FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was a very cold day in January. Despite the cold outdoors it was nice and warm in the third floor of the school. For whatever reason I had noticed that while the algebra classes were very warm year round, all other classes were kept very cold. Even in summer the algebra wing was kept hot and the English wing on the first floor remained cold. It was nice to have the soft honey color of the lights in the classroom, it not only added to the warmth but it also gave the room a nice feel. It was the last period of the day and already it looked like night outside, the sun had disappeared and I could see snow falling lightly outside. It was unusual because it never got this dark before school was out.

Anyway I was sitting there, doing Properties of squares and square routs, wishing that the class would just end. I had plans to hang with my friends today; the thing was that it was my turn to choose what we were going to do on this Friday evening. And of course, me being the procrastinator I am, I have still not even the slightest idea what to do. Maybe I can come up with something while we walk from school. As Ms. Kelly rambled on about the importance of imaginary numbers I was staring at the clock above the white board. Only thirty minutes and I could blow this joint.

I stared at the red second hand as it slowly traveled up towards the great big twelve. I stared at it ignoring the teacher's comments and advice for the upcoming test. Eventually the clock struck three and I headed to my locker. When I arrived at my small excuse for a locker, my friends had gathered there. There was Josh, the brown haired knucklehead that has been my friend for years. Then there is Teresa, the one with the white makeup and long trench coat. Then there is Kate, the one with three belts hanging from her waist; she is easy to pick out in a crowd from the excessive use of hair spray. Then there is Evan. He is fairly new to the group as he came from out of town just a month ago. He is actually a few years younger then us, but he is cool anyway. He is kind of timid, but he has become somewhat more confident once he found our little motley crew. Sure we have different tastes, but we get along fine.

"Hey Steve, where have you been?" asked Josh.

"In class," I replied, "a place you seemed to have forgotten about."

"Well me and Josh were waiting for the better part of ten minutes," said Kate. She seems kind of moody and impatient, but she is like that to everybody. You get used to it after a while.

"So, any idea what we're going to do?" asked Evan as I placed my books in the little metal compartment.

"I am still thinking about it," I replied.

We left the warmth of the school and headed out towards our houses. The air was cool and crisp and the street lamps had just turned on. Snow crunched under our shoes and it actually was not as cold as it had been earlier. In fact I was feeling a bit warm under my winter jacket and shoved it into my book bag. We walked along the deserted streets in our winter jackets, designer parkas, and in Teresa's case her trench coat. The Florescent lamps overhead was speckled with icicles and lit up the white snowflakes falling in the dark.

"So," asked Teresa, "any ideas on what to do?"

I thought for one final moment, then said, "Why don't we all just crash at my place tonight? It gives us a better chance to think of something to do tomorrow."

"Dude, you would make the worst day planner. But I guess we can fly with it."

Moments later as we walked each person grabbed their cell phones and made calls to Parents and siblings letting them know what was happening. My mom was out of town for the weekend, and she trusted my friends pretty well. However she still could not get over the conflicting wardrobes of Teresa and Kate. The group of ninth graders put down their cell phones and confirmed that their parents were cool with everything.

"Alright then," I said, "I'll order pizza right now, and it should be there by the time we get to my house."

"I think you spoke too soon on that one," said Josh as he pointed at my house just down the road."

"Oh, right."

We entered the abandoned home and took our winter wear off. My coat was already off and I just set my bag down on the floor. We all piled into the living room and I dialed the pizza number. It got to the door in no time, and we started eating it relentlessly. After a quick slice each, I got out some blankets and stuff so my friends could crash on the floor when we got tired enough.

We began talking amongst ourselves, about an assortment of topics: dreams, goals, and clothing as we listened to Teresa's music. It was a bit obnoxious but I guess there are much worse things that we could listen to.

"So Steve, where did you get the ACDC shirt?" asked Teresa.

"There is this awesome music shop that sells band apparel in Main St. in Danvers." I replied.

"Well, I guess I'll have to check it out some time."

"I second that," said Kate.

"Hey, why not go shopping tomorrow?" asked Evan.

"Great," said Josh, "I would suggest the mall in Middleton, but the final decision is up to Steve."

I thought about it for a moment. I had just gotten my allowance, which meant I had saved up 75 bucks over 3 weeks. "Sure," I said, "But I would suggest Rockingham, just cause it has more variety."

"Sweet," said Kate, "They have those new knee high boots I want."

"Yeah, ok. Excuse me a sec."

I got to my feet and walked towards the bathroom. I closed the door, but I made sure I didn't lock it. As soon as the door shut I fell to my knees and clutched the toilet bowl. I didn't want my friends outside to know how sick I felt. Maybe the pizza guy had forgotten to cook it properly. I know it was not my nerves; I had nothing to worry about. But I could tell something was wrong. I hurled into the toilet bowl, something I always hated doing. If there was one thing I could not stand it was vomiting. Sure enough pieces of pizza came out, along with a red substance I knew was not pizza sauce. It was my own blood. I panicked for a moment and another wave of nauseating vomit and blood spilled into the porcelain bowl. This time I noticed that some of my teeth had fallen out along with it. The acid burned my gums, and it hurt a lot. I let out a small yelp.

I got to my feet slowly, and when I looked at my face in the mirror, I noticed that where my old teeth had been, were now sharp carnivorous teeth. I cleaned my mouth with some toilet paper and mouthwash, and the teeth were still there. I heard a knocking at the door and turned my head towards it. The voice that came with it belonged to Josh. And there was no way I was going to let him see me freak out, he would never let me live it down.

"Yo Steve, you in there? Come on man, I have to piss!"

"Josh," I noticed that my voice was a little more raspy than usual, "you can't come in here, I don't feel so good. Use the bathroom near my parents room."

I heard his heavy footsteps walk away from the bathroom; I was safe. I lay there on the tile flooring feeling the coolness of the damp floor. It just occurred to me that I was running a fever, one that was incredibly warm, almost hot to the touch, like an overheating computer. I took off my shirt and let my skin touch the damp tile. I looked at my exposed chest and realized that it had gotten red in color, and on closer inspection I noticed it was actually very small red hairs growing all over my body, and the hairs on my arms were actually black, from my hand down to my elbow.

Suddenly, a spasm rippled through my skin, and my skin grew even warmer. The small hairs were growing thicker and longer. It now looked like fur. I could not believe my eyes; I was growing fur, like animal fur. And after thinking about it for a second, I realized it was actually the same pattern as a foxes fur. I heard another knock at the door, this time the voice came from Kate.

"Steve, I need you out of there now, I need to use the bathroom and Josh is hogging the other one."

"Kate, help..." I only managed to utter those words before I passed out.

I could not tell what was happening at the time while I was passed out, but lucky me my friends filled me in on what happened:

Kate heard the moan for help coming from the bathroom, and she could see some steam flowing out from the bottom of the door. She was curious why she heard Steve's cry for help, and why it didn't sound like him. And even more curious was why. She opened the door to have a screen of steam reveal itself from behind the door. She could see an odd shape in the middle of the room on the floor, but before she could tell, she turned the hot water tap in the bathroom off. Apparently Steve had forgotten to turn it off. As the steam cleared, Kate got a view of the body in the middle of the floor. It was Steve. She quickly went over to him and tried to pick him up, but recoiled when she felt the silky smooth fur under her hands. She got a good glimpse at her friend and was shocked by the red and black fur covering his body. He even had a white patch in the middle of his chest and ran all the way down his torso. Despite this odd transformation, she could not leave him in the smoldering hot bathroom.

Kate grabbed both of his arms and pulled him out of the room, he had gotten heavier.

"Damn," Kate muttered to herself, "boy when did you gain forty pounds?"

She pulled him all the way out and collapsed in the hallway, her friend still unconscious but breathing. If there was a girl to do heavy lifting, she was not the one suited for the job.

"Remind me never to order fox fur clothing," She said to the empty hallway.

She got up and pulled Steve along the hardwood floor until she got to the living room where Evan and Teresa were eating and talking. They noticed the furry boy and stopped what they were doing to stare.

"Holy cow! Did you find that thing in the bathroom?" asked Evan.

After a few seconds of panting, Kate announced, "This thing, its Steve!"

The three friends stared in shock at their unconscious friend. Finally Kate took the boy and dragged him to the couch. She asked for her friends help to get him up and onto the large couch. She grabbed his arms while Teresa grabbed his feet. Once they had him on the cold leather, Evan ran to get some ice to cool him down.

"What happened to him?" asked Teresa.

"How should I know, I found him this way," said Kate.

"So wait, he was just lying on the bathroom floor with fur on his body?"

"Yeah, and he had the hot water running so the room was steamy."

"Jesus, what could have done this?"

Just then Evan came back with a few bags of ice and a cold pack. They placed it on their friend's body, hoping to cool him down. A shame they didn't realize the internal battle that their friend was waging in his soul:

It was black, totally black. But soon, I saw something, A light in the distance. The light grew brighter as I drew closer. Once I was close enough I saw that the light was emanating from a fox, but this was no normal fox, it was much bigger than any other fox I had seen, in fact it was shaped kind of like a human almost. It appeared to be sitting in a throne of its own multiple tails, its eyes were white and blank, but its expression was gentle and kind. It stretched out its hand; it was small and delicate, like the hand of a lady. I felt compelled to take it, but in the end I took its hand and it pulled me towards its throne of tails. The throne moved and surrounded me, and the fox seemed to melt into me with a warm glow.

I began opening my eyes and saw that Evan, Teresa, and Kate were all staring at me. I couldn't quite figure out why. Evan had this look of shock and awe, while Teresa looked almost sorrowful. I tried to get up but Teresa put a hand on my shoulder, and I realized just how much it hurt to move.

"Teresa, what's going on?" I asked, my voice slightly deeper.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but don't move, and don't freak out," she said as she fetched a hand mirror from the coffee table.

I looked in it, and saw the reflection in it was my own face, but it was covered in red fur. I opened my mouth to ask a question but stopped when I realized all of my teeth were pointed, like the teeth of a dog. Then the memories came flooding back from the events in the bathroom, the burning sensations, the vomiting, all of it. I didn't feel like freaking out, but I did feel a bit exposed. I still had my pants on, but it was the whole concept of them seeing me in this alien state.

I set the mirror aside, and another wave of pain went though my body, this time the pain was in my spine. The pain was excruciating, but it was at the base of my spine that it hurt the most. A spasm rand down my back and it arched from the pain. Just then Josh walked into the room.

"Sorry that took so long guys," he said, "I had a hard time finding the bathroom and I grabbed a soda-"

He looked at the couch I was lying on, and stopped in his tracks as soon as my back arched. Now the pain in the base of my spine was excruciating, then I heard this ripping sound from my pants. I lifted my head and saw, between my legs was the tail of a fox. It was long, bushy and red with a tip of white at the end. It seemed to sway on it's own accord. The pain subsided and fell on my back on the couch. The tail had punched a hole right in the denim pants. I lay there panting for a moment. The feeling of having a tail was amazing, despite the complete alien feeling. It almost felt natural; I could move it in any direction. I let it rest on Teresa without realizing it. Josh looked at his soda can and then back at me.

"What the hell did you put in this?" said Josh.

"Its not the soda," I said in gasps, "its real."

"And who are you?"

"Its Steve you jerk!" said Kate.

"Now way. Steve, is that you man?"

I gave a slow nod. All Josh could do was stare.

"Don't you know its not nice to stare," said Evan.

"Sorry man, its just, wow. Its unbelievable."

"Well believe it," said Teresa.

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance or something?" asked Kate.

"I don't know what good an ambulance will be."

At that time I thought of what might happen if they got an ambulance. The doctors might treat me like some infection, keep me in a clean room and run experiments on me. As if that was not bad enough, I might be on TV, treated like some freak. Both scenarios seemed to be equally bad.

"No ambulance," I said in a weak voice, "no ambulance, please, promise me."

Teresa knelt beside me and took my furry black hand in hers, "We promise. We are your friends, we would never tell anyone."

I smiled. I had underestimated my friends; they were really cool. I knew that even Kate would not do such a thing. Her usually grumpy face was now less harsh, and almost had a caring feel to it. Just then a pain rippled through my fingers and toes. I saw my fingernails turn black and grow longer into claws. They were not terribly long but they were long enough to notice. Teresa let out a scream, my hand was still clutching hers, the claws digging into her skin, just enough to draw blood. I could not let go, as much as I wanted to I could not, pain had made my fingers rigid and un-moving. When the pain subsided I let go and she took her hand back and held it in her other one. She ran towards the bathroom.

"Teresa, I am sorry!" I cried, "It was an accident come back!"

She got into the bathroom and shut the door. A tear ran down my cheek wetting the fur on my face. I turned over onto my back and buried my face in a pillow, so as not to show my weakness to my friends.

"Wait Steve, don't move," said Evan.

Evan hurried to my side but backed away when I gave a low growl. I don't even know why I made it or where it came from. Maybe it was a semi-subconscious thing like my tail. All growling did was make me feel worse, I had already freaked out my friends from hurting Teresa, but then to turn away help from a friend who was timid by nature? For a moment, I felt like an animal, a beast. I already looked the part to boot. Evan made his way to the bathroom where Teresa was. And again I felt like nothing more then a freak.

Meanwhile, Teresa was in the bathroom cleaning her wounds and putting a bandage on her hand. Evan walked into the open bathroom, which had recently been cleared of steam thanks to the overhead fan. After applying alcohol to her cuts, Teresa wrapped her hand in a gauze bandage that was thin enough to allow her hand to move. She saw that Evan had a hurt look on his face.

"Hey, what you doing in here?" asked Teresa.

"Uh, just checking up on you," replied Evan, trying to hide his own emotions.

"I'm fine, a little bit of blood but nothing major. How is Steve doing?"

"Not too good, I think he feels really bad about what he did, you know it was not his fault right?"

"Yeah, I know that," She replied, noticing the boy's hurt expression showing through his face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He walked over to her and hugged her waist, a small tear seeping from his eye. "I was just trying to help him, and he growled at me, like an angry dog."

"Aw, its ok. You know he didn't mean to do it, He is just as confused as the rest of us, but we are here for him, right?"

The boy wiped the tear from his cheek and said, "Yeah, sure."

Moments later they emerged from the hallway that lead to the bathroom. I was still facing the couch and could not see them, but I could hear them. They walked towards me and I suppressed a growl.

"Steve," said Teresa, "how are you holding up?"

"Not very well," I said, "Look, I am sorry I hurt you, and I am sorry about scaring you Evan."

"Its ok, we know you didn't mean to."

Evan took a hesitant step forward, I didn't move. "Its alright," I said, "I don't bite."

With that Evan jumped and hugged me, sending pain all over my chest, then it subsided again and I realized something wet was on my chest and I noticed that Evan was actually crying. I guess I didn't realize it, but Evan was kind of like the little brother of the group, and since I was usually the one calling the shots, I hadn't noticed how much he looked up to me, like he was my own little brother. I could not help but let two tears stream down my face, I was happy. Teresa moved a bit closer and I moved my tail to accompany her.

"Its ok, you can rest it on my lap, I don't mind."

I rested my tail on her lap and she stiffened up a bit then loosened up. She then started lightly stroking my tail, and it started to move slightly. It was so odd feeling, but it was the only thing that didn't hurt at the time. In fact, the stroking motion of her hand against my fur was soothing.

"Uh, I am going to get something to eat, you coming Kate?" asked Josh.

"Sure," replied Kate, and they both walked into the kitchen. Apparently they thought we needed some alone time. Truth be told, they were in a relationship. They didn't make it public knowledge but it was obvious to me. I think they reached their affection limit though, as everyone does eventually. Just as they left I felt a painful sensation in my temples. My head jerked and Evan got off of my chest. At the same time Teresa stopped petting my tail and jumped up off the couch. I could feel my ears shift and move slowly up the sides of my head. The pain was a lot less then some of the other changes, but then the soft cartilage turned to muscle and the pain got worse. My ears became pointed and they traveled up the sides of my head until they were on top of my head on either side. The pain subsided once again and I noticed that my hearing became substantially better, I could even hear Josh and Kate conversing in the kitchen, and my ears could move. Evan tried to touch one and it gave a twitch. Ignoring the pain I moved my hand up the side of my head, and there were no ears on the side of my head under my hair, but they were on the top of my head on either side, covered in black fur. Upon touching my head I also noticed that my fingers and the palms of my hands had grown black pads. I noticed them when I retracted my hand, but I didn't remember experiencing them grow. Perhaps they grew at the same time my claws did, and I simply hadn't notice them. If that was true there were probably some on my feet too.

"Hey Steve, mind if we go to the kitchen for a second?" asked Teresa as she took Evan by the arm.

"Sure, I think I will be fine," I replied.

With that they left into the kitchen. I guess they went to talk with Josh and Kate, but I could hear them through the door. Their voices were concerned, so I made it a point to listen extra carefully.

"What do you want us to do about it? He said he didn't want any of us to call an ambulance," that was Josh for sure.

"Sure we can't call them," said Kate, "but he didn't say anything about his sister."

Ah yes, my sister Nat. I completely forgot about her for a moment there. She was already out of school and in collage, and she worked at a deli during the night shift today. I heard Josh take out his phone and start dialing the number of my sisters cell phone. My hearing was so good I could even tell the numbers from the tone. The receiver rang a few times and I heard my sisters 8 bit voice.

"Yeah, hello? Make it quick I am busy!"

"Its Steve's friends, we need you to call an ambulance," said Kate.

"Couldn't you do that yourself? I am trying to make a living hear."

"We cant, we told him we wouldn't call one," said Teresa, a bit of annoyance in her voice. Apparently she was not for this Ambulance plan. I was a bit angry that my friends went against my wishes, but I guess they had my best interests at heart. That and none of us knew what we were dealing with.

"Alright fine, what's this big emergency?"

"Well, you wont believe it, but Steve's body is, well, changing. And I don't mean like puberty. He has fur and a tail and ears..."

There was a long pause and then I heard my sisters voice almost monotone say, "Don't get an ambulance, I will be there in a minute." Then she hung up.

Just then, I felt another wave of pain and this time it was in my face. I could see my jaw and nose stretch out in front of me slowly forming a muzzle. With the pain I noticed that I could smell a lot of things that I couldn't before. My nose turned black and leathery and as my muzzle stretched out so did my teeth and tongue. My friends came into the room and crowded around me just as my face entered the last stages and stopped growing. The pain subsided and with one hand I felt my muzzle with a hand. It defiantly felt weird.

"Steve," said Josh, "Your eyes."

Kate picked up the hand mirror and handed it to me. Upon staring at my fox like face, I noticed that my eye color had changed. The whites of my eyes were now black and the color around my pupil had become an almost glowing green. I could see in the dark a lot more clear now, and when I gazed at the light from the kitchen momentarily I noticed in the mirror that my pupils became slits that changed back quickly to a rounded pupil. I put the mirror down, and turned to my friends.

"Okay, that hurt, a lot," I said.

"Is that real?" asked Kate as she drew her hand closer to my muzzle.

I let her judge for herself as she rubbed it gently with one hand for a second.

"Yep," I replied with a bit of a smile, "Its real."

Just then my sister came in through the front door and took off her winter jacket. She took one look at me, then my friends, then my feet.

"Well," she said, "looks like I am just in time for the most painful part."

I gave her a questioned look, then I noticed an extreme pain, more painful then any other was in my feet. My legs ached and my pants ripped and suddenly my denim pants became my denim shorts. All of the bones in my feet were rearranging themselves and growing. My feet began to look like paws as I lost a few toes and they took on an animal like appearance. Finally the pain ended and my feet took on the shape of a fox's hind paws. My socks and the legs of my pans were shreds of cloth on the couch and the floor.

"Alright, shows over, everyone out," said Nat.

"No, sis," I said, "they are staying the night."

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, everyone out, now."

"They are staying the night," I said with a bit more growl.

My sister stared at me for a while with a cold look then dropped her head and said, "Fine, they can stay, but you get to explain this whole thing to them in the morning."

"I don't even know what is going on."

"Oh for the love of... fine, but you will have to wait till tomorrow, I still have work I have to get to." And with that, she left through the front door.

"I am so tired, can anyone help me get to my room?"

Kate and Josh went to the side of the couch and grabbed one arm each while they hoisted me up and I put my feet down. It was a bit tricky trying to walk with my new feet, but I got the hang of it eventually when we reached my room up stairs. When we got to my room Kate and Josh left to go downstairs to sleep. Teresa helped me into my room and I slipped into my bed. Just as Teresa left Evan came into my room.

"Steve, Mind if I sleep in here tonight, just in-case something bad happens while you sleep."

I smiled and said, "Sure, just make sure you don't hog the covers."

He jumped into the other side of the bed and fell asleep before I did. He snuggled against me, I think he liked the feeling of the fur that covered my body, and I didn't mind. Even though he was not my actual brother, it was a nice to not be alone. I don't think he ever left that night, and I don't think Teresa left the hallway near my bedroom.