Contains: Fatfurs, an attempt at a submission icon.

Alright, just in time for Halloween! I totally didn't just stop in the middle of what I was writing and realized it was already the end of the month! Anyways, here is something I did! I hope this series turns out well!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night was still. The sky was still showing its nightly display of stars. The world outside was quiet; not even a single annoying person was partying out in the night. Very few cars were going by, and the ones that did were too far away to affect the one still awake. The neighborhood of Fallstown was well known for being a small, calm, and quiet city in the middle of three large cities. It was also well known for being a birthplace of opportunities. Most who had lived there discovered their passions and pursued them elsewhere, mentioning the town as their "inspiration." Many rumors about why this was were spread, with the most popular being a mysterious force helping people realize their desires roamed the town. How this rumor came to be was never discovered, but it was accepted as creative gossip and nothing else. However, in this city, there was one that had never heard the rumor before; a light blue wolf by the name of Blake Arzu.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blake couldn't sleep. He had been trying for hours, but he still couldn't sleep. He had times where it was hard to go to sleep before, but nothing compared to this. He turned to his side, then turned on his back again. Nothing was working. Blake sighed a deep sigh and pushed himself off the bed. His eyes had already adjusted to the dark, so everything around him looked like a faint silhouette.


"Maybe I just forgot to do something," he said in a calm voice.

He thought about this possibility for a while, flipping through his mind for something which could have been bothering him. Nothing came up. He took a deep breath and pulled the sheets off himself.

"Maybe I just need something to eat."

He pushed himself up and moved towards his bedroom door. Right as he was about to leave the room, he paused. A full-body mirror was hung on the door, a silhouette of a wiry figure reflecting back at the wolf. He held his elbows behind his head, causing the mirror to reflect a slightly more toned shadow. "Looking good Blake!" He admired himself for a few more seconds, the weirdness of the situation creeping back into his head. Once it set in, he was ready to find something to eat.


Blake was only halfway through the hallway before he stopped. He thought he heard some wind blow by briefly, but nothing seemed to have happened. "Weird." He proceeded to the kitchen.


The stainless steel refrigerator loomed before him. Its grey doors looked a bit shiny even with all the lights off and the windows closed. Blake took a deep breath and opened it. The light blinded him for just a moment, as he had been so adjusted to the dark already. Once his vision cleared, he saw things he didn't remember getting before. He always tried to eat healthily, but he had to question his habits with everything he was staring at.


On the top shelf was an entire cookie and cream cake with a single slice taken out of it. Next to it was a tub of cookie dough on top of a box of pizza. A bucket of chicken wings was hidden behind the cookie dough, as well as half a cheesecake. On the bottom shelf was a brown bag showing the logo of "Hot Dog French Fries," a bread bowl filled with clam chowder, some salmon, and a gallon of full-fat milk. Blake closed the fridge and backed away in confusion.


"What? I don't remember getting all this!"


A different voice, some cross between husky and gravelly, seemed to respond to Blake.


"Maybe you just didn't notice. It is perfectly fine to have some for now. Just let yourself enjoy this."


Blake looked around, trying to find the disembodied voice he heard. He stayed on guard, making sure to look in all directions.


"Wh-who are you! Come out so I can see you!" But, even as he looked around, nobody came out.


"Maybe it was just my thoughts?"


Blake turned around to go back to their bedroom, but his stomach stopped him with a loud growl. It hasn't ever growled that loud before. Blake thought to himself. He turned back to the fridge and opened the doors once more. All they did was stare at them for a while.


"Just choose something."


Blake almost jumped in fear at the sound of the voice again. There's no way that's my imagination. It sounds too real. He carefully stared at the options before him for even longer to test what happened. Sure enough, he got a slightly angrier response.


"Please. There are so many options to choose from. Just choose anything."


Blake did do something. He pushed a flat surface underneath the shelves, and a drawer sprung out. It was pretty easy to miss since it looked like a part of the fridge with no handle to show itself. Inside the drawer were some Honeycrisp apples.


"What? I thought I-..."


The voice was flustered, unable to comprehend exactly what was happening. They took a moment to put themselves together and spoke with the same huskiness as they did before, with a slight amount of annoyance thrown into the mix.


"Are you really just going to choose an apple? An apple of all things! You have cakes! Cookies! Pizza! Come on!"


Blake, with much more confidence this time, spoke again.


"Yes"

Before the voice could respond, Blake bit into the apple. The satisfying crunch seemed to echo throughout the room. He kept eating the apple, each crunch filled with a sweetness that felt so good. Blake felt that he had triumphed over whatever did this. When he was done with the whole apple, the voice spoke again. This time, it had regained its calm.


"I have to admit, I was quite angry before, but I think this just shows how much of a challenge this one might be. It kind of excites me."


Blake threw away the apple. He had also calmed down now that he had some control over the situation.


"Alright, who or what are you, and what were you talking about?"


"I am a being. A being with the purpose of showing people their desires. I am one of many who exist, but I am quite different from most of the others. I specialize in dark desires. The things nobody wants to admit they like. The very... strange desires. I have been chosen to show you what you like."


Blake didn't seem to be fazed at all. He still spoke with the same calm confidence as before.


"Alright. And what is it exactly that my 'dark desire' would be."


"You may not have realized it, but you have always wanted to be bigger. You want to be fatter. You want to have a belly that rivals the size of cars! Breasts bigger than pillows! Buttcheeks the size of beach balls! A-" Blake cut them off.


"As weird as that sounds, I think you have the wrong person here. I never have wanted to be fat and never will want to be. So just go back to wherever you came from. Don't even try to waste your time."


It took a minute for the voice to respond.


"Wow. You REALLY aren't open to new possibilities, are you? So, try as you might, I am staying here. Whether you like it or not."


Blake lost a bit of his confidence with that statement for some reason. He sighed and started walking back to his bedroom.


"Hey! You still have all that stuff in the fridge! Are you not going to at least have one thing?"


Blake didn't respond, and he kept walking. Finally, when he got back into his bed, he looked at the clock next to him and read "5:00" in bright red letters.


"What? Two hours?"

He was about to try and yell at the voice, but he shrugged instead.

"It's the weekend anyway. It'll be fine if I sleep in a bit."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Today, Blake did not make much progress in the pursuit of desire. He tricked me. He seems to be very resistant to everything I try. I'm not giving up though. Something about them feels too special. Their desire could just be buried deep, and it could be stronger than I thought. Stay with me. This one's going to be a long and fun ride."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It was another day in Fallstown. The trees were turning their green leaves into shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown. The streets were mostly quiet, with some cars passing by silently. The occasional obnoxious motorcycle disturbed the peace every now and then, but only for a moment. Blake Arshu finally awoke to the smell of somebody baking some maple bread and the view of orange light streaming into his bedroom. He checked the clock on the nightstand next to him.


"It's two?"


Blake rubbed his eyes and rose out of bed. The way the trees looked from outside his bedroom window made him feel a little warmer inside. He had always liked the fall. The flavors, Halloween, Thanksgiving, how everything cooled down after summer, and just the general aesthetic of it all. He went through the hallway and arrived in the kitchen. He paused before the refrigerator. Taking a breath in, he grabbed the handles and opened it. He closed his eyes in fear of what could be inside but opened them to find something familiar. Inside was some salad, a couple of pieces of apple pie, some rambutans, Chinese food leftovers, milk, eggs, and some maple syrup. He closed the fridge.


"Guess it was just a dream."


Blake opened his pantry to find a large bag of pancake mix. It almost took up one entire shelf with its massive size alone.


"Geez. I really need to eat something other than pancakes all the time."


Blake fired up the stovetop and got to work. With a little bit of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and maple syrup, he was able to make his favorite pancakes. The maple pancakes tasted a bit sweeter than regular pancakes. The batter felt a bit thinner, making the pancakes a bit less thick. The maple flavor was what really made them his favorite. After finishing one batch of eight pancakes, Blake found that he still wanted more. Another set was made, this time with some chocolate chips. It tasted very sweet this time. Maybe I should do this more often. Blake thought to themselves.


It was when he was about to make his third batch that he stopped himself. Something's not right about this. Blake thought to himself. He was about to put the ingredients back, but his stomach stopped him. It growled. It needed more. Blake looked down at it. His abs, which were somewhat defined before, had disappeared into a small sphere. He poked it. His finger sank into the squishy surface, giving some resistance once he pushed a little bit harder. There was no doubt about it. He had gained a slight paunch in a single meal.


"Last night, that wasn't a dream? Was it all real?"


He stood there, waiting for an answer. He soon got tired of waiting.


"ANSWER ME!"


And so he got an answer.


"Of course it was not a dream. I told you I would not leave you!"


Blake stumbled back a bit in pure surprise. The confidence he had last night was lost as some fear crept back into him. The voice was never gone. In fact, they had never left.


"Can they change my thoughts? How did they make me feel so hungry? Are they able to control my body? What else can they control?[/b]

He didn't know what to do. He had let his guard down enough to let this voice control him. He realized he would have to be much more careful from now on.

"You do realize that I can read your thoughts, right?"

Blake's fear intensified. As he was about to have a slight panic attack, he noticed something on his right arm. A little bit of black goo was on it. Blake carefully touched it. It felt warm, and it stuck to his finger. He lifted his finger to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled sweet. Suddenly, an idea struck him. It was a stupid one, but it was probably safe. He licked off some of the black goo from his finger. It coated the inside of his mouth for a moment. It had an indescribable taste, but all Blake could think about it was that it tasted perfect. He swallowed. The goo seemed to disappear as soon as he did, but he felt warm inside. His fear seemed to have gone away, now replaced with a new feeling. It felt like something new was stirring inside of him. It almost felt like a sort of ecstasy. He noticed a few more patches of the black goo on his other arm and abdomen.


"What exactly is this stuff?"

"This is what happens when you indulge in dark desires. It makes you feel happy and warm inside. I have never seen so much appear so quickly though. It usually takes weeks for it to manifest. As for the goo itself, it can be called whatever you want it to be. It is made from pure dark desire. While most never have the audacity to immediately taste it as you did, it will always taste perfect to whoever's desire it comes from. Yours is very unique. Try a little bit more, and focus on the flavor this time."


Blake took a bit more from his stomach and licked it off. It still tasted perfect, but he tried to focus on why it was so perfect a bit harder. It tasted like maple and cinnamon. There was some nutmeg and cloves as well. There were also the flavors of pumpkin, caramel, and butterscotch. He felt even warmer now. The black goo spread a bit further. As Blake was about to take a bit more, he stopped himself in sudden realization. He rushed to his room to look at himself in the mirror. He was only in some gym shorts, so he could see most of himself. The goo was on his chest and legs now. They were all in little patches which were very slowly beginning to spread. It felt especially warm where those patches of goo were. He looked up at his head. There was a bit on his muzzle and his left ear too. The warmth inside was leaving him as panic quickly arose.


"What's going to happen if it fully covers me? Will I melt?"


"Unfortunately, it cannot cover you just yet. You must truly indulge in your dark desire for that to happen. You would maintain form, but your shape would be slightly distorted since the goo would try to keep regenerating itself. If you wait a few minutes, it will be gone."


Blake stood there for ten minutes. Then, slowly, the goo went away. It disappeared without a single trace of it being left on his fur. The warmth still lingered for a little bit, but it soon followed. Blake was at a loss for words. He looked down at his stomach. He saw that it had grown ever so slightly.


"Wasn't that such a good feeling? You didn't have to be scared, but you ended up being afraid of what you did not know. Would you not like to enjoy something so amazing again?"


As tempting as it was, Blake knew he should not try to give in again.


"Are you truly sure you do not want to give in to your dark desires? Life would be so much easier if you just enjoyed yourself."


[i]"That sounded too intimidating. They have to be hiding something from me. From now on, I have to have restraint."[/b]


"You do know that I can still hear your thoughts, right?"


[i]"Damn it."


Blake felt his stomach rumble again. The hunger felt somewhat painful, causing them to clutch at it. It felt like maybe it wasn't him who was hungry, but the voice instead.


"Is this what it feels like to truly lose control of your life?"


Blake realized he needed to escape. He had to leave home and go somewhere else so he didn't give in again. He grabbed his keys, put on some shoes and a shirt, slipped a jacket on, and grabbed his wallet. As he approached his front door, his stomach growled so loud that it seemed to fill the whole hallway with noise. It didn't feel painful, though. He pushed through it and opened the front door. The heavy wooden door seemed to shake the house as it swung open with a creak. He exited and closed the door behind him. Once he was outside, the growling ceased. The fall air had never felt better than today to Blake. A single leaf fell from the trees above him and landed on his nose. The smile that came across their face made the day suddenly feel better. Once he removed the brown leaf, he could smell pumpkin bread being baked somewhere else in the neighborhood. He made sure not to focus too hard on that smell.


The quiet neighborhood of Fallstown was always known to be the most beautiful in the fall like the name suggested. This is why Blake had moved here in the first place. For the past five years, he had been taking in the sights and smells of it. He only knew a few people here, but even they were not good friends with him. As the leaves crunched beneath him, he felt a prick of regret as he wondered about this.


"Wow. After all these years, you still do not have many friends here."


That hurt a bit. It didn't seem to be doing an excellent job for something that was supposed to make him feel good. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped walking.


"Hey, what even is your name anyway?"


The voice seemed to go silent for a while after that.


"Finally."


Blake continued walking down the sidewalk, taking in the quiet streets around him. There was hardly anyone out in his neighborhood today. Not even a single car had passed by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~