The door handle slowly began to move, as Mrs. Clare turned it from the other side. Drake had nowhere to go. Scrambling back into the bathroom stall, he sat on the toilet seat, wishing he had his arms back so he could close and lock the door.
The heavy bathroom door swung open slowly.
“It’s okay Mrs. Clare! I’m fine! Everything’s fine!” he called from the stall, though the second he said those words he regretted them. Along with all the physical attributes of his body, his voice had also gone through a transformation, and instead of his typical cracking male voice, he got a voice 3 octaves higher than usual with a slight echo. He silently clapped a hoof over his muzzle.
The science teacher paused. “Drake! Your voice sounds terrible! Did you strain it or something? I’m coming right now,” she said. Drake heard the click of her high heeled shoes touch the tiled bathroom floor.
“Wait! This is a...um...boy’s bathroom! You not allowed in!” he said, trying to think of anything to make her leave.
Click Click Click. She was walking down the aisle.
“It’s an emergency, sweetie, so it’s okay. Where are you?”
Click Click Click. Drake was trapped. She was now three stalls away. Two stalls away. Drake felt nauseous excitement rush through his whole body. He could see the soles of her light baby-pink high heels under the stall across from him.
His mind began spinning and his tiny little heart began to beat faster. What will she do when she sees me. Will she scream? Will she run in terror will she call animal control, spray me with bug spray and then faint? In ten seconds he would know.
Mrs. Clare was two steps from where he was. “Honey, please come out.” Click “I’m worried. I can’t just leave you here alone.” Click “If you’re okay, then I’ll---”
She stopped. She stared. Because in the stall directly to her left, was Drake. She stood stock still as if she were doing the mannequin challenge. Her mouth opened and closed, eyes going wide and fear make itself clear on her face. She looked at Drake’s discarded clothes on the floor, then back to him. Taking slow but trembling steps backwards, she reached the long, joined marble slab that stood a meter above the ground, rows of sinks embedded in them. Putting a hand on the smooth brown stone, she gripped it with snow white knuckles. There was something about her that made Drake’s eyes go wide though, and it wasn’t just her shocked expression. Surrounding her, was a purple-ish blue-ish red-ish mist, rushing around her like a tornado. Purple electricity would jump from one part of her body to another.
It’s the same thing I had seen earlier today in the hallway!!
All of a sudden, Drake remembered something. He remembered something he had forgotten before. That only now, looking at his biology teacher, did it come back to him.
Mrs. Clare was terrified of bugs.
And right in front of her was the most terrifying bug the world will ever see.
She reached out a shaking hand, her long, red painted nails pointing at the changeling. Her mouth slowly opened and her chest expanded, filling with air. Drake’s new ears folded instinctively as he knew what she was going to do.
Screaming with a frequency so high Drake could swear he saw the lights flicker, Mrs. Clare turned her head and looked at the bathroom door, hoping someone would hear her call of distress. She herself, was too scared to flee; knees knocked together and hands gripping the counter as if she would fall if she let go. Her colors began to spin faster.
“HELP!” she screamed. “HELP HELP HELP!” Drake scooted himself backwards on the seat. He was just as scared as the woman in front of him, feeling like he wanted to cry for help as well. But he knew that wouldn’t get him anywhere.
“MONSTER! MONSTER IN THE BOY’S RESTROOM! IT ATE MY STUDENT! SOMEONE SAVE ME!”
Drake was frozen in place while Mrs. Clare continued to scream. She thought I ate...well...me. Shit! What do I do! I’m an absolute monster! I got to get out... Class will be over any minute now…
As if on cue, the bell rang. From outside he could hear opening door as a crescendo of laughter and talking began flooding the hallway beyond.
Ms. Clare opened her mouth again. She would definitely call attention this time around.
With his whole self in a state of crazed panic and fear, he made up his mind on how he was going to solve this problem in less than half a second.
He bolted just before she had the chance to let another scream loose. The door had opened miraculously by someone else on the other side, allowing him to zip underneath their legs. He began to run.
He had read many fanfictions and stories online about a person that turns into some sort of creature in Equestria and then has a hard time walking on four legs. Although it might take some getting used to, running and didn’t feel any harder that it was before, just different.
Students shrieked and jumped out of the way, tripping over themselves, huddling together, and parting like the Red Sea to let him go through. His eyes were closed as he ran, the terrified looks on people’s faces making him sick. When he had first come out of the bathroom, his vision was filled with yellows and oranges, which almost immediately flashed into purple whirlwinds. He still didn’t quite know what those were yet. He heard the students scream.
“Someone call 911!”
“What is that!?!”
“OH MY GOD IT BRUSHED PAST MY LEG.”
“Catch it!”
“It’s an alien!”
"HIT THE FIRE ALARM!"
“Warn the others!!”
He could feel his eyes begin to sting and his vision grow blurry. The sound of screams began to fade into nothing but background noise, and the only thing he could hear was the beating of his tiny little heart. He saw and open door to his right and using what part of his brain that was not overcome with panic, changed the direction in which he was running and dashed inside. On the way in, he subconsciously thought about the door closing, and how badly he wanted to close the door, before suddenly feeling a unnatural, tingly feeling coming from his forehead. The door slammed shut as he ran in, and locked itself. Drake was now alone in an empty supply closet. He breathed heavily in and out, back pressed against some moldy drywall. How did the door…?
His thoughts were derailed by the shrieks of students outside the closet, banging on the door. He could here muffled voices outside panicking, although he couldn’t make out any words. From outside, he could hear what sounded like a sob. Because of that, he felt on the verge of tears himself. Great, He thought. The world is scared shitless of me, thinks I, the crazy 3 foot tall alien bug-horse, ate Drake Traffer, and everyone probably wants me squished. Oh God, help me! If you do exist I could REALLY USE THE ASSISTANCE.
But expectedly, no help came. Drake’s new eyeballs darted from one place to another, trying to find something, anything that could save him from the situation he was in. Alas, a few rolls of paper towels and a couple of cardboard boxes weren’t going to do him any good at the moment. He nervously danced in place, stomach twisting in anxiety. What would his friends say? What would his dad and sister say? What would Arbor say?
Several poundings on the door caused Drake to press tighter against the wall. He didn’t know how the door locked itself, but in this instance, he didn’t care, and he was just glad it kept the crazed student body from reaching him. His hopes were dashed however, when he heard a distorted voice from outside the thick wooden door.
“Everyone back away! Back away! Remain calm!”
Oh God. Those were the authorities, weren’t they? I guess having a school right next to the local police station would explain how they got here so fast.
“Where are the keys?” A gruff and burly voice said from outside the door. Drake held his breath, two sharp teeth biting the bottom of his lip.
He could here Mrs. Clare shout “Here!” and a jingling of keys. Silence became present outside the door. Drake wished he could press himself farther back from his impending doom. His breath came quicker as he began thinking of what he would do when the door opened.
Time slowed down. The keyhole in the door handle slowly shifted as someone from the other side of the door began turning the keys. The door slowly opened and Drake, frozen with fear, lowered his head with an instinct that hadn’t been there before. The door swung out of the way and light flooded the dark room. Drake’s head pounded, his forehead felt ethereal and filled with electric charge, and…
WHAM!
Both of Drake’s eyes were squeezed shut as what felt like gunfire blew from his forehead. The force knocked him one step backwards as green light filled his vision, even though his eyes were closed. He heard the sound of someone yelp, and then everyone grew silent.
Drake, fearful of what this silence could mean, cracked open an eye. Teachers and students stood in a large semi-circle around the door, allowing the police to do there business but also watch in fascination. In the center, one police officer was on his knees, holding another officer in his arms, who seemed to hang limp. The officer tried dabbing furiously at something on the others body with a guaze, but the body remained still. Drake’s heart shattered into a million pieces when he saw a dark red liquid on the ground.
No.
This could not be happening.
The students and teachers began to grow restless again, some beginning to cry and some beginning to run as fast as they could away from the scene. The officer on his knees looked up to Drake with fire in his eyes. Drake could see tear tracks on his face, that disappeared into his small black beard. His colors were blue and purple, with blazing red mist radiating off of him and a small pink wisp circled the blue. The pink ones...
Slowly The officer laid his critically injured partner gently onto the floor and stood up slowly. Quick as a flash, he whipped out the shotgun that was strung on his utility belt and pointed it directly at Drake. His thumb flipped the small notch on the side and a small click was heard.
Drake’s knees were jelly. There was an actual loaded gun. Pointed at him. He had just probably killed someone, and wanted to cry. He didn’t want to do anything more than feel his mom’s arm around him and sob right now. Why is this happening? What did he do to deserve this? Will he just wake up from this bad dream and find everything okay in the morning, dad making breakfast and Lena on the couch watching Sofia the First? Everything just happened so fast. This morning he was just going to school like any other boring day, and now he was an alien guilty of murder being held at gunpoint. Geez, he would even feel an anxious pit in his stomach when a Nerf gun was held up to him, so right now, he couldn’t even begin to describe how terrified he was.
The bearded officer stepped forward. “That’s it, you little martian. Say goodnight,” he hissed through his teeth.
POW
A bullet whizzed past Drake's head and missed him by a centimeter, still feeling the ghost of a bullet hit his new, elongated ears. Drake began to run before he even consciously made the decision to. The students and faculty of the school shrieked once again as they hopped out of the away. He ran down the empty hall, deserted as everyone wanted to get a look at the chaos going down by the broom closet. He could hear the one police officer who tried to shoot him yell to the kids and teachers.
“Stand down! Stay there, don't move! We’ll personally escort you out! Remain calm! Backup Backup, I need backup! This thing is armed and dangerous! Officer Dunn is down! Send an ambulance! Over!”
The last part he screamed into his walkie-talkie, alerting the waiting policemen parked outside and entire station of his presence. He could hear the officer right behind him running to try and keep up with Drake. Drake’s lungs ached and his muscles burned, but he ran as fast he could possibly muster down the hallways. He was small, though, and unused to this style of running, whereas the officer’s long strides were quickly drawing closer.
Drake turned a corner sharply into another hallway, the officer following close behind. Because he wasn’t as naturally agile as the changeling in front of him, he slammed into the lockers ahead of him before pulling himself off the wall and continuing his pursuit. Drake ran until he didn’t think he could run anymore, and even then, he kept running. His life depended on it. He didn’t, however, notice the little wings on his back, fluttering and helping propel him forward. The more tired he grew, the faster they buzzed until eventually...he was in the air.
He hadn’t even noticed it at first, legs still thrashing about until he looked down, wondering why he couldn’t feel the floor beneath his hooves anymore. He was moving forward at a very brisk pace now, leaving the policeman in the dust. He didn’t know how he did it. It was a subconscious action, liking walking or running. His wings kind of beat on their own, and he didn’t give them much thought. He was only about a foot off the ground, but it still felt incredibly weird to him. The buzzing noise coming from his shoulderblades kept a constant reminder that he was cruising above the ground and actually flying. He was shocked at first, feeling his breakfast leap into his throat when it hit him what exactly what was going on, but then gave a microscopic grin, and pushed onwards.
He could hear the officer behind him, cussing in shock and rage. Both of Drake’s forelimbs were extended in front of him as he zipped out of the crazed policeman's range. Drake turned into another hallway and in front of him sat the huge double doors that lead the students in and out of the school, swung wide open, sweet fresh air and freedom within a couple yards… except for the fact that an entire barricade of policemen sat outside in a line with see-through shields up and at the ready, forming a wall, obviously waiting for him. When he came into view, he could see several eyes go wide and whispers passed before they became ready to deal with him once again. Fear was still present in their eyes, though; they hadn’t heard anything about the creature being able to fly. As they kneeled on the concrete steps of the school, guns raised and at the ready, Drake pushed himself to go faster and zipped over their heads before they had a chance to react.
Ahhhh… Sweet Freedom! He pushed himself to go higher and higher upwards, making a point not to look down. As the the clouds became closer his head spun. Flying felt like perpetually falling, without the falling part. His legs flailed around, unused to not coming in contact with something solid as he unevenly flew straight ahead. The officers behind him were yelling and radioing in backup and news trucks and whatever. This would not be an issue kept quiet, he assumed.
A large overgrown park lay before the school, or the ‘forest’ as they called it. It was about 2 acres of land, sitting squat in the middle of both Silvercliff and Rose View Point, the town in which Drake lived. It had once been planned by the two mayors of the town to become a dog park, with fountains, play structures and more, connecting the two places, but the idea was never executed, and the land remained untouched. It was a large woodsy area by their community heavily populated with trees and other growth, making it like a forest, hence the name. He and Carson, whom he had known since kindergarten, had spent many weekends wandering around in there, pretending to be brave explorers and monster hunters, but eventually getting lost and screaming for their moms. It had been a blast. Now, fleeing from probable death, Drake figured he could use the place as a hideout, and spend a night there, and maybe creep out to find his friends when the time was right. That seemed like a reasonable plan.
As he was just about over the small forest, he heard a gunshot from behind him a sharp pain unlike anything he ever felt bloomed from his side. He let out a shriek that wouldn’t have been possible to make with human vocal cords. His vision blurred and the flapping of his tiny wings all of a sudden became a burden. He could feel his blood thumping where his hind leg met his stomach, and all of his muscles went weak. He was losing blood. And it hurt so bad. He began to slowly plummet towards the earth as the world around him slowly turned to black.