Madeline looked herself up and down in the mirror even more. She’d already done a quick check, and was very pleased with the results, but now she opened the door to let Arin in. Without speaking, she showed off her fully-grown, very fuzzy wolf ears, as well as the long light-grey hair that now flowed all the way to the center of her back. When done, she turned around and wagged her tail, which now was even furrier and nearly swept across the ground. She ran a hand along the curvature of her hips and pointed at her adorable face. She still hadn’t seen much of a height difference, but that seemed to matter less and less.

“Sweetie?” said Arin.

“Yes?” Madeline leaned in close to them.

“You’re sexy.” 

Madeline kissed them on the cheek. “I know I am. And so are you.”

After a moment of contemplation, she hugged them tight. “This isn't uncomfortable for you, is it?”

Arin held her as close as they could. “Not at all. I can’t say I expected you to be a wolf girl, but I’m excited. Madeline, I’ve never seen you this overjoyed to just be you before. I’m thrilled I get to see you this happy.”

Madeline nuzzled their neck. They held each other close for another long, peaceful moment.

When they finished, Madeline pulled back and got another look in the mirror. Something about how she looked still seemed off.

“These clothes don’t exactly fit me anymore, huh?” Madeline tugged at the collar of her shirt.

“I don’t know. You haven’t really changed all that much in terms of size.” Arin reached up and moved a strand of hair off her shoulders. 

She adjusted her shirt in the mirror some more. It felt really tight around her neck, but loose everywhere else. “No, I mean in terms of style. Did I ever really even have a sense of style before?”

“You had a very strong white shirt, blue pants thing going. Except on special fancy days where you’d wear a red shirt.” Arin replied.

She looked at her current white shirt and blue pants. “Is this really all I ever wore?”

“Also shoes.”

“Yeah,” she shifted uncomfortably, “We really have to fix that.”

“Florence is really the only style expert around here; we can definitely visit her when you’re ready to come out.”

Madeline took a couple deep breaths in and out, looking in the mirror to watch her new ears move in time with the breaths. After a few, she nodded. “I think I’m ready.”

“I hope you don’t feel rushed.” Arin hugged her shoulder.

“I mean, I do. But there’s not much I can do about it.” She wrapped an arm around Arin and held their heads close together. “Or, I don’t know. I think this curse also helped me get to where I wanted to be much quicker that I would have been otherwise. It’s less like being pushed and more like being nudged slightly out of my comfort zone, which is both helpful and kind of annoying. But if there’s anybody I’m ready to show my changes to, it’s definitely Florence.”

Arin nodded, standing on their toes to rest their head next to Madeline’s. The feeling of their chin moving across her shoulders was strange, but it was the unexpected sensations created from their closeness that Madeline admired the most.

“How about we have your breakfast and my dinner first?” Arin whispered in her ear. “I picked up some great lamb chops today.”

Madeline turned to them, enthusiasm sparkling in her eyes.

“Also some broccoli for me.” Arin shrugged. “Pretty sure my body still occasionally needs non-meat nutrition. Also, if you’re sure about this, I’ll run over to Florence’s real quick and ask her to stay up so we can come over.”

Madeline nodded. “Could you wait for me to be there before saying anything? I mean, maybe tell her that I’m going to be different, but I’d rather discuss the specifics with her myself.”

Arin gave her another hug before heading out the door. Madeline picked up her book, but barely had any time to read before Arin returned. They said, “Okay, she’s ready when we are. All I told her is that you look different because of a curse and you want to talk with her.”

They cooked and ate their food slowly, savoring both the meal and their time together. As rude as it would be to keep Florence waiting, they didn’t have much of a choice but to leave under the cover of night. Once everyone knew, Madeline determined, she’d have to force herself to wake up earlier. It was unfair to Arin that they had to adjust their sleep around hers. And even if she was never the most social person, she didn’t feel like she could really help out Rodehills if she couldn’t coordinate with anyone else to do so.

They turned out the lights in their house. Arin opened the front door and looked around. Arin lead the way, staying on the lookout for anyone who might still be outside. When they didn’t see anyone, they motioned Madeline to follow. She stayed hunched low, covering as much of herself with the cloak as she could, and hid along the sides of buildings. Rodehills was not a heavily populated village, but it was spacious, with wide roads and long fields of grassland. It was not an ideal location for stealth. Even worse, Florence’s atelier was right near the very center of town, so they would have to pass by many other homes. In hindsight, Madeline realized, they probably should have asked her to come to them. But it was too late now.

Arin stopped in the street and held out a hand, motioning for Madeline to stay put. They quickly turned around, but walked back to her calmly.

“What’s going on?” Madeline whispered.

“Just saw Chad,” they said, leaning against the white stone house Madeline was ducked behind. “He’s heading into James’ place. I think he’s already inside, but let’s circle around this house just in case.”

Madeline felt tense. She didn’t want to be caught by anyone. Not yet. And especially not by Chad.

They ducked low as they circled around the building, making sure to stay underneath the windows. Madeline felt like a thief. On one hand, it felt exhilarating. On the other, she didn’t feel she should have to go through all this just to visit a friend. 

Following Arin for just a little while longer, they made their way to Florence’s house. She hid around the side while Arin knocked on the door. Florence answered mere seconds after they knocked.

“Hey,” said Arin.

“Hey,” Florence replied, sticking her head outside and looking around.  “Where’s Dave?”

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna give them the signal to rush in. Remember what I said?”

“Dave looks different, but it’s fine, so don’t freak out.” she repeated.

“Right.” They waved Madeline in.

She sprinted into the open door, her hood flying off of her in the process. Florence jumped out of the way. Madeline skidded to a stop and Arin slammed the door shut behind her. Madeline turned around to look at Florence.

Today, Florence was wearing a purple and green dress. She had her hair tied in a simple ponytail. Her eyes were wide, and her hands covered her mouth. She stood like that for what seemed to Madeline like forever.

Florence said, “Oh my gosh.”

A shiver went through Madeline. She must have freaked the poor girl out. “Sorry, I can explain.”

“You’re adorable!” Florence rushed in for a hug so excitedly that she nearly tackled Madeline to the ground. Madeline was shocked, but after a moment of being hugged her worries melted away.

Florence suddenly broke away from the hug and took a step back. “Wait, sorry, was that okay for me to say? I don’t know if I fully have the context here.”

“No, that was totally fine.” Madeline smiled. “In fact you can say it again if you want.”

“Honey, I’m going to call you cute until you’re sick to death of hearing it.” Florence sat down in her chair by the fireplace, leaving the couch for Madeline and Arin. They sat down next to each other, and Arin put their arm around Madeline’s shoulders. Florence’s eyes lit up even brighter. “I need all details you want to offer. Now, please.”

“Well, the short of it is after I met that witch I turned into a wolf girl. And I’m going by ‘Madeline.’” She leaned against Arin and pointed between them and herself. “Also, we’re back together now.”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” She held her face in her hands. 

Madeline looked around the room. It hadn’t changed much since the last time she’d been in there. Florence decorated her atelier with the same materials she used for her craft- brightly colored cloth. Everything was in gorgeous patterns and color combinations. The smell of dye pervaded the air- even stronger now than it was before her change. But to offset that, Florence kept her house lit with an assortment of floral-scented candles, all safely tucked away in small lanterns in order to avoid contact with any cloth.

“So we wanted to come visit you and tell you what was going on.” Arin said. “Right now it’s still a secret to everybody else.”

Before they arrived, Florence had prepared a tea set on the central table, and she was now pouring cups for everyone. She nodded along while they talked.

“Also, if it’s not too much trouble, I’m interested in getting new clothes.” Madeline said, reaching for a teacup. By the time she grabbed it, Florence was already up and searching through the closet of outfits she’d made.
She pulled out the absolute brightest, pinkest, frilliest dress Madeline had ever seen. It flared out massively at the bottom, and the sleeves were coated in thin white ruffles. Madeline wasn’t sure if Florence and her had a very compatible fashion sense. Involuntarily, Madeline lowered one ear while the other raised up. Seeing her do that, Arin started to giggle, and she poked them in the arm to make them stop. 

“Okay, this is my personal favorite. It isn’t going to be properly sized for you, but we could make adjustments. I think it just radiates a fall city style, but the fabric is breezy enough to wear anytime. Feel this.” Florence held it out.

Madeline rubbed it between her fingers. It felt incredibly light and much softer than what she was wearing now. As much as it wasn’t her style, it was probably very comfortable.

“Does it have pockets?” Madeline asked.

“My dear,” Florence slid her hand into a pocket hidden in one of the folds. “Everything I make has pockets.”

“Wait, even this?” Arin pulled a strap on their blue top. 

“Yes, they’re on the back.”

Arin leaned forward and slid a hand across the back, eventually finding a small opening and sliding their hand in there. “Huh.”

“Oh, they’re like the hidden inner pockets on my cloak.” she giggled. Madeline’s reservations about coming here had disappeared entirely. “I don’t think pink is my color, do you have something in purple? Maybe with legs? I work in tall grass a lot.”

“I’ve had this top for three years,” Arin mumbled, still in disbelief. 

Florence ignored them and continued, “Ah, so you’re looking for something more day-to-day and practical? Do you like the idea of pairing the purple with black and leaning into the sort of wolf, and therefore nighttime, aesthetic?”

“That sounds great.” Madeline said.

“Awesome, because I think I have just the thing.” Florence felt around in the closet some more. She pulled out a short-sleeved purple top and a black pair of pants. “Want to try these on? They’re designed to be worn loose, but not so loose that they snag on things. Let me go ahead and cut a tail hole so you can properly try them on.”

Madeline had been wondering how to go about doing that. Her current pants were quite difficult to wear. She turned to Florence, “But, wait, what if those don’t fit?” 

Florence had already grabbed a pair of scissors. She snipped a hole out of the the back of the pants and handed them and the shirt to Madeline. “Nevermind that, it’s an easy fix. The dressing room is the door next to the bathroom. Go ahead.”

Madeline took the clothes and headed to the changing room. When she got up, Florence slid into the spot next to Arin where Madeline had been sitting, clearly anticipating hearing what had happened from Arin’s perspective. A part of Madeline wanted to stay and hear what Arin had to say, but she thought better of it. They could probably use a second to just chat with their friend, and Madeline and Arin had all the time in the world to figure out how exactly the other had felt while all of this was going on.

As she walked through the changing room doorway, Madeline realized that she had to lower her ears to avoid hitting them on the top of the door frame. The times she’d been to Florence’s before, she’d had to slightly duck to not bump her head when entering her home. Based on this, Madeline estimated that since her curse she’d shrunk a total of about four inches. The emphasis of the curse was definitely more on the “cuter” rather than the “smaller.”

She took off her old clothes and slipped the new ones on. Stylistically, they weren’t much different, but the change in colors seemed to match her so much more. The neckline on her top was looser and breezier. And while she felt like maybe the pants were tighter on her than they were meant to be, they still felt mobile and practical. The cloth was still pretty heavy, though; she’d ask about that. But Madeline loved the look. Something about the darker colors made her look a bit mysterious, dangerous even? It kind of made her feel thankful that she’d retained most of her height; it really only added to the effect she wanted. She grinned and flexed her bicep in the mirror. Madeline looked adorable and powerful. It was awesome.

Madeline walked back out into the main room. With a big smile on her face, she said, “I like this look a lot.” 

Arin stood up out of their chair, walked casually over to Madeline, and suddenly gave her a big hug. “You look so good, sweetie.”

Madeline stroked the back of their head. “Thank you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Madeline could see Florence sitting on the couch, positively giddy with excitement that her friends were being this cute together.

Madeline asked, “Do you think I could get a version of this made of the same fabric as that really soft, pink dress? If that’s not too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all!” Florence said, bouncing up and down on the couch.

 Madeline leaned into Arin’s hug a little more. This was nice, in a way she’d never thought she would get to experience. Getting to talk fashion with her friends, getting to be her around them. And seeing them smile about it! Being able to hold her loving partner so close in her arms.

Her ears perked up. There was a noise outside. Then a light passed by the window. Soon, there was much more noise, and many more lights. She didn’t know what was going on, or what all these people were doing up so late in the night. But it probably had to do with her. She snagged her cloak from where she placed it over the armrest, and threw it over herself in preparation for the need to disguise herself in darkness.

Arin cautiously made their way to the door. Madeline crouched in a spot behind the couch where she could peek out the door but could also duck her head in and hide if she needed to. Arin slowly opened the door and looked outside. It was hard to see past Arin, but it looked like several-  no, dozens - of villagers were holding torches and lanterns and had gathered around town center. Someone had overturned a crate and now stood on top of it, saying something loudly to the crowd. It didn’t take long to figure out who it was.

“What the blazes is he doing?” Arin said, not so much talking as exhaling. 

Seeing that no one was right directly outside the house, Florence and Madeline made their way closer to the door. Florence stood in the open doorway next to Arin, Madeline crouched against the wall next to them. From here, she could hear Chad shouting outside.

“So we can all agree that there’s something prowling around at night, yes?”

A handful of people in the crowd surrounding him started to speak. Someone shouted, “I saw something moving outside the window already tonight!”

Chad pointed to the person behind him. He continued, “Do you hear that? Monsters prowling around at night, and some kind of wolf or werewolf howling right at the edge of our town. Did any of this ever happen before that witch showed up? And for everyone doubting me, yes they are a witch! Larry saw the thing. And Dave himself told me it was a witch before he suddenly disappeared, right before wolves started howling right outside his door!”

Chad spun around, pointing to the whole crowd. “Not a single one of you has seen Dave, right? Raise your hand if you’ve seen him since the first night he went to that place?”

There was a soft murmuring from the crowd outside. Everyone was talking, but no one disagreed.

“Right.” Chad grimaced. “A witch lures him in, acting all nice, convinces him she’d never doing anything wrong. Dave comes back and says everything’s fine, we shouldn’t believe the witch caused any problems. Well everything is not fine, and we need to do something about it.”

Madeline, Arin, and Florence all looked to each other, wide-eyed and fearful, each one pleading with the others to think of something to do. They looked around the crowd-- no one was armed, and no one was in a frenzy. It wasn’t an angry mob, but if they didn’t stop it, it might become one.

 “Madeline, stay away from the door.” Arin said. Madeline nodded and took a couple steps away. From this angle, she could still sort of see Chad out the window.

Arin shouted, “Chad! What are you talking about? I’ve seen Dave every day this week. He’s been sick at our house.”

“Except when he went to get medicine, right?” Chad stood up taller. “From Charlene? But Charlene says he never made it to her place, and Larry’s been knocking on your door ever since he watched you leave. He saw you leave your house with some shadow following behind you! How do we know Dave’s curse didn’t just spread to you?”

Madeline gasped. She saw Arin’s face flash from fear to anger. They shouted, “Chad, I know we hate each other, but this is going way too far! You can’t drag everyone into this bizarre conspiracy, especially not my partner, and especially not me! And now you’re sending spies? What are you trying to prove?”

“Enough,” Florence moved past Arin. She spoke to the crowd. “I saw him too. Chad is speaking nonsense.”

Some members of the crowd had already started to head back home. Others stuck stubbornly around. All were talking among themselves.

“This is a witch!” Chad screamed, stamping his foot on his makeshift platform. “Who knows what all it’s capable of? What illusions it can cast? Is this a risk we want to take? Even if he’s only sick, Dave got so sick he’s been missing for two days right after seeing this witch! Right after going into their home, right after drinking their coffee. I have devoted my life to the safety of this village, to the safety of your homes, your farms, your kids! Now Dave is missing, or sick, or even worse! I will not rest as long as he’s in danger. Who all is with me?”

A handful of cheers came from the crowd. Not many, but enough to send a shiver running from the tips of Madeline’s ears to the center of her churning stomach. She covered her eyes with her fists.

“I’M RIGHT HERE!” Madeline screamed.

The pressure in her chest began to release, in the worst way possible. It wasn’t the burst to cut through the tension she’d hoped it would be, only the creation of a small hole from which the ease of the pressure would be drawn out, long, painful, and now unavoidable. She looked up at Arin.

Arin gave a soft smile, and a gentle nod. The world around them had gone silent. They helped Madeline off the floor, and held her hand with both of theirs.

Madeline sighed and walked towards the door with Arin right behind her, still grasping her hand. She gave a quick nod to Florence before rounding the corner.

Her appearance was met with gasps, sighs, and a sudden roar of talking. How long, she wondered, was the talking going to persist? She and Arin made their way towards the center, and towards Chad.

The first person she passed was Liam, the butcher. Liam was an older man, with a white moustache and a white outfit. He and Madeline’s mom had been close friends. Madeline remembered Liam always preparing them “his finest cut,” though her mom said he told everyone that. Sure enough, when Madeline got older, he gave his finest cut to her. Madeline couldn’t believe a man that silly, that sweet, was in a crowd like this.

Liam looked her over, focusing on her face. “Dave?” he asked.

“I’m going by Madeline now.” She said to Liam, loud enough that everyone else could hear. Then she kept walking.

She passed by so many faces she knew. People she’d known her whole life, people who had known her all of theirs. Most of them were probably here out of curiosity, others out of fear. Whether they were being guided to hurt this monster or the witch- her or the person who helped her- it didn’t much matter. She felt betrayed. And afraid.

Madeline made her way to the center, looked Chad in the eyes, and waited.

“What happened to you?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“Nothing that I didn’t want.” she stated. 

Madeline turned to the crowd. “I’m sorry about scaring you all. I’m still figuring out a lot about myself and this form. You can all go home now.”

To her relief, several people did turn around and start walking away. To her horror, Chad and many others did not.

“Dave, we can’t just go home. You’ve been cursed.” Chad sounded sincerely worried.

Madeline wheeled around back to him in disbelief. “I let myself be. I wanted to be.”

Chad looked around, covering his mouth before turning back to her. “Dave-”

“Madeline.” she corrected, stamping her foot for emphasis.

Chad held his hands out. “Okay. Okay, Madeline. That’s alright, I just don’t know how to explain this to you.”

“What?” she asked. His behavior was so different from normal that it threw her off.

“Of course you’d think that you want the curse after getting hit by it. That’s gotta be part of the curse.”

Madeline stood there, stunned, the churning in her gut rising. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

Chad knelt down. “You’re dealing with magic. Who knows what it made you want, or how long it made you think you wanted it?”

“That’s enough.” said Arin, stepping forward.

Chad took a small step back on his makeshift platform. “Hey, I just want to protect my friend. Let them figure things out for themselves. If they truly wanted to change, they would have worked it out without magic influence, right?”

“I did. I’ve known about this, or at least something similar about myself for years.” she offered. How did this happen? She suddenly felt like she was on the defensive. Her legs felt weak.

“But you’re cursed. How do you know false memories aren’t a part of it?” he stated, calmly. Madeline felt a massive weight on her chest. She had never for a second even considered that possibility.

“What makes you sure they are?” Her voice quivered. She didn’t have any way to disprove him.

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure they are at all. But I don’t think we can trust some random witch.” Chad sat down on the box, getting eye level with her. The concern on his face seemed so real.

“You’re not trusting a witch, you’re trusting me.” She held her hand over her chest. The gazes of the crowd pierced deeper than ever.

“But you’re clearly under the effects of a spell we know nothing about.” Chad said. “Did you always want the wolf parts too?”

“I didn’t know about them, but I don’t mind them!” Madeline stamped her foot on the ground again.

Chad pointed at her. “See? You clearly didn’t know all the effects before you got into this.”

“Chad, stop.” Arin said, letting go of Madeline to slam his hands on the box and lean closer to Chad. “She’s happy. Just leave her alone.”

“I’m not doing anything!” he said, standing back up, placing himself back above everyone else. “I’m just being concerned. What if the curse wears off and they regret it? I’ve known them my entire life, and I’ve never known them to want this. I don’t want to see my friend get hurt by being involved with forces they don’t understand. We can fix this before it becomes something they regret.”

She looked him in the eye again, but this time it lacked the power. Her stomach twisted more and more. “It’s too late for you to do that. It’s permanent.”

“That only makes it easier to regret later.” He pointed at her and spoke to the crowd. “Do we want a witch casting irreversible curses on the people of Rodehills?”

The murmurs sounded louder than ever. Did they not see what he was doing? Were they falling for it? Madeline said to everyone, “It’s not irreversible! It’s totally reversible, she said she could.”
“Great!” Chad clapped his hand together and smiled. “We’ll go down together, we’ll get her to reverse your curse and to leave this village alone. Then you can have some more time to think about it. Make sure this is what you really want.”

Madeline had never felt so small, so angry, so scared. Every ounce of her body felt tense, every breath heavy. The fear of judgement and rejection felt meaningless against the new worry that Chad had instilled in her head- the fear that she couldn't trust her thoughts. She pulled herself inward, crouching lower, pulling her cloak around her tighter. Every moment of being herself had been the greatest in her life. That happiness couldn’t have been faked. It had to be real. She couldn’t go back to being “Big Dave.” 

“I don’t want to go back to a life without this curse.” she said under her breath.

“Let’s all see how you feel after you do,” said Chad, his smugness leaking through his veneer of concern.

Madeline forced herself to look Chad in the eyes. Her hands slid around the inside of her cloak. She slipped a hand into the hidden pocket and pulled out the small, glowing, blue gem inside. Her hand firmly on the warp crystal, she forced a grin and flashed her fangs.

“Make me.”

She threw the crystal to the ground, shattering it on impact. Billows of blue smoke erupted from the broken shards, covering Madeline entirely. A moment later, there was nothing where she had once stood. In an instant, Madeline the wolf girl had disappeared from Rodehills.