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"Why not?" The question slipped out before Jake could close his mouth to trap the words inside. He regretted it a chilled wall slipped into Lucy's gaze.
"Ask me again later." She looked down at her hands. Something had changed, something major, and Jake felt off-kilter not knowing what he'd done wrong.
"Ah." Deanna stood, hands on her hips, tapping her foot. The fur was gone and she was just Deanna again, not some supernatural cat girl. And still impatient. "Are we going to hang out here all day?" She dug her heel in, turning to go.
Jake stood, brushing the dirt from his jeans, not looking back at Lucy. "Fine then, let's go. That way." He pointed into the trees, where they parted just a little more than in any other direction. "There's a path there. Hopefully it'll lead someplace that won't get us into any more trouble."
Lucy slid from the stone, moving slowly so that Jake had to wait for her. Deanna slipped ahead into the woods, traveling on silent cat feet.
"Penny for your thoughts," Jake asked softly. Her expression had eased... maybe the anger was fading.
"Nothing, really." Lucy's gaze slid sideways, avoiding Jake still. "Just what you'd expect, I guess. I'm walking through the woods, in the mud, and my heels are going to break off any second. I keep thinking about taking them off but then I realize that my socks won't handle it well." She paused, then added, even more softly, "I'm not so sure I'm handling it either."
Jake didn't know what to say. Instinct said to pull her in close to him and hold her, shutting out the scary world. But he couldn't.
"How did you know this was the direction to go?" Lucy shifted the conversation.
"I didn't. It just seemed right. As right as you seeing us in the mirrors, or Deanna being covered with fur, and sprouting claws."
#
Mirror. Lucy had a thought, and reached into her pocketbook to find the small pocket-sized mirror there. She flipped the compact open, and peered into it, seeing her own reflection staring back at her. And then, for the first time, she truly wanted to see Deanna there.
Lucy blinked, and when she opened her eyes the image in the small mirror had changed. She saw Deanna, almost seeming more cat than anything human. Her ears had become high and pointed, with little tufts of fur sticking out. Thick brown fur coated her arms, her clothing stretching uncomfortably over a bone structure that was no longer quite female. As Lucy watched, Deanna fell forward, her hands touching the ground, and suddenly the transformation was complete. Her clothing was shredded, shoes fell by the side, and a cat leapt forward soundlessly.
"Oh my god," Lucy breathed, stopping in her tracks, staring in shock. "Oh... my... god..."
"What is it?" Jake peered over her shoulder.
Lucy reached out to grab his hand, while her other hand quickly tugged her shoes off after all, letting her feet sink into the mud. "C'mon. We've got to catch up with Deanna, and fast. She's turned all the way cat." |
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Deanna chuckled, a low, deep sound that threatened to burgeon into a laugh. "You're right." She stretched, watching her hands as she moved them through the air. She flexed her fingers, still covered in tawny fur. "Like dreams."
"Exactly," Jake said. "This just feels... well, I don't mind it." He looked around, frowning slightly, trying to figure things out. "I feel like I *should* be scared out of my wits. But I'm not. I'm curious. And frankly, I'm not bothered *not* to be getting creamed by Stephen again right now."
Deanna smiled, a low lazy quirk of the lips. "I wouldn't have let him."
"How do you know he hasn't already creamed you... well, us." Lucy. "Maybe he got the knife out. Maybe we're dead." Even though the others were comfortable, Lucy was not. How could everything be this different so quickly? And if it was... if she couldn't go home.
Her breath caught in a soft gasp. Jake squeezed her hand, and she shivered at the touch. He was still holding her, touching her. Lucy slipped her fingers from his, even as unwanted instinct told her to root herself in the feel of his solidity beside her. That was wrong... she didn't want him to touch her.
"Let's just look at this logically," Jake suggested. "And let's sit down a bit. You look pale, Lucy, like you're about to fall over. C'mere." He didn't touch her this time, his hand almost reaching for her shoulder, but only guiding her with a soft cushion of air between his palm and her shirt. A rock just a little away made for a good bench, and he ushered her there, making sure she sat. Her hands slid over the surface of the stone, feeling it, rough and warm beneath her fingers.
"Let's start with where we are."
Deanna laughed. "Brilliant, Jacob. And how do you propose to answer that one?"
"I don't," he said. "Except that we obviously aren't home right now. It's no longer the first day of school. It's the first day of something else entirely, and we're going to have to deal with that. We aren't in suburbia any more. We're in a place where what Deanna's wearing is more logical than anything we've got."
Lucy offered a weak laugh. "Open-toed sandals in the mud? I can see our fashion sense is going to go real far here."
The other two stared at her, then Lucy shook her head. It had been a poor attempt at humor. "You mean the fur. Like a cat," she said.
"A hunter," Deanna said firmly. "This is what I've dreamed of. *Hunting*."
Lucy drew her feet up, hugging her knees to her chest, trying to make herself into a small ball and unnoticed. Deanna scared her, and Lucy couldn't shake the thought that her mousy self would be great prey for their brand-new mighty huntress.
Jake settled in against the rock, arms crossed, elbows almost brushing Lucy's. "She's right, Luce. This is insane, but it feels like we belong here. Don't panic over it." He grinned, reaching out to touch her elbow, squeeze her skin, and she rocked towards him for a moment. "Stop *thinking* about it and start feeling it instead."
Feel it. Like she could feel his hand on her arm, the heat of him too close to her. It felt good, just for a moment, then thought and memory slithered in, making her fly away and pull back. She curled in on herself. "Please. Don't touch me." Her voice was too small, too weak, and she hated showing it before them.
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