by Olivia Myers
“You can’t do that. You’re not real,” Li slurred, pointing an accusatory finger toward Jazz as the other female took the strap off her legs.
“Oh. Oh, man, they have you doped up,” Jazz drawled thoughtfully, moving towards the top of the bed to get a better look at her lover. Li stared at her, eyes crossing and uncrossing as she attempted to focus. “Probably a good thing. Jesus Christ, babe. You saved my skin. Thank god you’re okay,” Jazz murmured, resting her hip against the side of the bed.
Li remained silent for several moments before reaching out to brush a hand against the Jazz’s cheek. “Mmm. I know you’re not real. You can’t be real. You’re in jail. But if you’re a product of my fantasies, can you at least take your clothes off?” Li murmured, tracing her thumb along Jazz’s lips. Jazz snorted, pressing a tender kiss to Li’s fingers.
“Yeah, well. Dunno what happened to that Jasmine chick, but they were certainly stumped on how that fat cat managed to squirm its way into the cell. Hope the mangy thing found its way home,” Jazz said.
Li giggled airily, letting her arm drop to her side. “I hope so. Can you stay?” she inquired weakly, feeling herself beginning to drift off. She closed her eyes. When she opened them, Jazz had been replaced by a plump calico who settled against her side with a content purr. Li settled a hand in the certainly imaginary cat’s fur, settling in for, hopefully, a more peaceful slumber. She heard the door to her room open and heard an indignant squawk from her nurse as she fell into unconsciousness.
“How on earth are all these cats getting in the building? Shoo! Shoo, you pudgy little thing!” Li heard her fussing. The nurse received a plaintive meow in response. “Urgh,” she said. “My allergies. They’re not paying me enough for this, heaven’s sake.”
***
The second time Li awoke, it was rather late in the afternoon, and her room was devoid of any company, cat or otherwise.
“Knew it was a dream,” she muttered. As if having super-Li senses, her nurse flitted into the room to removing Li’s gauze and check her injuries.
“You’re doing quite well. Seems your little nightly visitor is helping more than we might have thought,” the nurse said, rubbing some stinging gel on Li’s wound. “Do you happen to have a cat? My god, I thought dogs were the most loyal of pets, but this pudgy little girl has climbed through your window every night. We’re on the fifth floor. Imagine.” The nurse laughed airily, interrupting herself with a sudden sneeze. “Awful on my allergies, though. Sorry to tell you I’m being assigned to another floor,” the nurse continued, sneezing more fervently as a fat calico cat leapt on the bed beside Li and draped itself across her legs. Li stared incredulously at the feline, and the nurse giggled, patting Li on the arm. “I can tell you recognize her. The love of an animal is an amazing thing, truly.” After another sneeze, the nurse slipped out of the room, chattering with her colleagues about the wonder-cat that had taken up residence in their workplace.
“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Li drawled, and she smacked the switch to the bed alarm before it could be set off by Jazz’s increasing weight as she shifted back to human form.
“Yeah, I didn’t think it would fly either, but I am persistent if nothing else,” the larger woman drawled casually.
Li bolted upright in bed, grabbing the other shifter by the hair and pressing their lips together in an awkward and clumsy kiss. “You’re real. You’re really real and really here and not in jail,” Li whispered, saying a little prayer under her breath as Jazz sighed in response.
“Yeah, well. I wanted a chance to see you before I served my time. I figure they’ll tack on a few years for my little escape, but, well, maybe with good behavior from here on out, I’ll get out a few years early,” Jazz uttered unhappily, patting Li on the leg.
“Wait. Wait. Serve your time? You’re actually going to jail? Why not just skip town?” Li demanded, quieting down as she realized just how loud she was getting. Jazz stared at the door for a long moment as if waiting for someone to come check on her injured girlfriend.
“This hospital is seriously lax on rules,” she muttered, turning her attention to a wide-eyed Li. “And…well, yeah. I thought about going on the run. But I realized that if I serve my time in local prision, you can come visit me sometimes, and…” she paused, considering the tears pooling in her lover’s eyes. “You’re not happy. You don’t have to visit. Once I’m out, we can, I mean, if you want, maybe we can start seeing each other again. If you’re not married and settled down with some guy by then. I mean…I wouldn’t expect you to wait for me,” Jazz rambled, the words spilling from her mouth in a desperate attempt to soothe Li’s tears. If anything, the smaller woman grew more emotional as she spoke, her little sniffles punctuating each tear that rolled down her cheek. “Please don’t cry. I can leave now if you want, I just thought…please don’t cry,” Jazz implored, roughly rubbing away a tear of her own.
“You’re so stupid,” Li bawled, slapping the other woman on the arm. Jazz shrunk away, looking almost amusingly meek for a woman of her size. “Such an idiot,” Li ranted, continuing to slap Jazz on the arm with each word. “Stupid and wonderful, and beautiful, and…” she trailed off, burying her face in her hands.
“I’m kinda getting mixed signals here,” Jazz offered weakly, reaching out to rest a hand on Li’s shoulder.
“No one’s ever really loved me before,” Li whispered, grabbing Jazz by the wrist and pulling her closer with surprising strength. Jazz all but fell atop the smaller woman, supporting herself with an arm as Li nuzzled against her neck. “You love me. You love me so much that you would go to jail just to be near me. Just for the chance to be with me at some distant point in the future. You’re such an idiot,” Li murmured.
“Yeah, well, you got shot for me. Pretty sure you trump me on the stupid level,” Jazz murmured, smiling in a way that crinkled her eyes and made Li certain she was falling in love all over again. Li leaned forward, crashing her lips against that perfect smile, ignoring the trails of tears that were making paths down both of their cheeks. Jazz tensed a hand in her hair and Li pressed their bodies flush together, wincing but otherwise ignoring the pain in her gut.
“If you’re going to jail, at least let me see your boobs one more time,” Li murmured against Jazz’s lips. Jazz smirked, gingerly brushing a hand through her smaller lover’s hair.
“Cute,” Jazz murmured, receiving a smirk in return.
“I like to think so,” Li retorted, leaning in to smooch the tip of Jazz’s nose. The two settled into a semi-comfortable silence, until Li glanced toward the clock and cursed softly.
“My nurse is going to be coming back soon. It’s time for my pain meds,” she said softly, tensing a hand on Jazz’s bicep. Jazz hesitated, resting a hand atop the other woman’s.
“I guess I should probably go,” she muttered, tears pooling in her eyes as she watched the content expression on Li’s face fall away. “If I’m caught here, we’ll both be in trouble, and I don’t want you getting any charges because of me. Conspiracy or some shit, you know how cops can be,” Jazz said, her voice watery.
“Okay,” Li replied, her voice unusually small and soft. Jazz bit her lip, turning her back to the other woman before she could change her mind. Li remained silent behind her, though Jazz could feel her lover’s eyes on her back.
She made her way to the window, stopping short at the sound of soft hiccupping coming from behind her. Her heart twisted in her chest, and she wheeled around, eyes falling on her lover. Li’s shoulders shook, and the soft sounds of sobs could be heard muffled behind her hands where she had hidden her face.
“Li…” Jazz started, reaching out toward her. Li lowered her hands, revealing an amused glint in her eye and a face surprisingly dry of tears. It was then Jazz recognized the sound, not as crying, but of laughter.
“You really are an idiot if you think I’m letting you rot in prision for the rest of our lives. I just found out I like women—well, woman specifically. And we’v
e only been on one date—that was cut drastically short, might I add. And I got shot for you. You owe me at least forty years of mind-blowing sex. I don’t even care if we’re old and wrinkled toward the end! I’m definitely not coming to the jailhouse for forty years of conjugal visits. You have to be kidding me,” Li raved between giggles, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and carefully removing the IV line from her arm. The alarm built into the IV began to sound and Li ambled toward the window, taking Jazz by the hand.
“What on earth?” The nurse shouted as she stepped into the room, staring incredulously at the women standing by the window. “How did she…how did you? Get away from that window—it’s not safe!” the nurse cried out, slamming a hand against the security button. The announcement for a security emergency echoed through the hospital, and Jazz stared at Li in confusion, opening and closing her mouth before speaking.
“What are you suggesting we do?” she inquired, seemingly oblivious of the security flooding the room.
“Step away from the window. I repeat, step away from the window,” the lead security officer cried out, panic lacing his tone as Li moved closer and closer to the window, dragging Jazz behind her.
“It may sound kinda crazy…” Li murmured, resting her hip on the windowsill as Jazz took a step up toward the ledge.
“They’re going to jump. Holy shit, they’re going to jump! Stop them!” the nurse screamed.
“Run away with me,” Li murmured, taking Jazz by the hand.
Simultaneously, the two vaulted out the window. There was a collective gasp in the hospital room, and the nurse rushed to the window, dreading what she would see on the roof below. As she stared out the window, she was shocked to see no blood, no gore, not even a sign of any bodies. Instead, she watched on as two cats leaped nimbly from the roof below with a large and familiar calico supporting a Siamese cat with bloodstained fur.
Funny. She didn’t remember seeing that other cat before.
THE END
Love and Whiskers
Kalinda stalked around her Whitmore’s Academy, twitching her tail. The autumn air was crisp, and the pavement beneath her paws was cool. She often wandered around the campus at night in cat form. No one noticed her. Or if they did see her, they didn’t think twice. She could be a wolf, or a bear, or some other large animal that would make it impossible to explore or walk around without causing alarm. The worst thing that happened as a cat, though, was she got chased by the occasional dog.
Kalinda was a shape shifter. Not just any shape shifter, but a simple house cat. A tiny, six-pound cat. She was white and fluffy with a striped tail and light blue eyes.
She paused at the edge of campus, wondering if she should go further. She’d pretty much seen all there was to see at Whitmore over the past couple of weeks, and she was curious by nature.
Kalinda had another secret, too. She used her abilities to spy on people. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do—no love life to speak of. She was interested in girls, not boys. Thankfully, her school was an all-girls school, and there were plenty of women to scope out. She just didn’t know how to approach anyone without being up front about her own orientation…and she wasn’t out of the closet, yet, not even to her parents.
Feeling brazen and curious, she kept going past the edge of the dorms, into the neighborhood behind the school. These houses were often rented out to college students who didn’t want to live in the dorm. She wanted to climb the old trees in that neighborhood, and with all the speed bumps, it would keep the cars from going too fast through there, making it pretty safe for a cat to walk around..
She rubbed against a sturdy oak, scratching her back and marking it with her scent. An upstairs light was on in the house in front of her. Fighting off boredom, she was up the tree in four long leaps and padding along the branch that led her closest to the window. Sneaking farther over to get a closer look, she saw there were two women in the room—a gorgeous redhead with dark auburn tresses in long waves down her back to her waist, and a mousier looking girl with straight, light brown hair. The auburn-haired beauty turned slightly, and Kalinda saw her green eyes. Kalinda had always had a thing for green eyes.
Watching the two girls be intimate had her wishing she was in her human form so she could join in. The brown-haired girl she recognized from one of her classes, but the redhead she didn’t. She never would have guessed Mary was anything other than straight. She totally didn’t have that girl on girl vibe.
Watching closely, Kalinda could tell that Mary looked uncomfortable with the situation, yet was participating. She wondered why she’d do something like this if she wasn’t into it. But then, Kalinda remembered why she was in an all-girl’s school. Kalinda had tried to be intimate with a boy—it had been a huge disaster. Not only had Kalinda never really been into kissing him, but her parents had walked in on her when she had her hands in the guy’s pants. Thus, the all-girl’s school. It had all worked out in the end, because Kalinda didn’t even like boys.
The girls started kissing and Kalinda saw Mary’s body language relax as she leaned into the girl and kiss her back. Okay, so it wasn’t that Mary totally didn’t like girls—it was more that she didn’t know what she was doing. It looked a little awkward, as if Mary had never kissed anyone before. The redhead pulled back and touched Mary’s cheek and said something to her. Mary blushed. Kalinda watched as the redheaded girl talked to her for a few minutes, then reached out to touch Mary’s breasts through her shirt. Mary leaned into the touch. The redhead then worked at the buttons of Mary’s shirt, slowly exposing Mary’s braless chest. Kalinda was surprised that Mary’s perky breasts were so nice looking.
Mary had an amazing body and Kalinda was stuck watching the two of them. She knew she shouldn’t be watching such a private moment, but she was frozen in place.
A few hours later, Kalinda slunk back to her dorm. She shifted back into her human form once she got to her room. Thankfully, her parents had paid extra so she could have her own room. As she got ready for bed, she couldn’t help clenching her thighs. Her breasts felt heavy and achy, and the slick place between her legs felt empty and tight all at the same time. She ended up masturbating in her bed before she went to sleep for the night, picturing her face between the redhead’s thighs, just the way Mary had done it.
Kalinda fell asleep with just a few hours before morning classes with a smile on her face and her hand between her legs.
***
“Hey Mary… slow down for a second, I had a question for you.” Kalinda walked up to Mary in the hallway after classes, trying not to pant with excitement. It had taken almost a week to find Mary alone.
“Yes?” Mary furrowed her brow.
“My name’s Kalinda.” She held her hand out to shake Mary’s. Mary’s skin was soft and warm, but Kalinda didn’t feel any spark of attraction when she touched her.
“Nice to meet you,” Mary said.
“I have a question for you, and I’ll make it quick.” Kalinda gave her a bright smile and then leaned over to whisper to her. “There’s this really pretty redhead I’ve seen you with a couple of times, and I was wondering who she is?”
“Why?” Mary asked suspiciously, taking a step back from Kalinda.
“I just think I know her from somewhere,” Kalinda said quickly, trying to make Mary feel better.
“Her name is Amber,” Mary said, and then shrugged. “I don’t know her that well. We only hung out a couple of times. She’s not the kind of girl that I want to associate with.”
Kalinda stared at her for a moment and then stopped Mary from walking off again. “Does she go to school here?”
“She works in the library part time to help pay for tuition. My family wouldn’t approve of the friendship.” Mary shook Kalinda’s hand from her arm and walked off.
Letting Mary go, Kalinda slung her backpack higher up over her shoulder, heading toward the library. She wanted to find Amber. Mary definitely wasn’t her type, and she was known for being a bit of
a snob. She never would have guessed she had any girl on girl leanings though and that had Kalinda smiling…not only that, but it appeared that Amber and Mary were over, so that made Amber fair game.
Heading into the library, she found Amber pushing a cart of books, stopping periodically to load them onto the shelves. Walking up behind her, quietly, Kalinda cleared her throat. Amber dropped the book she was holding and gave a little squeak.
“Oh my god, you scared me!” Amber exclaimed, picking the book up and holding it to her chest. “Can I help you with something?”
“Maybe.” Now that she was standing right in front of Amber, Kalinda didn’t know what to say.
“Are you okay?” Amber finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.
“Actually, I was wondering if I could give you my number,” Kalinda said. Before the other girl could answer, Kalinda continued. “I am making big assumptions here, so I apologize if I offend you, but I find you attractive and I wanted to ask you out.”
The girl took a step back and had a look of horror on her face. Looking around frantically for a second, she sighed in relief and then whispered to Kalinda. “Look, this is not the place to discuss that kind of stuff. I’m here on a partial scholarship. They have a moral clause, and I don’t know if my sexual orientation falls under it, but I can’t risk it. I’ll give you my address. Come to my house tonight and we can talk. Privately.”
“Sure, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Kalinda said, and felt bad. She’d never considered that the girl would have consequences for her sexual leanings. But then, Kalinda did understand, because she didn’t want people to know she was a cat shifter. She’d never told anyone before, yet she had an urge to confide in the girl in front of her, to reassure her that she understood the need for secrecy.
Amber wrote her address on a piece of paper and slipped it to Kalinda before turning away. Acting like nothing happened, she continued shelving the books.