Well, since nobody reviewed on the last chapter, I guess you've all forgotten that I exist, but I wrote this anyway and I'll keep posting as long as the motivation lasts. (And let me tell you, without anyone telling me to "Update already, You fool!" it won't last long). But I wrote this on some inspiration, so here it is.

Enjoy.

Chapter 3

It was dark.

That was the first impression that April got when she woke up. The entire world had been drenched in darkness and the sweet smell of grass and earth.

She sat up abruptly. Dream? Is it another dream? Her hand went to her throat automatically, feeling the scars, she opened her mouth, but there was no noise, Not a dream then. I fell asleep.

April went to check her watch, and then remembered that she'd left it at home when she left for her hike. But she could guess that it was pretty late. It was dark enough that she couldn't see too far, what with the fog and clouds covering the moon. The grass was starting to collect tiny droplets of dew, looking like tiny jewels. She jumped up, spinning around, trying to remember the way back home. Crap, Mom'll be really mad when I get home. She always worries whenever I'm out too late. What time is it anyway?

April seemed to be in a different spot, or at least she hadn't remembered falling asleep at this particular part of the stream. Her eyes strained to see through the shadows, but no defining landmarks jumped out at her, nothing to tell her where she was, or how to get home.

Okay, she thought, mouthing he words to herself, just for some comfort, I'm okay. If I don't panic and keep my head, I can figure out where I am. She scanned the muddy banks of the stream for footprints. None. She looked around her for a trail, broken branches or something to tell her which direction she'd come from. Nothing. She tried to peer through the branches at the moon to give her a sense of direction, but the moon, if it was even out, was hidden by the clouds.

I guess if I go up the stream, I'll eventually get out of the forest, April tried to rationalize, Because I know there's people all around campsites and stuff. It was a gamble, but it was the only option left to her, so April started hiking.

It was slow going, because she had to go around thickets of bushes and trees often and the ground was slowly becoming steeper. April kept looking for some sign of civilization, but there was nothing but the trees, which seemed to grow thicker by the minute. She came to a thicket of brambles that she couldn't pass on either side, took a breath to steady herself, and crawled in underneath the branches.

April only had to crawl a couple of yards under the thick brambles before the space cleared out, but that was enough for her clothes to become soaked and coated with mud from the stream. As she stood again, brushing herself off as much as possible, she groaned with dismay. The stream ended in a small pool and the rest of the small clearing was completely surrounded by trees and bushed. The only way out was the way she went in.

April sank to the ground, putting her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes. Now what? Now what? Now What? The logical answer was to wait for light, or retrace your steps and try again, but she was so tired she didn't even want to think about hiking the entire way back to where she'd started. Instead, she examined the pool of water that had caused her all this trouble.

It was maybe six feet in diameter and didn't look much deeper than a kiddie pool like the one she'd used to swim in when she was four or five years old. There was nothing really unusual about the rocks or water that April could see, except for a soft glow, like moonlight reflecting on water. The clearing was open to the sky, but the moon was still covered by clouds. So why was the water shining like that?

April leaned closer and blew on the water. It rippled like an ordinary pool, but as the ripples spread, she saw something weird happening to her reflection. Fur sprouted across her face and ears poked out of her messy brown hair. Her fingernails had grown longer, forming two sets of long, sharp claws. Her pupils had disappeared and been replaced by slits cut into startling green irises.

April's throat contracted, trying to scream, but there was no sound. She flung herself back, breaking the connection with those bright green eyes. After a long moment in which her heart hammered wildly, she worked up the courage to look again. Her reflection stared back at her, disheveled and confused, but completely human. She peered closer, but there was nothing unusual, nothing at all.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver at the corner of April's vision. Her head snapped around to pinpoint the movement and her hands slipped from the edge of the pool. She slipped headfirst into the water, flailing her arms wildly.

April's breath caught in her throat as she hit the water. It was deeper than she'd thought, coming up nearly to her knees, and it was cold. It felt like she'd just been doused in ice. She tried to stand up, but slipped and submerged completely. April sat up, shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes. The silver glow was no less than before, but she didn't feel scared, really. The shine was so much like moonlight she couldn't feel too scared.

Oh yay. I've just fallen into a radioactive pool of water, she thought sarcastically, Do I get superpowers or something now?

She crawled out of the water, drenched in something that still glowed faintly on her skin and clothes. April curled up on the ground, under the trees and rubbed her arms, trying to get the silver glow off her skin. She'd dried off as much as she could, but now it seemed like the glow had moved under her skin. I should probably be worried, she mused numbly. A few minutes ago she would have panicked, but now she was just too cold and tired. It was dropping to a bitter temperature and she was shaking so badly that her arms and legs were jerking.

An hour ticked past.

Then another.

With each tick of the clock April got colder. Finally, something happened. At first she didn't notice anything, only a creeping pain in her legs traveling upward from her feet until her entire body was aching. Then the ache became a burning and her body turned to flame. The water and her skin were glowing burning silver, bright enough to cast shadows on the trees around her. The moon broke between the clouds and the burning silver nearly blinded her. April jerked upright and grabbed a tree for support, but her hands slipped before she could get a grip. She looked at her hands, shaking and trying to scream. Fur was sprouting along her arm and her fingers were contracting towards her palm, quickly becoming little more than stubs. Muscles writhed under her skin and she could no longer control anything she did. It felt as though her skin were being stretched tight over her skeleton, pulling so hard she was surprised the bones didn't stab through.

There was a crunch and her body arched as she howled in pain. The sound wasn't quite human, merely the tortured, strangled sound of a wild animal in pain. The shriek cut across the clearing, scraping at her bones. Another crunch, another scream. Bones were shifting inside her, breaking and re-breaking, dwindling to fit her shrinking form. Her arms and legs were contorting, her face growing into a different shape. Her fingers wouldn't open correctly; her knees and elbows wouldn't bend. She gripped at her head and felt her hair slithering, moving, and pulling itself back into her head, while something like new growth of hair burst out around the rest of her face. Her body writhed uncontrollably on the ground, her thoughts no longer coherent. …Hurt…Hurt…Hurt… The burning ticked on for seconds, minutes, she could no longer sense the passing of time, the earth and trees around her faded to little more than shadows. She was aware of nothing but the pain.

She finally lost consciousness, but her body, now barely moving, continued to change, the pain searing her even in the black tide that overwhelmed her.

With a last crunch her body fell to stillness. The burning silver glow receded and finally faded, leaving the night as silent as the grave. The moon shone down on a clearing in the trees where April lay comatose. But the light filtering through the trees showed that the human girl had disappeared.

Congratulations! Your April has evolved into a _!

Review pretty please? –Puppy dog eyes-