[Mkguild] First Impressions (6/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

Yay, two days in a row!  I'm on a roll...

-LurkingWolf

__________________

Paul's panic over his transformation had a long time to fade.Although 
his father should have been back from work by the time she had woken to 
discover her change, he had still not appeared two hours ago. The delay 
did nothing for Paul's state of mind, however.An unannounced delay in 
his father's schedule usually meant that he had gone drinking.It was one 
of the things that Paul had been trying to keep his father from 
continuing while he learned the craft.It was no secret between them, 
however, that the man would go drinking whenever he could avoid his son 
after work.Perhaps that was the entire reason he had let Paul go early 
that day.Either way, it only further terrified Paul that this might be 
happening.

She tried to sleep, hoping that perhaps her father would just collapse 
after his drinking spree.She couldn't do it, however; there was no way 
to predict how his father would react if he found a young woman in his 
son's bed, especially while drunk.She would feel much safer if she could 
be there, able to give account for herself when her father arrived.The 
longer she was awake, however, the more time she had to think over what 
was going on, and that just compounded her fears.

There was no clock in her dark room, so Paul couldn't be sure of what 
time it was when she heard the door open.She jerked slightly as the 
latch was worked several times, each time more loudly.Still, Paul could 
here copious amounts of cursing over each failed attempt at opening the 
door.Thankfully, it sounded as though he succeeded before breaking the 
latch completely.Paul stood and turned towards his door once the racket 
died down, but could not bring herself to move towards the door.Her 
father's boots thumped around the entry area for a while before becoming 
quiet as he finally kicked them off just inside the door.

"Boy?Where are you, Paul?"His father's voice was noticeably slurred, not 
a good sign at all as he tried to find his son.Paul remained frozen, the 
door in front of her seeming to warp like the surface of the ocean.She 
blinked, but the dizziness wouldn't leave.She was so nervous, she could 
only barely move at all, and what she was able to do only had the result 
of keeping her balances.

"Paul!I asked where you are."

She tried to speak, but all that came out was a choked sound somewhere 
between a shout and a squeak.She cleared her throat, almost hoping that 
he father had not heard her, but she could hear his somewhat softened 
footsteps stumbling towards her door as though he were on a tossing ship.

Paul finally convinced his body to take a step forward, but his father 
was already at the door.The latch worked on the first go, giving her no 
extra time to think before her father's face appeared outside of her now 
opened door.

"Who are you?" he demanded angrily.

"Father, it's me, Paul," she managed to choke in her new voice.

His face didn't move at all for several minutes as he looked her up and 
down.It seemed to her that his swaying had become much less severe 
suddenly, almost as if he had been scared sober.When he spoke again, 
however, both his voice and his actions revealed something much different.

"You're not my son," he said coldly.His slurred voice was nonetheless 
strong and sure, and each wavering step hit the ground like a hammer as 
he approached the girl that claimed to be his flesh and blood."You hear 
me?You're not my son; I don't have a daughter!"

"But father, the Curse took me!"

"No!You hear me?My son hasn't been Cursed!When the Curse takes him, 
he'll be strong!He'll become an animal, an ox or a bruin, and he will be 
the strongest man this Keep has ever seen.Where is he?If you've hurt 
him, I will kill you!"

"Father, stop!"Paul was genuinely terrified now, and quickly stepped 
away from her approaching father.His eyes were filled with tears; 
clearly he understood the truth on some level, but he had yet to show 
it."Please, I am your son!"

A large hand hit her hard across the cheek, and she staggered back a few 
more steps, reaching for the stricken area by reflex.She dropped to 
hands and knees, crawling away from her father as he approached.

"I said no more lies!Take me to my son!"

Paul cowered, too consumed by grief and confusion to fight back or try 
to reason with his father.She scrambled on the floor, seeking shelter 
beneath a small table.She couldn't fit underneath it completely, but 
anything that kept her from being completely exposed was an 
improvement.He father was not impressed.He pulled one end of the table 
away from the wall, sending several carvings tumbling onto his changed 
son.She cried out as he took her by the front of her shirt, pulling her 
until he supported all of her weight.

"Where is my son?!?!" he cried, the desperation in his voice mixed with 
fear and sorrow.She tried to pry his fingers away, all the while trying 
to find something to quell his father's rage.In the end, it was his 
father's actions, and not his, that finally made him realize the truth.

As he lifted the girl up to demand the location of the his son, Paul's 
father gave himself a clear view of the girl's tearstained face. While 
the change had certainly altered his son's appearance radically, the 
face he saw before him resembled his wife's even more than it had 
previously.As he realized this, the clarity that his rage had given him 
faded away, replaced my even greater instability as his mind grasped the 
truth.He let the girl fall to the floor, stumbling away until he was 
forced to support himself against the wall.

Paul watched from the ground as his father stumbled to the wall and 
braced himself for several minutes.She barely dared to move, until he 
finally spoke to her again.

"Paula..."He spoke the name as though it were poison on his lips."Help 
me to my bed.I am not feeling well."

The young woman's head drooped slightly as she heard her name changed, 
but it comforted her some to know that her father had recognized her.She 
slowly drew herself to her feet, steadying herself before going to help 
her father.As she helped him onto the bed, she saw him roll over to 
stare at the opposite wall.

"That will be all," he said, voice hardly above a whisper.Paula nodded 
silently and stepped from the room without a sound.Her footsteps fell 
slowly on the floorboards as she returned to her room and sat on her own 
small bed to consider what had just happened.She had woken that morning 
as Paul, eager and ready to help his father at his craft.Now, she was 
Paula, changed into a younger image of her mother with no way to 
return.Her father had finally recognized her, but she could not help but 
dread the future.She had taken the first step, but there were miles yet 
to be run.


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