IGNATIUS The Colors of Rage

Chapter b Transformations

Nansen stood, seemingly absent minded while he hummed, and grabbed the metal file from the countertop. He knelt down near Iggy’s head. He knocked his knuckles along Iggy’s chin. “Open up,” he commanded. Iggy opened his mouth, yet his eyes were still looking, and because of that a shudder passed through Nansen. “Close your eyes, too,” he added.

Iggy obeyed willingly and tired. Nansen applied pressure with his fingers to each tooth that was expected to change. The top lateral incisors, the canines, and the first premolars. They all felt loose in their sockets and near to falling out, but they were actually crumbling away from the new teeth coming in through them. Iggy heard a loud crack deep within his ears as Nansen pulled out a wad of tooth shards with his fingers. He continued cracking off pieces of tooth for thirty minutes, then he used the metal file to scrape off the stubborn leftovers. He drew his attention to Iggy’s bottom jaw, where he did the same to crack off pieces from his lower canines and file off what was left. Then, he pulled away from Iggy’s face, filled the paper cup up with sink water, and handed it to him. “Wash your mouth out with this, but don’t swallow it.” 

Iggy bowed his head, sucked up some water, and spat it right back out. Bone particles and body residue floated in the water before his eyes. Grungy disgust propelled him out of the water, giving a great splash of water to the floor. 

Nansen flung a towel around him and helped him step over the tall bath ledge without so much as glancing at the puddle around their feet. He gestured toward the mirror hanging behind the sink. “Take a look, brother,” he encouraged. “Come on, now.” Iggy clenched the towel tight around his shoulders with only one hand, as he was used to, but swallowed dryly and shook his head refusing to look. Nansen pinched his love handle and his tone became borderline aggressive. “I said, ‘take a look’.”

Iggy cringed as he opened his eyes and looked at his reflection for the first time. He could not recognize who was standing before him. Sure, it was him… but was it? 

The soft boyish curves of his face and body had been chiseled, he looked many years older, about twenty three or so, and his hair was only about an inch long and a much deeper shade of black, giving great contrast to his faded skin color and his multicolored eyes. The oval shape of his eyes was exaggerated and given more depth with an ability to reflect light subtly, yet clearly. While thick brows were growing above, dark purple circles lingered beneath, and the colors… were beautiful.

Feeling the ache in his jaw, he opened his mouth and saw his new razor sharp teeth. They were not much longer than his human teeth, but they were still pushing out from his bright red and tender gums, raw. His lower canines were just as sharp as the top canines; which was surely an uncommon bite. 

He drew his eyebrows in and turned his head toward Nansen’s reflection. He studied Nansen’s mouth, waiting for him to open it so that he could at least glimpse his teeth, too, and as if Nansen could read his mind, he parted his lips. 

Iggy was right. 

Nansen only had sharp teeth on the top, not on the bottom. “What?” Nansen laughed, closing his mouth. “Am I missing a pair?” 

Iggy hooked his bottom right tooth with his fingertip. “Is this… normal?” he asked.

Their eyes locked through the mirror’s reflection and Nansen jerked his head side to side. “You’re a bit different. Baine had something interesting in his blood, because no one has sharps on their bottom jaw, except for you and KillJoy-” he smirked “-That’s what I started calling her… KillJoy. She hates it.” 

Nansen broke eye contact and leaned around him. He unfolded the clothing from the countertop, and knelt down at Iggy’s side, holding the soft gray pant legs open for him to step into. Iggy’s range of motion was better, but still comparable to that of a hundred year old man’s. After the pants, Nansen wrapped a navy blue sweater around the crown of his head and pulled it down along the length of his aching arms. He finished him up with a pair of soft white socks. 

Iggy’s fingers twisted in the sleeves and he wrapped his arms across his stomach. “Am I…-” he coughed “-done?”

Nansen flashed a smile. “Your teeth and hair are still coming out, and your body will be changing for a few weeks, but other than that, yes. You are officially infected. The chances of you dying now are slim to none. You’ve made it through the transformation. Well…” he hesitated, “…mostly. We’ll say that you’re done, once you feed for the first time. That’s a pretty big milestone.” One of his hands clamped onto Iggy’s shoulder and Iggy flinched. “You gotta make sure that you stay out of the sun, now,” he teased. “Come on! Let’s go see Baine. He’s going crazy waiting for us. It took you so long to wake up that I rechecked you a thousand times for a pulse. I even planned my own funeral while waiting for you. Speaking of; carnations. I prefer carnations. They last longer than roses.”

Iggy shut his eyes, searching his memory for the answer. “How long were we… how long did it take?” 

Nansen tilted his head toward the door. “Let’s go ask Baine,” he suggested. “Only he’d know for sure. I did manage to take a break once, but I still couldn’t tell you exactly how long it took.”

Nansen’s arm flung over Iggy’s and he pulled him out of the bathroom before he could get lost in thought. He’d seen how Iggy’s eyes drooped to look down at the floor, and that look was a dead giveaway that he was about to venture into the grim parts of his mind to rediscover the violation and betrayal lying just beneath the surface, and frankly, Nansen was tired enough. Nothing sounded better other than handing Iggy off to someone else.

So, they ventured down the hall to the large staircase that led straight down toward the front door in the lobby. Half of the corridor was open like a loft with a half wall separating the two rooms. At the head of the stairs to the side, there was one cot stationed against the wall. Nansen’s feet slowed as they passed it. 

“You see that cot?” he pointed it out. “You’ll be able to find a few like it in the halls throughout the house. We put them there for you and Emi. Your sleep schedule is going to be erratic. When you feel tired, lay down wherever is closest for you and just go to sleep.”

The idea of sleeping out in the open was absurd to say the least, but Iggy furrowed his eyebrows and said, “ummm… OK?” anyways. 

Down beneath the stairs there was a small group of members collected by the door, chit chatting and wasting time. At the sight of them, Nansen tensed and led the way in front, blocking the heat of their stares the best that he could. As they walked past, the others hovered nearer, praying for a peek. 

“You remember the orders, don’t you?” Nansen warned. “Leave him alone.” Half of the group sighed and the other half frowned, but they all pulled back and let them through.