Author's Note: We apologize very much for the moments of OOC in last chapter, it was all done in the name of entertainment. Well, now that that's done with, sorry about the long wait, it was due to some artistic hinders in the form of Writer's block... But we've got a new chapter for you now.
Lil' odd me and Aspiring Elf Girl present to you, Chapter 9! Happy reading!

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Chapter 9 - 'Freak'


The journey back to my room was relatively short and words were barely exchanged between Warren and I. I got the feeling he was still a tad angry about the whole 'American's' comment. I hadn't meant it to come out like that, I personally have nothing against Americans, I just hate it when people go on TV to air out their personal problems. Why not just set out a boxing ring on the street and let them physically fight in public? We reached my room and I ascended the stepladder with Warren close behind me. I sat on the wooden floor as he was just about to pull the hatch shut.

"Goodnight, Belle," he said tersely and pulled down. I managed to stop the descent of the hatch.

"Warren, wait!"

"Yes?" he sighed, reappearing in the hole in the floor.

"I'm sorry," I said meekly. I'm not really used to apologising – my pride usually gets in the way. "I'm sorry about the comment earlier. You know I didn't mean it, right?"

"I suppose," he said. "After all, you are British – and the British are strange people."

"I'll get you for that, Warren Worthington, mark my words!" I threatened.

"Yeah, maybe," he smirked. "But right now it's time for little girls to go to sleep."

"Don't push me, pigeon boy!"

"I wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart," he laughed. "Goodnight..."

"A kiss, perhaps?" I interjected quickly, taping my cheek expectantly. "My mummy always used to give me one."

"I'm not your mommy."

"Oh please!" I gave him a full-on pout, hoping it would work. It didn't.

"GOODNIGHT, Belinda!"

And with that he shut the door. Spoilsport. With that clear brush-off of my affections (what there was of them) I showered and went to bed. As I sat in bed I looked at the skin on my arms, as it was itching, and it was blistering slightly. I thought I must have had an allergic reaction to something, but nothing could be done about it now. I turned over and lay down to sleep, and miraculously I was out like a light.

Then night did not stay that way. I had the worst time trying to sleep. My body was itching and my back, for some odd reason, was screaming bloody murder! I tried my best and managed to slip back to sleep a couple of times, though it was only a matter of time before the pain decided to wake me again. It was the early hours of the morning before I decided to give up the fight and get up and go see Beast, since he seemed to know a lot about...well...everything. He might have been able to tell me why my back was hurting like hell.

I was about to leave my bed when I felt a warm sticky substance beneath me. Despite my blasted back I got up and stared at my bed to see what it was. I felt a scream gather in my throat as I saw the horror-movie-esque sight that was in front of me. My bed was stained red with blood, MY blood! I switched the light on beside my bed and saw that my pyjamas were wet with the fluid and my skin...my skin was...falling off?? I scratched at my arms and the once pale skin that had been there flaked away to revealed hard, blue scales. Oh dear god!

I ran to the mirror and turned to look at my back. It was NOT supposed to be that shape! Two great lumps of bloody flesh protruded from my shoulder blades and were twitching involuntarily. They were not the only thing twitching as I looked further down. Another limb seemed to be protruding from my spine. I had a frikkin' tail!! It was blue-scaled and spade shaped, not unlike Kurt's, except for the lack of fur. I looked like a plastic surgery foul-up!! First of all I needed to get this blood off me and see how much of my skin I could peel off so I didn't look like Tutankhamen's mummy.

I took my sodden PJ's off and stepped into the shower. The hot water burned my raw skin and I had to turn it down before I woke the whole house with my screams. I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I scrubbed at the already sore and peeling skin to get as much of the dead tissue as I could off my body. I was happy to see that the bleeding had ceased, but everything still ached like hell. I tentatively patted myself dry and dressed. This would be my next dilemma. Luckily the lumps on my back would go under the black shirt I was wearing, but there was the matter of my trousers and the extra limb that would have to fit through them.

Out came the scissors. I sat down and cut a hold in the back of my jeans just large enough to push my newly acquired tail through, if I could just get a hold of the bloody thing! It was wagging from side to side involuntarily and every time I went to grab it, it would move out of the way. That day was definitely not going well to say the least! Eventually I won the battle and managed to get my jeans on successfully. I was now in desperate need of painkillers and something to fill an empty stomach. Now came the task of finding my way to the kitchen. This took a few hours at least...well, maybe that's exaggerating slightly, but it took a while.

I think I must have passed the same rooms three times before I finally found the kitchen, and it was a BIG kitchen. There was a huge refrigerator, tons of cupboards and cabinets, and I deduced that at least one would have some sort of pain relief in them, even if it was just chocolate. It took a good deal of searching, but I finally found some aspirin. Next on the agenda was food, lots of it!

I ate the strangest things that morning. I emptied a jar of pickles, I had mashed peas on toast, and god knows what else with eggs on the side. Pancakes too...lots of them. By then the painkillers had kicked in and I didn't feel half as bad as I had when I woke, so I ate half the cupcakes on the sideboard too. They were some good cupcakes! I had realised by this point that I had made one hell of a mess and decided to clean up.

It took a while, but I finally completed the task, although my back was starting to ache again. I decided maybe that I should go and see Beast; since he was the closest thing to a doctor I could think of at the moment. If he could make this metamorphosis hurt less and happen faster, I'd be in his debt for life! Next question – where was the lab? Damn my short term memory loss! I weaved my way though the corridors, being as quiet as possible, and I was sure I was going in a circle until I arrived at my destination about half an hour later. I really needed a map of this place. Or a tour-guide would be nice...anyway, I eased the door of the lab open, expecting the lights to be off and everything to be quiet, but everything was operational, and there was the big blue lump himself, humming and looking at some machine or another.

"Ah, Belle, come in," he said, still with his back to me. I hesitantly stepped into the lab, apprehensive of what he might think of me, though he himself was by no means normal looking.

Beast paused in his humming and sniffed the air. "Blood," he muttered and turned to me. The shock was evident on his face, and he struggled with his words for the first time. "My goodness!" was all he managed to say.

"That's more polite than what I said this morning when I found out," I smiled grimly.

"This is extraordinary!" he got down from his chair and walked over to me. "Never before have I seen such an accelerated mutation. A whole limb has formed over-night!" He was looking at my swishing tail. It did it all by itself, I wasn't aware I was moving it. "And your skin! You are medical marvel, Belinda!"

"Funny, the word 'freak' comes to mind," I said bitterly.

"Unique, my dear, unique! I should very much like to run some tests..."

"Tests? What tests?" I asked hastily, not liking the sound of that.

"But first let me look at your wings. Please remove your shirt." I hesitated. It was like being at the doctors and that always made me uncomfortable, but I did as I was told or at least, I tried. My shirt was stuck to my back.

"I can't its OW! Stuck!" I stopped trying to pull it.

"I must look Belinda, but it seems some fluid has stuck your back to your shirt and dried. It won't to you any harm if I remove it manually. Brace yourself, this will hurt," he hardly gave me that warning as he quickly stripped the shirt off my back. It felt like someone yanking a huge piece of skin off and before I knew what I had done; my scream had morphed into an enormously loud resounding roar. After the sound had ceased there was a stunned silence. I could hear people getting up all over the house due to my vocalisation.

"Well," I said quietly. "That's new..."

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