We flew to Australia for a week. We arrived three days before my birthday and would leave three days after. Sounds like a great sweet sixteen; and it might have been if not for that trip to the beach.

We’d been doing the tourist thing for a couple of days. My birthday was all planned out, but the day before was whatever I wanted it to be. I decided to go to the beach. My parents weren’t surprised; I’ve always loved the ocean.

My Dad decided we would go somewhere off the beaten track. So we went driving until we found a place where we could get to the ocean but there weren’t a lot of other people around. In fact, there weren’t any other people!

I spent the whole day there, swimming as much as I could. I rested on the beach when I got too tired to swim, but only until I was ready to go back out! I had a great time and thanked my parents for taking me.

We celebrated my birthday the next day, which was great! A couple of days later I started feeling sick. We all assumed it was the flu at first. I started throwing up a lot. But I didn’t stop! I threw up so much I became really weak and passed out. My Mom got scared and took me to the hospital.

I woke up in the hospital with an IV in my arm. Mom was sitting on one side of me, Dad on the other. They were glad to see me wake up and told me what happened. They hadn’t heard back from a doctor, yet.

We talked while we waited for someone to tell us what was going on. I was feeling a little better. I wasn’t throwing up anymore, anyway. Mom said I looked like I’d lost twenty pounds, which is scary considering I’ve always been really thin.

Finally a doctor walked in. “Hello, my name is Dr. Morris.” He said in greeting.

“What’s wrong with my baby?” Mom asked anxiously.

“Well, the short answer is she’s mutating.” Dr. Morris answered.

Mom looked confused and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“We’ve been getting quite a few cases lately. It’s the result of some kind of illegal toxic waste dumping, or so I’ve heard. People all around the Pacific Rim have been affected. Most survive and are, in fact, often healthier than they were before mutating. The down side is that they often pick up animal traits. Sometimes psychological, like hunting instincts that can take over, or physical traits like claws and fangs.” Dr. Morris explained.

“My daughter is not becoming an animal!” Dad roared. I winced and leaned away from him. It’s no fun being near him when he gets mad.

The doctor managed to remain calm; I guess he has to deal with this kind of thing sometimes. “Mr. Carson, I didn’t say your daughter was going to become an animal. She may gain one or more animal traits, but she’ll still be human.” He said.

“Surely there’s something you can do about this?!” Mom exclaimed.

Dr. Morris shook his head regretfully. “We still don’t understand how this works. There’s nothing we can do except make her as comfortable as possible until the mutation has run its course.” He replied.

Dad stormed out and Mom followed with a brief apologetic look towards the doctor. Neither of them looked at me.

“Are you alright, Shawna?” Dr. Morris asked me.

“I’m scared, what happens if I look like an animal after this?” I asked fearfully. It didn’t sound like my parents could accept that. I wasn’t even sure if I could accept that!

“I’m sure once they’ve calmed down your parents will come around.” Dr. Morris said hopefully. I don’t think he believed it any more than I did.

He left after that, and a nurse came around with some food. I picked at it, but I didn’t have an appetite. An hour later I was throwing it up; and a lot more. How much more weight could I lose?

I never saw my parents again. I was out of it for a couple of days, the doctors kept me sedated because I was in a lot of pain. When that finally passed I found I was only four foot eight! I’d been five foot six inches before. I was tiny now!

That was bad enough, but I was also getting some animal traits, just like I feared. My eyes looked different, as did my ears. My teeth seemed sharper, too. My fingernails had thickened and grown out like claws. I later learned my toenails were the same.

When I asked about my parents, Dr. Morris looked sorrowful and answered, “They were very upset when they saw the changes you’ve gone through so far. I’m afraid I had to have security escort your father out.”
I nodded. Dad has a bad temper, it sounded like something he’d do.

My body kept changing after that. I didn’t get any smaller, thankfully. My claws grew out more, and fangs, too. Fur grew out on my hands and feet, and my feet and hips changed shape. Dr. Morris told me it would make it easier to walk on all fours, but it probably wouldn’t keep me from walking on just my legs.

My ears migrated to the top of my head. I also grew a tail. It’s long and fluffy, and colored just like a raccoons. Obviously that’s where I got my animal traits from, a raccoon. At least I got them from a cute and clever animal.

Once I could finally keep something down, it still took a couple of days to get my strength back. Once I did they were ready to discharge me, but to where? Dr. Morris had found out that my parents had flown back to the states.

I was depressed because of how like an animal I really looked, so I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on around me. Someone gave me some clothes to wear, and they led me out of the hospital. I was taken to a house where a couple who fostered kids was supposed to look after me until they could figure out what to do with me.

That went out the window as soon as I stepped inside, and soon so did I. They were violently apposed to having an ‘animal’ in their house and attacked me. The guy who took me there had just dropped me off, so there was no one else there to help me, assuming they’d even want to.

After jumping through a window to escape the crazy foster parents I ran for as long as I could. I ended up in an alley behind a garbage bin. I had some cuts and scratches from jumping through the window, but otherwise I was okay. I rested there until I got my breath back and thought about what I’d do.

I figured the foster parents from hell would tell whoever sent me there that I’d run away or something. I didn’t know who to trust, so I decided to stay out of sight for a while.

I lived off food found in dumpsters for a few days until I met up with a group of guys with a serious hate on for mutants. Next thing I know, I’m back in the hospital.

“Hello again, Shawna.” Dr. Morris said as he entered my room.

I had just woken up, but his arrival made it clear where I was. “Hi.” I said, wondering what would happen next.

“Why did you run away from the foster family that was supposed to look after you?” he asked.

“I didn’t run away, I was chased away!” I yelled back. “I had to jump through a window to get away from those lunatics!”

Dr. Morris rocked back on his heels when I yelled at him. He seemed genuinely upset over what I told him. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Where have you been all this time?” he asked.

I shrugged, “Hiding.”

He nodded and proceeded to tell me what my injuries were. Apparently those thugs had broken three ribs, an arm, a leg, and given me a skull fracture. I’d been in the hospital for a couple of days. The amazing thing was that I was almost fully healed!

“How’s that possible?” I asked in astonishment.

“It seems to be part of the mutation. I don’t know if all mutants get it, but several have shown to have unusually fast healing rates. In more severe mutations, like yours, the rate of healing is usually even faster.” He explained. Well, at least I got something useful out of it, besides an annoyingly good sense of smell and hearing.

Dr. Morris said he’d make some calls and see about getting me back to the states, but nothing ever came of it. A couple of days later I was back on the streets.

It seemed like every week or two I came across somebody who hates mutants. Sometimes I managed to get away. The rest of the time I ended up back with Dr. Morris. He got more upset each time I saw him, but there was nothing he could do. I always ended up back on the street. Which was fine with me, I didn’t trust anyone anymore.

I had to keep moving during the day to avoid the roving groups of thugs who seemed to be actively hunting me now. Apparently word had gotten around and lots of people wanted me gone.

One day I was running from one of those groups, only to run into another one. I changed direction, but there was yet another group of crazies! They’d set a trap for me! We were out in the open, so I couldn’t even climb up on a building or tree or something. They weren’t coming at me as fast as usual, trying to make sure I didn’t get away.

I was totally surrounded, and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing Dr. Morris this time. They weren’t going to be satisfied with just roughing me up. I was way too small to fight back. I’d gotten really good reflexes out of my mutation, but no strength at all.

I thought I saw a big bird circling overhead, just before they started pummeling me and I blacked out.

« KittyHawk - Part 5 »

Flying was terrifying until I got used to it. By the time we arrived at the island I was sad to stop! It must be wonderful to have wings.

On the way over Cat had warned me about Jacob, so I made sure to keep my distance from him. He was pretty scary anyway, with the way he was always scowling. Especially at Cat.

Everybody else was nice, especially Jill. She does most of the woodworking on the island, and I ended up spending a lot of time helping her out. She's really cool! They don't have a lot of tools, but she still manages to do a lot. Vincent made her some tools out of rock and scrap metal that help.

One of the best things about living on the island, besides not having to run from mutant hunters or having to dumpster dive for food, is that I can swim in the ocean as much as I want! I'm a little envious of Greg, he can breathe underwater! Why couldn't I get a cool mutation like that?

I found out pretty quick that almost everyone on the island was either faster or stronger than normal humans, if not both. Jill and I are some of the only ones that aren't. I can tell that she's a little insecure about that. Especially since she used to be a guy. That was a shocker!

She was a totally straight guy, so she's only attracted to girls. That makes things kind of awkward, because most of the girls on the island are already involved with someone. The only unattached girls are Jill, Tina, and me. I think Jill and Tina get together sometimes, but just for fun. They don't seem to really fit together.

At first when Jill told me all that I was afraid she was going to come onto me, but she put that fear to rest right away. She says she's over thirty years old, even though she doesn't look much older than me! I made it clear I only like guys, though, just in case.

Another nice thing about living here is that I get my own place! They'd built these little adobe huts shortly after Cat arrived. Apparently she didn't get here at the same time as everyone else. They all had their own house at first, but then Cat moved in with Paul. They use Cat's old house as storage, but Leonard moved in with Sarah so I got Leonard's house.

I asked Cat if she still wanted me to watch for people attacking the island. She said not to worry about it right now, because she's going to be away a lot finding other mutants. Since it's her they're after, she figures they'll be distracted trying to keep track of her. I hope she's right, but I make a point of staying alert anyway. Especially at night, since most of the others don't have good night vision like me.

I spend most of my time now with Jill. We talk a lot, and she tells me what it was like working on a ship. It sounds like a lot of boring, hard work to me. Working with Jill is a lot better than that. She seems to like what she's doing a lot better now, too. She's taken to keeping an eye out with me. She only got cat eyes out of her mutation, but good night vision came with that. So we're the best lookouts on the island, other than Cat. And maybe Leonard, since he can fly and has super hearing.

After I'd been on the island a week or so Cat left for Japan to try and find another mutant to join us. I hope she finds a cute boy!

That night I saw a ship; it looked military and didn't have any lights on. "Shouldn't that ship be lit up at night?" I asked Jill, who was sitting with me on the beach as we had been doing for several nights now.

Jill frowned. "Yes, they should. I think this is trouble. Go back to the village and tell everyone what we've seen. I'll stay here and keep an eye on them." She said tensely. I was worried about leaving her alone, but she insisted.

I ran back to the village and started banging on doors. Most people were still awake, and a few weren't at home yet. Paul was, and he ran out to gather up the stragglers. Tina's house was the last one I got to. "Tina, Jill and I saw a ship with its lights off. She told me to come wake everyone up and tell them, but I'm worried about leaving her alone." I told her once she'd opened the door.

She nodded. "Okay, you tell everyone else; I'll go back to the beach and make sure she's okay." She said, then ran off to the storage house. She came out with a rifle over her shoulder and another in her hand. She was also wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a bag. She ran out really fast and I waited for everyone to gather.

I didn't have to wait long. I told everyone what was happening and that Tina had gone back to check up on Jill. Just then we heard gunshots! Paul sped over to the storage house and started handing out weapons, armor, and ammunition. Once everyone was armed he put together a bag of ammunition and stuff and handed it to me, after making sure I was wearing a vest. "I want you to stay under the cover of the trees and hand out extra ammunition and grenades to any of us that need them." He told me.

Once I'd nodded to Paul, we all started running for the beach. Gunshots were still sounding out, so at least they hadn't been caught or killed, I hoped.

When we got to the edge of the trees Paul pushed me down and told me to stay there and the rest of them ran out onto the beach. I couldn't see Jill anywhere, but Tina was crouched down behind one of the boats shooting at some men in scuba gear who were retreating back towards the ship. Greg ran over and dived down behind the boat and talked to Tina. Everyone else took cover and started shooting, too.

I was shivering in fear watching all of this. Greg, after a brief conversation with Tina, jumped up and ran into the water. Tina seemed to be trying to cover him, because she immediately started shooting with abandon. The men in the scuba gear ducked down in the water, but it was still too shallow for them to swim.

Leonard took to the air and I saw that he was carrying grenades! Tina started waving frantically at him and he came back down. I wonder what that's about?

Paul ran up to me and picked up some clips of ammunition from me, then ran them back to Tina. I guess she had run out of ammo.

Suddenly one of the men fell into the water. Only it looked more like he'd been pulled under. I turned away when I saw the water turn red! What's happening out there? Tears were streaming down my face, but I forced myself to look back. The men were now shooting down into the water frantically. I worried that they were shooting Greg, but I saw him pop back up several yards away pulling someone behind him.

Seeing Greg, Tina waved at Leonard again. He took off again and this time dropped a grenade on the men. I flinched at the explosion and looked away. I didn't want to see what that did to them!

I looked back towards Greg, and he was just picking up the body he was pulling behind him and carrying it onto the beach. That's when I realized it was Jill! There was a small oxygen tank strapped to her, and a breathing mask over her face, so I hoped that meant she hadn't drowned!

Everyone got up and started moving towards the men after the grenade blast. They shot at anything that moved until one of the men called out that he surrendered. Mike and Jacob moved forward carefully and took the weapons away from all of them, even the dead or unconscious ones. There was blood and other stuff I didn't want to know about floating in the water, so I concentrated on Jill.

Greg carried her up to me and laid her out on the ground. "I think she's okay, just knocked out." He told me before turning to join the others.

I looked down at Jill. She didn't look injured. I guessed they must have gotten the drop on her before Tina got there or something. With that oxygen tank I guess they wanted to take her alive. Then it hit me, that's why Tina waved Leonard off the first time, the grenade would have gotten Jill, too! I'm sure glad Tina knew about that!

I figured she didn't need the breathing mask anymore, so I took it and the oxygen tank off of her. There was a hissing sound coming from it, so I looked for a valve or switch or something and finally managed to close it off. Then I waited and watched Jill. She looked like she was breathing okay; I hoped she'd be alright!

A few minutes later I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and fell back, but it was only Paul. "Sorry for startling you, Shawna. I just came to let you know everything's okay now. We took all the weapons away from the survivors and treated their wounds. They're taking their dead back with them. As soon as the others catch up, we can go back." He said.

"Was anyone hurt?" I asked, referring to the other villagers, he'd already acknowledged that some of the attackers were dead.

Paul shrugged. "A few flesh wounds, nothing serious." He replied.

I sighed in relief and waited for everyone else. Once we were all together again, with Mike and Jacob weighted down with weapons, Tina picked up Jill and we returned to the village. I noticed Greg pick up the oxygen tank and breathing mask. He already had a couple of others slung over his shoulder.

We put all the weapons back in the storage house, along with the new stuff. Then Tina carried Jill over to the fire pit and Paul built the fire back up. We all sat down. "So what exactly happened?" I asked.

"They'd already knocked out Jill when I got there." Tina replied. "They were putting that oxygen tank and breathing mask on her. I told them to let her go, but they started shooting at me. I took cover and fired back, but there were too many of them for me to be able to get anywhere near Jill. By the time you got there they'd dragged Jill into the water. If you all hadn't gotten there when you did they would have taken her back to the ship by now."

"Thanks for going out and checking on her for me, Tina." I said and hugged her with tears in my eyes. If not for her, Jill would be gone!

"Hey, I should be thanking you!" she protested. She seemed kind of uncomfortable with the hug, or maybe it was the tears. Either way, I pulled back and that seemed to make her feel more comfortable.

"What about that ship?" Greg asked.

Jacob chuckled darkly. "They shouldn't be giving us any trouble. I gave a…message, to those guys we sent back. If they try anything else we'll sink 'em!"

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Mike.

Jacob shrugged. "I told them we've got some C4 we'd plant on the bottom of their ship and blow it." He answered.

"But we don't have any C4." Paul pointed out. Jacob just shrugged again.

"We do have grenades; I could rig something up with them." Greg said.

"Okay, but what about Jill? Why would they want her? I thought it was Cat they were after." Elaine asked.

Just then Jill stirred and started to wake up. She was groggy at first. "What happened?" she asked.

Tina told her everything that had happened. "We were just wondering why they were after you." She finished explaining.

"Why would you think they were?" she asked.

"Why else would they have knocked you out and tried to take you back to the ship?" Tina replied.

"To keep me from raising the alarm, or to get to Cat." Jill answered.

"A hostage?" Paul asked. Jill nodded. "That's not good. Cat will be afraid to leave when she hears about this. But we need more people here. And there are bound to be lots of mutants who would benefit from living here." He said.

"Like me." I said. Paul nodded. "But they didn't get Jill. Wouldn't that prove that it's okay for her to leave?"

"It was a near thing, and Cat's pretty protective. We'll have a hard time convincing her." He replied.

"It might be easier if we're better organized." Elaine pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Tina asked.

"Well, they probably would have taken us completely by surprise if Jill and Shawna hadn't taken it upon themselves to keep watch. We need to have a regular watch day and night. And they need to stay in pairs at all times, and be armed." Elaine answered.

The others agreed with Elaine and we discussed it for a while. It was decided that someone with good night vision would be with each pair of lookouts. Leonard would do flyovers during the day, which would cover the entire island. At night we'd have to concentrate on the area around the village and the beach. It was the easiest place to land because there were reefs and cliffs in most other parts of the island.

We set up a schedule of watches. Jill and I wouldn't have to stand watch for a couple of days since we were considered to have already done so tonight. The fact that Jill was injured, and I'm a minor, probably had something to do with it, too. Whoever had the watch would wear a bullet proof vest; carry a rifle with some extra clips, and a flare gun. That way they could alert us if something's happening, and where.

I wouldn't be using a rifle, because I'm so small. They said I should use a pistol instead. They had lots from the guys who had attacked before.

We all went to bed after that, except for Tina and Vincent, who would keep watch. There'd be three shifts, so everyone had a chance to get some sleep. Paul and Mike would take the last watch.

Paul had me practice with a pistol a bit the next day. Even that knocked me on my butt the first couple of times I fired it! Being tiny really sucks some times.

Things went more or less back to normal after that, until later that day. We knew Cat could be back as early as today, but had no idea if she would or not.

I was helping Jill fix the leg of a chair when we heard deep booming sounds. We ran outside to see what it was, and saw clouds of smoke up in the air. Weaving around them was Cat! It looked like the ship was firing at her! Greg saw this and stormed over to the storage house and retrieved a bag from it before running off towards the beach.

Everyone else had come out to see what was going on, as well, and we all ran to the beach to watch tensely as Cat dodged more smoke clouds. They didn't seem like explosions, there wasn't any fire and the smoke looked funny. "Some kind of gas." Paul muttered. I guess they were trying to capture her alive.

As she got closer we saw that she was carrying someone. I felt sorry for whoever it was, they were in for a rough ride!

Cat continued to dodge for a few minutes, slowly getting closer to the island the entire time. I figured once she'd landed she'd be okay. Whether that was true or not, we never found out. There was a dull thump sound from the ship. The firing stopped and there was all kinds of activity on it. After watching for a couple of minutes I realized it was sinking!

A moment later Greg emerged from the water with an empty bag. "What did you do?!" Paul asked in astonishment.

Greg grinned widely as he answered, "I stuck a bunch of grenades to the ship's hull, pulled the pins, and swam for my life!"

« KittyHawk - Part 5 »

^{ArachnePhobic}
A KittyHawk Tail
by Saless

Things might have continued as they had indefinitely, if not for the ocean being polluted. People became afraid of anything that came out of the ocean. I sold very little of the fish I caught and was forced to live on a diet of fish. The government instituted a new law that all fish and seaweed must be tested before it can be sold. I did not have the means to do this.

I was forced to sell my father's boat in order to survive. I was ashamed of failing my father and did not leave my home for several days. During that time I became sick. It is obvious now that the fish I caught was contaminated, as I changed greatly. I was too ill to appreciate the changes at first, but they became all too obvious once I had recovered.

The muscles that I had built up over the years helping my father and on my own melted away. I lost height and my hair grew out to a remarkable length. I grew breasts and became in all ways female! I was horrified, but not so much so as when I discovered that I had four new appendages. I now had six arms!

I began to scream, but something shot out of my mouth. It was translucent and stuck to the ceiling, but was still attached to my mouth! I pulled on it and I felt something release. Now I was holding a rope of what could only be webbing in my hands, still attached to the ceiling. I was a spider!

I fell boneless to the floor and cried for a long time. How could I face anyone now? I had lost my masculinity and my humanity all at once!

In my sorrow and shame I attempted to kill myself by slitting my wrists. I cut all six of them, but I healed too quickly to bleed more than a trickle. Trapped in this horror, I collapsed in tears.

I was still weeping when I heard my only friend, Yori, knocking on the door. "Come on, Hachiro, stop moping around in there!" he yelled.

I slowly got to my feet and stumbled to the door. I wasn't thinking, or perhaps I wouldn't have opened it, but I did.

"Come on Hachiro, answer me!" he was yelling just as I opened the door. He stood there gaping for a moment before saying, "What are you?! What have you done with Hachiro?"

My eyes stayed glued to the ground as I answered, "I am Hachiro."

Yori was silent, so I risked a glance at his face. He looked furious. "What are you talking about, Hachiro is a strong man, not a freak girl!" he replied angrily.

"I have changed, I'm sorry." I answered, ashamed.

Yori stormed into the house, screaming, "Hochiro! Where are you?" over and over again. He searched thoroughly. Finally he turned to me where I still stood in front of the open door and said, "Those are Hochiro's clothes you're wearing…can it be? Is that really you, Tokuro Hachiro?" I nodded sadly. He stared at me for a long time, then turned and stormed out. I never saw him again.

I was under no illusions; I knew that Yori was no longer my friend. I also knew that any hope of finding a job and keeping my family home were gone. No one would hire me as I now was. I would have to leave, but to where?

I went through all my belongings and picked out those things which were the most important to me and I could carry. This proved to be quite a lot, as my strength was greater than it was before, despite my smaller size. I used the largest shirts I had and wore one of them over my extra arms. With that and a hooded jacket I could at least appear to be the man I once was.

I slung one large bag over my shoulder and picked up the other and left my home for the last time. It, too, I would never see again.

I walked to the ocean and watched the sun set. There were signs out that warned against going in the ocean, or eating anything out of it. All the fishing boats were tied up and abandoned. I was almost glad my father was dead, so that he would not be here to see all of this, and me.

My hood had fallen down in the breeze and my long hair was swirling around me. I turned to leave and saw three men walking towards me. "What's a pretty girl like you doing out here?" one of them asked with a leer. He laughed, "You must be here to see us!"

I had not yet considered the implications of being female, so his meaning was not immediately clear. When I did realize what he was saying, my eyes widened in shock. While I had been processing all of this the three men had spread out and blocked my path. "Come on, girl, let's have some fun!" one of them said. While my attention was drawn to him, the man opposite of him grabbed my arm. The other two jumped forward to grab me and started dragging me away.

I struggled with them, but I had no leverage. My new arms reacted without thought and pulled my shirt up to get at the men. My four new arms grabbed onto whatever part of them they could and started pulling their hands off of me. I was stronger than them, and was soon free. They whistled appreciatively and I realized that my new breasts were now exposed. In a rage I struck out at them with all six arms.

When I regained my senses I found all three men lying on the ground, unconscious. Several limbs were bent at unnatural angles. I ran.

I was halfway across the village before I thought to tuck my extra arms back inside my shirt and pull it down. I had left the village behind before I remembered my bags, which had fallen in the struggle. I was too afraid to go back, so I left them.

I stuffed my hair into my jacket and pulled my hood back up to try and hide my gender. I trudged beside a road for hours without paying any attention to where I was going. The darkness pressed in on me and I imagined those men, or more like them, coming out of the darkness for me. I looked around fearfully and increased my pace, only to have to slow down again as I tired. This pattern repeated many times, until I was too tired to go on.

I was afraid to sleep but I was too tired to stay awake. I found a secluded place to rest and slept.

Sunlight awoke me. I groaned as I got up. The ground was far from soft. I got back on the road and continued walking, hoping I wasn't going back the way I came.

I trudged for hours before a car stopped beside me and a man asked if I needed a ride. I took one look at him and ran. He followed me for a short time, then gave up. A while later another car pulled up and I tensed to run, but it was a woman in the car. She offered to give me a ride to the city, and I accepted.

We rode in silence the entire way. I was afraid to speak, lest I give away my new gender, or my mutation. I mumbled a "Thank you." When she let me off and watched her drive away.

I wandered aimlessly into the city. I was hungry, but had no money. That's when five men approached me. I was ready to run, when I realized that three of them were mutants like me. "This is our territory, go away!" one man said. He had bull horns and seemed made of muscles piled on top of muscles.

I turned away and started walking in a different direction. Suddenly one of them jumped in front of me. He had dog ears and a tail. "You can't just ignore us!" he growled. He took a swipe at me with his claws. He moved so fast I didn't react in time and my shirt was torn open. "Well, it's a girl!" he leered as my breasts became visible.

He reached out to touch them, and one of my extra arms shot out and grabbed his hand. He looked shocked, then pained as my hand squeezed his. Then another hand shot out and punched him in the face. He was ripped out of my grasp as he fell back heavily, already unconscious.

"Well, well, well, it looks like we've got a girl with some strength here!" a third man said. He had no visible mutant traits, but I suspected he was one anyway. I'd heard of mutant gangs forming in the bigger cities and assumed this was one of them.

"Well, if you can lay Touken out like that, maybe we could use you." A fox mutant said. "What do you think, Tougyuu?" he called to the bull mutant.

"Yes, we can definitely use her!" he agreed lasciviously. He grabbed one of my arms and twisted it behind me. I tried to reach him with all of my arms to pull him off of me, but I couldn't get a grip on him.

"She's a feisty one, isn't she?" the other man said with a grin. He stepped towards me and in a panic I spit at him. Only it wasn't spit, it was webbing! The webbing stuck to his face and I pulled as much as I could with my neck, causing him to fall on his face. I pulled the webbing out of my mouth with one of my free arms and yanked him back down every time he tried to stand.

Tougyuu, the bull mutant holding my arm, put his free hand on my shoulder and said, "You've got some tricks in you, don't you Kumo?"

I twisted around and managed to sink my teeth into his arm. I felt something flow through my canines. Tougyuu stiffened and then slowly relaxed his grip. I turned and watched as he fell to the ground slowly, already unconscious.

The fox mutant stepped forward angrily. "What have you done to Tougyuu?!"

"I don't know!" I wailed, backing away fearfully. He seemed very intense.

The dog mutant, Touken, was still unconscious, and the man I'd webbed was still down. The other man looked around at all this and walked over to Tougyuu. He checked his pulse and said, "He's alive. It looks like he's just asleep. Some spiders have a mild venom that can knock out or paralyze their prey. That's probably what she did, Kitsune"

The fox mutant, Kitsune, seemed to relax at that. "Okay. So what do we do with her?" he said.

He addressed his answer to me. "What about it? Will you join our gang? We won't hurt you if you do as we ask. We can use those powers of yours."

Kitsune glowered at me menacingly. I shrank back and nodded. What else could I do?

They had me carry Tougyuu while Kitsune carried Touken. The other two were able to walk under their own power. They led me to an old house in a very run down neighborhood. I suspected the house was not theirs, but that no one wanted to dispute their claim.

They all kept a close eye on me, which was becoming very frightening. I didn't know if they were just being weary of me, or if they were looking for an opportunity to attack me. They offered me some food, but it made me sick.

Once Touken and Tougyuu had recovered they led us out to deal with a rival gang. I didn't want to be involved, but I wasn't given a choice. Both Touken and Tougyuu were obviously just waiting for an excuse to attack me.

The other gang weren't mutants. At least not noticeable ones. They treated the obvious mutants in our group with disdain and would only talk to the two apparent non-mutants. They were arguing about territory when one of them threw a rock at Touken. He was instantly at his throat, crushing the breath out of him. The other gang members attacked Touken. I was then drawn into the melee by the other members of the gang.

One of the gang members attacked me with a chain. I caught the chain and yanked it out of his hand. He kept coming and took a swing at me. I caught his fist in my hand and pulled him towards me. Then I latched my fangs on his throat without thinking. He went limp instantly as my venom entered his system. This time I didn't let go, and felt more flowing into him through my fangs. He sagged down and I followed him, never once letting go.

I suddenly found that I was intensely hungry. I felt fluid flowing out of him and into me. It felt delicious! I shivered in pleasure. After a while I felt full and pulled away. What just happened? I thought in horror as I looked down. The man was obviously dead, with a strange fluid leaking out of the holes in his neck.

I looked up and the fight was already over. The other gang members were either dead, unconscious, or had run away. All the members of 'my' gang were looking at me in shock. Then the man who had known about the venom said, "So that's why the food made you sick, you needed to feed off of a live animal." I shuddered, as I remembered what I had learned about how a spider feeds. What I had drunk was the dissolved insides of that man!

I was barely aware of my surroundings as we returned to the old house. Tears were streaming down my face. The others were keeping their distance.

I grew tired and slept after that. In the morning they told me they needed me for something. I was to be a lookout and help should they get into trouble. They were going to rob a bank!

I was horrified, but too frightened to argue with them. I was sure they'd do horrible things to me if I refused. The idea that I might be a match for them never entered my head.

We walked over to the bank and I situated myself in an alley while the others went in the bank. I made a quick trip further back in the alley to make a web I could use to escape to the roof if something happened, then returned to watch the bank. It was quiet for a while, then people started running out. I heard police sirens, then they started encircling the building. Am I supposed to get involved now? I wondered, until Touken came running out and attacked the police!

He was amazingly fast! In seconds he'd incapacitated all of the police. I shuddered at some of the injuries, they looked fatal. He then stood there, watching to make sure they didn't move. He didn't even glance in my direction, so I guessed that I wasn't needed yet. I could only hope I wouldn't be.

Suddenly something came crashing to the ground! I felt the ground shake where I was standing, and saw Touken fall down from the impact. The street was cracked, too! The thing that fell turned out to be a woman. She had glossy blue-black wings, cat ears, tail, and hair. Touken attacked her with his customary speed, but she was too fast for him!

After knocking Touken out, she ran into the bank. A few moments later I saw through the window Kitsune flying into a wall. Then police stormed the building. I waited to see what happened. I was just about to leave when the woman who fell out of the sky came back out of the bank. She looked right at me and I panicked and ran.

« KittyHawk - Part 6 »

Time was almost up, so all we had to do after that was keep the other team from scoring. They knew they didn't have a chance, so they didn't try very hard.

After the game our team mates were congratulating George and I for making the winning play, so it was hard to get away. All I wanted to do was get back home and relax. George saw the signs, so he helped me get out of there. "Thanks George." I said once the others were gone and we were on our way.

"No problem." George said noncommittally. Neither of us said anything about why I needed to get home so quickly, but we both knew I'd be Melissa as soon as I could. He wasn't comfortable with it, but he watched out for me anyway. I'd just come out to him a few weeks ago, so I was hopeful he'd come around. We'd been friends since high school and having him as a roommate was a big relief for me.

I'd tried really hard in high school to be the macho man type. I was trying to hide from myself, I guess. I ended up on the football team and turns out I'm pretty good at it. I enjoy the challenge, but I didn't like the atmosphere. Most of the other players were very hostile towards LGBT people.

I'd been thinking about quitting for a while now, but George talked me into finishing the season. I think he was trying to hold onto Mark, but I knew I was going to have to be Melissa full time before long just to stay sane.

As soon as we got home I rushed into my room and changed. I'd secretly been on hormones for a couple of months. I'd already started binding my chest so the guys on the team wouldn't see my budding breasts (They weren't really breasts, yet, but my chest didn't look like a guys, either). George knew what it was about, of course, but he didn't say anything. I told the other guys I'd bruised some ribs.

Once I'd unbound my chest I put on a bra and slipped the breast forms in. They'd cost me a lot, but I wanted to be as real as I could be when I dressed. I just threw on the first skirt and blouse I found that looked okay together, I was too tired to be picky. Then I slapped on some makeup and went back into the living room to watch some TV. George was already watching an action movie, so I sat down and watched it with him.

He glanced over at me and smiled wryly. "I still can't get over how our quarterback can look so natural in a skirt!" I smiled back hesitantly; he usually didn't say anything about how I was dressed. "It's okay, Mar…Melissa. I'm still not entirely comfortable with this, but I'm your friend." He said reassuringly. We silently watched the movie after that, but I felt like we'd made some progress.

After the movie I grabbed my backpack and pulled out the flyer I'd found earlier that day. "George, have you seen this?" I asked him, handing the flyer to him.

He took it and looked it over. "Someone's using that mutating stuff to help transsexuals?" he asked in amazement. I nodded. "It says here they've found a way to make sure any man they treat will come out of it a woman. I haven't heard anything about this."

"I hadn't either, but it sounds perfect!" I replied excitedly.

George frowned. "I don't know, this could be some kind of scam. What if they don't really have control of it? Besides, if you end up with a visible mutation you could be worse off then if you started living as Melissa openly."

"I guess that's true, but what if it works?!" I said, a little disappointed that George was arguing against it.

"Mark, sorry, Melissa, I'd be happy for you if it worked. Really. But if this is some kind of scam, you could get hurt. Bad. Let me do a little asking around, maybe I can find something out about it." He said worriedly.

I sighed, "Okay, I guess that makes sense." I admitted. I left the flyer with George, hoping he'd find out something to confirm what it said. I really hoped it was for real!

George didn't have any news the next day, or the next. He said he was asking around, but nobody seemed to know about it. I was getting depressed, and decided that a night out as Melissa would cheer me up. I asked George if he'd come out with me, but he said he was meeting with someone who claimed to know something about the flyer.

I was really careful with my appearance; I didn't want anybody reading me. Or worse, recognizing me! I wore my favorite dress and spent over an hour on my makeup. I looked myself over carefully in my full length mirror, but all I saw was Melissa! This would be my first outing en femme, and I couldn't be more excited!

I grabbed my purse and made sure I had everything in it I'd need. I was shaking when I opened the door and stepped out, part in fear and part in excitement.

Nobody paid any particular attention to me as I walked towards the mall. I tried to relax, with only some success. I did some window shopping at the mall and even went inside a couple of shops. I was really nervous about using the changing rooms, but I forced myself to go in. I did buy a couple of nice tops at the last store.

I was just about to leave the mall when I spotted some of my teammates walking in. They were laughing loudly and staggering around a little, so I guessed they were drunk. I gave them a wide birth, but that wasn't enough.

"Hey babe, have some fun with us!" one of them called out. I thought they were talking to someone else at first, until I saw them heading straight for me! I was so scared I stopped for a moment. When I realized I had, I hurried out of the mall as fast as I could without running.

Once I was outside of the mall, I thought I would be okay. No such luck. They followed me out! Now I knew I was in real trouble. I hurried towards home, but they were gaining. "Hey babe, don't be like that!" they called after me.

They had almost caught up with me and I was starting to panic. I tried to make a run for it, but I forgot I was wearing heals. On the fourth step I twisted my ankle badly and fell. I tried to get back up, but they were already surrounding me. "Let us help you!" one of them leered at me. I was terrified, but what could I do?

Then what I dreaded most happened. One of them took a close look at me and said, "Mark? Is that you, man?" I was shaking like a leaf, I was so scared now. The others took a closer look at me and agreed with the first. "So our quarterback likes to dress up like a chic, huh? We don't need any queers on our team!" he snarled.

The others voiced their agreement and they started kicking at me. I didn't have a chance of defending myself, so I just curled up into a ball and covered myself as best I could. I was battered from all sides for what seemed an eternity when it suddenly stopped. I whimpered in fear of what they might do next. I was in so much pain I couldn't think straight. All I knew was that I didn't want them touching me!

I felt a hand on my arm and I jerked back. The hand returned and I rolled away from it. When it returned again I totally freaked and started biting and clawing at it. "Melissa! Stop!" I heard George call out distantly. It took a moment for what I was hearing to sink in. I looked up and realized it was George I was attacking! "It's okay, they're gone." He said. He kneeled down next to me, oblivious of the blood covering his hand. "How badly are you hurt?" he asked worriedly.

I looked around in confusion. Had George somehow scared them all off? "I, I don't know." I said. Everything hurt. "What happened?"

"That lead I had was nothing. I was worried about you going out on your own, so I went looking for you. I saw those guys chasing you, so I called the police. When the police arrived those jerks took off. An ambulance is on the way, so just lay still until they get here, okay?" he asked. I nodded and he held my hand until the ambulance arrived and the paramedics waved him aside.

The paramedics secured my head in case of a neck injury and then hefted me up onto a gurney and into the ambulance. They let George come in with them and we were off. I must have passed out at some point, because the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.

I was really lucky, or so the doctor told me. I had no broken bones at all. My ankle was sprained and I had some bruised ribs, but otherwise nothing serious. I was released the next day, though I had to use crutches because of my ankle. Which was really painful with the bruised ribs.

George spent most of that time at the hospital keeping me company. None of my other friends showed up. George told me that word had gotten out quickly about me. "At least now there's nothing holding you back from being Melissa all the time." He said at one point. I could only nod in agreement, though I worried about my parents.

I took a week off from classes to recover. I probably didn't need that long, but I was nervous about going back as Melissa. I knew there was little point trying to go back to being Mark, but being Melissa brought its own problems.

When I did go back to classes I was the center of attention everywhere I went. And not in a good way. I was constantly being bumped into and pushed aside in the hallways and nobody had a kind word for me but George. They had plenty of unkind words, though.

After a week of this I was feeling like my life was over. I would never be able to live a normal life again. And sooner or later someone else would corner me and beat me to death. It seemed inevitable. Then I saw the flyer on George's desk. He hadn't found anything at all about it. Not one person who had any more information than what was on the flyer. It seemed unlikely to be legitimate when no one knows anything about it, but I didn't have anything to lose. I called up the number.

The man on the other end of the line told me that I'd need to be at their clinic for a month and that he didn't want me to tell anyone where it was, because he was worried about violence against his clients. After my experiences it didn't seem so far fetched, so I agreed. He made an appointment for me for the next day at eight o'clock. I didn't tell George what I was doing, I was sure he'd try to talk me out of it.

I arrived at the clinic the next day half an hour early. A nurse led me in to see the doctor I'd talked to on the phone. "Hello, I'm Dr. Smith. Let me tell you how things work here." He greeted me. He told me that I would be sleeping in a pool of contaminated salt water for ten hours. I'd be breathing through a mask that would keep me from drowning. They would sedate me for that entire time, and then move me to a bed. From there it would be much like any other hospital stay with regular blood tests and such. He asked if I was sure I wanted to do this, and I assured him I was. Then I asked about cost.

"Oh, there's no cost to you. This is part of a research program on the mutagen. We're learning how it works, but we get to help people directly while we're at it. It's not too often one gets an opportunity like that!" he answered. I was amazed that I wouldn't need any money, and it reassured me that this wasn't some kind of scam. After all, if it were a scam they'd be trying to get as much money from me as possible, right?

They didn't waste any time getting me in the tank and sedated. When I woke up after the sedative wore off I was in a hospital bed with an IV attached to my arm. It was a private room. The door was closed and the curtains drawn, so I couldn't see anything outside of the room. Before long a nurse came in and took a blood sample and checked my temperature and such. I was still pretty tired from the sedative, so I went back to sleep after that.

The routine was pretty boring for the first week. I was assured that everything was going fine, but I couldn't feel anything different. I ate a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, a sandwich for lunch, and some other bland hospital food for dinner. I walked laps around my bed just for something to do. I couldn't go any farther because of the IV, it wasn't mobile. Other than that, I spent a lot of time in bed.

Eventually I started getting sick and lost a lot of weight. My muscles disappeared (not that I minded), and I actually lost a few inches in height! I was ecstatic, because the nurses assured me that this was the way gender changes always went. I spent several days feeling miserable, physically, but very hopeful. I didn't gain any feminine characteristics in that time, unless you want to count all my hair falling out. And I do mean all!

One of the nurses told me that the body has to strip away all the extraneous tissue before it can start to build itself back up again. That certainly proved true for me. Not long after I stopped getting sick, I started getting ravenous! I was eating two or three times as much as before for three or four days before things started leveling off. By then I was completely female, and had started growing wings! One of the nurses told me that changes like that sometimes start, and then are reabsorbed by the body. Even if they remained, they probably wouldn't be large and strong enough to actually fly.

I don't know if I was happy or sad that they were wrong. My wings kept growing steadily. My hair and feathers both grew in silver, though my body hair never did come back. The mirror in the attached bathroom showed me that I would never have to worry about passing. In fact, my biggest worry would be guys making passes at me!

I was only a few days from being released when all hell broke loose.

It started one night with a cry of despair. I'd heard a few others and had been told it was from clients who did not mutate, and that they'd get another treatment and that should take care of it. This time it didn't end there. The primal scream that followed was unlike anything I'd ever heard. This was followed by the sounds of windows breaking and large objects hitting walls. People were screaming all around me and I was afraid I was going to die just when I'd finally gotten what I wanted more than anything.

I climbed off my bed and hid behind it as well as I could. With my wings as big as they were by then, that wasn't very well. The door suddenly opened and a small woman slipped in before closing it just as quickly. She ran across the room and ducked behind the bed, running right into me. "Sorry!" she whispered. "I came in here to hide. One of the unlucky ones has gone berserk!"

"Unlucky ones?" I whispered back.

"You're new?" she asked.

"I've been here almost a month." I replied.

"You don't know anything about what's going on here, do you." She said rather than asked. "They lied to all of us. Only fifty to sixty percent of all males who mutate become women. They knew that going in, and they don't have any special trick or therapy to improve those odds! Most that stay male are able to transition normally and are okay with that. Some, though, heal too fast and their own immune system kills off the estrogen before it can have any effect. Those are the unlucky ones. Most kill themselves."

I gasped, but her hand over my mouth muffled the sound. "Sorry! So it really is a scam then?" I whispered sadly.

She nodded. "Yeah, it is. They're using us as guinea pigs. They know they won't get many volunteers, so they use this scam to get the transgendered to come to them. We're desperate enough that we ignore the dangers, so we're perfect for them. Some never find out what's really happening here, and they leave after their month is over. But if you find out the truth, they won't let you leave! So don't let on that you know anything, or you'll be trapped here like me!"

"What about the one that's going berserk, what happened?" I whispered back.

She shook her head sadly. "She's one of the really unlucky ones. Her new form is so male she could never pass as female, ever! And her body completely destroys any form of estrogen they try to give her. She's a bull mutant, and she's really strong. She's been here a while, but the doctors have finally given up on helping her. When she heard that, she started tearing the place up. I think she's hoping someone will kill her."

I sat in stunned silence after that, trying to absorb everything she'd told me. The crashing sounds and screaming had slowed somewhat. I hoped that meant that she was tiring, but I was afraid it might mean something worse! Then the sounds started getting closer and closer. We both huddled behind the bed in terror, knowing our death might be coming through that door at any moment.

After yet more crashing sounds and screams, we heard the first object hit the door to my room. Then another hit the window and cracked it. And then the door was knocked right off its hinges and crashed into the bed, the body of a nurse lying on top of it. A man was standing in the doorway. He was huge! He must have been eight feet tall, at least. He bent over and came in the room and seemed to fill the room up all by himself. "Felicia!" the woman who had been hiding with me called out from the far side of the bed from where I hid. I never saw her move.

I realized then that this was the mutant that she'd been talking about. I could see why she could never pass as female. The other woman stepped a little closer and said, "Felicia, please clam down! It's me, Jasmine, your friend." She pleaded. Felicia didn't even hesitate. She swung one huge fist from where it was dragging on the floor because of her bent posture, and slammed it into Jasmine's face. Jasmine flew up and through the wall! A large hole was left behind starting at about head height. I realized that we were on an outside wall. Without thinking I ran out and jumped out the hole after Jasmine.

I saw Jasmine hit the ground below me and lie still. I flapped my wings with all the strength I could muster and managed to slow my fall enough that I wasn't really hurt when I landed. I ran over to Jasmine to see if she was still alive. She looked a mess, but when I checked for a pulse, I found one! I was amazed, especially since it seemed to be pretty strong. There was blood everywhere, but when I went looking for the wound I couldn't find it.

I heard sirens approaching and a police car came flying around the corner and pulled up near us. I waved at him and he came over to me. "What happened here?" he demanded.

I told him everything I knew, his eyes widening as I went. He ran back to his car to call for backup. A short while later a SWAT van drove up! An ambulance arrived about the same time and took Jasmine and I, so I didn't see anything else.

At the hospital the doctors were astounded by Jasmine. Especially when I told them what happened. It seemed that other than blood loss, she was fine! They took X-rays and everything, but she'd already healed. A little while later she woke up ravenous. After eating enough for three people she was finally full. "What happened?" she asked me.

I told her what I knew, which wasn't much. They'd put us both in beds in the same room, even though there really wasn't anything wrong with me. Jasmine turned on the TV and found the local news channel. It was showing pictures of the clinic where we'd been. 'Mutant Rampage!' was plastered all over the screen. They were talking like this was completely the fault of mutants and ignoring what the clinic had been doing! "How can they get away with that?" I asked in astonishment.

Jasmine shrugged. "We're mutants, we don't count. And we're transsexual mutants, that's even worse to them. I'd be surprised if what that clinic was doing ever made the news at all." She replied bitterly.

The one thing we did learn from the news broadcast was that Jasmine's friend Felicia was killed by the SWAT team, and that most if not all the doctors and nurses were killed. "Well, at least they won't be continuing the clinic." I said.

Jasmine laughed at that. "No, they won't. But someone else will. If they don't target transsexuals, they'll go after the poor. There's a lot of money to be made by whoever figures out how that stuff works. But at least some of us found some happiness out of it."

We were both released soon after that. I had to talk to the police because George had reported me missing. He met me down there and drove me back to the apartment. He kept glancing over at me as he drove and I was worried we'd have an accident. We did make it okay, though.

Inside the apartment he hugged me! He'd never done anything like that before! "I'm so glad you're okay, Melissa!" he finally said when he released me.

"Uh, thanks George." I replied uncertainly. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"I told you that thing was a scam." He said, shaking his head ruefully. "I should have known you'd go anyway. Especially after the time you were having."

"What did you hear about the place I was at?" I asked curiously.

"Not much. Most people are spending way more attention on the killer mutant than anything else." He replied.

I nodded, unsurprised. "I thought so. They were lying to people and holding anyone who found out the truth there against their will, but no one cares about that."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I'm okay. I'm sad about what happened, but I love my new body!"

"Wings and all?" he asked.

"Wings and all." I agreed with a smile.

"You've got just the problem I was worried about, though. It may not be possible for you to go back to your classes." He pointed out.

"I know, but I'm going to give it a try." I replied determinedly.

The next day, after modifying one of my tops so I could wear it, I went to the college to see about getting my records updated. I'd already changed my name, but I would need a new student ID card since I looked so different. I drew lots of attention as I walked to the office. I heard lots of muttered insults and a few shouted ones. Once again I was being shoved around, and one person plucked out a feather! That really hurt!

The woman at the desk in the office wouldn't even look at me and ignored every word I said. I kept trying for a while, but she wouldn't budge. Frustrated, I stomped out of there. I was met by one of the college's security officers just outside the office building. "You need to leave or I'll call the police." He told me menacingly.

"Why? I haven't done anything!" I protested.

"You don't belong here, now get out!" he yelled. I sighed and left. There goes getting an education!

When George got back from his classes I told him how things went. "I was afraid they'd do something like that." He replied angrily. "I wish there was something we could do."

"Thanks, George, but there's really nothing that can be done. I guess I'll have to go back to my parents and hope they'll let me stay with them until I figure out what I'll do." I said with a sigh. I never did tell them about transitioning, and now that I'm fully female with wings I was going to have to go begging for help. I could only hope they were in a good mood!

"I'll drive you down there. That way I can help you convince them of who you are." George suggested.

"Thanks, that would be a big help." I agreed.

He only had one class the next day, in the morning, so we agreed we'd drive down to my parents after his class. In the meantime, I started packing up everything I own. The bulk of my sword collection was still in my old room at home, but I had a few at the apartment that needed packing. Other than those, my computer, and clothes I didn't have much. I gave away most of my old male clothes, I wouldn't need them anymore! There were a few things I had use for and kept, and George got a lot of the rest.

Some of my female clothes didn't fit anymore, either, so I reluctantly gave them away. I'd need to get more clothes when I got home, but I had more than enough to get there.

I realized in the morning that my wings were even bigger, now. I tested them and found I could actually lift myself off the ground! That's about all I could manage, yet, but I was sure I'd be flying in time. After tiring myself out trying to fly I stacked my boxes up by the door and waited for George. When he got there we loaded up his car and left. It wasn't a very long drive, just an hour or so, and we were pulling up in front of the house I grew up in. We left my stuff in the car and walked up to the door.

I hesitated to press the door bell, took a deep breath, and pressed the button. We heard my parents moving around inside, then the door opened to reveal my dad. "Hi George, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm bringing Melissa home." He replied, pointing at me.

"Hello, Melissa, where do you live?" My father asked, looking at me curiously.

"Um, here." I replied. "At least, I hope I can still live here."

"Melissa was at that clinic that's been on the news lately." George said. "She used to be Mark."

Dad stood there open mouthed for a moment, and then turned on me angrily. I shrunk back, but he grabbed my arms. "How could you worry us like that?! George told us you were missing, and what he suspected you might be doing. You could have been killed in that place!"

I was flabbergasted! He wasn't mad that I'm a girl now, but that I went to the clinic? "Uh, Dad, I'm confused." I said hesitantly.

"Come inside, I'll explain." Dad replied, and led me inside. His anger seemed to have disappeared, and his touch was gentle. He sat me down on the couch and then sat next to me. George sat in a chair facing the couch. "George was worried about you, especially when the police said they couldn't do anything. He told us you were talking about going to that clinic, though he wouldn't tell us why." He said, with a glare for George.

"Don't be mad at George, Dad, I made him promise not to tell anyone that I was transsexual." I said, my voice getting very small at the end.

"So you wanted to be a girl?" Dad asked with a surprised look. "How long have you felt that way?"

"All my life." I said while examining my shoes. I was sure he'd be disappointed that I hadn't trusted him sooner.

"I see. So why did you think you needed to mutate?" he asked.

"I…I didn't think I had anything to loose." I admitted softly.

Dad looked like he was about to ask for an explanation of that statement but George beat him to it. "She was beaten up pretty badly by some of the guys on the team when they found her out dressed as Melissa. By the time she went back to her classes everyone in school knew about her. She stopped pretending to be Mark, but everyone was treating her horribly."

"Oh, honey, you should have come to us then!" Dad said and pulled me into a hug. I was so startled I didn't react at first, and then I just melted into it.

When he pulled back I looked into his eyes and said, "So you're not mad, about me being a girl now?"

Dad laughed, "Of course not! So long as you're happy, we're happy. So how do you feel about having wings?"

I smiled shyly and said, "I think it's pretty cool, except for the being kicked off the school grounds part."

"What?! They kicked you out because of that?" he exclaimed angrily.

I nodded. "It's not that big of a deal, though, I couldn't have stayed there anyway. The students were treating me like I was lower than dirt. Sooner or later it would have gone beyond name calling and shoving." I said, realizing I was silly to think I could go back there in the first place.

Dad seemed to deflate at that. "I'm sorry you've had to deal with all that honey. Do you have any plans?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like I have a lot of options right now."

"Well, you're welcome here as long as you want to stay." Dad replied.

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. Then Mom got home. She walked in and said, "Hi George, I'm surprised to see you here. And who is this?" she asked, pointing at me.

"This," Dad answered, "is Melissa, our daughter."

"We don't have a…Mark, is that you?!" Mom exclaimed. I nodded and she rushed over and crushed me in a fierce hug. "Oh baby, we thought we'd lost you!"

"I'm sorry Mom." I said. She ignored that and pulled away to look me over.

"Well, you came out rather nice. I love that hair! And those wings! They remind me of a kestrel. Beautiful bird! How are you handling being a girl?" Mom asked worriedly.

I smiled widely as I replied, "I've always been a girl Mom."

"Huh?" she said in confusion.

"She went to that clinic to get mutated on purpose, hoping she'd become female." George explained.

"Oh. Wait, you were at that clinic in the news?!" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, they were claiming to be able to make sure that the mutation would leave us female, even though they had no way of doing that. I just got lucky."

"So you wanted to be a girl, and they targeted people like you? Why?" Mom asked.

"They were studying our mutations, trying to figure out how it works. They figured they'd have trouble finding volunteers to get mutated, so they targeted transsexuals." I replied.

"So you're okay?" Mom asked.

"I'm better than okay Mom!" I replied happily. Despite all the problems I'd had, the fact that I was completely female made me so happy I was almost giddy. Especially now that I knew my parents weren't going to freak about it!

Mom hugged me again. "I'm so glad! I knew you were depressed about something, but I didn't have any idea what. When you disappeared I was afraid you'd gone off somewhere and killed yourself!" she said with tears in her eyes. I hugged her back with tears in my own, as I'd considered just that.

We spent some more time catching up now that Mom was there. Mom kept thanking George for looking out for me. She got a strange look in her eye that I didn't like the looks of. She insisted that George stay for dinner. It didn't take much convincing to get him to agree.

George stayed longer than I expected, but eventually he said he had to leave. My parents said goodbye to him and then mysteriously had somewhere else to be and left us alone. I groaned, as I thought I knew what they were thinking. "My parents seem to think there's something going on between us." I said with a laugh.

George looked at me strangely and said, "I've got nothing going on after practice tomorrow, you want to go see a movie or something?"

I stared at him a minute as what he'd just said registered. "Are you asking me out on a date?!"

"Well, yeah." He replied.

"And you thought I'd say yes?!" I asked in shock.

He looked a little less certain, now. "Well, isn't that what you've been leading up to?" he asked.

Now I was really shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"You were the one who wanted to be roommates at college. Then you came out to me and wanted to wear women's clothes around the apartment all the time. What was I supposed to think?" he asked, annoyed.

"Oh, gee, I don't know; that you're my best friend and I thought I could trust you? That I thought I'd be safer with you than some strange guy I didn't know?" I replied, equally annoyed.

"So I'm safe, is that it?" he snapped at me.

"What is your problem? You know I've dated, and that I only dated girls. What makes you think I'd suddenly change my tune?" I asked perplexed.

"Because you're a girl now!" he replied angrily.

"So, haven't you heard of lesbians? I've always been a girl, and I've always been attracted only to girls. My body changing doesn't change that!" I said. "Look," I continued more calmly, "I'm sorry if you thought something was going on that wasn't. You're my best, and now only, friend. I don't want to lose you over this. But I'm not attracted to guys. At all! Can you accept that?"

George seemed to deflate at that. "Yeah, I guess so." He replied, turning to the door. "I'll see you around." He said and left before I could reply. I sighed and sat back down on the couch. Mom came out a few minutes later and sat on the couch next to me.

"You okay honey? You look kind of down." She asked.

"It's George." I replied. "He, and you guys, I guess from the way you disappeared earlier, thought I was interested in him. I'm not sure if he's going to want to be my friend anymore, but I'm just not into guys."

"Oops! You're right; we thought there was something going on there. It didn't occur to me that you might not be attracted to men. So you don't feel anything for George?" Mom said.

"As a friend, sure! As a brother, even! But as anything else? Eew!" I said with a shudder. I'd tried looking at guys that way in high school, thinking it would be easier to be gay, I guess, but I just couldn't muster any interest at all.

Mom laughed at my reaction. "Okay, I get it! I'm sure he'll be alright once he gets his head around the idea of you being a lesbian. Just give him some time." She suggested.

I nodded. I sat there and thought for a while after Mom left, thinking about my future. I'd basically lost everything except my parents. And maybe George. What was I going to do?

Mom and I went shopping the next day to expand my meager wardrobe. We had trouble finding tops I could wear with my wings and had to modify most of what we bought. At least I could wear skirts easily enough! We managed to find a few backless dresses, so they didn't need any adjustment.

There were a lot of hostile glares and muttered curses directed at me as we shopped, but Mom blithely ignored them. I tried to follow her example.

Weeks went by, and I was still no closer to figuring out what I was going to do with my life. I didn't want to mooch off my parents forever, but I couldn't find any employers who would even consider employing an obvious mutant. Not having a degree didn't help any. I even checked out some other colleges, but they were just as hostile. What was worse, was that every time I was out somewhere with my parents, people were getting to be as hostile towards them as they are to me! I was starting to worry that something would happen, but I wasn't prepared for what did!

I hadn't heard from George yet, which was kind of bumming me out. Other than Mom and Dad, I was completely on my own. Even my aunts and uncles didn't want anything to do with me! One Saturday I was in my old room, polishing my sword collection. I heard a crash downstairs followed by a scream. I ran downstairs, sword still in hand.

Mom was on the floor, whimpering in pain and holding her side. A man was standing over her with a gun in his hand. Three other men were just walking in, each carrying a gun. Dad came running down behind me. When he saw Mom he rushed over to her side, while I charged at the guy standing over her. In the time it took us to get to him and Mom he smiled at us and pulled the trigger, splattering Mom's brains all over the floor.

"NO!!" we both screamed. Dad fell to his knees next to Mom. I looked down at the sword in my hand and closed the remaining few feet between me and the gunman and took his head off with one swing. The smile was still stuck on his face as his head rolled across the room. I think we were all stunned by what had just happened. Dad was cradling Mom's body and sobbing, and I was staring at the headless corpse at my feet and Mom's lifeless body in turn. The other men were staring at the head rolling on the floor.

The spell was broken when I heard the floor creak under their feet. I turned towards them and ran at them without thinking, bringing the sword up as I ran. They were slow to react and only one of them got a shot off before I'd sliced one of them nearly in half. That shot hit me in the side, but I hardly even felt it. I just kept moving, bringing my sword up to attack the next nearest gunman.

That's when one of them yelled out, "Stop, or I'll shoot your father, freak!" I did stop, long enough to identify who was talking and charge at him, making sure my body was between him and my Dad. He fired, but the bullet hit me instead of Dad. It didn't even slow me down as I plunged my sword into his heart.

I turned on the last man and he shot me twice before he died. I made sure they were all down for the count and then turned towards my Dad. To my horror, he was lying on the floor with a bullet through his chest. I dropped my sword and ran over to him, but I couldn't find a pulse! I grabbed the phone and called the police. I needn't have bothered, as three police cars were already on their way and the first drove up as I was putting the phone down. An ambulance was right behind it. Paramedics checked my parents and said they were both dead. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up in the hospital, again.

George was sitting next to my bed when I woke up. "Hey Kestrel, I'm glad to see you awake." He said when he saw my eyes open.

"Kestrel?" I asked, confused.

"Well, that's what your Mom said your wings looked like. I thought it was a good name for you. I'll call you Melissa if you prefer." He replied.

"Mom, is she okay?" I asked, only half remembering what happened.

George looked sad and said, "I'm sorry, your parents were both killed. They're gone." He held my hand as I wept. I could hardly believe my parents were really gone!

When I'd run out of tears I looked at George and said, "Go ahead and call me Kestrel. It reminds me of Mom, she loved those birds." He nodded his understanding. "What happened with those guys that killed them?" I asked.

"They're dead. One of them survived for a little while, but died in the hospital. The others were already dead when the cops got there. Some people wanted you charged with their murders, but the evidence made it clear that you acted in self defense." He replied.

I thought back to what happened and remembered that I'd never seen Dad get shot. "How did they get Dad? I got in the way when the one guy was threatening to shoot him." I asked.

"From what I've heard, the bullet went right through you and into him." George replied.

"So I didn't do him any good at all." I said sadly.

"Hey, don't think that! You tried hard to save them! You nearly died yourself, and you took out all four of them with a sword, when they all had guns! I'd say you did some good." George replied forcefully.

"They're still dead." I said. I was all alone now, with nowhere to go. How could I possibly live?

George looked sad, but he also looked guilty. He looked at his watch and then back at me. "Look, I needed to talk to you, but I don't have a lot of time. I…I can't come back." He said.

"Huh?" I replied, confused.

"I've been getting threatening phone calls because of my association with you. I ignored them before, but now they're threatening my family. After what they did to your parents, I don't think I can ignore their threats anymore." He replied sadly, unable to maintain eye contact.

I felt a flush of anger, but it cooled quickly. I wouldn't want anything to happen to George's parents, they're good people. "I…understand." I said softly.

"I'm sorry I can't help you, I really am. I know I haven't called since the day I brought you back to your house, but I'm still your friend. As your friend, I'm telling you to leave. Fly away as far as you can. It's the only chance you have of having a life." He said. He stood up, took one last look at me, and walked out of my life forever.

I cried again when he left, and off and on the rest of the day. The hospital released me in the morning. They'd had to resuscitate me when I was brought to the hospital, and performed surgery on me, but my body had healed up well on it's own after that. I felt weak, but had no pain. At least, not physical pain.

I walked back to my parent's house. My aunt and uncle were already there, treating it like their own. They weren't happy to see me. I stayed one night, then left. I flew around for days, getting my strength up and trying to figure out what to do. I'd sneak in my old room at my parent's house at night to sleep, and then leave again without my aunt or uncle knowing I was there. With what few people I interacted with, I introduced myself as Kestrel, to remember my mother.

About a week after my parents' death I was flying over the city when I saw what I at first took to be an airplane. Then I saw the wings flap and realized it must be another mutant, like me! I flew over towards them and motioned for them to land on a nearby hilltop to talk. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the famous/infamous Kittyhawk!

« KittyHawk - Part 7 »

Thankfully, I only hear about this stuff from a distance. Living in Colorado I'm a long way away from the ocean. Sure, there've been a few mutations this far inland where someone ate contaminated fish or something, but mostly it doesn't happen. Even when it does, the mutants always move away to the coast. Good riddance, I say!

A good example of this craziness is what happened to my neighbors daughter. They went down to Australia to celebrate her sweet sixteen. They came back early, but without their daughter. Turns out she turned into some kind of raccoon freak! The Carsons are good people, it really sucks that this kind of thing is happening to people like that. Imagine your only child turning into an animal!

I'm glad they started testing fish, I'd hate to have to go without. Still, I don't think it's worth it to get fish from the Pacific Ocean. Better to get it from the Atlantic and be sure. There hasn't been any contamination there. I decided to have a barbecue and invite the Carsons over, they need to unwind some after that disastrous trip. I love fish, so I went to the store and made sure to get fish that was clearly labeled as coming from the Atlantic.

We had a nice dinner together. John was still livid over his daughter's mutation. Millie was depressed and drank too much. Still, all things considered, it went pretty well. I think it did them good to get out. Maybe I should do it again sometime and invite more of the neighbors?

The next day there was a report on the news about some Pacific products being labeled as coming from the Atlantic. These products were not tested and were labeled that way so they could be sold. There was a huge uproar about it. People were probably going to get mutated or even killed because of it. I remembered the fish the Carsons and I ate the previous day, but figured it couldn't have gotten this far inland. That stuff just doesn't happen out here.

The Carsons just seemed to get worse every day. I tried to get them to socialize more but they weren't cooperating. One day I saw Millie with bruises on her arms and face. I began to fear that John was beating her, but what could I do? I tried to sound her out without saying anything outright, but she wouldn't talk to me. Every night I heard John yelling about one thing or another. I was afraid this was getting out of hand. This mutant business was tearing them apart, and there was nothing I could do!

A couple of weeks after the barbecue I saw an ambulance drive up to the Carsons. I was afraid they'd bring Millie out on a stretcher, but it was John! I rushed out to see what was going on. I got to the curb just as the ambulance pulled away. I looked around and there was Millie, sitting on their porch. I was surprised she wasn't on the ambulance with her husband, but with what I suspected had been going on I couldn't blame her.

"What happened to John, Millie?" I asked as I walked up to their porch.

"He's been sick for a couple of days, and he just keeps getting worse. He passed out on his way to the bathroom, so I called 911." she said calmly. I could tell there was something wrong here, beyond John's illness.

"Are you alright?" I asked. There were some nearly healed bruises in sight, but nothing recent. Of course, that doesn't mean there weren't any where her clothes would cover them up.

Millie smiled serenely. "It's alright Patrick. It's divine retribution." She replied with an eerie smile.

"Divine retribution?" I asked. What could that mean?

"Yes. We abandoned our daughter because she mutated. God has punished us with the same fate." she replied.

"You're both mutating?!" I exclaimed in shocked confusion. How could the Carsons be mutating? If they'd been exposed in Australia they should have changed before now!

"Yes. The paramedic said it must have been something we ate." Millie answered.

"Aren't you going to go to the hospital with John?" I asked, trying to ignore that last part.

Millie shrugged. "I suppose I should." she said without emotion. I offered to give her a ride and she accepted.

She didn't say anything on the drive to the hospital. She didn't really seem to be aware of her surroundings. I guided her into the hospital and asked about John. A nurse told us he was in the ICU and couldn't have any visitors yet. We sat down in the waiting area. Millie still seemed lost in her own world. I couldn't even imagine what I would do if I mutated. Would I kill myself? I just couldn't imagine it.

We were there for a few hours before a doctor came out to speak to Millie. "Mrs. Carson?" a young female doctor asked as she approached.

Millie didn't react, so I said, "Yes, she's Mrs. Carson. How's John doing?"

"I'm afraid he didn't make it." she answered sadly.

"What?!" I exclaimed. Millie just sat there.

"Mr. Carson's Y chromosomes were destroyed by the mutagen. He was becoming female, but the strain was too much for his heart. I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do." She explained.

I slumped back in my chair, stunned. I don't know which was more shocking, that John had been changing to become a woman, or that he died! How could all of this happen?!

"Are you alright Mrs. Carson?" the doctor asked, noticing her lack of reaction.

She seemed to come back to life just then. "Yes, doctor, I'm alright. God is punishing us for abandoning our daughter. We deserve this." She said with tears streaming down her face. While her fatalism didn't thrill me, it was good to see her showing some emotion.

The doctor frowned and seemed to want to say something, but stopped herself. "So are you mutating also?" she asked instead. Millie nodded. "You should let us take a look at you, then. We don't want you having a reaction like your husband, though it's unlikely."

Millie agreed and then floored me when she said, "You should take a look at Patrick here, too. I think it was the fish we had at his house a couple weeks ago that caused this."

I went to say something, but all that came out was a startled squeak. The doctor looked at me and said, "That sounds like a good idea. Why don't you two come with me."

She led us over to the lab where they took lots of blood. Then we were scanned and examined thoroughly. I was shaking the entire time. Could I really be mutating? I didn't want to even think about it!

We were told it would be a couple of days before they had the results of all of the tests, but that they wanted to keep us there just in case. Especially considering what happened to John. I agreed numbly. Millie seemed unbothered by all of it, though I saw tears in her eyes more than once.

They put us in rooms and I lay there worrying. Eventually my thoughts turned from what might happen to me and to what did happen to John. Could this all be my fault, because of that fish I bought? If so, then I'd killed my own neighbor! And what about poor Millie? She'd just lost her husband, just weeks after losing her daughter! Add in her guilt over it and it was amazing that she was holding together. Assuming that's what she was doing.

I started to feel ill, I was worrying so much. I wished I could just go to sleep; at least then I wouldn't be worrying so much! But I was too wound up for that.

A nurse brought us dinner. I tried to eat it, but it just made me feel worse. A little while later I had to rush to the bathroom to throw up. A lot more came out than what I ate. I must have cleared out everything I'd eaten for the last two days!

After cleaning myself up I staggered back to bed. I felt really weak, and fell asleep as soon as I was settled in.

A nurse woke me for dinner, but I couldn't get even one forkful down. A little later the doctor who we talked to before came in. "I have the results of your tests." She said.

"And?" I prompted fearfully.

"Mrs. Carson was right, you're both mutating. Since you were most likely exposed to the same source as the late Mr. Carson, we'd like to keep you both here under observation until you've finished mutating. Especially you," she said to me, "Mr. Cartright, because you are also undergoing a gender change."

I stared at her in shock. "Are you sure?" I asked in a small voice.

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but yes. There's no doubt about it." She asked if we had any questions and then left.

"It's alright, Patrick, I'll help you get through this. It's the least I can do." Mrs. Carson said.

"I appreciate that, but why aren't you mad at me? It was the fish I bought that did this to all of us." I said.

She smiled kindly at me. "You thought it was safe, I can't blame you. Besides, we brought this on ourselves for abandoning our daughter. You're the innocent victim in this. The least I can do is help you to adapt."

"Uh, thanks." I replied. The reality of what was going to happen to me was finally starting to settle in. I was glad for her help, but even with that, how would I cope?

Millie never did show much discomfort from her mutation, though she didn't change that much. I, on the other hand, was sick as a dog for a week or more. She took care of me at least as much as the nurses did, and I think they appreciated the help. I admit, I wasn't a good patient. It didn't help any that I found myself having to reconsider many of my preconceived ideas. Especially about mutants. I was about to become one of them, after all!

Millie had already been going through that same process because of Shawna, her daughter. Now that we were both mutating as well, she seemed to have a vastly different opinion of the matter. She was determined that after we got out of the hospital she would find her daughter and make things right. At least as much as she was able to. To my surprise, I found myself promising to go with her.

I lost a great deal of weight over that week, and looked like a sickly child by the time I got my appetite back. I developed quickly after that, helped along by a ravenous appetite. In the end I was several inches shorter, about five foot seven inches, and weighed no more than a hundred pounds. Millie was still her same five foot six inches she'd been before, but was looking younger and healthier than ever. As was I, I suppose, but the shock of looking at a woman's face in the mirror kind of occluded that thought.

Other than looking rejuvenated, Millie's only other change was that her hair turned grey and she grew a rat's tail with the same grey colored fur on it. I thought she'd be upset about it, but she seemed perfectly content. If this was divine retribution, I had to say that she was taking it well.

For myself, I couldn't have looked much more different than I did, and I didn't handle it well at all. Besides being shorter, thinner, much lighter and, well, female! I was also curvy, busty, and had beautiful long blonde hair and ice blue eyes. I had no visible animal traits, which was a relief.

The doctor finally released us and I was relieved to be out of the hospital. I was not happy about being seen in my new body though, especially since all I had to wear were scrubs bought in the gift shop!

At Millie's insistence I had chosen a new name. She'd suggested Patricia, but I didn't care for it. Instead I chose Kara. Don't ask me where it came from, I really don't know.

"Kara, we need to get you some new clothes." Millie announced once we'd returned to her house.

I sighed. "I know." I agreed.

"I don't think many of my clothes will fit you, but let's see what we can find." She said, leading me up to her room.

Her bras were all too small for me, as were her panties. She had a long skirt that was supposed to be one size fits all that I could wear, and a few different tops that fit, if rather snugly. I wasn't comfortable with them, but they'd attract less attention than the scrubs. Anything that helped me avoid attention was good as far as I was concerned!

Millie tucked her tail into the leg of her pants and we left for the store. I was grateful that neither of us were obvious mutants. I was disappointed that I was, indeed, attracting attention, however, and realized it was because of the tight top I was wearing and my lack of bra. We found undergarments for me first, so that took care of half the problem. Then I made sure to find tops that were loose and didn't show a lot of cleavage. I attracted a lot less attention after that, thankfully!

Millie seemed a bit disappointed that I was hiding my figure, but she didn't argue the point, to my relief. Soon I had a respectable wardrobe of clothes I could feel comfortable with, mostly loose tops and pants.

I was grateful to get away from there and back to Millie's house. She insisted on teaching me how to handle my long hair, which I didn't have a real problem with. It was the makeup I didn't like! Why did I need to learn that stuff, I wasn't going to use it!

I finally convinced her that I didn't need to learn about makeup, at least not yet. Then we started talking about Shawna, her daughter.

"I want to find her as soon as possible." Millie said.

"I've been thinking about that, too. I think we should take a couple of days to get our financial affairs in order, then we can fly down to Australia." I replied.

Millie agreed, so that's what we did for the next couple of days. It wasn't too difficult, both our homes were paid for, as well as our cars. A friend of mine would take care of things for me while I was gone, and Millie had a friend she could trust to do the same. I think we spent more time packing for the trip. Since we didn't know how long it would take, we were bringing enough clothes for two weeks. We also packed up all of Shawna's favorite things. Most of her clothes wouldn't fit anymore from what Millie said, but there were keepsakes, CDs, and other things that she would probably appreciate having. We were hoping to bring her back with us, but we realized she might not be willing. We even discussed moving down there permanently, if Shawna didn't want to come back. That way Millie would have time, and access, to try and mend their relationship. I felt responsible for John's death, so I was determined to help out as much as I could.

I was amazed at how well my friends handled my change. I know in their shoes I wouldn't have handled it so well. I'd like to think that I would, now.

Before long everything was packed up and prepared and we were off for Australia. I still wasn't comfortable with my new body, but Millie was a constant source of support for me. She still seemed unfazed by her own mutation. Considering the only changes were her apparent age and a tail, I guess I can see why.

Our only lead to finding Shawna was the doctor who treated her at the hospital. He had tried to talk John and Millie into coming back and bringing her home when they first left Australia. Once we'd gotten settled in a hotel, we went to the hospital and asked for him.

We had to wait for almost an hour before Dr. Morris was able to see us. He recognized Millie immediately. "Mrs. Carson! I'm surprised to see you here. You look different than the last time I saw you." He said in greeting.

"That's because I mutated as well, though from a different source. I've been a fool and I've come to try and make it up to my daughter. Do you know where she is?" Millie asked.

"Oh, she's not in Australia anymore. She was getting attacked regularly and I mentioned her to a friend of mine. He managed to convince a mutant to come get her and take her to the island where she lives. You might have heard about it, they called her Kittyhawk on the news." Dr. Morris replied.

My eyes widened as I remembered that. "Are you saying it was Shawna that Kittyhawk rescued from that gang?!" I exclaimed.

Dr. Morris nodded. "Yes. If she hadn't come when she did, those thugs would have killed her." He looked at me curiously. "You're not Mr. Carson, are you?" he asked hesitantly.

I shook my head, "No, he didn't survive the mutation. I'm their next door neighbor. It was fish I served at a barbecue that mutated all three of us. I'm afraid it's my fault John's dead." I said sadly.

Millie looked at me reproachfully. "I've told you before, Kara, I don't blame you. You bought fish that was labeled as being from the Atlantic Ocean, you couldn't know that it was deliberately mismarked. It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry to hear about Mr. Carson. If you're serious about accepting Shawna as she is, then I can tell my friend you're looking for her. I'll leave it up to her whether I tell you where she is." Dr. Morris said.

Millie nodded. "That's fine, I know she must be very angry with me right now. Would it be possible to ship some of her things to her? We brought them with us."

"I'm not sure, but I'll ask." Dr. Morris replied. "I'm afraid it may take a few days, or longer, to get a reply."

"I understand. I'll be here as long as it takes." Millie said.

"Me too." I said. "I want to help any way I can."

Millie gave Dr. Morris her cell phone number and we returned to the hotel.

We spent the time waiting for word from Shawna sight seeing. Millie also used that time to try and get me more comfortable with my new body. She taught me a lot about being a woman, including a lot I really didn't want to know!

On the eighth day after our talk with Dr. Morris he called Millie's cell phone and asked us to meet him at the hospital. We agreed and hurried over.

He took us back to his office when we arrived. "My friend talked to Shawna. He left a satellite phone with her so that you can talk to her directly. Here's the number." He said, and handed a piece of paper to Millie. "As for shipping her things over, I suggest you wait until after you've talked with Shawna. She may be willing to let you come visit, so you could bring them with you." He suggested.

Millie nodded and we both thanked him. We returned to the hotel and Millie called the number Dr. Morris gave her.

"Hello, may I talk to Shawna? I'm her mother." Millie said into the phone. She waited a few minutes, then Shawna must have picked up the phone. "Shawna? I'm so glad you're alright! I'm so sorry for abandoning you like that!" she exclaimed. The conversation continued for half an hour or more, but I couldn't make out what was happening very well with only hearing one side. It did sound like Shawna was willing to listen, at least.

Finally Millie turned off her phone. "How did it go?" I asked worriedly.

She smiled and said, "I think it went pretty well! She's angry, of course, and hurt, but she invited both of us to visit her!"

"That's great! So where is she?" I asked.

"I don't know, she said she'd handle travel arrangements through Dr. Morris and he'd call with the details." Millie replied.

We didn't hear from Dr. Morris for two days. When he did call all he said was that we should pack up our things and we would be picked up at the hotel. We thanked him and did as he said. A few hours later there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a man in a black suit wearing sunglasses. "Hello, my name is Thomas, I'm a friend of Dr. Morris. Are you Mrs. Carson, by any chance?"

"No, I'm her neighbor. Millie's inside." I said and let him in. He greeted Millie and helped us take our bags out to a large van. "Where are we going?" I asked as we were finishing loading the bags.

"An island roughly six hundred miles northeast of here. A group of mutants live there, including Kittyhawk and Shawna. I have an amphibious aircraft waiting for us." Thomas replied.

"They don't have an airport there?" I asked.

Thomas shook his head as he climbed into the driver's seat. "No, nor do they have electricity except for the small generator I dropped off with that satellite phone you called Shawna on. The island was uninhabited when they arrived there over two years ago."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Millie asked.

"Just a few hours." Thomas replied. We were silent the rest of the trip to the pier where the amphibious airplane was tied up. There was a man there who opened up the plane for us when we arrived.

"Hello! I'm getting a ride from Thomas, also! My name is Carl Kleinman. Let me help you with those bags." He said, putting action to words. With his and Thomas' help it didn't take long for us to get everything loaded up. The plane was packed! Carl and Thomas also had some bags on board, as well as various supplies for the island. There were only four seats on the plane, so it was quite full.

"Everyone strapped in?" Carl asked as he strapped himself into the pilot's chair. We indicated we were, so he started the plane.

It was a very boring flight, all the more so because it was too loud in the plane to hold a decent conversation. After a few hours we arrived at the island. The landing was very bumpy, but Carl assured us it was normal. A man with gills guided the plane past the reefs to a beach. Carl anchored it a short ways out and a boat met us. We all climbed into the boat. Thomas said someone would return with the boat and collect our bags and the supplies.

When we got to shore I saw a very small girl with raccoon ears and tail waiting for us. I thought she looked very familiar, but I didn't realize who she was until Millie cried out, "Shawna!" and jumped out of the boat and ran towards her. Shawna stayed close to a oriental girl with six arms and a woman with slitted eyes like a cat and waited for her.

The rest of us climbed out of the boat and walked ashore. I watched as Millie ran up to Shawna and then stopped suddenly, just a few feet away. I was too far away to hear what was said, but Shawna suddenly lunged forward and hugged her mother, so it looked like things were going well!

« KittyHawk - Part 9 »

Or so I thought.

So there I was, going on vacation to Mexico for a week. I visited my parents for a couple of days beforehand, which was great as always. They drove me to the airport and said goodbye, and I guess that's the last I'll ever see of them.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, I landed in Mexico without any problems. Grabbed my luggage and checked into my hotel. It was late, so I crashed for the night so I could get started with my vacation in earnest in the morning.

I slept, for how long I have no idea. When I woke it was to a hard, thin bed in a dark room. The only light was coming from a bare bulb directly above me. The room wasn't even big enough for me to stretch out my 6'5" frame. The bed was just a really thin mat lying on the concrete floor. Three walls were solid, dank concrete. The fourth wall was made of bars, like a jail cell.

I was just trying to figure out where I was, or if I was dreaming, when someone walked up to the door (also made of bars). It was some puny guy in a lab coat who obviously wasn't getting enough sun. I stood to get a better look at him, and he looked me up and down like I was a particularly interesting bug. "Where am I?" I asked.

He ignored me. He had a clipboard with him and marked something on it. Then with a freaky grin he turned and walked away. He was tiny, I could break him in half without trying, but that grin combined with my surroundings really freaked me out. This was not how my luck was supposed to go!

I tried the door, but it was locked tight. I'm strong, real strong, but I could barely even rattle the door! Those bars were thick, too, at least two inches. I even threw myself against the door a few times, but I took more damage than the damn door did.

Tired from my exertions, I sat on the mat on the floor and thought about how I'd gotten here. The last thing I remembered was going to sleep in my hotel room. Why would these guys kidnap random people from right out of a hotel room? Seemed rather risky to me.

I don't know how long I sat there, it certainly seemed like a really long time, but eventually that creepy guy came back with a couple of mutants! This was only like the second time I'd ever seen a mutant in person, and these two were big guys. One had a horn sticking out of his head, but looked pretty ordinary other than that and his bulk. The other one had striped fur, claws, fangs, and cat-like eyes.

The creepy guy opened the door while the mutants stood guard. Once the door was open the guy with the horn came in and grabbed me by the arm. As soon as we were out of the cell I tried to break away but he was even stronger than he looked! He completely ignored my struggles, but it seemed to annoy the creepy guy.

"Subdue the subject." He said with a glance at the striped mutant. The mutant nodded and casually backhanded me. Most guys did that, I would barely even feel it. I'm pretty tough. But this guy was way stronger than he looked and it was only because the other guy held me up that I didn't fall on my butt.

My ears were ringing after that one blow and I found I didn't have the strength to resist anymore. Not that I was strong enough to get away, anyway. What were they feeding these guys?!

The creepy guy walked ahead with the mutants dragging me along between them. They acted like I didn't weigh a thing. Maybe, to them, I didn't. Anyway, they dragged me to another room a lot like the other one. Only, this one had no light inside but did have a gurney set up. The mutants effortlessly strapped me down on the gurney, despite my best efforts, and left. The creepy guy lingered long enough to inject me with something. Then he left with another of his freaky smiles.

I hate this place already, I thought as everything went dark.

Anyway, somewhere along the line I finally woke up without any major pain. It was still dark, but I could immediately feel that there was something wrong. Well, something else was wrong. I was still tied down, but the straps weren't nearly as tight as before. It was child's play to get my arms free, but when I did I bumped into something that shouldn't have been there.

Breasts?! What the hell?! I thought. That led to some more self exploration, which told me that I was now a mutant. A female mutant. I also felt like I was a lot smaller, and a lot less muscular. Oh yeah, and there were the wings. Feathery ones. What the heck happened to my luck?!

Okay, I'll admit it. I got kind of depressed at that point. Alright, alright, a lot depressed! I had everything going for me and suddenly I wasn't even the same person anymore! And I was still a prisoner, on top of that. I thought about trying to escape, but in the end I just stuck my arms back under the straps and went back to sleep.

I wasn't really sure if I was awake or dreaming, but I got the weird feeling it was neither. Everything felt odd, and not just the girl parts. It was like my brain was awake but my body was still asleep. As I was thinking about that I felt things start to move inside. I could hear my heartbeat slowly increasing. The voices started to notice, so I tried to calm myself back down. I didn't want them to pay any more attention to me if I could help it.

It worked! My heart slowed back down and the voices faded away after a few more words. It occurred to me that maybe this was some kind of weird mutant ability, to slow my heart rate down and keep myself asleep while still being aware. I decided to play around with it some and see what I could do.

Time flowed really weirdly while I experimented. Sometimes I heard nothing at all, and wondered if that was because there was no sound to hear, or if I had somehow cut off my own hearing. Other times I could hear okay, but the sounds were all slow and drawn out. Made it really hard to understand words, but it made me think I was getting somewhere.

Eventually I managed to reach a point where my heart was beating so slow even I could barely detect it. I thought maybe they'd think I was dead, and that would give me a chance to get away. After that, well, I didn't really think that far ahead. It just reminded me of what I'd lost.

Unfortunately, with my heart slowed that much, I couldn't hear anything. It was like being in a sensory deprivation tank, or so I imagined. I had no way of telling how much time was passing, so I waited as long as I dared. I knew I couldn't keep it up forever, because even at such a slow rate I'd eventually starve to death, or die of dehydration or something. Still, I pushed it as far as I dared.

Finally, I was starting to feel...off, somehow, so I knew I needed to wake myself back up. It took a while. Slowly, my heart rate increased and I could feel other things happening, too. Sound began to return, and I was happy to hear birds chirping in the distance. I was free! Well, maybe.

Eventually I was fully awake and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a big, white, fluffy cloud. I wanted to shout for joy, but I didn't know if any of creepy guy's cronies were still around. So I turned my head real carefully to look around.

Caution got thrown to the wind pretty quickly when I realized I was lying on a dead guy. Okay, I'll admit it. I screamed like a little girl. Especially when I realized I wasn't lying on a dead guy; I was lying on a whole heap of them!

"Over there!" I heard someone say between screams. I turned to look and saw one of the most wonderful sights I'd ever seen. A mutant, but one I knew wouldn't be involved in what was done to me. This mutant was famous all over the world as a champion for mutants. Kittyhawk!

This story continues on from « Arachnephobic »

The flight to the island was terrifying, especially when we arrived. There was some kind of military ship nearby, and it was firing at us! Kittyhawk managed to get me down on the beach without harm, however, and handed me over to a little raccoon girl.

The girl, Shawna, was very enthusiastic. She seemed unconcerned by my appearance and said she would be happy to share one of the houses they'd built with me. I felt safe around Shawna; she is very small and tends to smile a lot.

Thankfully she took me into their village so I didn't have to get involved with the men from the ship. I knew they were taken prisoner, though. I wondered whether this new 'gang' was any better than the one I had left?

That fear only grew when I learned that Kittyhawk had killed nearly half the men. I knew they'd attacked her first. Even so, I began to fear I might have made a mistake. It was only Shawna's endless enthusiasm that kept me from running and hiding somewhere.

I was very glad when the men were taken away and put on boats to go to another one of their ships. I was kept away again, for which I was thankful. Kittyhawk was showing much greater concern for me than the gang in the city had. Shawna helped me to see that, as she did so many things.

I settled into my new life slowly. Kittyhawk asked me to tell Shawna about myself, both having been male (and still being attracted to women) and my disgusting new feeding habits. Shawna was 'grossed out', I think she would say, but okay. About the feeding, that is. She didn't react to the having been a man part. I suppose it is not unusual on this island.

When Kittyhawk, or Cat as she keeps asking me to call her, was preparing to leave again I learned that someone had tried to kidnap Shawna's friend Jill while K.., I mean Cat, was gone. This was to have a hostage to use against Cat. Someone wanted to study her, because she is the strongest, I think. She is very impressive.

Anyway, Cat was concerned someone would try to use her parents against her in the same way. Her previous identity was known somehow, so she went to find them. Her mate was sad to see her going so soon, but did a good job of making sure everyone did what was needed while she was gone. Even the dog man.

His name is Jacob, the dog man that is. He is strong, fast and tough, and knows it. He is very proud and thinks he is 'God's gift to women', as Shawna says. Thankfully, with my six arms and other freakish changes, he leaves me alone. I do not want that kind of attention from a man. That is disgusting!

Things were quiet while Cat was gone and I found my place in the village. Shawna and I took turns as scouts to make sure nobody came to the island without us knowing. They had been attacked a few times now and were cautious. That made me very nervous, but I took solace in the fact that they had succeeded in repelling those attacks, even when Cat was not around.

Now that she knew I had not been a girl for long Shawna tried to get me more comfortable with my new body. She became frustrated with me at times because I had no interest. I recognized that my body was female, but did that really have to change anything? I thought not.

My need to eat live animals continued to bother me. After her initial disgust at the thought Shawna seemed to consider it quite normal. And she seemed very sympathetic when I accidentally let it slip that I had... eaten somebody before. But I could not get over how horrible it is. I felt like I had become something not human. Shawna tried to disabuse me of this idea, but it was one of those things she got frustrated over.

In my time alone, mostly when I went hunting, I experimented with my webbing. I thought perhaps I might get some practical use out of it. I found that using it extensively resulted in my needing to eat more, which made sense. It was sticky, as you would expect. But it was very strong.

We had a storm a couple of days after Cat left that did some damage to the roof of one of the houses. Shawna and I wandered near to see what the fuss was about. A section of the roof had been torn away by the wind and they were discussing how best to fix it. That's when I did something that surprised me greatly; I volunteered to help!

That's how I found myself crouched on the roof of the damaged building, using my webbing to lash the roof back together. It looked odd, but when Mike, the man who lived in the house, tested it out he said it was stronger than ever. So at least something good came of my grotesque new form.

The fox girl, Tina, acted oddly around me. I realized after a time that she was flirting with me, but couldn't understand why. I knew that many of the women on the island were lesbians, but why would she have any interest in me? I was too confused to respond, so I pretended not to understand her. She left me alone eventually, but I couldn't decide if I was relieved or sad. Shawna missed this entirely, thankfully.

Then a man visited in a plane and left a generator and satellite phone, so that Shawna's mother could call her. I was amazed, since Shawna had told me how her parents had abandoned her as soon as it was obvious what was happening to her. What could have made them change their minds, or was this some kind of ploy?

She received the call not long after that and invited her mother to come to visit. Neither of us were certain whether this was a good idea or not, but it was her mother and she felt she had to give her a chance. Shawna was very nervous about it and quieter than I had ever seen her. I only hoped it would go well.

The next day that same plane arrived. This time there were four people on board. The man who brought the phone, another man nobody seemed to know, Shawna's mother, and a strange woman. This turned out to be her next door neighbor, who had been a man in his thirties or forties but now looked like a young woman. The reunion went very well and her mother decided to stay on the island with us, along with her friend the neighbor.

I had mixed feelings about it. Shawna started spending a lot of time catching up with her mother and trying to assure her neighbor, Kara, that she didn't blame her for her parents mutating and her father dying. That left me alone a lot. I thought I liked that at first, but found I was getting depressed without Shawna's constant enthusiasm.

I didn't have time to get too depressed, though. Not long after the plane arrived Cat came back as well. And she brought her own parents with her, and another mutant. This one, by the name of Melissa (though she also went by Kestrel, which I rather liked) was truly amazing! But our meeting was rushed, as Cat had spotted a group of military ships headed our way. A jet had flown over shortly before she landed and apparently it came from an aircraft carrier.

Everyone was talking about leaving the island, and it being bombed into oblivion. I became very afraid, but Cat became convinced she could deal with it alone. How she could possibly stop such a force alone none of us could fathom, but she left before anyone could convince her otherwise. Her mate, Paul, then led us all to the cave where the men from the other ship had been kept.

The cave had never been properly cleaned, so there were blood stains everywhere. I was afraid to even go into that place, but thankfully nobody asked me to. Paul said we would need to get inside if it looked like any planes had gotten past Cat, but allowed us to stay outside to see what was happening. I was too afraid to look.

Shawna must have seen this, because she dragged me over to talk to Melissa. I soon forgot about our situation as I learned more about how she had helped Cat save her parents. Melissa is truly an amazing person. So strong, confident, and beautiful! But I also learned she had always wanted to be a girl, which I found strange. But that did nothing to diminish how amazing she truly is!

We were distracted from our conversation by blinding flashes of lightning, with nearly simultaneous blasts of thunder. Looking up we all saw her swatting jets from the sky like a goddess with bolts of lightning. All conversation halted and my breath caught at the impossible sight before us.

Very soon the battle was over and Cat flew back. We saw her land in the village, but Paul assured us she would realize where we were and come to us. He was right.

Cat seemed exhilarated, almost intoxicated even. But then she passed out. Paul tried to catch her but was electrocuted. Fortunately the man in the suit who brought Shawna's parents, Thomas, knew CPR and saved him. After that nobody dared touch her. Paul told us to go back to the village and waited for Cat to wake.

The next morning Cat and Paul returned, seeming none the worse for the experience. After talking to Thomas and the other man Cat became very agitated and was ready to fly off again. Paul stopped her, though, reminding her that she needed to rest.

Shawna and I were talking to Melissa later when Cat came to talk. First she asked Melissa to come with her to help free enslaved mutants in a place called the 'Bangkok Zoo'. Melissa was ready to fight right then and there when she learned what was happening there, but Cat said they would be leaving in a day or two.

Then Cat wanted to talk to me. I began to worry when Shawna left us alone to help Melissa pack. Had I done something wrong, I wondered?

I was astonished to learn that she was going to leave the dog man in charge while she was gone! She had warned me about him from the beginning! But she seemed to think he was getting better, and she wanted me to keep him in line if he did anything wrong. Me!

I protested, but she insisted that I was the only one who was staying who was strong enough. I thought Elaine could handle it, but then Elaine only gained strength from her mutation. The dog man had strength, but also had speed and toughness on his side. Although I thought Elaine stronger, just the same. She is very impressive when she wants to be.

I was stunned, even more so that I agreed! But then, I did owe Cat very much.

I was in a daze as I walked over to our house, where Melissa was staying until she could get her own place. She and Shawna had already finished packing, Melissa hadn't had time to unpack very much yet. They were sat talking so I sat in a corner, too stunned to think.

Melissa noticed me there (Shawna's back was to me) and asked if I was alright. I nodded numbly and said, "I'm in charge?"

"What do you mean?" Shawna asked.

"Cat wants me to control dog man. He in charge while she is gone." I said.

"So... you're in charge, but everyone's to act like he is?" Melissa asked.

"I... suppose so?" I replied, confused. That was what it sounded like, but how could Cat want me in charge? I am no leader!

"Cool!" Shawna said, unsurprisingly.

Melissa shrugged, "Well, I guess that makes sense. She's told me a little about the trouble he's caused. Are you okay with it?"

"I owe Cat much, I will have to be." I said. Melissa didn't seem to like that answer much, but Shawna soon had us both sidetracked. She's very good at that.

Shawna and I spent much of our time in Melissa's company before she had to leave. We showed her around and she took each of us flying. I found it terrifying at first, but felt strangely safe with her.

All too soon she and Cat left, along with Paul, Mike, Tina and the new man, Carl. Another plane arrived for Thomas soon after and he left as well.

With so many gone, it wasn't difficult to find places for all the new arrivals to stay. Cat's parents stayed in her house, while Shawna's mother and neighbor stayed in Tina's. Kara was offered Mike's, but didn't want to be alone. That proved wise.

Only a day after Cat left I found Jacob talking to Kara. He wasn't being forceful as I had been told he was before, but he was being very obnoxious. Millie, Shawna's mother, was trying to get him to back off. Kara didn't know how to handle the situation but was clearly not interested. Why dog man acts like that I do not understand.

Remembering what Cat had asked me to do I walked over and politely asked dog man to leave Kara alone, though I called him by name.

He seemed very angry at me, much more so than he seemed at Millie who was also asking him to leave Kara alone, "Not you!" he growled. "I'm not messing with you, get out of here!"

I didn't understand why he reacted to me that way, but later decided it must be because of how freakish I am with my six arms and other oddities. "I will not. She does not want you, go away." I said, wincing at my own rudeness. But Cat was counting on me and I didn't know what else to do.

He growled, a truly canine growl, "This is fucked up! Leave this one alone, leave that one alone! Everyone's pairing up around here but me, all because of Cat! And now her pet bitch is getting in on the act?! Not happening!" I was so bewildered by his speech I didn't react in time to his sudden attack and he punched me in the face. I fell on my back, stunned.

But he wasn't finished and came at me. That jarred me from my stupor. I rolled aside in time to avoid his foot. I quickly jumped to my feet in time to get hit in the chest. This time I slid back from the force of the blow but I managed not to fall down. "Another tough one, huh?" he said, coming at me again.

This time I ducked under his blow and braced myself with my feet. I grabbed him around the waist with two hands and pummeled him with the other four. It was astonishingly effective. In seconds he was on the ground, groaning in pain. I backed away, shocked at what I'd done.

"Thank you dear, that was quite impressive!" Millie said, smiling at me. I looked up at her and saw Kara nod weakly beside her before turning my attention back to dog man. He recovered quickly, but lost interest in the fight. He said nothing, just glared at me and stumbled away.

"I...I..." I stuttered, but couldn't get any words out.

Millie frowned and stepped over to me, laying one hand on my shoulder, "You seem upset, are you alright?"

"I... I... hurt... him?!" I squeaked. I winced at the sound. I still didn't like my new voice.

"Why, yes, although he seems to have recovered alright. What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm confused." I said.

"Well, why don't we go find my daughter. You're friends, right?" she said. I nodded numbly. "Come along Kara!" They each took an arm, one on each side that is, and led me over to our house. Shawna wasn't there, so Millie went to look for her.

Kara looked a lot better now that we were inside. "Are you worried he'll come after you?" she asked while we waited.

I shook my head, more in confusion than in reply to her question, "Cat said I stronger, I not believe." I didn't even realize my speech was regressing.

Kara frowned but didn't seem to know what to say to that. Fortunately Millie and Shawna arrived before the silence became too awkward.

Millie must have told Shawna what happened because she ran in and hugged me. I was only further confused when I cried. Once I'd gotten myself under control Shawna leaned back, "Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded weakly, "I think so."

"Why is she so upset? Is she a pacifist or something?" Kara asked.

Shawna turned to look at Kara and shook her head, "She's just insecure." Then she turned back to me, "You see now, right? You're really strong! You don't have to be afraid of anybody!"

"I am... not so sure of that." I said.

Shawna sighed, obviously frustrated with me again. "I've been trying to show her how strong she is, but she doesn't listen." she explained to her mother and Kara.

They both got into it then, trying to convince me that I am very strong, stronger than anybody else on the island (except Cat, of course). Their words had some effect, but I was still reluctant to believe them.

After that encounter Jacob stayed clear of me and glared at me every chance he got. It didn't help any that people seemed more inclined to bring their problems to me than to him. Jill asked me to help her build a nest of sorts in a tree so she could hide there to keep a lookout for any incoming ships. My webs proved quite effective at the task and Shawna and I soon built our own.

We ended up expanding ours into a sort of tree house. It became my favorite place to hide, though everyone seemed to know about it so it proved more of a place where everyone could find me if they needed me.

Jacob seemed to calm down a few days after our altercation. He still didn't like me, but he wasn't so angry. He even smiled a few times, though not at me of course.

Before long the fiction that Jacob was in charge was dropped and he didn't seem to care, oddly enough. Shawna and I discussed his odd behavior many times. She came home one night very excited, "I've figured out what's going on with Jacob!"

"What?" I asked.

"He's seeing my mom!" she said.

"You mean, romantically?" I asked in shock.

She nodded, "Yeah, weird huh? She just told me! I was worried he might be forcing her or something at first, but she says not. Still, I'm a little worried about her. Could you keep your eyes open for me?"

"Of course." I agreed. "Do you think she has somehow tamed him?"

Shawna shrugged, "Maybe? She's a lot different than she used to be. She used to be a real mouse around Dad, but she's a lot stronger now."

"Used to be a mouse...?" I said and couldn't keep from laughing.

"What's so funny?" she asked, annoyed.

"Your mother has a mouse tail, yes? But she's not a mouse anymore?!" I said, laughing even harder.

She held the annoyed look for a moment before giggling, "Yeah, I guess that is kind of funny."

The island became much more harmonious after that. I hadn't realized how much he disrupted things until he calmed down. But then, Cat usually kept him in check. But Millie had succeeded where Cat and I had failed. She tamed the dog!

Elaine worried that Cat was planning on bringing more people back to the island. And that was in addition to the new people already there, and Melissa. We had plenty of room now, while they were gone, but we would need more space soon. She told me how the houses were built and how Cat had prepared the foundations. She wanted to build more, but didn't think any of us were strong enough to use the same approach.

I agreed and we discussed it. I suggested a tree trunk, remembering a large dead tree I'd passed many times in the forest.

"Hmm, I guess if we trimmed off the branches that might work. But how big is it?" Elaine asked.

"I believe it is about four of your feet in diameter." I said, having gotten somewhat used to American measurements.

"That big? Okay, that could work. But how do we get it here, how many people will we need to roll it?" she said.

I didn't know on either count, but agreed to take her out to see the tree the next day.

In the morning I met up with Elaine and took her to the tree. It was a dead tree, most of the branches having already fallen off. It was listing to one side, the roots exposed where they'd pulled out of the ground. "Are you sure this is strong enough for this?" she asked.

I shrugged, "Let's see." I walked over and wrapped all six arms around the trunk of the tree and squeezed. The bark broke away, but the wood underneath was sound. What surprised me is the entire tree moved!

"Whoa, careful there or you'll rip the whole thing out of the ground! On second thought, maybe that's a good idea." Elaine said.

"I can't lift a tree!" I protested.

"You just about did, just now. Give it a try?" Elaine said.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around the tree again. Bracing myself as well as I could I pulled in the direction it was already leaning. Snapping and cracking sounds came from the roots as they broke away. It began to topple towards me and I tried to stop it, but it was too heavy. Using every ounce of strength I had I managed to shift it to the side so it didn't crush me.

"See, you did it!" Elaine said happily.

"I was nearly crushed!" I complained.

"Well, yeah, but you still did it! Maybe the two of us could get it back to the village?" she mused.

We tried lifting it, but we couldn't hold it for long. So we tried rolling it, instead. That worked much better. In fact, I was able to handle it alone that way, freeing Elaine up to guide me.

"This will work great! That thing's heavy enough to get the job done and you can push it." Elaine enthused as I rolled it back to the village. We had to make many detours to fit its bulk through the trees, but eventually we got it to the edge of the village. By that time I was exhausted.

"Okay, now we have the means to prepare the ground we can begin pulling out the grass where we'll be building the houses and making bricks!" Elaine said.

She obviously knew what she was doing, so I followed her lead. I was too tired to do much, though, so ended up watching the others hauling wooden frames out of the storage house and set them up. Most of them started pulling grass while a few went to collect mud and sand. Shawna, her mother and Kara were obviously the only ones who hadn't done this before.

Not much was done that first day besides gathering materials. But Jacob and Vincent cleared off the bark and cut off the stubs remaining of the branches to make the log as smoothly rounded as possible.

Shawna was extremely impressed with me for retrieving the tree and used that as another point to prove how strong she thinks I am. I was even beginning to believe her a little.

The next few days we were busy pulling grass, mixing it with mud and sand and pouring the mixture into the frames. Once we had a good number going I started using the log to flatten the ground. I doubted it would be as firmly packed as Cat had managed, but Elaine believed it would be good enough.

Before long we were laying bricks for the first new house. That's when we heard the sound of a plane approaching. It proved to be Carl with a load of refugees from Thailand!

The refugees were almost all undernourished, or even injured. We quickly reshuffled where everyone was staying to make room for them, but it was tight. Many of the people Carl brought did not speak English, or not well. Fortunately a few spoke both languages and could translate well enough. Before long they were helping and the houses went up much more quickly.

We had to spend more time hunting for food than before and there was talk of establishing a proper farm for vegetables. The gardens and fruit trees we had were helpful but our numbers were going to grow too quickly according to what Carl had told us before he left. I was glad that Cat was helping all these people but wished we had thought this through before hand.

Most of the new people had experience in farming, so they took the lead on that once the houses were done. We knew we'd need more houses soon, but felt that getting the farm started sooner was more important because it would take time to grow anything.

I helped where I could. Mostly with the houses, since my webbing proved amazingly effective. Unlike that American comic book character my webbing didn't degrade quickly. It was very strong and showed no signs of wearing out.

I got to know the others much better as I helped them with their problems. I even got to know dog man a little but I still didn't trust him. We saw no signs he was abusing Shawna's mother at least. That was a relief.

Everything was coming along quite well. I was amazed at how well everyone seemed to work together but reminded myself that most of these people had been relying on each other for survival for years before I arrived.

I knew there would be difficulty once all the mutants Cat had, and probably still was, rescued arrived. But everyone seemed ready to deal with the challenges. And the new people fit right in, helping as much as their health allowed. Which improved greatly. Before long they were almost as healthy as everyone else.

With dog man...Jacob, tamed by Shawna's mother and everyone working together so well there seemed to be no problems. We still kept a lookout in case someone came after us again. But all was peaceful. The only real problem I had, besides how hideous I am, was that I found I was missing Kestrel very much. She is very nice to talk to.

 
My Dad took me and my best friend Lisa to Hawaii for summer vacation. He’s always wanted to go. It took some work to convince him to take Lisa along, but it would have been sooo boring without her! Especially since Mom had to work and couldn’t come, bummer!

“Oh no!” Lisa wailed. “They can’t close the beach!”

Dad grimaced. “Sorry, Lisa. Looks like we’re not going to be spending any time on the beach this trip.” He said.

Lisa was so disappointed she looked like she was ready to cry. I tried to hug her to comfort her, but she pushed me away as always. She never lets me hug her.

There were guards watching the fence. One of them saw us there in our swimsuits and walked up to us. “I’m very sorry, but the beach is closed. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the chemical spill that has caused all these mutations. Ocean currents have carried a large amount of those chemicals here and all the beaches are contaminated.” He said apologetically.

“Wait, did you say all the beaches?!” Lisa exclaimed.

He nodded. “Yes, all of them. The water is heavily contaminated. Swimming in the ocean right now would almost certainly result in you mutating. And if you’re really unlucky, you would die. Because of the water flowing over it, even the sand of the beach is contaminated. I’m sorry.” He answered before moving on to tell another group of would-be swimmers.

Lisa was really bummed out by this news. We all walked back to the hotel and changed back out of our swimsuits. I suggested we go shopping, knowing it would cheer Lisa up. Dad reluctantly agreed. As we were walking towards the door of the hotel we saw a couple wearing swimsuits and carrying towels and beach chairs heading out. A hotel employee stopped them at the door.

“If you’re planning to go to the beach, I’m afraid it’s closed.” He told them apologetically.

“What?! How can the beach be closed?!” The man replied angrily.

“You’ve heard about that mutating chemical spill, right?” he asked. They both nodded. “Well, all the water around Hawaii is filled with the stuff. Even the sand is covered in those chemicals! All of the beaches have been closed until the currents move it past us and the contamination of the beaches can be cleaned up.”

“What kind of Hawaiian vacation is it if we can’t go to the beach?!” he exclaimed. “Surely we can at least lay our blankets out on the beach and get some sun, right?”

“I’m afraid that isn’t a good idea, sir. It’s all but impossible to walk on a beach without getting some sand on you. You’d get at least some exposure, especially since some of those chemicals are radioactive! Also, people who get only very minimal exposure often get sick and die, instead of mutating. It’s actually safer to swim in the ocean than it is to lie out on the beach.” He explained.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad!” the man ranted as his wife tried to calm him down.

The hotel employee answered, “Sir, even if it’s not as bad as I’ve been told, you don’t want to risk it! Five boys went out into the water before the fences were up. Within a month they had all mutated, and three of them were girls!”

The man looked shocked at this, and so was I! “Girls?! How’s that possible?” he asked.

“I’ve heard it has something to do with the weakening of the Y chromosome or something. Whatever the reason, most guys that mutate become girls!” He answered, horrified.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, focusing on that last part. Most guys become girls?! Could that work for me? I caught Lisa looking at me strangely so I pretended that I hadn’t heard that as we walked out.

One of the shops Lisa wanted to visit was nearby, so I pointed it out. Naturally, it was a clothing store. Dad doesn’t like getting involved in girl’s shopping, so he told us he’d meet us back at the hotel in three hours.

There was a park on the way to the store, and Lisa dragged me over to it and sat me down on a bench. “What’s up Lisa?” I asked, confused.

“You know what’s up, John!” she answered forcefully. “I know you were listening to everything those people were talking about back at the hotel. You’re thinking about going out in that water, aren’t you?”

“Of course not!” I stammered. “That stuff could kill me!” I tried to act indignant but she wasn’t buying it.

“Don’t lie to me, John! I know you better than that.” She yelled back at me. Like I said before, she hates lying.

“Okay, it’s tempting.” I admitted, trying to mollify her. “But there’s no way I could get out there even if I wanted to take the chance of dying.”

She stared at me long and hard before finally saying, “I’ll be watching you, John! I’m not going to let you kill yourself!” She turned and started walking off to the shop after that, so I followed meekly behind.

Things were more normal after that, but Lisa never let me out of her sight. I was touched that she cared enough to watch out for me like that. I didn’t actually plan on going out to get mutated, but it was a nice dream.

We spent all three hours in that one shop. Lisa was in heaven, as they had stuff you couldn’t find back home. I was pretty happy, too. Just watching Lisa having so much fun was great!

We met back up with Dad at the hotel as planned. We used the hotel swimming pool for a while, then had dinner. After that we played card games or read up in our rooms.

When it was time for bed Lisa wanted me to sleep in her room (There were two beds), no doubt to keep an eye on me. Dad wouldn’t allow it, though. I was disappointed, but also relieved. I was sure Lisa would stay up all night watching me if given the chance.

I lay in bed, tossing and turning without sleeping. I couldn’t stop thinking about the ocean, and how all I’d need to do was go for a swim and I’d be cured of this stupid boy’s body! I finally gave up on sleeping and sat in the chair by the window. We had a pretty good view of the ocean from up here.

I don’t know how long I was gazing out that window, but some time later I saw five people sneaking up to the fence. I watched, puzzled, because there was no way they could climb that fence, even without the razor wire, without the guards seeing them. But then one of them grabbed the fence with both hands and just pulled it apart!

I watched in amazement as they all piled through the hole in the fence and jumped into the ocean. Were they not afraid of mutating, or did they want it, like me? But then I realized that they must be mutants! How else could they have pulled the fence apart like that? One of them must be super strong!

I gazed after them for a while, then my eyes returned to that hole in the fence. It was in a shadowed corner, and the guards seemed totally oblivious.

The next thing I knew I was running out of the hotel, straight for the fence.

I took the same route I’d seen those mutants take, and was able to avoid the guards. I slipped through the hole in the fence as quietly as I could and made a dash for the ocean. I kept expecting someone to grab me and stop me, but I made it!

I remembered what the guy at the hotel had said, about how more exposure is actually a good thing, because it reduces the likelihood of dying from it instead of mutating. With that in mind I swam around until I was too tired to continue. I was just swimming for shore when I heard Lisa’s voice!

“Get your butt out of there John!” she yelled. She was standing on the wet sand, just out of the water. As I came out of the water I noticed that she, like me, was barefoot!

“Lisa, what are you doing?!” I yelled at her.

She seemed shocked at that. I don’t normally yell, especially at her. “Trying to keep you out of trouble, what else?!” she answered angrily.

I shook my head; she obviously wasn’t on the same wavelength! “Lisa, you’re standing, barefoot, in wet sand!” I pointed out urgently.

Her mouth dropped open and she looked down at her feet. They were wet, and speckled with sand. Comprehension dawned. “Oh no! I’ve got to get out of here!” she said in a panic. She started to turn away to leave, but I grabbed her arm.

“Lisa, you’re already exposed! If you go now, you might die! If you jump in the water, you’ll just mutate. Please, don’t let yourself die!” I pleaded with her fearfully. I was barely holding it together, I was so scared.

She tried to pull away at first, until my words finally sunk in. Then she reversed herself and jumped in the water. “Stay in the water as long as you can, just to be sure!” I yelled after her.

She did. She swam, and swam, and swam some more. She’s a much better swimmer than me. I watched, feeling horrible. Because of me Lisa was going to mutate, too! Could she ever forgive me?

Finally Lisa tired and came out of the water. As soon as she did I threw my arms around her and blubbered on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry Lisa! I didn’t mean for this to happen! Please forgive me!”

For once Lisa didn’t pull away right off. She held me until I’d stopped crying, then pushed me away gently. “It’s okay, John. I don’t blame you. I should have stopped you from coming out here.” She said softly.

I just kept saying “I’m sorry.” over and over again. Lisa led me back to the hotel.

We were just waiting for the elevator when the manager of the hotel called out to us. “Excuse me, have you two been in the pool in your pajamas?!” he asked incredulously.

He was walking towards us as he said that but stopped short several feet away. “You weren’t in the pool, were you?” he asked fearfully. We shook our heads. “Stay right there!” he ordered, as he ran back to the desk. He picked up the phone and called 911. He explained what had happened and ran back, still staying well away from us.

“An ambulance is on the way. Wait here, and don’t touch anything, understood?” he demanded. We nodded again, and he went back to the desk to wait for the ambulance.

“Where’s your parents?” he called out to us, as he looked down at a computer screen. I told him Dad was in bed, and which room number. He dialed the room and talked to Dad briefly.

Dad walked out of the elevator just after the paramedics rushed in. He started to run over to us, but one of the paramedics blocked him. “You can’t touch them right now, sir. They’re covered in seawater.” He said.

Dad nodded numbly. The paramedics hustled us onto gurneys and strapped us down, covering us with towels to absorb the moisture. He followed us onto the ambulance once we were strapped down.

Once we were moving he seemed to shake off the daze he’d been in. “What were you kids thinking?” he asked plaintively.

I shot Lisa a pleading look. I didn’t want to tell him why I’d done it yet. “We saw some other people going out in the water, so we thought it would be okay.” She answered lamely. I was shocked, and relieved, that Lisa would lie like that. I had told her how I’d gotten through the fence on the way back to the hotel.

Dad shook his head. “You should know better than that! There were warning signs everywhere. Just because someone else did it doesn’t mean it’s safe!” he said loudly.

I glanced over at Lisa apologetically. She smiled weakly, and didn’t even argue when I grabbed her hand. We held hands for the rest of the trip, with Dad watching on fearfully.

When we got to the hospital it was pandemonium. They rushed us into some kind of containment area, where they had us strip out of our clothes and step into a shower. We had to wash ourselves with this weird soap and stand under the water for a while. Once they let us out of there they dried us off and let us out of the sealed area.

After that we were put through all kinds of tests. X-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, you name it. They took lots of blood and finally put us in a room. There were four beds in the room, and I was relieved to see them put Lisa in the bed next to me. We were both exhausted after all of that and fell asleep immediately.

Other than being woken up by nurses checking our blood pressure and stuff, I slept deeply. Even then it was more like a dream so I don’t think I woke up all the way. When I did finally wake up Lisa was still sleeping. I was terrified that something bad was going to happen to Lisa because of me. I laid there staring at her, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time.

She was looking right at me when she woke up. I flushed guiltily and looked away. “How are you doing?” she asked, without the anger I thought she’d have. She was usually furious when she caught me staring at her like that.

“Horrible!” I groaned.

She frowned. “I thought this was what you wanted?” she asked, confused.

“For me, not for you! I’m so sorry for getting you into this!” I wailed.

She frowned even deeper at that. “Didn’t I already tell you that I don’t blame you? You’re not the one that stayed up to make sure you didn’t go anywhere. You’re not the one who ran out of the hotel after you. And you’re not the one that stupidly ran out onto that wet sand! It’s my own fault that I’m here!” she stated sternly.

We were quiet for a while after that, until a nurse brought our breakfast in. After eating we talked about what would happen now. I wondered where Dad is, but Lisa seemed to think he probably fell asleep in the waiting room. Considering how Dad sleeps, that was kind of likely.

An hour or two after breakfast Dad came in. “How are you doing, kids?” he asked.

I shrugged and looked over at Lisa. “We’re fine Mr. Miller.” Lisa answered for both of us.

He nodded weakly. We didn’t know what to say after that. I was glad when a doctor walked in; it was starting to feel like a funeral or something!

“Hello kids, how are you doing?” he asked with forced cheer as he walked in. “And you must be their father?” he said, turning to Dad.

“I’m John’s father, Lisa is his best friend.” Dad explained.

The doctor nodded. “I’m Dr. Carter. I’m sure you’re wondering what the results of all those tests we did last night are, right?” he asked.

“You have the results than? Are they going to be alright?” Dad asked urgently.

“Yes we have the results back. They’re not having a negative reaction to the mutagenic compound. However, it is clear that both are mutating. We have no way of knowing what direction their mutation will take. They could become faster or stronger, or get better senses. Or they could gain animal traits to variable degrees. Or a combination thereof.” He explained.

Dad sighed in relief when he heard we weren’t going to die or anything, but the description of what might happen didn’t calm him any. “There is a problem, though.” Dr. Carter continued.

“What problem?” Dad asked wearily.

“I’m sorry, but John’s Y-chromosome has been completely destroyed.” He explained sadly.

“YES!” I screamed. I could hardly believe it; I was going to be a girl! I saw Lisa giggling at my reaction out of the corner of my eye. Dr. Carter was staring at me wide-eyed in surprise, but my Dad was totally confused!

“Um, John, do you have any idea what that means?” Dr. Carter asked cautiously.

I nodded happily. “It means I’m going to be a girl!” I proclaimed with a beaming smile.

“Is…is that true?” Dad asked in shock.

Dr. Carter nodded numbly. “I’ve never seen a reaction like this before. We should run some more tests…” he mumbled to himself.

Lisa giggled louder at that. Dad just looked back and forth between the doctor, Lisa, and me. “What’s going on?” he asked in total confusion.

Lisa giggled a bit more and glanced at me. I nodded, her promise to never tell anyone about me didn’t count in this instance. “John’s always been a girl. That’s why he went into the ocean in the first place. Now he’ll be a girl on the outside as well as the inside!” she stated forcefully, like she expected them to argue.

The doctor nodded. “That explains it, then. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a sex change by mutation, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.” He said. He seemed relieved that this wasn’t some weird side effect of the mutating chemicals or something.

“Wait a minute.” Dad said. “Are you telling me you went into the water because you wanted to mutate?” he asked incredulously.

“Um, yeah.” I replied worriedly.

“And you wanted to be a girl?” he asked. I nodded. “Why?”

He didn’t say it like it’s a bad thing, he’s not like that. He just didn’t understand why I wanted to be a girl. Lisa answered for me again. “Like I said, John’s always been a girl, inside. He told me in kindergarten. It’s been his dream to be a girl on the outside, too, for as long as I’ve known him.”

Dad didn’t say anything for a while after that, and I was afraid he was angry with me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be your son, Dad, but I just couldn’t stand this body anymore! I hope you can forgive me.” I said.

He looked up with a surprised look on his face. “Forgive you? For wanting to be a girl? You don’t need my forgiveness for that. I wish you had told me before this, but I suppose I can understand why you wouldn’t. The only thing I’m upset about is the risk that you took, and that you got Lisa involved in this.” he said.

“He didn’t involve me.” Lisa said. “I did that all on my own. We both heard that conversation in the lobby about how most boys that mutate become girls. I knew when we heard that that John would want to try it. I told him not to, and tried to keep an eye on him, but I was too late. I was in such a hurry to try and stop him that I didn’t think about what I was doing and ran out on the wet sand in bare feet.”

Dad nodded. “So you jumped in the ocean to give yourself a better chance of surviving. Okay. I was worried he’d talked you into going in with him, but obviously not. I’m still not happy about the risk he took, but that’s in the past now. Now we have to deal with what form the mutation will take.” he said. He really didn’t seem mad at me.

Dr. Carter had been waiting patiently this whole time. “As for that,” he said, “only time will tell. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Two people can get mutated by the exact same exposure but come out of it completely different.”

“How long will it take?” I asked. I hoped it wouldn’t take too long, though knowing it would happen was already making me feel sooo much better.

Dr. Carter shrugged. “It varies. Some people complete their mutation in a couple of weeks; some take as long as three months. The average is about a month. You’ll probably not notice any changes for the first week, though you may feel sick. In your case, John, you’ll probably be sick a lot because you’ll lose a lot of body weight.” he explained.

I loved that idea, that I’d become a lot smaller. Last year I’d gone through a growth spurt and was now taller than Lisa. My voice had also changed, which upset me a lot.

“Any other questions?” Dr. Carter asked. We shook our heads. “Okay then, we’d like to keep you hear until tomorrow, just to be on the safe side. So long as nothing happens in that time, we can release you tomorrow morning.” he said and left the room.

We were all silent for a while after that. Then Dad said, “So you’ve always felt you were a girl, huh?” I nodded. “Well, I guess that explains a few things.”

“Like what?” I asked curiously. I thought I’d done a good job of acting like a boy.

“Well, like how you never had any girlfriends. Your mother and I thought you’d get together with Lisa, but you never did. Knowing you’re really a girl, I guess you didn’t because you like guys.” he explained.

Lisa and I shared a look, then busted out laughing. Dad had this confused look on his face that just made us laugh even harder.

“What’s so funny?” he finally asked when we’d gotten control of ourselves.

I gasped out, “Lisa’s gay!” before laughing some more. Lisa had already told me I could tell my parents, but nobody else. I guess she figured they’d ask about us at some point.

“Oh.” he said. Then comprehension dawned and he said, “Oh! So maybe you’ll get together now?” he asked.

Lisa and I exchanged another glance, but Lisa was choking on that one so I answered. “I don’t think she’s interested in me like that, Dad.”

Dad actually looked disappointed! Was he trying to hook us up?

Lisa finally recovered from that question and glared at me. “I think I can decide for myself who I’m interested in, John!” she said sternly.

Dad looked back and forth between us. “Does that mean you are interested?” he asked.

Lisa blushed but looked me straight in the eye as she answered a simple, “Yes.”

Dad smiled and turned to me. “So, what about you John? Do you prefer guys, or are you interested, too?” he asked.

I think I blushed, too, as I looked down at my hands on my lap. Finally I looked over at Lisa like she had me and answered, “Yes, always.”

Lisa smiled at that, which then became a smirk as she said, “Like I don’t know that!” I laughed at that, I did always stare at her or try to hug her or hold hands, so I guess I had been rather obvious. But, she always pushed me away before. Why was that?

I frowned as I thought about that and said, “But you always pushed me away, before.”

Her smile disappeared as she looked down in shame. “I’m sorry about that. I’ve always been interested in you, too, but you having a male body was too much for me.” she said, and started to cry. We weren’t hooked up to any IVs or anything, so I got out of bed and sat on hers so I could hold her. She didn’t push me away.

When she stopped crying she started fidgeting and seemed uncomfortable, so I went back to my bed. Dad looked on with a frown, and I was afraid he didn’t approve. “I understand that you’re a lesbian and don’t have any interest in boys,” he said, “but why does John hugging you make you so uncomfortable?”

She looked down at her hands and shrugged. I was rather curious, too. Now that he mentioned it, it shouldn’t make her uncomfortable, should it?

Dad stared at her intently for a long time. Lisa fidgeted, but didn’t look up. “Did somebody hurt you?” he finally asked. Lisa shuddered at that, and I saw fresh tears running down her face. I started to get up but Dad gestured for me to stay. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but it might help you.” he said.

She shuddered some more, then whispered, “Dad” before she started weeping in earnest. This time Dad didn’t stop me when I went over to hold her again. Dad came over and put a hand on her shoulder. Neither of us said anything. I just held her until she calmed down. This time I let go as soon as she calmed down, so as not to make her uncomfortable.

“Recently?” Dad asked when she had composed herself again. She nodded mutely. “It won’t happen again.” he said that very calmly and certainly. She nodded again, but she didn’t look convinced.

“Hey,” I said, trying to get her to look up. She didn’t, but I continued anyway. “We’re both going to be mutants. Odds are at least one of us will get physical enhancements of one kind or another. Either you’ll be able to defend yourself, or I will do it for you.” I said forcefully. Just thinking about her dad hurting her made me so angry I was ready to rip his throat out! I tried to stay calm, though, so as not to scare her.

She finally looked up at me. “If I know you, and I do, I’ll be the one protecting you.” she said with a hint of humor. I was really glad to hear that, I was starting to get scared. She’s usually really strong.

“What if I get super strength?” I asked with a smile.

She shrugged. “You’ll still need me.” she answered with an impish grin.

Just then Dad stood up. “Well, I’d better go call your mom and let her know what’s going on.” he said and left.

I looked over at Lisa after he left. “Are you okay?” I asked. She seemed better.

She smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay. So, what kind of changes do you want, other than being a girl of course!” she asked.

I thought about that. What would I want? “I guess I’d like to be faster or stronger. That would be cool.” I answered.

“What about animal traits. Are there any you’d like?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Wings would be cool, if I could fly. I think I’d rather be able to fit in, though. You know, not look like a mutant.” I replied.

“Oh, I don’t know.” she said with a smile. “I think cat girls are cute!” I rolled my eyes. Her and her manga!

We continued talking about different changes we might get for a while. We were interrupted when a nurse came in with a big plastic bucket. “Gender changes usually involve a lot of vomiting. If you feel the need, use this.” she said, and left. Greeeaaat!

I did get sick, later. A lot. For hours.

I couldn’t eat lunch, and I was so exhausted from throwing up so much that I slept through dinner. My whole body was sore when I woke up the next morning. A nurse came in and had me stand on a scale. I was shocked to see I had lost twenty pounds!

After breakfast, which I picked at, Dad came back and talked to us for a while. Then Dr. Carter came in and asked us how we were. He said the vomiting was normal and said we could go home now.

Dad had to sign some forms, then we returned to the hotel. I ended up spending most of the day throwing up again. I slept through dinner and woke up late the next morning.

Lisa was sitting on my bed next to me when I woke up. “Hey, how you doing?” she asked when she saw I was awake.

I was still sore all over. “Okay, I guess. How about you?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I got sick a couple of times, but nothing like you. I’m okay. Do you know that you look a little different already?” she asked.

I smiled hopefully. “Really?”

Lisa nodded. “Yeah. You’re a lot thinner, and your face seems less angular. Like the bones have changed or something.” she explained.

“Cool!” I exclaimed. “I wonder how long it will be before I’m all girl?”

“You’re already all girl!” Lisa replied. “But it won’t be too long before everyone can see it, I think.”

Lisa helped me out of bed; I was feeling really weak, as well as sore. She gathered up some clothes for me and left me with them in the bathroom. I ended up taking a bath instead of a shower, I felt too weak to stand for long. I could see what Lisa was talking about, I was a lot thinner. My hands and feet seemed smaller and thinner than before, and my arms and legs were a lot slimmer.

My clothes were huge on me! I had to use a belt to keep my pants up at all, and I was swimming in my shirt. Apparently I lost some height, because my shirt nearly reached my knees!

Lisa laughed when she saw me. “You’re going to need a whole new wardrobe when you finish changing!” she chortled.

I scowled at her. “Well, you better be nice to me or I won’t let you come along when I go shopping for it!” I said sternly.

“You wouldn’t!” she gasped. I smirked and then we were both laughing.

“Of course I wouldn’t, but I had you worried for a moment!” I said. She stuck her tongue out at me.

I was so weak that Dad decided I shouldn’t leave the hotel room until I was feeling stronger. I told them they should go out without me, I didn’t want to ruin their vacation, but they refused. “We can all relax here today. So long as we’re together our vacation won’t be ruined.” he said.

I couldn’t argue with that one, so we stayed in. We played card games for a while until I had to run to the bathroom again. How much could I throw up? I had already lost forty pounds!

I only threw up a few times that day, but I was still so weak that even playing cards was a strain. I kept falling asleep, so Dad carried me to bed. He commented on how small and light I was as he tucked me in. “My daughter’s going to be a petite little thing at this rate!” he said.

My eyes teared up when he said “daughter”. He seemed to understand how I was feeling because he hugged me tight for a while before covering me up with the blanket.

I felt a lot better the next morning. I wasn’t nearly as sore. I was also hungry, really hungry! Dad and Lisa laughed as they watched me eat breakfast. Apparently I had to break down my body before I could build it back up, and I was in the build up stage. Which needed lots of fuel.

I was really sleepy after breakfast (I ate twice as much as Dad or Lisa). I napped for a couple of hours, but then I felt great! We went for a walk. I noticed the hole in the fence had been fixed as we walked away from the hotel.

We managed to get a little shopping in and then had lunch. I was glad for the chance to sit, I was getting tired again. I was also ravenous, so I ate a lot. Dad anticipated me getting sleepy afterwards, so he called for a cab. It was a good thing he did; I fell asleep as soon as I sat down in it!

Lisa shook me awake back at the hotel and helped me out. She practically carried me up to my bed (I was so light now that she probably could carry me). I slept for three or four hours this time, but woke up feeling refreshed.

Despite feeling better, Dad decided that we would stay in the hotel rooms for the rest of the day. Dad laid back on his bed to read a book while Lisa and I played cards and talked.

“So have you noticed any changes?” I asked Lisa.

“Well, my back’s been itching all day. Other than that, nothing. Maybe I’ll get super strength or something without any outward changes?” she speculated.

I nodded. “Could be.”

Dad called room service for our dinner and went back to his book. He ordered a lot, probably expecting me to eat a lot again.

“So what about you, have you noticed any other changes besides getting thinner and your face?” Lisa asked.

Amazingly, I had noticed some changes just during the day. I guess all that food I was eating had sped things up. “Yeah. I think I’m developing some curves, if you know what I mean.” I answered.

“Really?” Lisa asked with a leer. She reached out to feel around my waist. “I think you’re right, but it’s hard to tell with these oversized baggy clothes. I’m surprised you don’t get lost in there!”

We both laughed at that. “Yeah, if I’d gotten any smaller I wouldn’t be able to wear them at all. As it is I had to cut new holes in my belt!” I said.

I was looking pretty ridiculous in my old clothes, but it was a little early to be getting new ones. “So how do you like being taller than me for a change?” I asked. I used to be a few inches taller than Lisa, but now I was a couple of inches shorter. I thought it was pretty cool, myself.

“I kind of like it.” Lisa answered.

Our dinner arrived then. I wasn’t as ravenous as I had been, but I was still pretty hungry. The funny thing was now Lisa was eating as much as me! Dad seemed a little embarrassed when he couldn’t eat as much as us. “Where do you put it all?” he asked after dinner.

“I don’t know about Lisa, but I’m hoping most of it goes right to my chest!” I answered with a grin.

“I agree, I hope it goes to your chest, too!” Lisa chimed in impishly.

Dad looked kind of confused at first, then looked embarrassed. “What about you Lisa?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

Lisa looked down at her chest and then back to Dad mischievously. “I think I’ve already got enough there, don’t you?” she asked.

Dad looked away, even more embarrassed now. This was fun! I looked over at Lisa and said, “I don’t know, a little more wouldn’t hurt anything.” I said with a leer of my own.

Lisa blushed at that. Dad chuckled, glad to see someone else on the receiving end.

Lisa and I both got sleepy after that. We went to bed early and slept right through the night.

I woke on my own the next morning and stumbled into the bathroom. I took a shower and was shocked and pleased to see that I had small breasts! I was also a lot more shapely than the previous day. I was really starting to look like a girl! My hair was growing rapidly, too. It was only a couple of inches long when we left home, now it was down to my shoulders!

After getting dressed in my tent-like clothes we went out for breakfast. I was feeling a lot more energetic now. We did some more shopping. We went to another of the stores Lisa wanted to see. Dad waited for us outside.

Lisa had a lot of fun in this store, too. She was grabbing all kinds of stuff. I was surprised; I didn’t think she had that much money.

After a while she had a pile of clothes folded over her arm. She came over to me and shoved the whole pile into my arms. “Here you go! Go try them on!” she enthused.

“Me?” I squeaked.

“Sure, you can’t wear that stuff forever. We’ll have to stick to loose fitting clothes for now, since you’re still changing, but we can at least get you something more appropriate. After all, you look a lot more like a girl than a guy now!” she answered.

I stumbled into a changing room in a daze and hung up all the clothes on the hooks inside. There was a lot of it! By the time I had the first dress on Lisa was knocking on the door. “You have to show me how everything looks!” she called through the door.

I stepped out to let Lisa see it. “Not bad!” she said. “We’ll put that on the maybe pile. Next!” she pushed me back into the changing room to try on the next outfit. This went on for a long time. It was a little tiring, but lots of fun!

Lisa finally settled on five tops, three skirts, and two dresses for me. I liked her choices a lot, though I added one of my own. We also found a couple things for Lisa. Dad came in to pay for everything, much to my surprise. Apparently he’d already planned this with Lisa.

We stopped for lunch after that. Lisa and I were still eating a lot. We both felt drowsy again afterwards, so we went back to the hotel to take a nap.

Dad and Lisa went swimming after our nap. I would have joined them, but I didn’t have a swimsuit I could wear. I watched Lisa swimming around. She kept trying to scratch her back, which I noticed was a bit red, like she had a rash. It also looked like it was swollen.

I pointed this out to her after she got out of the pool. “I wonder what that’s about?” she said.

After they got changed out of their swimsuits we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. We pigged out again, but managed to stay awake and talk while watching TV for a couple of hours before we fell asleep.

I woke up with Lisa’s arm draped over me. We’d fallen asleep in her bed watching TV. I carefully crawled out of bed, trying not to wake her. I took my morning shower and looked in the mirror to see how different I looked now.

I definitely looked like a girl now everywhere but between my legs, and that was so small that it was fairly easy to overlook. My hair was down to my shoulder blades, and my breasts were at least twice as big as the previous day. At this rate I’d be all girl within another day or two!

I got dressed in the clothes we bought. The top was really cute, but the skirt was going to take a little getting used to. I really liked it, but I felt so exposed! At least it was fairly long, about halfway between my knees and ankles.

I went back into Lisa’s room and sat on the floor to watch her sleep. She looked so peaceful, not to mention beautiful! And to think that she was actually interested in me, even before I changed! That just made me even more glad that I was going to be all girl soon.

She woke up and stretched, then noticed me sitting there. “Wow, you look great!” she said with a wide smile. “You’ve filled out some more, haven’t you?”

I smiled back at her. “Yep! I think I’m not far from being complete!” I said happily.

She crawled out of bed and onto the floor to hug me! She’d never initiated a hug with me before! “I’m so glad, and not just because you’re so beautiful!” she said.

I gaped at her. “Beautiful? Really?” I asked in shock.

She nodded. “Yep, and I bet you’ll be even more beautiful when you’re done!” she answered.

I was stunned by this. I thought I was looking pretty good, but she said I was beautiful! She gathered up some clothes and went into the bathroom for her own shower while I was mulling that over. I stayed where I was.

The water started a few minutes later, so I knew she was starting her shower. Then she screamed!

I rushed over to the door and knocked. “Are you alright Lisa?” I called through the door. It was locked, of course. I knocked and called again when there was no answer. I was just about to try again when I heard the door unlock.

I opened the door to find Lisa sitting on the floor with her back to me. She was naked, which was quite distracting, but what really grabbed my attention were the little white feathery wings on her back! They were only about the size of a hawk’s wings, but pure white. They were folded up against her back, so they looked even smaller.

I couldn’t help myself; I reached down and touched one of the feathers. It was silky soft. I shook myself and knelt down next to Lisa. “Are you alright?” I asked again. She seemed to be getting a hold of herself and nodded.

“Sorry about that.” she said. “They really shocked me.”

“I understand.” I replied. “Do you want me to go now?” I asked, since she was still naked. She paused for a moment, then nodded. The fact that she even hesitated stunned me! I got up and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. A moment later I heard it relock.

Dad, of course, slept through the whole thing. Did his ears stop functioning when he was asleep?

I felt like doing something, so I made up Lisa’s bed while she was in the shower. I sat on it afterwards and waited for her. It wasn’t long before she was back, also wearing new clothes. “Well, I guess we know where all that extra food’s been going.” she said.

I nodded. “Guess so. I wonder if you’ll be able to fly when they finish growing.” I said.

She smiled at that. “That would be cool. I guess I won’t be able to fit in like you wanted to do, though. I hope you won’t mind hanging out with a freak.” she said a little sadly.

I frowned at that. “Hey, don’t talk like that! You’re not a freak, you’re beautiful! Now everyone else will be able to see what an angel you are, just like I do.” I said forcefully.

She teared up a bit at that. “I’m no angel.” she protested.

“You are to me.” I answered simply. She hugged me for that one and we both went into the other room to see if Dad was awake or not.

He wasn’t, so we went back in Lisa’s room to watch TV while we waited.

He finally got up and got dressed, so we went down for breakfast. “I don’t know if I can afford to keep feeding you two at this rate.” he joked.

“That’s okay, I can catch my own.” I said with a wicked grin, then frowned. “Where did that come from?” I wondered aloud.

Lisa smirked. “Maybe you’re going to get some animal traits after all! Hey, let me see your hands!” she said suddenly, grabbing at my hands. I held them out for her. She inspected them closely, especially the nails.

“Do you see something?” Dad asked.

“Well, it does seem odd that her nails haven’t grown any.” Lisa said. It took me a moment to realize she’d referred to me as “her”. I felt a warm glow fill me at that!

“Aha!” she said, still examining my fingers. “I think you’ve got retractable claws!”

“Claws?” I asked. She released my hands and I took a close look at them. I could see what she meant; it did kind of look like my fingernails were different, as if they continued on into my fingers somehow. I don’t know why, but I flexed my fingers in an odd way and my claws popped out. They were about two inches long. They were curved and looked pretty sharp!

“Cool!” Lisa enthused. “I think they’re cat’s claws! Maybe you’re going to be a cat girl!”

I extended the claws in my other hand. They looked pretty formidable! I retracted them and extended them several times to get the hang of it.

After breakfast we went for a walk. Lisa persuaded us to stop in that same park where she’d interrogated me about the conversation we overheard. “You need to start using your real name.” she said to me. I had almost forgotten that Lisa knew my female name. I chose it back in second grade.

“Real name?” Dad asked curiously.

“She picked a female name for herself back in first or second grade, I don’t remember which.” Lisa answered.

“It was second grade.” I added.

“So what is this mystery name?” Dad asked.

“Jessica.” I answered, as Lisa seemed to be waiting for me to.

Dad nodded. “Nice. Well, Jessica, I think it’s time we got you some more clothes!” he said, so we went back to shopping.

I was pretty sure my feet weren’t going to get any bigger, so we got me a couple of pairs of shoes. When I was trying them on I realized that I had claws on my feet, too. After experimenting with them a bit I realized that if I extended them while wearing shoes with a closed toe it would ruin them. So I got sandals. They both had two inch heels on them.

“Are you sure you can handle them?” Dad asked, referring to the heels.

“Don’t worry, she can. She walks on her toes all the time.” Lisa said. “I think she pretends that she’s wearing heels when she does that.” she added.

I blushed, she was right about that. I’d been walking on my toes since before I met Lisa. I did it a lot, and I did imagine I was wearing heels when I did it.

As she said, I had no trouble with the shoes. Maybe if they’d been three or four inches they might have been a little awkward, but two inches was easy!

We also got me some underwear, though we stuck with sports bras since my breasts might grow more. I got a couple more tops and skirts and Lisa got some halter tops for when her wings were too large to fit under her shirt.

After lunch we were right back at it, though now we shopped for gifts. I found a necklace with an angel on it that I thought would be perfect for Lisa. I managed to buy it without her seeing.

We bought a swimsuit for me on the way back to the hotel so we could all go swimming this time. I felt really exposed in the one piece suit, but I also really liked the way it looked on me. I think Lisa did, too!

We splashed around for a while, then got changed for dinner. We just ate in the hotel restaurant, knowing we’d probably be tired afterwards.

I was eating a little less, but still a lot for my size. Lisa was still wolfing it down so I took that to mean her wings would get very big!

Lisa and I fell asleep on her bed watching TV again that night.

When I woke up I was the one with my arm draped over Lisa. I laid there for a while, just enjoying the moment. Eventually I had to get up to go to the bathroom. When I came out Lisa was awake and took my place in the bathroom.

I grabbed some clothes and went into the other room to take a shower. I still wasn’t really awake yet, I think, because it wasn’t until after my shower, when I was drying off in front of the mirror that I noticed the changes.

My hair had grown even more; it was down to the small of my back now. More startling was my ears. They had migrated to the top of my head and looked like cat ears! My eyes were also slitted like a cats, and green. My ears had short black fur on them that matched my hair. It took me a moment to realize that my hair had changed color, it used to be brown.

I was also all girl down below! I did a little happy dance at that, and noticed something move on my back. I reached back and found a little nub of a tail! I guess I really was going to be a cat girl! I hoped Lisa wouldn’t mind.

I brushed my teeth, and noticed they were sharper than before. I think my canines were longer, too, but I wasn’t sure.

When I got out of the shower I went back to Lisa’s room. She was wearing one of the halter tops we got her and sitting on the bed, flexing her wings. They seemed enormous, though I realized they were still too small for her to fly. I think she had a ten foot wing span!

“Wow, Lisa, they look great! How do they feel?” I asked.

“They feel great!” she said with a smile as she turned to look at me. “Hey, you’re looking great, too! I knew you were going to be a cat girl! Those ears are sooo cute!” she said as she stepped closer to me and felt one of my ears. She started rubbing it and it felt really good!

“You’re purring!” she exclaimed. I hadn’t even noticed, but I was! How weird!

Dad came through the connecting door and exclaimed, “Whoa, look at you two!”

Lisa smiled and flapped her wings a bit. I felt a little self conscious of my new appearance. “Do I look okay Daddy?” I asked uncertainly. I hoped he wouldn’t think I was a freak.

He smiled widely. “You look great Jessica! The cat features are a bit of a shock, but they suit you.” He answered warmly. I felt so relieved when he said that.

“How do you like your new wings, Lisa?” he asked.

Lisa smiled. “They’re great! I hope they get big enough that I can fly!” she answered enthusiastically.

We went down for breakfast after that. While we were waiting for our food I told them both that I was all girl, and that I was growing a tail. Lisa was beaming at the news. “That’s great! We’ll have to alter your clothes, though, or your tail will get squished. Is it uncomfortable now?” she asked.

I nodded. It wasn’t bad, but it was a little uncomfortable.

After breakfast we did our tourist bit for a few hours. We got a few stares, but nobody gave us any trouble.

After lunch Dad bought a sewing kit and we went back to the hotel to see if we could alter my clothes. We started with a pair of panties. We ruined a couple pair before we got it right, but we’d gotten lots so that wasn’t so bad. I put on one of the altered pairs and felt a lot more comfortable. I was wearing a skirt, so that didn’t need any alterations.

Altering all my new clothes that needed it took up the rest of the afternoon. We went out for dinner at a restaurant someone had suggested to Dad afterwards. They had really good food.

We were on our way back to the hotel when someone grabbed my arm. “We don’t need freaks like you around here!” a man’s voice sneered. I couldn’t pull my arm out of his grasp and had to stop. He was big, easily over six foot, and well muscled.

“Take your hand off of my daughter!” Dad exclaimed. He grabbed the guy’s arm, but he punched Dad in the face. He must have hit pretty hard, because Dad fell down from the force of the punch.

“Daddy!” I cried, and renewed my efforts to get away. The man just laughed at me and slapped me hard. I saw stars and fell, but he was still holding my arm.

Lisa screamed in anger and ran at him. He laughed, but his laugh turned to a grunt of pain as she jump kicked him in the chest. He fell back, letting go of my arm in the process. I would have fallen, but Lisa caught me.

“You okay?” she asked as she helped me up. I started to answer, when I saw that guy charging at us. Without thinking I jumped at him, claws bared. He took a swing at me, but I grabbed onto his arm and sunk my claws in.

He managed to shake me off and was about to hit me again when Lisa slugged him. He was knocked back a few feet and was unconscious before he hit the ground! I stared at Lisa in shock, and she looked just as shocked as me.

“I guess you got more than wings Lisa.” Dad said as he checked the guy she decked. “He’s out cold, that’s quite the punch you’ve got.”

I smiled and pounced on her. “My hero!” I purred.

She came out of her daze and caught me. “I told you you’d need me!” she said.

Dad called the police and we had to wait for them to arrive. One of them was really hostile towards us, but fortunately he wasn’t the one in charge. They took statements from us and put the guy that attacked us in their car and left.

It was getting late by the time we made it back up to our room. Lisa made a big fuss over my bruised cheek, while Dad watched bemused, holding some ice to his own bruised face.

Lisa and I curled up on her bed to watch TV again. Dad said we could keep sleeping together, so long as our clothes stayed on. I noticed Lisa was a lot more touchy-feely now. I guess me being all girl helped to get around her issues from her dad. I tried not to think about him too much, it made me so made I wanted to rip his throat out with my teeth!

I woke up all tangled up with Lisa. Her wings were so big now that we were practically wrapped up in a cocoon! My tail was a lot longer, too, and was wrapped around her leg. It felt so good to be cuddled up with Lisa that I didn’t want to move.

“This is nice.” Lisa said, startling me. I hadn’t realized she was awake.

“Yeah, it is.” I agreed dreamily. We stayed like that for a while, but one of Lisa’s wings went to sleep, so we had to get up. I took the opportunity to use the bathroom while she was trying to massage feeling back into her wing.

My tail was now about two feet long, so it was a good thing we’d altered my clothes. I thought my breasts might have grown a bit, too, but I couldn’t be sure.

When I came out of the bathroom Lisa was admiring her wings. She couldn’t stretch them out to their fullest anymore, they were too big. We guessed that her wingspan was up to fifteen to twenty feet now. They were still snow white, and really beautiful.

We’d moved all my stuff into Lisa’s room, since I was sleeping there anyway. Dad and I didn’t feel comfortable sharing a room anymore anyway. Actually, I never did, but I didn’t tell him that.

We both took longer than usual to get ready that morning. My hair was now down to my waist, so it took a while to wash. I also had to wash my tail, now. Lisa was even worse off, because her hair was already really long, but now she had these huge wings!

We had a pretty normal day after that. We got to see some more sights, and do some shopping. Lisa got several more halter tops, there was no way she could wear anything with a back.

It was a nice relaxing day for all of us. Lisa and I held hands most of the time, which was really nice!

The next morning I woke up to a face full of feathers. Her wings were even bigger! We finally untangled ourselves (before her wing went to sleep, this time) and got ready for our day. Lisa was really having a hard time now with her wings. They were so big she could barely get to her back when showering at all!

We talked to Dad about that over breakfast. Dad was sympathetic, until Lisa suggested we help each other wash in the mornings. “I don’t know about that.” He said uncertainly.

I was kind of surprised Lisa suggested it, but it did make sense. And it might be fun!

“Jessica is having trouble with her tail; she can’t really reach all of it well. And my wings keep me from washing my back very well at all. We could get ready in the morning a lot faster if we could help each other.” Lisa explained.

Dad took some convincing, but did give in. “Okay, I’ll allow it, but only if you both promise that you won’t mess around in there!” he said sternly.

We both blushed, probably because we’d both been thinking about it! We agreed, though.

We went to the park after breakfast. My tail was so long it would drag on the ground if I let it. My solution was to wrap it around Lisa’s waist. She didn’t seem to mind.

At the park Dad and I watched while Lisa tried to fly. Dad said her wingspan was up to twenty five or thirty feet now. There was only one clearing big enough for her to safely try and fly in the park. She spent an hour or so trying. She lifted off the ground a few times, but that was about it.

I consoled her afterwards. “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. Your wing muscles may not be fully developed yet. I bet in a day or two you’ll be flying all over the place!” I told her, as I hugged her.

She cheered up pretty quickly once we found another of the shops on her list.

We did some swimming in the pool before dinner. After dinner Lisa and I wrapped ourselves up in her wings on the bed to watch TV. We were watching a romantic comedy. I took a chance and kissed Lisa on the cheek while we were watching.

“What was that for?” she asked with a smile.

“I just wanted to.” I answered with a smile of my own.

“Well I just want to do this!” she said, and kissed me on the lips. I melted into the kiss; I couldn’t believe how wonderful it felt!

We were startled when Dad cleared his throat loudly. We pulled apart a little and blushed furiously. “I’m glad you two have each other, but don’t get carried away.” He said. We fidgeted under his gaze for a moment, until his face broke out into a huge grin.

We laughed nervously. “Ok, Dad!” I said. He went back to his book in his room. We didn’t kiss again that night, though I think we both wanted to!

I woke up before Lisa, and crawled out from our wing cocoon to use the bathroom. I didn’t notice any changes, so I figured I was done. Then I brushed my teeth and saw my canine teeth had gotten even longer and sharper. I had fangs! I hoped I wouldn’t cut myself with them.

Lisa didn’t seem to have changed any over night, though she said her wings felt different when she woke up.

At breakfast I was craving meat, so I had steak and eggs. Dad and Lisa were really surprised; I didn’t used to be a big meat eater. I was a lot less hungry than I’d been, though, so I couldn’t finish it. Lisa ate a more normal amount, too.

We went to the park again so Lisa could practice. This time she did much better. She did crash once, but I managed to catch her, kind of. We both ended up on the ground, but neither of us were hurt. She was a lot happier after her flying practice this time.

We spent the rest of the day shopping and seeing the sights. I was eating almost exclusively meat, so we figured that was part of my change, too.

We ended the day in front of the TV again, wrapped in Lisa’s wings. I could really get used to that!

Lisa and I washed each other the next morning as we had the previous day. It was great getting to see Lisa naked, but frustrating that we couldn’t do anything. I’m not sure either of us were ready for that yet, anyway, but it was still frustrating. It certainly sped things up in the mornings, though!

This was going to be our last full day in Hawaii, so we all wanted to make the best of it. We packed as much into our day as we could, and had lots of fun. We were exhausted by the time we returned to our room and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

In the morning we got everything packed up after getting dressed. Lisa stayed as close to me as she could the whole time. I think she was worried about going home, because of her Dad. I had to stop and take deep breaths to calm myself down when I thought of that!

Our flight was for late in the afternoon, so we left our stuff in the room and went out to have a little more fun before we had to go.

Lisa just got more clingy as the day went by. On the one hand it was really nice. On the other, it worried me. How would she handle seeing her dad again? How would her dad? Getting home was going to be interesting in all the wrong ways!

We had an early dinner and returned to the hotel. We checked out and made our way over to the airport with our bags. The line was almost as bad as back home! We got a lot of looks going through security. One of the security guards seemed really hostile, too.

I realized while we were waiting for our plane that the people in Hawaii are a lot more tolerant of mutants than back home. Being out in the middle of the Pacific, there were a lot more of them here. That made me wonder how much trouble we might have when we got home.

We only had two seats together on the plane, and Dad graciously allowed Lisa and I to sit next to each other. I think he’d also noticed how insecure Lisa was today. We exchanged angry glances and I knew we both wanted to kill her dad for what he did.

She held onto me the entire way on the plane, even when she was asleep. I returned the favor and tried to keep calm, for her.

We got more stares than we had in Hawaii when we left the airport. There were muttered words that were obviously aimed at us. Lisa was getting even more fearful and clung to me desperately. I wrapped my tail around her and held her close. I sat with her in the back seat of the car when we left so we wouldn’t have to be separated.

Mom made a big fuss over both of us when we got home. It was really late, but she’d obviously stayed up to wait for us. I had been a little nervous about how she’d react to me, but she acted like I’d always been her daughter! How cool is that?

I wanted to talk to Mom about Lisa and her dad, but Lisa wouldn’t let go of me, and I didn’t want to talk about him in front of her. Dad gave me a look that told me he would take care of it, so I led Lisa up to my room. We changed and crawled into bed, Lisa wrapping her wings tightly around us. It took her a long time to fall asleep, and me even longer.

In the morning we all talked over breakfast. We stuck to discussing our mutations at first. Only after we were done eating did Dad bring up the subject of Lisa’s dad.

“Lisa, I want to have a meeting with your parents.” He started. Lisa stared at him in terror and stood. She started edging backwards, like she was going to make a run for it at any time. I stood up and grabbed her hand.

“I never want to see him again!” she said fearfully, gripping my hand painfully.

“We’ll be there with you, as well as a police officer.” He said soothingly. “I won’t let him touch you.”

My tail wrapped around her without me even thinking about it as I said, “I’ll be there, too. He tries to touch you he’ll lose whatever limb he uses!” I hissed. Lisa smiled weakly down at me.

“You’re not going to be there.” Mom said sternly. “And I don’t want to hear that kind of talk from you, either.”

Lisa stood up a little taller as she said, “If Jessica isn’t there, neither am I.” There was such conviction in her voice that Mom and Dad didn’t argue any further on that point.

“Okay, so if we’re all there, along with a police officer or two, will you go?” Dad asked. Lisa thought for a moment then nodded.

“Good. I’m hoping your mother will drop your father like a rock once she hears what he’s been up to. If not, then you can stay with us as long as you want.” Mom said.

“Can you really do that?” Lisa asked.

“We’re certainly going to try!” Dad declared.

After that Dad went and arranged the meeting with the police. They’d contact Lisa’s parents. Within an hour they’d called back and said the meeting was set for two o’clock.

Lisa and I curled up on the couch in our usual cocoon. We talked to Mom and Dad while I tried to keep Lisa calm. We told Mom everything that had happened. She already knew about the mutation, and that I’d done it on purpose, but she didn’t have all the details.

Finally it was time to go and we all got in the car and drove over to the police station. They had a room set aside for us with a table and eight chairs. I sat next to Lisa, with Mom and Dad on either side of us. Two police officers came in with us and took seats at either end of the table. That left two seats for Lisa’s parents on the opposite side of the table from us.

Lisa cringed when her parents came in. I stared hatefully at her dad. Neither of them would look at us.

Lisa’s mom was the first to speak. “What have you done to yourself, Lisa? This is all that boy John’s fault, isn’t it? Where is he, anyway?” she asked.

That seemed to energize Lisa somehow. “She is right here, Mom.” She said and put her arm around my shoulders.

Her mom gaped at me for a moment before looking back at Lisa. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Mom, you know we both mutated! She became a cat girl and I got wings. It’s pretty straightforward.” Lisa answered calmly.

Her mom looked at me disdainfully before looking back at Lisa. Her look wasn’t exactly warm. “Get your hands off that thing, Lisa, and come home. I’m sure I can find a surgeon who can remove those.” she said, pointing at Lisa’s wings. I was horrified, how could she even think of removing Lisa’s beautiful wings?!

“Jessica is not a thing, she’s my beautiful girlfriend! And I’m not removing my wings!” Lisa replied angrily.

“Do you really expect us to believe you’re a lesbian?” her dad asked, amused.

The claws on my right hand, the hand not holding one of Lisa’s, popped out involuntarily as I gripped the table. A piece of it broke away in my hand as I yelled, “Yes, she’s a lesbian! Just because you raped her doesn’t mean she likes guys!”

The policemen were about to try and restrain me until what I said sank in. One of them turned to Lisa and asked, “Is that true?”

Lisa trembled, but kept her head held high as she looked back at the police officer and said, “Yes! He’s been doing it for years! But he’s never touching me again!” I nodded emphatically with that last part, flexing my claws menacingly.

Lisa’s mom looked shocked. She sat there for a moment, looking between Lisa and her husband before saying, “Lisa, how could you say something like that? First you get yourself turned into a freak, then you say you’re gay, and now you accuse your father of molesting you?! If that’s the way you’re going to behave, you can do it somewhere else!” She had slowly increased in volume as she spoke. Then she stood and started walking angrily towards the door.

She was met by a policeman at the door, who escorted her out. I think the rest of us were stunned. We knew her father was scum, but we didn’t expect her mother to do something like that! Now what would happen to her?

“I have to say I’m in agreement with my wife. Goodbye.” Lisa’s dad said dismissively and walked out.

I stood, intending to stop him, but one of the police officers said, “Stay put. There’s nothing we can do about him. Let’s concentrate on seeing what we’re going to do about your girlfriend.”

I sat back down. I so wanted to kill that man right then! Lisa was saying something, but it wasn’t registering. Then she started rubbing my ears. My eyes closed involuntarily. I found myself relaxing under her ministrations. Finally I opened my eyes and looked down at my hand. It was still tightly closed. I opened it, and there was little more than sawdust left of the piece of table that had broken off in my hand.

I guiltily emptied my hand out over the table. “Sorry about that.” I said apologetically to the policemen.

The one who’d told me to stay chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I wanted to kill that bastard, too. If it had been my girlfriend I’d have at least as much trouble restraining myself.” He said. Somehow that did make me feel a little better.

Lisa hugged me and then asked, “So what happens to me now?”

One of the police officers shrugged. “A few years ago you’d go to foster parents. With all the young mutants that have been abandoned by their own families these days, though, that system is totally overwhelmed. These days we find you a home wherever we can. My choice would be for you to stay right where you are.” He said.

My eyes widened at that. “Can she, really? Stay with us?” I asked hopefully, looking at Mom and then Dad.

“That’s fine with me.” Dad answered. Mom said the same.

“We’ve got some forms you’ll need to sign, then. Is this what you really want Lisa?” he asked, turning to her. She nodded emphatically. “Then let’s get to signing those forms.”

There was a lot of paper work to fill out. We spent the next couple of hours at the station getting everything settled. Then we went to her house with those same police officers to collect her stuff. Her parents weren’t happy about it, but they weren’t stupid enough to put up a fight. Unfortunately.

After that we went out for pizza, then returned home and unloaded all Lisa’s stuff. We had a bit of a fight with my parents before we got them to let us both use my room. We’d use the spare room for storage of anything we didn’t use often, but otherwise we’d fit in my room okay. Well, our room, now!

We all went to bed after that. One of the reasons we won the fight to share a room was because Dad pointed out that we’d been sharing a bed for a while anyway. We were soon wrapped up in our white, fluffy wing cocoon and sound asleep.

Lisa bounced back pretty fast after that. I think getting a chance to stand up to her parents had something to do with it. She said it was because of me!

We spent lots of time shopping over the next couple of weeks, building up my wardrobe and repairing the damage having wings did to hers. She had to get rid of almost all of her tops and dresses, except what she got in Hawaii. Mom insisted on teaching both of us to sew, since we’d probably need the skill to deal with our clothing issues.

We also started self-defense classes, just in case. They were really tough. Mostly because I had to curb my instinct to bite and claw, and Lisa had to be careful because of her strength. We went to a gym to see how strong we both are, but we could only test my limits, not hers. That was because none of the machines had enough weight on them!

We also found out that I’m really fast. I could run thirty miles an hour now, forty if I did it on all fours. I found out I could walk on all fours and my hips would shift around so that it felt totally natural.

Lisa also used that time to practice flying. She promised me that by the time school started up, she would be able to carry me to school while flying. And she did!

We got a lot closer over those two weeks, if that’s even possible! I gave her the angel necklace I bought in Hawaii, and she loved it! She gave me a necklace with a cat on it, too!

It’s kind of funny in a way. She used to get mad if I stared at her, or tried to hug her or hold her hand. Now she initiates it as often as I do, and does her own fair share of staring! We also kiss a lot, and Mom and Dad don’t mind so long as it doesn’t go any farther. I’ve never been happier, and I think Lisa feels the same way!

So that’s what I did on my summer vacation. I think I’m going to have to re-write this, though, because it’s got way too much personal stuff in it. I’ll write something a little less personal for school, and put this in my diary for safe keeping. Maybe Lisa would like reading it?

"What's all that noise?!" an angry male voice called out.

They'll kill me! I've got to get out of here! I looked around frantically, but the only window in the room was barred. "Oh, what the hell!" I said in resignation as I took hold of the bars and pulled. The bars were tough enough, but the wall they were attached to wasn't. With one good yank they came free with a shower of sawdust and splinters. I threw them aside and kicked out the window, frame and all.

Before I could jump through the window the door was smashed open by an angry, armed man I knew all too well. He glanced aside at the dead trick and, snarling, brought his weapon up and fired. The force of the impacts drove me out the window and to the ground below, face first. Groaning, I pulled myself to my feet and limped away. He fired after me, but I got around the corner before he could hit me.

"Good thing I heal quick." I grumbled to myself. I didn't know this area at all well, they never gave me a chance to look around, so I just went in the opposite direction I came from and tried to put as much distance between myself and my 'owner' as I could.

Before long I was walking normally again, my wounds causing me almost no pain at all. Wow! I didn't know I healed that fast! A couple of Thai policemen spotted me and called for me to stop. Shit, I know my 'owner' pays these guys off! I can't let them get me! I began running away from them. They shouted and ran after me, but they couldn't keep up and were soon far behind me. I turned corners at random to make sure there were plenty of buildings between us so they couldn't see me. After running for a few blocks I ducked into a yard to catch my breath.

Once I got my breath back I started walking again. A few minutes later I heard shouts behind me and knew that I didn't have much time. My outfit screamed 'whore' to the world, so I'd have to find some other clothes if I was to have any chance of getting away. I spotted a clothes line nearby and turned towards it.

I was in luck, there was a dress that looked like it would fit me. I pulled it down and was about to pull it over my head when I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around and there was one of my 'owner's' men with an AK47. There was nowhere to run, I'd walked right into a dead end! Growling, I threw aside the dress and started running at him, hoping he wouldn't react fast enough. No such luck; he was firing almost as soon as I started moving. I dodged wildly, but he emptied his banana clip with more bullets hitting me than missing. As he struggled to load another clip I took a swipe at him with my claws extended and ripped his head right off of his body.

I sank to the ground in agony, dully watching his head roll as his body slid bonelessly to the ground. This is it, huh? At least I took a couple of the bastards down with me! I collapsed wearily onto the discarded dress. Absently I watched the dress soak up my and the man's blood as I lost consciousness.

Loud yelling in Thai woke me and I blinked groggily at the body lying next to me. I'm still alive?! How? I wasn't bleeding anymore, but I felt pain lance through me with every movement. Maybe I should lie here for a while longer... I gave up that idea when I heard what the yelling was about. Great, they're looking for me, with orders to kill me on sight now! I guess I'd better get moving.

Regretfully, I started up. I couldn't keep from mewling in pain as I shifted onto my hands and knees and slowly pushed myself onto my feet. I began walking, holding my left hand to my side where the worst pain was and using the other to prop myself up against the wall. I felt weaker with every step and my vision began closing in until it seemed like I was walking in a tunnel. It's no good, I'm too weak. I've got to find somewhere to rest. I found another yard and hid in a corner to rest, but there wasn't much cover. I was able to stay there for ten or fifteen minutes, but then I heard my pursuers again.

Sighing in frustration, I stood and began walking again. I felt like some of my strength had returned from even that short rest, and my injuries weren't slowing me as much. But I would still need to rest soon, and I needed clothes.

I stumbled along for a while, but I could hear my pursuers closing in. The locals were probably all too willing to tell them where the bloody tiger woman whore went; they were too afraid to do anything else. I couldn't fight them like this, I needed to rest before I ran into them. I found an empty house and ducked inside, hoping no one saw me. Grabbing a blanket I crawled into a bed and pulled it over me, covering myself completely. I tried to sleep, but the yelling kept me awake. I was finally starting to nod off when someone opened the door. I didn't dare move and waited.

Two sets of footsteps could be heard as two men began searching the house. It was a small house, so it wouldn't be long before they got to me. I knew they'd be thorough, it wouldn't do for one of their slaves to escape, after all. I slipped quietly out from underneath the blanket and waited behind the half open door.

I waited until the first man was in the room before slamming into the door, knocking the second man back. The first one turned on me, but I knocked his gun aside and disemboweled him with a slash of my claws. I pulled the door open and left him to try and put his insides back where they belonged. His partner was on the ground, groaning and clutching his head where the door had struck him. I kicked his gun away from him and fled.

I heard him yelling behind me and berated myself for not at least knocking them both out. That's what I get for panicking! More men were coming and I stumbled into an alley to get out of sight. My wounds still hurt, a lot, and I felt like I'd pass out soon if I didn't rest. My pursuers were close behind me, so I kept moving. Rounding a corner I came face to face with two well-armed thugs. Shit, I'm dead!

Just as I was thinking that I felt someone grab my shoulders and I was suddenly yanked off the ground. I stared down in amazement as I was lifted up above the gleaming corrugated metal rooftops, and then even above the banyan trees! I looked up at the smiling, winged woman who was carrying me and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Cat. And you look like you might be in need of a career change about now..." she replied.

I just gaped at this beautiful winged woman when I realized she was that famous mutant, Kittyhawk! How lucky could I get?! Everyone knows she's a champion of mutants, even if some people try to make her out as a terrorist. I'm saved!

I relaxed and found myself drifting off as Kittyhawk, or Cat as she called herself, carried me towards the pier. She set me down softly on the pier next to an amphibious plane. "You look pretty wiped out, you'd better lie down." she said. I couldn't argue if I wanted to; I was barely aware of my surroundings. She guided me over to the plane and handed me off to a fox woman. She practically carried me to a nest of blankets and laid me down and I was out instantly.

I floated in and out of wakefulness for a while. I heard the fox woman say something about my body cannibalizing itself one time, and Cat say something about hunting another. Or maybe they were the same time? It was all pretty confusing. Finally I sank into a deeper sleep.

When I woke my body ached all over, I had a horrible headache, and my stomach was growling and rumbling like it would consume me from the inside out! I groaned and tried to sit up, but I was so weak I almost passed out from the effort.

"You're awake?" a woman asked. I glanced around and saw the fox woman was sitting next to me. She looked worried so I nodded. "I bet you're hungry, right?" Another growl from my stomach answered that question. "I'll take that as a yes. All I've got are some berries Cat found right now, but Carl is cooking something up for you. Here, I'll prop you up so you can eat without choking yourself." she said. She propped me up and turned away to get a box of berries and a bottle of water. I took a drink first as my throat was really dry, and nearly choked on it. After a few small sips I was able to drink it more easily. The bottle was empty before long and I started on the berries.

There were a lot of berries, but they didn't last long. I wanted to ask how long I'd been there, or what her name was, but I got really drowsy and dozed off. When I woke I was still kind of achy, but the headache was gone. I was still ravenous, though. The fox girl was sitting next to me again and noticed I was awake right away. "Who are you?" I asked weakly. My voice was kind of scratchy.

"My name's Tina. I've got some more water here for you, and some stew, if you're up for it." she replied. I nodded and she stepped out of the plane. She returned a moment later with a bowl of stew and another bottle of water.

"Thanks, I'm Kim." I said as I took the bottle. I guzzled about half of it before digging into the stew. It was rather bland, but I didn't care. I devoured it quickly. "I don't suppose there's any more of this?" I asked hopefully.

Tina laughed, "Don't worry, there's plenty! I'll be right back." She took the bowl and returned a moment later with it filled. I drank some more water and got back into the stew. I was amazed at how much I was eating! After my fourth bowl of stew and two bottles of water I was finally feeling full.

"Wow, I've never eaten so much at once before!" I said, amazed.

"We expected it. You must have lost a lot of blood. You were looking rather sunken and we think your body was cannibalizing everything it could to keep you alive. You'll probably eat a lot for a couple days before you're back to normal." Tina replied.

"Yeah, I was surprised that I survived my injuries at all. I knew I healed faster than before, but not that much faster!" I said drowsily.

"Sounds like you're ready to sleep again." Tina said.

I yawned, "Yeah, I guess so..."

The next thing I knew it was light out and Cat was curled up next to me, sound asleep. I felt a lot better and was able to sit up on my own without any trouble. Glancing around the crowded cargo area of the plane I realized Cat wasn't the only one there. It was hard to tell how many because at least one of them was partially covered by her wings, but it looked like there were a few other girls there, too. By their clothes they'd been enslaved whores like me. I guess she was busy last night!

My stomach growled so loudly I was sure it would wake them all up. Guess I'm not done healing yet, like Tina said! I couldn't see Tina in the plane so I crawled out of the blanket nest and made my way out onto the pier.

The first thing I saw as I climbed out of the plane was these huge pair of silvery white wings. As I stepped around to get a better look I saw that they were connected to a woman with similarly colored hair. She was beautiful, but what really caught my attention were all the swords and daggers she had strapped to her body, and the sword she was busy sharpening. A board creaked under my feet and with a blur of motion she spun around and had the tip of her sword at my throat before I could react! I didn't dare breath until she relaxed and lowered the sword.

"Sorry about that, we've had a tense time." she said apologetically. She slid the sword home in the only empty scabbard she had strapped to her and held her hand out, "I'm Kestrel. What's your name?"

I couldn't help but think that my 'owner' would have loved to get his hands on this girl! Cat girls are pretty common, but winged girls like this were pretty rare. I'd only seen one other winged mutant in Thailand and she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Kestrel. "My name's Kim. Where's Tina?" I asked.

Kestrel nodded farther down the pier. I followed her gaze and saw Tina and two men were blocking off the pier. All three of them were armed with handguns and wore body armor, by the looks of it. "Like I said, we've had a tense time. The people who fancied themselves the owners of you and the others tried to take you back a couple of times. Cat fought them off, but she's sleeping now. She'd be up in an instant if she was needed, but we're trying to keep any excitement well away from the plane so she can sleep." Kestrel explained.

"Let me guess, the police have been conspicuous with their absence?" I asked sarcastically.

Kestrel nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure they're making plenty of money off of those creeps. For now, anyway." She said the last viciously and I almost felt sorry for my former 'owner'!

"Has Tina gotten any sleep?" I asked, remembering her helping me last night.

"She's had some. When the guys got back they took over guarding the plane so she could get some sleep. I'm afraid I stirred them up even more than you did, though, and they followed me here. That's when the first fight happened. Fortunately Cat was here or things would have been rough. You sound like you're from the US?" Kestrel noted curiously.

I nodded, "Yeah, I am. I was here on vacation when I was grabbed. I don't even know by whom. I just know they injected me with something and a few weeks later I was a tiger woman."

Kestrel gripped the hilt of her sword angrily for a moment before calming herself. "I'd heard they were doing things like this, but it still pisses me off! I take it you didn't get any 'useful' abilities out of your mutation so they tossed you aside?" she said.

I smiled wryly at that, "Oh I did! I just didn't let them know about them! I couldn't hide the fact that I healed fast, but they seemed to expect that. They didn't test how quickly I heal, thankfully, or they might have kept me around. I didn't even know I healed as well as I apparently do, until that guy emptied an entire clip into me and I survived! But it was my strength that I kept hidden."

"Why'd you do that?" Kestrel asked curiously.

I shrugged, "Wouldn't you? I was a prisoner, and I suddenly found myself with super strength! It wasn't enough to get me out of the cell they had me in, but I figured the less they knew about what I was really capable of, the better chance I'd have of escaping. I didn't know that being seemingly without useful abilities would get me sold to those slime or I might have done things differently!"

Kestrel gestured for me to sit and, sitting next to me, began sharpening her sword again. "I think you did the right thing. From what we've heard being 'useful' is only a good thing if you're tractable. If you couldn't convince them that you were docile and obedient they would have killed you as being too dangerous to keep around." she said as she worked. I could see that her sword had taken a bit of a beating and would take a while to get all the nicks out.

"What happened to your sword? You said that Cat fought off the slavers." I asked.

"She did. But I also told you I stirred them up more than you did. I found a couple of girls that were being tortured because they refused to work. I got so mad I killed all the slavers and took the girls away. We were fired on a couple of times so I had to set them down and deal with them. My swords got quite a workout!" Kestrel replied.

"So is that what you're here for, to rescue slaves?" I asked.

Kestrel nodded, "Yes. When Cat heard about the Bangkok Zoo she was ready to tear it apart with her bare hands! I was more than willing to help her, too! Mike, Paul and Tina volunteered to help and here we are. I had to rest after rescuing the two girls as I'd been hit a couple of times, so I only got the two so far. Mike and Paul found one, but they're going to have to stay here to guard the plane, now. Tina was already doing that, so that left Cat to find more. Between finding food for you and the others, fighting off those slime, and rescuing a couple more girls she's really earned her rest!"

"So you've already rescued six?! What are you going to do with all of us?" I asked apprehensively. I was overjoyed to be out of there, but I was beginning to worry about what their plans were. I didn't want to escape one enslavement only to find myself in another one!

Kestrel looked at me oddly and said, "Do with you? We're setting you free, of course! I don't think it's safe for you in this area, but our pilot Carl will fly you back to the states if you want."

"So you'll fly us anywhere we want?!" I asked incredulously.

Kestrel shrugged, "Well, we don't have unlimited fuel. We may have to get creative to get everyone where they want to go. I could carry someone wherever they wanted to go in a reasonable amount of time, and Cat could do it even faster. Or you can come back to the island with us. We've got a friend who is trying to get it set up as a protected sanctuary for mutants. Even if that doesn't work, Cat will do what she can to keep the island safe. And the rest of us will help her as best we can."

"So you want more people to protect the island?" I asked.

"That's up to you. Cat wouldn't make you do anything. Besides, we came here expecting to rescue low powered, traumatized mutants, not exactly your best choice for fighters!" Kestrel replied.

"Yeah, I guess not." I agreed. She kept working out the nicks in her sword while I thought about what I'd do now. I'd just been focusing on staying alive up til now. I thought about going home, but there was no way to prove I was still the Kim that left the states...how long ago? Months, at least. There really wasn't anything waiting for me at home, anyway. But I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved in their fight at the island, either. Remembering why I'd come to Thailand in the first place, I felt guilty for not wanting to get involved. I'd been part of the problem, hadn't I? Shouldn't I do something to help the other mutants who found themselves in the same predicament I did?

"Kestrel?" I said. She stopped running the whetstone over her blade and turned to me. "I really don't know what I want to do, I certainly can't go back to my old life! Do you think...that I could help you guys?"

Kestrel smiled beautifically and gave me a one armed hug. "I was hoping you'd say that! We can use all the help we can get. But you're not doing anything but resting for now, okay? I suspect you were rather undernourished even before your injuries. You're all skin and bones and you don't have a lot of loose skin to indicate that you were in better shape before your body started cannibalizing itself to keep you alive."

That idea gave me pause. "I...you might be right. I really don't know how this body should look. I've been a prisoner the whole time. Do you think I'll get even stronger?" I asked.

Kestrel shrugged, "Probably. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up being one of the strongest of us. Tigers are pretty powerful animals, after all."

I mulled that idea over and wondered how different things might have been if I'd been eating enough all this time. Maybe I would have been able to break out of that cage after all? But then, maybe that's why they fed us so little, so we couldn't escape. But if I was really going to be that strong... "Other than being ravenous, I'm feeling a lot better. Maybe I could help you guard the plane?"

"Let's compromise. I'll get you another bowl of that stew, and you can guard the other girls from inside the plane. OK?" Kestrel replied.

A loud rumbling growl from my stomach ended any argument before it could start. "Okay, for now." I reluctantly agreed. I figured at the rate I was healing up I'd be ready to more actively help pretty quickly. Maybe I'd even get a chance to deal with some of those goons that worked for the guy who thought he owned me!

« KittyHawk - Part 11 »