Author's Note: Shoutout to Paradoxical for loving this story enough to want to continue it. It's been two years since the last post, and even longer since I last sat down with these wonderful characters caught up in a very bizarre situation. I no longer remember the full details of where this was going, so I'm starting some new notes and character outlines to get it back on track. With that said, this is by no means a story just to be written by myself or Heathir, whom I'm not sure is even active anymore (heck, I haven't been in years!). Feel free to branch the story off, as it's an interactive choose your own adventure, after all; but thanks to all who have enjoyed it so far and longed to see it continued. Thank you, Paradoxical, for giving me the inspiration to come back to it after so much time has passed.
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“I'm all right, I'm all right,” Audrey stammered, consciousness returning to her in mere moments. She heard the click of a phone and felt something wet and coarse beneath her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the sight of a pair of fuzzy knees as she came her the realization that her head was resting in her daughter's furry lap.
Sickness immediately hit her stomach as the memory came flooding back to her. She'd spent so long preparing herself for what she was going to see, but to all of a sudden see Jen, naked and unrecognizable, was all a bit too much for her.
Fingers tightly gripped her arm and tear drops splashed onto her cheeks. She could hear Jen trying hard to hold back sobs as she cradled her shocked body, and with tentative movements, she raised her arm enough to touch her clenched hands. She gently caressed her hand, her fingers slipping under the coarse hair of the exterior and feeling the soft, downy undercoat that had begun to slowly emerge.
“I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!” Jen repeated, almost hysterical.
Lisa shoved her face into her hands whilst Carol very calmly left to find Andy and tell her that dinner may be unexpectedly late. She draped a blanket over Jen's shoulders and gave her own daughter a squeeze.
“I'll be right back. Help her into my bed if she needs to lie down. I'll talk to her as soon as I find your sister.”
With that she left the kitchen and was marching upstairs to find Andy, leaving Lisa in charge of a situation that had spiraled into madness. Her friend sat before her, a waterfall of tears now flowing freely from her eyes, and her catatonic mother laying in her lap. Audrey's expression was blank, and Lisa couldn't make out whether she was trying to take in the situation or trying to push it out of her mind entirely.
“Audrey?” Lisa asked, carefully crouching before the shocked woman and trying not to panic her further. Clearing her throat, she continued, “Do you need to lay down? Mom says you can use her bed.”
She uttered no sound nor made any new expression, but finally a nod, although barely perceptible, told the girls she needed to lie down.
“Do you need a doctor, Mom?” Jennifer cracked out, her arms trembling as she positioned her mother to be carried.
“No,” Audrey whispered.
Jen hoisted her up, her arm's new muscle growth making it relatively easy to lift and carry her mother's frame. Lisa rushed to her friend's aid, securing the blanket across her body in an attempt to salvage some of her dignity.
She glanced at Audrey next, but the woman's eyes quickly averted and stared hard at the floor, as though it was the only real thing in the room.
Jennifer hurried across the living room and into Carol's bedroom, placing her mother gently on the bed and covering her up. She leaned in to kiss her forehead but stopped. She brought her hand to her mouth, wiping away tears and realizing that her hairs could make the trauma worse.
She turned to leave, but her mother suddenly grabbed her wrist. “Please stay for a bit,” she beckoned, her gaze never leaving the ceiling.
Jen nodded at Lisa and sat next to her mother in the bed, her hand firmly clasped by her mother's.
Lisa returned the nod and left the room, slowly making her way up the stairs to her own room. The pads on her feet gave walking a strange sensation, and she felt as though her balance a bit off nowadays. She gripped the railing tightly as she took each careful step.
As she took the final step, she saw her mom leaving Andy's room, concern etched into her face.
“Oh, Lisa!” she exclaimed, forcing a smile as she hurried to embrace her daughter. “Do you need help, honey?” she asked, noticing how Lisa was leaned against the railing.
“I'm going to my room for a bit. Audrey asked Jen to stay with her for a while, so I'm leaving them alone.”
“I think I'll give them a few minutes, too, then,” Carol replied, wrapping an arm under Lisa's to steady her.
Lisa's muscles made her a bit heavier, she realized, but it wasn't like she had to carry her. The two of them made their way into Lisa's room and Lisa climbed on the bed, wiping away a few overwhelmed tears of her own.
For the first time, Carol noticed that Lisa had taken down all of her family pictures. Her first game as a cheerleader, her Kindergarten graduation – all of it was stashed away somewhere.
“Mind if I join you for a spell?”
“No.”
Carol sat next to her and wrapped a protective arm around her. She planted a small but affectionate kiss on her daughter's hairy forehead and that's when Lisa's sobbing really began.
“I'm sorry!” she cried. “I actually wasn't having a bad day today. We went for a walk in the woods, b-but Jen fell into the river. H-her clothes are still on the kitchen floor.”
Carol sat still and calmly as Lisa explained what had happened, gently reassuring her that things would be okay as her story progressed.
Finally, Lisa caught up to the present again, her body quaking as she cried into Carol's shoulder.
“Mom,” she began, looking up for the first time since they'd arrived, “how do you feel about all of this? You're so strong, and you've tried to stay positive this whole time, but don't you feel a little like Audrey, too? Don't you mourn for the daughter you lost?” Her voice began to rise, almost in anger, as she continued her rant. “One day, when I'm all but gone, who will remember the Lisa that I was? I did so much, and I had so many dreams – it's all gone, and neither you or Andy seem to care!”
Carol squeezed her tighter, placing her hand on Lisa's now very hairy face. Her fingers sank into the soft mat of hair – almost fur – that covered her daughter's once smooth cheeks, wiping away angry tears.
“Lisa,” she began, searching earnestly for words, trying to be both frank and comforting at once – a feat that felt nearly impossible. “I know it hurts, and I've cried myself to sleep many, many nights over this. I know you and Jen have, too. You're not alone by a long shot.
'But I don't mourn my daughter; she never died. You're still alive, Lisa. Different, but that's okay. People are always changing, sometimes due to catastrophe. Think Christopher Reeves: Superman one day, completely helpless the next. You, however, aren't helpless. Your potential isn't gone, it's just taking a different direction. Life is going to be harder, but you'll never be alone. We'll go down that path with you, no matter where it leads. And I'll always remember you the way you were. The difference is that I'm not going to let myself be ruled by the past. I loved you then, and I still love you now.”
Lisa sat in her mother's arms, her body still and the remainder of her tears drying. As Carol cuddled with her, she noticed her ears seemed slightly elongated now as well. Lisa had been so upset when she noticed the hair growing on them, and it wouldn't be long before they formed into points now.
She also noticed how fidgety Lisa had been lately. Andy had planned to talk to her and do a proper inspection, seeing as how Carol was now going to be busy pulling Audrey back together.
That thought suddenly made her sit upright, abruptly throwing Lisa off her.
“I just remembered that Jen has no clothes! I'd better grab her some and see how Audrey is doing.”
She gave Lisa a final hug. “You can talk to me about anything. Remember that,” she said gently before racing out the door, her footsteps thundering down the hall and evoking a slight chuckle from Lisa.