*Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is late — I went back and forth deciding how to approach it, and also got delayed by personal stuff. I'll try to be more consistent from now on. The story was left in a super awkward place by the previous authors (mid-conversation to be exact) with many loose ends, and I'm only just beginning to get it back on track. I kind of skipped a week with Audrey recovering and I'm still picking up the pieces to tie the story together again. I'll try to clear up any confusion you may have. For those of you missing Andy, she is still off in New York for film study, but will be back soon.*
It had been about a week since Lisa and Jen's visit to Beth's home. Nothing very eventful happened to them since then. In that same period of time, Audrey had made a significant recovery. She still suffered from occasional headaches and would need to follow up later with a local hospital, but she felt strong enough to return home. She felt certain that this Thanksgiving would not be soon forgotten.
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Jen woke up that morning feeling no better than she did the night before. She had a pounding headache and rested her head in her hand as she went to wake up Lisa. Lisa had opted to sleep in Andy's room the previous night, thinking that Jen needed some rest and alone time after receiving the news that her mother was coming to visit. As Jen approached the unconscious Lisa, she noticed that something was different.
"Lisa, wake up, something's wrong," Jen said as she shook her friend.
"Hmm, Jen, what is it?" Lisa replied, still very much asleep.
"Lisa, come on." Sensing the urgency in Jen's voice, Lisa perked up attentively. "What's up?"
"You're glowing," Jen stated with subdued alarm.
"I'm what?" Lisa wasn't sure she heard correctly.
"Glowing." Jen repeated.
Lisa shot a look down at her hands, alarmed. She paused. They were still hairy, but certainly not bioluminescent.
"Jen, I think I would know if I was glowing. Are you feeling alright? Come with me to the bathroom."
Jen admitted she was feeling kind of sick. The two hurried to the mirror, and they inspected Jen's eyes. They were dilating rapidly and had a slight yellowish tint. Lisa thought back to their visit with Beth, remembering what had happened to Beth's eyes.
"I think your eyes may have changed overnight," Lisa said. "Just like Beth's did. Her cousin said she could see in infrared and ultraviolet now, right? That must be why you thought I was glowing. Our bodies give off heat, a form of infrared radiation. You might also want to start wearing sunglasses outside from now on."
"Just what I needed," Jen sighed, perturbed. "Especially on the day my mom gets to see me for the first time looking like some human-animal hybrid."
"Hey, we're in this together, remember?" Lisa responded reassuringly. "Let's hurry up and get ready for breakfast."
They performed their usual morning ritual and took a moment to examine themselves in the mirror. In the week that had passed, the pads on Lisa's feet had blackened and thickened. Her facial hair had also developed significantly. Her beard had filled in and lengthened enough that she could easily be mistaken for a man. Also, although she hated to admit it, the hairs above her eyes could no longer be called eyebrows. In their place a bushy, wild unibrow had sprouted. Jen's fur grew more evenly across her face, so it was the only place Lisa had her beat. To sum it up, Lisa looked like a very hairy man, whilst Jen resembled a human/furry animal hybrid. They then hurried to meet Carol in the kitchen for breakfast, and explained Jen's development.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but you're strong, and I'm sure you'll adjust soon enough, Jen. I made you both a special breakfast for the big day today," Carol said. "It's the least I could do."
It was not every day that Carol made her special pancakes. She had a bad feeling about the coming hours and wanted to do everything she could to make it easier on the girls, but especially Jen. The girls ate quickly and greedily, in a rush for nothing in particular.
"Anyway, you've got about an hour before your mother arrives, Jen," Carol warned. "I'll let you two loose for now, but be back on time. If you need me, I'll be here getting everything ready."
Lisa and Jen decided to go for a walk to ease their apprehensions. They settled on a nearby forest and threw on long pants and hooded sweatshirts to mask their appearances. They lamented having to do that, but they supposed it was better than receiving countless sideways glances and sympathetic looks from passing strangers. They walked for a long while along an overgrown dirt path, rarely talking, before coming upon a wide stream.
Connecting the two shores was a rickety wooden bridge. It looked severely weathered, was missing a few boards, and could probably give nasty splinters if rubbed the wrong way. Lisa and Jen's only options were to turn back or cross the old bridge, because the water was too deep and the current too strong to wade through. At this point, Lisa looked down and noticed that the dirt path was gone, having been completely overcome by the local flora, so they could not retrace their steps. Jen also reasoned that going back would take too long because they were almost entirely through to the other side of the forest, so the only way to go was forward. They decided to play Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would cross first.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!" They chanted simultaneously.
Jen had chosen Rock, and Lisa had chosen Scissors, which meant Lisa would have to cross first. She took a few careful steps onto the bridge, hoping it was still structurally sound. There was a lot of creaking and cracking, but slowly Lisa made it to the other side safely. Jen followed, only slightly encouraged by her friend's success. She creeped along carefully.
Suddenly, a board gave out under the weight of her foot and she lost her balance. She grabbed the railing quickly, but reeled back as sharp splinters of wood stabbed into her palm. Jen screamed as she jumped back, but doing so only caused more planks of wood to give out underneath her and send her tumbling into the stream below. She met the water with a loud splash.
"Jen!" Lisa cried. "Hold on! I'm coming!"
Lisa grabbed a long, sturdy tree branch and extended one end of it to Jen, who was now completely soaked. She held on tightly as Lisa pulled her back to safety.
"Are you alright?" Lisa asked, worried. "That was painful to watch, like it was in slow motion or something," she added.
"G-g-gee, t-thanks," Jen uttered sarcastically through clacking teeth. She was soaked with cold water all the way through to her skin, and shivered uncontrollably. The chilly November air certainly didn't help.
"You need to take off those wet clothes or you'll get hypothermia," Lisa warned. "Nobody's around except me, so it's fine."
"Are you c-crazy?" Jen responded, horrified. "It's not l-like we b-b-brought a ch-change of c-clothes out here."
"If we follow the path, it'll loop around and we'll hopefully make it home unseen. We just have to hurry. Follow me. I'm more familiar with this whole place, considering I live nearby," Lisa reasoned.
Jen didn't have a better plan, so she agreed. Reluctantly, she stripped naked and gave her wet clothes to Lisa, who stored them in her sweatshirt pockets.
"Alright, let's hurry back," Lisa said as she began to follow the remaining path home. Her pace quickened to a run, and Jen followed from behind.
They made it back home unseen, in what seemed to them like an eternity. The only difficult part was sneaking Jen through the bushes to avoid being seen as they reached the front door. They burst in together and slammed the door, relieved to finally be safe and sound.
That is, until Audrey and Carol, who had been talking together, turned to discover the source of the commotion. Audrey had arrived not even ten minutes earlier, and was not at all prepared for the sight now presented in front of her. Jen stood there at the door, dripping wet, naked, and speechless, looking like a deer caught in headlights. She had gone over seemingly hundreds of ways to present herself to her mom in her head, but this was not one of those ways by any means. Lisa also stood stunned, mouth agape, unsure of what to do.
"Jen! Oh... Audrey!?" Carol yelled, confused and alarmed. Before anyone could process what had just happened, Audrey was unconscious on the floor.
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Carol shot up and ran to Audrey's side.
"Lisa, call 911," Carol demanded. Lisa hurried into the kitchen. "Jen, would you like to fill me in on why you're standing there naked and soaking wet?"
"I... Uh..." Jen stammered, unable to respond.
"You know what, I don't care," Carol interrupted. "Just go dry yourself off and put some clothes on. Maybe then we can try to salvage this train wreck..."