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Chris forced a weak smile while nodding her head along to Dr. Rowena’s story. ‘Nothing bad is going to happen-- relax already,’ she told herself through a pang of mixed worry and frustration. There was no reason for her to feel this way.
“What about you?” The doctor asked with a smile. “Is there anywhere you’d love to travel for vacation if you could go wherever you wanted?”
Chris looked at the cat woman, finding her mannerisms adorable. She might be the type to talk a lot, but she also stopped to ensure Chris was included in the conversation and that she had opportunities to contribute as well. “Hmm… I’ll ignore the generic nerdy answer,” Chris laughed, thinking of how fun it would be to troll around Akihabara in Japan, hunting for cute merchandise. Wait, cute? Her cheeks flushed upon realizing she had imagined shopping for cute plushies and other things. Since when did she want cute things? ‘I’ll deal with it later,’ she told herself. “I’d love to visit Italy… Not only to see Rome and appreciate the history, but to stay in a village for a while. The kind where you have to walk without cars and can find the best food you’ve ever eaten at little mom and pop restaurants.”
“That sounds incredible,” Elenor replied, placing a hand on her cheek as she started to daydream. “Imagine having a year to just travel around Europe… Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Germany, etcetera,” she sighed, her lips curling into a warm smile.
“Lets say you only had a month,” Chris continued. “What would your month-long European tour look like? You can’t travel by plane once arriving in Europe, so buses, taxis, and trains will be the only way you’re allowed to get around. You have infinite money for stuff like tours, events, food, and anything else that’s not a material good. You’re also given a $20,000 budget for souvenirs, clothes, and whatnot, that will be shipped back home for free.”
Elenor blinked and stared at Chris like a deer in headlights. “Oh my god-- I love scenarios like this. Just a second-- one moment,” she insisted, holding her palm out as she pursed her lips and started to think.
As Dr. Rowena contemplated the question, Chris glanced toward the back of the cafe. For a reason she couldn’t describe, her eyes were drawn toward a shadow cast upon the wall by a potted plant. Something about it seemed off, and it added to that hard to ignore feeling of dread she hadn’t been able to shake.
Mere moments later, Chris froze in her tracks. There it was again-- a faint blue ring within the shadows. After rubbing her eyes and looking again, the faint azure glow had once again disappeared.
The faint whispering in her head grew a little louder, but there was nothing discernible to grasp onto. The anxiety and dread within her bubbled and amplified, making her incredibly uncomfortable. ‘Fuck… What’s wrong with me? Seriously.’
When their drinks arrived, Chris tried to stay calm as she listened to Elenor’s musings while trying to calm herself by drinking matcha. How much more of this could she take? The drinks were served in to-go cups, so they could leave at any time. “Hey--,” she said suddenly, raising a hand as she interrupted her friend. “Something here feels off-- really off. I have no way of properly explaining why I feel this way, but we should leave.”
Elenor blinked before nodding in agreement. “I trust you; of course we can go,” she assured her. She would ask more questions when they were gone.
Rodrick sat at a bar, letting out a frustrated sigh as he chugged down a half glass of beer before setting it back down. “Do you think I should just wear, like, jeans and a tee-shirt? A nice button-up and slacks? Should I pay for her while we’re out?” He asked, glancing over at the man sitting next to him. “I’m not good at these things, Kyle.”
The well-muscled and groomed blond man next to him sighed and shook his head. “Why are you stressing about this again? Is this even a date?”
“Well-- I mean… She was male before transience, you know. So, probably not. It’s just a normal weekend hangout like we used to do,” Rodrick insisted.
Kyle sipped on his cider before looking at his friend with an eyebrow raised. “Okay, so… Do you have feelings for her now? Do you want this to be a date?”
Rodrick averted his eyes toward his drink, feeling grateful his dark fur made it hard to notice him blushing. “I didn’t say that. It just feels really weird now,” he muttered.
“Was she treating you strangely the last time you hung out?”
Rodrick paused with his drink in hand. “Well, no,” she conceded. “We laughed and had a good time like usual.”
“So, that means your feelings are making this weird,” Kyle insisted. “Is it just physical attraction? LIke, you wish you could get a friend with benefits kinda thing going with her?”
“What?” Rodrick was suddenly alert, his ears standing up as he cast his friend a stern look. “Of course, not. Chris has an awesome personality, and there’s no way in hell I’d want to share her with other men-- or make her deal with me being shared,” he insisted. He suddenly blinked and realized what he had said. “W-- wait, that came out weird! I just mean, if I did like her in some way, which I’m not saying I do, I’d want a real relationship."
“Not saying you do. Right,” Kyle snickered and shook his head. “She’s cute, right? If you don’t want to date her, could you introduce us? I work in IT as well, so we’d probably have a lot to talk about.”
Rodrick’s eyes narrowed, his every instinct screaming for him not to lose Chris to another man. “No way in hell. I’d probably go insane, if I saw you two holding hands and doing-- err, datey stuff,” he grunted. “You can forget about that.”
“Okay… So, you’re into her,” Kyle stated flatly, shaking his head again. “You’re not very convincing; I hope you realize that.”
“Ergh,” Rodrick winced before finishing his beer and setting the cup down. He placed an elbow on the bar counter and rested his forehead on his open palm. “Look. Chris already had an awesome personality and we get along great. Take that personality and put it into an extremely attractive woman and of course it’s going to make things confusing.”
“I bet,” Kyle replied nonchalantly. “Not saying it’s not a difficult situation. Just that lying to yourself won’t help matters any.”
Rodrick glanced at his empty beer glass idly, trying to make heads or tails of his feelings. He was just confused, right? A hormonal issue ushered forth by a new and unfamiliar situation; that’s all it was. After another week or two of hanging out with the new Chris, he’d probably level out and be able to go back to being friends as usual.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. The image of Chris’s perfect nude form writhing in bed while she moaned and touched herself was permanently etched into his mind. How could he go back to seeing Chris as his old male best friend after that? He still recalled the curves of her body, the shape of her breasts, and her lithe fingers probing her perfect vulva. He had never been so sexually flustered in his life.
Kyle eyed his friend carefully before looking toward the bartender and asking for a refill on his beer. “Seems like there’s a lot on your mind, bud,” he offered sympathetically, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Yeah…” Rodrick grunted. “Chris is much more than some hot girl. It feels shameful to have feelings like this; she’s going through a lot with the change and the last thing she needs is for me to make it even weirder. Hell, I don’t even know if her sexuality has changed. Does she still prefer girls? What if I tried to confess or whatever and it just ruined our friendship forever? I don’t think I could live with that.”
Kyle nodded and removed his hand. “All you can do is play it cool and be an awesome friend. Keep showing Chris she can trust and rely on you without you making it weird, and if she were to end up liking dudes, you’ll probably end up a top candidate.” He paused. “That being said, do NOT keep being a cool friend with the ultimate hope of getting something from here in the future. You should never have those types of expectations.”
“I know, I know. I’d never sit there expecting something in return; I’d never forgive myself if I turned into that kinda guy,” Rodrick insisted. “Chris would deserve far better than that… I need to keep being her friend and be okay with the fact that we’ll most likely stay that way.” He shook his head, trying to get Chris’s smile and warm laughter out of his head.
“Basically, just don’t dress like a slob,” Kyle added.
Rodrick looked at Kyle and blinked, tilting his head in confusion. “Dress-- what?”
“You were asking about what you should wear and overthinking everything. I’m saying just don’t be a slob and have decent hygiene,” Kyle laughed, giving his friend an incredulous look. “Honestly… You’re hopeless, aren’t you? You’re definitely going to do something weird without meaning to.”
“Hey!” Rodrick grunted, turning away from his friend. “You’re supposed to be on my side here.”
“If I wasn’t on your side, I wouldn't be honest with you,” Kyle grinned. “Besides, I’m mostly teasing. Just relax and don’t overthink things; if you get too weird, she might find a new male friend to hang out with.”
“I’m not sure whether you’re helpful or a pain in my ass,” Rodrick dully stated, glancing toward Kyle with a frown.
“Why not both?” Kyle smirked.
“Is everything okay?” Elenor asked with concern as the pair briskly walked away from the cafe, heading toward the car.
“Y-- Yeah… Let’s just get out of here,” Chris insisted, reaching Elenor’s car as she waited to be let into the passenger side.
As they got in and started to leave, every hair on Chris’s neck stood up. The physical feeling of anxiety permeating her every cell amplified and she knew something bad was about to happen. She opened her mouth to speak but was promptly interrupted.
“Brrr-- ooooohn!” A deep, unearthly groan reverberated through the air and it was as if the very earth itself vibrated. A moment later, loud screaming sounded from behind them, a terrified cafe worker stumbling out onto the street.
“S-- Someone call the police! M-- Monsters! Someth-- thing! I don’t-- I…. PLEASE!” She yelled before rushing down the sidewalk and away from the scene. Meanwhile, screams sounded from other nearby buildings.
Elenor’s eyes widened in horror as she entered panic mode. “W-- What do we do? What’s going on? What--,”
“Drive away. Now.” Chris said in a low, commanding voice, already dialing 911 on her phone.
As Elenor sped off, Chris glanced over her shoulder as her call was answered. “Hello. I need to report an emergency.” She gave her name and the address of the cafe where the horrific noise was heard. She couldn’t fully explain what was happening, but she did explain that she suspected they were under attack from something decidedly not human.
“What did you see? Can you please explain in as much detail as possible?” The operator replied, already contacting dispatch, while other operators received similar calls
Chris wished she could better explain what she saw and what was going on. “I’m not sure-- I just… I got a really bad feeling, we started to leave, and everything went to hell after we got in the car. What? No, I didn’t get to see what--,”
In the middle of her sentence and just as they were rounding the corner at the street’s end, she saw something horrifying step out from one of the buildings. Was she seeing things? Before she could get a better look, they had already turned, and it was out of sight.
“Ma’am? Is everything okay? Are you safe?” The operator asked gently, but firmly.
“A l-- little green man… Bald head-- covered in blood,” she whispered into the receiver. Surely she was just seeing things, right? She genuinely hoped she was just hallucinating and seeing things; the thought that something like this could be real wasn’t one that brought comfort. Amidst these thoughts, she couldn’t shake the feeling that life would only get more complicated from here.
CHAPTER END
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