261 Old Wounds (10)

The next day was Saturday, so Kyro was free, and Iris employed him to bring her to the cafe to meet Elise. She first went in the form of a fox, then changed midway through the journey in a bathroom.

When they reached the cafe, it was some five minutes before eleven, but Iris could already see Elise sitting inside. She was holding the black cat from before, whispering something to it.

"I'll wait here, don't take too long."

"Thanks!" Iris smiled at him and left the car. There were only a few steps to the cafe, and she went straight for Elise.

Due to it being the weekend, there were more people around. Everyone was sitting around and chatting while playing with the various cats. A tabby even jumped down to block Iris' way, demanding attention.

She bent down to scratch its ear, then walked to the table and sat down. "Hey, how have you been?"

"Good," Elise said, looking up. On the table before her lay a sealed letter.

Iris picked it up and was surprised to feel that it was heavier than she'd expected. There was something more inside it than just a single sheet of paper. That something was in a box, however, so she couldn't tell what it was.

At the front of the letter, there was 'To Gale' written in cursive. The letters were small and neat, beautiful to the eye.

"But you seem to have been busy these days," Elise said, taking Iris' thoughts away from her letter.

"Mhm? Oh, you mean the Jane affair?" Iris grimaced. It wasn't something she wanted to remember in detail. "She brought it upon herself." That was all she could say.

"Really? Was that actu—"

Her words were interrupted by a sharp ring of the phone. Iris apologized and picked up the call from Kyro.

"Hey, give me a few—"

"Leave! Change and disappear now! The authorities are coming over as we speak!"

Kyro's voice was rushed, panicked, and for a moment, Iris just froze, unable to grasp what he was saying. Leave? Change? Coming? Then the gears in her brain clicked, and fear surged through her.

"I'm sorry, I need to go!" she told Elise, then hesitated. The letter for which she had risked all of it, what was she supposed to do with it?

All her effort to acquire it would end up wasted if she left it, but… When she changed, she would have to run for her life…

"Iris? What's wrong? You don't look okay." Elise rose from her seat, sensing the alarm in Iris. "Can I do—"

Iris shook her head as she grabbed the letter. Whatever came, she should finish helping someone if she promised to do it. "If anyone asks, know that I didn't approach you for any other reason than what I said. Trust me."

Then, she ran out of the cafe and into a supermarket nearby. It would be too conspicuous to change in a place where someone was looking for her. Even though Elise might do it only out of care, it would still be detrimental.

Inside the supermarket's bathroom, Iris swiftly took off her clothes and stuffed them into a trash bin. Any embarrassment she might have felt was pushed away by the fear of being caught and locked up in some prison. Who knew what they would do to her there? Especially if they had an inkling about her ability to change.

Iris unlocked the cubicle's door and changed shape that instant. There was no one else around, so she quickly trotted out. Her hurried walk through the supermarket caught quite a few people's attention, but before they could call someone about a wild fox, she would already be gone.

Outside the building, she saw a lot of uniformed men rushing out of cars. They were all moving toward the supermarket with a clear goal in mind. With a chill running down her spine, Iris hid beneath a toy car near the exit doors.

As she lay on her belly with a large letter in her mouth along with a sim and credit cards, she saw numerous dark boots pass by her. Every pair was there to catch her. And if it ever came to combat or running, Iris had no doubts that she couldn't win against a single pursuer. They were trained specifically for such things, and she… she was a little scared girl.

One that was even a fennec at that moment.

'Enough,' she ordered herself. 'You can pity yourself when you're safe.' Collecting her fleeing courage, she made sure all the officers were away and made a mad dash for the exit. A few customers were startled, attracting attention, but Iris didn't care. She left the supermarket and sprinted to where Kyro had parked his car.

Yet when she got close, she saw that he was detained by two officers while a third one was going through his car. Kyro was arguing with the first two, looking aloof and annoyed if anything, but she knew it wouldn't be true. She'd heard the panic in his voice when he'd called her.

Her fur stood up as she watched the proceedings, but there didn't seem to be an end to them. Even when the search was done, the officers didn't let Kyro go. They all waited until the others went through all of the supermarket.

Every minute was like an hour for Iris, but she didn't know what else to do besides waiting for Kyro. It was her best option to hide beneath a coffee shop's wooden banner which detailed some kind of daily deal.

She was small enough that no one noticed her presence, and she could remain unnoticed until the search was finished. However, when she calmed down, believing everything would be fine, Kyro was taken away.

Her hiding spot was far enough that she couldn't see his exact expression, but the rigid posture betrayed that he wasn't happy with what was happening. He talked with the officer that had stood around him for a bit more, then sat down in one of their cars and left.

He didn't glance back as he did that.

Fear gripped Iris' heart, but not for herself. What were they going to do to him? Why did they take him? 'It's just to questions him, just to question him,' she told herself, but didn't believe it. Water began to collect in her eyes.

What had she done?