A chill wind blew across the campus, catching the edge of the college's engineering building. The wind bent and twisted at the entrance of the building and a whirlwind of leaves swirled gently across the foyer before scattering.
Nina stepped lightly down the short steps leading away from the building. Although she only had a single class for the day, her backpack weighed heavily against her. She breathed in deeply, enjoying the sharp cut of the cold air in her nose and throat. Exhaling loudly, she shoved her hands in the pockets of her thick hoodie and made her way towards the huge open quad at the center of the campus.
Students rushed around her, some laughing and some cursing. Nina kicked at the leaves on the grass, lost in her own thoughts. Small squirrels zig-zagged among the leaves and up the trees dotting field. The college's squirrels were nearly tame and overfed from well meaning students. Nina had almost had a sandwich stolen by one brazen red squirrel. Straight from her hands.
A giant, magnificent ash tree dominated the center of the quad. Despite the cold, it was full of green leaves and it's limbs swayed slowly as if dancing to a hidden song. She'd never seen one of the squirrels nest in the tree and the students gave it a wide berth but Nina loved the old tree. She made her way there now, leaving behind a trail of grass edged by leaves.
Small knots of students braved the cold, sitting on benches and the ground to study or talk. Couples shared secret smiles and conversations in corners or out in the open. Nina stopped near the ash tree, placing a hand against it as a kind of greeting. She turned, lifted her narrow chin and breathed out, grinning at the hot burst of steam. Her shoulder-length brown hair tickled her neck and she puffed out a warm breath again.
Finally, Nina removed her backpack, turned and sat, cross-legged, with her back against the tree. Humming a nonsensical tune, she dug in her backpack until she found her lunch. The young girl pulled an apple from her brown bag and poked at her belly with a sigh. She'd inherited her mother's physique - especially her hips, and her father's sweet tooth. But she refused to give in to genetics or the rumbling in her stomach. She'd even joined the track team.
"Oh-hoh, look at this one here," a quiet, high-pitched voice announced.
Nina paused, mid-bite and looked around. The field was empty around her but it was possible the voice had carried. She rubbed her cold nose and looked around idly while chewing.
"Get the sandwich out, girl, and give it to me," the voice said again. "You know you don't need it. Your
friend
Janice doesn't think so. She thinks you're a fat nerd and only hangs around because you help her with her homework."
"Who's there?" Nina yelled, standing and dropping her apple.
"Not the apple, you clutz!" the voice cried out, aggrieved. "The sandwich. Gods' sake, the sandwich, girl!"
Nina stepped back, staring around wildly but still, nobody stood nearby. She walked around the tree in case someone was hiding behind her and found it empty. Finally, the girl looked up but tree's branches were bare of anything except leaves.
"I- I said who's there?" Nina stuttered.
"All I've got are these damned nuts," the voice continued. "And not the ones between my legs. Speaking of that, you know Imani is moving in on the boy you like? The two-faced whore switched classes to be with him."
Eyes wide and heart pounding in her chest, Nina grabbed her backpack and then shrieked as another voice suddenly spoke behind her.
"Pardon me, lady," a deep voice said gently. "Have you seen a large red squirrel around the area?"
The man before her was flawless. Every hair in his perfect red beard was in place and his ice blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. Nina swallowed her scream and forgot why she'd even been standing or worried or
anything
. All she knew was the stranger was literally shining in the light. He was dressed in a long sleeve shirt and plain slacks and his hands were huge and strong and warm looking and- a gentle cough made Nina blush and look up.
"No," Nina sighed. She scoured her thoughts for an answer to please the man. "Oh! I saw one last week. I sat on the bench and-"
"Ah, I'm sorry," The man rumbled. He held a large branch in his hands. Nina hadn't noticed it at first. Hadn't noticed anything beyond the muscles beneath the man's shirt and how his long, red hair moved in the- "A week is too late for this scoundrel. Good day, lady."
"Where are you, you gods damned squirrel?" the man mumbled as he stalked away from Nina. "You'll answer to Father for this defilement."
Nina began to follow the man and then stopped. He'd vanished. She'd blinked and he was simply gone. The young woman let out a breath she'd hadn't known she was holding. Cold seemed to fill the gap in his absence and Nina shivered before settling back down. She grabbed her unwrapped sandwich and held it a moment in her hands. She couldn't remember the last few minutes but knew
something
important had happened. Instead, she held the sandwich to her mouth, unaware of the large bite taken from the corner.
Something about a squirrel?
She wondered. And then she took a bite from her sandwich. The world seemed dimmer for some reason and she felt a malaise that passed nearly as quickly as it appeared.
And some man? A professor maybe? Why can't I remember?
With another bite of the sandwich, Nina's jaw clicked, shifting the top of her jaw forward in a slight overbite. She chewed thoughtfully, rubbing at her chin. Her gums flowed, pulling her canine teeth further back. Slowly, so slowly it was unnoticed while she ate, Nina's back molars disappeared into her jaw. The girl's front teeth stood alone but soon grew. They widened until they filled the gap in her jaw and then lengthened.
"Ow!" Nina said, rubbing her lip. She'd almost broken skin with the last bite and she sighed, shaking her head to try and get rid of the cobwebs still filling her brain.
The black of her pupils expanded within her eyes, eating away at the brown of her irises. Nina shaded her eyes and blinked and wriggled her nose. Her stomach rumbled but her hands were empty; she'd finished the sandwich already. Another blink and her brown eyes were gone, completely replaced by black.
A passing gray squirrel zipped through fallen leaves in front of her. It paused with one tiny hand outstretched, and then turned to look at Nina. The little creature cocked its head and then dove, vanishing beneath a pile of leaves.
Brown hairs sprouted from the backs of Nina's ears. The cartilage dispersed within and her ears widened. Nina ran a hand through her hair to brush her ears. They inverted at her touch, the tips flipping back as the hairs lengthened into small tufts of fur. The young woman yawned wide as her ears seemed to pop. She pulled at her ear lobes to relieve the pressure she felt within and they moved, rising higher and slipping through her hair.
A patch of brown fur grew from her shoulders, the little hairs winding together beneath her clothes.
He had a beard
