After the somewhat eventful day, Tom Herald pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building. His editor once again thought he was crazy when Tom told him that he was being followed. No matter how hard he tried, his editor wouldn't believe him. Would anyone believe him?
Tom was about to get out of his car when something popped into his head: the girl who asked him out earlier today. Who was she exactly? Tom didn't even know her, and yet, she asked him out. Maybe he should try to get to know her a little bit.
Reaching into his pocket, Tom pulled out his cellphone and dialed in Alice's number. The phone rang three times before it was answered.
"Hello?," Alice asked into the phone.
"Hi Alice, it's me, Tom."
"Tom! I wasn't expecting you to call! How's your evening been going so far?"
"Good. Listen Alice; if we're gonna go on a date, maybe we should try to get to know each other a little beforehand. If you don't have anything planned tonight, maybe I could come over and we could have a chat."
"Of course! My address is 675 Coventry Lane."
"Alright. I'll see you in a couple of minutes."
Tom hung up the phone and put his key back into the ignition. He typed Alice's address into his GPS and pulled out of the parking lot.
~ ~ ~
20 minutes later, Tom pulled into Alice's driveway. He got out of his car and walked up to the door. He knocked twice and waited for an answer. A few seconds later, Alice opened the door.
"Tom! Come in!," she said with a smile, "I'm really glad you wanted to come over."
"I've got a few things on my mind that I wanted to talk about with someone."
"Would you like to get those out of the way first?," Alice asked, guiding the male into her home, shutting the door behind her.
"If you wouldn't mind," Tom said, "Sitting down at her kitchen table, "All of this stuff that's been happening in Seattle has been on my mind. A man that has a rat's tail, how crazy is that! Because I work for the newspaper, I wanted to report on it, so I did some research. After all of my research, I'm starting to think that what the police and the media are saying about the tail being a costume is a bunch of crap. I think that maybe Ulysses actually had a real tail that was part of his body. That's why I came to your costume shop: to see how a costume rat tail compares to a real rat tail."
Tom paused for a moment before he continued. "I brought all my evidence to my editor, but he thinks I'm insane. I know there's something I'm missing, and I want to find out what it is!"
Alice swallowed hard when Tom finished. "Say that there's more people like Ulysses," she said, doing her best to not sound suspicious, "What if you found out about them, but it would put them all in danger. Would you report it then?"
Tom sighed, looking up at Alice. "Are you talking about half humans-half animals?," he said, "To be honest, I wouldn't really want to expose an entire race if it would put them in danger. I just want to find out the truth. If there is a species of half human-half animals out there, I'd love to meet just one. Since I was a child, I've always had a weird attraction to werewolves and other creatures like that. I've always wanted to meet one and become one. I could have the biggest story of my entire career on the doorstep, and I wouldn't take it, all to become a werewolf like creature; a fox preferably."
Alice's heart leap for joy after hearing all of what Tom had to say. She had found a guy that she liked that could keep her secret. Even better, he wanted to become a werecreature! A fox just like her! This was her chance to tell him.
"Tom," Alice said, inhaling deeply, "I have something to tell you."