For a minute nobody moved. Heather and her mother stared while I watched. Heather’s mother looked very pale and unhealthy. Eventually, she walked past both of us. It was only for a moment, but I saw her crying when she pushed past. I looked to Heather; her face was full of sadness. I grabbed her arm trying to comfort her. Years ago, Heather’s mother had kicked her out of the house to live by herself.

“Heather… I think something was wrong with your mother,” I told her.

“What do you mean?” Heather’s face changed from sadness to worry. It seemed she really did care about her family even though they threw her out.

“It was only for a moment… but she was crying,” Heather stood there without saying anything. It seemed she was trying to make up her mind on what to do.

“Do you still love your family?” I asked her.

Heather sighed, “I guess I do,”

“Then find out what’s wrong. Please do this before you regret it. You might never see her again,”

Heather shook her head, “I don’t think I’m ready to talk with my parents yet, but I know someone I can call,”

We walked over to Heather’s car and she took out her phone. She dialed in the number and set it to speaker. After a couple rings someone picked up.

“Heather?” a woman’s voice came through.

“…Hey Ange…” Heather said with a quiet voice.

“Heather! Oh my gosh! Thank goodness you’re okay! What happened?! You haven’t contacted us for three years!”

“I’m alright sis… I wanted to ask, how’s everyone in the family?”

“Well… things have been pretty rough since you left. Luke and Will are still living together. We all go check on Mom and Dad pretty frequently. Dad’s still adamant about you not being a part of the family. Anytime we tried to bring you up, Dad would just shut us up. He’s been wearing himself down with alcohol a lot lately. Mom… she’s been a wreck since you left. Almost immediately after, she started regretting her decision. She’s asked Dad so many times to let you back into the family, but she can’t stand up to him. She just doesn’t have the courage to make choices on her own. Lately, she’s being forced to get magical medicine from Ms. Lonestone for Dad so he can feed his alcoholism,”

“So that’s what she’s doing,” Heather muttered.

“Where are you right now?” Ange asked.

“I’m in front of Ms. Lonestone’s place. Mom’s here right now,”

“What?!” Ange yelled, “Please talk to her! If anyone’ll be able to get her out of that hellhole of a home, you might be able to!”

“Are you sure? She looked like she didn’t want to see me,” Heather was doubting herself.

“I’ll be here to,” I told her.

“Who’s that?” Ange was obviously confused as to why another person was listening in.

“Hello! I’m Celeste Lowe. Also known as Heather’s girlfriend,”

“Nice to meet you Celeste. Please help my sister with this. She’s going to need all the help she can get,”

“I promise to support her in everything including this,” I looked over to Heather, she wasn’t looking to good.

“You can do this,” I held her hand and kissed her. She looked a lot better after that. With a surge of newfound confidence, Heather stepped out of the car.

“Thanks Ange. I’ll be sure to keep in touch now,”

“You better or I will find your ass and beat you until you submit,”

Heather laughed, “Well you better have kept in shape because I won’t go down easy,”

They both laughed together. It was nice to see Heather interacting with her family. She had obviously missed them. Now, we were going to have her reconnect with her mother and save her.

Heather’s mom, Mrs. Jackson, stepped out of the house with a small blue vial. Immediately, we blocked her path. She looked terrified as to what we might do. Heather began walking up to her slowly. The two of them didn’t say a word. Suddenly, Heather hugged her. Mrs. Jackson’s face went from terror to shock. Tears began streaming down her face. The blue vial she held fell to the ground. I caught it before it shattered.

They both stood there hugging each other. Mrs. Jackson was bawling into Heather’s shoulder. It was a little awkward to be a third wheel to this whole interaction, but I was happy Heather could be a part of her family again. After another minute, they let go and looked at each other.

“I’m so sorry!” Mrs. Jackson kept saying over and over, “I’m sorry for everything!”

“It’s okay Mom,” Heather said as she squeezed her mother tighter.

“I tried to get your father to let you back, but he just wouldn’t!”

“I know… Angela told me,” So that’s what Ange’s full name was.

“I promise to be a better mother from now on! I’ll do anything for you!”

Heather looked at her mother more serious than I had ever seen her before, “Leave that house,”

Mrs. Jackson was taken aback by her seriousness, “…but…”

“Mom… it’s obvious Dad doesn’t care for you anymore. I know you love him… and so do I… but you won’t last in that. You’re wasting away here. Please… come with me. We’ll go to Angela’s place,”

“Okay…” Mrs. Jackson looked like she just noticed me, “Who’s that?”

“Celeste… she’s my girlfriend,”

“Nice to meet you ma’am,” I said.

“Human? I would’ve thought you would go for another beastkin,”

Heather chuckled, “So did I… but she’s one of a kind. I wouldn’t trade her for anyone else,”

It took everything I had to keep composed after hearing that line. Was she trying to make me swoon so hard I collapsed? I promise I will worship only you my wolf goddess. Heather began moving her mother slowly over to her car.

“Can you drive?” Heather asked me.

“Yeah, but I don’t have a license in this world,”

“Good enough. I need you to drive Mom to Angela’s house. I’ll text you the address,”

“What about you?” Mrs. Jackson asked Heather.

“I’m gonna pay a visit to dad. I need to see him at least once more. I’ll meet you there,” Heather had a look in her eyes. She obviously was not going to be swayed from her current objective. With worry deep in my heart, I watched as she drove down the road. I began the drive over to Angela’s place.

The drive itself was going to be at least an hour. It felt so awkward driving Heather’s mother. We sat in total silence that was only broken by the GPS. I only noticed now that Heather didn’t use a GPS on the way here. Probably because she already knew the way.

“When did you meet my daughter?” Mrs. Jackson asked suddenly.

“Um… about… three months ago,” I told her.

“How did you meet?”

“Well… that’s a long story, but we got a long ride. To tell you the truth, I’m not human,” I let the color dissipate from my hand, “I’m a slime,”

“A… slime? You mean one of those pests?” Mrs. Jackson was obviously freaking out a little.

“I mean… I used to be human if that counts,” I handed her my ID.

She took a look and asked, “You’re a traveler?”

“Yep… Heather found me when I first woke up here. I was freaked out at being a slime, but she helped me come to appreciate it. She helped me become the person I am and I'm forever grateful for it,”

Ms. Jackson smiled and stared into the distance.

“That definitely sounds like my daughter,” she said.

The rest of the car ride we exchanged stories about Heather. Ms. Jackson’s mood seemed to lighten a lot. By the time we got to Angela’s house both of us were laughing together. The house itself was a green paneled, two story. When we pulled into the driveway, Angela ran out of her house. She immediately jumped on her mother.

“Mom! Thank goodness you’re out of that hellhole!”

“Yes… Thank you Angela,”

Angela turned to me, she looked very pretty. Her face was softer than Heather’s.

“You must be Celeste. Thank you. Heather told me you were coming. Where is she?”

“She told us she was going to visit your father,” I told her. Angela understood and quickly brought us inside.

“Who’s there?” a man’s voice called from inside.

“It’s my mother and a friend,” Angela called.

A man who stood about a foot and a half taller than me walked in. In his hands was a child playing with toys. Both of them had the same black hair. He turned to me and stretched out his hand.

“Peter Klein,” he had a nice manly aura about him. It looked like he was human, “I’m Angela’s husband. This little guy is Daniel. Say hi Daniel,”

The child waved at us and continued playing with his toys. I guess he was a little shy.

“I’ll get us some drinks,” Angela said as she went into their kitchen.

We sat around talking while we waited. Angela and Ms. Jackson caught up, I learned about the Kleins and how they got together. It had been roughly two hours and Heather still hadn’t shown up. I tried calling her, but she wasn’t answering.

“I’m worried,” Ms. Jackson said what everyone was thinking. I just hoped she was okay. Angela suddenly jumped up from her seat. I looked out the window to see Heather clutching her left arm.

I ran out the door and I gasped. Her face had some blood on it. Bruises had formed all over her face. Her shirt was splattered with blood as well. The arm she was clutching was swollen. I yelled to Angela to get some ice.

“What happened?!” Ms. Jackson asked.

Heather just chuckled, “Dad… won’t be… bothering… us again… don’t worry… he’s still… alive,”

Heather collapsed on us right there. I managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. Her shirt was ripped up in the back and it looked like something with claws sliced her back. Did her father do this?! What kind of sick bastard was he to do this to his own daughter?! I was reminded in that moment of the blue vial I had earlier.

“Ms. Jackson! What exactly does the medicine that you bought do?” I was desperate. If this could do something immediately, it was better than nothing.

“I-It helps with damages inside the body. It’s not supposed to be used outside the body. There isn’t enough of it to cover her either way!”

I was racking my mind for something. There had to be a way to make this small amount cover her whole body. I reached a solution almost immediately.

“Step back!” I told everyone. I melted my body into slime form. Loosening the cap, I poured the small vial on top of me. I started molding myself over Heather’s body. Spreading the tonic inside me, I began covering every single part of her body that was severely injured. I didn’t have any idea if this was going to work. It just had to.

“Please Heather,” I begged, “Please be okay,”