Question Kadis Part 2

Friday April 13th, 2007
Louisville, Ky

As I clawed my way to consciousness the beep beep of nearby machines and the smell of disinfectant told me I was in the hospital. I was familiar with those sounds and smells after countless visits trying to figure out what had been wrong with me, what made me so tired. I could feel the stiff sheet that covered me and could feel the thin pad that was sarcastically called a bed in today's hospitals.

What a dream, I thought as I tried to wipe my face. And in that instant I knew it wasn't just a dream. There was a roughness to my hand that hadn't been there before and I opened my eyes and stared at it rapt fascination Double the size I remembered, covered in black fur that seemed to have a slight reddish tint to it. Rough looking pads replaced my palms and undersides of my fingers which were also tipped in claws. Just like the man in my dreams, I thought as I tried to sit up to release the pinching I felt just above my butt.

A long thin tail curled around her body to lay in my lap covered in the same colored fur as my hands and I could feel the tale tale tingling through it as blood started to flow freely. Then I threw back the white sheet seeing the fur cover on my feet that covered my legs stopping just below my knees. She knew she should be freaking out, maybe even screaming at the top of her lungs at the differences in her body. But the fear of the strange body she now found herself in wasn't there. Only the feeling that this was what she was meant to be.

Her legs swung effortlessly over the side of the bed and with an ease shed never experienced before she was soon on her feet, absently noticing that her tail swung behind her, seemingly to have a mind of it's own yet acting as a counter to keep her balance as she stood on the balls of her feet. Her claws felt strange resting gently but noticeably on the hard floors, the chill just barely noticeable through the pads she knew were on the bottoms of her feet.

She was wearing that generic blue hospital gown found in hospitals world wide that opened in the back exposing her butt to the world but for the first time she didn't feel self-conscious about it. Before she could think on her changes the door to the room opened to reveal her mom.

“Alex!” Kathy wasn't a tall woman standing at 5'4” but she'd always been taller than Alex who'd barely reached four and a half feet herself. But as she rushed forward and threw her arms around her daughter fiercely Alex noticed that that were almost eye to eye. “Oh Alex thank god your awake, you had me so worried,” she said pulling back to look at me.

“Hey kiddo,” a male voice called drawing my eyes to the door once again. Almost as fast as mom had moved Jason was in-front of me looking down from his 6 feet of height Then his strong arms were around me while mom rubbed my back. I don't think I'd ever felt so safe and loved in my life.



It took three hours before I was released from the hospital. The doctor that had been keeping an eye on me apologized that the hospital wasn't really equipped to do any testing and since I showed no signs to warrant my staying he released me. I was now at home sitting at the table in the kitchen while mom cooked dinner. Apparently I'd been asleep for four days but the doctor hadn't been worried saying that people reacted differently when they manifested.

“You don't seem to be to upset at being a mutant,” my dad said as I kept glancing at mom every-time the smell of what she was cooking carried over to me. I'd already eaten two sandwiches and a plate full of vegetables but I was still hungry and mom decided to cook an early dinner. Dad was with me at the table munching on his own bowl of raw vegetables trying unsuccessfully to keep a look of disgust off his face which made me laugh. Mom being a nurse meant that we ate healthy in this house, one of her quirks that dad says makes him love her more but I'm not sure how much of that I believed. Dad was a hamburger and fries kind of guy and the way my stomach felt right now I could do with one or two of those myself. Or maybe even three.

“Were-cat.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm not a mutant, I'm a were-cat.” I said with a shrug glancing at my mom who was looking at me now.

“You mean like a werewolf?” he asked looking at me funny. “How do you know that?”

“The man in my dream told me,” I said now looking at the plate mom had just sat in front of me. I had four mini turkey burgers sitting on my plate dressed with cheese lettuce onion and tomato slices. Half the large plate was covered in sweet potato fries she'd taken out of the oven and my mouth was watering as the smell of the food hit me full force in the face.

“I think you'll have to explain that one to us,” my mom said sitting a similar plate in front of dad and a smaller one with half our portions at her spot on the table before sitting down at her usual place. “Who was this man you were dreaming about?” So I told them about the dream I had as we all dug into our food.


I told them about waking up in a forest and wandering around for awhile until I found a clearing. One with a creek flowing through it and of the strange man on the other side. How I wasn't even afraid to find myself in the middle of the woods, alone with a strange man who was just standing there looking at me. And how I seemed to move to him even though I didn't remember walking at all.

“What did the man look like” dad asked in what I'd come to know was his cop voice. You know the one where they expected the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

“He wasn't a man,” I told him before describing him. How incredibly tall how was once I was closer. I know I was short for my age but he looked almost twice as tall as me. Had green eyes that were slit-ed like a cat's. He was wearing a black vest and pants that looked like leather that showed off his chest and arms. Which were even weirder since he had white fur on them starting at the elbows. With these huge hands and golden claws. Kind of a strange mix of hand and paw. And he wasn't wearing boots, instead he had over sized feet, that same mixture like his hands and how he stood on the balls of them like I do now. He even had ears like mine also white but surrounded by blond hair that was in a thick braid that hung all the way to his butt. He even had a white tail that moved all over the place.

“What happened next?”

“He, he told me about my mother, my birth mother.” I saw the looks they gave each other but I didn't bother saying anything about it. I mean, dad was the one that found her bleeding on the street and mom was one of the nurses that helped deliver me before she died. “She from a different world,” I told them seeing more looks of surprise. “I guess I am too. There was a big war or something, a lot of killing and things. And she was running and went though some kinda portal or something and ended up here. He said that's why I've always been sick, that I was some kinda druid or other but that I was connected to that world and not this one.”

“Really?” my dad asked skeptical of what I was telling him.

“Hey I'm just telling you what he told me! Anyway,” I said glaring at him before that raised eye brow thing he does makes me blush and look down at my food which was mostly gone except for a few of the fries. “he tells me that after some big war he was now the head god there and that the souls of people there could finally go to their last rest.” I probably shouldn't have mentioned the god thing while dad was drinking his tea cause he spit it up all over the table earning him a look from mom as she got up to get a towel which she threw at him with that look of 'you better clean that up or else!' I went on about how he'd been looking fr me for like the last year and when he found me I'd been minutes from dieng, but I didn't have to but that there would be some changes. “I guess he wasn't joking about that part,” I told them looking at my hand/paws again. Flexing my fingers in fascination My claws kept sliding in and out of my fingertips and I got kinda distracted.

“Alex.”

'Sorry,” I told him flinching I told then how he then reached into a cast iron pot sitting over a camp fire I hadn't noticed until then and pulled out a ball of fire that then cooled, shrunk and turned into a ball the size of a marble that had flames painted on it. “He told me if I wanted to live that I had to eat it but he'd understand if I didn't and promised me he'd take me to see my mom.” I was crying at this point but I wasn't sure why. I'd never met her before, it's not like I didn't know I was adopted but I still felt sad. “I didn't want to leave you,” I said looking at the only parents I'd ever known. Mom had her arms wrapped around my tightly after that. Crying out how much she loved me and was glad I was staying.

“What happened next?” my dad asked after all the waterworks were over. Apparently I'd been crying too.

“he said that he was happy at my choice, gave me the pill and watched while I ate it and then told me to keep my head down until he could get someone to teach me what I needed to know about being a were-cat. Then I woke up at the hospital.”

Dad sat there digesting my story for a bit before he had me repeat it. TWICE! Asking more and more questions each time. “Is this what an interrogation feels like?” I asked mom who was trying to hide her own smirk. But she put a stop to the questioning and sent me off to clean up for bed.

“I don't remember her being so snarky” I could hear dad laughing as I went up the stairs to get ready for bed.



Thursday June 1st 2007
Louisville, Ky

It's been almost 2 months since I woke up in that hospital. In that time I barely left the house except to go out into the back yard. It wasn't very large with only one tree the rest being flat and grass covered, at least being outside cooled the edges of claustrophobia I seemed to have acquired with my change. School ended a week ago and I'd missed it all. Jennifer had been bringing my schoolwork home so I didn't fall behind and a late-night trip to the school for my final tests let me finish the year strong.

Now Jennifer and I were in a Ma's diner. It wasn't a fancy place, but the food was cheap the portions were large and no of it came pre-frozen in a box. Ma had a lot of contempt for processed foods and it showed. So there we were, eating in peace when we both heard the loud screeching of tires followed by a crash. We were both out of our seats in moments standing in-front of the large picture window taking in the incredible scene outside. Ma's Diner is located on the corner of a three-way stop in a little strip mall that had four businesses in it. Ma's shared the building with a check cashing place, a small dry cleaners and a mom and pop video store, one of the last remaining in the city I might add that had a rather large collection of anime for us kids.

On the opposite corner sat a 24hrs Walgreen's that took up as much space as the lot we were in now. A Goodkind bank stood on the other side of the street. Newly built not even a year old and this was the scene of the accident we were witnessing now. The bank's parking lot let out at the top of the T now making it a four-way light. But for some reason no one leaving the bank wanted to treat it as such. This was maybe the fifth accident since it's opening, cars just refusing to wait for the light, ignoring the no turn on red sign which was three times the size normally found. This time it was an armored truck that decided it couldn't wait the minute and a half it usually took for that light to change and attempted to make the turn. Unfortunately for the driver the speed limit is 45mph and its kind of a blind curve hence the rather large warning that not waiting for the light would be a bad idea.

Once outside the duo could finally see the wreckage. A black SUV had t-boned an armored truck as it attempted to make an illegal U-turn from the banks parking-lot Alex could see the the driver of the SUV, a woman, with her head resting on the steering wheel of the vehicle and she could now hear the crying coming from the rear . The driver of the armored truck was awake but dazed but probably wasn't hurt due to the vehicle's reinforcement. The two teens stood there stunned at the spectacle before them until the smell of gasoline reached Alex's nose. Since waking in the hospital Alex had discovered that all of her senses were vastly improved. Even being able to tell things and people apart from their smells alone if given enough time to study them. “Jess call the cops and tell them to send an ambulance and fire truck. I smell gas,” Alex said before rushing forward to her friends scream of surprise.

Quickly making her way to the driver of the SUV she began banging loudly on the door trying to get the woman's attention. Though when she looked the woman gave a loud scream of terror at the sight of the young teen. Rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all she spoke loud enough to be heard inside. “Are you OK?” surprised at the question the lady slowly nodded looking over her shoulder at the crying child in the back seat. It was a young boy, maybe 8 crying his eyes out trying to reach something toward the floor. The woman tried to turn around for her child but was stopped by the seat-belt After managing to release the catch she tried to open the door but found it stuck. Smoke started to come from the engine before tiny flames started rising from the edges of the hood. Seeing this caused the lady to start to panic and bang her shoulder uselessly against the door. Alex was looking inside the rear window at the little boy seeing that his leg was trapped between the seat and the door realizing that he wasn't going anywhere. Hearing the banging brought her attention back toward the front where she saw the tiny licks of flame. “Shit,” she muttered moving back to the drivers window realizing that the frame must've warped in the crash. “Hey,” she yelled getting the mother's attention, “look out!”

Punching out a window wasn't the smartest thing to do but I had few options. “Come on.” I reached in and drug the woman through the window. After she was clear she struggled from my arms and ran to the rear door struggling to get it open. I could see the fire starting to spread even further and realized we didn't have a lot of time. Throwing the mother back away I punched out the rear window before climbing in. The boy was still crying and now that I was inside I could see that his foot was indeed stuck between the seat and the far passenger door. I tried opening it but the damn thing was stuck also. The kid had stopped crying when he saw me crawling through the window and was now starring slack jawed at my ears. OK first the seat-belt, which was broken of course. Its not like my luck in my very first rescue had been good so far so I extended one of my claws shredding it then braced my feet against one door stretching my hands to the other and began to push.

By this point several police cruisers had arrived at the scene having witnessed a woman being thrown back from a burning car. Two of the officers ran forward to help the woman from the ground as another moved to grab the little girl who was drawing her arm back from the flaming wreckage. His feet slowed when her fist slammed into the window causing it to shatter and came to a complete stop when she shimmied through the new opening exposing a long thin tail to his view.

“My Baby! Oh god please save my baby!” taking in the frantic sight of the woman and the strange foot that just disappeared inside Officer Smith quickly made a decision.

“Lockwood, Kelly get the extinguishers.” the fire had now spread to encompass the car and there was no way he or the others could get close enough to help. “Dispatch, I need fire and rescue at my location. We have a TA and 1 SUV on fire. Tell them to hurry we have at least one child and one mutant inside.” after getting an affirmative he had to react quickly to stop the lady from rushing back to help her child. “Lady I need you to calm down and tell me what happened.”

“let go of me, my son is in there!” she was hysteric and he couldn't really blame her. A loud moaning came from the car obvious signs of metal bending. The door nearest him came crashing down to the ground but before anything else the car was engulfed in an explosion of flames and metal. As Lockwood and Kelly approached at a run, extinguishers in hand Officer Smith was picking himself and the woman off the ground. She was crying now, horrible sobs that racked her entire body and made standing difficult. Then to everyone's surprise a figure stepped from the car. Well more of a stumble than anything with fire covering it's entire body. Releasing the woman he snatched the extinguisher from Lockwood's hand and ran over quickly trying to spray whom he assumed was the mutant girl. Except not all the fire went away. He could see black furred feet slowly but carefully continue to step away from the wreck. Her pants were burned showing the the fur crept up her legs.

“It's OK your out of the fire,” he said dropping the fire extinguisher and trying to grab hold of the girl. She seemed to be covered in what looked like feathers the color of flames. That covering turned out to be wings as they opened slowly allowing him to clear way for them as they expanded to their full width to reveal the sight within. The figure was that of a young girl, just blossoming into that of a woman. Hips slightly wider than her waist, her chest filling out in that way that young boys liked. Her arms were covered in the same black fur as her legs. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt that fit closely to her chest and tight bluejeans both showing obvious signs of being in the fire though no traces of injuries could be seen on her exposed body. Her arms held the limp body of a young boy who though out seemed to be breathing without stress. The boys mother rushed forward, quickly taking the boy from her before checking him over for signs of injury. He woke from the fuss, eyes blinking blearily before focusing on his mother then as young children who'd experienced something so out of the norm he began crying. Another young girl ran toward the mutant before he could stop her and began checking on her, obviously looking for signs of injury. Not finding any she fiercely embraced her as those wings folded neatly behind her back.



“I'm fine.” I said for the third time while Jenn hugged me tightly. “I told you before that fire doesn't hurt me.”

“that doesn't mean you have to try and scare the shit out of me.” she said looking at me. I knew she was mad at the stupid stunt I'd just pulled but I could see a little respect in their as well. “You know your dads gonna kill you don't you?” I couldn't help the sudden cringe at the reminder of dad specifically telling me not to draw to much attention to myself. Louisville was a live and let live kind of town. Though mutants weren't found around every corner there were a few. And when they walked down the street people would either ignore them, stare or run away from them. There had been an attack by H1 once. It was all over the news how a group of 15 men attacked a mutant who was coming out of a grocery store. The altercation was caught on tape and played on the evening news. They went after him with bats, pipes and chains while he stood there and let them pound away at him. Except to their surprise their hits caused no injuries. Then one of the men pulled a gun and fired but still the guy didn't go down. Instead the bullet bounced off and hit a young child who was exiting the store with her mother. That caused the reaction the Humanity First members weren't prepared to handle.

Before another shot could be fired he rushed forward and struck the the gunman's hand only once breaking most of the bones in it the news reported. Just before he punched the guy in the face breaking the same man's jaw knocking him out cold. The following melee was less like a barroom brawl and more like an action movie. Leaving the attackers knocked out all over the parking-lot. None of those guys left entirely whole, each having at least one broken bone. But what happened next, while also caught of camera could only be shown on TV with numerous blurs and adult censor bands across the screen. He stripped all the men, literately ripping their clothing away from their bodies and into thin strips. He then tied the men together ass to mouth in a large 15 man circle leaving them their for the police. He then grabbed the child up in one arm, held onto the mother with the other and flew off to the nearest hospital where the girl was treated and he turned himself in to a police officer staked out in the emergency room.

Having turned himself in before any of those men had even woken up, over three dozen witnesses of the attack that had come forward and the releasing of the video was probably the only thing that kept him out of serious trouble. That didn't stop the idiots from trying to sue him for assault. Claiming that he was the one that initiated the fight but the judge wasn't buying it. Instead they lost heavily in a counter suit and to rub salt in the womb when they exited the courthouse and began spewing their hateful message to the reporters waiting outside they were served by the store owner for destruction of private property. The bullet that hit the little girl went right through the muscle in her upper arm and through the front window coming to rest in a shelving unit. After that court case was ruled in favor of the store owner and they were once again outside and in front of the camera's claiming injustice and how they were unfairly being targeted. Three of the men were then served again, their stunned faces recorded for the entire world to see. The gunman was being charged for attempted murder by the child's mother. The other two by a pair of car owners who's vehicles were used as landing platforms by their unconscious limp bodies. After those open and shut cases the trio of H1 members slunk off in silence, this was also caught on tape as they looked around worriedly not bothering to answer any questions by the reporters. Hoping to escape without being served again, but before they could get into a waiting car a rather large man stepped out of the nearby crowd getting between them and freedom You could see the defeat in their faces and their bodies seemed to deflate before the man pushed between the two in front knocking them to the ground to the surprise to those watching before he reared back and decked the last one breaking his jaw. He was then arrested, and the one that was punched pressed charges trying to save face, figuring even a small win would save face. Turns out the attacker was the father of the little girl, he plead guilty and the judge awarded him time served which had been 1 night and a $300 bail. When a reporter asked the judge why he went so light on the man claiming the man was showing some kind of favoritism the judge looked him right in the eye and replied. “Had it been my kid, I'd be looking for a new gavel cause this one would be somewhere the sun don't shine and it wouldn't have went handle first.”

since then the actions of the H1 community dropped significantly in the city. Mutants weren't exactly trusted or liked, often watched and/or followed when out in public but no one attacked them and as long as they didn't bother anyone no one bothered them. That was the only reason she'd been allowed to leave the house with Jennifer, having clear instructions that if anything happened to either go straight home or to the nearest police station. And here she was, and something did happen.

During this time two fire trucks had arrived and were hooking up hoses to put out the blaze. An EMT worker was looking at the mother and her son who had stopped crying by this point looking around at all the activity in wonder. Another EMT was checking out the driver of the armored car and two others who most likely were stashed in the back. There was an officer with each of the two drivers taking statements while a third stood near us. When he saw me looking around he approached but before he could speak he noticed a black sedan pull up and two men in suits get out. “the MCO is here kid. Don't argue and don't fight. Come with me, get in my car and come to the station with me.” he quickly herded the two girls to his car and got them inside the back seat.

“Hey! You there! Stop! MCO!”

“Sorry boys, got a witness to question.” he said getting in the front seat. He pulled away quickly just short of squealing tires forcing the two agents to dive out of the way or be run down. He looked in the rear view at the stunned looks on the girls faces. “Do you have anyone to call?”

-*-

“You gotta calm down.” This was about the fifth time she'd said that to me and once again it did no good. What was taking so long? What was taking DAD so long? Mom didn't answer so I just left a message. We'd been in this room for almost half an hour, and the dark gray walls and large 2way mirror were closing in on me. “I've never seen you like this? What's wrong?”

“I don't like being trapped in here.” I tried but failed to keep the growl from my voice.

“We're not trapped Alex, we're here to keep us away from the MCO.”

Sighing I retook my seat again for the tenth time. “I know, but dad hasn't called me back and neither has mom. I'm starting to get worried and that isn't helping me to stay calm.” Just then the door opened and my dad was standing there with the officer that brought us in. I was just about to rush to him when I saw the MCO guys standing there also.

“Your dad's in the lobby, why don't you go see him,” my dad said motioning Jennifer out of the room. She grabbed my hand in support as she stood up and squeezed before leaving. Dad and officer Smith came into the room and the two suits tried to crowd in as well but the door was shut firmly in their faces. “Are you OK?” dad said taking the seat Jenn was in. I nodded as he gave me the once over, “why don't you tell us what happened?”

It didn't take long to go over the accident with dad and Smith asking questions to fill in whatever it was they felt was important. On my third time through when the cop stood up. “I think we're done here Jason. Her description matches what I saw in the videos. She had nothing to do with the accident, you guys can get out of here.”

“That's it?”

“That's it, you did a brave thing helping that family you should be proud of that.” when he opened the door to leave the MCO guys barged in.

“Why isn't that thing in handcuffs?” one of them said moving to the side nearest me pulling out his own. Those things were HUGE! Who did he think I was the Hulk! Before he could get any closer dad was standing between us and officer smith stopped the other. “Get out of the way, that mutant attacked an armored truck and a SUV injuring the drivers of both vehicles, two other security guards and a minor. She's coming with us.”

“WHAT!”/”Really?”/”You've gotta be fucking joking!” I don't think I'll bore you on who said what but dad was giving me that look again.

-*-

It took another half hour before dad was escorting me out of the room after thoroughly thrashing those jerks in suits. It seems that three different cameras caught the entire thing from the money truck making an illegal turn to me saving the mom and son. The driver was just trying to save his ass and figured a mutant would instantly get the blame if he stuck to his story. The MCO guys were fuming as we left but I forgot all about them once I got out to the lobby and saw my mom there. She rushed over and I was soon being hugged furiously by both her and Jenn. Jennifer's dad Mike was there also patting me on the shoulder telling me I'd done good while dad was talking quietly with another cop.

Jenn was soon on the way home telling me she'd call me in the morning and I was riding with dad while mom followed us in her car. After we got home I had to go over the entire thing with mom and she was more happy that I was safe than she was impressed with my rookie run as a hero. Dad was pretty distracted through the whole thing and I soon found myself showered and in bed. The lights were out and unlike the first night after waking up in my new body I was used to the way my vision worked at night now.

That night had been terrifying, after a nice hot shower I stood in the restroom looking at myself in the full-length mirror. My height hadn't been the only thing to change. My hair was longer now, darker almost black where before it stopped at my shoulders it now reached the small of my back. Where before I was thin my body now looked like powerful, my muscles clearly visible under pale skin. I even had breast now. High on my chest and full, my hips had widened which brought my eyes to my most intimate spot. I was hairless now save for my eyebrows the hair on my head and the fur that covered my arms and legs starting just above my knees and elbows. She opened her mouth to look at the en-longed incisors on both the top and bottom giving her a wicked sort of smile. And her eyes! Deep green like emeralds that were vertically slited like a cats. Just like his were. Soon she was in her room trying to put on what used to be her pj's but had to settle for an over-sized shirt when the ones she'd used to wear ended up to short not to mention that she'd shredded one of the legs trying to force her over-sized foot through. Mom came into the room to check on me when she heard me griping at the torn clothe promising a shopping trip in the near future. Something she was absolutely thrilled about since before I never had the endurance to last more than half an hour once leaving the car. And then she was gone, the lights were out and my nightmare began.

When she'd flipped the switch the light from the hall kept my room looking normal if not overly shadowed. But once she shut the door my world just changed. My vision grayed for a moment and then the whole room erupted into brightness once my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The faint glow from the streetlights outside was enough to shower my room in bright shades of black, white and gray. I realized that I wasn't seeing any color but that didn't stop me from making out each and every detail of my room. For the longest time I just looked around, amazed at how clear and sharp things were.

But as I sat their, alone, in the dark I began to feel a strangeness in my own mind. Something I hadn't really noticed before. Their was something else in my mind with me. Something the ma in my dreamed referred to as the Cat. Waking up in the hospital, the visit with the doctor followed by the drive home. The hovering I now realized my parents were doing had kept me distracted all day but now that I was alone with nothing to distract me reality started to set in. I was changed, I was different, and I wasn't alone. I could almost see it in my mind, hear it and I could feel just how strong it was. It was like a caged animal, whispering it's song to me. It was just so damn strong. So powerful

Gently cub, it means you no harm.

-*-

That night had been a major eye opener for me. Not only was I not alone in my head. A second set of instincts that were just as strong as the ones I had before and sometimes stronger but I also had another passenger in my life now. It was the man in my dreams. We had a connection now, a pirminate bond that couldn't be broken. We talked that night, for hours as I got used to the strangeness I found myself in. he kept me calm, explained things I couldn't or wouldn't understand. Kept me from sitting alone in that room with my fears as they built on themselves growing stronger and stronger as the night moved closer to the day. Settling himself in my mind as a trusted friend, as a reliable protector, as a knowledgeable guide.

Well done cub. His voice reached me as I drifted off to sleep.