Chapter 3: On the Count of Three

He spat the foul-tasting saliva out of his mouth, wheezing as he turned over. He barely heard the alarm, it was more like he felt it. Surprisingly, perhaps because he was a few shots short of where he normally was on a Sunday morning, he remembered all of last night. How he’d met…whatsername. Okay, maybe he didn’t remember everything.

Still, somehow, he felt like he had a new lease on life. He grinned as he saw the business card still on the nightstand. He made sure to put the number on it in his phone. He was bad enough with leaving things behind, he knew he’d surely leave this behind too. With a hop, skip, and a jump (and a trip to the toilet once he realized he’d celebrated a bit too enthusiastically), he was out the door.

His father was just pulling into the parking lot, and he waved him down, hoisting his suitcases of all his belongings behind him. His father wore a rather disappointed look behind his facade of a smile, his eyes peering suspiciously at his reject of a son. Whether because of the mood or the hangover, Kade didn’t notice as he loaded up his bags into the trunk.

“I’m going to drop off the keys at the desk,” he said as he closed the trunk door.

“Myeh,” his father grunted.

After dropping the key off with the desk worker and signing the various forms, Kade walked briskly back to the car and hopped in the driver’s seat. His father was mostly silent, clearly disappointed about having to house his adult son. Kade figured as much, but he didn’t really want to bring it up and bring more judgment on him.

“So, Kaden,” his father spoke up, “got any new leads on a job?”

“Yeah,” he said, “in fact, I’ve got one very shortly!”

“How much does it pay?”

“$4000 a month,” Kade replied with a grin.

“You can do better,” his father grunted as he drove on.

“Maybe, but, I’ll get there when I get there,” Kade muttered, wanting to change the subject and not really wanting to tell his father about becoming a wolf. He’d heard enough of his old man’s views on the subject, though he supposed his father wouldn’t mind him becoming even more of a tower of muscle. That was one thing his dad was proud of him for, even though it came–much to Kade’s chagrin–naturally to him.

He knew he had to get out of this shitty arrangement with living with his dad, but he wasn’t too keen on just jumping into a new lease. He’d lucked out in that his job fired him shortly before he had to renew, and he’d been too lazy to do so. At least his credit was intact, if anything, but searching for an apartment without stable income would be…difficult to say the least.

“Any luck with the ladies?” his father asked.

Ah, the classic second question. Only ever one of two his father bothered to ask.

“Not yet,” he replied, “I just haven’t found the right one.”

“With a body like that, I’m sure you attract plenty! What’s wrong? Shy?” his father interrogated.

“I’m not shy, I’m just not into the type of girls who are into me,” Kade replied, turning his face towards the window.

“As long as it’s not boys you’re into, son,” his father said with a hearty laugh as they pulled into the street where his father’s house was.

Kade cringed at the comment but elected not to respond. He knew any sort of standing up for himself or the gay community wouldn’t be taken well, even though he wasn’t into men. His father didn’t really see a difference between the two.

At home, he lugged his luggage into the basement, where he’d be staying on a water bed for the next few months, probably. He sighed as he slumped over on it. As soon as he plopped down, he locked the door for some privacy. Didn’t want his father listening in on the phone call he was about to make.

He didn’t even think they’d be open on Sundays, but he really wanted to get out of there. He thought a little about how he’d get around, before remembering: he still had his bike in his parents’ garage. Perfect! The university was, at best, a few miles away. He dialed the number and held it up to his ear.

“Hi!” the voice on the other end of the line responded, “How can I help you?”

“Hi, I heard from an acquaintance about the test program, and they referred me,” he explained, “I can start whenever, just let me know.”

“O-oh! Perfect, well, we only do it on nights of the full moon,” the voice replied.

“Oh,” he said, downcast.

“Well, it is the full moon tonight, so coming on in shouldn’t be a problem,” the voice responded, “we’ll do intake and the injection at four this afternoon, how does that sound?”

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“That sounds perfect! Thank you so much!” Kade replied, “Wait, will I like, turn into a wolf permanently?”

“Oh, well, eventually, probably, but not immediately. Though we are testing an accelerator–”

“No, it’s fine!” Kade said, “I got people I don’t want to find out yet. How long does it last?”

“Well, it increases over the course of a year. First time, it’ll be just the night of, most probably,” she explained, “the next few times, you might get a few nights the week of the full moon, and eventually, during the daytime around then as well, until you spend more time as a wolf than as a human!”

“Oh, I see!” Kade said enthusiastically. This worked out perfectly! He’d just go back to the wolf bar tonight.

“One more thing,” the person on the end of the line responded, “we won’t need to do tests the first transformation, we’re looking for tests at the longer end of that time period, hence the twelve months for the study. But we’ll explain more tonight. Can I get your name, phone number, and residence?”

Kade gave the info, and as the line went silent for a bit, presumably while she typed things into the system, he wondered: what would it be like to have a wolf’s body? He’d heard from somewhere that wolves were transformed based on the mind’s ideal wolf body, so what was his? Or would the testing mess that up?

“Okay, we’ve got that all added! Any more questions that can’t be answered at four?”

“I think that’s it,” he replied.

“Alright, have a good day, sir!” the person responded as she disconnected the call.

A few hours later, after a nap and telling his father about the “final interview”, he got an approving grunt and a nod as he walked out the door. Unlocking his bike and greasing up some of the gears, he tested it. Yep, still good! He was still wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt that was really a bit too tight on him, riding up a little on his developing beer gut.

A short ride got him to the place, and as he walked in, he noticed rows and rows of chairs in a reclined position, like there had been when he’d donated blood in high school. He figured that was probably where they injected people.

“Hi, name?” the clerk he hadn’t even noticed yet asked.

“Kade Richter,” he replied.

“I see, alright, you’re a bit early, which means you’ll have the room mostly to yourself! Before we begin, I’d like you to read this, and I’ll read some parts out loud, just to make absolutely sure we’re crystal clear on what the test group goes through.”

“Alright,” he replied, preparing to be bored.

And bored he was, though there was important stuff in there. Something about half control group, half test group, consent for permanent body alterations, et cetera. Once they got to the end, she looked at him and asked, “any further questions?”

“No, ma’am,” he replied as he signed the forms.

“Perfect! We’ll lead you right over here,” she replied.

He lay down in the seat, waiting almost anxiously for something to happen, before a nurse in a face shield and mask arrived. He waved at her, and thought he saw her eyes smile back, though he couldn’t tell.

“So, which am I getting?” he asked.

“Didn’t they explain to you that this is double blind?” the nurse asked as she prepared the needle, full of clear aqueous solution.

“Probably, I just failed most of my science,” he replied.

“Well, fair enough. Neither of us know what you’re getting,” she answered as she lined up the needle to his outstretched arm’s vein, “I’ll insert on three. Look away if you want to.”

He was fine with needles, and even as the nurse injected it, he didn’t particularly feel anything. Shame, he almost wanted to feel different, like the movies where mutants felt the energy surge through them. But real life wasn’t like movies, he supposed.

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