I kicked the door open, my arms full of blueprints and supplies, and that door never closed right anyway. A growl greeted me, low and feral. Maybelle’s head came up, lips pulled back with a flash of elongated teeth, and then her nose twitched and she smelled it was me, and her whole posture relaxed. Her head hit the table again with a thunk. She kicked a bottle halfheartedly further into the shadowed recesses by her feet. All that without opening her eyes. So much for standing guard.
Except that I knew if it hadn’t been me, whoever it was would have had their throat torn out before they could scream.
“I brought food,” I announced, dropping all the stuff I was holding on the table. “And stuff. That Thai place dumped a whole lot of noodles after closing time again. Think there might even be meat in there.”
“Meat.” Maybelle looked up again and poked listlessly at the noodles. Could be someone was looking out for us, because they’d been thrown out in a big aluminum container instead of tossed straight in the dumpster. Small favors.
The whole place stank of cheap arrack. No wonder Maybelle hadn’t smelled me until I was right on top of her. I didn’t know how even unmodified people with ordinary senses drank the stuff, let alone someone like us, but I’d given up yelling at Maybelle about it.
“I’ll go tell Seff and Lynnette that food’s on, yeah?” I said. “And I found those blueprints Lynette’s been looking for, that should help—”
Maybelle waved a hand at me. “Busy.”
“Ah. Right. Well, don’t pick out all the meat before they get any.” I vaulted up to sit crosslegged on the table and dug into the noodles myself.
We all had ways of coping. Seff and Lynnette’s was healthier than Maybelle’s, anyway. It might have been sweet, if only—
It had been sweet, when it had been Seff and Lynnette and Morien. Missing their third, Seff and Lynnette were tearing each other apart. Sometimes literally, the way Seff was now, unable to even pass for human anymore.
Maybelle and I ate in silence for a while. Slowly, some animation came back into her eyes, and she moved less like she was on autopilot. “Val,” she said. “Val, you ever miss the days when we were the good guys?”
“We are the good guys,” I told her firmly.
“We’re better than them. Not the same thing.” Maybelle tilted her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, shaggy brown hair falling over the back of her chair. “Morien was good.”
So we’d reached the maudlin part of the night. “Yeah,” I said softly. “Yeah, he was. Remember how he used to cut our medical reports into paper snowflakes? And Lynnette hung them up from the ceiling. I don’t think any of us had ever seen snow then, but it sure was pretty, the patterns the light made falling through them. It made the place seem like home, not just a lab.”
“Mrs. Keeler used to bring him cookies from home,” Maybelle joined in, in the same reminiscent tone. “Chocolate chip. Because he was always so skinny and she thought he needed feeding up. Never mind that our diets were all perfectly balanced to our nutritional needs,” she added, dangling a long noodle sarcastically in the air before dropping it into her mouth.”He always shared them, of course… fuck, I miss those cookies. Mrs. Keeler was nice. She wasn’t the only one. They weren’t all, cackling mad scientists and government goons, most of them were just people with jobs working with kids, and they cared about us. We were special. We were going to be heroes. Fuck!”
Maybelle’s back straightened suddenly. Her fingers elongated, and her claws came out, and with one swipe she swept everything off the table. I jumped up, dived to save the noodles. The blueprints scattered on the floor.
“Why couldn’t it have been true!” Maybelle howled.
That brought Lynnette and Seff out of the back room, Lynette’s dark eyes glittering with satisfaction, fresh scratches scored into the pale skin by her collarbone. Seff slouched behind her, hulking and huge, licking blood off his claws.
“Thought you were back, Val,” Lynnette said. “Maybelle doesn’t shout like that to herself. Much.”
Maybelle flipped her off.
“Lyn. May. Don’t,” Seff growled. His nose twitched. “Meat?”
“Yeah, if Maybelle didn’t pick it all out already,” I said, setting the tray of noodles down on the table again. Seff dug in. Lynnette, gathered up the blueprints and laid them out, and pretty soon she was absorbed in them. She probably would have forgotten to eat altogether if Seff didn’t keep passing her bits of pineapple.
“Yeah, I’ve got it figured,” Lynnette said finally. “The wiring connects to the generator here, see, we’ve just got to kill the guards at that station, and then—”
Seff gave a pained whuff, set his chin down on massive crossed arms. “Shouldn’t. Mor wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, well, Morien’s dead! He tried to save them, the so-called innocents, as if they weren’t taking our blood money like every other motherfucker there! He made his choice, and he left us, and he’s dead! And I’m not fucking—” Lynnette dashed furious tears out of her eyes, glaring up at him— “losing you to the same mistake—”
I put one hand on Seff’s back and another on Lynnette’s. “Lynnette’s right. It’s the only way.”
“They wanted monsters.” Maybelle grinned, a mouth full of sharp teeth. “They’ve got monsters.”
Seff’s shoulders slumped, resigned. “Yeah.” He flexed his claws. “Yeah.”
We stayed for a little while after that. Finishing the noodles, talking quietly, finalizing our plans. But the full moon was high and the night was ours, and soon it was time to go.
One by one, we slipped out the door, shedding our human forms as we went. Leaving behind scruples, regrets, doubts and grief. I howled, and my pack answered me: Maybelle, Seff, and Lynnette. And we ran, one mind and one goal.
Nothing but moonlight and cold clear air, wind in our fur and the scent of prey in our noses. Nothing but hunger and the hunt.
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Date: 2023-02-19 09:02 am (UTC)Except that I knew if it hadn’t been me, whoever it was would have had their throat torn out before they could scream.
“I brought food,” I announced, dropping all the stuff I was holding on the table. “And stuff. That Thai place dumped a whole lot of noodles after closing time again. Think there might even be meat in there.”
“Meat.” Maybelle looked up again and poked listlessly at the noodles. Could be someone was looking out for us, because they’d been thrown out in a big aluminum container instead of tossed straight in the dumpster. Small favors.
The whole place stank of cheap arrack. No wonder Maybelle hadn’t smelled me until I was right on top of her. I didn’t know how even unmodified people with ordinary senses drank the stuff, let alone someone like us, but I’d given up yelling at Maybelle about it.
“I’ll go tell Seff and Lynnette that food’s on, yeah?” I said. “And I found those blueprints Lynette’s been looking for, that should help—”
Maybelle waved a hand at me. “Busy.”
“Ah. Right. Well, don’t pick out all the meat before they get any.” I vaulted up to sit crosslegged on the table and dug into the noodles myself.
We all had ways of coping. Seff and Lynnette’s was healthier than Maybelle’s, anyway. It might have been sweet, if only—
It had been sweet, when it had been Seff and Lynnette and Morien. Missing their third, Seff and Lynnette were tearing each other apart. Sometimes literally, the way Seff was now, unable to even pass for human anymore.
Maybelle and I ate in silence for a while. Slowly, some animation came back into her eyes, and she moved less like she was on autopilot. “Val,” she said. “Val, you ever miss the days when we were the good guys?”
“We are the good guys,” I told her firmly.
“We’re better than them. Not the same thing.” Maybelle tilted her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, shaggy brown hair falling over the back of her chair. “Morien was good.”
So we’d reached the maudlin part of the night. “Yeah,” I said softly. “Yeah, he was. Remember how he used to cut our medical reports into paper snowflakes? And Lynnette hung them up from the ceiling. I don’t think any of us had ever seen snow then, but it sure was pretty, the patterns the light made falling through them. It made the place seem like home, not just a lab.”
“Mrs. Keeler used to bring him cookies from home,” Maybelle joined in, in the same reminiscent tone. “Chocolate chip. Because he was always so skinny and she thought he needed feeding up. Never mind that our diets were all perfectly balanced to our nutritional needs,” she added, dangling a long noodle sarcastically in the air before dropping it into her mouth.”He always shared them, of course… fuck, I miss those cookies. Mrs. Keeler was nice. She wasn’t the only one. They weren’t all, cackling mad scientists and government goons, most of them were just people with jobs working with kids, and they cared about us. We were special. We were going to be heroes. Fuck!”
Maybelle’s back straightened suddenly. Her fingers elongated, and her claws came out, and with one swipe she swept everything off the table. I jumped up, dived to save the noodles. The blueprints scattered on the floor.
“Why couldn’t it have been true!” Maybelle howled.
That brought Lynnette and Seff out of the back room, Lynette’s dark eyes glittering with satisfaction, fresh scratches scored into the pale skin by her collarbone. Seff slouched behind her, hulking and huge, licking blood off his claws.
“Thought you were back, Val,” Lynnette said. “Maybelle doesn’t shout like that to herself. Much.”
Maybelle flipped her off.
“Lyn. May. Don’t,” Seff growled. His nose twitched. “Meat?”
“Yeah, if Maybelle didn’t pick it all out already,” I said, setting the tray of noodles down on the table again. Seff dug in. Lynnette, gathered up the blueprints and laid them out, and pretty soon she was absorbed in them. She probably would have forgotten to eat altogether if Seff didn’t keep passing her bits of pineapple.
“Yeah, I’ve got it figured,” Lynnette said finally. “The wiring connects to the generator here, see, we’ve just got to kill the guards at that station, and then—”
Seff gave a pained whuff, set his chin down on massive crossed arms. “Shouldn’t. Mor wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, well, Morien’s dead! He tried to save them, the so-called innocents, as if they weren’t taking our blood money like every other motherfucker there! He made his choice, and he left us, and he’s dead! And I’m not fucking—” Lynnette dashed furious tears out of her eyes, glaring up at him— “losing you to the same mistake—”
I put one hand on Seff’s back and another on Lynnette’s. “Lynnette’s right. It’s the only way.”
“They wanted monsters.” Maybelle grinned, a mouth full of sharp teeth. “They’ve got monsters.”
Seff’s shoulders slumped, resigned. “Yeah.” He flexed his claws. “Yeah.”
We stayed for a little while after that. Finishing the noodles, talking quietly, finalizing our plans. But the full moon was high and the night was ours, and soon it was time to go.
One by one, we slipped out the door, shedding our human forms as we went. Leaving behind scruples, regrets, doubts and grief. I howled, and my pack answered me: Maybelle, Seff, and Lynnette. And we ran, one mind and one goal.
Nothing but moonlight and cold clear air, wind in our fur and the scent of prey in our noses. Nothing but hunger and the hunt.