Eventually they had gone through the entire neighborhood and triumphantly trotted to a pond and sat near the bank. Kevin was virtually invisible in the dim light of the moon, only a faint outline and his glowing eyes gave him away. Laying down a sheet, they totaled up their loot, Maggie her chocolate, jelly beans, and candy, and Kevin his bacon, rawhides, and even a chew toy. “Well well well, we have a winner,” said Kevin, gesturing to his larger pile. “I guess cute beats sexy. Who knew?” They laughed and gazed out over the lake for a while, his arm around her, and she scratching at the base of his tail. Gradually the ache that he felt grew, and his body temperature began to climb. Kevin frowned. “I-I don’t feel very good…” Suddenly his throat closed up and his face seared with pain as he tried to breathe. He tried to yell as the pain intensified, but he could feel something happening as his jaw stretched abnormally wide. His teeth were growing bigger, his tongue longer, his mouth was pushing forward, and something was coming up his throat, tearing apart his cheeks. His eyes were on fire. Then he gasped for air and he could feel something different. He ran his tongues around the inside of his mouths… He blinked, which also felt strange. Trembling, he picked up the mirror and stared at his four fiery red eyes, then at the two snouts where his mouth had been. The pain subsided and he took a deep breath to steady himself, surprised when a trail of smoke drifted out past his glistening fangs. His temperature was still rising, but as it did he felt better and calmer. He slowly examined his changes, his two mouths with their own fangs and unexpectedly long and pointed tongues; his long and deadly sharpened claws, and most of all his eyes. He looked up at Maggie, and could feel the guilty yet pleased emotions emanating from her. In fact, he could faintly feel her affection for him, her fear of rejection, even a small pulsing that was her mind itself. He blinked, and she smiled and inside his head and heart he could feel her desire for a familiar, for a lifelong friend, that she hoped he would fill. Mystified, he amazed himself as he began to consider it. But as he gazed into her eyes, his resolve solidified. Gently, he took her hand and kissed it, smiling, and a small ball of light floated out of his mouth and into her heart. They could feel each other’s delight flow back and forth between them, and as Kevin faded into the night, she knew he would always be with her.