“Aaah!” was what I tried to say, but only a hissing sound came out.

Someone burst through the bathroom’s door. Lindsay had followed me in. I was both glad that she cared and pissed off that she chose to follow me.

How the fuck was I going to explain this? Now, the hottest girl that had ever seemed into me was about to realize that I was a fucking animorph.

And I still had no idea how to control my new body. I tried to slither up the walls and into the ceiling, but I didn’t stick to them and there wasn’t much to latch onto.

My only other option was the toilet’s pipes and, even if I could fit, there was no way in hell I was slithering head-first through sewage.

I heard a concerned voice say, “Mat? I-is that your pet?”

My head craned back and forth, hoping to find a way out, but none came.

Then she opened the door to my stall and let out a choked scream. “Oooh no, no, no… Mat?” She looked all around the room desperately. “Please pop out of the ceiling or something. Anything but this!”

I tried to blink, but snakes don’t have eyelids. There was a small, translucent scale, however, that did a similar job. It drifted over my eye and then back up.

“You have to change back, Mat. Like, right now. They might already be after you!”

I hissed and waved my head around. It was literally all I could do to say, ‘and just how the fuck do I do that?’

She squinted at me in the same way she had earlier and seemed to get the message. “You need to remember your previous body. Picture it in your mind and try moving everything you can. Your arms, legs, fingers, neck, everything.

“If you’ve ever had sleep paralysis, it’s like waking yourself up. Start with wiggling a finger, and your body will remember its form. Slowly, you’ll start changing back and the rest of your body will follow.”

After staring back at her for a few seconds, wondering how she could possibly know that, I tried taking her advice. It was beyond strange, considering that I didn’t have any limbs or digits to wiggle, but that was apparently the point.

I ‘closed’ my eyes; though the scale didn’t completely block my vision, it allowed me to focus on what was in my head: myself from just a few minutes ago. The dark brown hair that I should have cut weeks ago, brown eyes, straight nose, every detail down to the two new holes in my foot.

Slowly, the ‘muscles’ that I was trying to move started forming. The scales covering my body receded to reveal skin and clothing, as if nothing had ever happened. My muscles, bones, and organs rearranged themselves in the weirdest experience I’d ever had. It didn’t hurt, but it felt wrong.

A minute later, I was crouched on all fours on the bathroom floor, not even caring that it was probably covered in dried piss. I coughed and gagged a few times, but only ended up spitting in the toilet.

Breathing heavily, I realized Lindsay’s hand was rubbing soothing circles on my back, and her expression wasn’t nearly as horrified as I would have expected.

“What… why aren’t you afraid of me?” Then I thought of what she’d said. “And how did you know how I could change back into a human? And who might already be after me?” I scrambled to my feet and lowered my voice for that last part.

Lindsay pursed her lips and looked away. Her eyes blinked rapidly, and she stammered ,”I…uh…”

She let out a long breath and looked into my eyes. “Look Mat, I knew there was something different about you when we met at orientation. I didn’t know what it was, but when I saw you run in here, and then found a snake… well, I just put two and two together.”

“Literally how is ‘magic snake-shifter’ something that you can just assume about a person?”

She cringed. “Because Mat, I’m different too. My father’s people are psychic. We’re empaths, but he barely gave me any training.” Her eyes widened and she grabbed my hand. “But right now, we need to leave. Now, Mat!” she repeated, louder.

As she hauled me to my feet and pulled me toward the exit, I grabbed her wrist and pulled back. “Hold the fuck on. Empaths? Like, from Star Trek? And how about you tell me what danger we’re running from first?”

“Mat, I’m trying to save your life! Can’t you just trust me?”

Her eyes were pleading, but I was not in the mood to give in to a pair of puppy-dog eyes. Even when they were coming from a drop-dead sexy Hawaiian girl. Er… empath, apparently. I crossed my arms and stood my ground.

Lindsay made a frustrated sound. “I really don’t have the time to explain all of this, so I’ll give you the short version. This world is connected to another through a series of cities that exist in pocket dimensions. Those cities are neutral ground, but anyone who crosses into the wrong world gets hunted down. Magic and technology already clashed once, and they don’t want it to happen again, so the powers on both worlds will stop at nothing to eliminate intruders. Now, are we playing twenty questions? Or can we leave this place before a bunch of men in black come to end us?”

I paused to consider my options. If what she was telling me was true, then I didn’t really have time to think… but if she was trying to trick me into following her, then a false sense of urgency was a good way to prevent me from thinking through my decisions.

Lindsay threw up her hands. “Fine! Die here, if that’s what you want, but I’m leaving.”

For a second, I stood there wondering what to do. Was she was telling the truth, how bad could the danger get if ignored it, would I be able to get away if I just got in my car and drove? There were so many questions, so many possibilities, and one person who claimed to have a way out.

I caught the door before it could slam shut behind her. Lindsay walked quickly, but not so fast that it would draw attention to us. I had to assume it was deliberate.

We left in the middle of a class period, so most students were inside. A few dotted the grounds, but the early October weather and overcast skies put a chill in the air.

“How about you give me the longer version of that story while we go… wherever it is you’re taking me. Also, how is anyone even after me? I didn’t do anything.”

Lindsay glanced behind us and spoke at a whisper despite no one being close. “You shifted, Mat. Any use of magic leaves some trace of it behind. It’s like radioactivity. If someone had a spent nuclear core in here, then removed it, people with the right technology could still come in and detect hints of radiation. It’s the same way with magic, but much easier to detect. You likely tripped some alarms as soon as you started shifting. Some men will be on campus within minutes but pinpointing the actual source will be more difficult. And that is exactly why we need to leave. Now.”

“Right. That makes sense. Kind of.” I nodded and tried to walk alongside her while absorbing this information. Magic? Cities in pocket dimensions? If I hadn’t just turned into a python, I would have been desperately trying to find a way out of this crazy conversation.

Instead, I was following this sexy almost-stranger to a secondary location.

I kept scanning the area, expecting Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones to pop out of a bush and explode me at any second. There were a few groundskeepers, some lounging students, nothing more. Still, after hearing Lindsay’s talk of men in black, I was growing paranoid.

We reached Lindsay’s car and she barked at me to get inside, but I still had doubts. I thought of my uncle back home in Massachusetts, my roommate and best friend who would be wondering where I was, and the stash of weed I’d left in my closet.

I pulled the door open and held it there. “Mind if I grab a few things from my room before we go? I don’t know how long I’ll need to hide from these people.”

Lindsay bit her lip, then came out with it: “Forever, Mat. It’ll take them time to figure out who you are, that’s the only reason you aren’t already dead. We need to make use of the time we have.”

My eyes tightened. Again, if she was trying to kidnap me then she was doing a great job. “How about you read my mind real quick? I’ll think of a number.”

Lindsay growled, “It doesn’t work like that! Even if it did those men already have a bearing on you! If I used magic too, they’d find us twice as easily. Why do you think my dad barely taught me anything? Because it’s dangerous, Mat!”

She seemed honest, but it was still a very convenient excuse. Lindsay’s reaction to my shifting, though, and the words she said since, seemed to contain enough nuggets of truth to earn my trust.

For now.