What happened next wasn't pretty. Hair started sprouting from his body in ripples. It reminded me of a wheat field and the way the air seemed to make the stalks move in waves. He howled again, and it seemed there was pain in the cry.

I tried to swallow.

Paul shook his head back and forth and gripped his head in hands that were hooked and taloned. Paul's face elongated with a series of cracks. Fine black hair sprouted, and his nose became canine. In less than a minute, ...