulged and then flattened, drawing down into the lips of her mouth. Black flooded up into her nose and she licked at it, feeling the cold, pebbled texture of it. Fur from her jawline grew along her cheeks, disappearing into her hair as it slowly covered her face.