Novus Vita - Chapter 4

I closed the thesaurus slowly. Thoughts began to emerge in my mind. New life, I thought worryingly, why does it say that. I, again, tried to connect the amulet and the scales somehow. It occurred to me at that point that I've forgotten to check the scaly patch this morning to see if it's gotten any worse. I put the thesaurus back in it's shelf with all the other thesaurus' and quickly walked out of the library.

I saw a restroom nearby and forwarded in. I went in a nearby cubicle and closed the door behind me. I lifted and my shirt and inspected the patch. It had gotten slightly bigger. Not by a very noticeable amount but fear struck me because it was growing anyway. I lowered the shirt and began to panic. What's happening to me?

I scratched my head when I was thinking of how to deal with this. What will I do? What am I becoming? Why is this happening? While these questions piled one by one into my mind, my head felt something odd when running a finger through my hair. It felt like a small bump, kind of like the swelling that would occur if you hit your head or something. The odd thing was, I felt two bumps. Each one on the top of my scalp on both sides of my head, above my eyebrows. What now? I wondered as the bell went once again. I groaned as I left the toilet cubicle and went to my next class.

The rest of the day sort of went like this. I went to each class and tried to concentrate but was too distracted by the recent discovery of the strange bumps. I couldn't help but keep touching them. They hurt a bit when I apply some pressure but it didn't feel like a bruise. It felt more like a prick, like when you poke yourself gently with a sharp pencil, but on the inside. During lunch I just tried to mind my own business, as usual, as I tried to distract myself from touching the bumps repeatedly by playing a few games on my phone. It kind of kept my mind occupied but I was still worried.

After the last couple of classes, when it was time to go home, I slowly left the school and headed straight to my house. I continued to walk slowly to give myself time to think. Maybe I just got a couple of splinters on my scalp, I thought. That actually worried me slightly more. Removing a splinter on your finger is hard enough, removing one so close to my head where I can even see it might be a problem. I hoped that the bumps are just from bumping my head, possibly when I was sleeping, and that they will go away later.

When I arrived home, I let myself in and went straight into my room without getting a snack from the kitchen or anything. I booted up my computer, searched the room for the amulet and found it on the ground next to my computer chair. I picked it up and examined it for what must have been the tenth time now since I found it. 'Novus Vita' it said on the bottom. 'New life.'

I soon began to wonder what the blue gem, that was embedded in the gold frame, was. Now I'm not an expect on gemstones or crystals or anything, but there was something odd about it. It was the colour of the scales growing on the side of my abdomen. There's a good chance that it has something to do with it. I remembered when I tried it on. I commented on how it was 'tacky' and I grew tired and collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. Maybe the amulet did something that made me lose consciousness and triggered the initial transformation. I need to get this amulet checked by an expert, I thought as I placed it down onto my bed.

I opened my bag, pulled out all the study books and attempted to study. This is the last really good chance to study because the next two days, Thursday and Friday, aren't normal school days. No normal classes, just our year mucking up. I smiled and was immediately welcomed back to reality when I saw the huge pile of study books that I piled onto my bed, next to the amulet. I groaned and thought, well at least I don't have to wait long until tomorrow. I don't want to miss what we're doing tomorrow. I grabbed a random book and began studying.

After about an hour the bumps on my head began to get irritated. I didn't pay much notice of it since it's been itching a bit all day. I scratched them which helped a little bit and continued to concentrate on my work. Soon after, the itching intensified. It didn't suddenly escalate at once, it was more like a steady increase in irritation. The bumps became far to distracting and I couldn't keep concentrated. I put the book away and tried to do what I did last time, during lunch today, to distract myself from the bumps. I launched Team Fortress 2 and hoped that the itching would go away after a while.

It kind of went away. It did stop itching but soon I began to experience a dull throbbing in my head. I continued to play the game but the throbbing started to turn into a fairly large headache. After about half an hour, I quit out of the game and rested on my bed. Pain started to hit all at once. The headache turned into a painful splitting migraine. I closed my eyes and tried to take my mind of the pain. I threw my blanket over my head on try and block out the light coming through my window. I grunted quietly as I tried to overcome the immense pain. I couldn't think straight. All I could do is try to fall asleep and wait it out. After a few more minutes that pain overcame me and I blacked out.

A while later I came to and opened my eyes slowly. I was still in my room, in my bed, and it was dark. I checked the clock next to me and noticed that it was just past midnight. There was still a feint throbbing in my head but it had calmed down. I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I decided to get out of bed for a bit and get a drink of water and a quick bite to eat. I fell asleep earlier again tonight so I missed dinner and I was hungry. I slid out of bed and silently wandered over to the kitchen.

I walked over to the fruit bowl and grabbed an orange. At least I thought it was an orange. It was kind of too dark to tell. I grabbed a knife, carefully to avoid cutting myself in the darkness, and sliced the orange into wedges. I then bit into them, each bite sending ripples of juice all over my face. After I finished the orange off, I wiped my face off and threw away the scraps into the bin.

I then felt a slight pressure in my stomach. I needed to pee. I quickly, but carefully, walked across the quiet house and into the bathroom. I fumbled in the dark to find a light switch and, when I found it, I turned it on. I crept over to the toilet and relieved myself. I had been hold that one in all day. I flushed the toilet and walked over to the sink to wash my hands. I then noticed something odd.

In the mirror, there I stood. But there was something different. I assumed that what I noticed was the reasons for the bumps on my head. Right at the top of my forehead, two bony horns grew out of my scalp, each about the length of one of my hands. I stood there absolutely stunned. I slowly, and shakily, raised one of my hands and felt one of the 'horns'. I felt it in my hand but the strange thing was I also felt my hand from the horn. It was real and was a part of me. "Oh shit," I said quietly as I continued to examine the new addition to my body.