The Lady and The Fox

Chapter 2

   It took three hours for Katherine to arrive at the laboratory. She parks her car a safe distance away from the lab. Before she steps out, Katherine puts on the gourmet mask.

   She sneaks into the laboratory from the backside. She walks through the hallways, searching for something interesting. Katherine walks downstairs and into the fourth floor where the scent of blood lingers in the air.

   An awful feeling sinks in her stomach, but she ignores it. She explores the empty rooms and halls, until she comes across a metal door with a plack next to it. The plack reads Subject186.

   'Bingo!' Katherine was about to open the door with the key card, but the sound of approaching footsteps and voices stop her. Katherine hides around the corner, listening to the men, but as they got closer, it sounds like they're dragging something.

   "Man, I can't believe our guest bailed on us," one man complains.

   The door opens and they leave whatever they were dragging inside of the room.

   "Yeah me too. I think he would've liked our little discovery," the other man says.

   "Want to get some donuts?"

   "Sure! This place reeks of that thing's blood."

   Katherine listens to their footsteps fade away. She walks to the metal door with the key card on her hand. She inhales, deeply, and slides the card into the slot. The door instantly slides open.

   A small gasp of surprise escapes from Katherine's mouth. She expected to see a hideous monster, but instead she finds an unconscious woman, laying on the floor with her wrists chained to the wall. There were scars on the woman's fragile arms and legs and some of them were recent.

   The woman was only wearing a dirty nightgown. She had short, white hair and pale skin. Katherine notices the large fox ears and the fluffy tail on the lady. It all made sense now, this lady was the hybrid.

   Anger boils in Katherine's chest as she stares that the fox woman. She kneels down and takes out a bobby pin from her hair. Katherine jiggles the pin in the chain locks until they released the fox lady. Then Katherine, gently, picks her up, bridal style. She was surprised on how light she was.

   Katherine carries the fox lady upstairs, since people were most likely using the elevator. Once she got to the first floor, the alarms went off. Katherine sprints towards the nearest exit with the fox lady in her arms.

   Her sprinting changes into a jog when they step outside. Katherine opens her car and places the white-haired woman in the backseat. She shivers at the cold wind, so Katherine takes off her hoodie and covers the fox lady with it.

   Katherine jumps into the her car, removes her mask, then drives away the laboratory. She listens to the humming of her car as she drives back home. 'Oh my god! What did I just get myself into!?' Katherine screams.

   The morning sun was slowly rising into the sky when Katherine parks her car onto the driveway. She carries the fox lady into her home and takes her to her room. Katherine sets the woman in her bed and she immediately curls up in the blankets.

   Katherine yawns as she unties her black hair, allowing it to flow down. She collapses, feeling drained emotionally and physically, on the couch. Katherine takes out her phone to check the time.

                             {7:35}

   She groans in frustration, dropping her phone on her chest. Katherine stares at the ceiling, thinking about the white-haired fox woman. She picks up her phone and dials in the numbers to the bar.

   "Hello?" her manager, Paul, asks.

   "Hey Paul, it's Katherine, I'm calling in sick. I caught a really bad cold."

   "Oh okay. I'll call someone to fill on for you. Get well soon, Katherine."

   Katherine hangs up and drops her phone. Her eyelids begin to feel heavy as another yawn escape her lips.  Katherine's thoughts wander back to the fox woman. She had to admit, the lady was really pretty. She slips into the darkness of sleep.