Lindy took a shuddering breath and fought to regain control of herself as she heard the doors open behind her. She spun around and lowered the still smoking gun.

“Are you all ok?” she asked, struggling to catch her breath.

Claire and Pete were hiding behind their doors, peeking round at their suddenly unhinged mum. Sam had opened his door but stepped back when he saw the gun.

“What’s the gun for mum? What the hell were you shooting at? What was that thing?” He was tall for his age, nearly six foot. He stepped out carefully and moved towards his mum. “Where’s Dad, Mum?” he asked quietly.

“Your father- that thing took him. Or it ate him. I don’t know what happened. I heard him cry out and then… that thing was downstairs where I heard him," her mind spun imagining what something like that thing might have done to her husband.

“This glowy writing wants me to say Status? Oh shit!”

“Language!” she exclaimed reflexively.

“Mum, that glowy writing wasn’t kidding. I’ve been given an Essence, whatever that is!” said Sam in an awed voice.

“Status!” yelled Pete. “Aw it says I'm too young. No fair!”

“Don’t say it! It could be dangerous!”

“What was that thing? Mum, I want to go back to sleep. This is just a bad dream right?” asked Claire hopefully.

“It’s a monster and it’s taken your father! I don’t think it’s a dream, love. I’m afraid it’s very real. The writing says I’m a stone shaper and that I’m- well never you mind about that bit. We need to get somewhere safe. God knows what that thing can do!”

“Where can we go?” asked Sam. “It said we’re trapped here. We need to find Dad and finish that thing off Mum. We can’t leave it running around out there. What about the animals?”

“Ginny! Mum, we need to get Ginny!” Claire was terrified of the thing hurting her beloved pony. “We can bring her into the kitchen and you can keep us all safe with the gun. I’ll get dressed and we can go get her!”

Claire’s door shut behind her as she ran in to get dressed and go rescue her pony. Nothing could be allowed to hurt her pony and she would wreak all the terrible revenge her twelve year old imagination could come up with on that thing if it hurt Ginny.

“We can’t go outside. Not while that monster is out there.” Lindy said through the door but Claire continued getting dressed as quickly as she could. She wouldn't let something like that beast anywhere near her children. Lindy pulled out her phone and tried to dial the police but it wouldn't connect.

***

Owain had fled the house, one furry arm curled across his ruined chest. He had no idea how he was still moving, that blast should have shredded his lungs and guts. He looked down and saw the fur on his forearm was matted with blood where he had held it against the wounds. He ran for the barn. He fell naturally into a loping run using the arm he wasn’t cradling across his chest as an extra leg as he shot across the yard. He banged into the door of the barn and flung it open, rushing inside and pulling it shut behind him.

He hid himself behind the hay bales they used as fodder for Ginny, the horse had backed away and was nickering in fear, as far from him as she could get in her stall. He fell to his knees and desperately tried to think of something to stop the bloodloss. Speeding up healing. It had said that on his status screen. How could he… The knowledge was there like it had always been part of him. He activated the ability and his body temperature shot up. His hands clenched down on the fence beam he was clinging to and it crushed to splinters in his grip.

He growled, low and dangerous as his reflexes and instincts began hunting for something to kill. The horse bucked and tried to climb out of her stall. He heard a series of small metallic noises and looked down to see the pellets from the buck shot falling out of his chest to land on the floorboards. He cancelled his ability and found he no longer wanted to sink his fangs into something's throat. The pony calmed down but her eyes were still rolling in fear.

Constitution is back to 100%

He checked his chest and found that beneath the blood matted fur he was whole again. He staggered over to the horse's water trough and began scooping handfuls up to splash on his chest and clear away the blood. All he achieved was leaving a long pink stain down the white fur on his belly. He looked at his hands. They were big now. Much bigger than before. Covered in light orange fur, tipped with white around his fingers. Black stripes began to show just before his wrist and continued up his arms. He flexed his hands and inch long claws shot out of his fingertips. He tested them on the fence and they carved deep gashes in the wood effortlessly.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

His limbs had grown out as well. He stood up straight and tried to gauge how tall he was now. Nearly seven feet tall he guessed? Maybe a little more. A striped tail swept in from the side and made him jump. He yowled like a cat and then clamped his mouth shut with a grimace. Whatever he looked like now he wouldn’t behave like… whatever the hell he was. He was still himself. Except now he had a long striped tail that seemed to have a mind of its own.

He needed to go back to the house and help his family but he really didn’t fancy being shot again. Turns out being shot was a very painful experience. Who’d have thought? As he looked himself over he became very conscious that he had cut his way out of his clothes earlier and was currently naked. As well as being very furry. He looked around for something to use to preserve his modesty and his children's sanity. He found a couple of empty bags from the chicken feed and extended one claw to carefully split them apart as he moved further behind the bales.

***

Claire knew there was no way her mum would let her out to go help Ginny and that was just wrong. She had to go help her pony, friends didn't leave each other outside when there was a giant tiger monster running around. She had gotten dressed as quickly as she could. She listened through the door as Sam and Mum argued. Sam wanted to go out. He’d got some kind of super power from what she caught of his words and he thought he could fight the thing. Crazy boy.

No wonder he was going out with Mary, that girl was braindead, perfect for him. She moved quietly over to the window and slid it up gently, making sure the teenage whining on the other side of her door continued uninterrupted. Mum was starting to sound mad now. That might be a problem later but she’d cross that bridge when she had to. I must save Ginny, she thought fiercely.

She climbed out onto the roof just outside her window and crept to the tree that grew close to the house. She stretched out a hand and grabbed one of the thicker branches just as her foot slipped and she lurched off the roof. Her other hand shot up and grabbed the branch which bent, lowering her most of the way to the ground before snapping loudly and dropping her the last couple of feet to the turf.

Not good! They must have heard that. Sure enough mum's voice came down to her from the other side of her door, asking if she was ok. Claire ran for the barn. It took her 30 seconds to get there and as she slammed the door open she saw Mum and Sam looking at her from her bedroom window. Her mum called out and disappeared back into her room. Heading this way no doubt. Claire moved inside to rescue her friend.

***

Owain heard the door slam open just as he was tying his improvised loin cloth into place. He froze and held his breath. Small footsteps echoed as they approached Ginny’s stall. Must be Claire. How to handle this?

“It’s alright girl! What got you so worked up? Was that thing in here?” The last was said with trepidation, he could almost picture her slowly swinging her head around to inspect the barn.

“Claire, it’s me. It’s Dad, please don’t be frightened!” he whispered.

“Dad? Mum said the monster ate you! Where are you? What happened?”

“It didn’t eat me sweetheart. I got- changed somehow. I’m still me, I just look different ok? Do you mind if I come out and talk to you?”

“Ok.”

Owain stepped carefully and walked out from around the bale, catching sight of his daughter. His brave, foolish daughter who had rushed out to save her pony when she thought there was a monster on the loose. He was so proud of her at this moment his heart felt like bursting.

“Daddy, is that you?”

“What? You don’t like the tail?” It swished back and forth behind him.

“No, it looks kind of cute. You look weird though. And tall! Can I touch your fur?”

He stepped forward to offer her an arm to test but Ginny began to buck and push against the enclosure. He backed away.

“I don’t think Ginny likes me anymore, darling.”

“I guess not. You probably smell bad now.”

“If I could get in the house I'd really love to take a shower. But that shotgun really hurts.”

“Mum shot you! You seem ok though, how are you ok?”

“Oh it hurt a lot but I got a healing skill or ability or whatever. What ability did you get?”

“I’m too young. Say’s to try again when I’m sixteen. Petey was really miffed about not getting a super power.”

Owain made a noise halfway between a chuckle and a deep purr. That’s going to be annoying. “I bet he wasn’t happy. This kind of thing would be right up his street with all the games he plays. Sweetheart, please could you do me a favour? I need you to convince your Mum not to shoot me again when she sees me. Do you think you ca-”

The barn door was flung open and something streaked across the barn slamming into him. He was flung back and landed in a pile at the foot of the hay bale.

“Get inside Claire, I’ll deal with this,” said Sam in a deadly serious voice from next to his sister. “Run!”

“No wait, it's Daddy!”

Claire's cry was too late, Sam kicked up a trail of dust in his wake as he arrived in front of Owain without seeming to have crossed the intervening distance. His foot came back and slammed into Owain's chest with a crunch, kicking his father against the bale that ruptured and threw hay in every direction.

“Run Claire!” He called back, stepping forward to grasp his Dad by the throat and lift him up. The kid had gotten much stronger. With his free hand he began punching Owain in the face. His fist blurred, it moved so fast that the blows quickly knocked the sense out of his father who tried feebly to ward off the assault.

“Get back Sam!” called Lindy from the door, shotgun levelled to put the thing down as soon as Sam was out of the way. Thoughts and memories crashed through her mind, brought back by the snippet of the conversation she had heard. Her husbands voice, or something like it, using the doting tone he always adopted for his little girl. A vision of Lindy half heartedly telling him off for spoiling the girl when she was little. But this thing could not be her husband. She felt a profound belief that it was impossible. Whatever had happened to Owain this otherworldly creature could not be him. She would deal with this imposter and then go find Owain, or whatever this thing had left of him.

Claire dashed at her mum, grabbing the gun and pushing it away as she screamed “It’s not a monster! It’s Daddy! Don’t hurt him anymore!”