[15 minutes later]
“No fucking way!” Jessica declared after you and Nat had tried explaining yourselves, “you must be mad if you think I’m going back to that Zoo. There’s no way I’m going to risk everything based on the promises of some stranger we have never met! For all we know this could just be one giant trap, with our families being the bait that is used to lure us in!”
“Baby, trust me,” you said in an effort to defuse the tension, “if Nat wanted to capture us then she easily could have. But even if you don’t trust her, can you see any realistic alternative? Who else is going to believe us if we ask them for help?”
“I don’t know,” Jessica replied, “friends, family… the police?! Surely someone can help without requiring us to go back to that hellish place.”
“I’m sorry,” you replied unmovingly, “but anyone we reach out to will just be put at risk. Besides, every minute we delay is another minute that our families are made to suffer. We need to act NOW, and Nat’s plan is currently the only option available to us.”
Hearing you talking about your kidnapped loved ones clearly struck a nerve with Jessica, causing her to quickly quieten down. She was clearly worried sick about her missing parents, especially given her own week-long ordeal at the Stables.
With Jessica now fighting to hold back tears, Kev decided to interject as he too seemed sceptical about Nat’s daring plan. “So let me get this straight, you propose to turn into animals, infiltrate the Zoo, take down the bad guys and free your families. Well it’s an ambitious plan, I’ll give you that. And where would I fit into all of this?”
“My dear,” Nat said in a soothing voice, “you will act as our getaway driver, given that you did such a fine job the first time. As for the rest of the plan, you may have oversimplified it just a little, but you seem to have the gist of it. You see, we need to start targeting the individual exhibits one at a time. By bringing down their leaders and replacing them with our allies, we can continue to spread our influence across the entire Zoo, until we are able to stage a full revolt and undo the curse for good.”
“Right…” Kev replied with uncertainty in his voice, “I guess I’m on board but I still can’t wrap my head around half of the things you’re saying. If I can help my mates out then that’s good enough for me.”
“Excellent,” Nat announced as she turned to Jessica, “then that just leaves you my dear. As an added motivator I thought we’d target the exhibit where you and your boyfriend’s loved ones are being held. Trust me, this is the only way to help them. Are you in?”
Jessica didn’t immediately respond as she instead looked at you for reassurance. In response you simply nodded your head as if to say ‘trust me.’
This seemed to be good enough for Jessica as, with a slightly reluctant nod back, she said “OK, I’m in.”
“Brilliant,” Nat announced, “in that case we had better sort out your disguises. I picked a couple of samples from the relevant exhibit, so you will at least have some control over your transformation this time…”
As Nat said this she pulled out a case filled with perhaps a dozen large syringes. They were all helpfully labelled so you at least knew what you were in for, not that that was much consolation.
“Right then,” Nat continued, “I suppose we had better get both of your transformations out of the way. I would recommend taking different species just as a further precaution to stop you mating with each other, but if you would rather stay together then that is your call. Here you are then, take your pick…”
With that, Nat passed you the case of syringes and left you two to decide what you wanted to become. Both of you were still quite reluctant to willingly let yourselves be transformed again, but eventually you had both made up your minds as you handed the case back.
“Excellent choices my dears,” Nat said with a smile, “now then, let’s head over to the barn so that we can begin. Don’t worry, soon you will both fit in perfectly at the…”