Hi Mom and Dad,

Oh yeah that reminds me. Mom you know how you always wanted a daughter. Well congratulations, you've got one.

Looking over what I'd written, I groaned, crumpled it up and threw it away. How exactly was I supposed to tell my parents I was no longer their handsome son? Glancing at my furry hands, I also wondered how to tell them I was no longer human. This kind of problem never happened at my old school.

Back home I just had to worry about bullies who might shove me into a locker, steal my notes, or use some enchanted stink powder to make me smell like garbage all day. That I could handle. But Doom Valley had been punishing me right from the start. Staring at my dark red claws which still looked shiny and new a day later, I was reminded how my entire life had been flipped around.

Leaving my desk, I flopped down on my bed. Ella was out, she had a lunch date with Blood Wing and some other big shot students, so I had the enormous dorm room all to myself. I'd been planning on doing some homework and writing a letter home, but I was not feeling it. Rolling off the bed, I knocked on the floor under the bed. Maybe the Monster Under the Bed would have some more cookies and tea. She didn't answer my knock. Peering underneath, all I could see was dust and the floor. She was either asleep or out.

Sighing, I laid there feeling sorry for myself, my tail twitching back and forth.

There was a knock on the door. Practically dragging myself across the floor, I silently hoped whoever it was would go away. I wasn't in the mood to see anyone.

The person knocked again, more insistently this time.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Naomi,” my friend said through the door. “We're going out to have some fun, we want you to come with us.”

“I'm not feeling that good,” I said.

“Well let us in, we'll help you feel better or take you to the nurse.”

“I just want to stay in bed.”

“Petra, we aren't going until we at least see you. Staying in bed all day isn't healthy.”

Sighing, I opened the door. Naomi and my friends came in, stepping over me as they did. Calci bent down, grabbed me under the arms and lifted me to my feet as if I didn't weigh a thing. Briefly I considered falling to the floor again, but that would hurt. So I just stood there, hunched down, wishing they'd leave me alone.

“Homesick?” Clarice asked, her small hands pushing me towards a chair.

“No.” I really wasn't homesick. At least not in the usual way. I didn't want to be at Doom Valley, almost anywhere else would be better. I also didn't want to be a pretty girl, especially not the prettiest one in the entire group.

“Feeling sick?” Naomi asked. She felt my forehead, then realized it was covered in fur, so she touched my nose, which just felt weird.

“No.”

“Sick and tired of Doom Valley and everything that's happened to you so far?” Calci asked.

“N- Yes.”

“I thought you had fun yesterday,” Naomi said.

“I did. It was strange, but everything was fun. But I'm not used to any of this. And I know that next week is going to be bad, and the next week will be worse, and the next one, and on, and on, and on.”

Suddenly I found myself in the middle of a the three girls getting hugged. “You had a bad first week. But you've survived,” Clarice said. “And think about it, you got the second best roommate at school. You've impressed everyone. You survived attacks from two of the worst male bullies in our year. None of the girl bullies want to risk taking you on. And you have a half giant wrapped around your little finger. That's pretty impressive. Do you seriously think anyone is going to risk anything by attacking you?”

“I guess not,” I replied, a little bit of life coming back to my voice.

“Exactly. Now let's get you dressed in your new clothes and we can go do something fun.”

Naomi was already pulling out my pants, specially made for a tail, and the white t-shirt that went with it. I found them too tight, especially the top, which felt like it was painted on over my breasts, but otherwise they were surprisingly comfortable and I looked good in them.

A few minutes later we were walking down the hallway. I was squeezed in between Clarice and Naomi who both had an arm around my waist. When I walked with my guy friends as a boy, we'd sometimes throw an arm over each others shoulder, but the full body press that seemed so common for girls was not something I normally did.

Feeling the warmth and comforting softness of their bodies, I had to admit girls definitely had some things going for them.

“So what are we doing?” I asked.

“There's a game room for the dorm. We thought it would fun to see what they've got, or maybe just play some cards,” Calci said.

That actually did sound like fun. Perking up I picked up my feet. “OK! Let's go.”

Taking a corridor I'd never gone down, we started passing a lot of unmarked doors. “What are these rooms?” I asked.

Naomi gave me an odd look. “You don't know? These are the rooms for cleaning supplies, laundry, public bathrooms and showers for the girls in the barracks, a place to cut your hair for free, and things like that.”

“Oh. People have to do their own laundry, and clean?”

“You don't have to do laundry or clean?!”

“No. I just throw any clothes that survive the day into my laundry hamper and they're clean, folded and put away in the morning. And some goblins come in while we're in class to clean everything. You don't have that?”

“You're kidding me!” Clarice said.“No.”

“We have to do all our own cleaning and laundry. Some girls pay or force others to do it for them, but I think you're the only one to have it all done by the school.”

The all looked jealously at me. “Right. Well if you want, you could put your clothes in my clothes hamper once or twice a week and have them done for you.”

That seemed to make things better, Clarice and Naomi squeezed me tighter at least, which seemed like a good sign. “Thank you!” they all said in unison.

We came to a door that looked like all the rest. Freeing her arm from my waist, Clarice opened the door. “I think this is it,” she said.

I heard something that sounded like sandpaper rubbing on stone, making my fur stand on end. My instincts bypassed my brain, making me move quicker than I thought possible. I grabbed Clarice and threw her behind me. As I did that, my foot slammed into the door forcing it shut.

There was a loud squeal from the room. We all watched in horror as the tip of a slimy tentacle was cut off from whatever was on the other side of the door, it flopped and writhed on the floor for a few moments, oozing an ugly, black ichor, that steamed a little.

“That's not the right room,” Naomi whispered, staring at the fleshy thing.

“I'm glad. I don't think I'd like that game,” I said.

Just then the veiled girl I'd seen on the first day who was always riding on her giant white tiger came strolling down the hall. She completely ignored us until she reached the door we were still looking at.

“Move aside,” she said, her voice soft and airy. “I need to go in there.”

“Um are you-” I started.

Her tiger growled, and she pointed her pure white staff at me. “There is no need to speak. Simply move aside and stop wasting your time and mine.”

A part of me wanted to warn her about the monster on the other side. But the rest of me decided that silence was best. For all I knew she had summoned the thing. We all got out of her way, curious about what would happen next.

The girl waved her staff and the door flew open. For a moment it looked like nothing would happen, then her tiger jerked back, looking very shocked. Tentacles exploded from the opening, grabbing the animal and it's rider, dragging them into the room so fast there wasn't time to blink. The door slammed shut behind them.

“Should we help her?” Calci asked.

I went to the door, putting my ear to it. I could hear roaring, shouting, screaming, screeching, and explosions from the other side. Opening it a crack to look in revealed a two way battle. The tiger was clawing and biting at the tentacles, while the girl was casting explosive spells and hitting the monster with her staff. The tentacles weren't happy about this and were wrapping themselves around the pair throwing them around the room and squeezing them in ways that couldn't be comfortable.

Closing the door, I turned to my friends. “We should go tell someone. Anything else would just have us in the way.”

Clarice went down the hall and pressed a red crystal. A goblin in a janitors uniform came out of a small secret door.

“What do ya need?” it asked.

“There's a tentacle monster and it just grabbed a student,” she told the little monster, pointing at the door.

The goblin sighed, went back into it's room and came out a few moments later with a large metal tube that had a flame at one end, goggles, and a mace hanging from it's belt. It walked past us to the door, opened it, and charged inside. There were more screams, yells, explosions, smoke, and gouts of flame.

The tiger and the girl came tearing out of the room at high speed. The big cat was missing fur, covered in ichor and the tip of it's tail was on fire. The girl wasn't much better off, her long brown hair was now very short and smoking, her staff was broken in half, and I could tell from experience that her expensive clothes were utterly ruined.

A few minutes later, after a lot more fire, the goblin came out, covered in ash and ichor. It closed the door and put up a sign that said, 'Being cleaned. Do NOT Enter', Then it walked past us whistling, chewing on what looked like well done calamari.

“Excuse me,” Naomi asked, very politely, “could you please tell us which door leads to the game room?”

“My paladin will advance to the sacrificial altar,” Naomi said. On the board, the mini paladin walked with big plodding steps towards Calci's stronghold.

Calci threw down a card. “I'm playing my ambush card, army of imps. They attack your paladin.” A dozen imps rose out of the ground jumping at the paladin who used his broadsword to cleave most of them in half. A few got through clawing at his armour, forcing him to stop moving, just short of the altar.

All eyes went to Clarice, we had been playing 'Complete War: Advanced Battles' for over an hour and we'd all used up most of our pieces and resources. Anyone could win at this point, and none of us were ready to surrender without a fight.

“My Elven thief back stabs Naomi's cherub and uses Unholy Hand grenade to shatter her temple,” the little blonde girl said, placing a card in the discard pile.

“NO!” Naomi shouted.

Helplessly she watched a cloaked figure appear and stab her last defender in the back. Then her stronghold blew up, illusionary rubble flew into the air, and her paladin fell to his knees in defeat.

Now it was my turn. Licking my lips, I put down two cards, “My goblins make a ballista, and they do it in double time. They fire on the sacrificial altar.”

“How long have you been saving those cards,” Calci demanded, throwing her cards down in defeat, as a crude, oversized arrow shattered her alter.

“Most of the game,” I admitted. “And now with everyone else dead, all my goblins and trolls attack the Holy Tree.”

Clarice looked at her few remaining cards, before tossing them down in disgust. On the table, my weak, nearly useless units that relied almost solely on numbers, converged on her stronghold. Elven archers slaughtered most of them, but enough got past and proceeded to destroy her few remaining units. She was still technically in the game, but my next turn would end her.

“I surrender,” she said.

“Woohoo! Goblins win!” I shouted.

“How did we get defeated by goblins?!” Naomi asked.

“No one ever expects the goblins,” I replied with a grin. “I just had to bide my time and conserve my forces until the time was right.”

Basking in my victory, we put the cards away and looked around for something else to do. The room was full of games and girls, there were tables like ours for strategy and role playing games. There were board games, tabletop sports games, racing games, many different card games, and magic mirror games. A group of six girls were playing Diplomats, and from the look of things it had been going on for several days.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't the princess's little pets.”

We turned and saw four girls that I vaguely remembered being some of the bullies from the first day. With my busy schedule, and being around Ella so much I hadn't had to deal with them, and had practically forgotten them. There were the two girls who had tried to steal my key at the very start, the crystal scaled one who breathed fire, and the tall one who had a soul cloth cape which moved unnaturally in the still air. There was also a girl with goggles that had a mechanical dog which clicked and growled. Finally there was the girl in a pink dress who liked turning people into sheep.

“What do you want, Druk?” Calci asked.

The scaled girl, Druk, smirked. “I think you and the princess need to learn your place. You've all been walking around like you own the place. But what have you actually done to deserve it?”

Clarice giggled. “Do you really want to beat up Rock For Brains girlfriend? You saw what he did to the canteen right?”

“Petra has also survived detention twice without a scratch,” Naomi said.

“And have you seen what happened to the two guys who got on Ella's bad side?”

“They tried to be tricky,” goggles girl said. “We're just going to beat you into a pulp. And the idiot giant will fall for anyone who gives him a pretty rock.”

Sheep girl raised her wand. I got ready to jump, I really didn't want to be turned into a sheep. Being changed into a girl, then a beautiful girl, then a cat girl was more than enough for one week. Everyone else got ready to run or fight, and the room had become very quiet.

Then Brier, the roommate and personal assistant of Blood Wing walked over. “You probably don't want to do that, girls,” she said.

“Why not?” Goggles asked. She looked the girl up and down, sneering at what she saw. “Are you going to help them?”

“Oh no. I'm not a fighter,” Brier said. “But I do know that my roommate Blood Wing is friends with Princess Ella, and she is always looking for ways to form a closer relationship. You do remember how she protected Petra from Micheal a few days ago?”

The girls suddenly looked a lot less confident. Rocks For Brains was intimidating, but he was easily led. Blood Wing was insane, and if she did anything it was likely going to be excessively overpowered.

Clarice smiled. “So, do you really want to take a chance at fighting Ella who is more than willing to pay other people to do her dirty work, Blood Wing, Rock For Brains, and Petra?”

“ME?!” I asked in surprise.

The bullies looked just as surprised.

“Yes, I said Petra. She was the only one to survive the pass or die test, while going against a kid who was supposed to be a big shot paladin in training. She beat Victor with a lunch tray. She pounded Micheal. She seduced Rocks For Brains when he tried to kill her. And her luck goes from horribly bad most of the time, to insanely good when it counts. If we get into a fight, I don't know what it will be, but something strange will happen. She'll be humiliated and probably end up naked, but somehow you guys will be even worse off.”

“I don't want to end up naked again. I just got these clothes.”

The four girls looked at each other, they didn't look nearly as confident anymore. “Let's go,” Druk said. “They're not worth the hassle.” The girls went to the other side of the room and started playing a game.

Breathing a sigh of relief at our near miss, we turned to Brier. “Thanks for the help, that would have been bad,” Naomi said.

“No problem. Just remember it if you see me in trouble,” she said. Waving goodbye she went back to her friends.

I started giggling. I'd had two near misses today, but I hadn't gotten hurt or transformed, and my clothes were still in one piece. It was a miracle.

“What is it, Petra?” Calci asked.

“I can't say it. I'll jinx it if I say it. I'm just really, really happy right now,” I said.

It was suppertime and we were all heading for the canteen. Ella looked pleased with how her day had gone, but didn't tell us anything. Ivy was her usual non-talkative self, and the rest of us were really happy from our day of fun and relaxation.

We waved at the boys as we went to get our food. Well, the girls went to get food, I wasn't going to bother. I didn't want another live rat.

Rocky grimaced, holding his head like it hurt. Frowning I looked at him more closely, wondering what could be the problem. He'd been complaining about a headache for the last few days, but the nurse said he was OK. So I wasn't paying attention to what was around me.

I crashed into a short girl, and her tray of food spilled all over me. It was wet and very hot.

Screaming in pain, I pulled at my t-shirt, forgetting that I had claws and was stronger then usual. The fabric ripped in my hands.

Suddenly I was standing in the middle of the canteen, practically topless, only wearing pants and a bra, both of which were stained with tomato soup. And all eyes were on me.

Sighing, I pulled off the rest of my shirt and sat down.

“Um, Petra, you're half naked,” Garth said.

“At this point, who hasn't seen me half naked?!” I retorted.

Awkwardly the boys all nodded.

Silently cursing my life, I waited for my food. I knew things had been going too well.

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Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

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