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The day was a blur to Sam. She had lots of fun with Kyle and Anna, even meeting a few people she recognized from her last trip to the con. She was sad to not see Lacy there but found a mutual friend who said she had been doing good and was currently engaged. That made her feel good and only encouraged her to have a better time. She even was feeling so good after the first day she dragged Anna off to a ritzy clothing store and bought herself and her 1500$ silk dresses. Sam wanted it more to be functional as dress clothing but she wanted something nice for Anna to go out with Kyle in. Anna was grateful but protested until she saw the fat roll of bills Sam pulled out of a pocket. She slipped a few hundreds into Anna's hand to take Kyle out a few times as well.

The second day was similar to the first with lots of fun but ended in Sam taking her two friends out to a very expensive restaurant and rented a private room in the back. The maître d saw Sam and immediately tried turning her away until she mentioned renting a private room, then it just took Sam flaring her wings and baring her teeth to gain access to her room. Kyle and Anna noticed the menu had no prices on it and inquired from Sam just how much the room cost but she just smiled and ordered oysters.

The third day was the most amusing and started with a phone call.

"Hello? Yeah she's here. Did you want to talk to her? ... Well we were going to be there anyways. ... Be careful, she doesn't like being messed with." Kyle hung up the phone and looked to Sam. She had heard the whole conversation and was suddenly wary of going to the convention today. Apparently Jim wants Sam at the costume competition today. She was already going because of Anna's entry but it may not be as comfortable with Jim being sneaky. Either way they were already headed to the car to drive over.

Poor Anna was a trooper, gracefully making her way through the judging and flashing lights even with the wine hangover from the night before. A lot of the judges were taking a special interest in her costume through the whole process and Sam told her how much praise she received. Sam on the other hand was trying her best to blend into the crowd to avoid Jim. So far he was either not interested in bothering her or he wasn't trying very hard.

Finally the contest results were in and everyone was piling into the auditorium. Sam picked a spot off to the left of the stage with Kyle to be inconspicuous but also where Anna could see them easily if she got up on stage. They hushed everyone and announced what awards are being handed out and prepared the audience with some more suspense by opening the envelope slowly. Most unique went to a dragon character that seemed to have the whole rainbow in his costume, though, Sam was the only one who could tell it was a guy. Most realistic went to a wolf character that looked like a real werewolf. Even Sam was impressed with his costume. Then they had three places for best overall costumes. A cute mouse girl won third, Anna won second and bounced up onto stage even with the hangover, and an avian guy won first place overall. Everyone cheered and when they started the final speech, Sam's heart sank. Jim was giving the final speech.

The speech was pretty basic and was the typical one they use for the contests. Sam almost thought she was getting out if here without a problem until Jim called for an honorable mention, "I know I'm probably going to get hell for this later but there was one person who didn't partake in the contest that I wish would. I know I've seen her around somewhere and... Ahh there she is! Come on up here would you? It's just for a minute."

Sam sighed and shook her head. No good could come of this. She got up on the stage and pulled Jim down with her best seductive stare. It worked well and he bent down with the mic away so people couldn't hear what she had to say, "when we get out of here you're dead, Jim. I hate stages."

Jim paled a little but tried laughing it off for the crowd, "alright everyone. This is the girl I was talking about. I'm sure most of you have seen her roaming around the con for the past couple days though definitely not in this lovely dress. What's your name?"

"Sam Perderson. A pleasure to meet you!" Sam was playing the part of the grateful guest to the best of her abilities.

"Hello, Sam, now to the point. I called you up here because several of the judges have seen you walking around and requested I interview you. Personally I just wanted to ask a few questions to satisfy the judges. First off, I know I've seen this costume five years ago but how long did it take to make it?"

"A lot faster than you would think. It actually only took a couple days to get most of it done then I fine tuned a few features over the past five years." Sam felt satisfied knowing it wasn't a direct lie, just a white lie though it had some truth to it. Sam knows that Jim is aware she does not wear a costume though.

"Why put the wings attached to your waist instead of the shoulders?"

"That's easier to answer. Imagine how many muscles need to be attached to a wing for flight to be possible and try putting that onto your shoulders. I think there is 29 muscles in the human shoulder so you could imagine adding anther limb or two."

"This is very true. Still though, why the waist?"

"We'll it is closer to the center of gravity which makes it easier to pivot and stay balanced in mid air. A person of healthy weight and strength would have their center right under their belly button so it just made sense to put the wings slightly over that."

"That makes sense. I wonder now if people will start moving wings down to that area now because of this?"

"I doubt it. It isn't as pretty as a set of wings sprouting from the shoulders. Besides, it's not like anyone will be flying with their wings."

"Okay. Now last question from the judges: why didn't you join the contest? Surely you know you would have won."

"Well for a few reasons. The first is that even though I went through hell and back making this, I can't compare it to anyone else's. This is me and that is them. I'm not here for personal gain. The second reason is I have a friend in the contest and I promised her I wouldn't join so she could feel better about her work. She did get second after all. Thirdly, I didn't join for a personal belief that I have an unfair advantage."

"That all makes very good sense. Thank you for sharing. One last question, though. What kind of unfair advantage do you hold?"

"Well that is a secret between me and my friends. If anyone wants to know they'll just have to ask me personally. I won't tell everyone though."

"Well there you have it. Can I get a round of applause for the beautiful Sam. Now if anyone would like to talk to the judges--"

Sam tuned him out as she stepped off stage and met up with Anna and Kyle, "I really am going to kill him later for that.

Either of you want to help?"

"I won't help but I'll watch!"

"Thanks Kyle. Glad to see you have my back. Come on, I'm starving and craving corn dogs."

_______________

Sam noticed the sun starting to go down through one of the skylights in the convention roof. She sighed in disappointment and leaned on Kyle's shoulder, "all of those people came up to me and not one of them was trustworthy enough. Most were just nosy and some even tried as a bet. It's really bad when I can hear them whispering and conspiring. Oh well, at least you two know!" She hugged Kyle and Anna into her sides and wrapped her wings around their shoulders.

They walked out of the building and started the short trek to the parking garage when a small voice caught their attention, "excuse me, Sam? Can I ask you a question?"

All three stopped and turned to see the mouse girl who won the contest wringing her tail in her hands. Kyle and Anna waited for Sam but she still hasn't responded. The girl was visibly getting more nervous by the second and looked about ready to bolt by the time Sam spoke, "sorry about the uncomfortable silence. I was reading your aura. A neat trick I picked up in Tibet. Yours is quite pretty by the way. So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I-I was kindof hoping... Wishing really... That maybe... Maybe you could... Could..."

"Tell you my secret?"

The little mouse shook her head and took a deep breath, "if you could spend the evening with me?"

Sam was visibly shocked by the request but quickly replaced it with a happy grin, "well that is different. I have no reason to deny you. Want to walk with us while I get my stuff from Kyle's car?"

"Yes! Yes! Thank you! This is so exciting! I've wanted to get to know you since I first saw you five years ago!"

"Is that so? How old are you?"

"Eep! Umm 22."

"I thought you seemed a bit young for having seen me five years ago. You realize I'm 31 right?"

"No... I can't tell through the fur. Age really is just a number though. Do you know how long you will live?"

Sam eyed her, wondering where that question came from, "no. I don't. Why ask that question?"

"Well, I had seen you at the convention before. At first you had no wings and looked more human but after the eating contest you disappeared and came back with wings. I was intrigued and tried to get closer to have a look but you stormed off. I stepped outside to cool off and saw you in the alley. You jumped into the sky and flew off leaving me there staring in awe. That day let me know there is things outside our perception that live among us."

Sam couldn't help but smile as she pulled her bag out of Kyle's car, "what's your name kid?"

Her shyness suddenly came back in full force, "M-M-Michelle. Michelle Straus."

"Well Michelle. What do you want to do tonight? Anything you want, my treat."

"W-well I'm kindof hungry. I'd really like a burger."

"Sure thing. There's a Red Robin around the corner. Lets go. I'll see you two around. Take care of her, Kyle!"

After they said their goodbyes, Sam took Michelle to eat, a couple hours at an arcade, then sat down on a hill in the park for a little bit of star gazing. After a while Sam heard the sound of helicopter blades, "Michelle? As much as I don't want to end your night, I may need to. How far do you live?"

"Ummm, I actually live up in Canada. I took a train here and my train home leaves at 6:00 AM. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Well, there are certain groups that would love to get their hands on me. And I hear them getting close. I don't want to get you mixed up with them though. Do you want me to take you to your hotel room? Or the train station?"

"My hotel room would be fine. I wish you didn't have to go but I understand."

"Alright then. Just do two things for me. Hang on and don't panic."Sam stepped behind Michelle and wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her tight while she leapt into the sky to fly back to the hotel. She screamed for the first few seconds in surprise but fell into a state of giddy excitement at the sensations of flight. Sam would have loved to give her a long relaxing flight through the sky but she was in a hurry and the helicopters were getting closer. She landed quickly and made sure Michelle was alright. Her only complaint was sore ribs from the rough take off. Sam gave her a tight hug anyways before wishing her a safe trip home and leaping back into the sky.

Back in the sky Sam could see a few helicopters closing on her position. She stayed low to the roof tops and flew fast. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a device that Terry had given her once while she was exploring the world. He said that once it was activated they would set up a location to the north of wherever she was for pickup. She flipped the switch on and turned as close to north as she could.

Within minutes the helicopters were headed in her direction but they were too big and heavy to follow at her speeds. Sam thought she was going to get out of this easily this time until she heard the whine of a helicopter built for speed instead of transport. It had no guns on the sides and only a thermal camera on the front to track her but the door on the side slid open and someone leaned out with a gun. Sam suddenly realized she had to make herself as hard a target as possible and started swerving through the air. She started banking and rolling to throw off the shooters aim but it only worked marginally. Even moving as much as possible the shots came close to hitting her and a few darts were close enough to be heard whistling past her head.

The device crackled to life and Terry's voice came through, "we're set up about twenty miles north of you, Sam. Look for the orange flare."

"That would be helpful of they weren't trying to shoot me!"

"Do your best, we'll try to help you."

Sam did try her best. She kept them at bay as long as she could but finally a dart hit its mark. It hit her in the leg just below the hip and instantly she lost use of the leg and part of her tail. She could no longer maneuver as well without full use of her tail and a second shot hit her shoulder. Thankfully neither affected her wing muscles but the second shot made it nearly impossible to breath. With how quickly she was losing oxygen the prospect of making it out of this alive was dwindling. The pilot of the helicopter yelled at his gunman to stop firing or risk killing the subject, knowing a third shot would have dropped her from the sky. She was already drifting closer to the ground though. The orange flare was barely in sight and too far off to get to.

With her last breath before darkness took her sight she said one thing, "help me." Then she fell from the sky