FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sweltering, stuffy heat that had been plaguing the small mouse girl was only slightly relieved by the open air of the forest from which she was presently fleeing. With the strap of her small duffel-bag slung across her chest she hurried away from the cabin. As she ran she kept swearing to herself.

“Damn Val! Why did you have to be standing behind that stupid door!? And I'm sure that fennec bitch is going to rat me out for slapping her. This day couldn't possibly get any fucking worse, god damn it!"

Before running away Vic slipped into one of her heavy metal band tee shirts, the kind with demons, skulls, and blood all over the place, and a pair of her brother's baggy shorts. Her tennis shoes kicked at the dirt road which lead down the mountain, and before she knew it she realized that she had run a fair distance. She thought about how Fido and the others would scold her if she went back, and how much worse it might be if they started looking for her and caught her. Thinking of these things she decided to go off of the pre-existing road and ran into the woods. Twigs snapped and cracked as she made her way past them, and as she ran sweat drenched her clothing from the insane heat and humidity of the morning.

After about ten minutes of running through the woods she found herself in small covered clearing with tons of blackberry bushes. The barbed limbs of the bushes were hanging low with the weight of their ripe fruit. Seeing all of the berries made her stomach growl, and that reminded her that she hadn't eaten breakfast before she left. Her breathing was heavy from running, and her small chest puffed in and out as she tried to catch her breath. However each time she breathed in the air seemed hotter and thicker, and she was starting to think that she would suffocate just from standing still. Looking at the bushes she realized how stupid she had been for not thinking to grab any food before leaving. She walked up to one of the bushes and sat her duffel on the ground. She then sat on it and slowly started picking and eating the deep purple berries, being careful not to let their thorns snag her. Biting into the berries was almost orgasmic. The cool, crisp sensation that filled her mouth along with a sweet yet tangy flavor turned out to be exactly the kind of thing she needed. Though they were out in the heat, the area that surrounded the blackberries was shaded well enough. She found the berries not only started to satisfy her hunger, but also, since she had to stop breathing in order to swallow, they were helping her catch her breath.

Once she had eaten her fill she realized that the berries had stained her hands red. She stood up and tried to wipe some of the remaining juice and partial berries from her whiskers. With no mirror around for her to see she inadvertently smeared the remaining juice all over her muzzle. After wiping her face she could feel the stickiness stuck in her sandy blonde fur, but she decided she would continue on regardless. After all, there was no point staying where she was. She realized that sooner or later she would have to find some way to beat the heat. Standing up she turned around, bent over, and unzipped her duffel-bag. After a few seconds of rummaging she pulled out a red handkerchief which she then placed on the ground and filled with more berries. She thought she would take some with her in case she wanted to snack on something as she walked.

Her pace was much slower when she set out this time. She figured if Fido had been looking for her he could have easily picked up her scent in his dog form and found her while she was resting. 'I guess they really don't care that I ran away.' she thought to herself. As she continued walking she started to wonder why they hadn't come after her. “Hmph! It's not like I care!" she said out loud. “But really. What're they thinkin'? I guess I pissed 'em all off so much that they're happy to see me go. It's not like they'd go outta their way to search for me anyway. I mean, hell, they're probably glad I'm gone! That's just one less mouth to feed. I bet they're just sittin' around sighin' in relief because 'Thank god that little tyrant ain't here no more!' Val's probably still cryin' or some shit, the little pussy. I swear if it weren't for having to look out for his sorry ass I would have been well on my way to a better life right now! After all, it was him who said we should trust those assholes with that creepy ass van, and then what happens!? We get taken to some bullshit government facility where they fuckin' play with our bodies and turn us into these god damned whatever-the-fuck-we-ares! I swear, if it weren't for him! If it… weren't for… him…" She let her voice trail off as she remembered how Val had tried to tell the doctors that they should just be satisfied with him and to let her go, and then how he managed to sneak letters to her despite them being kept in different cells. Finally she remembered how he came to her cell when it was time for them to escape. At that time she knew that he could have just left her there and gotten out on his own, but he risked his life to come and make sure she got out. She whispered to herself, "You stupid asshole..."

Tears began falling freely down her soft cheeks. She put her hand up to touch them, but in the heat of the morning they barely felt warm at all. In that moment she considered going back and facing what she had done, but then she thought that she should keep on with the path that she chosen instead. After all, she had already made up her mind, and she knew that going back would only make her look weak. She sucked up her tears and continued forward.

As she trudged down the mountain she came to the edge of the thick forest and noticed in the distance a small house. With the heat of the day constantly rising she was hoping that the owner of the house might be kind enough to let her stay for a moment and cool off. As she approached the house she ascended the stairs to the porch and was met with a large wooden door. The door was adorned with a simple brass door knob and knocker. Near the door on the side of the house was a wooden plaque which was held by a string on a nail. The plaque bore only two words “Greer Family". After reading the plaque she shrugged, thinking that it would be nice if there were no kids here. She would hate to be pestered with a million questions. Reaching her mousey hand upwards she was just barely able to reach the brass knocker. She gave it a few taps then shuffled her bag on her shoulder as she anxiously waited for a reply.

A large, older, rather frumpy woman had been sitting in the house. She was reading from her bible when she heard the knock. This woman's name was Agnes Greer. She was a widow who had lived with her husband on the outskirts of the town. A very devout follower of her church, she made it a point to always be the first to service and the last to leave once the sermon was over. Everyone in the town knew her as someone who was very no-nonsense and wouldn't tolerate even the slightest sin. Why, she even called the pastor of her church out several times for things that she had seen him do during the week. As she got up from her chair she adjusted her house coat; it was an expensive gift from her late husband, trimmed in fur and lined with silk. She kept her house very frigid all throughout the year simply so that she could always justify wearing the warm garment. Today she had not been expecting any visitors so the knock on her door was quite a surprise. She thought to herself that she was in no state to entertain guests. If possible she would turn this person away at the door. As she put on her slippers she walked to the door, curlers from earlier that morning still in her hair. As she peaked out the peep hole she couldn't see anyone. She started to dismiss the tapping and turn away when the brass knocker sounded again.

“Who is it?" she asked suspiciously.

Vic was so relieved to hear that someone was home that she forgot about the shirt that she was wearing and the sticky juice on her muzzle and paws. Her brash and crass voice became much sweeter and her way of speaking became extremely dignified as she said, “Please... Can you let me in? It's really hot outside and I've been walking all morning. I don't need anything. I would just like to cool down for a few minutes. Will you please let me in?" She was starting to feel her bag get much heavier as she saw a chance for proper rest. She couldn't wait to sit it down and feel the coolness of an air conditioner for the first time in three days.

Agnes looked through the peep hole again, but still could see no source for the voice which came from the other side of her door. Her first instinct told her that it was just some local girl who was probably going to try to prank her. 'Parent's really have no control over their children nowadays.' she thought to herself. Just as she was about to tell the girl to go away a portrait of Jesus Christ caught her eye. 'What if this isn't a prank.' she thought. 'What if the girl is telling the truth? If she should make her way into town and tell others that she was turned away here, what would they think of me?' As she started to fret over what to do she convinced herself to let the girl in. 'Yes. I should be the Good Samaritan. After all, if someone were to learn that I turned away a child in need they would never let me live it down.' Her voice became dulcet and melodic and her face bore a peaceful smile as she reached for the door knob. “Ah, yes dear. Do come in." As she opened the door her grandmotherly face contorted into a grimace of fear and rage as she was shocked to see a giant mouse that was standing on two legs and wearing and a shirt that bore the images of demons and other 'satanic' symbols. The deep red juice on Vic's mouth and paws looked just like blood to the startled woman, and she automatically assumed the worst.

“Geez, thanks lady. Yer a real life saver." Vic said when she saw the door open. As she looked up into the woman's face she noticed the horrified look. “What's wro-"

“AAAAAAAHHH!!!!" Agnes shrieked and slammed the door. “WHAT KIND OF DEMON ARE YOU!? MONSTER! MONSTER!" Without waiting for a reply she ran to her telephone and almost ripped the carriage off the wall. As fast as her fingers would allow she dialed the number for her pastor. Her heart was beating so hard that she feared she might have a heart attack before he could even answer. As she heard the other end pick up she didn't even wait for a response. “HELP! HELP! THERE'S A DEMON AT MY FRONT DOOR! NEPHILIM! IT HAS TO BE A NEPHILIM! COME QUICKLY! IT'S GOT BLOOD ALL OVER IT'S FACE! HURRY!" The pastor on the other side of the line tried to calm her down, but when he realized that his efforts were in vain he told her that he was coming right over. He wasn't sure that she saw what she said, but he knew she was afraid and wouldn't make something like this up. He urged her to calm down, call the police, and tell them that there is an intruder at her house. Lastly he told her to not open the door again, he was coming to help. After hanging up the phone she did as she was told and called the police. She told them exactly what the pastor had instructed her to, and the dispatcher said they were sending someone out right away. After hanging up the phone again, she went back to the door and shouted, “LEAVE THIS PLACE, YOU UNHOLY CREATURE FROM HELL!"

“WHAT THA FUCK, YOU UGLY OLD CUNT!?" Vic shrieked at the door. To be given the hope of relief only to have it snatched away was more than she could bear. “How tha fuck are you gonna tell someone to come in and then slam tha fuckin' door in their face, ya bitchy old hag!?"

“JUST LEAVE! I've already called the police and my pastor! You won't be allowed to take another life!

“What tha fuck are you talking about?! I didn't fucking kill anyone, god damn it! All I wanted was to cool off a bit, you trashy old whore! Ya know what? Fuck you, cunt! I hope yer fuckin' oxygen tank explodes while you're asleep and blows those stupid ass curlers out of yer head! Have a nice life, asshole!" With that Vic stormed off of the porch and continued down the road, kicking every rock that dared to be in her path. As she was storming down the road she noticed a car speed past her. She tried to flag it down, but it blew past her with such speed that it kicked up a heavy cloud of dust that caused Vic to cough and choke on the debris. She flipped the car off and yelled, “Fuck you too, asshole!"

At her words she noticed the car's break lights flare up, and then she saw the reverse lights come on. “No fuckin' way." she said as a smile spread across her face. As the car backed up to her she let her duffel drop to ground as she waved her arms and laughed. When the car stopped about ten feet from her she picked up her bag and said, “Oh god, dude, thank you for stopping. You have know idea how long I've-"

Before she could finish her sentence a middle aged man wearing a white, button up, short sleeve shirt, black slacks, and a black tie jumped out of the car and looked at her wide-eyed. “Oh my God…" he exclaimed incredulously. Vic was confused by his slack jawed expression, but then remembered that the old cunt at that house said that she called her pastor. Just as she realized that this was that very person, the man sprinted at her, and before she could run he tackled her to the ground.

The pastor couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that Agnes must have seen something to make her freak out like she did, but he never thought that it would actually be the very thing that she described. Pulling the silver cross pendant from his neck he wrestled Vic into submission and pressed the cross against her cheek, all the while receiving a stead torrent of swears, curses, and threats. “Be still, you demonic beast!" he shouted at her. “I don't know how you found your way up from hell, but I'm sending you back there, right now." Vic tried her hardest to fight him off, but the preacher had her straddled between his legs with her arms pinned to her chest. She didn't care about making sense of this situation. She had been in this position before and she swore to herself that she would never let anyone force her like this again. The preacher began reciting some latin, “Exorcizamus te, omnis imundus spiritus." and as he was focused with that she managed to slip her left arm free of his grip. As soon as she had her appendage back she balled her clawed hand into a fits and punched the man square in the jaw.

“I'm not a fuckin' demon, you asshole! Get off of me!" she shrieked.

The shock of the blow jarred the man slightly, but he quickly recovered and gave her a much harder right to the face that split her lip and bloodied her nose. His hands then quickly slid around her neck and he began digging his fingers into her throat. As he squeezed his fingers tightly he shouted, “Your lies will not convince me! If an exorcism won't send you back to hell then I'll do it with my own two hands!" Feeling a sense of rage at being overpowered and a sense of dread from the pain around her neck Vic desperately lashed out with the only weapons she had at her disposal.

“AGH!"

The preacher suddenly let go of her and was writhing on the ground, covering one side of his face with his hands, which were becoming covered with blood more and more with each beat of his heart. Vic stood up and spat a bloody chunk of his cheek onto his pressed white shirt. While the pastor was busy choking her he failed to realize that he had let go of her hands. With the quickness of a viper Vic had pulled his face to her mouth and used her oversized, razor sharp incisors to bite off a piece of cheek from her assailant. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth as the man flung himself from her.

As she stood over him she tried to calm her breathing, but getting into a fight after being hot all day had made even breathing difficult. She walked over to the preacher's head and said, “So you like picking on girls, huh?" She pulled her foot back and kicked him in the side of his face that was still intact, causing his blood to spay across the road. “Bet it makes ya feel like a big man, huh?" She stepped to his side and kicked him harder in the gut. This caused him to retch, and the stomach acid in his sick burned his fresh wound as it spilled out of the hole in his face. “You think just because you carry a bible that means you can beat on people who are different than you?" She kicked him in the ribs this time, and when her foot connected she heard an audible snap. “Well, I got news for you, asshole. If you ever come near me again, I'll fuckin' kill you!" She walked behind the man and kicked him square in the balls, causing him to howl in pain. She spit blood on him one more time before using his shirt to wipe the blood from her mouth and blow the snot and blood out of her nose from earlier. She then picked up her bag, slung the strap across her shoulder, huffed loudly, and started walking down the road again.

As she walked she started to wonder if the entire world had turned into psychopaths while she was living in Fido's cabin. She started to think that, maybe, Fido was right about not going out around regular people since she'd been changed into the mouse/human hybrid that she was now. She quickly shook those thoughts aside though. She saw no reason why she should have to hide away from the world. If she was a little different now then the rest of the world should just accept her as she was. It was while she was thinking about this that she noticed the flashing blue lights coming toward her at high speeds. Her heart leaped into her throat as she instinctively ran from the road and hid in some bushes. As she watched the police cars pass all she could think about was the man that she left bloody and broken further up the road. She knew that those pigs would start looking for her as soon as they found him.

She started to panic. Where she and Val came from, the police were the last people you wanted to run into. Their city was so badly infested with dirty cops that it was safer to seek help from the pimps and whores if they were in trouble. She quickly made her way through a patch of trees as she rushed away from the road. She crashed through bushes and spooked a couple of deer out of their thickets, but before long she was able to make out a row of buildings just past the tree line.

She had never been to the small town at the base of the mountain before. The layout of it, as best as she could see it from where she was, reminded her of one of those old-timey towns that might be seen in western movies. As she approached the edge of the tree line she skirted around until she was behind what looked like a general goods store. She had to laugh to herself at the fact that general goods stores were still a thing. 'But I might be able to sneak in the back and they should at least have a bathroom where I can wash this crappy blood off.' she thought.

As she crept into the shadow of the building she made sure to keep an eye out for anyone who might see her breaking in. She often had to break into places if she and Val wanted to eat before they where captured by the facility. Breaking and entering had become a bit of a hobby for her, so once she got to the back door she quickly inspected it and scoffed at the lack of even the most basic magnetic alarm system. After pulling a wire and tension bar from her bag it was only a matter of seconds before she had the door open. She slowly peered through the cracked door before determining that the coast was clear. She slipped inside as quiet as the animal which she was fused with. Once her tail was clear of the door she closed and locked it back. The feeling of the air conditioner in the store made her let her guard down. She set her bag to the side before sitting on the floor with her arms and legs spread wide. She placed her tail across her lap and slowly breathed in the cold air; her chest raised with each breath as she closed her eyes and relaxed for just a few seconds.

While lost in her bliss she failed to notice the pale skinned man with jet black hair that stepped out to stand in front of her. He was wearing a blue striped button up shirt under a black dress vest and a pair of pressed black slacks with black dress shoes. His emerald eyes quietly focused on the disheveled form in front of him as he crossed his arms and his thin lips formed a smirk across his handsome face. He stood in front of her for a few seconds, watching her breathe, before saying, “Well… I guess I need to invest in some bigger mousetraps, huh?"

Vic's eyes shot wide open as fear and anger spread through her whole body. She sprang to her feet as quick as a cat and swung her fist wildly, catching the well dressed man on the chin. His head jerked to the side and his slicked back hair moved out of place as he staggered before reaching his hand up to rub his chin. Vic raises both of her fist and said, “Stay away! I don't want any of you assholes touching me again! Isn't it enough that that crazy lady had that preacher attack me! Why can't people just leave me alone!"

Frank looked over his shoulder towards the store and quietly said, “Hey, hey. Calm down." as he gestured with his hands. “Look, Vic, right? I got a call from your buddy. He told me to be on the look out for you, and to help you if I should find you. I'm a friend, okay?"

Vic kept her hands up as she asked, “And just what fuckin' 'buddy' would that be? For that fact, how do you know my name, and how do I know that I can trust anything you say, anyway? Just who the hell are you, huh!?"

“Well," the man began, “The 'buddy' that I'm talking about certainly has a nicer mouth on him than you do, that's for sure. You know a big shaggy mass of fur with legs named Fido? Yeah. Look, he called me and told me that you ran away and what your name was. Other than that I don't know know anything about you, but as far as who I am, my name is Francis Beau. Call me Frank." The man extended his hand to Vic. She looked at his hand suspiciously and kept her fists up as she said, “Yeah, I know him. He told you I ran away, right? What? Did he ask you to take me back to his cabin after you found me? Maybe I ran away because I couldn't stand being there anymore. That ever cross your fuckin' mind, asshole? Maybe I don't want want to go back!"

Frank dropped his hand and sighed in exasperation. He knew that she was going to listen to reason at this rate. He looked at her and said, “Look, kid, I wasn't asked to do anything like that. You can go jump off a bridge for all I care. All I was told was that you had runaway and I was asked if I would keep an eye out for you. Now that I've seen you, you can go do what ever the hell you want. But if I could make a suggestion, why don't you come with me to my place so you can wash that crap off of your face. What's up with that anyway? It looks like you murdered someone."

Vic lowered her hands and opened her mouth wide. “THAT'S WHAT THAT OLD BITCH WAS TALKING ABOUT! Fuck… Don't worry, dude. It's just from some berries I found." Reaching into her duffel she pulled out her handkerchief filled with berries. “See? I didn't kill anyone, but I did get in a fight with a preacher and I wound up biting his cheek off."

Frank slapped a hand over his face. “Of course you did. Ugh. I'm going to have to talk to Fido about that and try to do damage control." He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “It's good that you told me that."

Vic jerked back from him, dropping her berries all over the floor as she pulled her fists up again. “I told you not to fuckin' touch me!" she shouted at him. Frank raised his hands defensively.

“Whoa, whoa. Okay. I'm sorry. Look, it won't happen again, I promise."

Vic lowered her hands and picked up her duffel while keeping her eyes on him. Once she had the strap slung across her chest again, she said, “It better not. The next time it happens will be the last time you see me, got it?"

Frank nodded his head before kneeling and picking up the berries that Vic dropped. After putting them back in the handkerchief he handed it to her. “Here. You might want to keep these."

Vic took them and put them in her bag without ever taking her eyes off of the green-eyed man.

Frank moved over to a coat rack and grabbed a light cloak and a big hat which he handed to Vic, saying, “Here. Put these on and follow me out of the store. I need to close up real quick and then we can head over to my place." Once she was dressed in her disguise it was a matter of minutes before she was inside of Frank's car, and they were on their way. It didn't take long to get to his house, and once inside Vic sat her bag down and relaxed completely. “Oh my god, your air conditioner feels fuckin' awesome, dude." Frank looked at her and chuckled and asked, “Is that why you ran away? Because Fido's air conditioner went out?" Vic gave him a look of genuine surprise and said, “How?" Frank burst out laughing and said, “Hahahaha! Kid! Fido called me as soon as it went out, and I was just waiting on the replacement part to get here! In fact," he pulled a small cardboard box out of his pocket and showed it to the mouse girl, “this just came in the mail toady. I was actually going to head up to the cabin, but just as I was ready to leave Fido called and asked if I could watch out for you."

Vic felt a pang of embarrassment and guilt as she stared at the small box. She averted her eyes and said sheepishly, “Um… You said that I could wash this crap off of me, right?" Frank put the box back in his pocket and said, “Yeah. My bathroom is down the hall on the left. Sorry, but it's not as big as the one at the cabin." Vic laughed so hard that her split lip opened up and she started bleeding again as she said, “I don't think anyone's bathroom is as big as that one. Hahaha!" She grabbed her bag and headed down the hallway. She had taken off her cloak and hat as soon as she made it inside of Frank's house, so once she was inside the bathroom she shimmied out of her shirt, and held it up in front of her; she groaned as she saw the dried blood stains. After throwing the shirt on the floor she pulled down her shorts and examined herself in the mirror. With her sandy blonde fur it made spotting bruises difficult, but she could definitely tell that her ribs would be sore for a few days wear she had been tackle, and her right breast had a large bruise on it that was noticeable where her fur started to thin out. She could feel a few bumps on her hips where she had rolled in the gravel while trying to get away from the preacher, but the most noticeable injury of the day was the left side of her face where she had been punched. Her eye was starting to swell shut, her cheek and short snout were puffy, but her busted lip was what was hurting her the most at the moment, especially after laughing like she had.

A knock suddenly came at the bathroom door that startled Vic. It was Frank asking if she was having trouble figuring out how to turn on the water. He also wanted to know if she preferred chicken or beef because he was going to cook something for lunch. She told him that she liked burgers and that she was going to get in the shower in just a bit, that she had to check something out first. After Frank went away Vic finished examining her bumps and bruises before turning on the water and setting it to a lukewarm temperature. As she rinsed the sweat and dirt off of herself she also rinsed her mouth out to try to wash the taste of blood off of her tongue. After lathering up and rinsing off really good she climbed out of the bath and grabbed a towel off of the towel rack. After toweling off she ran her fingers through her hair despite there being a brush readily available for her. She wiped the fog off of the mirror and was glad to see that she didn't look like she had just eaten a small child anymore, and when she looked at her lip it still looked tender, but at least it didn't look like it would be bad enough to scar. Her eye, however was now almost completely swollen shut. She shrugged her shoulders and pulled a clean shirt and pair of jeans from her bag.

Once she was dressed she walked out of the bathroom and found her way to the kitchen where Frank had just finished plating two cheeseburgers with home made french fries. When he saw her come in he immediately noticed her eye and rushed over to her. He almost grabbed her face to look at her eye, but stopped short and asked if he could. Vic was instinctively suspicious of him, but she told him he could touch her just to check out her eye. Frank turned her face left, right, up, and down as he inspected the damage. As he did Vic couldn't help but notice just how unnaturally green his eyes were up close.

“You're going to be sporting that shinier for a few days, but at least I don't see anything that looks like it will be lasting damage." Frank walked over to his freezer and pulled out a sack of frozen corn which he handed to Vic before saying, “Hold onto this. I'll be back with some bandage tape." When Vic asked what the tape was for Frank smiled and said, “I'm going to tape that corn over your eye so you can eat with both hands." Vic waited patiently for Frank to get back, and when he did, she let him put the bandage on her head in a way so that the corn wouldn't fall away from her eye. Then he sat down with his burger and the two ate. After dinner Frank told Vic that he is one of the few humans that actually knows about her, Val, Sidney, and Fido. He even told her that he's the one who helped get both her and her brother out of the facility.

"But I thought you said that you didn't know anything about me." Vic said suspiciously.

"You seemed pretty worked up at the time. I didn't want to mention the facility and scare you off."

"Yeah... That was probably for the best." she said solemnly, clearly meaning that she didn't want to discuss the topic.

After sitting in silence for a while Frank offered to watch TV with Vic to kill a little time while their food digests. This lifts her spirits some, and as they watched an old boxing documentary Frank carefully asked her about why she ran away from the cabin. It took a while to get the truth out of her, but after a while of just letting her tell her own version of events she finally came forward with the truth of what happened while still leaving out the part about slapping Sidney after peeing on her own hand.

“And you don't think that was selfish of you at all?" Frank asked.

“Duuuude… I don't know anymore, man. I mean, I was just really fuckin' pissed, and I wasn't thinking, but if I go back now I know I'm gonna get chewed out because I really was a grade A asshat. I don't know what I ought to do right now, dude…" Vic looked at her feet as she tried to decide what to do. Then she heard Frank lean forward in his seat and say, “Look, kid, I can't tell you what to do, but try to think about it like this, your brother is still there in that cabin. From what Fido has told me about you two, you are more protective of him them than you are of yourself. I didn't tell you this earlier because I wanted to see what you would decide to do for yourself, but I called Fido earlier, while you where in the shower, and I kept hearing your brother in the background asking if you were okay and whether or not you where coming back. Fido told me that he's been worried sick ever since they found out that you left, and it was all Fido could do to keep him from chasing after you."

Vic felt like she had a belly full of razor blades as her guilt ate away at her. She breathed into her hands and said, “Hey, um… If you don't mind, could I just crash here tonight and then… tomorrow… I guess it would be alright if you gave me a ride back up the mountain… I mean, you have to take that part up there anyway, right?"

Frank smiled at her and said, “I'll go call Fido so he can let your brother know." As he was passing by Vic on his way to the phone she whispered, “Thank you."

Later that night Frank showed Vic to the small guest room in his house, but after getting undressed and ready for sleep she saw flashing blue lights pull up in front of Frank's home. She crept out of the room and eavesdropped on the conversation that Frank was having with the officers at the door. It turns out that someone had told them that Frank had closed up shop early and had a strange person with him. The police where telling Frank that they were on the lookout for a violent person who assaulted a preacher and terrorized and old lady earlier that day. Frank denied everything, but one of the officers happened to notice Vic's duffel which she left in the living room. The police then informed Frank that the duffel matched the one described by both the preacher and Mrs. Agnes Greer, so they would be coming in and searching his home for this individual because they had probable cause.

Vic quickly slipped back into the guest room and began to panic. She could hear the officers opening doors as they came down the hallway. She quickly hid under the bed, but she knew that they would find her eventually if she stayed there. As she racked her brain, trying to figure a way out of this situation she suddenly remembered something that Fido told both her and Val back when they first got to the cabin. Apparently she could transform into the form of the animal that she was spliced with. But she had never actually done it before; she didn't know how to. She tried to remember everything that Fido told her about transforming, but the closer the officer got the more she panicked, and the harder it was to focus. Suddenly she just thought to herself 'Ah, fuck it!' The next thing she knew it felt like her entire body was on fire. She could feel her bone shrinking, dislocating, and relocating. Her skin became so tight over her skeleton that she was sure it was going to tear before the bones shrunk to the proper size. The pain of the transformation was so great that she couldn't even cry out, but as soon as she heard the officer's foot fall on the carpeted floor of the guest room her only instinct was to run, and run she did.

The officer at the door hear his partner scream, and he quickly unholstered his firearm as he watched the hallway. A blonde blur came darting down the hallway followed by a cursing officer. The small figure ran around the walls before heading right out the front door, startling the other officer as it passed. The officer at the door looked at his partner and asked, “What was that!?" His partner had flustered look on his red face when he replied saying, “It was a god damned rat! I hate those little fuckers!"

Frank calmly looked at both of the officers and said, “Gentlemen, if you haven't found anything pertinent to your case, then I would like to ask that you please leave. I closed up the general goods store early today because I had a friend visit from out of town. She has already left, but as you can see the poor thing forgot her duffel bag. If I see this… 'rat demon', was it?" He raised an eyebrow at the officers. "I'll be sure to give you call immediately. You have my word. Now, good night, gentlemen." Frank held the door open for the officers and ushered them out. They both regarded him suspiciously, but they didn't have anything that they could get him on; there were signs of someone being in the house earlier, but now it was clear that Frank was alone. Not to mention the clothes that the two involved in the attack described were nowhere to be found. The officers tipped their hats to Frank and he saluted them as they left. As soon as he was back inside with the door locked he immediately bolted for the phone to let Fido know what happened.

The night was just about as hot as the day, and with her senses on fire from her recent transformation, she could barely tell where she was going. All she knew was that right now she had to keep running. Everything around her screamed danger, but her little legs carried her faster than she could ever have imagined. After running for a few minutes she abruptly stopped as her nose picked up a certain scent that made her mouth water more than any cheeseburger ever had. She ran to this cookie cutter house with a white picket fence, and after shimmying up a flower vine she jumped onto a windowsill. From the sill she could see the source of the smell. It was a dollop of chocolate hazelnut spread that was inside of a clear green box. She made her way down from the sill and ran straight for the delicious smelling treat, but as soon as she got to it clear acrylic doors slid down before and behind her trapping her in the box. It was only then that her senses calmed down enough for her to become aware of her surroundings.

The sound of giant feet hitting hardwood echoed in the box before a flash of light temporarily blinded her. Once her eyes adjusted to the bright light she noticed that she was in a child's bedroom and the face of the room's occupant was staring at her with a grin that stretched from one one side of his face to the other. He picked up the box and said, “Hey there Mr. Mouse. You're gonna be my new friend starting today!" As Vic was looking at the giant face in front of her her adrenaline rush died down, and her exhaustion from the days events topped with her mad dash for safety caught up to her. She passed from consciousness with this child's huge grin being the last thing she remembered.

(To Be Concluded in Runaway Ratón Part 3)