11: Soul Storm
4.6k 29 229
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

“Your canines are really big, did you notice that?” Eva asked as the sun was beginning to set.

We’d rolled around on my bed for a good hour just chatting away about how things were different for me now, what was going on in the world and in our local area. It was nice, hanging out with her like this, without that weird barrier that came from a girl and a guy being friends.

We’d moved down to the living room now, Mum was off in her office working from home while Dad was at work dealing with some shit.

“Yeah I did,” I smiled, then faked a long, drawn out yawn. “Do I seem like a fox yet?”

“Wow, that was actually very foxlike,” she grinned, then gave me a funny little side-eye look. “With how cute you are though, it’s more like a little snaggle tooth.”

I froze, funny sparkles dancing around in my stomach as I processed what she’d said. I was so not able to deal with being called cute, or pretty for that matter. It was just so strange. I mean, even getting complimented at all was a new experience for me. Guys just didn’t get compliments the way girls did.

“Stop that!” I finally grumbled, shifting my position on the sofa to stare at her full on.

Her expression turned innocent. “Stop what?”

“Calling me cute!” I exclaimed, poking her in the leg.

“Whhyy?” she asked, drawing the word out long and slow, a cheeky smile flickering onto her lips. “You don’t like being cute?”

“It’s… it’s… weird...” I mumbled defensively. “I’m not used to being called cute.”

“You’re going to have to get used to being called cute, little Tia… because you are absolutely freaking adorable,” she teased, flicking at one of my ears with a finger. It flicked right back at her, but she was out of range too fast. I needed to work on my ear-flick reflexes.

“I will fight anyone who calls me cute,” I frowned, crossing my arms in defiance.

She laughed. “Girl, that is not nearly as threatening as you think it is.”

“I will, I’ll fight them,” I grumbled, mostly to myself as I turned away from her. “Not as Tia, though.”

Joke was on Eva, because I was actually a superhero. Okay, not really, and I had a rather big problem to deal with before I went out again. I needed a way to hide my identity, and considering I was probably the only purple fox girl in the city… well that was going to make things difficult.

A rumbling from the driveway halted our banter, Eva’s mum arriving to pick her up. I felt my heart sink a little, I’d really missed her these past few days. I wouldn’t say we were inseparable or anything, but she was always the first person I thought of when I had a random thought I wanted to voice. Being too worried to contact her had been difficult.

“Damn,” my friend murmured from beside me.

We turned to each other, our eyes meeting, cyan on blue. The urge to touch her almost overwhelmed me, to reach out and grasp at her, ask her to stay. Overwhelmed by another wave of strange, unfamiliar emotion, I turned my gaze to the door and bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.

Eva coming over was the first truly pleasant interaction I’d had with another person since I’d, well… since I’d died. My parents were okay, but I was feeling so uneasy about the way Mum was treating this whole transformation thing. It was like I had no choice but to learn makeup and run around in dresses, like I was her doll or something. Dad was trying his best to be normal around me, and in the process was acting like a total weirdo.

The doorbell went off, but neither Eva nor I were in any hurry to get up off the couch. Mum betrayed us by answering the door however, allowing Velvet into the house.

“Welcome back Velvet!” Mum exclaimed happily. “They’re in the living room.”

The two women appeared in the doorway, looking in at us as we innocently gazed back.

“Hey kiddo, ready to go home?” Velvet asked with a smile that said she knew what the answer was. Eva even had a pout ready and waiting.

Mum gave a laugh. “That look does not bode well.”

The other woman gave an exasperated laugh and nodded agreement, leaning against the doorway like she was settling in for an argument.

“How about I offer you a drink while we coax them off the sofa?” Mum asked wryly, her words nearly earning a victory dance from said sofa dwellers.

Velvet gave us a warm smile, nodding along with my mother’s words. “I think so. Give them time to get used to the idea.”

That caused my friend to let out a long, disappointed sigh. I feel you Eva, I feel you.

All at once, every phone in the room gave out a blaring alarm, and a computerised voice began to speak a terrifying echoing mess. “All persons within the Concord metropolitan area are advised to stay indoors. A storm of unknown origin and magnitude is expected to pass over the area within fifteen minutes. All persons within the Concord metropolitan area are…”

The message repeated, over and over, loud and awful to my newly sensitive ears. I clapped my hands over them and whimpered, but it barely made a difference. I pushed my phone away from me in a frantic, panicked rush, trying to physically distance the awful noise from myself. What the fuck was going on? A storm? This had to be magical. 

Soft, gentle arms wrapped around my head and ears, Eva’s scent surrounding me in a cocoon of safety. She was helping to block the sound. I moved closer against her, the top of my head pressed against her stomach as we waited for the awful warning to stop.

When it finally did, I eased out of my friend’s embrace, but she kept an arm firmly around my shoulders, a worried expression on her face.

“I’m alright,” I said with a shy, grateful smile. “Silly ears are really sensitive.”

“I like them, even then,” she said quietly, brushing her fingertips down the length of one.

To distract myself from the fluttering in my stomach that her actions caused, I turned my eyes to our mothers, heads bowed together as they whispered frantically back and forth. Eva and I waited patiently, my friend’s arm staying protectively across my shoulders as we watched.

It was hard to keep a smile off my face at that moment. It felt inappropriate to be smiling with something scary about to happen, but damn if it wasn’t nice to feel cared about.

“Girls,” my mother began, turning to us as their little meeting came to an end. “Eva, you and your mother will be staying here tonight. With everything that’s been happening around the world lately, we think it’s probably a good idea to heed the warning from the phone.”

I blinked, once, twice, then turned to Eva with a slowly dawning smile. Her expression matched mine. Sleepover time!

Wait… I turned back to Mum. “What about Dad?”

Her expression fell a little, then was wiped clean as she said. “I-I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Velvet’s hand came to rest on my mother’s shoulder, trying to reassure her. A mirror of Eva and I, actually. Except Velvet was way less cuddly than her daughter was. Another reason to be happy the gender barrier was gone, Eva seemed completely at ease with touching me now, unlike before. It was still a bit weird on my end, but I just assumed this was how girls were supposed to be with each other… or something. I don’t know.

A strange, whispering howl cut my thoughts off like the head of a guillotined royal. It was low and haunting, a lamenting dirge that grew and grew in volume and power.

That did not sound good, not at all. Shit, I wish I could look through grandpa’s old books for help. Mum would kill me if she found out about them though, so I guess we’d just have to hope that the government’s recommendation that people stay inside had actual merit.

“Mum?” I asked quietly. “I think we should close the blinds and curtains.”

“That is a good idea,” she nodded, still staring out the window as she spoke.

“All this crazy stuff happening, does anyone know why?” Velvet wondered aloud. I stayed silent, getting up off the sofa to help close all the windows.

“It’s like magic has just suddenly become real,” Eva said anxiously.

Mum and I exchanged a look. They weren’t far off, and although Mum didn’t know it was me who had personally caused it, we both knew that the worldwide crisis we were going through was magical in nature.

We went around the house, closing every curtain and set of blinds we could find, until we had no way of seeing outside, and more importantly, nothing could see inside.

“I guess Tia and I will begin getting dinner ready,” Mum said once we were all back in the living room.

“No, no, let me help,” Velvet said, standing up from where she’d seated herself. “Let the kids watch a movie or something.”

After a slight pause, Mum nodded agreement and gestured for Velvet to head for the kitchen. Thank you Velvet!

Smiling, I hopped back over to the sofa and plonked myself down next to Eva again. Then I leapt back up again with a wordless exclamation and rushed for the exit. We couldn’t have a movie night without a blanket to snuggle under!

“Where are you going?” she laughed, voice following me through the door.

“Getting a blanket!” I called back, bounding up the stairs again on all fours.

When I leapt back onto the couch, I did so with a big comforter, draping it over the both of us with a proud grin. I was a smart fox!

My self confidence shattered when Eva cuddled up against me, putting my heart into an uncontrolled spin. Why was she being so cuddly? Why was I reacting like I’d just been tased?

“Sorry,” she whispered in my ear. “I can move away if you want. I just figured that like, we’ve known each other long enough that we can like… friend cuddle, right?”

“I guess… but you weren’t like this before,” I replied quietly, trying to get myself to loosen up.

I felt her shoulder shift in a shrug as she murmured, “You seem softer now. You were colder before, and plus… we’re both girls now, or at least I am and you look like one, so… I don’t know, I’ll move away.”

She began to pull away from me, but reached out with a hand to stop her. “It’s okay, just let me like, get used to it.”

“Okay,” she said with a happy little smile, eyes bright and clear. That smile did the trick better than any amount of waiting could have, calming me down in an instant.

When we relaxed back into the sofa to pick a movie, it was with a shared companionship and warmth. The howling magical storm outside only made everything seem even more cozy. I was so glad she was staying the night.

 

Sad to say that this is as far as my backlog goes :). My health has been rough recently so I'm just taking things slow atm, I'll get chapters out for this story, my patreon exclusives and Anamoor whenever I can. Thanks so much for your patience and I'll see you all when I see you. QV.

229