The creature engulfed her in one terrible motion. The slime was cold, so cold it burned, and the chemical taste made her gag as she was pulled into its gelatinous form.

  But Globulus had made a fatal mistake. In its eagerness to consume her, it had given Jessica exactly what she needed—time to transform.

  The change came fast, almost eager, as if her wolf nature recognized the dire need. Bones cracked and reformed with a sound like breaking branches, lengthening and strengthening. Muscles stretched and bulged, dense supernatural power replacing human frailty. Her cheerleading uniform split at the seams as coarse white fur erupted across her skin.

  With a roar that shook the creature's very substance, Jessica's fully transformed werewolf form burst through Globulus's outer membrane. She landed on all fours, nearly tall with raw supernatural power wrapped in white fur and primal fury. Pink slime dripped from her crop-top as she rose to her full height, her bare feet pressing against the cold concrete floor.

  Her enhanced senses recoiled at the creature's presence—a wet, rhythmic pulsing that echoed off the walls. She took a moment to catch her breath, chest heaving, while her claws clicked against the basement floor. Every muscle in her transformed body hummed with power, ready for the real fight to begin.

  Globulus emerged from the shadows, its amorphous mass rippling and stretching like some horrible parody of life. The creature had grown since their last encounter, nearly matching her current height. Its surface bubbled and shifted constantly, trying to form a mockery of her wolfish features—a twisted snout here, a malformed eye there—before dissolving back into formless ooze.

  "Finally done playing?" Jessica's voice came out as a growl, deeper and rougher in this form, resonating in her chest. "Good. Let's finish this."

  She didn't wait for it to finish its grotesque display. She lunged, claws extended, aiming for what passed for its center of mass. Her attack connected with a sound like tearing gelatin, razor-sharp claws ripping through the creature's gelatinous form—but the wounds sealed instantly, pink slime flowing back together like water. Not even a drop was left on her claws.

  "Great," Jessica muttered, backing away. "Really totally great."

  The creature struck back, a tendril of slime whipping toward her face with frightening speed. Jessica ducked, feeling it whistle past her ear close enough to ruffle her fur. She dove and rolled, coming up near the boiler room door. The furnace room was just beyond, separated by a thin wall that thrummed with mechanical heat. If she could just reach it—

  Another tendril caught her ankle, yanking her feet out from under her. Jessica slammed into the floor with bone-jarring force, concrete cracking under the impact. She twisted, slashing at the tendril with her claws, but more were already wrapping around her limbs like living ropes. The slime was cold, so cold it burned, and where it touched, her fur smoked.

  "Get. Off!" She roared, the sound reverberating off the basement walls as she channeled every ounce of supernatural strength into breaking free. The tendrils stretched like taffy, then snapped with wet pops, sending globs of pink slime flying in all directions.

  Jessica scrambled to her feet and bolted toward the boiler room, shouldering through the heavy metal door hard enough to tear it from one hinge. Behind her, Globulus flowed up the walls and ceiling like some nightmarish tide, gaining ground with every second. Its mass seemed to grow as it moved, absorbing moisture from the air, spreading wider and wider until it nearly filled the corridor.

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  The boiler room was a maze of pipes and gauges, steam hissing from joints and valves. Jessica vaulted over a workbench, scattering tools across the floor. The furnace room door was just ahead, its reinforced frame designed to contain the industrial-sized furnace within. Her mind raced as she ran. She needed a plan, needed something more than just teeth and claws against this thing.

  Something heavy slammed into her from behind, sending her skidding across the concrete floor. Jessica rolled with the impact, coming up in a defensive crouch, claws spread wide. But Globulus wasn't attacking. Instead, the creature's mass surged forward, flowing around her like a wave, cutting off every avenue of escape. Its surface rippled with what almost looked like anticipation.

  Before Jessica could react, a tendril shot into her open mouth. Her eyes widened in horror as she felt the creature forcing itself down her throat, cold and slick and impossibly strong. She gagged, claws scrabbling at her neck, but couldn't stop the inexorable flow of alien slime. It tasted like chemicals and decay, a flavor so wrong it made her enhanced senses scream in revolt.

  Her stomach distended as more and more of Globulus poured into her. Jessica's werewolf form, normally lean and powerful, bloated grotesquely, fur stretching tight over swelling flesh. She stumbled, falling to her knees as the last of the creature disappeared down her throat, leaving only a faint pink residue on the floor to show it had ever been there.

  Pain erupted through her insides like liquid fire. Jessica doubled over, retching helplessly as she felt Globulus beginning to digest her from within, its alien biology breaking down her tissues even as her supernatural healing fought to repair the damage. That healing factor was the only thing keeping her alive—and that just meant a slower, more agonizing death as the two forces waged war inside her body.

  Through the haze of pain, her enhanced vision picked out details her human eyes would have missed. The maintenance cart tucked in the corner. The rack of cleaning supplies. And there, gleaming like salvation, a can of industrial-strength bug spray tucked into one of the cart's pockets. The same stuff the janitor had used last week when the locker room had a roach problem—strong enough to eat through their shells.

  Jessica lunged for it, nearly falling as her distorted center of gravity threw her off balance. Her claws closed around the can just as another wave of pain dropped her to the floor. With trembling hands, she twisted off the safety cap, nearly crushing the metal in her supernatural grip.

  "Hope you're hungry," she snarled, and brought the can to her lips.

  The chemical taste was horrific, burning worse than any silver she'd ever touched. Jessica forced herself to keep drinking, emptying half the can before her body's survival instincts kicked in and made her stop. The liquid burned all the way down, setting her enhanced senses on fire with wrongness.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then her stomach lurched violently, like something inside her was trying to escape.

  Jessica stumbled to her feet, one clawed hand pressed against the wall for support as she half-ran, half-crawled toward the furnace room. She shouldered through the door just as the first spasm hit, dropping her to her knees in front of the massive industrial furnace. Its heat pressed against her fur like a physical force, adding to the inferno already burning inside her.

  With the last of her strength, Jessica yanked open the furnace door. Heat blasted her face as she bent double, retching. The first heave brought up a torrent of pink slime, splashing into the flames. Globulus's psychic scream of pain echoed through her mind like breaking glass as the creature realized too late what was happening. She felt its desperate attempt to retreat up her throat, but the chemicals had already done their work, breaking down its cellular cohesion.

  Jessica braced herself against the furnace housing and kept vomiting, forcing out every drop of the alien substance. The flames roared higher with each splash of slime, and Globulus's mental shrieks grew weaker and more desperate. She could feel it trying to reform, trying to maintain its integrity, but the combination of industrial chemicals and intense heat was too much for its alien biology.

  Finally, mercifully, the last of the creature left her body in a rush of pink slime. Jessica slammed the furnace door shut with one trembling hand, then collapsed onto her side. Through the furnace's small window, she watched Globulus writhe and bubble in the flames, its mass shrinking rapidly as the heat broke down whatever passed for its cellular structure.

  One final mental shriek pierced her skull like an ice pick, and then... silence.

  Jessica lay there for several long minutes, feeling her werewolf form slowly fade away as the immediate danger passed. Her cheerleading uniform hung in tatters around her human body, and her bare feet were filthy from running through the school's basement. But she was alive. Somehow, impossibly, she was alive.

  She pushed herself to sit, grimacing at the lingering taste of bug spray and alien slime. That's when she noticed—the pink residue coating the walls and ceiling was evaporating, disappearing like morning dew under a scorching sun.

  "The seal," she whispered, hope flickering in her chest. "It's breaking."

  She should get up. Should check on her friends, make sure they were all okay. Should figure out what story they were going to tell about tonight. But for now, Jessica just leaned back against the warm furnace housing and closed her eyes.

  "Just... five minutes," she muttered. "Before I throw up again."

  Her stomach lurched threateningly, as if to emphasize the point.

  Jessica groaned and pulled her knees to her chest, waiting for the nausea to pass. The furnace hummed behind her, its heat now comforting rather than weaponized. In its orange glow, she could almost pretend this was just another normal Friday night.

  Almost.