"Get your hands off me, you monster! I'm not your brother," yelled Adam.
Mary Lou raised her hands in placating manner, and backed away. Not yet, but you soon will be, she thought with a smile. She looked at her hands, and watched as her stubby fingers began to stretch and thin into a more feminine shape, and her claws began to recede into long dark fingernails. She would miss her claws, but it was a small price to pay for freedom.
Adam pulled a towel from his backpack, and quickly dried himself off. He had intended to use the towel on Evelyn, but Mary Lou had ruined that plan. He was glad to have it now. He quickly scanned his body, and didn't see any changes. I guess I got it off in time, he thought. At least, I hope I did.
"Looks like your plan didn't work, monster. I'm still human, " said Adam angrily.
He doesn't know it takes time to complete the transformation, thought Mary Lou. The bottle must not have explained everything. She looked at his head, and saw that his hair seemed a little thinner. It is working, though, she thought with glee, he just doesn't realize it yet. She wrapped her hands behind her back, and ducked her head submissively.
"Sorry, Adam. But you can't blame a girl for trying. I wasn't trying to hurt you or anything, but I'm desperate. I need to escape, " said Mary Lou.
Adam was little surprised. He hadn't expected a monster to be rational, much less apologetic.
"Why? Why do you need to escape so badly? Seems like you had it pretty nice at the zoo?" , asked Adam, as he gathered his gear, including the gun.
"Are you kidding ?" scoffed Mary Lou with disdain. "All of your life was spent in a small cage? Being fed ground up scraps of meat for food? Not to mention being constantly gawked by fools who would torment you? Would you like that?"
Adam had never thought about it that way. He was not really found of the tourists, either. More than once he had to chastise the idiots for yelling at the animals, or pelting them with rocks or food. And because of her popularity, Mary Lou was a frequent target.
Mary Lou saw that he felt a little sympathy for her and pressed her advantage. "I never wanted to hurt anyone , " she lied. " All I ever wanted was freedom. The freedom to go where I want to ... maybe a nice pond where I could see the sunset.... to live where I want to .... maybe in a nice a spacious swamp that would take deacdes to explore .... and to be with who I want .... maybe with a nice mate who truly cares for me..." , she said as she looked straight into his eyes.
Adam blushed and looked towards the ground. "Okay, I understand. But why did you pretend to be Evelyn?"
"Would you have helped me if you knew who I really was?," said Mary Lou." You were ready to shoot me just a few seconds ago. I'm so close to freedom, and I am terrified of loosing my one chance at happiness."
Adam looked at the gun with a feeling of guilt. He pointed the barrel towards the ground with a little shame. "Okay, that sounds reasonable. But what happened to Evelyn? Where is she?"
He believes me, thought Mary Lou with glee. "I don't know. She was helping me escape, and we got separated when we were lost in the sewer. She is a good person, with a kind heart. I am really very worried about her, " lied Mary Lou again.
"Well, we better find her then. I'm not leaving her to the zookeepers, " said Adam with determination.
"No! " said Mary Lou sharply, causing Adam to jump a little with surprise. "We don't have time. The people from the zoo are close; I heard them just before I ran into you. I need to escape before they find me again." She looked at the nearest manhole. It looked a little bigger now, but she knew she was still too large to squeeze through.
"All the more reason to find Evelyn. I love her, and I can't just leave her to be hunted like an animal. You can leave if you want, but I'm going to keep looking for Evelyn, and my guess is that I'll find her if I follow that bellow, " said Adam, as he walked brisky past Mary Lou.
She turned and saw with some amusement, that a small tail was poking out of the back of his jeans. The fool is walking straight towards the voices, she thought. Should I really let him get caught? She grabbed the unopened bottle of shampoo that Adam had first presented to her, and stuffed it into her satchel beside the vials of growth serum. After all, she thought, I will soon be small enough to escape, and I can always find make myself another mate.