Haru couldn't quite understand how the theoretically simple task of getting dressed to go to a movie with a classmate turned into such a whirlwind of activity over the next half-hour, but either her mother made it sound perfectly normal, or it was subtler than she'd have expected. No one step stood out as anything particularly odd, yet she'd just spent nearly thirty minutes getting dressed!
By the end of it, she was wearing a simple white dress - not especially short or form-hugging, but it didn't exactly hide what she had in the way of a figure - and matching slip-on shoes. She wasn't sure what you'd call them; technically they had raised heels, but not to any extent that she thought would count as "high heels," just maybe a half an inch or so...huh.
She had, for the moment, drawn the line and makeup and jewelry, to her mother's half-concealed disappointment, but she did insist on brushing Haru's hair out and arranging it as tastefully as could be managed without a haircut. And they'd only just finished that, her mother happily proclaiming how nice she looked, when there was a knock on the door.
Haru leapt to her feet, just a little unsteadied by the shoes, took a moment to pop a couple Ibuprofen and pray that they'd last for the evening, and headed downstairs to the front door.
Ken looked a bit surprised when she answered the door. "Uh, h-hi," he said. "Sorry, I'm kind of late..."
Haru smiled. "It's okay," she said. "I was in a bit of a rush myself. You, um, ready to go?"
The fox-boy nodded, his ears perking up. Haru's mother stood just inside the doorway, smiling. "You kids have fun, okay?" she said.
Ken smiled. "Th-thanks! We will!"
Will was not feeling particularly happy about the way this assignment was going. Ten minutes in and her quarry-uh, her target disappeared - just shot into the sky with no warning. There hadn't been any indication that she'd even seen Will, not that that was going to make her boss any happier. And on top of everything else, the clouds had begun to give hints of a coming rain...
She hoped the woman wasn't going to do anything rash - she'd seemed...very distressed. From what Will had heard about her Mr. Collins, that was hardly surprising - he'd only just been acquitted in court when he'd strolled right smack into the sun. Talk about a reversal of fortunes. Will knew many transformees tended to be a bit distressed and unstable for the first few days (she herself had spent two days hiding under the bed when she changed,) but this strange space-woman seemed to be taking it quite a bit harder than most.
...was it because she was so alone, maybe? There were hardly any strong scents at this property - a regular resident, human male, that she assumed was the old Anderson, a fresh scent, female and human-like but distinctly not human, that she thought must be the new Ms. Collins, and a stale scent, like someone who came in once a week or so, but quite old - couldn't have actually been here in quite some time. That was it.
She looked around at the scene. Someone from the department had come by and looked through the burning materials for anything that looked potentially incriminating, but as Will had suspected, it was just...books. Books and a few photos. The woman wasn't trying to hide something, she was purging remnants of her old life.
How sad...Will wondered how you could wind up that far gone in just...what, 24 hours? She must have had some kind of issues to start with. She just hoped it didn't wind up destroying her...
She looked at her watch. It had been nearly an hour since Collins had disappeared. "Hey, sarge?" she radioed in. "Any word back from ATC?" They'd gotten in touch with air-traffic control at the county airport when her target took off, but by the time they'd gotten to looking for her, they hadn't been able to find anything.
"Still nothing," the sergeant replied. "There are four small-scale flying objects in the area, but they don't have any clue which is what. With various transformees being capable of flight, they're apparently still trying to work out a way to track these things. Are you sure you don't need backup?"
"I'm sure," Will grimaced. "I'll contact you if anything changes." Sheesh...her target wasn't even here right-
Her ears pricked up and she turned to look behind her. Hovering a few feet above the ground was Ms. Collins, looking startled and frightened.
Anneza stared at the wolf-girl in the police uniform - why was she here? She'd been acquitted! She wasn't...
She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as she remembered that, in fact, she was guilty. For all the reassurance she'd been giving herself, despite the fact of her acquittal...she had hired that guy to...oh God! What if they'd found him!? What if they knew?
Or...worse yet, what if they knew about the school bombing? She hadn't even meant for that to happen, but she'd already admitted to herself that the only reason she didn't suspect something was amiss was because of self-centeredness and willful ignorance - how on earth would you make that sound defensible in court...especially if nobody understood a word you said!?
Suddenly she felt like she wanted to throw up. Faced with a full reminder of what she'd done...with the possibility of having to face the consequences...oh, all these ups and downs! It was making her...
No, she had to keep it together at least a little bit. But for the life of her, she couldn't think of a thing to say. What would this wolf do? Would she go after her? Handcuff her and drag her off to jail?
Actually, the wolf-girl simply began to speak in a pleasant, conversational tone. Anneza couldn't understand what she was saying, but it didn't sound threatening - not even the mock-innocence of someone who knows you've done something wrong but is pretending not to know to make you nervous. What was she saying?
She let the wolf-girl finish, giving no indication of understanding. The police-girl shrugged and walked off to one corner of the yard with her radio. Was she...was she safe? Were they really here for some other reason? She thought briefly of making a break for it, of tearing off back into space and staying there, but...
...oh, what was the use in pretending? She deserved it. She'd almost destroyed a building full of innocent people because she was willing to shut her brain off in order to get something for herself - what wouldn't she deserve after that? If they didn't haul her off to prison, it would be simple mercy, not through any merit on her part.
She sighed and drifted toward the house. Before she went inside, she looked up at the clouds in the night sky, smiling wistfully. They were so bright, illuminated by the waxing moon...she wondered, could she go there? It was a whole lot farther than her little trip this evening, though she couldn't remember the exact figure. But...to walk there, where only a few others had ever set foot...
She was suddenly a bit damp, as the occasional drops turned into a full-on rainstorm. Spluttering in surprise, she dashed inside, but she couldn't help smiling to herself - perhaps the clouds were saying hello.
Anneza was struck upon re-entering the house by just how much of a mess she'd made of the place. She'd simply yanked books right off the shelves, and there were loose papers and a few decorative objects scatted all over the living room as a result...she began to straighten a few things up.
She was sorting through some of the loose papers when she came across a photograph she hadn't burned. Rather than another picture of her rise to success, it was an older photo - herself as a much younger man, just graduating high school. She'd forgotten she had it - it was probably tucked away in a book somewhere.
The photo was taken at a party somewhere - not her graduation party, the boy in the picture was wearing more casual clothes, but probably not long thereafter. On either side of him were her parents, smiling and proud...
She felt numb, like she always did when she thought too much about her parents. They'd wanted her to succeed in life, and she certainly did...but somehow or other, the specifics had never sat right with them. They'd talked like she was becoming someone different, and she'd tried to make them see that she was just adjusting to her career...
They'd never exactly had a falling-out, but they'd certainly drifted apart. She saw them once or twice a year - and these days, it was leaning more toward "once" - and spoke with them on occasion, but...well, they really didn't have much to talk about anymore...
Anneza found herself crying - not the mad, devastated sobbing she'd done when first dealing with her change, but quiet, bitter tears. How had she gotten to this point? What else had she sacrificed in pursuit of everything she'd now lost? She couldn't even remember.
She thought of going to see her mother...what kind of reception would await her? Even if she accepted that the strange green-haired floating woman was her son...would she want her back? No, she couldn't go back like that! She would go as an adult, seeking a mature reconciliation - she wasn't a child!
Or...Anneza thought back on her behavior...the grudge against the changed that had led her to try and get that reporter fired...the petty revenge that had escalated into forcibly altering her subordinate's life...the callous disregard for others, as long as there was the promise of her benefit... She found herself wondering if, really, she had ever been anything but a child?
