"What do you mean?" Sara was confused. Sally, the woman who just introduced herself to her, is now asking her to show her what she's got? And what does that even mean?
"Oh Yeah!" Sally said while scratching her head, "I forgot you didn't know anything about it,"
"So, the thing is that every inhuman gets a random animal power the moment they are turned into one" Sally said with a generous smile on her face.
"A random animal," Sara said with a serious expression.
"Yes!" Sally said, " And as you saw earlier," Sally pointed her right thumb towards herself and with a proud expression, she said, "I'm a Sparrow!"
"Sparrow….." Sara said, at this point she has a lot going on in her head. A lot of questions, but no answers.
"Uhm…. Do you know what mine is?" Sara said with a curious but cute expression.
"Not yet.....but we can find out!"
"How?"
"For that, you need to transform!"
"Transform?" Sara's heartbeat gets faster, she has to go through that same blood curdling transformation she had witnessed Sally undergo. Just thinking about it made her heart beat even faster.
"B–But how do I do it?" Sara said, "I don't even remember how I did it the last time,"
"No problem!" Sally said, again with that proud expression, " Just follow my instructions!"
"Uhm.... Okay?"
"Alright, first I need you to get out of the bed, and stand straight"
Sara did as she was told, she took off the blankets, carefully got out of the bed and then carefully stood in front of Sally.
Sara noticed that her clothes weren't fitting properly, they were loose, she wanted to mention it to Sally, but then decided not to.
"Alright," Sally said, "Now, relax,"
Sara relaxed herself, loosened her arms, closed her eyes and took easy breaths.
"Now, press both of your wrists tightly against your left chest"
Sara started with her right wrist, she pressed it tightly against her left chest. She then did the same with her left wrist.
"Can you feel your heart beating?" Sally asked, she had a faint smile and was speaking slower than usual.
Sara nodded.
"Alright, now comes the hard part," Sally said, " Take a deep breath in, while you do that you need to concentrate, and count you heartbeats"
"Count like…..uh….yeah! one lub-dub is one beat" Sally said, "Do you understand what I said?"
Sara nodded.
"Okay," Sally spoke even slower, " On the sixth beat, quickly exhale all the air out. Understood?"
"Yes," Sara said, the process sounded simple, but what would follow, still made her nervous.
"Good," Sally said, " You might have to do it multiple times. I'll tell you when to start."
Sara tried to relax by taking deep breaths, but still couldn't stop feeling nervous.
"On the count of three," Sally said with a serious expression.
Sara nodded, then took a deep breath.
"One,"
Sara exhaled
"Two,"
Sara waited
"Three!"
Sara inhaled a long breath
She held that breath in and started counting her heartbeats in her mind.
Lub-dub
'One'
Lub-dub
'Two'
Lub-dub
'Three'
Lub-dub
'Four'
Lub-dub
'Five'
Lub-dub
'Six!'
Sara forcefully exhaled all the breath she held in.
Nothing happened.
But that's just what it looked like.
When Sara exhaled, she felt some kind of pressure rising up in her spine.
Sara's eyes widened, she was breathing faster.
"I know how that felt," Sally said with a reassuring expression, "don't be scared, but you need to do that again"
Sara nodded, then repeated the process
Two, three, four, five times. Each time, the pressure was higher than it was in the previous one.
She did it the sixth time, but this time the pressure turned into a sharp pain in her spine which led to her exhale turning into a loud scream.
Sara dropped on her knees, her back violently arched backwards. Her breathing became ragged.Her vision blurred.Her skin burned like fire was spreading beneath it.
She clutched her chest, "S–Sally—!" her voice trembled.
Sally remained calm, "Don't fight it."
Sara's arms trembled violently. A strange sensation spread across her forearms.
It wasn't pain, it was… pressure.
Then—
Soft, fine, dark strands began appearing across her wrists and lower forearms, blending into her skin like they had always belonged there.
Sara stared at them, her breathing uneven. Her fingers twitched, her nails slowly extended, sharpening into faint, natural points, her muscles tightened involuntarily.
She felt it clearly now.
Strength.
Not explosive.
Not overwhelming.
But present.
Real.
Her shoulders pulled back slightly, her spine straightened, her breathing deepened, her entire posture began to change, her loose shirt shifted against her body. Earlier, it had hung awkwardly. Now…
It didn't, the fabric rested naturally along her shoulders, her sleeves no longer sagged, they aligned, her arms had become firmer, defined. Her legs steadied beneath her as subtle strength filled them. Even her height had changed, not dramatically, but enough. Enough that the world felt slightly lower than before.
Sara didn't notice it, but Sally did.
Sally's eyes narrowed slightly, she watched carefully.
Sara's body wasn't just transforming, it was adapting perfectly, as if this form had always been waiting inside her.
Sara's back suddenly tensed. A deep pressure formed at the base of her spine.
Her muscles tightened—
Rip.
Her clothes stretched slightly as a long, dark tail slowly emerged behind her, moving faintly as if testing its existence.
Sara froze.
Her breathing stopped.
Another sensation spread across the top of her head. It was a faint pressure.
Her black hair shifted slightly as two small, dark, triangular shapes formed beneath it, subtly changing her silhouette.
Sara's heart pounded violently. She looked down at herself. Her body felt lighter, stronger, faster, but....unfamiliar.
She raised her trembling hands. They looked like hers, but they didn't feel like hers anymore.
She slowly looked at Sally.
Fear.
Confusion.
And something else.
Something new.
"Wh–What happened to me?" Sara's voice was shaking
Sally smiled and said, "You successfully transformed!"
Sara let out a long exhale and then fell on the floor, she was drenched in sweat, completely exhausted.
"Is it always this painful?" Sara said while panting
"Oh no," Sally said with a soft expression, "It just stays for the first few transformations and then disappears."
Sally then reached out a hand towards Sara.
Sara grabbed her hand and got up.
Sally picked up a mirror from the table near the hospital bed and gave it to Sara, "Here, take a look at yourself,"
Sara took the mirror, she carefully looked at it.
She froze
Her face hadn't changed a bit, but there were two black triangle shaped ears, each on either side of her head. Sara's eyes widened, she brought her hand to touch one of them.
She could feel them, they belonged to her, they were a part of her.
Sara kept the mirror on the bed and then looked back to address the elephant in the room.
The fact that she had a tail now. It was long, black and moved on her will. She could feel it move, she could feel it stop.
"Well, well, looks like we've got a cute cat here," Sally said looking at her notepad.
Sara looked at her furry and stronger forearms, "I feel….. stronger"
Sally, still looking at her notepad, "Of course, you're an inhuman now."
"Now let me now down the details," Sally started writing something on the notepad.
'Name: Sara Brooks'
'Date of birth: January 3rd 2012'
'Age: 14 years'
'Anima–'
CLICK
The pencil broke
Sally's eyes widened, 'That was a reinforced graphite pencil! And I just bought it! It's one of the hardest materials in the world! H–How can it possibly break?'
Sally looked at Sara and then, a sudden realization hit her.
There was one common factor in Sara's cat ears, tail and the fur on her forearms.
They were black
"You're not just a cat!" Sally said in a serious tone, "You're…..a 'Black Cat'!"
Sara looked at her with a confused expression
Sally continued, "The one which carries bad luck!"