It had been one week since Jeff had attached to Jack Ernstwhistle. He had done just as he promised; he had helped him complete his project and get a job by dictating to him. Now that he'd helped him achieve his dreams, it was time to begin the transformation and REALLY start messing with his mind. He jammed his stinger into Jack's hypothalamus, and started to release a slow drip of venom.
"Jeff, what's going on?" Jack asked as he felt another sting in his skull. "It's nothing to worry about. Just go..." he hesitated to use the phrase "go to sleep" and instead said "go rest. Soon, you will be even better than before."
"Well, if you say so..."
"Trust me, Jack. Just trust me."
FIVE DAYS LATER...
At 8:30 PM, Jack was finally home from school. He'd had a long day and needed to relax. He lay down on his bed, and tried to sleep, but found that he just couldn't.
"What's wrong?" asked Jeff, feigning concern.
"I can't sleep."
"I'm not surprised. Your body is going through many changes right now. Soon, you won't need to sleep."
"WHAT?!"
"It's nothing harmful. Besides, you agreed to this when I attached to you."
"I don't wanna be a freak..."
"You won't be. You will be beautiful."
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Jeff became still.
It was Majorie, Jack's mother. "Jack, who are you talking to?"
"Nobody, mom."
"I'm worried about you. You've been staying up later than usual. And you haven't taken a shower in days. And you're so pale..."
"I'm fine, mom. Leave me alone."
"Are you sure, honey?"
"GO AWAY, MOM! GET OFF MY BACK!"
Majorie left.
Jack shuddered. "Why did I do that, Jeff? I never snapped at Mom like that before. Did YOU make me do it?"
"Of course not," the little parasite lied. "You were clearly just stressed out from your busy day. You'll get better. Trust me."
But Jack didn't get better. He got worse. Over the next few days his skin got even paler, dark circles started appearing around his eyes, and his toenails turned black. And he became more and more short-tempered and irritable. Jeff kept telling him he was becoming more beautiful, but Jack seriously doubted this. Also, Alan kept popping up in his thoughts.
He couldn't stop thinking about how much he feared and hated him, even when he was trying to think of other things. He had almost earned enough money to pay him off, but poor Mom needed that money more. And the date was drawing close.
"Think about your mother, Jack. Will you choose that rich jerk's happiness over her?"
"No, but what can I do? His guys will be coming for me any minute now."
"I shall help you take care of them, when the time comes."
And speak of the devil, he spotted AJ and Bruno, Alan's two thugs, hanging out in the far corner of the campus' cafeteria, enjoying some subs. Alan gulped as he saw them look towards him. "Ey Jack," said Bruno, "you ain't lookin too good. We wouldn't want ya to die before you show up tonight in the sculpture garden to give the boss the payment. Go home an' get some rest, pal."
Jack went down the stairs with his pulled-pork sandwich and Coke, and sat on a bench. He had lost his appetite. No wait, he was suddenly hungry again. He opened the wrapper of the sandwich and tore into it. The sauce went everywhere, but he didn't care. He was so hungry. When he was almost finished, he suddenly bit his tongue. OW! He went back inside and went into the bathroom, and looked in a mirror to see how bad it was. He couldn't believe what he saw.
His teeth were now long, razor-sharp, and pointy. It was like he had a mouthful of daggers. And his tongue was bleeding badly.
"J-Jeff? Did...did YOU do this?" he was so shocked that he was speaking with Jeff by talking out loud instead of just thinking.
Jeff, curled up in the base of his skull, smiled. "Oh, I might have helped...a LITTLE."
"You've...you've turned me into a FREAK!"
"Nonsense. You are..."
"I know. I'm beautiful. But..."
The guy in the toilet stall behind him spoke. "Would you mind keeping it down out there? I'm trying to call my aunt."
"Uh...sorry." He went outside and resumed communicating with Jeff by thinking.
"Why are you doing this to me? I never wanted to look like this. I'm NOT beautiful. I'm hideous!"
"You may no longer be attractive to other humans, but you are becoming a creature with abilities far beyond those of silly apes. You should really appreciate what I'm doing for you. You ARE beautiful. And with my help, you can get rid of those goons for good. And Alan too."
"But how? I'm just one little guy."
"That's where you're wrong. You have me. I got you through the interview, I got you through the radio project, and I'll get you through this. Now go home, get cleaned up, and get some rest. You will meet them in the sculpture garden tonight, all right. But Alan's the one who's going to pay. Heh heh heh..."
Jack did as Jeff said. When he got up, he put on a clean white hoodie and black pants, as Jeff instructed. Also per Jeff's instructions, he took the pocketknife out of the chest of belongings that had once belonged to his dad in the attic and stuck it in the pouch of his hoodie. He didn't know how much good that was going to be against those
muscleheads, but Jeff had been right about everything else so far. As he about to exit the house, Majorie met him. A look of absolute horror crossed her face. "J-Jack? What's happened to you?!"
"I told you, Mom, nothing's wrong with me. I'm going to the campus tonight to see some friends."
"You're not going anywhere. I'm going to call a doctor."
"NO!!! I'M GOING!" Before his mother could react, he took his keys and bolted out of the door, almost knocking her down.
He drove to the campus, and walked into the sculpture garden. Alan and his thugs were waiting for him there. There was a look of revulsion on Alan's face for a moment. "Wow, AJ wasn't kidding when he said you didn't look well. But as long as you brought the moolah, I wouldn't care if you looked like skunk shit."
"I...I don't have the money."
"What?"
Jack spoke up. "I said I don't have the money with me."
"Look, pal, I can see that you're sick. I'll let you go for a few days till you get better and then you can pay me ba..."
"No. I'm not paying you back now OR later. It all ends right here. Right now."
What was Jeff making him do?! Alan was giving him a reasonable choice. "Trust me, Jack, I know what I'm doing", Jeff informed him. Yeah, right. Now he wished he'd never picked up that trouble-making parasite.
"If you insist. Boys, soften him him up and then we'll see if he's still feeling so brave." Without warning, Jeff made Jack open his mouth wide and a Super Soaker-like stream of green liquid issued from it. The fluid hit Alan's right arm.
It ate through the sleeve of his shark-skin suit and his hand started smoking and hissing. He grasped his hand and screamed in pain.
AJ and Bruno stared at the spectacle, then turned to Jack, who was just as astonished as they were. "What the fuck did you DO to him?!" demanded AJ. "I...I don't KNOW!" stammered Jack.
Bruno lunged for Jack. Jack could have run then, but he seemed cemented to the spot. "Oh no, we're not done with them yet," said Jeff, with a sadistic tone to his voice. Since Jack had no time to draw his father's pocketknife, he did the only thing he could and punched the 280-pound Italiano and, to his surprise, he fell down as though he had been hit by a Mack truck. "How did I do that?" "I told you, you now have abilities far beyond those of humans. Behind you!" Jack spun around, this time with the pocketknife drawn. AJ had been sneaking up behind him, was about to strangle him. Now there was a deep horizontal slash across his chest. Jack stabbed him again, and again, and again. He collapsed.
Bruno was starting to right himself, but Jack kicked him in the head as hard as he could and his skull caved in. He fell over, dead. "Alan's getting away! Get him!" said Jeff. Alan was indeed making his way out of the sculpture garden, grasping his now nearly-skinless hand, his face still distorted with agony. Jack rushed in front of him with superhuman speed, now filled with bloodlust.
Alan cowered in fear at the monster that was once Jack. He was right over one of the spotlights, which fully illuminated his horrible features. "N-n-no, Jack! Don't! You can keep the money! I won't bother you ever again! PLEASE!"
"It's too late for that. Now you must die. Now you must...go...to...SLEEP!"
Jack beat Alan mercilessly and slashed him over and over again. Soon, he stopped breathing. He was dead.
"Killing feels good, doesn't it? We should do it more often," said Jeff.
"Yeah, it...wait, I have to get back to Mom! She's probably worried sick about me."
"Forget about that smelly monkey. She's just holding you back. Besides, you can no longer stay in your home. Now that you have killed, the authorities will seek you out. There is a well-hidden place in the woods we can live. It was once my home, when I was human."
"You were once human? You never told me this before."
"Well, you never asked."
"I can't just abandon Mom. I have to see her again, just one last time. Besides, if I'm moving out I have to get my stuff from home."
"Very well. Just make sure nobody sees you leaving this place."
"Jack?" he heard from behind him. He turned around. It was Majorie.
"Mom! What are you doing here?"
"Jack, why are these people dead? What's happened? Are you hurt?"
"Alan tried to have me killed, Mom! But I killed him first! I had to!"
Majorie's face went pale with shock. "Jack..."
"NOW! KILL HER! DON'T LEAVE ANY WITNESSES!" screamed Jeff.
"NO! SHE'S MY MOM! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO IT!"
"My friend, I'm afraid you have no choice. You see, I am Jeff The Killer. And now...heh heh, YOU are as well."
"No! It's not true...I'm not Jeff The Killer..."
But Jack knew it WAS true. The black circles around his eyes, the pale skin, the red lips, the sharp teeth, the fact that his hair had turned from blonde to jet-black. How was he dumb enough to not see it earlier? He HAD been transformed, bit by bit, into Jeff The Killer. And this horrible little creature had made it all happen. He cursed the day he had looked into that coffee can. But there was still a chance. He could reach inside the fold in the back of his neck and crush the life out of Jeff, ending the madness once and for all. This would probably kill him too, but it would at least stop anyone else from falling prey to this thing.
Of course, Jeff was reading his mind and dug into Jack's skull even harder. Without realizing it, he also started to release a dangerously large amount of venom. As Jack reached for the back of his neck, he doubled over in pain. Majorie, paralyzed with horror, could only watch as her only son started to turn into a nightmarish beast.
Claws erupted from his fingers. A long tail ripped out of his pants. A pair of enormous, bat-like wings erupted from his back and a new pair of arms from his sides, tearing his shirt and hoodie to shreds. His toes fused and his feet lengthened, and soon his legs looked like a kangaroo's, with three evenly-sized toes per foot tipped with black claws.
Within 4 minutes the transformation was complete and Jeff's tail automatically stopped making venom. Even with his amazing mind, Jeff had no idea what he had just done. He decided to take total control of Jack's new body and see if those wings really worked. If they did, then getting out of here would be a snap. He transferred his mind into
Jack's body, and rose. He turned to Majorie. "I'll be back for you later, dear mother. Ha ha ha ha ha." He flapped his wings, and soon he was off the ground. These wings worked like a dream. He soared high into the air, and flew far away, into the woods outside of town.
He landed in front of the old mansion in the woods. His old home. He returned control of the body to Jack, transferred his mind back to his body, and disengaged. "I'm sorry I had to do that, Jack. But we really had to get out of there. And now you know better than to resist my will."
"Yes, Jeff." Jack said. Now he knew he HAD to obey Jeff. He feared what he would do to him next if he didn't.
"Oh, and you really should call me Master."
"Sigh...yes, Master."
"Now, Jack, go into the mansion. This will be your new home. Soon, there will be others joining us. Heh heh heh...many, many more."
THE END
EPILOGUE:
No one ever believed Majorie's story, especially the police. They assumed she had witnessed her son killing the three men, and had made up the story about the parasite and the transformation in a laughable attempt to protect him. Though, that didn't explain the acid burns on Alan's hand and the ground. Or the strange, unidentifiable footprints that appeared where Jack's ended...
Written by Furbearingbrick.
NOTE: This is the fourth part of the "Worm Jeff" saga.
Part 1: One Door Closes, Another One Opens
Part 2: Evil Never Dies
Part 3: Trust Me, Part 1
Part 4: you are here