=:= Katie =:=
"Ok, thanks very much sir. I'll see you on Monday." Katie tapped the 'end call' button on her phone, then sighed to herself. She exited her home office and found her sister in the living-room.
It was mid-afternoon now, and Stacey had offered to stay for a couple days. Sarah left this morning to attend her classes since her aunt was here to watch over her mother. Not that Katie needed to be looked after, she was fine now.
She joined her sister, sitting down next to her on the sofa. "So the university is planning on expelling the three students. In addition to myself and Melanie, five other students were affected. Three had respiratory symptoms and two had skin irritation. Because setting off a full aerosol can of anything in an enclosed space is a very bad idea."
She sighed and continued, "Melanie is all right, but she's very upset. Fortunately two other students helped get her to safety and stayed with her to try and keep her out of trouble during the worst of the effects. Her parents are talking about a lawsuit, though they haven't decided yet who they want to sue and for what exactly. I'm sure after they've spoken to a lawyer or two, they'll realize they want to sue everyone involved, for as much as they can."
Stacey asked, "Any word from the police?"
"Apparently they don't think it's serious enough to warrant their involvement." Katie stated. "They said that the most they could do would be to charge the students with mischief, since five normal students required some normal medical attention. However, they seem to be happy to let the university handle the entire matter."
Her sister scowled, then asked "Is that enough, Katie? Do you think the police should take it more seriously?"
She sighed, thinking it over. "I don't really want to ruin those three boys' lives. I mean they're already going to suffer because of the expulsion. It'll probably set all three back a year, in terms of their education. They'll all have to re-apply elsewhere. I don't really want to see them spending years in jail. At the same time I do think the police should have taken it more seriously. If they'd been told three young men attempted to use a date-rape drug on a female student and professor, I'm sure they would have been a little more attentive."
Stacey nodded and sighed. "I know what you mean about not wanting to ruin those boys' lives but at the same time, they could have ruined yours."
Katie thought a bit more, then shook her head. "Expulsion is serious enough. I hope it will ensure they've learned their lesson, and hopefully it'll serve as a warning to anyone else thinking about trying that."
Stacey frowned slightly but finally seemed to accept Katie's position on the matter. She let the subject drop, and said "While you were talking to the university I spoke with Maria. I filled her in on what happened. She's glad you're ok, but worried that it happened at all."
"I'll have to speak with her later," Katie sighed. "And while I appreciate you rushing out here to check on me, I really am fine. You don't have to hang around here on my account."
Stacey smiled, "Since I'm here though, I'd love to stay the weekend. Unless you want me gone, of course. But I'd like to spend a few days visiting with you and Sarah. I could leave Monday morning, from here straight back to work."
Katie smirked, "I haven't experienced being teleported yet. I've seen it a few times though. Maria's visited twice, you know?"
Her sister looked surprised, "I had no idea! Though it does explain how she knew where you lived. She sent me straight here, right inside your front door." She added with a sigh, "I wonder if I could convince them to teach me how to do it?"
"That would be nice." Katie smiled. "I only managed to tolerate the flight out to see you because I'm small enough that there was room in the seat to fit my tail around my waist. Even then, I needed to get up and stretch my tail and legs at least once an hour."
• • • • •
A few hours later, Katie and her sister were having dinner. The meal was nothing special, just some roasted pork with gravy, but the two of them were enjoying it.
She'd invited her daughter to join them as well of course, but Sarah was off with her friends tonight. She'd promised to come by tomorrow afternoon though.
After dinner Stacey helped out with the dishes, and Katie asked, "So you had Maria teleport you across the country, you didn't pack or bring any clothes or anything. And you figure you're going to stay here till Monday?"
Her sister blushed, then shrugged, "In the morning I'll go pick up some things. I'm sure there's a mall or something around here?"
Katie nodded, "Yeah I can drive you to the mall in the morning. You're pretty much stuck though till then. I don't even have a nightgown I can loan you, I donated all my big clothes over a month ago. All I have now is stuff that's my size."
"I'll manage," Stacey smiled.
She was about to say more, but her phone buzzed with an incoming text. A split second later, Katie's did as well.
The two of them reached for their phones, poking at the screens to see what was up.
Katie frowned. The text was from the university's legal department, instructing her not to talk to the press and asking her to come in tomorrow at ten for a meeting.
Before she had a chance to even react, she received another text. This one was from a friend, a fellow professor in the law program.
Her frown deepened as she read it. Her friend said that the incident yesterday might have been a hate crime, and that it was possible Melanie was the primary target, not herself.
Katie sighed. The two texts left her with far more questions than they answered.
"Sounds like we've got problems," Stacey said quietly. She was frowning as well.
"Yeah. I have no idea what's going on though." She looked at her sister, "What was your news?"
Stacey replied, "Mine was from Cindy. She said she's coming to speak with us. I assume she wants to talk about what happened to you yesterday."
"What?" Katie asked, surprised. "Why would she want to talk with us?"
"To let you know what's happening, and what I'm going to do about it." Cindy stated. "And maybe get some advice since you two are the law experts." The young blonde was standing in the kitchen doorway.
Katie and Stacey both jumped. Neither of them had heard the girl arrive, and both were used to hearing people sneaking up on them.
Cindy looked pretty much the same as she had when Katie first met her, back in her sister's office in Niagara. She appeared to be a teen, fifteen or sixteen years old at most. She was short and skinny, though not as small as Katie.
About five-foot-two, she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds. She had shoulder-length sunny blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. And she was dressed the same as before, wearing dark leggings, a dark oversized tunic top, and sneakers.
"What?" Katie asked. "What's happening, what's going on?"
Cindy walked past them and helped herself to a bottle of water from the fridge, then sat down at the kitchen table.
"So one of those three guys who did it, his family belongs to some bullshit church that's been preaching the evils of magic. Of course they're violently opposed to trans people existing at all, let alone using my spell to make their lives better. And they think anyone using my spell to give themselves animal attributes are going against the 'word of god' or whatever." She scowled, "Which is complete bullshit because I've met like five Gods and none of them give a fuck what mortals do to themselves."
Katie just stared at the girl, speechless as she continued her rant.
"And another of the guys is basically an 'incel'? Apparently he tried asking Melanie out last month, then got pissed off when she turned him down. Then I guess after she used the spell he figured out somehow that she's trans, and that got him even more angry, like thinking she 'tricked' him or some bullshit. Like as if women owe these assholes anything."
Katie glanced at her sister. Stacey was actually looking a little nervous, just standing quietly watching the teen. She looked back at Cindy and asked, "And the third one?"
"He was dumb enough to let the other two talk him into it. Let them influence him into believing trans people, hybrid people, whatever, all need to burn in hell. And he's the one who suggested the timing. It was his idea to do it right before the full moon, to try and throw people off so they'd have second thoughts. So they'd miss the moon and have to wait another month." She scowled angrily at that.
Katie sighed, she hadn't made the connection between the assault and the moon. She moved to the table and sat down across from Cindy. Stacey remained next to the counter, she still looked nervous. It looked like she was almost afraid to come too close.
"Stace? Why are you cowering back there? Come and sit down?"
Stacey hesitated, then nodded. She slowly approached, and sat next to Katie.
Cindy sighed, "Stacey is scared because she knows, or has a good idea, what I'm capable of when I'm angry. And right now, I'm angry." She added, "I'm not angry with you two so please, relax."
"Uh... What are you capable of?" Katie asked. "Or do I not want to know?"
Stacey sighed and quietly said, "You don't want to know, sis."
Katie frowned, "How did you get involved in this business?"
"Melanie emailed me a few hours ago, asking for help." she sighed. "The kind of help she wanted was... Not great. Zoe's looking after her right now, keeping her safe."
"Damn," Katie shook her head. "Last I heard she was doing all right though?"
Cindy shook her head, "She woke up this morning to some death threats and hate mail. Sent by those three assholes last night. I guess they were pissed off that their stunt didn't quite go as planned."
"What was their plan, do you know?" Stacey asked, still sounding nervous.
"They were hoping to video Katie acting high in class, to get her fired or whatever." Cindy scowled. "And they were hoping Melanie would be high enough that they could mess with her... The incel guy wanted to play 'hero' and act like he was getting her somewhere 'safe' meaning private, so he could assault her."
The young blonde looked even more angry as she finished speaking, and Katie didn't blame her.
"I'm so glad those other students were there to look after Melanie. " She sighed, "I wish I could go and see her, maybe I could help her."
Cindy shrugged and stood up, "Yeah ok. C'mon, let's go see her."
Katie was surprised but got to her feet as well. Stacey still looked nervous, but she reluctantly stood up as well.
She started to ask, "Do you want me to drive, or...?"
Cindy just smiled, then there was a flare of purple light in her eyes and everything spun and faded.
Sounds like some incoming attitude adjustments for more than a few people...
