Raymond Neil.

The name alone stirred up a cocktail of emotions for Gerald.

A best friend, a passionate lover, and a caring husband. Raymond Neil was the love of his life.

They met decades ago when they were lone souls navigating society’s unforgiving discrimination against homosexuals.

At that time, Raymond was not the brightest tool in the shed. When Gerald heard that his lover started participating in a new community in town, he didn’t think much about it. He thought it was good that his husband was meeting new friends and learning new things. But as Raymond got more involved in the community, his attitudes and beliefs got stranger.

Until one night, Gerald found himself strapped down in his bedroom, naked and surrounded by a ring of cultists. Needless to say, Raymond was part of the ritual.

Gerald had to watch his husband dance and sing in a foreign tongue to “invoke and summon” the spirits. As the ritual went on, Gerald could sense that something was wrong. The air felt oddly heavy and menacing.

It was then Raymond let out a scream. His body started to flake off. Piece by Piece. The other cultists began to panic. It was clear that something had gone wrong. Suddenly, a powerful dark red light burst from Gerald’s chest, blinding everyone and concluding the ritual.

When Gerald woke up the next day, he felt something different about himself. His body seemed to be hairier. He saw remaining traces of the cultists around his bed. It wasn’t a nightmare.

Little did he know, the ritual went awry, and many lives were lost. The spirit that was summoned had been bound to Gerald, granting him his shapeshifting powers.

Swallowing hard, Gerald picked up the broken photo frame by the nightstand. His lover had toyed with the unknown. Tinkering with powers that he did not understand fully.

Feeling betrayed and abandoned by his late lover, he sighed, “Raymond… What have you done?”