“Good morning Thomas,” Xander greeted the toad as he lifted the lid off the terrarium and placed the crickets inside. Thomas hopped over to them eagerly as he quickly snatched them up with his mouth.
“Your turn Elizabeth and Jacob,” he said as he opened up the lid to the second terrarium where Elizabeth sat on her clutch of eggs while Jacob waited on the stone for the UV light to be turned on. Xander looked at the eggs and questioned if he did the right thing putting the two of them together, even though they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Though it was too late for that now and it’s not like he could ask them.
Xander put the container away and then grabbed the rat food and headed for Kylie’s cage. She was asleep in her house as usual and came when she heard the door open. Despite her domesticated lifestyle she still looked like a wild black rat and still blamed Xander for her current form so was always trying to bite him, at least that’s what Xander hoped and that she wasn’t following the animal instincts of her current form.
Xander quickly withdrew his hand from the cage and locked it back up. That last thing he needed was another infected rat bite. Sometimes he considered releasing Kylie into the wild but knew she wouldn’t last. He felt bad enough for the four of them finding themselves in their current state, he couldn’t be responsible for what happened to them in the wild either. For now he just put the food back, turned on the TV and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Good morning, mum.” Xander said with a sadness in his voice as he entered the living room. He grabbed her bowl, scratching his aunt’s ear while doing so. His aunt just let out a soft meow before curling back up on her sister’s lap. His mother didn’t respond as usual and just stared blankly at the wall in front of her.
Xander wondered how much of his mother was left inside, he wasn’t sure what had happened to her exactly, if something was done to her or if what happened to her daughter, sister, husband, and friends put her into this state. He suspected the former as all she did was mindlessly sit there except to take care of her basic needs and he had suffered the same losses and he wasn’t in that state.
Thinking about his sister filled Xander with guilt, it had been over two month since he visited her in the nursing home but he was afraid to leave the house and he couldn’t handle seeing her like that. He also tried not to think of his father either, he wasn’t sure what had happened to him or if he was even still alive.
Xander began preparing food for his aunt, who purred at his legs in anticipation, when he heard two women scream. The first time he heard a scream like that, his family called the cops. They had never met their neighbours and so didn’t know what was going on. After the two officers were turned into pigs, they knew better next time. The police department also learnt to avoid the street.
Both he and his aunt went to the window where they saw something reflective on their neighbour’s porch as a woman tried to run away. She didn’t get far as she was turned into a slug. As soon as she finished transforming a familiar crow swooped down and grabbed her in its talons. It flew over to the window, to show off its new prey. Xander’s aunt hissed at the crow, remembering what it did to her former husband. The crow just tilted its head, before devouring the slug in front of them.
Xander had no doubt that the crow used to be human but he wondered how it could be so cruel. Any victim that the witch transformed that it could kill and eat it would. His aunt tried to get revenge once but the crow landed in the neighbour’s yard, and caused a disturbance. Too scared of being transformed again his aunt ran and hasn’t been out of the house since.
“We’ll get them one day,” Xander promised his aunt, she responded with a meow knowing it wasn’t a promise he would keep and returned to the kitchen to wait for her food. After she was fed, she returned to her sister’s lap and fell asleep.
With the animals taken care of, Xander returned to his room so he could get to work. He was glad he managed to get a job working from home as he wouldn’t be able to survive without it. He lived at the end of the street and the only way out was to walk through a small creek or pass his neighbour’s house. Neither were ideal options so he never left the house and would order everything he needed online.
“No, no.. no!” Xander screamed as he read his work email. His boss had physical paperwork for Xander to work through and was sending a courier, only they had gotten the address wrong and directed it to his neighbour instead. “Fuck!” he screamed as he went to get his phone to call to correct the mistake, when he heard a car driving down the street.
Xander headed for the front door, hoping to get the courier’s attention before he delivered the item. But as he opened the door he heard another scream, followed by the sound of a bray. “Fuck!” he swore again as he saw the mule freaking out in his neighbour’s yard, as the crow cawed as it harassed the larger animal by going for its eyes until it ran off down the street.
Xander froze in fear, not knowing what to do, the email made it clear how important these documents were. They needed to be finished and sent back by the end of the day. Now the courier was a mule and his neighbour had said paperwork. He could probably just ignore it and blame the courier for not delivering it. He heard his phone ding as he received a message saying the package had been delivered.
“You stupid fucking mule!” Xander screamed quietly down the street cursing the courier for marking the item as delivered before handing it over. Now he had no excuse as to why he didn’t have the paperwork and it was time sensitive. If he didn’t get it done and sent back today he would be in a lot of trouble, and he needed this job.
He didn’t know what to do, by going next door to ask for the paperwork, he risked being transformed into who knows what and possibly murdered by the stupid crow. Without it, he’d lose his job, not be able to pay for the utilities or food and then he’d have no choice but to risk leaving the house and being transformed as he walked by, something he had seen happen a couple of times. His neighbour could also get annoyed if he didn’t go and collect it, causing him to be transformed for leaving it there. Either way he was screwed.
The safest bet for him was to risk confronting his neighbour now. He had witnessed with a few lucky survivors that they could only transform a limited amount of people per day and they had already transformed three. Of course that didn’t protect him tomorrow but his neighbour also never left the house and would only transform people in their yard or on the street directly in front of the house.
Having no choice he stepped outside his house for the first time in two years. His heart pounded as he walked next door. The crow cawed as it flew overhead in anticipation. He looked at the garden gnomes that were around the fence and could feel them watching. One over by the empty pond holding a fishing rod stood out to him the most as it looked like his father and likely was. He stepped onto the front porch and knew he had reached the point of no return. This is as far as Elizabeth and Jacob made it before turning tail and running as part of a stupid dare.
Xander took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He waited patiently as his legs felt like they were going to give out beneath him. Finally the door opened, and for the first time ever, Xander saw his Neighbour. She was a young woman, about his age with pale white skin, she had green eyes with a tinge of red. She was completely naked but her long black hair covered her chest and crotch. Xander swallowed hard, trying not to look at anything but her eyes.
“Can I help you,” she asked with a wicked smile as she sized Xander up.
“My name’s Xander, I live next door, I believe you have my package.” He said, politely as he could, trying not to offend her in any way, though he wasn’t sure why he said the word package. Until he felt a strange sensation, in his crotch as his underwear became more loose.
“I believe I do,” his neighbour smiled. “Why don’t you come in, and I’ll go get it for you.” It wasn’t a suggestion as Xander’s legs moved on his own, as he followed her inside. He looked straight ahead just in case her hair moved to reveal something he shouldn’t see. “Wait right there,” she instructed as his legs froze in position. She walked off further into the house, leaving him in the entryway.
He was barely inside her house and he could already see a number of victims. The one that stood out the most was a golden statue of a woman wearing a name badge, she had the same clothes on as the slug did earlier. Then there was an abstract painting, with someone looking funny. Had he been able to move, he would’ve jumped when he saw the painting blink. The most alarming thing however was a mirror sitting in a small groove on the wall. It was embroidered with several gemstones, one of them lit up and through the mirror he could see his house, through where his mother was sitting. His neighbour had been watching him.
“Here’s your package,” she returned with a wooden frame, when she turned it around he could see his genitals, still flesh hanging off them.
“Thank you…” Xander said, trying to remain calm. “But I meant the documents that were addressed to you by mistake, I need them for work.”
“My mistake,” she said with a smile as she took the wooden frame with her and returned with the unopened parcel. “Here you go,” she passed them to him. “It was nice meeting you Xander,” she gestured towards the door, causing him to turn around.
“Thank you, but what about the other thing?” He couldn’t help but risk bringing it up. “Weren’t you going to give me that as well?” He felt himself freeze in place again.
“You said you meant for me to give you these documents, now you’re saying you want both things?” She said annoyed.
“I came over for the documents, yes. But you were going to return my package…” Xander pleaded.
“I offered you your package, but you corrected me saying you meant the documents. Now you’re asking for both, which I find rude and greedy, and I don’t deal with greedy animals.”
“Please, this was a misunderstanding, I didn’t mean to be greedy…” Xander begged for his life. “I’m sorry, I’ll do anything just don’t turn me into an animal.”
“Fine…” she snapped, releasing him from her grasp. “You have to show me you’re not greedy though. You’re to leave here with nothing,” she said as she took the documents back off him. “And you’re to give me your pets, all of them.” She gestured towards the mirror which was aimed at his aunt.
“I’ll lose my job without those documents,” he pleaded again, causing her to give him a death stare. He realised asking for a job and the documents might’ve counted as greed. “What I mean is I won’t have a place to stay or buy food.”
“Then you’ll work for me and live here,” she offered a solution. “Now go, and do as I command.”
When Xander left the house, the crow flew off in disappointment. He knew coming here was a bad idea but he was lucky to leave in mostly one piece. He returned to the house and did as his neighbour asked. Thomas, Elizabeth and Jacob didn’t react much as Xander boxed them away, though Elizabeth was concerned for her eggs, so he gave them to her as well. Kylie went to bite and scratch him so he decided to take her cage as it was. It was his aunt that he found to be the biggest problem, she hissed and scratched as he tried to box her way. Though his mother ended up helping before the both of them left the house for the last time and took the animals to their neighbours.
“Excellent work,” she said as she opened the door for them. “I guess I don’t need you anymore,” she waved her hand and Xander’s mother was turned into a string puppet as the stone on the mirror went dull and the mirror returned to its original state.
“Now let’s see what you brought me,” she said as she opened the box with Thomas. “I don’t need a toad,” she threw the box outside. “Or lizards,” she commented as she saw Jacob and Elizabeth. “Though this one can stay until her clutch hatches,” she left Elizabeth’s box alone and threw Jacob out with Thomas. “I don’t need a rat either,” she opened Kylie’s cage and grabbed her by the tail before having her join the others. “And I certainly won’t have a feral cat living here,” she didn’t even bother opening his aunt’s box, the hissing and growling were enough.
Xander grabbed her box and opened it on the porch. “I’m sorry,” he said as he watched his aunt jump out. He was about to go back inside when he spotted the crow eying off Jacob. He turned away unable to look as the crow swooped in, only to hear it cry out in pain, when he opened his eyes, his aunt had the crow by the neck. She ran off with it and didn’t look back.
“Guess your aunt got her revenge,” his neighbour brushed off the crow’s fate as she brought Xander back inside. “Time to get to work,” she said. “Your first job is to meltdown this statue so I can donate the gold to charity.”