The Van Helsing Conjecture – Excerpt No. 4

She ducked behind a tree and dropped her pack. Before the dull clank rang out from into the woods, the prey was already headed deeper into the woods.

All the while the woman’s jacket deformed near her shoulder blades. The distortions grew until they tore clean through at two points. What came out was a congealed mass of bone and newly formed flesh. Shortly thereafter, the mass took on the shape of wings, with feathers filling in the expanse.

Her transformation was not restricted to growing a pair of wings. Like a butterfly leaving her cocoon, the woman grew more beautiful with every step. Her sharp facial features, elfin ears, and steel-grey had been turning heads for the better part of a century.