Ashburn ___________________________ The past week had proven to be as difficult as promised by Mrs. Mabel. A few days ago his right eye had begun to feel very sore, like a massive pressure was building up inside of it. The pain brought tears to his eyes and when looking in the mirror he could see that it had turned a shade of blood red. That had given him a total panic, and it took Eric and Mrs. Mabel in tandem to get him to calm down. Adding to is agony was the pain shooting up and down his body as it felt like he was being stretched. He had already grown a full inch in a week and his body was growing larger. Even though it was still lean muscle had begun to grow a larger chest, arms and other muscles. He was beginning to look more like a swimmer than a lazy gamer. The only thing that was keeping him sane was being able to talk to Eric, even if it was in a hushed tone to avoid making his migraine worse. Mabel ______________________________________ "Hey ma'am, have you heard from Ash or those other guys recently?" a young black chef asked Mabel. He was average by most measures, five foot eight and small paunch from eating his own creations at home, but had a gentle deep voice and soft eyes that showed his worry. "Oh them?" Mabel asked dismissively "Those three idiots quit after that whole customer fiasco. I guess they couldn't handle a couple of pissed customers" silently though Mabel patting herself on the back for having the foresight to move Ashburn's truck into the owner's garage. They never used it and were only to happy to help cover up what was really going on. After all the last thing this joint needed was a bunch of cops snooping around, no amount of charm could make corpse dogs not do their jobs. "Are you sure?" He prodded gently "It just doesn't sound like Eric or Ash. That washer maybe, but not those two." "Look Devon I am not paying you to manage payroll so don't worry yourself over it." She replied coldly, her eyes shooting daggers into his very soul "People come and go all the time from here, its not unusual. Now fix me two cheeseburgers and a vanilla milk shake. The owners are going to want lunch and it isn't going to be my ass they fire if they go hungry." Chills shot down Devon's spine at the look and silenced him. He quickly did as she asked and brought her the food quietly. Without so much as a thank you Mabel left the kitchen, and after making sure nobody saw her, went down into the basement. After opening the door like usual she locked it behind her and went to stand in the middle of the small room. "Ok boys I figure you need some meat to grown big and strong so I brought burgers. If you don't like them then shut the f*ck up because I don't give a sh*t." She said as she put the plates in front of Ash and Eric, setting the shake in its usual place to be force fed into Zack. She wouldn't admit it but she was worried. His soul had a weak presence and seemed as if it wasn't replenishing fast enough to sustain the energy it was devoting to fixing its body. "Its time for lesson two of being a demon. Seeing as how you're both starting to transform I will now be giving you daily lessons." She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms before beginning the lesson. "The Transformation Stage "The transformation stage of development is the time between the ceremony that unseals the soul and the time your heart stops beating. It is often said to be a defining time in a young demons life because it is the most trying. It much resembles human puberty, though compressed into a matter of months or weeks. "Humanoid type demons (those who resemble humans) have the shortest, due to the limited changes. Terror types demons (those with virtually no resemblance to humans) have the longest with some lasting up to four months. "The first phase is the preparation of the body. During this time the soul mends any injuries or health problems. For most people this is only a few days, but for you guys it has obviously stretched out nearly two weeks because you were in bad shape even before falling down the stairs. This phase is the least painful and is trademarked by extreme fatigue and low mind activity. "The second phase is when the soul prepares the aesthetics of the body. This stage is most noticeable in humanoids because they have the most human traits. Hair color, eye color and other basic traits are subject to change during this time. Although more painful than the first phase you will notice more energy and less fatigue due to the low key nature of the changes. It is also possible you will experience a growth spurt if your true form is notably larger, and the same goes for weight gain/loss. "The third phase deals with organs and is, generally, incrementally more painful than the last. Since demons do not have a shared anatomy this phase varies greatly. Humanoids sometimes do not even notice this phase however since they experience few if any changes. Most humanoids will lose vestigial organs through self-cannibalization but nothing too severe. Terrors however will be the ones that find this stage the most painful. Depending on the scope of the change you may lose almost all of your organs, including your sexual organs. Though the digestive tracts remain in place, for unknown reasons, as well as the brain, heart and lungs (though these can change shapes and locations). Don’t worry about your c*cks though boys, because only ghouls can lose theirs. Even then it is a rare occasion. "The final phase is universally considered to be the most painful, torturous even. This is the final transformation and your bodies will be changing rapidly and dramatically. Wings, horns, talons and other traits emerge at this point as well as changes to the skin. It is this phase that you will lose your human appearance, as I sense that none of you are vampires (who are the exception to this rule)" Mrs. Mabel looked at the both them them calmly "Now do you have any questions kiddos?"