FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Victoria Chronicles

**Chapter 19

That Run-Down Feeling**

Vix was lying in the middle of the road, apparently lifeless. Sheila ran to her side. The vixen had a tire mark running diagonally across the back of her shirt from where the rear tire had run her over. She didn't appear to be breathing and was just lying there in a pile of fur and limbs.

"Vix! Vix, wake up!" Sheila yelled rolling Vix onto her back and shaking the vixen while also trying not to do any more damage than had presumably been done by the van. "Come on Vix! Show me some sign of life!"

While Sheila was distracted checking for signs of life in Vix, up the street the van had stopped several blocks away and a man's voice could be heard saying loudly to the driver, "You missed the sheriff, but you nailed that bitch from the other day!" There were more cheers and self-congratulations from within the van. That was until they noticed Sheila turning their way on her feet and with her gun drawn.

"Freeze! You're under arrest for kidnaping and murder!" she yelled at them. Then she heard a growl emanating from her feet that was steadily rising in tone and anger.

"** Grrrrrrr *rrrrrrrr* rrrrrrrr *rrrrrrrr!* "**

Vix slowly got up to her knees and shook her fur out, her ears were laid flat against her head in anger and her tail thrashed about angrily, before she said menacingly, "Where are those asshats! I'm going to skin the driver alive and sell his hide as book bindings!! " Her voice had a strange inflection to it, almost like there was one or two other voices mixed in, speaking in concert. it was a mix of human and feral fox, but most of all it said one thing.

She was Pissed off!

She looked up the road and made eye contact with the driver through the driver's side mirror. Her eyes flashed red for a moment before the driver gunned it while the passenger near the other door leaned out to take a bead on her with his pistol.

" HEY! Get back here Moe! I'm not through with you yet!" Vix growled in their direction in that same three-tone voice before taking off running at them at a surprising rate of speed on all fours. Sheila made to run after but soon realized she would never keep up with either of them, so instead she turned and ran to her SUV.

Vix was hot behind the van, and despite the van gaining speed she was gaining ground on it and quickly closing the gap. "What are you waiting for?! Shoot that thing!" the driver yelled at the one leaning out the window. "Well stop swerving idiot!" the passenger yelled back before taking a few shots at the approaching storm that was the angry fox. The shots missed wildly, but Vix diverted anyway. Not for fear of getting hit herself, but for fear that an innocent bystander could get shot or killed by these three idiots. Instead she headed towards an alley and jumping landed four feet to the wall before pushing herself off in the other direction towards the opposing wall. She repeated this move several more times before making it to the roof and momentarily rolling across the gravel surface. She landed on all four paws and continued running. She made her way across the first roof, dodging obstacles and kicking up gravel before jumping the distance to the next roof. This one was free of everything but a few vents and chimney, but was covered in tar and rubber sheeting. Her claws dug into the rubber and tar roofing and she use the purchase to gain velocity.

Jumping another gap between buildings she landed on a lower roof and continued. Her ears pivoted to track the van as they heard the squeal of tires as the van made a sharp turn to the right. Turning sharply she skidded a bit till she hit the short wall at the end of this roof and changed directions. She then hopped up on the top of the wall and glanced down towards the street while running along the top. The van was just a little ahead of her. All she needed to do was get a little closer. A few more roofs ought to do. She was going to end this chase, one way or another.

Down at street level the van was still speeding along, people having to dodge and run out of the street as it careened down the town's other main street.

"Did we lose that bitch?!" Moe yelled. The other two looked around apprehensively.

"Seems like it." one answered. "How did she survive? You nailed her good!"

"I don't see that thing anywhere! I think I scared it off!" the other said looking out the window and seeing nothing at street level. No one thought of looking up three or four stories. It's too bad, they might have had time to react to what came next.

With a rending of metal something large, furry, full of teeth and claws, and extremely angry fell through the roof and into the front, and now, very crowded passenger compartment. Vix grabbed Moe's head with a paw and rammed his head into the steering wheel, setting off the horn and knocking him out cold. The van careened to the side of the street and crashed to a stop into a telaphone pole. As smoke and various engine fluids leaked out of the crushed engine compartment the van itself rocked violently back and forth to the sounds of yelling and screams, but more importantly growls and angry feral vulpine barks and snarls. It sounded one sided though as the human yelling was in a defensive manor. The vulpine sounds were _definitely_not.

Suddenly the front passenger door flew open and Larry and Curly were ejected from the front of the van and landing several yards away wearing torn and tattered clothing. They were also bruised and sported several bite marks on their arms and hands. Vix stepped out glaring at the two. Her eyes were emerald vulpine green again, but still showed her anger. Larry and Curly tried to crawl away but were cut off as she reached out with two hands, claws out, and grabbed them both by an ankle before dragging them over to another undamaged telephone pole before pulling out the handcuffs she had just liberated from their torn pockets and deftly clicked them hard and tight around each man's wrists and locked them to the pole with their backs to said pole and their wrists locked together on each side. Even if they tried to escape they would likely cause more pain to themselves and the other more than anything useful.

Satisfied that neither would be causing any problems for the near future Vix turned to head to the van to deal with Moe, only to turn at the sound of glass breaking down the road to find that Moe hadn't been as out as he had seemed when she left him in the van. He quickly got into the car he just broke into and before she could get to him he had hotwired the car and squealed the tires as he sped off.

Vix quickly pulled out one of the liberated pistols, clicked off the safety, and took steady aim at Moe's head through the back window, then froze. She had a clear shot! All she had to do was calmly squeeze the trigger and she could end this nuisance that had tried to kill her and the sheriff. Just one small pull, just one!

She stood a few moments more as the car sped off. Just standing and trying to will herself to do it. Just one small pull.

Despite her anger, she just couldn't do it.

"Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Vix screamed as she pointed the gun straight down towards the pavement. Only then was she able to pull the trigger repeatedly till the magazine was empty.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Click, click, click, click, click.

She stood there pulling the trigger a few times after it was spent before throwing the spent gun at a wall hard enough that it self-disassembled. The remaining pieces to bent and damaged to ever be repaired into a serviceable weapon.

Vix felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder and she spun around to see Sheila standing behind her. Sheila took a half step back when Vix gave her a glare, only for Vix's face to soften and her demeanor to relax after she saw who it was.

"Couldn't do it, could you?" Sheila asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." Vix responded.

"But you wanted to. Didn't you?" Sheila asked, but with a bit of concerned kindness to her voice.

"Yes. But in the end it wasn't enough." Vix said, "I just couldn't bring myself to shoot someone."

"I know." Sheila said putting her hand on Vix's shoulder again and giving a light squeeze. "And that's why you are one of the good guys."

Vix gave Sheila a smile before looking behind the sheriff and remembering the remaining savaged G-men. "But I do have two consolation prizes. May I present Larry and Curly."

"Which is which?" Sheila asked as the two walked over to the two still locked-up men.

"Doesn't matter. The jerks are interchangeable." Vix said with a wry smile. Sheila just scoffed, picking up on the joke.

"Sheriff! Arrest that monster!" one of the men yelled as the two get closer.

"Oh, I'm looking at monsters all right." Sheila said darkly.

"Oh shit! I nearly forgot!" Vix said and ran over to the back of the van. Knocking on the rear doors she said to whoever was inside. "Hello? Anyone hurt in there?" she asked.

"Please! Get me out of here." A woman's scared voice called out.

"Don't worry. I'm going to get you out. Stand clear of the doors." Vix said. She her ears pivoted as she listened as the person inside moved to the front of the van to the dividing wall before ramming both hands, claws first, into the right-hand door. Gripping the metal, she ripped the door from its hinges before lightly tossing it to the side.

The woman inside blindly bolted out and clung onto the vixen with tears in her eyes. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried. "I was afraid I was going to go disappear like the other people that have missing!"

Vix was caught off guard and held the women and tried to calm her down while awkwardly patting a paw on her back in a way she hoped was a soothingly motion. "It's alright. You're safe now."

The woman looked up at Vix and suddenly her face fell when she realized what she was clinging on to. She immediately began to squirm, trying to get out of Vix's grip. "Whoa there, you're ok. I'm not going to hurt you." Vix said, hoping her voice was as non-threatening as possible. "I know what I look like, but trust me, I'm not a threat."

"Trust you?" The woman said fearfully.

"Here, I'll prove it." Vix said, then let go and held her arms out away from the woman. The woman immediately pulled away and quickly moved off several yards then stood there looking at the vixen. Vix for her part did move and kept her arms out like she was expecting a hug to prove she had no ill intent. The woman stood there staring for a bit before saying anything.

"So, you're not going to do anything?" she asked apprehensively.

"Nope." Vix replied, then asked softly. "What's your name? Mine is Vix."

"...Sally." Sally said slowly. "Vix? Really"

"Yes Sally. I was named by a little girl." Vix replied kindly.

"You're really not a monster?" Sally asked. Ok, that hurt a bit hearing it from someone else. Vix thought that about herself in those dark moments, but to hear it from someone else, that seemed to trigger something inside Vix. A deep fear that slowly she might become one and that she didn't have the control over her life anymore to stop it. For now Vix shoved that thought aside. She could deal with it later.

"Not a monster." Vix said, "If you want one of those there are two locked up to that telephone pole over there." Vix said keeping her hands where they were and tilting her head over towards two-thirds of the three stooges left from the altercation. Sally looked over there and noticed the two men in torn clothing and the sheriff standing there watching her and Vix.

"Oh, Sheriff. I didn't see you there." Sally said, "Do you know this crea--I mean Vix?" she asked Sheila.

"We've met a few times. She's friendly." Sheila said reassuringly. "In fact, she saved me from being run down by these three."

"Where's the third one?" Sally asked suddenly scared again and looking around fearfully.

"He got away." Vix said embarrassed.

"Someone should have shot him! And those three!" Sally said menacingly.

"No. it's not nice to shoot people." Vix said gloomily, "No matter how bad they may be."

"Oh! I didn't mean...I mean I wouldn't imply..." Sally's voice trailed off when she saw Vix's look of dejection on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"It's ok." Vix said as her ears swiveled to track the sounds of approaching sirens. "I'm getting that a lot lately."

Just as Vix finished saying that five squad cars screeched to a halt behind and in front of the scene from both directions of the street they were on and out came a good portion of the officers this town had to offer. And leading them was Terry.

"Freeze beast! Step away from the lady with your...'paws?' were I can see them!" Terry yelled as he got out of his car and leveled his pistol at Vix.

_"Oh geeze, this guy again."_Vix thought to herself as she raised her hand somewhat and kept them visible, but didn't raise them too high either.

"Terry! Stand down!" Sheila yelled from over where she had been keeping an eye on the two men still handcuffed to the pole.

"But sheriff, that's the 'thing' that's been causing all the trouble lately." Terry protested while keeping his pistol leveled at Vix.

"No. That's the 'person' that's been keeping things from getting worse!" Sheila stated, then she with much more authority, "Now stand down!" she looked over to one of the other officers and demanded, "You! Come over here and keep an eye on these two! And don't release them!" she then strode over to Terry and stood in front of him between him and Vix.

"But sheriff! Just look at it!" terry protested.

"But nothing! Lower your weapon now!" she stated. Terry reluctantly did so and only then did Sheila continue. "You will secure the scene and arrest those two men over there, regardless of what they may say. Do I make myself clear!"

"I--Yes sheriff." Terry said after seeing the stern look on Sheila's face. "What about the creature?"

"'Vix' and I are going to have a chat back at HQ where she's going to give me a statement. You will not bother her or me while we have that chat in my office. Do I make myself clear?!" Sheila said

Terry thought briefly of objecting before thinking better of it and replying, "Yes Ma'am!"

"Good! EMS should be here shortly. Make sure Sally here," at this Sheila indicated at Sally who was watching from the sidelines, "Is ok. Get someone to get a statement from her before she is released either to the hospital if she needs it, or release from the scene if she does not." Sheila detailed to Terry. After she was done giving Terry the fifth-degree she turned and walked over to where Sally was sitting on the curb. "Are you ok Sally?"

"I'm...I'm fine. Just shook up I guess." Sally said wiping her eyes. "It's just a lot to take in. Men in suits abducting people, talking foxes rescuing them. I'm just not sure what to make of it."

"I know the feeling, believe me." Sheila said kneeling down and placing a reassuring hand on Sally's shoulder. "EMS is going to be here soon to talk a look at you. And this officer here," Sheila tilted her head to a nearby officer, "I going to take a statement from you. If you feel up to it."

"I, I think I can do that." Sally said hesitantly before standing up and walking over to where Vix was standing a short distance away. Vix's ears were twisting this way and that as she kept track of all the activity around her as her tail twitched nervously side to side. She looked towards Sally as the woman walked up to within a few steps of her and stopped.

"Miss Vix? I...I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me from those men." Sally stammered. She seemed to be struggling with some inner thoughts, then came to an abrupt decision. She lunged forward and bear hugged Vix tightly, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you! I don't want to think of what might have happened if you hadn't stepped in!"

Vix was unsure how to process this. Eventually she hugged Sally back and patted her back with one hand uncertainly. "It's ok. I'm just glad I was in the area."

Eventually Sally let go as an ambulance pulled up to the scene and two EMT's got out and briefly talked to Sheila before being pointed towards Sally. Sally walked over to the two who gave nervous looks towards Vix as Sheila explained the situation. They just looked at each other before taking Sally to the back of the ambulance and sitting her down to have a good look at her.

Sheila, after outlining her instructions to the rest of the officers, turned over authority of the scene to Terry and walked back over to Vix.

"Let's go have a chat out of the public ear, shall we?" Sheila asked.

"Yeah," Vix said massaging her temples with her fingers in a tired way. "I think some explaining is in order."

"My thoughts exactly." Sheila said in a more compassionate way than Vix was expecting, then lead the vixen over to her SUV.

On the way over to the sheriff's office Vix remembered about the Crawford's and quickly gave a quick call to let them know she was ok and that she would be at the sheriff's station talking with Sheila about recent events.

Inside Sheila's office Vix sat down on the couch as Sheila made some coffee from a personal coffee maker on a side table.

"Coffee?" Sheila asked the vixen.

"Yes, please." Vix said rubbing her back. She only now noticed a sore spot where presumably the van had hit her. Taking off her flannel Vix looked at the back and saw the tire print sown the back where the soreness was. "Guess I should count myself lucky that asshole didn't kill me." She thought to herself.

"Cream or sugar?" Sheila asked politely as she pulled out a second mug from the cabinet below.

"Just cream, please." Vix replied. Sheila noticed Vix rubbing her back then her shoulder.

"Are you ok Vix?" Sheila asked.

"I'm fine. Just sore from 'being run over'." Vix said with just a bit of resentment from the act, not towards Sheila.

"Do you need to be checked out? I can call a doctor or a Vet, well Kristine really, if you need?" Sheila asked uncertain which she should actually call if she should have to.

"I'm fine." Vix said a little sourly. "I'm just a little sore." She then tensed up a bit as something crossed her mind. "Sheriff--"

"Sheila please." Sheila said in a friendly tone.

"Ok, Sheila then. What did you want to talk to me about? Last night and today I assume?" Vix asked inquiring apprehensively.

"Those are two of the things I wanted to talk to you about." Sheila started as she brought over two mugs of coffee. She handed one to Vix then sat down on the couch next to her before continuing. "But first, I wanted to thank you for saving my life today. I don't think I would have fared as well as you did if he had run me over instead. That said, I would have preferred it not happen at all. This town used to be such a peaceful one." Sheila took a sip of her coffee then looked down at it, "Oh, forgot the sugar, just a moment." She said getting back up and walking over to the side table.

Victoria looked down at her hands holding the mug of coffee. Had her claws always been that long and sharp? The fur on her hands looked coarser too. Not the soft short fur that she normally expected. Vix shook her head a bit then looked again. Everything looked normal now. The stress must be getting to her. The lack of sleep probably wasn't helping either. Just her nerves acting up she supposed, nothing to be too worried about. Vix raised the mug to her muzzle before trying the coffee. Sheila noticed Vix's grimace as she took a sip.

"What? My coffee can't be that bad, can it?" Sheila asked.

"No, it's not that. This new body. Not only are my senses heightened, but I now share some commonalities with foxes it seems. In other words, coffee is now much bitterer than before, to the point of almost being undrinkable by taste." Vix explained before taking another grimacing sip.

"If that's the case then why drink it at all?" Sheila asked, curious despite herself.

"Because I used to like drinking coffee before. It wasn't like a vise or a necessity, I didn't need the caffeine. I didn't even really drink all that much usually. Maybe two cups a day unless I was out socially." Vix said before taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh. "It reminds me of being human I guess. I can't really explain it any other way."

Sheila thought for a brief moment before responding. "I guess I can understand that. You told me at the airfield that you used to be human, that you were changed into what you are now in a sort of effort to save your life. I sensed some resentment from that."

"I resent Percii for making one big mistake. I don't hold any towards Visalth. She was just trying to fix a wrong. Percii's method, although effective, change who I was...am...it's complicated." Vix trailed off.

There were a few awkward moments of silence before wither of them spoke again.

"You're welcome." Vix said suddenly.

"What?" Sheila said momentarily confused.

"I said you're welcome. For saving you that is." Vix replied, her face looking away. "I saw that bastard was heading straight for you and I acted. This town has enough problems already. It doesn't need to be without its sheriff too."

"Well I thank you regardless Vix." Sheila said with a genuine smile.

Vix thought for a long moment before coming to a decision. She took another deep breath before saying, "Victoria. My name is Victoria Reynard." Sheila looked at her with a slightly confused face, at least that's what Victoria saw. "I'm the same Victoria you met at the Crawford farm two days ago and with Frank yesterday. I'm sorry for any deception, but I had to know I could trust you first."

"You're the same person? But you don't look...well, human." Sheila said somewhat shocked.

"I can, for brief periods, look human. Although I still don't look anything like what I did before." Victoria said. Then she concentrated a bit and shifted into her human form for a minute or so before reverting back to her foxy self. After she did she put a hand to her head as if the act had caused her some pain. Sheila made to get up to help, but Victoria just waved her off. "I'm fine. I just...sometimes it causes me to have a headache."

"That's because you put too much effort into it sometimes." Percii pointed out.

"Not helping Percii." Victoria said still massaging her forehead with her fingers.

"Mistress Visalth was able to do it for extremely long periods of time. How do you think she made it through the Spanish Inquisition?" Percii said arrogantly.

"Wait, the Spanish Inquisition?" Sheila asked puzzled.

"A story for another time." Victoria said giving the smart-watch on her wrist an angry glare. "Also, Percii!, I am not Visalth."

"No Lady Victoria. You certainly are not." Percii replied arrogantly.

Sheila just stared for a moment as Victoria glared daggers at the smart-watch on her wrist, then she shook her head and shrugged. "Anyway, would you mind telling me your version of last night?"

Vix gave another sigh before responding, "Sure." Then she went on to explain how she had come across the truck and the six men who were driving it, along with their cargo. She explained how she managed to get them to stop then how she subdued them each one by one. Then what happened when she freed the townspeople in the cargo section of the truck and what happened after the lights had been turned on. After came her interaction with Terry when she turned over the six would-be-abductors. After that she called it a night.

"Yeah, that pretty much aligns with what the people you rescued said in their statements." Sheila said before smiling and looking over at the vixen. Victoria just sat there with a forlorn look on her face. "What's wrong?" Sheila asked.

"Nothing. It's stupid really." Victoria said looking down at her hand holding her coffee mug. "It's just, I'm not used to being called a monster, or a freak, or creature." Victoria sighed after saying the last part.

Sheila leaned over and gave the vixen a hug before saying, "Despite what you might think, you made some friends last night I think."

Before Victoria could respond there was a knock on the door and Terry came in. "Sheriff? The suspects have been put into lockup. What do you want me--", Terry stopped when he saw Victoria sitting on the couch before saying, "Oh. The creature is still here."

Victoria was already in mood and Terry's comment swung her pendulum from depression to anger. Looking over at the deputy standing in the doorway she said in a somewhat restrained growl, "What's your problem 'Trigger'?"

"My problem is we have enough problems without some half animal freak running around causing more problems." Terry retorted without hesitation.

"Oh really?!" Vix said standing up and staring him down from across the room. "Well maybe you should spend less time arresting innocent people and more time looking for the real monsters abducting people! Then I wouldn't have to do your job for you!"

"Why you flee bitten mongrel! I oughta--", he started before being cut off by Sheila.

"Deputy! That's enough!" Sheila said with such authority that both Terry and Victoria both shut up and took notice. "Now, what do you want?!"

"Ma'am! The suspects are in lockup. What are your orders for what to do with them?" Terry said standing straight-up.

"Well, what do you think should be done?" Sheila said in a sarcastic tone usually used be sergeants when dealing with someone lower on the pecking order that should already know the answer.

"Er, I mean, what are the charges ma'am?" Terry replied.

"Well let's see, attempted kidnapping, reckless driving, assault, assaulting an officer of the law, attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon. And I missing anything deputy?" Sheila ratted off quickly.

"Uhm, well, turns out the van was stolen. And we found the car the third suspect used to get away dumped near the edge of town." Terry said.

"And the suspect?" Sheila asked.

"Still at large ma'am." Terry said sweating a little. He knew he was treading on thin I've right now, and admitting that the third man had eluded them didn't seem like it would go well now, but he really had no choice. "We suspect he stole another vehicle to make his escape, but no one has reported any other stolen vehicles yet. It's possible that he may have been picked up by someone."

"Anything else? What about the car he originally took, anything found inside it?" Sheila said in a calmer voice.

"The car and the original scene are still being processed." Terry said.

"Then go supervise. I want to know as soon as anything is found." Sheila said.

"Yes ma'am!" Terry responded before turning to leave but Sheila stopped him in mid-turn.

"And deputy? You will treat Victoria with the respect she deserves!" Sheila said in an even tone that said in no uncertain terms should he ignore this.

"...Yes ma'am." Terry said then left the room.

After Terry had left and closed the door behind him Sheila turned back to address Victoria. "I'm sorry about that Victoria. Now then, where were we--", Sheila stopped short when she looked around the room.

Victoria was nowhere to be seen. And there was only the one door in or out of the office.

Vix stepped out of the police station onto the front sidewalk then put a hand to her forehead. Ugh, that headache was back. She just needed to relax a bit, try a little less hard to hold her human form. But the stress was making that hard, thus making her headache worse.

"Victoria! There you are!" Came the voice of Kristine as she and the rest of the Crawford women followed behind her. As soon as Kristine got close she glomped Vix in a tight hug. "We saw what happened, are you ok?!"

"I'm fine. Just a little headache." Victoria said straightened up after getting loose from Kristine's hug.

"Are you sure? We saw you get hit by that van, but we couldn't get to you fast enough before you ran off after it." Kristine said with some apprehension.

"I'm fine!" Victoria said with a bit of an edge to her voice before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm a bit on edge right now. But I'm fine, really."

Kristine gave a skeptical look but then decided to let it go for now. "Well...ok. If you're sure." She gave Vix another once over before continuing. "Do you feel well enough to still get you some better clothing?"

"Yeah, I think so. The headache is getting better." Vix said rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "I just need to calm down."

"Well the store is only a few blocks away, but let's take the truck anyway, it's just around the corner."

The four walked around the building to a side street where the truck was parked. They all climbs in and Kristine drove them the few blocks over to where the store was. Parking a few stores down they got out and Kristine fed the meter some quarters before she led the way to the thrift shop.

Stepping inside Kristine and Katie immediately headed off to the women's section while Edna followed Victoria as she wondered around looking at the various items. There were more than just cloths here as they also had a few other items either donated or on consignment. Victoria looked at a few items on the shelves before she came across something folded up on a table. Picking it up and unfolding it she saw it was in fact an old flight jacket for a Women Airforce Service Pilots jacket. Holding it up to herself Vix looked it over. "Yeah, it should fit." She thought to herself.

Putting her arms through the sleeves and pulling it on she found that it fit perfectly.

"It looks good on you." Edna said as Vix looked at herself after zipping it up.

"It'd be good on the bike, and it's been well looked after it seems." Vix said taking it off and folding it over her arm. "The price isn't too bad either. I think I'll get it."

Vix looked at a few other items, some used electronics, some old DVD's of older TV shows. She had some interest in some of the sci-fi ones, but this was a shopping trip for cloths, not shows. So she put them back on the shelves after looking at a few. Besides, she didn't know if the TV in her apartment above the shop even had a DVD player hooked up to it or not. She knew that Pops had used it as a kinda man's-cave, and he and Frank along with Earle watch football in there. But that didn't mean they used it for movies or what not. She'd have to look into that later.

For now though she and Edna made their way over to where Kristine and Katie where going through racks of cloths. On the way she found an old kanvas and leather messenger-style satchel. It was priced fairly cheap, and looked to be in good shape still. It would be nicer than toting a backpack around. Hmm...eh, sure. Why not?

They had already made two piles. Vix could already guess which one Kristine had been working on. It had pink in it.

"What have you found so far?" Victoria asked dreading the answer.

"Oh! We found you a few dresses, some skirts...oh! I think this would look great on you!" Kristine said with a smile.

"No skirts, no dresses." Victoria said firmly but politely.

"But, you would look so good in them." Kristine said.

"I don't do dresses." Victoria said, "Please, just basic casual and work cloths will be fine."

"Oh, well, we found some shirts. This one is a nice one." Kristine said holding one up.

"Uhm...I'm gonna say no." Victoria said as politely as possible.

"Why not Victoria?" Kristine asked disappointedly.

"Because it's pink mom." Katie chimed in. "I tried to tell her that she wouldn't want anything pink."

"But it looks so cute!" Kristine said and nearly pouted.

"Just earth tone colors will do." Victoria said, "Or flannel."

"Why do you like flannel so much?" Kristine asked.

"It...reminds me of happier times with my uncle." Victoria said.

"We'll see what else we can find, won't we Kristine?" Edna said giving her daughter a look.

Sighing Vix walked over to the other end and rummaged through some clothing that she might actually want. She eventually found a few t-shirts, some pants that looked like that would fit after some modifications for her tail, some shorts, and a few other things.

When she came back the others were waiting for her.

"Here," Kristine said, handing Victoria a stack of cloths she had been collecting from the racks, "Try these on."

Victoria looked at the pile in Kristine's arms dubiously. She had already had to tell her a few times 'No' to just about anything _pink!_And a few things that were just too girly for her. Or dress's, or skirts, or anything too feminine really.

"Oh go on." Kristine said shoving the stack into Victoria's arm, "I'm sure they'll look good on you." Katie gave Victoria two thumbs up in encouragement.

Sighing, Victoria reluctantly headed to the back of the store where the changing rooms were. Finding the changing area she was thankful that it seemed all the stalls were empty. Then again, there was hardly anyone in the store to begin with. Also, the store was so old and small that there were no cameras back here, just at the front doors and the register area. Small town living she supposed. Since it was a small thrift shop and not a major chain store there were only three, and instead of doors they had curtains. Sighing, they were all empty so Vix picked one at random and entered into the empty stall and closed the curtain. The inside was fairly large, and had a bench on one side with a large mirror on the opposite. The back wall had various mismatched hooks for hanging cloths and hangers.

Placing the pile of cloths on the far side of the bench, and with her back to the mirror, Vix started removing her flannel and hung it on a hook before pulling off her shirt. Next she allowed her suits boots to dissolve off her feet then it was off with the jeans. She always hated trying on cloths, and generally avoided it as much as she could in the past when she was a guy. Now that she was female it almost seemed worse. Yet, she realized it was necessary even more now as women's clothing sizes had an odd habit of being listed smaller than the actual size they were. This annoyed her more. She understood the marketing angle behind it, she just didn't see the point in it.

Picking up a shirt at random it turned out to be a blouse. Sighing Vix looked it over briefly, it at least seemed to be a plain white blouse with long sleeves. Well, she supposed it wouldn't hurt. Slipping her arms into the sleeves she pulled the blouse on then adjusting the fit she went to button it up. That's when she noticed something odd about women's clothing. The buttons were on the left hand side rather than the right like men's. It was a little awkward, but she managed to get it buttoned up. Looking down at herself, and avoiding the mirror, everything seemed ok. Yeah, she supposed it might not be a bad idea to have one or two, just in case she needed to dress up a little. Taking it back off Vix put it into the maybe pile.

Moving on she pulled off the next one which was also a blouse. Ugh! Would it kill them to just find her some normal everyday clothing?! Looking at it the blouse was in a floral print pattern. Nope! into the reject pile it went.

She went through a few more with more or less the same result. Rejected!

Then she found a few actual t-shirts, a few even had pockets, only on the opposite side then she was used to. What was with women's clothing and everything being on the opposite side from men's? it made no sense!

Well, at least there were a few she could tolerate. It seemed Edna and Katie had at least listened to her and there were mainly earth-tone colors in greens, browns, grays, and blacks along with a few whites. It also seemed that they had pruned out Kristine's pink ones also. "Oh thank god! Some normal colors!" Vix thought to herself.

The t-shirts were pretty easy to check for size. She just tried on a few, and then after she was happy with the fit she just compared any other shirts physically with the ones she was happy with.

Next came the pants. The jeans were easy enough to try on. Just shimmy them up over her wider hips, that was going to take some getting used to, button, move around a bit checking the fit, then shimmy back off again. Edna could add a tail-hole later after she made her purchases. Looking at the tags she did notice that the sizes seemed to vary like she had heard about. Yeah, that was weird.

With a pile of no, a pile of yes, and a small pile of maybe the leftover pile of unlooked at yet was much smaller now. Admittedly the yes pile wasn't huge compared to the nope pile, but at least there seemed to be plenty enough to keep her reasonably clothed. She just had some, questionable items left. Seemed like some skirts and stuff still made it into the pile.

Looking down at the floor she noticed that a shirt had fallen down onto the floor. Bending down to pick it up she tossed it back onto the to-be sorted pile and made to stand up. As she straightened up, and only wearing her underwear, she happened to turn around and glance at the full length mirror opposite the bench. That's when she finally saw it. For the first time she saw what she actually looked like head to toe as a female human. From her long red hair to her bare feet.

That mental image was one thing.

The mental shock was enough to jar her hold on her body and she watched as her form morphed back to her vixen self.

It wasn't a horrifying sight per say, but she wasn't ready for it, and the image of her doing it while looking in the mirror was a mental shock that she wasn't prepared for. And it triggered a deep seated fear she was only now beginning to realize.

Up till now she had only seen her face in reflected surfaces or the mirror in the bathroom. The one she broke yesterday.

This was worse.

In the mirror staring back at her was a full on fox. A foxy fox. That made it worse she would admit later, but right now, all that she had been denying hit her smack in the face. The hair, the ears, the hips...the breasts.

Slowly and hesitantly she raised her paw up to her chest and tentatively cupped one, her ears flattening to her head with fear as her tail went between her legs. This was her, this was a part of her. The fur, the face, this chest. It was all her. Was there anything left of Victor? Was her fear coming true? Was she becoming the monster she feared? A female, half fox, half monster, all freak?!

How was she going to help her friends as this monstrous freak of nature?!

Vix looked down at her hands. Did they look more paw-like than before? Even the claws looked longer. Sharper. Vix started not to feel well, she swore that her paws were getting bigger, her claws getting longer the more she looked at them, the fur thicker, more coarse. Her chest got larger, her hips wider.

The room started to spin and she felt her legs grow weak. This was her now. She'd been just going through the motions up till now, ignoring everything else, everything that even remotely reminded herself of what she was now. But finally seeing how others saw her finally kicked a steel-toed boot through the wall she had put up in her mind.

She looked at the mirror again. the reflection that stared back looked more like a feral werewolf than what she expected to see, all hunched over, its mouth slightly agape with long sharp fangs, its eyes had a hungry dangerous look to them. The overall effect was of a monster looking to tear the next victim it crossed to pieces. And her reflected self wasn't even wearing underwear!

Vix couldn't take it anymore and put her hands, or paws, to the sides of her head and screamed.

Outside the stall Edna walked into the back changing area of the store with some more cloths that Kristine and Katie had found. For Victoria's sake she and Katie had filtered out anything pink. As she got close to the closed stall she heard a slow, drawn out wail.

"Noooooooooooooooooo!!!"

Then a loud thud as something heavy fell into one of the interior walls then onto the floor.

"Victoria? Are you ok dear?" Edna said, knocking next to the curtain politely. All she got in response was muffled sobbing. Edna looked around the back area quickly to make sure nobody else was around.

Inside the stall Vix slumped against the door with her legs crumpled underneath. Her mind was abuzz with thoughts, all bad. She couldn't focus on a single one as her emotions all hit her at once. Yesterday was nothing compared to how she felt now. She could dimly hear Edna pounding on the door, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She just wanted to stay here on the floor. Maybe she could dig a hole and crawl inside forever.

"Victoria, I'm coming in!" Edna said, concern and determination in her voice.

Edna took one last look around to make sure the coast was clear then parted the curtain and stepped inside. What she found was Victoria crumpled on the floor and shaking while sobbing.

Victoria was confused and scared. And this was from someone who had recently stared down some not very nice people. She left so weak. Her arms and legs had nearly no coordination. She was just sitting there holding her tail and staring at nothing really while she tried to sort out her feelings and emotions. There were so many!

"Victoria! What happened?!" Edna said dropping to her knees and pulling Victoria close to her.

"I, the, I, mirror, me..." Victoria mumbled incoherently.

"Woah, slow down, you're not making sense. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened?" Edna said sitting Victoria into a sitting position.

Victoria sniffed and took a few breaths before wailing, "I looked in the mirror!" then buried her face in her hands crying.

Kristine and Katie showed up at that point wondering what the commotion was about.

"What's wrong grandma?" Katie asked concerned.

"I don't know sweetie. I don't know. She just collapsed." Edna said glancing back at Kristine and Katie while holding Victoria in a hug and slowly rocking back and forth soothingly. "Kristine? Go get the truck. I think we're done shopping for the day."

"Ok mom." Kristine said and dug in her purse for her wallet. "Katie, go pay for the stuff we're getting and help grandma with Victoria. Don't take too long." She said handing Katie her wallet then heading for the front door. On the way she apologized to the lady at the register for the scene and told the lady her daughter would be up momentarily with their purchases to settle up.

"Wait, allow me to be of some help." Katie and Edna heard Percii say. Someone that sounded like Percii.

"Who are you?" Edna said with a knife edge to her voice as she turned her head to look around at the mostly empty room. She then realized that there was no one else there and the voice was coming from Victoria's smart-watch.

"Sorry that I have not had the chance to make your aquatence yet, Mrs. Edna. My name is Percii. Yes I know it must seem odd talking to a voice, but let me assure you, I am real. But that is not important right now. Lady Victoria's well being is." Percii said simply before a series of lights flashed from the crystal of the smart-watch. "If you would, please remove Lady Victoria's bank card from her wallet. You will find it in her front-right pants pocket." He said.

Edna reached in and withdrew the wallet from Victoria's jeans and pulled out the bank-card from inside. She handed the card to Katie, but hung on to the wallet.

"I've transferred some funds into her bank account. It should be more than enough for the purchase of the garments for Lady Victoria, while you help her out of the premises." Percii said plainly. "I will answer any of your questions later. But right now the Lady needs your help."

"You said you transferred funds into her account. Transferred from where?" Edna asked, curious about whether or not there was some sort of financial trickery afoot.

"Mistress Visalth had amassed a decent amount of money over the years. I've been managing it and keeping it secure for her since she decided she had no further need of it. Considering the circumstances I don't think she will mind if it helps her ward." Percii said with a bit of a condescending tone. "Now please, help the Lady. She is not in a good frame of mind at the moment. Please remove her before questions are asked."

"Wait!" Edna said suddenly, "Can't you talk to her. Help her in some way?"

"I've already tried. She won't listen to me at the moment. Our relationship is...tenuous at present and she still resents me for how she now is. This recent emotional event has renewed her resentment." Percii said resignedly. "I am bound to help her as best I can. At the moment that is to take care of her clothing needs and defer to you for her mental care."

Deciding that her questions could wait for now Edna turned back to the vixen in her arms. "Come on dear, let's get you up." Edna said as she untangled herself from Victoria. The vixen didn't move for a bit. When she did she struggled to get her legs under her, but she just couldn't seem to summon the strength, her limbs just didn't want to obey her. She was already scared, and this caused her fear to just worsen. She gave out a whimper and slumped to her side.

Edna put her arms under Victoria's shoulder and heaved her over to a bench and sat her down. "Victoria? Look at me. Can you do that hiding thing you do in public?" she asked. Victoria just shook her head sadly while trying to sniff back tears. Edna looked around and caught sight of the hoodie Katie had picked out for her. Grabbing it she ripped the tag off and handed it to Katie before she left. "Here, make sure to pay for this too. Just tell the clerk that we're going to wear this home." Katie took the tag and nodded.

Edna got Victoria dressed again and put the hoodie on as well. Edna did up the sipper and pulled the hood over the vixen's head. She then hauled Victoria to her feet and walked her to the front of the store. By this time Kristine had already pulled the truck up to the front of the store and had come back inside. She got on the vixen's other side and helped Edna walk the vixen out.

Katie meanwhile was dealing with the clerk who was understandably confused at the register and asked what was wrong with their friend.

"What's wrong with your friend? The lady asked Percii.

"Oh, she just received a bad breakup text from a very non-understanding person." Katie said simply brushing off the question.

"Oh, that sounds so sad." the clerk said as she started ringing up the cloths and folding them before placing each one into a bag.

Katie handed her Victoria's card. As hoped the machine took it with no issues what so ever.

"Well I hope she feels better soon. She looks very shaken up." The clerk said handing back the card and the two bags top Katie.

"I'm sure she'll feel better after some sleep and a long talk." Katie said taking the bags. "Thank you for your concern. I'll pass along your kind words."

The clerk smiled and watched her leave the store.

Outside Edna and Kristine had gotten Victoria into the back seat and Edna was sitting next to her with Kristine behind the wheel. Katie handed Edna the bags and got into the front passenger seat and twisted around to look in the back seat once she was belted in and her mother was driving. Victoria was curled up on the back seat while Edna was stroking her head soothingly. The vixen seemed to have calmed down somewhat and was just lying there shaking.

"What's wrong grandma?" Katie asked concerned.

"I'm not sure. I think she just went through a bad break down." Edna said as she ran a hand down the back of Victoria's head.

"Is she going to be ok?" Katie asked.

"In time. Right now she's really shook up about something." Edna said looking up from the vixen at Katie. "For now we need to get her home. I'll talk to her when she calms down."

"Hold on. Where did the money come from?" Katie asked. It was a valid question after all.

"What? You think that Visalth just slummed it in the woods all her life?" Percii said reproachfully. "I've been managing her funds for a very long time. And now what she had is now Victoria's. Now if you will excuse me, I have to double check on some things." With that said Percii broke contact.

It was a long silent ride back to the farm.

After they got back to the farm, and getting Victoria back up to her apartment, Edna shoed Kristine and Katie off. She told them that she needed to talk to Victoria.

Alone.

Once they left, and Edna was sure they were gone she locked both doors then walked over to where Victoria was laying on the couch in a tight furball. The vixen watched her warily with her muzzle laying on her tail and her ears pined back against her head as Edna walked back over, her ears alternating from flat to tracking her as she made her way to a chair and sat down before turning it towards her.

"All right, everyone is gone and under instructions to leave us alone under pain of pain." Edna said firmly but kindly. "So, want to tell me what happened...Victor?"

The effect was instant. Victoria shot backwards as far as the couch would allow and tried to make herself look even smaller. Her eyes were wide and fearful. "H--how did you know?" She stammered.

"I didn't. But the pieces fit." Edna said kindly. "You're uneasiness about yourself when talking about girl stuff, the way you carry yourself, how you refuse to look at yourself in reflections. Although I thought that might be the whole alien/fox thing at first. And then there was that hot guy in town that we all stared at. All of us but you. and also Katie suspected something.

Victor/Victoria pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her muzzle in her chest with a whimper.

"So come on. What's the deal?" Edna asked firmly. "What are you hiding from?"

Victoria didn't say anything at first. She just tried to make herself look smaller. She just wanted to find a hole somewhere and hide forever.

Edna for her part remained silent for a long while before eventually letting out a sigh and saying, "Come on dear, just tell me. I promise I won't say anything to anyone if you don't want. Doctor patient confidentiality you know. But something is eating at you, and it's only going to get worse the more you ignore it." Vic gave her a warily look of confusion, so Edna elaborated. "I didn't just do nursing. That was early on in my career before I decided to move on to psychiatry. I was a doctor in psychology for years before I retired. So anything you tell me won't get out. Not even to family if you don't want. But, I think you will feel better if you have someone to talk to. A safe place if you will with no judgment."

Vic sat there unmoving for a bit, her ears moving around as she thought about this while her tail twitched nervously. Eventually she muttered, "...It's all true."

"What parts?" Edna asked in a calm soothing voice.

"All of it." Vic said. "Everything I've said has been true. I just...omitted some details."

"Who you really were before all this?" Edna asked, Vic nodded. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Vic looked away. "I was scared. I didn't know how everyone would take it. Hell, I don't know how I would take it. And it happened to me!"

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Edna said.

"Didn't Pops tell you my story?" Vic asked meekly.

"I want to hear it from you." Edna replied, while moving over to the couch and sitting down next to Victoria.

Taking a breath and sighing Vic thought for a moment before saying anything. She ended up telling Edna everything. The start with the camping trip, who he was, the long half remembered walk from the forest that had to have been miles away, and then collapsing in the barn and who she became after waking up in the clinic.

She told Edna about Smith and how he had killed him, or nearly, still wasn't entirely sure about that. She told her about how Visalth had saved her, and how Percii had screwed that up, leaving Victor as Victoria, and how she felt about that. How her first moments had been unstable at best, and that she could barely grunt out raspy words, and how after waking up the second time in the Pink-Palace room everything worked again. And the new abilities and knowledge she now had. Vic told Edna about the trip to the Sanctuary and the sniper Smith had left there, and how she And Frank had dealt with him. Then the airfield and the incident there.

Once she started she found that she couldn't stop. The stream of confessions just kept coming. Vic ended up telling her everything. While she told her tale Edna brushed her fur and hair out, and by the time Vic had finished her tale Edna was finishing her fur.

"There. you really should take better care of you fur. And what about at the thrift store? What happened there? Can you tell me?" Edna said sitting next to the vixen.

"I...I looked in the mirror. The full length mirror. It was the first time I've seen myself as a human female really. I've seen my face, sure, but not the whole package if you know what I mean. The shock caused me to falter in my control and I reverted. That...that scared me. I've never seen myself as this either in a full mirror. The last mirror I caught a glimpse of my face in I punched, and then I covered it so I wouldn't see myself anymore. Dozens of me were worse. But seeing myself change like that...it reminded me that I'm a monster. Something to be afraid of, to be feared." Vic said before trailing off and looking away, her ears flattened in shame.

Edna reached out and pulled Vic's muzzle back around to face her. "And why do you think you're a monster?"

"Have you looked at me! What else could I be!" Vic cried out. "People take one look at me and I can see the fear in their faces!"

"And how does that make you feel?" Edna prompted.

"I don't know, scared, alone! Like I don't belong anywhere anymore!" Vic declared, "Like that lady I rescued earlier today. She took one look at me and couldn't put enough distance between us fast enough. She even called me a monster! And she's right! And it's all because of that bastard Smith!" That last part she said with bared teeth and more than a bit of venom in her voice. "If Percii hadn't fucked up my gender I'd at least still be male, but still a monster. One less chromosome he said, my furry ass it is! Who knows, maybe people would be even more scared of me then?"

"But to be female too? I just don't know how to deal with that." Vix took a breath and sniffed back some tears, "I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be some furry freak, I don't want the responsibility of saving the world. And I Don't Want To Do It As A Female!!"

Before anything more could be said there was a noise from the outside door. Edna quietly got up and without making a sound crossed over to the door. Silently she unlocked the door, and gripping the doorknob, twisted and pulled in one movement. Completely surprising two interlopers, Kristine and Katie.

Putting her hands on her hips and standing silently in the door Edna stared down impassively at the two.

"Um, hi mom." Kristine said meekly, "We can explain."

Edna just stood there glaring at them. She didn't need to say anything, the two were caught and they knew she'd want an explanation.

"We were concerned about Victoria!" Katie blurted out.

"How much have you heard?" Edna said, her voice even but laced with disappointment.

"Uhm, enough to know who Victor is now?" Katie hazard cautiously.

"Get inside, sit down, and keep quiet." Edna said in that same even tone. they both knew what that tone meant. Edna was disappointed with them, and would have punishments for them later. For now the best thing they could do was to follow her words, to, the, letter.

Edna crossed back over to the couch, but didn't sit down. Instead she pointed to two chairs up against the wall. Kristine and Katie took the hint and walked over to them. Then Edna pointed to a spot in front of the couch on the other side of the coffee table. The two quietly moved the chairs over and sat down. Only when they were seated did she sit back down on the couch next to Victoria.

Victoria now however had pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it tight around her while also making herself as small as she possibly could.

"Victoria dear? I'm sorry, but it seems you secret has leaked out to two small mice," and at this she looked over to Kristine and Katie and her tone changed to a more threatening tone, "who I'm sure would never dream of speaking to anyone outside of this room!"

Victoria didn't move a bit, but a small whine could be heard from under the blanket.

"Victoria, we're sorry for eavesdropping." Katie said, "But we were concerned after the thrift shop. We just wanted to make sure you were ok. Now I know why you were so hesitant to tell us who Victor was. But that doesn't change anything, you are you, and you are a good person. No matter what."

"You see Victoria? It's not as bad as it seems." Edna said. "Will you please come out and talk to us?"

"Why? I'm just some freak of nature." Victoria mumbled from under the blanket. Edna and Kristine exchanged looks. This wasn't good. Whatever self-esteem Victoria had seemed to have been shattered. If only she had been more forthcoming before. Came to them before the incident. This all could have been avoided. But now they faced the challenge of building her back up again. And if what she had said was true, that is she wasn't able to stop something that still had not happened yet, then they didn't have much time to do it in.

"What would old Victor say about the way you are acting?" Edna tried a different tactic. "Would he just mope around? Or would he get up, brush himself off, and get on with it?"

"Grandma's right." Katie chimed in suddenly. "The Victoria I have come to know has done amazing things in just a few days. She's stopped several abduction events, saved the sheriff at the risk of herself, and impressed Pops and Frank! They don't impress easily!"

Nothing was said for a few moments until there was a shifting of the blankets and a nose poked out from underneath.

"Why are you all being so nice to me? I'm just some...some freak of nature! Some monster to be avoided!"

"Because no matter what you look like, you are still a person." Edna said firmly but kindly. "Sure you've been through a lot. Most people would react as well as you have honestly. But until today you've persevered despite what you've been through. You are stronger than this. I won't lie, it may take some time, but things will get better. You'll find things easier. You just have to let us help you."

"But, sniff, I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be some bitch!" Victoria whined.

Edna switched tactics again and pulled the protesting Victoria into a tight hug. "You're not some bitch. You've just been dealt a bad hand, and now you need to play the cards you have till things get better. And they will."

Victoria poked the rest of her head out. Her eyes were red from tears but at least she was talking now. "I guess you're right. But I'm just so tired." She said with a yawn.

"You've had a long busy day. Maybe now is a good a time to put this conversation to rest so you can get some too." Edna said looking meaningfully to the other two. "Things will look better in the morning. And if you want to talk later I'll be right here. Kristine's going to go tell my husband to go get my sowing stuff and I'm going to start altering you cloths. Just try to get some rest dear." Edna said patting Victoria's head.

Victoria tired giving a weak smile before rolling over. Edna got up and shoed the other two out before sitting down in the recliner. She put the TV on to wait, but muted the volume so as to not disturb the vixen on the couch.

Victoria had gone through enough today.