"I'm telling you, you have to try it!" Tessa poked her friend's shoulder. The lanky brunette was nearly skipping down the sidewalk as they closed in on the party. Her sharp features were lit up with excitement. She looked years younger than the twenty one year old college student she was.
Abigail just rolled her eyes. The curvy little blonde just wasn't as into the party scene as her roommate. Still, a week of nagging had a way of wearing her down. Apparently, there was some new kind of party thing and Tessa was determined to show Abigail whether she wanted to know or not.
"So what is it again?" Abigail tried to keep her exasperation out of her voice. In truth she should be studying, but Tessa had a way of making it impossible to do anything else until she was satisfied.
"Haven't you been listening! Mogging is just the coolest thing ever, you just slap on this little patch and then you can just go wild!" Tessa looked back at her roommate, slightly shocked that Abigail hadn't been paying attention.
Abigail simply liked to tease her roommate this way. Tessa tended to get overly excited about new things, especially party stuff, and the only way to slow her down was to pretend not to care. Besides, it was fun.
"So it's just some kind of drug then?" Abigail wasn't into that. Still, she was curious, and wanted to see what this was all about. Tessa hadn't been able to explain much of what this Mogging thing was, other than how much she'd loved it. That actually got Abigail a bit worried for her friend, and she decided it would be a good idea to see exactly what was going on.
"Yeah, kind of, but it, like, changes you too, not just on the inside. You've got to try it." Tessa came to a stop and then turned towards a rather ordinary looking two story house. In the campus district most of these houses were rented out to students, and it was clear from the unkempt yard and milling twenty year olds, that this one was no different. "And we're here. Let's go in and get you hooked up!"
Abigail had to nearly run to keep up with Tessa. Neither of them were really dressed up fancy for the evening. Just T-shirts and skirts for both of them. Tessa had been oddly insistent about the skirts. Abigail was normally happy in just a pair of blue jeans, but wasn't about to argue the point.
It was quickly apparent that all the girls were wearing skirts as well. It wasn't something that you usually saw. Sure the occasional girl would wear a skirt, but a room full of like twenty women all sporting them was a bit strange. Abigail could also sense an air of anticipation in the air. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something, even as Tessa headed over to the cooler full of drinks.
"Are you sure you should be drinking first?" Abigail asked as Tessa pulled out a bottle of beer. Mixing alcohol with drugs was not usually a good idea as far as she knew, and even if it wasn't a drug, the night was still pretty young.
"Sure, I want to get a little buzz going. Do you want one?" Tessa asked as she unscrewed the cap and took a swig.
Abigail took a look at the selection, actually surprised by the quality. College parties were not known for having good beer, just lots of it. Whoever was running the show here was really pulling out the stops.
"Abigail?"
She nearly turned into the chest of the man standing beside her. Then she looked up to see one of her fellow lab students. She had to tilt her neck back to look up at him. Jack was a good foot taller than her, but he made up for his size by being the epitome of a gentle giant. She had to admit she had a bit of a soft spot for him.
"Hi! I never thought I'd see you at this kind of thing." She smiled up at him and took and pulled her hair back over her ear before she'd realized how self conscious she was. Jack wasn't the party type either. They'd work through a couple of lab assignments together, trying to build a simple digital computer from discrete components. He always liked to talk about the tech, never about the weekend debauchery that most students seemed to fixate on.
"Yeah, I kind of got pulled in by my roommate. He loves these things." Jack smiled.
"I know how you feel, Tessa wouldn't give me a moment's rest until I said I'd come. At least I'll have someone to talk to now." Abigail gave him her best inviting look. It wasn't easy, she didn't get out much, and didn't like to lead guys on. That had ended badly far too often.
"I'm guessing you expect her to just disappear now that you're here." He laughed as he pointed across the room to a trim jock who was busy chatting up a raven haired Asian girl. "Paul's already trying out his game. I'll be lucky if he finds me before stumbling back home."
Abigail laughed at that. Tessa had a similar habit. No matter how much she wanted Abigail to come to a party, Tessa always ended up ditching her as soon as a hot guy walked by. It was just one of the reasons Abigail didn't get out and party very much.
"So do you know about this Mogging thing? Tessa didn't tell me much more than say how much fun it was."
"Sorry, Paul didn't tell me much more than that. He did say it was totally awesome though." Jack shrugged. "I tried looking it up, but it must be something new, cause I couldn't find anything about it online."
That was pretty weird. Abigail had tried as well, and that was part of what had intrigued her enough to come out. Even as just an observer, she really wanted to know what it was.
Just as she was about to comment, someone started to shout from the other side of the room. A dark haired guy had climbed up on a chair and was shouting for everyone to quiet down. He waited for a minute for the room to fall silent and then he held up a little box.
"Good evening, everyone! It's great to see you all here, and I can see a lot of new faces. For those that don't know me, I'm Thomas Park, a grad student in our bio-chem department, and the inventor of why you're all here. I've got the latest batch of Mog right here. Remember, just take one per customer. It's perfectly safe, and just to show any of you skeptics..." Thomas held up a small box and pulled out what looked like a little skin patch. He held it up for a moment and then slapped it onto the side of his neck.
The room stayed silent for a moment, all their eyes fixated on the show. Abigail didn't know just what he was trying to prove, aside from his willingness to try his own drug. Still, she stood as transfixed as anyone as they all waited and watched.
Thomas just stood on the chair, scanning the room with a big stupid grin. Then he started to shudder a little. His smile just grew wider as he handed the box off to one of his friends and then put his hands over his ears. He closed his eyes and worked his head around for a moment and then pulled his hands away.
Abigail gasped as two distinctly wolf like ears were now jutting out from both sides of his head. They were larger than his original ears, and set a bit higher his head, and they seemed to twitch from side to side as the crowd started to shout. She could see the box now being passed around and everyone was taking one of the patches.
"Now that's pretty wild." Jack leaned down to whisper into her ear. Well, at least he tried to whisper as the crowd's excitement grew.
"For all of you newcomers, the effects wear off in about six hours, until then, let your animal side out, and have some fun!" Thomas shouted and then jumped back onto the ground. Guys and girls piled around him, many already had patches on their necks. The air of anticipation has given way to a raw energy that sent Abigail reeling.
"Okay, that's new." Jack stated. He stood next to her, just as stunned as she was. They watched as more changes happened right in front of them. It wasn't just wolf ears, though. It was like a grab bag from the animal kingdom. There were round bear ears, floppy dog ears, pointy cat ears and more. It wasn't just ears either. It didn't take long for Abigail to understand why Tessa had insisted on skirts. Everyone seemed to be sprouting tails that matched with their new ears.
"Definitely, new." Abigail agreed. She was simply mesmerized. The ears and tails weren't the end of the changes. The men buffed up and the women seemed to expand a cup size or two. Some were even starting to grow a thin layer of fur over their skin. Again, it was a matched set with their other changes. There were tiger stripes, dog spots and even skunk stripes on one guy.
The box of patches was still making the rounds when Tessa bounced back over. Bounced in the literal meaning of the word. Her bust had grown at least two cup sizes and it was clear she'd decided to just ditch her bra. As hard to miss as her new chest was, the fact her skin was now covered in white fur with big black spots, and she was sporting a pair of cow ears was far more attention grabbing.
Abigail just stood there staring at her friend. There was an unreal, almost movie like feeling to watching people she didn't know start changing, but seeing her roommate just slammed the reality of it into her. Tessa smiled, giving Abigail a moment to recover.
