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A Fox Serum Storyby grapehyacinth
“Hey, Hyacinth, whatcha have there?” I finally piped up. I'd taken a train halfway across the state to meet my friend at a national park, hoping against hope it was for the one reason I'd dreamed of, and all she could do was make small talk.

She smiled secretively. “Oh, nothing.” She swept away a leaf that had fallen on her shoulder, gazing across the miles of woodland as we walked. “You know, there's a rare subspecies of deer that only lives here. It's on the endangered species list, and there was just a virus that went around that killed many of the males. It's horrible.”

I was listening to her, but I was more interested in the small carton that was half-concealed under her arm. It was a lab box. It had to be. And maybe, just maybe, it contained my greatest wish.

“The wolf population's in decline too.” When she said it, she didn't look at me, but her eyes were twinkling.

I made a very audible gulp.

Hyacinth had connections. Connections that could make my life complete. She worked in the lab that was coming out with the Fox transformation serums. Once her original employer, Adam Fox, had successfully changed himself into a fox, they were working on other animal transformation serums as well. And even though they weren't yet available to the public, I was hoping one day...

Well, I wanted to become a wolf.

Years ago, I'd told Hyacinth my wish, and she'd actually grinned and said, “You, my friend, are lucky to be alive in this era.” I wasn't sure what she meant, but when news of Dr. Fox's breakthrough came out soon after, I realized what she was talking about.

My fantasy-dream could possibly be reality.

After this, I often prodded her with questions about changing, but she never gave me a direct answer.

Now, out of the blue, she told me to meet her here.

“This is good.”

Hyacinth's words jolted me out of my musings, and I saw she had stopped. We stood in a clearing deep in the woods, and she held out the box. I shivered.

“What's that...” I began, trying not to appear too excited.

“Oh, not much. Just some Fox Serum to help the forest life.” Nonchalantly, she pulled out two small bottles and a couple of syringes.

I almost jumped out of my shoes.

Calmly, she actually did step out of hers, and then she looked right into my eyes. “Want to try the wolf serum so you can help repopulate the declining population?”

Again, I tried not to show my true feelings. I don't know why. Maybe because I didn't want to look like an idiot. “Uh, sure. Anything for you.”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Matt, you're thrilled. Here's your dream come true right in a bottle. You don't have to put on an act in front of me. Now stick out your arm so I can inject the serum. It doesn't hurt.”
I gave her the deepest, most thankful smile ever. “Sure,” I said, pulling up my sleeve. My arm was shaking, but she didn't comment. My shocked silence was all the thanks she needed.

The needle went in, and I really didn't feel anything but slight pressure. “You may get lightheaded,” she murmured.

“Don't worry, I've got this.” Already, the feel-good chemicals that the serum contained were making their way into my system. I was beginning to feel awesome.
She studied me. “You sure you're okay? Not that many people have done the wolf one yet.”

“Yes.” And I pretended to fall over.

But as I got up from the leaves, I could see silvery fur sprouting all over my body. I was changing, it was happening, and Hyacinth had made my day. No, my...decade.

“Thank you,” I whispered, as the changes began to sweep over me. I immediately pulled off my shirt and shorts and tossed them aside. And then my whole body began to shudder through a metamorphosis so amazing, I was having trouble accepting that this was reality.

But it was, and I had never felt so good in my life. Seriously. I don't know if it was the fact that my dreams were physically coming true, or if was merely those wonderful drugs in the serum, but it was...almost indescribable.

And for a moment, Hyancinth merely watched me, basking in the fact that she was bringing me such happiness.
“Look!” she pointed to my arm proudly. “Your fur is beautiful! Your spine will change soon, so watch out.”

Her timing was perfect. I almost immediately felt a twinge in my backbone. I was forced to all fours, which I happily submitted to. My limbs were now all the same size, and I observed in fascination as my feet and hands became paws. “Thank you so much...” I was able to muster before my mouth began to change. My teeth elongated as my face grew into a snout, my ears were growing, a tail was sprouting...

“You're almost there, Matt. Oh, your tail is beautiful!”

And it all felt wonderful. No pain. Pure pleasure as I became what I had always wanted. I just wished the Fox Serum was permanent...

A last delightful shudder radiated through my new body, and I was wolf.

“You're done, and you're gorgeous!” Hyacinth ran her hand down my back, and I proudly circled her on my new legs. I was free of humanity! I was wild, I was nature–

“I really don't think you need these now,” she chuckled, helping me remove the underwear that dangled off my back legs. She tossed them onto the pile of clothing that was growing beside us.

“My turn now!” she announced. She pulled off her shirt and shorts, revealing a tank top and underwear, which I half-expected. She had always seemed the modest type, and despite the fact that as an animal, she'd essentially be naked, she still felt the need to cover her changing human body.

“I can't wait! It's deer time!”

Deer? I thought to myself. Oh, yes, she'd mentioned the loss of those rare deer.

“Yes, I'm going to repopulate the deer. It's one of the things we do at the lab. We work with some conservation places and we secretly do this on occasion. Species conservation isn't just about captive breeding programs, you know.”

I didn't know, but I nodded anyway.

As she injected herself, she giggled. “And, believe it or not,” she glanced down at her hips, I'm turning into a male!”

I made a confused sound. A male?

As her fur came in and her body began to twist, she cried, “There's too many females, and hardly any males! I have to play the stud!” she grunted as her tail popped out. “And I don't have time to be a mother now! Ooh!”

Watching someone change was almost as good as going through it myself, I had to admit. Seeing her pretty face grow furry and deer-like was simply amazing. She groaned as small horns erupted from her head and she fell to all fours.

She had become an impressive male deer.

My new deer-friend made a squeaking sound, and beckoned me to follow. We ran deep into the forest. Hyacinth went one way, and I went the other. And any worry I had about how to go about repopulating disappeared. The wolf instincts took over, and I was wolf in mind as well as body.

I was soon leader of an impressive pack. If only it could last...

***

My serum was a three-year-long one. I know because after six glorious months, Hyacinth came to me. It was a perfect summer night, and I was howling at the moon with my pack. Honestly, there was no thought in my mind of humanity. After only days as a wolf, I had cast aside my previous identity and allowed myself to get completely lost in my animal soul.

So the first thought on viewing the group of deer approaching was, well, dinner. The only thing holding my pack back was the fact that we had just taken down several wild turkeys and our bellies were uncomfortably full.

But then one of the males stepped forward, and it smelled...familiar.

Hyacinth... the name sprang into my wild mind.

It was the first bit of human language I had thought in a while. Being so deep in the instincts of my wolf form, I wasn't really using the higher brain functions I was still capable of as a transformed human. I hadn't needed nor wanted them.

The male began to scrape its hooves in the dirt and I realized that my friend was trying to communicate with me.

Resisting the great urge to snap at him, I crept closer to read the characters in the earth.

“I change back soon,” it read.

I looked into the dark eyes and saw sadness. I nodded solemnly.

“Yours lasts three years,” came next, and my heart leaped with joy. I made a little jump which startled both my pack and Hyacinth's. I was expecting my friend to say it was my time to change back too. But two whole more years of this? It was beyond what I could have asked for.

Gingerly, I scraped my paw in the sand. “My mate and kits,” I wrote, shaking my front leg towards the beautiful female I truly loved, and her four children. In the beginning I had worried about the whole mating thing, but as my humanity fell away, the wolf in me craved this beauty, and, well the rest is history. I was so proud of my children as well. They were perfect.

“Congrats,” Hyacinth wrote back. “I fathered,” the male deer paused, and I could swear Hyacinth was blushing, if that was even possible, “several.”

Indeed, there were many young deer in the group. I could only imagine how many were Hyacinth's. I think, if I'd never become a wolf, the idea might have disgusted me, but now that I'd done it myself, I could only be happy. This one human being had given six months of her life to save a species.
And I was doing my part as well.

“I will check on you,” Hyacinth wrote.

“U don't need to,” I responded. I was fine as a wolf, and I really didn't want to be reminded that humanity loomed on the horizon.

Hyacinth seemed to understand.

“OK. See U in a few years.”

***

When I started changing back, I was so frightened that it took me moments to realize what was happening. As a wolf, I couldn't understand why my body was lurching and stretching, and I cried out. My pack stepped back from me in fear, and they kept their distance as my fur began to shed. My human mind finally kicked in after being buried all this time, and I knew the Fox Serum had run its course.

Tears fell from my changing eyes, and I tried to fight the metamorphosis, but it went on relentlessly. I let out a howl which formed into a “no” at the very end. The word felt funny on my lips, which themselves felt flat and odd. I put my half-hand, half- paw to my face to feel it actually flattening into a more human contour. “Oh, God, Hyacinth...” I whispered, and fell to the ground.

***

She found me crumpled and naked against the oak. Wordlessly, she threw a robe over me. “Wake up, Matt,” she whispered, softly tapping my arm.

I opened my eyes and tried to twitch my tail, but it was no longer there. And I couldn't handle it.

“Oh, God! I can't go back to the world! I have nothing there!” I cried.

She smiled, pulling out a lab box. I think that sight was better than all the riches in the world.

Again she held two serum bottles.

I studied her curiously. “You're going to change again?”

“No, they're both for you.”

“Uh?” I glanced at the labels. One said, “wolf”, and the other said “BEWARE, WOLF-PERM”.

My eyes widened as she stretched the serums towards me. “Your choice. Another three years, or,” her eyes narrowed mischievously, “well, Dr. Fox secretly developed a permanent potion. We don't see him anymore.” She clicked her nail against the “BEWARE” bottle tantalizingly.

I didn't need to think. I craved that “WOLF-PERM” bottle my whole life, even before I knew it existed. I grabbed it from her hands.

“Do you want me to tell anyone about you?” she asked. “Family, friends?”

“I've already been gone three years. Doesn't matter anymore,” I said. And it didn't. There were no family or friends better or more loyal than my pack. I wanted to devote my life to protecting them. And the best way to do that was to be part of them.

She pulled out the syringe. “Most people would try to change your mind, but having done this myself, I totally understand.” She bent towards me. “I'd do it too, except that I can help many different species by changing now and then. I also want to help make the Serum available to the public so they can know what it's like...”

She drew the liquid into the syringe. “Have a good life, Matt.”

The needle pierced my skin, and a reassuring calm flowed through me. It hadn't been like that the first time, and I wondered if that was a new additive to the Serum. Or perhaps it was simply me, knowing that my life was finally and simply perfect. Forever.

“Thank you,” were my last human words.