She!

Chapter 12

I almost laid on top of her in the bed, trying to still her shaking even after all this time.

After I'd returned her home, I went to the alleyway where I'd shed my clothes to take on the dog aspect before searching for her. Then I quickly walked back home to find her crying in Phil's arms, Molly and the boys solicitously hovered around them.

They'd called the police and reported the incident. Someone was scheduled to arrive at any moment. She looked at me with fear in her eyes that I'd never seen before. It wasn't just fear of the situation I'd rescued her from but somewhat of me.

The policemen and one policewoman who arrived shortly after I did, taking her in my arms to rock her, said they believed her. It seemed that a boy had run into the highway and stopped a car north of town, screaming about a lion being after him. Police had been called after he'd been taken to the emergency room for x-rays for a concussion. He'd told them everything that Minni told them now except he, and the friends they'd picked up shortly after, were hysterical with fear of a lion.

Minni, looking at me before saying anything, said she knew nothing of that. That she'd escaped through a window when they'd left her alone for a while.

The police couldn't figure out how three of the boys had been so badly scratched or so many people, nine in all, could have such similar, if outrageous, tales.

She was somewhat mollified that all but one girl had admitted that they had taken Minni – a girl from the mall – and tied her to have sex with her. They seemed to think nothing wrong with that, the policeman said with a look of disgust on his face.

The policewoman and Molly took Minni to the hospital for tests that, when they returned only a half hour later, showed that she had been raped. They promised tests on the semen and saliva they'd recovered from her body. She, needless to say, had hated the tests and hated being in the same building with the nine people even though they were, in varying degrees, disabled.

The cops thought it was moderately funny that the bikers had gotten themselves in trouble and were now claiming this outrageous story, sure they were covering their own guilt. They hadn't even bothered looking for signs of a lion because this was patently impossible and everyone knew it.

Except Minni.

She'd been thoroughly cleaned in the hospital after the samples were taken, assured there was no possibility of pregnancy thanks to her birth control pills. She still spent more than an hour in the shower, Molly staying in the bathroom with her the entire time. Talking to her.

She'd finally insisted, after a late dinner, that she was all right. I still went to bed when she went, not wanting her to be alone for even a moment. Her parents were glad that I insisted.

Now we were alone.

We lay there together for quite a while until her shivering finally went away and her breathing got more regular. I could tell she was ready to talk to me now and that there was no way I could avoid telling her anything she needed to know.

"You were there, weren't you Sue?" she said. It wasn't really a question. "You said you were there and untied me and told me to go out the window."

"Yes," I sighed. Resigned. I knew this could mean the end of my time staying here with them all. I couldn't stay with her if she feared me.

"You saw the lion. Just like those…" She couldn't get it out.

"Yes," I answered. It wasn't quite the truth but close enough.

"I thought I was going crazy," she mumbled into my neck.

"No. You're not crazy."

"How?" she said.

"You don't need to know that. Just accept that the lion was there and helped you."

"No. I want to know." Her body had stiffened in my arms. "I saw it come through the window. Crashing." She was shivering again even though our positions hadn't changed and, if anything, the night was a little warm.

"It threw them around the room!" An edge of hysteria was moving up through her. "I was so afraid! I was tied like a lamb! All it had to do was turn and I'd be dead! And then… and then…"

"Then I was there untying you," I added for her, petting her hair.

"Yes. I heard your voice and you told me to leave and get my clothes and I did."

"Yes, honey. You did it just right."

"And the lion went after the rest of them. I heard them screaming and crashing into things and running. When I opened my eyes, you weren't there. I just got my clothes and climbed out the window. That's how the police knew I was there. I cut myself and they said they matched the blood type."

"Uh huh," I said softly near her ear.

"And then I watched the back door. The… " She shivered hard next to me, breathing very hard, and trying to catch her breath. "Scorpion. The leader!" She spit the words. "He ran out and he looked at me and said he'd get me. He made… gestures. Stuck out his tongue. Rubbed his fingers together.

"And then the door of the house crashed open and the lion was there. He ran and the lion ran after him and caught him in the woods. I could hear him screaming." She put her hands on my side as if she could get me closer to her that way.

"And the horse came and waited for me to get dressed before I could get up and ride away on her. Beautiful, beautiful horse. And she brought me straight home across the fields. Right to the fence."

She burst into silent tears, a torrent that soaked my neck and the side of my face. Her body was racked with her sobs. My eyes stung with my own, still unreleased. I didn't dare let myself go or I'd be in as bad a shape as she was.

I felt her sobs passing.

"Oh, Sue. Do you know what they did to me?"

"No, baby. That's all right. You don't have to talk about that. It's all right now."

"They tied me up. Then Scorpion came in." I clenched my teeth with the rage I felt. "He looked between my legs while he rubbed me and rubbed me and rubbed me and I couldn't keep from coming."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. It wasn't your fault. It really wasn't your choice. You couldn't do anything."

"I know. It made me feel like his plaything. It was awful but it wasn't the worst thing."

"Tell me if it will make you feel better. It's all right."

"There was a girl. She came to me and I asked her to let me go. I thought because she was another girl that she would. But she wouldn't.

"Instead, she made me turn over on my stomach because one of the guys had fucked me. That didn't matter. It didn't even feel good. I didn't care much.

"But she put her tongue in my ass. In my bottom. Right in my hole," she shuddered. I petted her hair as she talked. "And she sucked on it and kept telling me she wanted me to shit for her. That she wanted to eat all of me.

"My stomach… " she said and I could feel her revulsion even now. "How could a girl… get so…"

"How could anyone fall so low?" I said for her.

"Yes." I knew there was something more. Something she wanted me to know. I waited for her to continue if she wanted to.

"I liked it, Sue," she said. "I liked it when she licked me there. And I came again even with all those other people standing there in the room."

"You didn't want to be rescued?" I said then though I knew that wasn't the case.

"God, yes, I wanted rescued. What would have been next? I think the boys were going to do it in my bottom, too."

"Would you have wanted that?"

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe. I don't know. No, not with them. Never!"

"Well, you didn't want them to do it anyway," I said for her. "Maybe someone else will. But someone you want to and that has some control of themselves. Not them."

"No, not them," she said. "You're right."

This time she was quiet against me for so long that I thought she'd fallen asleep. I rather hoped she had. By tomorrow she would be much better.

"Sue? Where did the lion come from?" I didn't know how to answer. I don't lie. This was just one truth I didn't want to tell.

"It's a long story, Minni. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I'm sure. I need to know I'm not crazy, Sue." I wondered if my story would help her.

"Do you love me, Minni?" I asked. "Do you trust me?" She nestled into my neck, holding me tighter to her.

"I love you more than anything, Sue. I trust you more even than mom and dad." I wasn't sure I wanted to hear that.

"Would you believe me if I told you I'm not quite what I appear to be? Would it make you feel safer, better, or would it make you feel worse?"

"Sue, I've always known there was more to you than you told us. I thought for a while that you were just hiding the things that happened to you in New York before you came here. But I've thought for a long time that there was a lot more.

"You're so much smarter than me. You know things. You can always answer every question." She fell silent. "Are you from space or something?"

"No," I laughed. "No, that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm less an alien than anyone on earth."

"Are you God or something like that then?" I was appalled that anyone could even think that possible until I thought about it for a second. In a way I supposed I fit many of the definitions of God. But there were some notable exceptions from the definitions as well.

"No. I'm not God and I'm nothing like him, I think."

"Were you the lion?" she asked softly. I didn't even feel her body tense at the suggestion. Instead I tensed.

"What gave you that idea?"

"It just seems to fit. I don't know how it could be, but it seems like the most likely thing."

"Would it frighten you if I said I was?" She moved her face away from me a little and I looked at her. Her face showed no fear. Just wonder and the hanging question.

"I don't know how but I think you were." I sighed heavily. How much could she believe? And how much could I tell her? "And you were the beautiful horse, too."

I nodded as I looked into her eyes.

"Can you be anything you want?" That seemed an awfully broad definition of what I did.

"I can be the animals I've lived," I answered.

"You've lived as an animal before?" I nodded again. "Many animals?"

"Yes," I answered soberly.

"Does that mean that you're pretty old or did you just start doing that when you were born?" This could prove difficult.

"Minni, I was born like this the morning I first met you."

"Really? Neat!" she said exuberantly. "What were you before?"

"A tiny microscopic animal."

"Oh yuck!" she said, wrinkling her nose.

"It's just a transitory body. A quick way from one form to another." She had completely forgotten her own problems now and was back to her normal self. I was happy about that even if I wasn't terribly excited about the reason for it.

"What were you before that then?"

"A dog," I said. That seemed to shake her a little. Her smile wavered. I just watched her to see what she'd make of it.

"A dog," she said matter-of-factly. She thought in silence for a long minute. I knew what she was going to say before she said it. "Einstein. Einstein left the morning you got here. You've been with us for two years!" She was smiling and looking over my shoulder in thought. Then her face flushed.

"You licked me, my pussy, when you were a dog." I smiled at her. Then I nodded. "I loved Einstein," she said wistfully. "I really miss him and so do the boys."

"I know. But I can only be one thing at a time and I like being Sue."

"I like you now too," she said and hugged me. Then she thought again. "God, what all have you been? I know a horse and a bug and a lion and a dog. What else?"

"Many things. More than you can imagine."

"An elephant?"

"Once." She grinned from ear to ear.

"What was your favorite?"

"All things are valuable and I gained learning from them all."

"But your favorite."

"Maybe a bird," I said wistfully. I thought about the flying. "Or a whale. I enjoyed that as well." She was awestruck. Her mouth was open in amazement. "Being a girl is one of the best and I've only just started this life."

"Were you anything more than once?"

"Oh, yes. I've been many birds and many whales and many fishes. Many kinds of cats and dogs."

"Wolves?" I smiled and nodded. "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," she quoted from the Wizard of Oz.

"Yeah."

"Have you ever been a girl before?"

"Never," I said.

"A boy?"

"Several times."

"Really? You really have? Did I meet you when you were a boy?"

"No. They lived a long time ago."

"Wow!" she said. She was thinking again and it worried me. Particularly the smile that split her face.

"You can be anything you've been before? Like the lion and the horse?"

"Yes," I said.

"Can you do it right now?"

"Yes. But I don't know if you'd like to watch. I don't know what it's like. I've never seen myself change."

"Oh, can I?" she said. "If it's really yucky, I'll cover my eyes."

"It would be better if I went into the bathroom and then came back out."

"No!" she insisted. "I want to see."

"Do you promise not to be afraid?" I asked.

"Sure. I want to see." I sat up then and took my nightgown and panties off. Clothes were all right. If they were too small for my new body, they tore and I didn't like that. Getting a piece of clothing off a smaller, animal body could be difficult and constraining.

Jewelry was the only real danger. I'd changed into a larger animal once while wearing a ring and that had been agonizing until I could change to a smaller animal. I'd had bruises for a week. I could only imagine what having a tight collar would be like in a situation like that and didn't want to know. Of course, if I was in a hurry I could become something very small to discard the jewelry and then re-animate in the larger form.

No one had noticed that both the lion and horse had tiny earrings.

I curled up next to her again and thought of the dog, the least threatening thing I could think of since she knew him already. I watched her eyes get big and then a smile spread across her features.

"Einstein!" she squealed. For a moment I was afraid everyone would hear but I bounded up onto all fours and licked her face as she hugged my neck with sheer joy. "Oh, Einstein. I've missed you so!"

I wagged my tail and did little puppy things with her for the next 15 minutes as she sat on the bed and kissed me, hugged me, and talked to me.

Then she stopped and looked at me again. Her face changed.

"Sue?" I nodded – a distinctly un-dog like thing to do. "It was okay. It looked sort of weird. Sort of like melting. And I was afraid for you. But it was okay. Not yucky or anything." I nodded again. "Change back now, okay?"

I lay down beside her on the bed, her hand on my doggy side, and changed.

We wrapped our arms around each other again and she hugged me very hard.

"You make it all right again," she said. "I know for sure now that if anyone tries to hurt me that a lion or an elephant or anything could come and help me. I'm safe." Her voice was weak now, near sleep. "So safe."

I didn't say anything. But nothing can be forever, I thought.