The Thornies Book Two: A Beryl Of Trouble - Part One free porn video

The Thornies Book Two: A Beryl of Trouble - Part One By: Light Clark Chapter 01 - Jeremy - Off-campus Errr! Errr! Errr! The obnoxious buzz of an alarm sounded out over and over again, ripping apart the quiet dark of my room. I made no move to stop it, though. No, I just lay there, face down in my pillow, groaning at the horror of having to get up and endure another day. "Jeremy! Turn off that damn alarm and get up already!" my mom, clearly having had enough of my shit, shouted through my door. I was tempted to ignore her, too, and everything else in this stupid world, at least until she added, "I mean it, mister! Don't make me get your father!" With a furious growl, I finally forced myself to move, pushing myself up enough to swipe at my alarm and silence it. Then, I flopped right back onto my bed, but only briefly. Unfortunately, school was waiting for me, and I barely had enough time to get ready for it to begin with. "Stupid ... fucking ... God damned ... rrgh ..." I ranted under my breath as I fought my way to my feet. I was up, though, and even on my way toward the door to my room. When that barrier was opened, an immediate hiss had me recoiling back into the dark of my room, shielding my eyes from the light which illuminated the rest of the house. Damn it, why couldn't my mom just put blinds on all the windows and never raise them - ever? In fact, why did school even have to be during the day anyway? Having it at night would've been way better. "We'd probably pay more attention," I muttered under my breath as I got moving again. That wasn't really true, though. There was nothing that could have gotten me to pay attention in class. It was just so pointless and stupid - just like everything else in life. That sentiment carried me into the bathroom and through what little I did within to get ready. It wasn't a shower or combing my hair or anything like that. Why bother? No amount of effort was going to keep from being a run of the mill nobody. I wasn't tall, I wasn't built, I wasn't good looking, nothing. My most memorable feature was my big, fat nose. What a joke that was, literally for many of my classmates growing up. Middle school wasn't proving much better. Not even having rich parents could help me. Everyone at my stupid, fucking, private school had rich parents. As such, my time in the bathroom lasted only long enough to take a leak, then I was right back out again, hair a greasy mess and face speckled with acne that no amount of washing ever cleared up. Then, it was right back to my room to swap out one grungy outfit for another. The new one was at least ostensible clean, not that it would have mattered. If the maid didn't come by to grab my dirty laundry from the floor and deliver it back clean, I wouldn't have cared. I would've just cycled through the dirties. Even that felt like such a waste. After all, who was I trying to impress? Girls? "Ha, like they even know I exist," I sneered to myself as I finished up my latest task and headed back out of my room. This time, it was off to the kitchen, but not for breakfast. No, all I did was flop into a chair in the kitchen, bury my head in my arms and wait the minute or so it took for my mom to finish her early morning whirlwind routine to get everything ready in time for her to leave for her job as a lawyer. All my mom had for me was an exasperated, "Alright, come on. Get up," when she was finally ready, then the two of us were off, out of my parent's ritzy apartment and down to her car. There, I basically just repeated my act from the kitchen, slumping in my seat, this time with my head lolled to the side to look out the window, and more importantly away from my mom. No effort was wasted on chit-chat or bonding, at least not between mother and son. My mom did get a call from work that took up basically the whole ride to my school, though. Oh well, at least it wasn't as irritating as her terrible taste in music. At school, my mom didn't even bother with a, "Bye," and I didn't give her one either. I just dragged myself out of the car, swung the door closed, and trudged into school. To parents, it was the kind of school they wanted to see. The building was stately and rich with 'historic tradition'. To the students there like me, it was merely a school, just as lame and stupid as any other school. All its fancy accolades and expensive tuition couldn't change that. It did mean everyone there was either rich, smart, or both. Designer labels were all over inside, often worn by the vapid daughters of trophy wives. Not that plenty of guys didn't put forth the effort to look fashionable, too, in their own way. It just wasn't as obvious, since they didn't brag to one another about all their latest gifts from their daddies. Not everyone I found lingering outside of lockers before the start of class was so detestable, though. No, there was one locker in particular that had a couple of tolerable people in front of it. At least, sometimes they were tolerable. One was my best friend Andreas, although you'd never believe it from looking at us. I was a grungy nobody, and he was ... well, he was the guy every girl in the eighth grade had the hots for - as did the seventh graders and the sixth graders too. Damn highschool girls would probably be dropping their panties for him if they knew who he was. My friend's current panty dropper was essentially his female equivalent. Hayley McKinney was God's gift to the eighth grade boys, an absolutely stunning brunette with bewitching green eyes, a statuesque figure, and the most amazing rack in the whole school. It was huge, perky, and almost always well-displayed in a low-cut top, and thanks to Andreas being buddies with me, I got to look at it up close and personal all the time. Sure, technically, she was only that hot because she was a mutant or whatever, but I didn't give a fuck about that. Hot was hot. Plus, since I was her boyfriend's best friend, Hayley was even nice to me. It was great. There was one downside, a downside that was currently showing itself as I neared my friend's locker. I did have to watch the girl of my dreams mack on another dude - a lot. She was doing it right then, too, clinging to the handsome, dark-haired boy as their lips and tongues wrestled with one another. There was an easy solution to that, though. A nice sharp, "Andy!" spoiled the moment for the two by getting the boy to break away and look up for who had called out his name. Had it been me, I never would've stopped kissing a girl as hot as Hayley for anything, but Andreas clearly didn't appreciate what he had. He always looked up. Pulling away from the clutches of his now pouting girlfriend, the other boy turned to smirk and bob his head at me. "Jer. Cutting it close even for you, aren't ya?" As if to lend credence to that question, the school's bell chose that exact moment to ring out, "Brrring!" I just grinned at the timing, though, and shot back, "Nope." Chuckling at that, Andreas shrugged off my sloppy arrival to turn back to his girlfriend. This time, it was only for a quick peck of a kiss, followed by, "I'll see you after class, beautiful." "You'd better," Hayley purred, her voice low and full of a desire to get right back to what they'd been doing before my interruption. She was going to have to wait, though, since her first class lay in the opposite direction, forcing her to slink away with her hips swaying and her smoldering eyes glancing back at her boyfriend. Andreas was not nearly as invested, just giving his girl a little wave before turning back to head off the other way with me. In contrast, I was actually invested, glancing back at least as often as Hayley did, until she finally disappeared from view in the crowd. Only then did I turn back to my friend to remark, "Damn, I still can't believe you got Hayley McKinney to go out with you." "It's been months, man. How can you not?" Andreas remarked. "Because she's, like, an eleven out of ten, dude!" I exclaimed. "And sure, you're not bad looking, but come on!" Chuckling, Andreas rolled his eyes at me. "She's just a girl, man, same as any other one." That was what the other boy always said, no matter how hot the girl he was with was, and he'd dated some really hot ones. None were on the same level as Hayley, but how could they be? It was enough to make me resent him just a little bit. "Anyway, speaking of Hayley, she and I were gonna hang out with some of my buddies tonight. You wanna come?" Andreas inquired, followed by the key selling points, "Hot chicks and free booze." "Hot chicks to ignore me and booz to get dumped on my head?" I sneered sarcastically. "No thanks." Andreas rolled his eyes at my negativity. "Oh, come on, dude. This isn't some lame middle school party like the last one. These guys are cool. They'll treat ya right." Peering at the other boy skeptically, I asked, "And you'll play wing man for me with one of the girls?" Puffing out a little laugh, Andreas shrugged. "Sure. Hell, I'll help you with as many as you want. Not that a stud like you is gonna need it." "Ha!" I scoffed at the very idea of me being a 'stud'. "Whatever, not like I have anything better to do. I'm there." "Awesome," Andreas confirmed with a nod. "They're gonna pick us up at that coffee shop down the street later tonight. I figured we'd meet up there after class and just hang until then?" While I didn't exactly like the idea of spending hours hanging out at some dinky coffee shop, I shrugged and relented, "Sure, whatever." "Great," Andreas declared before he split off to duck into his first class. "See ya." "See ya," I tossed back as my friend disappeared, leaving me to trudge the rest of the way to my own class by myself. It sucked, but that was hardly new. At least today, I had something to look forward to besides a depressing day of useless teacher blathering. I just hoped the girls that night were cute ... *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 02 "Wow! You can sing?" some random girl gushed. Unfortunately, while she was cute, that gushing wasn't directed toward me. No, seated next to me, Andreas shrugged modestly, "Yeah, but it's no big deal. It's nothing compared to that time Jer, here, stared down a dude twice his size." "That right?" the random offered only the briefest hint of interest, barely even glancing my way. Then, her eyes were right back on my handsome friend as she purred, "I bet no one ever messes with you." "Well, no, but-" Andreas admitted even as he tried to get things back on track. I'd had enough, though. With a frustrated growl, I shoved myself up from my seat and whirled about to storm off. After all, what was the point of staying? As long as Andreas was around, no girl was ever going to notice me. Hell, even if he wasn't around, they wouldn't. It was so fucking dumb. "Jer!" the other boy tried to call after me, but I ignored him. Thankfully, Hayley chose that moment to come over and snare him for a dance, saving me from any possibility of pursuit. It was at the cost of watching her grind against him like she wished he'd just rip her clothes off and throw her on the floor, but at least I was alone. "Stupid, fucking, shit cock," I grumbled out some random words as I found the far side of the room. The place we were all hanging out in had clearly been a nightclub at some point before it had been abandoned. As such, there was a bar waiting there, a bar which was stocked with the promised free booze. There was just one problem with it. "Uck, how does anyone drink this shit?" I sneered at the revolting taste of the beer I'd just popped open. The thing was so nasty, like drinking piss or something. It was-? A chuckle, smooth and confident, interrupted my thoughts, followed by an easy, "Don't worry, little man. You'll learn to like it eventually." Far from wanting company, I looked up with sharp, angry eyes. Those eyes found a guy standing on the other side of the bar who I didn't recognize. He was tall, even taller than Andreas, and clearly quite a bit older than my friend. He had to be at least twenty or so. In spite of that, he had a lankier build and wasn't quite so good looking. It all seemed to work for him, though, coming together in a sort of slick indifference that had him leaning on the bar and smirking my way. "Or if you'd prefer, I could make you some fruity girly drink instead?" the guy teased. Stiffening, I huffed out a quick, "I'm fine with this," before pointedly taking another drag from the bottle. The way my face twisted up in disgust sort of undercut what I was going for, though. Snickers spilled out of the man at my expense. "That right? 'Cause I sorta got the impression what you'd really be fine with is what your buddy over there's got." A tilt of the guy's head led my eyes over to the unwelcome sight of more of Hayley grinding against Andreas. They only stayed there for the moment it took me to rattle out a frustrated snarl and jerk back. "I'm doing just fine where I am." "Yeah, yeah, of course you are," the man relented knowingly. "So you wouldn't be interested to hear that your buddy only got that girl thanks to me?" Caught off guard by that claim, I turned back to the guy to furrow my brow. "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about how, Andreas the Stud, used to be Andreas the Scrawny Dork, before I gave him a little something special," the man informed me. "His girl, too, actually, or did you think a rack like that shows up all on its own?" "Well, she's a mutant, so-" I tried to explain. A raised eyebrow and sly, "Or is she?" cut me off. The wrinkle in my brow grew even deeper. "What do you mean?" "I mean, maybe she just said she was a mutant to make it seem like it was all her?" the man proposed. "And maybe your friend doesn't want people to know that with a few bars he can make whoever hears them do whatever he wants. After all, you've seen how much girls want to hear him sing." "But ..." the word spilled out of me as much out of confusion as anything. A few chuckles joined a nonchalant shrug. "Not that I blame them of course. Just like I wouldn't blame you either if you decided you didn't want to tell anyone about my help." Daze blinking took a second to lead into, "Your help?" "That's right, my new friend," the man answered, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Name's Razor, and I'm the leader of this bunch, and I think you would be a perfect new member." My face screwed up at that offer. "Of your gang?" "That's right," Razor didn't shy away from the designation. "But it's more than just that. It's more of a support group, really, just a buncha guys, helping each other be the best they can be, and if that includes a little artificial mutation, well ... it's hard to complain about being good looking and having super powers." Pausing, the guy flicked a wrist, causing the air to shimmer as a translucent rectangle appeared between his fingers. A second flick sent it flying off to bury deep into the leg of an overturned chair. "Isn't it?" Eyes shooting wide, I stared at the little rectangle right up until it disappeared. My gawking even continued on for another second after that before my head whipped back to the guy who had thrown the thing. "Did you-?" "Just create a force razor and throw it with expert precision?" the man filled in the blanks. "Why, that's exactly what I did. Why else would I go by Razor, huh?" "So you're a mutant too," I tried to put it all together. Rolling his eyes, Razor let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not listening, little man. I'm no more a mutant than your crush is, which is to say, technically I am, but not by birth. I got a little help to be like this, a little help I share with all my friends. Assuming you do in fact want to be my friend?" My, "Hell yeah!" was immediate and emphatic, but doubt managed to follow on its heels. "But, like, how does that even work? Is it like some drug or something?" "Oh, you don't gotta worry about that," Razor brushed those questions aside. "It's safe, and guaranteed to at least make you better looking. Most people even get some extra power too, so you can look forward to that." "Wow ..." I breathed at the incredible claims, followed by a glance around. "Well, where's the stuff then? Do we have to, like, go somewhere?" "Whoa, whoa, hold on there, little man," Razor pulled back, holding up his hands. "We may - want - to be friends, but that doesn't mean we - are - friends, at least not yet. Awesome super powers aren't exactly easy to hand out, after all. You're gonna need to prove I can trust you." Immediate suspicion had me leaning back and peering at the man. "If this is some kind of trick to get me to do something stupid ..." "Oh, don't worry, my new friend, it's no trick, and the first thing I'm gonna ask you to do is something you definitely want to," Razor assured me. "Something I want to?" I repeated back in confusion. "That's right," Razor confirmed, tilting his head off toward the dancing couple. "I'm sure you've always wanted to kiss that smoking hot babe who's grinding on your friend over there." It took a beat for my mind to put together what was being asked of it, but when it did, it sent my eyes shooting wide. "You want me to kiss, Hayley?!" A mischievous grin curled Razor's lips. "Yup." "But ... but ... she's Andreas's girlfriend!" I argued, pointing off toward my friend. "Well ... it wouldn't be proof of your commitment to our friendship if there weren't downsides to it," Razor noted as if that made it alright. I, however, was left blinking in a stunned, incredulous stupor. "But ..." "Look, little man," Razor sighed with obvious impatience. "If you don't want to be friends, we don't have to be, but if you do ... you gotta do this. Besides, you don't gotta worry about Andreas getting mad. He's my friend, too. The girl might slap the shit out of you, but hey, you get a kiss out of it, and once you get a 'little boost', girls like that'll be lining up to kiss ya." Two sides warred within me as my eyes darted back and forth between the guy and the girl he wanted me to kiss. I did want to kiss her, and I definitely wanted what he was promising. There was always the chance it was just some stupid prank, though. Even if it was, I'd been tricked into worse than this. In fact, this one didn't sound so bad at all, even if I did end up getting slapped. Plus, if it wasn't a prank ... "Alright, I'll do it," I finally declared. "That's my man!" Razor cheered, reaching out to clap me on my shoulder. "Now, before you can overthink it, just spin around, march over there, and kiss that broad. Got it?" "Got it," I took in that instruction, and I even followed it - well, I started to. The spin around was easy enough, and I even got the march started. As I drew closer, though, well ... my brain started getting in the way. Step by step, my feet slowed. Their speed seemed to transfer straight into my heart, leaving it thudding so quickly and loudly in my ears that it drowned out every other noise. Even my vision seemed to constrict, blocking out the world so that there was only me ... and Hayley. Was I really going to do this? Could I even do this? Hayley wasn't just hot after all. She was an exemplar, which meant she was way stronger than a normal girl. If she smacked me could it kill me? Would it be worth it? There was a moment while I was still a couple steps away where I was so torn I froze in place. I just couldn't go any further. This mountain was too high to cli- A shove, nothing much, just enough to unbalance me, sent me tipping forward. Frozen feet had to stumble forward to keep me from falling over. They also gobbled up the distance between Hayley and me, leaving me to crash into her. "What the-?!" the busty brunette gasped as she immediately yanked back and whirled to look at me. "Jeremy?! What the hell?! Are you dru-?" Already too far into the plunge, I just went for it. It took an extra step to close the gap Hayley had made. I thought that might make her lurch back, but she proved to be too surprised by what I was doing to avoid it. My hands came up, my toes pushed me up as high as they could. I still had to grab the tall girl's cheeks to pull her down to me, but somehow, I managed to do that too. The next thing I knew, our lips were smooshed together. "Ugh! Get off me, you perv!" Hayley sneered as she ripped her head away from me. More important, though, was the way she lashed out with her hands, catching me in the chest harder than a full body tackle. For an instant, I was flying before I crash landed on the ground. That left my butt aching nearly as much as my ribs all while I wheezed for breath. Somehow, in the midst of all that pain, though, all I could think about was how soft and sweet Hayley's lips had been. *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 03 "You got the stuff?" Razor double-checked as he pulled his car to a stop in front of my place. Snatching up the backpack which had been resting on the ground at my feet, I gave it a couple quick pats. "Yep, right here." "Good, just hold onto it for now, and I'll give ya a call when I need to come by and pick it up," Razor told me. "Right," I confirmed, but it came with a few too many nods. They were nervous and quick as I stared down at the bag full of stuff I wasn't supposed to have. In fact, no one was supposed to, since it was illegal. A hand, strong and reassuring, found my shoulder, pulling my eyes over to meet Razor's confident smirk. "Don't worry about it, little man. No one has any idea you've got this shit. Just stick it in your closet and forget about it." "I got it," I insisted, brushing off the suggestion to finally shove open the door and get out. "I know you do," Razor agreed with me completely. "And I'll see ya next Friday." "See ya," was the end of the exchange, concluding with me swinging the door closed. After that, my new friend drove off, leaving me there on the corner, all alone in the night. Of course, I lived in one of the richest parts of town, so it wasn't like it was dark or anything. The whole street was well lit and the only things that loomed in the night were the high-rise apartments of my parents and their snobby kind. It was late, though, far later than I'd ever been out before, even in previous outings with Razor and his gang. "It'll be fine," I shrugged off the late hour before tossing my backpack over one shoulder. After all, it wasn't like my parents actually cared about me or what I did. They were too busy with their own shit for that. Why, I could probably disappear entirely and they wouldn't even- "Jeremy?" a male voice asked the very moment I opened the door to my home. It was low and rumbling, like rocks bouncing off one another, and not small ones either. That was only to be expected from a man known to most of the world as Mount Justice. Unfortunately, there was no chance of escaping now. I'd already unlocked and opened the door, revealing that it had to be me. That left me with no choice but to wince and mutter, "Yeah, it's me, Dad," as I slipped inside. Waiting in the living room, my dad was sitting on the sofa with only a dim lamp to light the room. The low light only emphasized his incredible size as he rose to his feet, towering over me in both height and breadth. After all, he was well over seven feet tall and had a build that made bodybuilders and strongmen seem small by comparison. None of it was real, though, which was how I'd ended up as such a runt. No, it was all thanks to the fact that he was an avatar who housed a mountain spirit. "It's awfully late, son," the huge man noted in a voice that was calm, but spoken under a gaze that smoldered like hot coals. I tried to play it cool and shrug that fact aside. "Yeah, so? I was hanging with my friends." "Till three AM?" my dad questioned, obviously doubting that claim. "How did you even get home? The subways stopped hours ago." It took all I had to stop myself from wincing and instead offer another dismissive shrug. "We were hanging out with some older kids, so one of them dropped me off." Almost immediately, I regretted revealing that, as my dad mumbled, "Older kids? How many? From what school? How did you meet?" "Jesus, fuck, dad, I don't know!" I blasted in exasperation. All I managed to earn for my trouble was some narrowed eyes and a coldly furious, "Watch your tone, young man." "Watch my tone?!" I shot back. "I'm not a little kid anymore! I was just hanging out with some friends, so why don't you just back the fuck off!" It was the wrong thing to say. I knew that, any kid in my position knew that, but I'd said it anyway. As such, it was no surprise at all when my dad declared a curt, "Grounded, two weeks." "But-" I tried to argue, but this wasn't a court or something. Immediately, I was cut off by the suggestion of, "Unless you'd like to make it three?" A defeated sigh left my shoulders slumped and my mouth murmuring, "No." "That's what I thought," my dad confirmed with infuriatingly smug condescension. "Now apologize for your attitude." My face twisted up in anger, but I forced out, "I'm sorry." "And tell me when your curfew is?" my dad continued the humiliation. Another sigh led into, "Midnight ..." "That's right, and you will not be home later than that again," my dad confirmed before forcing out one last response. "Is that clear?" My hands clenched into fists, but there was nothing to do save concede, "It's clear." "Good," the domineering man summed up the entire affair before dismissing me with a simple command, "Then go to bed." I didn't even bother to acknowledge that dismissal with words. I just spun and stormed off, stomping my way back to my room then slamming the door closed behind me. It was only once the barrier was between my dad and me did I finally let go. Hate spewed from my lips in a furiously muttered torrent. It wasn't enough, though. No, I paced around my room, too, seething and fuming, punching my pillow, kicking stray items on the floor, and whirling about like a mad man. In the end, though, all that fury played itself out like it had so many times before. After all, there was nothing I could do. My dad was a hero, stalwart, strong, and respected by the whole community. Meanwhile, I was just some pathetic, weak, little loser. I could never stand up to him. All I could do was slink about in his shadow, hoping to go unnoticed. *********************************************** *********************************************** "Holy shit!" I gasped at the picture on my friend's phone. "That's really Hayley?!" It was with a dark expression and somber air that Andreas nodded and pulled his phone away. "Yeah, but don't tell anyone alright? She'd be pissed if she found out I showed anyone." "I bet ..." I mumbled in disbelief, still staring at where the image had been. It was just that hard to reconcile the memory of the hottest girl in school to the monstrous, fur-covered ... thing that had been in the picture. It had looked like some fairy tale depiction of the big bad wolf or something, not a real person, and certainly not the gorgeous girl I'd been crushing on all school year. "How did that even happen?" Unsurprisingly, Andreas could only meet that question with a helpless shrug and, "They don't know yet." "Can they reverse it?" I tried to ask anyway. "Not until they figure out what it is," Andreas pointed out the obvious. I was too dazed to even really feel stupid about it, though, just nodding along with a vague, "Right ..." before diving right into another pointless question. "But they will, right? She's not gonna just be stuck like that?" "Yeah, of course," Andreas stayed upbeat. "In fact, they think it's probably just something temporary. After all, she's an exemplar, and apparently it's really hard to change an exemplar's BIT." Furrowing my brow, I repeated back, "BIT?" "Body image template," Andreas rattled off before providing the far more useful explanation of, "It's basically the thing that makes exemplars so beautiful." "Right ..." I mumbled, nodding slowly. "So, it'll, like, turn her back to how she was?" Andreas nodded along as well. "Yeah, that's supposedly how it usually works in situations like this. Exemplar gets transformed, but their own BIT reasserts itself and changes them back to how they're supposed to be." "And how long does it usually take?" I inquired. This time, Andreas shrugged. "Depends on the strength of the exemplar. Hayley was fairly highly rated, so hopefully just a few days." "Whew, that's a relief ..." I sighed, even if the girl had been pretty cold to me in the weeks since I'd forced a kiss on her. I did kinda get that, and it wasn't like it had been so bad that she'd stopped hanging around with Andreas and I. That meant, I'd still been able to look at her hotness pretty much whenever I'd wanted, and I certainly didn't want to see it lost. Maybe if it had happened to some awful, skanky bitch, but not Hayley. "Yeah ..." Andreas mumbled, his gaze turning tired and distant as his shoulders slumped. I barely had time to notice any of that, though, before Razor called out across the club, "Little man! Got something for ya!" Eagerly, I hopped up to hurry over to the bar which the older guy was sitting on. "You finally gonna give me powers?" "Not quite yet, little man, but you're getting close," Razor promised before tossing me a small bag of something. "I need you to stash this for me first, okay?" "Uhm ... sure ... I guess ..." I murmured, eyeing the bag dubiously. In the weeks since I'd been grounded, I'd had to stash a few of these, so it wasn't like it was new. In fact, it was getting kind of old. "And then, I'll get to have powers?" "Soon, little man, soon," Razor assured me. "We've just gotta build up some resources, first, but you're top of the list after that. I promise." It wasn't easy to nod in acceptance, but I did it. "Okay." "I mean it, little man," Razor added. "You're so close, so don't go giving up on me now." Grip tightening on the bag I'd been given, I gave a more determined nod. "I won't." "Great!" Razor declared before hopping off his seat. "Then, let's get you home before your old man throws a fit." *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 04 Hurriedly, I shoved food in my mouth. It wasn't that the food was particularly good or anything. It wasn't even home made, just something my dad had grabbed on his way home from work. No, it was eagerness behind my racing appetite, an eagerness to be finished so I could leave and meet up with Razor and the guys once more. There was one other detail which made me want to hurry, and that was the way my dad was glowering at me. He picked at his food only sparingly, seeming as if his whole focus lay on me. I just knew if I sat there for too long, he'd find something wrong, notice something off, and ground me or something. I couldn't let that happen, not when I was so close. Scraping up the last bit of food, I shoved it into my mouth, and I didn't wait to finish swallowing it. I was right up to my feet, carrying my dishes over to the counter to drop them off. All the while, around the food I was still chewing, I announced, "I'm gonna hang out with my friends, so I'll be back-" "Hold on," my dad's voice snared me before I could slip away. Wincing, I slowly turned to face the mountainous man. "It's just a couple of friends, Dad." To my profound relief, my dad waved away my worry with a rumbled,"No, no, that's fine," but that wasn't the end of his words. "I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" I questioned, screwing my face up in confusion. "What's tomorrow?" "My day off," my dad announced. "And well, I was thinking that maybe we'd head to the park and throw a few balls like we used to." My features only grew more twisted at that suggestion. "You want me to play catch on my Saturday?" "We used to do it all the time," my dad pointed out. "Yeah, when I was eight," I shot back. "I'm not a little kid anymore." My dad's face hardened. "You're still my kid, and I'd like to play catch with you, so that's what we're doing." "But-" I tried to protest. However, my dad was waiting to cut me off with a sharp, "Is that clear?" Again, I found myself wincing, unable to escape the mountain's pressure. "Yes, Dad." "Good," the old man declared, followed by a curt, "Then, go have fun with your friends." While that was exactly what I'd wanted in the first place, I was still so hung up on what had just happened that it was hard to just nod and get my feet moving. It wasn't until a few steps had passed that I'd regained my previous hurry to escape. I certainly did, though, eager to put my infuriating dad behind me and get back to my future. *********************************************** *********************************************** "Another job?" I questioned, peering at the gangleader dubiously. "But I thought tonight was ... y'know ..." Razor raised a brow at my hesitation. "And what, this is all just powers to you? What? Are you gonna leave as soon as you get 'em?" "No!" I denied, swift and emphatic, only to undercut myself by letting my eyes fall as I added, "But ... I mean ... you did say ... and Andreas is ..." The other boy, the one who had introduced me to this group in the first place, wasn't even there that night. He and his sister were off getting ready to leave for some mutant boarding school. Hayley had been gone even longer than that, never having recovered from whatever had so horrifically transformed her. Come Monday, I would have to go to my first day of high school ... all alone. "Alright, alright, we'll do the powers," Razor relented like an exasperated parent. My eyes popped wide as I jerked my head up. "Really?!" "Yeah, sure, why not?" Razor remarked with a shrug. "I can't just leave you looking like a beaten puppy, now can I?" Sudden heat invaded my cheeks as my gaze quickly fell again. "I didn't ..." "You definitely did," Razor wouldn't let me hide from it. Even as he snickered at my expense, though, he stepped over next to me to throw an arm around my shoulder. "But hey, you're right. You've been giving it your all for months now, and it just wouldn't be right to not reward that." Face getting even hotter, I tried to shrug nonchalantly. "Well, we're friends, right?" "We sure are, little man. We sure are ..." Razor confirmed. "Which is why I'm gonna personally get everything set up for you while you and the boys are out on this last job, okay?" The introduction of a delay had me shifting nervously. "Really? As soon as we get back?" "As soon as you get back," Razor assured me with a confident smile. "I'm gonna make the call the moment you head out." In spite of that commitment, doubt still clung to me. So many times, I'd been promised 'soon' or 'not much longer'. This was the first 'right after this' but it still made me hesitant. It was a pretty easy job, though. I was just playing lookout. I'd done that several times, and it was never a problem - other than being boring. I always wanted to be in there with the other guys, wrecking havoc and snatching loot. After tonight, maybe I would be ... "Okay, I'll do it," I agreed to the stipulation. "Great!" Razor declared, clapping me on the shoulder before letting me go. "Then, go tell the other guys it's time to head out, because the sooner you get back, the sooner you get your reward." *********************************************** *********************************************** Nervous energy filled me, not from the job which was already handled without a hitch, but from what was coming next. At least, I hoped it was coming. If Razor had lied, I ... I ... well, I didn't know what I was going to do. It didn't matter, because he wasn't lying. "He didn't lie," I added under my breath. Fortunately, such quiet words were far too soft to be overheard over the blaring music and loud voices of the other guys in the car. They were all hopped up on the thrill of another score, and more than a few drugs too. Would I feel that good, too, once I had the powers I needed to be a part of the group for real? Yeah, I would. The sight of the abandoned nightclub set my heart to pounding away in my chest. There was so much blood coursing through me, it almost made me feel numb. There was certainly a hazy feeling to my movements as I got out of the car and drifted toward the building. Nothing could pierce it, not the other guys, not the impulse to hurry, nothing. As such, I was by far the last of the guys to reach the main room. Waiting there was a sight that finally managed to snap me from my daze. It quieted the other guys as well, their celebration fading away. In spite of that, it really wasn't much, just a chair set up in the center of the room and a short, slim figure in a cowled robe standing there beside it. "There's the little man of the hour!" Razor called out as he came over to me. "Although, I guess I won't be able to call you that for much longer. We'll have to think of a new nickname for ya." None of that really penetrated. No, I'd been consumed once more, this time with staring at the cowled figure. There was something ominous about them, something that extended beyond just their attire. "Oh, yeah, she's unsettling, isn't she?" Razor noticed my unease before clapping a hand on my shoulder. "But hey, you didn't think illegal, artificial mutation was gonna be done by some dork in a doctor's get up, did ya?" "N-No ..." I stammered despite having thought exactly that, or even tamer things like it would just be a simple pill, not ... this. "But ..." Razor laughed off my worry. "There's really nothing to worry about, little man. We've all survived her. Isn't that right, guys?!" Every guy spoke up in support of that claim from nods to, "Sure did." "You'll be fine, better than fine actually," Razor promised me, even as his hand introduced a bit of pressure, pulling me toward the center of the room. "After today, your whole life will have changed. No more scrawny dork running little errands. No more loner without any friends. No more old man bullying you about staying out too late. Just power and freedom." Such incredible promises had me swallowing hard, but also offering much less resistance to my progress toward the center of the room. In fact, my resistance faded away entirely. Yes, it was ominous, yes, it was shady, but I didn't give a fuck. Hell, even if it killed me, I wouldn't care. At least, that would be life-changing. And if it didn't, if it lived up to all the words, and I could be like Razor? Well, then hell yeah I was going to do it. "Now, just sit here, lean back, and close your eyes," Razor guided. My body followed. I sat down. I leaned back. I closed my eyes. I anticipated what my new life would be like - right up until the cowled figure came around behind me and rested her fingers on my temples. A jolt ran through me, stiffening every muscle in my body and making my thoughts race. Visions seemed to pop in and out of my mind, too fast to even comprehend. Then all of a sudden, like a reel running out, the rush just stopped, leaving me feeling strangely empty and ... blank. "What a boring destiny you had," a voice of nightmares echoed within my head, male and female intertwined, but both full of something dark and terrible. "Let's make it something a little more ... interesting." When a second jolt ran through me, it was no mere shock. It was like a roaring fire, a scouring flame searing through every last piece of me and leaving something utterly twisted in its wake. There was no doubt that I must have screamed, but I couldn't hear it. I must have writhed, but I couldn't feel it. I must have died, and yet, when the reprieve of darkness finally came, it was not eternal. Life waited for me at the other end, but it was entirely different from the one I'd known before. *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 05 The first clue that I was still alive somehow was that everything hurt. It really did feel like everything, too. Even things I didn't know I had hurt. I was nothing but a tired, aching blob lying puddled on ... something. Slowly, senses overwhelmed by soreness started to pick up other things. I was on my side. Whatever was under me was hard, slick, and cool against skin that felt burning hot. After what I'd just been through, I was surprised to have skin at all. That was a good start at least. I appeared to have more than just skin, too. Both arms and legs still seemed to be there as well. There were bits in the middle, too. For as mushy as I felt in my pain, I had clearly not been turned to slime or ash. Another good sign. That was when things started to get a little off, though. While I had the shape of a person, it wasn't the shape I was used to. The aching mass that I was certainly seemed bigger than it should have been, weightier. Okay, well, that could be good too. After all, I'd wanted to be bigger, taller, stronger. That last one was hard to tell, but the other two seemed to be there, that was- No, something wasn't right. Sure, I was bigger, but not a ton bigger - except for one area in particular. That spot had apparently kept much of the embiggening to itself, filling up the space between the arm lying on the ground and the one draping over from up above. That filling seemed even mushier than everything else, too. At last, I dared to do more than just feel. That required opening my eyes. They beheld ... a blur. At least, that was all they could see for a few blinks and a little shake of my head. Then, things finally started to come into focus, a blue-green surface beneath me, dim lighting, otherwise familiar surroundings, and finally ... Eyes that had been only cracks shot so wide they could've popped right out of my head. After all, they behold two very surprising things. One, that I was naked for some reason, and two, that the squishy thing between my arms was a mass of soft, tan flesh with a crevice splitting it down the middle. Well, technically, that made it three things. For a beat, there was only frozen shock, then it shattered into frantic motion. Arms moved to shove me up to a sitting position, causing the mass on my chest to shift. One great blob split along that line into two, still quite sizable peaks which thrust from my chest and ended with twin, stiff, pink points. Those tips weren't visible for long, though, not once my hands had finished sitting me up. No, with that done, they flew straight to my chest, grabbing the twin mounds and finding more flesh than they could hold. What they did grab, yielded under their touch, allowing my fingers to easily sink into their mass until a sharp twinge of pain made them lurch back so hard I released the things entirely. A bounce and wobble settled the breasts back into their perky, resting state. Meanwhile, my hands hung in the air mere inches from them, stunned by what they had felt, and what I'd then felt in turn. Then, there were my eyes, staring in disbelief. "Quite the milkers, aren't they?" a well-known voice remarked. My head rose. My gaze landed on a man - Razor. He was sitting nearby, arms resting on the back of the reversed chair he was resting on. Unlike me, he was not shocked, but sported an amused smirk. "Hard not to stare at them," the man noted as his focus shifted down to my chest. "And grabbing would probably be my first thought too, followed by planting my face right between them." He tilted his head thoughtfully, before adding, "But I guess that's not an option for you, huh?" Those were all words, and I knew they had meaning when strung together, but at that moment, I kind of didn't. I just sort of stared, occasionally offering a dazed blink. My brain was too overwhelmed for much beyond that. My lack of response put a concerned crack in Razor's amusement. "She didn't make you a mute or scramble your brains, did she?" "N-No," the word quivered out of me in a voice that wasn't mine. It was actually lower than my own childish tones, carrying a smokey sultriness that would no doubt have been very alluring if it wasn't coming from my own mouth. Since, it was, it was just another thing to bewilder me. "Good," Razor acknowledged as if none of this was a big deal. He didn't even keep staring at my impossible appearance, but turned to snatch something off the ground and toss it at me. "Here." Thump. The bundle hit my chest then fell into my arms by pure virtue of them having been sitting in the right spot already. Only once they were already holding the thing, did my fingers grip it, feeling something soft and pliable. My eyes followed a moment later to peer at the mass in confusion. "Clothes, little man, unless you wanted to just lie there in your birthday suit," Razor explained as his eyes swept over me. "Can't say anyone would complain if you did." Clothes. Right. I was naked, so I needed to put on clothes. But ... "What happened to my clothes?" "Well, you can't exactly expect little, runt clothes to fit a full grown woman like you, now can you?" Razor pointed out. "What you didn't shred getting bigger had a tendency to get diced up by crystal, so I just tossed it all and threw a blanket over you." Somehow, it was the word, "Crystal?" that my thoughts snared out of all of those. "Yeah, you didn't think I made that bed, did you?" Razor remarked, tipping his head toward what I was lying on. Following that gesture, I looked down, doing my best to ignore my far too female body for the moment. Underneath that oddity lay a separate one, a thick sheet of smooth, teal crystal that was big enough for me to stretch out on. While the part I was lying on was as flat as a pane of glass, the edges rose up into a myriad of points, almost looking like I was surrounded by a ring of frozen fire. There was more teal in my world than just the crystal, though. No, as I looked down, I felt a weight shift that wasn't my new breasts. It was something else which spilled into the edges of my vision, the same color as the crystal beneath me. Other than the color, the strands themselves might have seemed like normal, if long and soft, hair, if not for the way it twinkled in the light as it moved. When I reached up to pull some in front of me, I found little flecks of crystal buried in every strand. "You do have pretty hair, too," Razor's words followed my movements. "You're pretty all over in fact - even your power is rather pretty." "My power?" I questioned, releasing the strange hair to look up at the older man. Rolling his eyes, Razor heaved out an exasperated sigh. "Seriously, she better not have turned you into a bimbo or something. I'm not gonna be able to put up with you being this slow on the uptake all the time." A dazed blink left me wondering, "Could she have done that?" "Ha! Probably, but nah," Razor laughed the worry away as he rose from his seat. "You should be as smart as ever, if not more so. Shock has a tendency to make people dumb, though, and I'm sure waking up like that was plenty shocking." "Yeah ..." I mumbled, my gaze falling back to a body that was certainly 'shocking' to see. "Why am I ...?" "A girl? Hot? Sporting massive tits?" Razor rattled off a few possible questions before shrugging. "That's just what she could give you." All I could think to respond with was, "Oh ..." "Come on, don't get all shitty about it," Razor shot back, coming over to drop onto my crystal bed beside me. "Sure, it's probably not what you were hoping for, but you gotta look on the bright side here. You're tall, strong, tough, hot, and you got super powers. That's basically everything you ever wanted, right?" "Yeah ..." That was true, but it didn't stop me from adding, "But ..." "And you're not even considering the upsides of the girl thing," Razor continued right along. "After all, your tits are spectacular, as is the rest of you, and since it's your body, you can touch it whenever you want. Who wouldn't want that, am I right?" I had to admit the idea of being free to touch a body like this was certainly tempting. Still, "But ..." "Plus, in my experience, girls seem to have it better than guys, if you know what I mean," Razor added alongside a suggestive nudge from his elbow. "Really?" I double-checked. "Yeah, really," Razor confirmed. "I mean, you've seen porn, right? All that gasping and moaning can't be for nothing. Plus, have you ever heard of multiple orgasms? It's gotta be mind blowing." Different thoughts managed to worm their way into my head, memories of late night 'me' time. The girls in my ... 'aids' always seemed to have a lot of fun. Even little things would drive them wild. What would that be like, to get turned on with just a squeeze of one breast or a caress of one smooth thigh? Breaths started to puff through my lips as everything got a little hotter. Some parts got more than a little, especially as my thoughts continued to wander. It made my hands want to wander too, to explore that heat between my legs with my- Suddenly, I remembered I didn't have the thing I really wanted to explore with. I could feel its absence, no, it's complete inversion. Hard was gooey, straining was needing, out was in. Clutching the bundle of clothes to my chest, I tried to ignore the way my breasts tingled as they were squashed by my arms and hands. "But ... I ... I'm a boy. I can't ... " "Are you kidding me? You've been hanging with us for months, being a total badass, and you can't handle being a girl?" Razor questioned as if that was somehow crazy. "Psh, that's pussy talk, man, and even if you've got one now, that's no excuse. You gotta just keep being a badass. That's what really matters. Hell, I guarantee you'll get more and hotter girls like this than you ever would have as some pathetic, little wimp." My face screwed up incredulously. "But, how would I ... without-?" "They make shit for that, bro," Razor blasted that issue away. "Just buy some huge ass dildo that's way bigger than your dick ever would've been anyway and ram some girl with it. It's easy." Certainly, the older guy made it sound easy. He made it sound fun. He made it sound like it was all a good thing, and I heard it. I mean, I had been willing to die just to change things, and this was definitely a big change. Could I really handle it, though? "Oh, and speaking of being a badass, the boys and I thought up a new name for you, while you were out," Razor let me know. Lifting my head, I looked at him uncertainly. "You did?" "Yeah, we're thinking Beryl," Razor revealed. Immediately, my face twisted up, and I leaned back. "Beryl?" "Yeah, it's the name of a greenish jewel," Razor explained, gesturing down at my gleaming bed. "Kinda looks like this stuff." "You want to name me after a jewel?" I questioned dubiously. "Yeah, because that's what you are - this group's precious jewel," Razor answered, reaching over to throw an arm around me. "And we're not gonna let anyone take you from us." Honestly, that felt a little weird. Everything still did. At the same time, it was a little comforting. After all, it wasn't like I was on my own. Razor and the guys would help me figure it all out. To Be Continued ... Author's note: And with this, we've begun the first installment of Whateley: Year of the Girl for 2023. There's more to come, including the next part of Beryl of Trouble next Friday, but that's not all there is to look forward to this year. The fourth book of Demon King of Gen'ric, my light novel series will be released this summer. If you want to get ready for that, you can find the first three books here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B7ZQXF2R?ref_ =dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks I may have some other interesting bits coming as well, but it's not quite time to reveal anything yet. Let's just say I'm working on a lot of projects right now. Anyway, I hope you all have had a good start to 2023, and as always, thanks for reading, Light