Baron appeared in his living room. The night at the lab had been long and he'd been unable to focus. The woman intruded his thoughts at every turn. The distraction baffled him. He had no idea what to make of it. Was she a friend? An enemy? Why and how did she invade his thoughts? None of it made sense and the more he thought about it, the more his head ached.
His head ached?
That never happened. Nevertheless, he'd been experiencing some discomfort for the past few hours. The need to lie down pressed hard against him. Entering into the master bedroom, he pressed a series of buttons on a panel in the wall. A door appeared in the wall. Tired and irritated he walked down the stairs into his sleeping chambers.
"I should have bypassed the stairs," he grumbled as the pain increased. Soft candlelight appeared, although he didn't need it. He had become so accustomed to blending in with humanity, sometimes he forgot to use his vampiric gifts. Instead of punching in the numbers, he waved toward the door. It locked tight. He floated to his bed and sat on the edge for a few moments wondering what was going on?
He sent a query to Rauff. "Is all well?"
"Not now, Baron." The man grunted, sounding breathless, or as breathless as a vampire can sound.
The pain in his head turned into a deep throb. He grabbed the sides of his head as the throb elevated into the equivalent of a vise tightening around his skull. He fell back onto the bed rolling from side to side in agony.
"Arrghh," Baron yelled as he hit the floor.
His lips tightened into a straight line across his face. Grinding teeth echoed in the room. Fast shallow breaths pumped through his quivering nostrils. His body shook as a leaf on a new twig in a gale. Muscles tightened in his jaw, snapping his mouth shut when he tried to scream. Writhing on the concrete floor, his flesh rippled and tore. Tears, mixed with blood, ran down his face as it contorted, bones shifted, reformed.
Clueless as to what was happening or why, he tried desperately to stop the agony and curled into a fetal position. Images flew beneath his closed lids. His head flopped rapidly, banging against the floor. Shuddering in denial at the last image, his head snapped back at an awkward angle. If he were human, it would've killed him.
An inhumane scream shot from his mouth as his chest and back twisted, pulling up from his lower torso. Fluids—possibly sweat—poured down his body. His back tightened and spasmed until he couldn't form a thought. Before the uttered plea to the Ultimate for assistance escaped his lips, his arms shot out.
He begged for death.
His lower torso pulled forward while his arms and legs chaotically hit the floor in an odd rhythm. A silent to scream escaped. His throat locked tight, refusing to allow any sound of freedom. A sticky liquid coated his body, drenching him as he tried to inhale through the pain. Rolling to the side to avoid his own filth, he cried as his eyes burned in his crackling skull. He was dying, Baron was sure of it. His body had betrayed him for hours.
Death, take me, he thought.
"Awwww," he howled hoarsely as a searing sensation hit his lower chest. Shaking, head thrown back, his back arched off the floor. His legs trembled under the weight until the burning ceased. What was happening? The question ran rampant through his mind before he slumped, falling into a deep sleep as the pain finally eased.
****
Baron woke physically drained. Mentally scanning his surroundings, he sighed in relief. The shields around his home were in place, although someone had walked on his property. More information of the trespass filtered through. Odd. Humans should not have been able to see his dwelling, let alone access it. The porch thorns had pulled a sample of their blood enabling him to identify the person.
The fact he accepted her presence on his property and didn't investigate the breach further said more about the mental and physical gymnastics he'd undergone in the past twenty-four hours than anything. His brainpower lay scattered on the floor. He had no idea, no point of reference to decipher what happened to him. He lacked the energy to examine any evidence and the will to make any determination. Simply put, exhaustion kicked his ass.
****
It was dark again. Lying still, Baron's mind went on full alert as he tried to decipher what happened earlier. Sitting on the cold floor, a putrid smell from somewhere to the right of him tormented his nostrils. He rolled to the left, surprised at the size of his hands on the floor. They were huge, like a bear's paw.
"What the fuck?" Kneeling, he noticed his head reached the top of the mattress of his high poster bed. Impossible. The height from the ground was the main reason he'd commissioned the construction of the four-poster bed. He used steps to access it every night. Twisting his neck, he stretched and stood.
"Hell," he yelled as he looked down. Somehow, he'd grown overnight. Standing in the middle of his room, he fumbled for the spectacles he kept on the side table. Not that he needed them to see. He used them as part of his wardrobe and was accustomed to putting them on every day. They didn't fit across his face. Holding them loosely in his hand, he ran to the mirrored vanity in the bathroom. His gaze slid to the extra large Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. He'd be making use of one of them soon.
Leaning forward, his breath caught at the reflection. He turned away in shock. A quick glance around the tiled room assured him he was indeed at home. Everything was as it should be... except him. Slowly he returned to the image in the glass.
"What the hell..." Reaching up, he gently touched his face. It was similar and different at the same time. The larger angular shape was familiar, but his eyes were now a lighter brown with red and gold highlights. They were more intense, as if someone dumped a hundred shades of color together to create this unique shade of brown.
Blinking, he couldn't believe the length and thickness of the lashes, and the slashing thick brows over his eyes. A slight shake to his head set a thick wavy curtain of brownish black hair with gold and light brown highlights in motion. After running his hand through it, he realized it fell down his back. He pulled a wad in his hand, rubbing the strands together. He yanked it hard and smelled it. Nothing special. Slowly, he released it.
As a man of science and vampire, he knew and agreed that there were things outside the box. However, this transformation stretched past that point. He had to see, touch and pull as well to believe. Pushing back from the sink, he studied his body. His legs were long and sculpted, as were his arms, muscles on top of muscles.
Hell, he was taller than Rauff and probably Lukian, the leader of the Sentinels. He lifted one arm, then the other. Forgetting to breathe, he completed a bicep curl. His muscles appeared to have tripled in size from just three days ago. His chest had expanded to twice its previous width, and probably matched Lukian's.
