FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Come along, Jackie! We need to get going! The symposium waits for no one!"

A short cloaked individual was hurrying along the path from the large mansion to the waiting sports car. It was winter, and everyone around was wearing heavy snow-ready gear, but this one was wearing just the cloak. They practically flopped down into the seat of the Ferrari and closed the door at the behest of the man.

The car shot off down the driveway with a chirp of the tires and a "yip" from the passenger. The driver was world renowned bioengineer Jack Larson. He had done much with his research and had the eye and praise of much of the world. His passenger, however, was much different. She was one of his projects, and a successful one at that. A combination of arctic wolf DNA and his own made for a very interesting subject. It took him years to do, but he finally got the mix to work and made, in his opinion, a beautiful creature. She was still young by human standards, at only eight years old, and stood just a bit over the expected height of a normal girl of the same age. Jack thought she had just a couple more years of growing since wolves stop just shy of two years and humans around twenty. Though, he was still confused why male wolf and male human made female hybrid.

He was running late from sleeping in and was rushing through town to get to the convention center. Speed limits meant nothing as his passenger slunk down in her seat to avoid looking out the window. She clung tightly to her seatbelt and pulled it as tight as it would go. There were a few close calls as he dodged around people on the road and Jackie was starting to get really worried about them making it. Jack looked over at her and saw her huddled up and shaking. It didn't help this was her first car ride.

"Don't worry. We'll get there fine. I'm a fantastic driver!"

Famous last words. Someone pulled out of a driveway in front of him and he had to swerve to avoid them. He had been going over 100 miles per hour and his swerve broke his traction loose. The car slid sideways, hit a pothole, and started rolling. The light weight body of the car crumpled as it rolled and flipped down the road, leaving broken parts and pieces strewn around like confetti. The front end crushed in, the steering wheel pinning Jack to his seat and deflating the airbags that had gone off the moment they rolled. It was a gruesome sight to anyone who had been watching.

The car finally came to rest upside down, a long ways down the road from where they had started the roll. The vehicle no longer looked like one, but rather a ball of fiberglass and metal. Inside, Jackie stirred, trying to shake Jack awake. He hung limp in his seat, still pinned by the steering wheel and had blood dripping from his head. She was frightened and in pain and had no idea what to do. Jack had said something a long time ago that clicked in her mind, though: if anything should happen to him, run and hide, do not be found.

Jackie tucked her head and pressed the seat buckle release. It took some effort, but it released, letting her slump down on the roof of the car. She hurt all over and her fur was red in a lot of places. That was when she realized her cloak was pinned. She couldn't take it with her to stay covered. Dropping to all fours, she felt a throb in her leg that didn't want to go away and her left arm wouldn't support any weight. She had to hobble and crawl her way through the shattered window to get outside. People were starting to come out of their homes and get out of cars with the chaos that had just occurred.

-Run, hide, don't be seen-

She hobble-ran her way away from the wreck and through some yards that didn't have fences. Out here the houses were larger and the yards open and large. She could run for a while before something stopped her, and she did. Eventually she was too tired to run any more. She found a house that had a fenced in yard and headed that way. She could hide away from prying eyes there.

The side gate was unlocked and opened easily enough. She quickly stood up to pop it open and walk into the yard, shutting the gate behind her. Unfortunately she wasn't paying close enough attention and tripped over the rake that had fallen across the path. Her luck, she crashed into the tin garbage bins, causing a large ruckus and feeling a painful snap in her leg that had already been hurting. The pain caused her to cry out and the world to spin. She curled into a ball to stop the spinning and pain.

"What the hell was that noise?" It was a woman's voice and came from inside the house. So much for staying hidden and unnoticed. She couldn't run any more, the pain was too much. The door to the side of the house opened and someone stepped out. There was a gasp and they went running back into the house. Jackie just curled in farther on herself, expecting them to get a weapon or such to kill her. Instead the person came back out and started walking her way slowly.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you." Jackie peeked out at the woman walking up. She had an apron on and some gloves that went up to her elbows and looked pretty thick. Jackie just whined and curled back into a ball, not wanting to move. The woman was finally standing over her and stroked down her side, causing her to whine from pain in her ribs, "Mikey! Go get me the board. It's too injured to pick up."

Smaller footsteps ran through the house this time and came back dragging something across the floor, "here, mom. What is it? It looks big!"

"I don't know. It looks part wolf, though, so keep your distance. Help me get it to the office. We need to do some X-Rays and see what we're working with." She pushed the board under Jackie, lifting slightly where she could to make the move to the board easier. Jackie whined from the pain of being moved but did nothing else, "you're a good pup, aren't you? Staying nice and calm for me. I'll get you a treat once we're in the office."

They moved through the house to a section off the side that smelled of other animals. Jackie could smell and hear other animals back here and got worried. The few dogs that were in the back started barking once they came in the office. She was placed, board and all, onto a table with what looked similar to the X-Ray machine they had used at Jack's mansion. The woman pulled the boom over and adjusted the aperture to take a full body shot, stepping behind a wall to buzz the machine.

She came back to look at the image on a screen on the wall, "it has a broken foreleg, broken femur, a few cracked ribs, and the strangest looking skeleton I've ever seen. This almost doesn't look canine. If I wasn't looking at a wolf hybrid laying on my table I wouldn't know what I was looking at in this X-Ray. Let me get some sedative so I can wrap it up. Mike, can you grab the splints and wrap?"

"Sure mom!"

The kid walked out but Jackie perked up at sedatives. She didn't want sedatives! Bad things could happen if they made her sleep! The woman came away from the cabinets loading a syringe with liquid. Jackie was in panic mode as the woman reached for her leg. She pulled it away, despite the pain.

"Calm down, this will just help you sleep while we wrap you up. We don't want to hurt you." Jackie just whined more and scooted backwards on the table, "easy! You'll fall off the table!"

The woman stopped, not wanting to drive Jackie off the table, but Jackie didn't want to stop. She wanted to be on her feet so she could stay away from the needle. She got to the edge and rolled off the table, landing on her good leg and crouching behind the table for a second before standing up. The woman's face seeing her stand was not a good one.

"You're... what are you?"

Jackie realized she really couldn't move anywhere now that she had a broken leg and arm. She couldn't take a step without collapsing on the ground and she couldn't go on all fours anymore since her arm was broken too. She didn't have the balance to move around on one arm and leg. She needed to get out though. There was no way she was staying in a building with someone afraid of her. That was when she noticed the woman walking towards the phone.

"No!" The woman jumped out of her skin and stared at Jackie, "no phones. Please."

"Oh god! It can talk! What is it!?"

"Please!" Jackie tried to take a step around the table to get to the woman, collapsing to the ground in pain from putting weight on her leg. She couldn't help it, she started crying. It was an unnerving sound between a human's cry and a dog's whine. The woman was not dead hearted and heard the noises. She peeked around the table and saw Jackie curled up on the floor crying. The poor thing still looked like a mess from all of the cuts across her body that stained her fur red.

She sighed and moved closer to Jackie, "you're not going to hurt me or my son?"

"No."

"Can I give you the sedative?"

"No!"

"Alright, alright! It's going to hurt setting your bones, though. I don't want to get bit."

"I won't."

Mike, the woman's son, had watched the whole thing from the doorway, "that's so cool."

The woman just gestured him over with all of the splint supplies and got to work setting and wrapping the breaks. The ribs were cracked but stayed straight so a wrap around the chest was all that was needed. The leg, though, had become a bad break and needed to be completely wrapped from hip to ankle. Jackie was not happy about it but she couldn't walk anyways so she didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Now what are we going to do with you? You came in off the street but I'm pretty sure you have an owner."

"Can I use the phone? I can call master and see if he's okay."

"Oh. So you can speak more than short phrases. Alright, let me help you over to it."

The woman helped Jackie over to the phone so she could try to make the phone call. She tried his cellphone first but it went straight to voicemail so she tried the house phone. She got the butler.

"Belvedere. It's Jackie. How is master? Surgery? Brain damage? What does that mean? What is amnesia? He won't remember me? What am I supposed to do? I-- okay."

She hung up with a tear in her eyes. That had not gone well at all. Belvedere knew about her and was the only person aside from Jack who knew of her existence. From what he said, though, Jack had taken a lot of damage in the accident and would likely never be the same again. His memory was shot, brain severely damaged, and wheelchair bound now. She couldn't go back home. Not any more. But where could she go?

Jackie leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. Tears were in her eyes and threatening to spill over. She couldn't even continue running with the casts and sling. She would get dumped at some research facility like master had warned or they would just put her down. Just thinking of what was in store for her was pushing the tears over the edge.

The woman was in the room cleaning up the blood and wipes they had used to clean her wounds. The son, Mike, sat down next to her on the ground, "what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I... I have no home anymore. I can't go back. They don't want me. When I leave I'll either be killed or they'll drag me off to somewhere and do horrible tests on me. I just... I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do. Where am I going to go?" She looked at the paw of her good arm, shaking.

Mike pet her head, running his fingers through her long white hair, "why would they kill you or do tests on you? Why are you so afraid?"

Jackie sobbed and shook her head, "master told me. He told me what would happen if I got out. The hate of the world. Look at me. Just LOOK at me. I could never fit with humans. I'm a freak to them. Even Belvedere gave me strange looks all the time and he helped raise me."

"We don't look at you strange."

"You don't. Your mom did. She was getting ready to call the cops on me."

Mike looked up at his mom, "why? Why would you do that? She just needs help!"

She pointed at him, "don't lecture me young man! She shouldn't exist! She isn't natural!"

"Don't be mean! She has feelings, too! She's just scared!"

"Hurt animals are dangerous!"

Jackie wasn't liking where this was going, "I am human too! I may be part animal but I am human too!"

Mike paused for a moment before looking up from Jackie, "hey mom, can I have a dog?"

"What are you talking about?"

"This one! Why can't we take her in?"

"I--what?" Mike's mother looked at the wolf slumped on her floor. Her ears were perked up a bit now with Mike bringing her up. She looked from Mike to his mother and back a few times. His mother was too cautious though, "we can't take it in! What if the owner comes looking or whoever made it! I don't want to get in trouble, I can't afford that!"

"But mom, it just talked with its owner. They don't want it back. They were in an accident and are messed up. It has nowhere to go. If we let it go they will either be put down or taken for research!"

"No! Absolutely not! We can't take care of an animal! I work too much with only one day off and you have school! Besides, what happens when the company comes looking for her?"

"But it--"

"No! Too much can happen if it stays here!

"Alright, mom! But she can stand and talk! It can probably take care of itself! Heck, once it is healed, it can probably help around the house!"

"I--I," she stuttered for a moment. His mom wanted to rebuke the statement but at the same time, he had a point. There were some questions though, "alright, but what are we going to do when we have company?"

Jackie answered for them, "when master had company, I would hide in his lab or in a back room that had a cushion for me. I also brush myself and help Belvedere with chores around the house. Belvedere taught me how to help him with the mansion. He does the cooking, though. I'm too short to reach the stove without burning my fur."

"I swear this is going to take some time getting used to. I'm really not used to dogs talking to me."

"Wolf, actually. Master told me that much, at least. Arctic wolf."

"That would explain the white fur. It is very soft for a wolf, though. I worked with one when I was going through school. They are usually pretty wiry. I still can't believe this."

Jackie just shrugged and sat up straighter against the wall. Things were starting to look up a bit more now. She didn't have to go out on the streets... yet. She just hoped she didn't mess anything up and get kicked out. Master would get so mad at her sometimes and these people didn't have to keep her around.

"Well, alright, we'll keep you around. You're all patched up for now. Let's get you into the main house and off this cold floor, though, I don't know if you can feel the cold through that thick fur."

Mike whooped and reached out a hand to help Jackie up, "so what's your name?"

Jackie stood up gingerly with Mike's help, "master called me Jackie. I think it was a spin on his own name but that was what he called me."

Mike nodded, "I like Jackie. It's a cute name!"

"I'm not cute. Master said I was frightening. No one would love me."

Mike and his mom both looked at her, this time out of pity. Mike couldn't let it stand, though, "you're not scary. You're just different. I'm around animals all day so it's not a big deal. It would be nice to have someone else around to talk to, though."

Mike was the closest to her height so he helped her hobble off into the family room. He tried to guide her to the couch but she settled on the floor in front of it instead. He seemed a bit confused, though, "why not on the couch?"

Jackie couldn't help but gape at him, "the couch?! Master would whip me if I went on the couch! No, never!"

"But... we have dogs on the couch all the time? It's not a big deal for us, honest! You can sit on the couch. We let the dogs who have had surgery relax on the couch from time to time to keep them happy!"

Jackie looked at them aghast, "no! Never! Can not get on the couch! The floor is for pets. Pets stay off the furniture unless cleaning."

Mike's mom looked at Jackie with concern, "really? He wouldn't even let you on the couch? That's pretty jacked up for someone who pretty much fathered you. You should have been treated better."

"Treated... better? What do you mean?"

"Yeah! Like given brushes, and pets, and cuddles on the couch. Maybe tossing the ball outside with them."

"I... I don't know. I've never done that."

"What do you do?"

"I... clean? Help master with tasks when he needs extra help. Sometimes he does body scans as I am growing. I also brush myself once a day to make sure I don't shed around the house."

Mike's mom couldn't help but be incredulous, "that's it? That's all you've done? How old are you, two, three?"

"I'm eight."

"And that is all you know?"

"That's all I've been taught. Why, is that not right? what should I have been doing?"

They both looked at each other with a shrug, "well, we don't know. You're the first of your kind so there isn't a book or guide on how you should be handled. I guess at this point it is how you want to be treated and what you want to do."

"How I want.... what do you mean?"

"You know... if you wanted to be treated like a dog or as a human... or as a maid. It's up to you."

"I can... choose? I don't know though. I've always been treated how I've been treated."

Mike spoke up, "how about this. We treat you how we think you should be treated and we go from there. Does that sound fair?"

"I... sure. Anything is better than the labs."

"Good." Mike's mom turned on the TV so her and mike could settle in and watch a show. Jackie saw the TV turn on and started trying to get up, "what are you trying to do? You shouldn't be trying to move around."

"But... master wouldn't want me around when he was watching the television. He said it bothered him."

"Well we don't mind it. You're welcome to stay. We don't want you hurting yourself further anyways."

"Oh. O-okay." She settled back down on the ground. Mike could see that she wasn't comfortable and was very tense with her ears folded against her head. He hopped off the couch to sit on the floor next to her.

She tensed more when she felt his hand on her back but shuddered when he pet her instead, "I don't know why your master treated you the way he did, but we aren't that way. You can relax and even enjoy the shows if you can. We won't hurt you. We want to help you." He looked up at his mom who raised an eyebrow, "okay, I want to help you."

Jackie just whines and tucked in a bit further as Mike pet her back. She wouldn't deny that it felt good, but she was still scared. She didn't want to risk them changing their minds. Master didn't want her found so he wouldn't dare kick her out. These two, however, didn't have the same restriction.

After a while, the shows ended and they wanted to head to bed. Mike's mom got up and headed deeper into the house and Mike stood to help Jackie up. He held out his hand and she shifted so she could grab it and stand in one motion. Now that she was up, though, they needed to figure out where to take her. Stairs were out of the question for now. They would need to find a place for her down here.

Mike's mom returned a moment later with a slightly used dog bed, "it's all I have, but I hope it will be okay for the night. None of the stores are open so I can't get you a new one."

Jackie stared at it. It was actually several inches thick and looked like an actual cushion, "that's... they come like that? They can be thick too?"

"Thick? This one is thin. It's been worn down from years of dogs. They are usually twice this size."

"But... master said they're all what he got me. It was only a few towels thick." She tried to hop over to touch it so Mike walked her so she could feel it. She ran a paw over it and squeezed the cushion in wonderment before her ears went back, "I must not have been worth a real bed."

Mike's mom rubbed Jackie's head, "hey now, don't say that. Your master was just a jerk is all."

Jackie bristled and pulled back, "don't say that! Master hears these things!"

"Jackie, your master isn't here."

"No! He knows! He hears!"

"Calm down. He was injured, remember? He isn't coming back. He can't hurt you any more."

Jackie shook her head and struggled with herself, "nngghh. No. Master does not let me stray. I can't!"

"Okay, Jackie. We will not speak ill of your master. You do need to go to bed, though. It is late and we both need to wake up in the morning. Come on, I have some space over here in the kitchen where you can lay down. We'll come down in the morning and check on you before we go about our days."

She huffed, still anxiety ridden but nodded. Mike helped her along as she hopped, one step at a time, over to the kitchen where the was a patch of flooring that was open. Mike's mom laid down the bed and Mike helped her down onto it so she could get comfortable. She cuddled into it and felt the softness of the bed, relaxing into it and feeling happy a bit.

"Thank you. I don't know if I can do anything for you in return."

Mike's mom squat down next to her and rubbed a hand over her head, "don't worry about it. Let your limbs heal and we will work on ways you can help later. For now you can't even stand on your own, let alone do anything like straighten my cupboards or dust. Oh! I'm Laura, by the way."

Jackie shook Laura's hand with her good arm and laid back down. She had a lot to think about for the night. These people were so different than her master. It was frightening and intriguing at the same time. Was she doing something wrong? Was that why master treated her differently than these strangers? Why did they treat her like this even though she was off the streets? Maybe she could figure it out over time.

A month later and Jackie was starting to move around a bit. Her arm felt a lot better but she had been told her leg would be useless for a couple more months. That meant she could hold herself upright with her good arm and do small tasks with her other arm since it was just in a soft wrap now. For a few days she was getting used to moving around but now that she had the hang of it, and had explored the house a bit, she wanted to put her knowledge to good use. Laura was out all day and Mike was at a soccer tournament. Neither should be home until late evening.

Jackie broke out the cleaning supplies from under the sink and used a broom to knock down the dusting equipment from up in the linen closet. She could hop around to get to where she needed to go, using the walls for support. She started in the kitchen, straightening up appliances on the counter, collecting papers and organizing them on the table, and washing the counters and cabinets off as she went. She couldn't sweep or mop the floors just yet, but she would get to that when she could put some weight on her bad leg.

Satisfied, she moved to the front room. It was only one o'clock pm, so she figured she had until five o'clock before Laura got home to finish. She started in the middle, cleaning and polishing the coffee table and end tables, reorganizing the magazines that were there and even finding some things that did not belong, relocating those to the dining room table. With that done, she went over and started dusting the mantle. It hadn't been dusted up here in a while and the pictures and top had a decent layer. She had just finished dusting and reorganizing the photos to be more aesthetic when she heard voices and a key in the lock. Some of the cleaning stuff was still out but she had the duster in hand. She quickly put the handle in her mouth and dropped to all fours, well... three, and hobbled off towards the kitchen. She was almost through the doorway when she heard a gasp, looking over her shoulder.

Four women crowded the doorway with Laura who was standing there a little shocked, "Laura! When did you get a dog? She is gorgeous! And your house is so much cleaner than last time! Did you clean just for us last night?"

"I uh, yeah. That is Jackie. She's a rescue that got brought into the clinic. She's skittish and has some injuries though so I'd leave her alone. Speaking of, is that my duster in your mouth?" Jackie whined, dropped it, and hobbled out of the room. Instead of going into the kitchen, she turned and headed to the laundry room. Laura heard a click of a door opening and closing before shaking her head, "I'll be right back. Let me go check on her."

Laura stepped outside and didn't see Jackie outside. She heard some shuffling and noticed movement as something white was wiggling their way under the stairs, "Jackie. Come out here please."

Jackie froze, paused for a minute, then wiggles her way back out of the hole she was in. She looked up at Laura with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, I thought you were coming home later! Please don't punish me."

"Why would I punish you? I just wanted to give you a hug and say thank you. I'm sorry I didn't warn you I'd be home early. That is my fault. We played it off well enough. If you want to relax out here while my friends are over, you can. It'll just be a couple hours."

"You're... not mad?"

"No! I'm grateful! My house hasn't looked so clean in years! Thank you. Now I have to go back in. I'll come back out when they leave or send mike out if he gets home early."

Laura walked back inside and conversed with her friends. Jackie wasn't too sure of what to make of this development. She was... thanked? For doing something that was expected of her before? It was a strange feeling. One she may not get used to.

A while later, Mike came out and sat on the steps. Jackie hobbled over on three paws to sit near him at the bottom, "we didn't do so well. We got four games in and were eliminated. We watched another round before leaving for the day."

She crawled up the steps a bit to sit next to him and leaned against him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. Mike and her were friends. Laura was the mom and new master, but mike was friend. She would play with him as best she could, but they also talked and kept each other company. She was learning about the world and how things worked from him, but it was difficult to break eight years of training so she reacted badly to some things still. He couldn't thump her like you would a dog, she thought you were hitting her, but you could shake her sides and jostle her pelt and she thought it was the greatest thing in the world. He even helped in brushing her a couple times a week. She didn't have to do it daily here, particularly since she'd be cleaning so much, but since she found it relaxing Mike would get her back and tail while she worked on the front. It was a ritual they both came to enjoy.

Jackie also took to learning what she could from Mike's school books. She obviously couldn't attend to get the lessons, but she was smart enough to read the text books and understand what needed to be understood once she got a few grades worth of catchup on a few subjects. Math and English took some effort but she was catching up with Mike and was almost up to his books in learning after only a month and he was in fourth grade! She was enjoying it too and it gave her something to do while she was laid up.

Things were going fine for a while, then Laura decided it was time to X-ray Jackie's leg and see what progress she had made. It's been three months now and legs are usually healed in 3-6 so it was a good time to check. In the very least, she could take off the cast and they can start putting weight on it. Mike helped get her up on the table, noticing she'd put on some weight since moving in with them, and they took the shots. Laura was happy to announce that the leg had fully healed and Jackie could now walk around without a cast or wrap!

"So you are free to do whatever you want now!"

Jackie sat up as Laura started cutting off the cast, "you mean, I can leave? You want me to leave?"

Laura pulled the cast off, shaking out the matted leg fur and sighing, "that is up to you, sweetie. I know Mike likes you and you've been a great help for me, even with only one leg. If you want to leave, you can. We will even drop you off somewhere so you can get a good start away from anyone who would want to catch you."

Jackie sat in silence for a bit while Laura brushed out the de-casted leg. In three months they had shown her how nice people could be. Her master had not been very nice and these two had given her a whole new world. She didn't want to lose that.

"I... I don't want to leave. Why can't I stay?"

Laura snipped off the one mat that wouldn't brush out and looked up at her, "you know I didn't say you had to go. I just gave you the option to go and the help if you wanted to."

Jackie tilted her head to the side, one ear up the other tilted, "so, wait. I can stay? I don't have to leave?"

Laura stood up, messing up the fur between Jackie's ears, "yes, you silly pup! You can stay! I couldn't posibly kick you out. You liven up my house so much! Mike is happier, things are done and I have less work to do. Even his grades have improved! No, you are definitely welcome."

Jackie teared up before jumping off the table and wrapping her arms around Laura's waist, "thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't imagine living without you two. I've been so happy here."

Laura pet Jackie's head and just thought to herself, "looks like I got that daughter after all."