Page 98 of Love, Magic and Misfortune
“You should have told me earlier and before you were standing in front of me in your underwear.”
Jasper looked down at his long, lanky body, his fitted black boxer briefs. He shrugged. “In about thirty minutes, my being naked will be the least of your worries.”
“Okay, so instead of being snarky and vague, tell me what’s about to happen, please.”
“I told you before,” he said, walking over to plop down on the bed beside her. “My body is going to contort and shrink down. It’s a hideous process and it takes about an hour—the last thirty minutes are the worst and fastest. But it’s already started, see?” He held his arm out, urging Violet to investigate. She rubbed her palm across his forearm, amazed at the soft layer of gray fuzz already shadowed against his skin.
“It’ll look painful—and I am in pain. It hurts a lot. But I’m used to it and I won’t scream or anything, so you don’t need to worry about me.”
Violet lifted her hand, cupping his cheek with her palm and making him meet her eyes. “Telling me not to worry about you is pointless.Of courseI’m going to worry.” She stared into his very dark eyes and in a rare occurrence, he didn’t look away. She couldn’t tell exactly, but it almost seemed as if his eyes had flickered down to her mouth. The moment passed, though, and he pulled away. Jasper scooted down, sitting on the floor with his back against the mattress and bedframe. He maneuvered his briefs off and down his long legs as he spoke.
“It’s also easier if I’m already on the floor… Violet, if at any time this is too much, I won’t be offended if you look away or leave altogether—”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He paused, then brought his knees up to his chest as he tossed his underwear aside. “But it’s okay if you do. You don’t have anything to prove.”
“It feels like I have everything to prove.”
That his mother was wrong. That he was not disgusting or a monster—that he was someone worthy of love and a fulfilling life.
With all of these things, Jasper would have to decide within himself whether or not they were acceptable truths. She couldn’t force the truth on him. She could only show it to him and hope that he embraced it. That he’d finally let go and try to live his life the way he truly desired—whatever that entailed.
With Jasper sitting below her, Violet reached out, sliding and tangling her fingers into the thick of his wild hair. The warm, dark luster and unruliness of it called to her—the wayward strands of gray despite his young, twenty-five years on the earth. She was surprised when he didn’t refuse her. Didn’t pull away from her touch.
Shivering, she took a deep breath, the hum of magic still bristling against her skin. It felt even colder now. Heavier. She looked down, watching Jasper as he sat perfectly still below her. “Once you’re in mouse form, I’ll cut up some strawberries and set them out with some almonds if—” Violet gasped, hand frozen in midair. The bone of Jasper’s shoulder blade jutted out and moved as if someone… something was underneath his skin and trying to press its way to the surface of his flesh. The action made Jasper lurch forward, hunching away from her grasp.
Violet swallowed and glanced over at the clock on her bedside table: 5:38 p.m. She gripped the edge of the mattress. Human bones… They shouldnotmove like that. Not ever.
40
Now
Oh God…
Violet flopped down onto the bed, sitting with a hand over her mouth and tears running down her cheeks. Jasper had called the change horrific. Disgusting. Something he desperately wanted to shield her from, worried that it might traumatize her.
She hadn’t understood any of it before, but she did now. Every apprehension. Every doubt and fear—the root of all the insecurities and forebodings twisted deep within him were validated before her eyes.
Violet stared helplessly as bones cracked and snapped, contorted and shifted in unimaginable ways—in ways considered impossible for any biological creature documented by humanity. Then there were pauses. Halting moments where Jasper’s distorted body became still: the confusing, fleshy bulk of him pulsing with shallow, labored breaths before another dramatic shift of bones and joints made him tumble over. His skin stretched, then shrunk down little by little, shriveling and changing the sparse hairs into a coating of gray fur.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to run away and free herself from the heavy weight of the cold, dark energy surrounding and suffocating her—squeezing as if intentionally wrapping her up in a malevolent embrace. Urging her to flee from its power and from the knotted-up creature it controlled: this cursed thing in the middle of her bedroom floor that served as its vessel and origin.
But Violet didn’t move. Despite the weight and bitterness of the atmosphere, the strength of its compulsion, she didn’t leave. Because it wasn’t a thing or a creature in front of her. It was her best friend. It was as if the curse wanted her to forget that fact—that nothing she knew about Jasper before this moment had been true.Thiswas the truth now. This ugliness. This repulsiveness and confusion. “Isn’t it disgusting?” it whispered in a nasty voice, like a putrid mist floating through the air. “Go…Get as far away from him as possible.”
She stayed. She cried. And in some moments, when there was a big shift and the cracking of his bones made it too gruesome to watch, she shut her eyes tight. When she did, she focused her mind, blocking out the voice and repeating a single thought over and over.This is Jasper and I love him. I love him…
What felt like hours had only been thirty minutes. Violet opened her eyes, realizing she’d taken shelter within her own mind. Concealing herself from being swallowed up by the dark magic and lies swirling around her like thick snakes. But there was no Jasper. The floor was empty.
“Jas?” she said, her voice quiet and shaky. She wiped her face with her palms and her nose was all stuffy from crying. Nothing. No little gray mouse appeared.
The bedroom door was closed. She’d pulled it shut when she’d walked in behind him, and the door sweep underneath was too tight for him to have crawled through. Feeling nauseous, she slid off the bed, her knees hitting the floor.
“Jasper?” Bending, she peeked under the bed first. Nothing. Turning her head toward the nightstand proved fruitless as well. Violet crawled forward a little so she could look underneath the large oak dresser. It was dark because the space was so narrow, but he was there, crouched against the wall with his back turned.
“Hey…” She sniffed. Her voice sounded all wrong with her nose clogged. Her throat was painfully dry and her temples throbbed. “Why are you under there? You can come out.”
He didn’t move. If anything, he curled his tiny body up tighter so he looked like a gray dust ball. “Jasper?” Still nothing.
