Jason was probably talking to the cops right now. Frankly, she wouldn't blame him. Blood had soaked his leg, and she knew it had been her who caused it. The desire to kill faded when she came to her senses, but she remembered. The expression on Jason's face told her everything she needed to know. If she hadn't come around, he would have been torn to pieces, and she would have done the tearing.
The thing she needed to deal with now, was what to do. Going back to her apartment wasn't an option; neither was going home to her house. Since the cops were going to be searching for her, she was sure any of her old haunts were not an option.
In the form she was in, anywhere in civilized society was now off limits. What the hell am I going to do, she thought. Her life, as she knew it, was over. The fact was slowly seeping into her head. It was strange, because she knew she should not be handling this as easy as she was. It was as if her brain had always known this was going to happen, so it was prepared to handle it. She thought about how she crammed last minute for an exam she knew she was going to do horribly on and how it typically brought her to tears. Yeah, I’m handling this damn well.
She needed to know if Jason was alright though, and how long before the police started to search for her. Standing, she felt the blood flow back into her cramped-up legs. With a slight hop, she bolted back the way she came.
This time she allowed her vision and her amazing quickness and dexterity to control her movements as she whispered through the forest, only disturbing animals she happened upon directly. The desire to hunt pulled upon her, a force as strong as gravity that held her to the earth, and she had to fight it as she went.
The feeling was strong, especially as rabbits tore from her path. A flash of white from their tails and her eyes would lose focus a little and her heart would race, but through sheer force of will she stayed the course. In the end, she got clear of the forest and back to Jason's apartment speedily and undetected.
There was a small stand of trees near the parking lot where she could get a decent view of Jason's apartment without being seen. The lights were off, which was weird. There was no sign of Jason, or the police. The cops would have still been here, if they had been called. This was a crime scene and they would have done some investigating and collecting of evidence before they left. After all, it typically took fifteen minutes for them to write you a speeding ticket, and it had only been about forty minutes since she left.
Was it possible Jason hadn't called them? But why? She had attacked him, had no idea what she had been doing at the time, no control over herself, but still, she hurt him and almost killed him. Could it be he loved her so much he didn't tell on her? It seemed impossible, given what she turned into, but she could figure out no other explanation.
Stephanie waited another half an hour before deciding nothing was going to happen. Returning to the forest, she wondered at the amazing possibility Jason chose not to tell on her, even though she was a monster. She, unfortunately, would never be able to thank him for not turning her in and devastating her family and friends with the news she was some monster.
She hoped he wouldn't get into any trouble, since she disappeared after going out with him. Beth, she was sure, wouldn't drop it. Thinking he was responsible for Stephanie’s sudden disappearance; she would go after him with everything she had. Stephanie was going to have to find some way to let Beth know she was fine, and she had returned home for personal reasons or some such.
Beth was the only one she was going to have a problem with. Jason would know why she had disappeared, which would cover most of the people who cared about her enough to wonder why she was missing. Her father wasn’t expecting her home, so she wouldn’t worry about it, if she ever did. She still wondered how Jason was doing. Hopefully, he went to the hospital since he had lost a lot of blood.
Returning to the same area of the forest she had stopped at earlier, she sat. The first thing she was going to have to handle was Beth. If she didn't return tonight, she knew Beth would have assumed she spent the night at Jason's and not think overly much about it. Oh, she would be a little judgmental, but that was Beth.
Somehow, she would have to figure out a way to call or leave her a note, both of which were a little impossible now. Long, sharp claws would make it difficult to dial a phone, let alone write something down with a pen. Not to mention her cell phone was in her purse which was still in Jason's apartment. So, calling Beth was going to be next to impossible. No paper or pen, either. This was starting to give her a headache.
So, after she figured out how she would deal with Beth, she would have to find a way to see if Jason was okay. Again, that meant either figuring out how to use a telephone or talking to him directly. It was possible she could talk to him directly.
After all, he knew what she was, so he wouldn't be as surprised when she showed up. At least, she hoped he wouldn't freak out too much. Perhaps he could tell Beth to meet and she could explain a little about what had happened. Who was she kidding? How was Jason going to explain her best friend had grown a foot taller, was covered in red fur, and had some dog-like nose? Not to mention a tail!
The shear task of what she was going to have to try to do was daunting. It was too much to think about, her brain was starting to short-circuit. She needed to sleep this off. Tomorrow she would be able to tackle this again, and hopefully, have some better ideas as to how to move forward like this.
Jason hoped against hope Stephanie was alright. There was no telling what was going to happen to her if she was spotted and pursued by law enforcement. He would be damned if they found out anything from him, though. The drugs they were pumping into his system were starting to take the edge off the pain radiating from his puncture wound in his leg. He had driven himself to the hospital after wrapping his leg up.
He had assured his one neighbor nothing was wrong and to not call the police. The sound of breaking glass he had heard was a stack of beer bottles which fell over and Jason also told his neighbor he had cut himself when he had slipped and knocked the bottles over. In a college town, it was a likely excuse and his neighbor nodded while offering to drive him. Jason declined, because the last thing he needed was his neighbor to step outside and see the broken window shattered all over the front walkway. He would know Jason lied and might decide to call the police.
Jason got a hold of Mike and asked him to go back to the apartment straightaway to clean up the glass. When he got back from the hospital, he would explain everything, he assured Mike. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Mike to go to the apartment instead of here, but in the end, Mike agreed to go clean up first, before he came to the hospital.
Laying on the bed, Jason watched the small TV on a stand attached to the wall in the corner, angled to give the patient the best view. Watching the news all morning since he woke up, he hoped nobody saw the thing Stephanie turned into. It still frightened him to think about it. He was sure he had been close to being torn apart.
Somehow, he had gotten through to her, to Stephanie, and it saved him. Yet, there was nothing about any monster sightings — just story after story about the earthquake in England and the destruction of Stonehenge. It seems Stephanie got away undetected. And now she was gone.
Life was so cruel. After nearly a decade of pursuing the love of his life, he at long last gets to be with her and she is taken out of his life. It was a sick joke, for both. For at least five years now she had been interested in him, she confessed. It was like an old Greek tragedy, including the horrible monster.
What had happened to her? It was like she was a werewolf from the movies, except she wasn't a wolf, she was a fox. A chuckle escaped his lips. She was a fox, indeed, he thought. Oh, man. What the hell am I going to do? How am I going to explain this...to anyone?
They weren't playing the news he feared to hear on the TV, so he shut it off. Moving his finger onto the remote controlling his bed, he lowered it down flat, so he could concentrate on figuring out a clever lie to tell everyone. There was no way he could te
ll the truth. Even if someone would believe him, he couldn't do it. It would only cause problems for Stephanie, and he couldn't do it to her. She was going to have enough problems without him making it harder for her.
The pain was almost gone in his leg, but for some reason his left arm was tingling like it was going numb. The numbness spread up his shoulder and started across his chest. Jason panicked, he grabbed nurse’s button and pressed it. Pain in his chest shot through the numbness, and he gasped.
"Can I help you?" The voice asked from the speaker beside his bed.
"Yes," Jason gasped out. "I think I'm dying."
Everything around him faded.
Cold was the first thing Stephanie noticed. She shivered as the heat stealing tendrils of morning mist caressed her body. Another thing she noticed was she was uncomfortable. Something was digging into her back and her legs itched. She had a moment of vertigo as she opened her eyes; trees crowded her vision against the backdrop of moving clouds. She was in a forest. She remembered.
Hurriedly, she scrambled to her feet and examined herself. Relief flooded over her. She was herself, again. If it wasn't for the shredded slacks and torn blouse, she would have thought someone ruffied her drink and dumped her out here. Vaguely, she remembered falling asleep, being woken up in overwhelming pain, so overwhelming she must have passed out all over, again.
The previous night's events flooded back, a mental onslaught of confusion. Still, she was at a loss as to what the hell happened, or what had happened to her, specifically. Somehow, she had transformed into some sort of monster.
It was like a bad nightmare, or some sci-fi movie, or a bad nightmare of a sci-fi movie. These things didn't happen in the real world. Only in the Enquirer do things like this get reported. Something insane happened, but now it was gone. She was in the middle of the woods, her clothing ripped to shreds and no easy way to get home without drawing attention.
Making her way out of the forest, she reached the edge, and paused. There was a gas station up the road. If she could call Beth and have her pick her up, it would save her a lot of trouble. The problem was, she was showing a lot of flesh through all the rips and tears in her clothes, the cops would undoubtedly be called. Not to mention, she was covered in dirt from sleeping on the ground in the forest. She couldn't see herself, but she was sure she must appear a mess. She didn't have much choice, though.
It was early morning and there wasn't much traffic as she ran behind the gas station. There was one car getting gas which she waited to leave before heading around to the front of the building. Glancing through the window, the teller was nowhere in sight. Hastily, she ducked inside and made her way to the bathroom.
At first glance at herself in the mirror, she thanked her lucky stars no one had seen her up to this point. Her short hair was dirty; its rusty brown muted by a soft gray from the dry dirt she had been laying on. A thin layer of it stained her right cheek and nose where she had rested her head. Leaves and pine boughs were stuck to her clothes like some third grader's art project.
Her clothing, if it could still be called clothes, was covered in dirt as well. For the next twenty minutes, Stephanie stripped down and attempted to bath herself in the gas station’s bathroom using paper towels and water from the sink.
When Stephanie finished washing, she blotted herself down with the paper towels. After, she proceeded to clean the dirt off her clothes. Most of it brushed off, but some she needed to use water to get it off.
Her slacks were torn down most of the seams on both sides. Ripping off the legs, she made them into shorts, really short, shorts. By tucking a strip of cloth into the tops on both sides she was able to cover most of the split running up to her hip bones. Taking another strip, she ran it around her chest to cover her breasts which were occasionally peeking out between the rips in her blouse when she moved.
Checking herself once again in the mirror, she appeared like she was dressed like one of the extras in Michael Jackson's Thriller video, but she considered the image passable. Chances were, her shorts were short enough to distract the attendant, so he wouldn't ask too many questions. Especially like why she had been in the bathroom for a half an hour and how she had gotten there.
Stephanie stepped out of the bathroom and made her way up to the counter. The attendant was a college-aged guy whose eyes hadn't left her since she stepped from the bathroom. She couldn't blame him; she was showing more leg than a Rockette dancer, and without the stockings. At least she knew she would be able to get him to allow her to use the phone. Guys were so predictable.
Fifteen minutes later Beth came speeding into the gas station. Stephanie waited around back. Beth pulled up right next to her. Before Stephanie took a step to the car, Beth was out and around the front of it, red-faced and yelling at her.
"Dear lord, Stephanie, what did the asshole do to you?"
"Calm down, Beth. Jason didn't do a damn thing to me. I did this all to myself."
"What do you mean, you did this? You left with the guy and I find you out here miles from where he lives, half-dressed. And you say it was your fault? I know you like this guy, but don't let him get away with something like this. I'm taking you to the police right now, and you’re going to tell them what happened." Beth was in her face at this point, upset with her apparent self-blame for some apparent attack made by Jason.
"They wouldn't believe me if I told them. Or, I'll be locked up for the rest of my life. Is that what you want, Beth?"
"What are you talking about, lil sis? The guy assaulted you, and if you aren't going to do anything about it, I'm gonna go and find the fucker and kick his ass."
"Well, you will doubtless find him at the hospital," Stephanie told her.
That stopped Beth’s tirade. “What?"
"You will find him at the hospital since I hurt him. I almost killed him, Beth. In fact, I would have if he hadn't gotten through to me."
"Well, good, little sis. I'm glad you showed him he couldn't treat you like that. I'm surprised you had it in you, though."
Stephanie glared at Beth with as much of a chastising air as she could muster.
"Beth. I'm only going to say this one more time. I hurt Jason and I ran from his apartment. This current state my clothes are in is totally my fault. If you would take a moment to inspect me, you would see not a single scratch, not a single bruise. If I was assaulted, don’t you think it would have left physical marks — somewhere? Only my clothes are shredded to the point of uselessness. Speaking of which..." Stephanie stepped past Beth and got into the car. She had enough of standing outside appearing like a stripper. Beth was left standing there, open mouthed for a moment until she also got into the car.
Once inside Beth regarded Stephanie.
"Okay, so he didn't assault you. So, what did happen, lil sis?"
"Take me home, Beth."
"Then you'll tell me?"
"Then I'll tell you. You won't believe me, but I'll tell you."
Stephanie didn't tell Beth right away. Instead, she went to her room and changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt. After getting dressed, she realized she hadn't eaten since yesterday evening and it was coming up on ten in the morning. Grabbing a bowl of cereal, she went to sit in front of the TV and watched the local news. Beth seemed to sense Stephanie was going to need some time before she would be able to talk and watched her quietly from the sofa.
Watching the news intently, Stephanie bounced between the three majors to see if there was anything about the incident last night. To her amazement there was nothing about it at all. So, Jason hadn't called the police. Or, at least, they were keeping quiet about it. Well, they would have been waiting here for her to return if they knew anything about it, so she guessed she was safe - for now.
Finishing her bowl of cereal, she set it on the coffee table in front of her. She thought about the best ways to tell Beth, and yet, she still didn't know. Anything, and everything she would say would seem like a made-up story. It was unbelievable to her, and she was t
he one who lived it!
Beth sat quietly, hands clasped in her lap, waiting for the explanation.
"Beth. I don't know what to tell you. If I told you the truth, there is no way you would believe me."
"Try me."
Stephanie smiled faintly at Beth.
"You have no idea what you are in for, Beth. I'm talking X-files with a little bit of B-movie mixed in the bunch."
"What? Are you going to tell me you were abducted by aliens?"
"That would be a little more believable than what I'm going to tell you."
Beth laughed for a moment and stopped when she realized Stephanie wasn't laughing. In fact, Stephanie seemed serious.
"Okay, lil sis. I'm listening."
"Alright," Stephanie began. "Everything was going terrific with Jason. We had an amazing time together and, in the end, we went back to his place for some making out. It was going super, until I was suddenly struck with the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced in my life.
It was like having cramps times a thousand, and all over my body, not just the abdomen. It was so painful, I lost consciousness. When I came to, I was standing in front of Jason, outside his apartment. He was bleeding and was backing away from me. He was frightened. It was then I realized I had changed into something."
"Wait. What do you mean changed into something?" Until this point, Beth had been riveted to the story. Now she had a perplexed expression on her face.
"I'm getting there, Beth. Just give me a second." Beth’s face reddened slightly, chastised. "I never got a good view of myself to tell you exactly what I appeared like, but I turned into some kind of monster. I was almost six feet tall and covered in red fur. I had sharp claws, which is evidently how I wounded Jason." The moment of sadness she had for hurting Jason was suddenly replaced by excitement as she leaned forward, eyes shining.
"You wouldn't believe the speed I had, Beth. When I was running it was like I was flying. Oh, and I could see in the dark like it was day. Only the colors appeared washed out, like on an overcast day. My senses were amazing, as well. I could smell animals and could have walked right to them following their scents. It was amazing… and frightening." Stephanie watched Beth for her response.
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