Black Friday

by Jan Stryvant

  'This is what I was meant for'. His beast had obviously found his voice and he could feel him stretching inside him, getting ready for the fight, the hunt, the kill.

  "Is this right?" he asked Roxy, concerned at the thought of what was going to happen.

  'Of course it's right!' his beast growled deep in his chest.

  "Of course it's right," Roxy echoed. "They mean us harm; they've probably harmed you already. What's your beast telling you?"

  "Huh?"

  "Your lion, what's he telling you?"

  'To fight them, kill them, we must protect ourselves and our pride!'

  "The same thing you are," Sean admitted. "He wants to take them out."

  Roxy nodded and reaching out with a finger she tapped him on the nose, "Listen to him. There are times to restrain your beast, your lion; this isn't going to be one of them. If it gets to be too much for you, set him free. Just don't hide from what's going on; he will need your guidance, your intelligence. You're a team, you need to work together."

  'Our mate is wise, listen to her.'

  Sean blushed at that.

  Roxy smirked, "What did he say?"

  "To listen to you," Sean replied, still blushing.

  "Oh? Is that all?" she teased him.

  "Um, I think he has designs on you," he admitted.

  Surprisingly, to him at least, Roxy laughed. "Yeah, he's a lion. They do that."

  "It's just weird, having this second voice in my head."

  "Don't worry, as you spend more time together, you'll integrate back into one person. Right now you're still finding your way."

  "Getting back to the guys in the car, what do we do now?"

  "We get off at the school, then run to the high school behind it. It's dark out now, so no one will be there, and it'll give us the space to deal with them."

  "What about the," Sean looked around, there was no one sitting back by them fortunately, but still he lowered his voice, "the bodies."

  "Don't claw anyone up, don't bite anyone. As long as it doesn't look like an animal killed them, it'll just get chalked up to gang violence or a drug deal gone bad."

  Sean just nodded and thought about that. He knew from his run in with Dean this morning that he was now stronger and faster than them.

  "What if they have guns?" he asked the moment the idea popped into his head.

  "It hurts, but you'll get over it," Roxy said watching the stops as they turned onto G Street.

  "What if they have silver bullets?"

  "Then don't let them hit you," she said and hitting the stop buzzer she got up.

  "Come on, this is it."

  Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

  The second the door to the bus opened Roxy jumped out and took off laughing.

  "Come on, slow poke!" she yelled making it look for all the world like they were playing a game as she quickly scaled and vaulted over the chain link fence.

  Sean chased after her, not really sure what the plan was, but he sure as hell knew enough not to look at the car that had been following the bus.

  They ran under the trees and through the playground and briefly kissing and then running on again. He actually heard the car pull into the school parking lot as the bus pulled away from the curb. Of course the car had rammed the closed chain link gate, breaking it open, so it hadn't been exactly quiet, but Roxy ignored it, so he did as well as they ran across the field.

  The gate at the other end was open so they both ran through it, then Roxy stopped and turned towards him.

  "Grab me and make it look like we're making out," she whispered.

  Sean was more than willing to do so.

  "Okay, they're catching up. Take my hand and let's go!"

  Sean grabbed her hand and they both ran across the street and through the open gate into the school parking lot; there were a few cars here. He figured it was probably the janitors or something, it was after seven now, and full dark had descended. Well as dark as it got in Reno. But he was surprised that he was having no trouble seeing at all.

  As they continued to run, he heard the car pull in behind them; they were passing the buildings on their left, and covered parking on the right. He could hear the car following them, it was getting closer, but they weren't rushing. Sean guessed that they liked the idea of going someplace more private too.

  Suddenly they were running on dirt and Roxy dragged him behind a building.

  "Get ready," she growled and when Sean looked at her, he saw that Roxy had shifted into her hybrid form. Her feet were bare, the loose pants were now skin tight, and her t-shirt looked like it was about to split.

  If there hadn't been a bunch of men chasing them, Sean definitely would have had other things on his mind.

  "Later, if you're a good boy," Roxy growled.

  Sean blushed and turned back to waiting at the corner of the building. They heard the car stop and the doors open, then footsteps.

  'Four' his beast identified, and suddenly Sean knew he was right.

  When the first one stepped into view, Sean looked him over. He was wearing slacks, a nice shirt, and a light suit jacket. The reason for the jacket was clear, as he had a Glock in his right hand.

  'Wait.'

  "Come on out kids, we only want to talk to Sean," the man said in a slightly accented voice.

  A second one came into sight, as he and Roxy crouched in the shadows behind the building. He was dressed in a similar fashion, and also had a pistol, another Glock.

  "Sean," the first one said again, pulling out a flashlight, "don't make this any harder than is has...."

  'Attack!'

  Sean jumped out and grabbed the one talking by the throat as a third one was stepping into sight. A gun went off instantly, and he felt a burning sensation in his leg.

  "Don't shoot him you asshole!" one of the others yelled and Sean stumbled a moment trying to grab the gun hand of the guy he had by the throat as several other shots went off. He could see that Roxy was making rather quick work of one of them, as she broke his arm, pushed his pistol up under his chin and pulled the trigger.

  But the others were shooting at her!

  'Let go!' his beast roared at him as he saw Roxy get shot.

  He let go.

  It was almost surreal. One moment he had his hand grabbing a man's throat as he tried to strangle him, and the next he was on his hind legs as he pulled a paw the size of a dinner plate back from the man's head.

  'No claws!' he warned his lion who instead of ripping the man's face off just smacked him in the side of the head.

  Sean actually heard the man's neck snapping as his lion dropped down to all fours and charged one of the men shooting at Roxy. He could hear his beast's thoughts, which were clear and simple: kill.

  As he attacked the shooter, it dawned on Sean that his lion was pretty freaking big. He slammed this man in the side with a paw and sent him flying into a wall, which he hit hard, and then started to slide down to the ground, in a daze. Spinning to face the other one, he was surprised to see that Roxy was now pointing one of the Glocks at him point blank. The expression on his face as he looked at her, and then him, made it very clear that this is not what they had been expecting.

  "Who sent you?" Roxy growled.

  "I can't...."

  Roxy shot the guy Sean's lion had slammed against the wall twice, stopping him from moving ever again. She then put the gun in they guy's face again before he had a chance to even raise his and aim it at her.

  "Talk."

  "Sawyer," the man gulped.

  "See? That wasn't hard, was it," Roxy said and then shot him in the chest.

  Sean was shocked! He couldn't believe she'd do such a thing! The man looked up at her shocked as well, as he slowly collapsed.

  "I know Sawyer," Roxy said, "you don't work for him."

  With that she gave him the coup de grace and shot him in the head.

  "Get their guns," she said and then looking over at him, she stopped and giggled, "You look funny lik
e that!"

  "What?" his beast growled and Sean yelled at him not to growl at Roxy.

  "Your clothes are still on," she giggled, "or what's left of them at least!

  "Let's move, I hear sirens."

  She was right, Sean could hear them too. He grabbed the pistol out of one of the guy's hands while Roxy gathered up the other three, as well as taking all of their wallets.

  "Come on!" she said and took off running to the north, across the baseball field. Keeping up with her wasn't easy, cheetahs were fast and lions weren't.

  When they started to jump over fences, at least he could do that easily, he caught up with her.

  She lead him past the library, then waiting for a break in traffic they dodged across Twelfth, then sticking to the trees they stayed out of sight of the main road and followed it along until they came to a bunch of older apartment buildings and hunkered down for a bit.

  Gathering up the pistols Roxy looked at him, she was back in her human form, there were some flecks of blood on her shirt, but that seemed to be all.

  "I'd try to get you to shift back, but you'd be all but naked then. At least as a lion your coloration blends in with the ground."

  Sean watched through his lion's eyes, as he looked himself over, and saw the shreds of clothing still wrapped around his body.

  "Well, let me get that all off of you," Roxy said and he felt his big head nod as he stood there, enjoying the feeling of his woman's hands as she stripped off his clothing.

  'My woman?' Sean thought.

  'You don't like her?' came his lion's response.

  'Don't be silly.'

  'I wasn't, you were.'

  'We need to talk about our attitudes towards women,' Sean would have sighed if he could have.

  'Yes, you have much to learn!' and his lion chuffed a little.

  "Hmm?" Roxy asked. She was going through his pockets and getting his wallet, keys, and phone.

  "Talking to my human."

  Roxy snickered, "Oh, one of those moments!"

  "You have had these problems too?"

  "Sooner or later we've all had them. The first step is for the two of you to realize that you're really the same person. After you stop second guessing each other, it gets easier."

  Sean felt his head nod again, and he settled down.

  'Now what?' he asked.

  "Now what?" his lion echoed.

  "Now we play duck and dodge and find a good place to hole up until the traffic lightens up. Then we sneak back home and go to bed."

  Roxy held up his ruined sneakers then, "Weren't these new?"

  Sean sighed and facepalmed, causing Roxy to giggle again and surprising himself and his lion with their cooperation.

  It was after midnight when they finally made it back to the house they had their rooms in.

  "I'll go in first," Roxy told him. "Once things are clear, I'll wave out the window of your room. Okay?"

  They nodded, or perhaps, he nodded? Spending the night running around as a lion had been educational. He definitely got an appreciation for his lion body, and the mind that inhabited it. There were many times when the lion wasn't sure what to do and he had just filled it in, instantly. He found he still had a certain amount of control, not over the body so much yet, but over the decisions of what to do with it.

  He recalled his fight with Dean then, how he had been able to just 'do' what needed to be done. The lion had been guiding him then, just as he was guiding the lion now. He'd given in to it then, because he hadn't realized what was happening.

  'And it worked,' his lion told him.

  Sean had to agree, it had worked. Arguing with success was stupid; thankfully Roxy was more than willing to help with teaching him at least. Once he'd gotten used to letting his lion run, as she called it, he found it quite enjoyable.

  Then, of course, there were his lion senses. At first a lot of it didn't make any sense, but his lion side interpreted it all for him, and as the night wore on, he understood. He could feel everything that his lion felt, the wind, the ground, the feeling of his strong muscles and heavy body. Hear what he heard, smell what he smelled, and boy did he smell a lot! Sean had no idea that the world was so full of different and interesting scents. Sure, it was a little weird, he almost felt like a backseat driver at times, but not quite.

  Roxy took her sneakers back off and shifted again into her hybrid form before she opened the door. She wanted her senses to be at their best. These people knew who Sean was; so they had to know where he lived. But they hadn't been around here for some reason, preferring to go after him when he was away from the house.

  Opening the door, she could tell that no one had been in the hallways recently. Then again, from the sounds of it, more than a few of the residents had hooked up for the night.

  Making her way upstairs quickly, she took a few minutes to check out her own room first. Everything there was in order. Listening at the wall between her room and Sean's, silence was all she heard.

  Going back out into the hallway, and listening at his door, it was still quiet and she didn't smell any strange scents. So opening it, she walked inside, and after a quick examination she found everything was as they'd left it.

  Waving out the window, it only took a moment before Sean pulled himself though in his full lion form. She smiled down at him; he had to weight at least four hundred pounds, probably closer to five. His mane was as black as the hair on his head in human form, and honestly, he was a pretty damn handsome cat. Cheetahs tended to be sleek and slender, two words that definitely did not describe Sean.

  "What are you staring at?" He asked in the low rumbling and very thick voice that his lion had.

  "One hella sexy cat," she said grinning, and then laughed as he started to purr.

  "So, gonna' shift back?"

  He shook his head; the effect on his mane was rather interesting.

  "Well, we'd better clean up those bloody rags on the floor from yesterday," Roxie sighed, "before anybody gets any ideas. Then it's off to bed."

  "Hmmm, bed." he purred.

  "You're not planning on sleeping in my bed with me tonight like that, are you?" Roxy asked.

  Sean just stood there and purred, smiling at her.

  "And what does your 'human' have to say about that?" Roxie teased.

  "Hmmm, bed."

  Roxy rolled her eyes and sighed. Actually she was pleased to see that they were agreeing with each other at least. She just hoped her bed could handle the weight.

  Sunday Morning won't be the Same

  Sean woke up a little groggily; mornings were not his best time of the day. Opening his eyes he looked up at the ceiling and started just as he realized that there was someone cuddled up against him, and this was most definitely not his room and not his bed.

  Looking over at Roxy's naked body as she pressed up against him in her sleep he remembered just where he was, and just what had happened to him yesterday. He had shifted back at some point during the night when Roxy had started to get frisky, but had made it rather clear that he had to shift back first before things went any farther.

  He'd found it had been rather simple. He had simply done it. His lion didn't fight him, he was feeling a little frisky too, and what he felt, the lion felt. Because while they were different, they were still the same person.

  Yeah, Sean realized he'd have to think about that more. Roxy said it would come with time and experience.

  He heard it then, some one was knocking on a door.

  "Sean Valens, this is detective Schumer! Please open the door."

  "Oh shit," Roxy grumbled rolling out of bed.

  "Yeah," Sean agreed standing up, "I don't have any clothes in here!"

  "You left your robe in here yesterday," Roxy said moving over to the back of the door where it was hanging. Grabbing it she tossed it to him and he quickly put it on while she donned hers as well.

  "Mr. Valens!" He heard again, followed by more knocking.

  Opening the door Sean leaned out and lo
oked at the man knocking on his door. There were actually two of them. One was dressed in a rather plain suit with a badge hanging out of the breast pocket; the other was wearing a uniform. Sean noticed that George, the other guy living on the floor was looking out of his door, and when George saw him stick my head out of Roxy's room, his eyes got wide.

  "What do you want?" Sean grumbled, "It's early."

  They both turned towards him, "Are you Sean Valens?" The one in the suit, obviously the detective, asked him.

  Sean nodded, "Yeah, that's me."

  "Do you have any ID? We were told that this was your room," he said and nodded toward my door.

  "It is, this is my girl friend's room," Stretching Sean walked out of Roxy's room and going over to his, he opened the unlocked door and went inside.

  "We've been trying to call you since last night," Detective Schumer said to him.

  "Yeah, I think my phone's dead," Sean said. Picking it up and opening it, he noticed the battery was completely discharged, "I forgot to charge it."

  "How do you forget to charge your phone?" the uniformed officer asked.

  Sean turned and smiled at him, "New girlfriend," and nodded at Roxy who was standing in the door wearing only her bathrobe and looking very good in it as she blushed.

  "Oh," was all the officer could say, but Sean noticed he was smiling.

  "So, what's this all about then," Sean asked and yawning sat on his bed.

  "Do you know a Gregory Sampson?" Detective Schumer asked him.

  "Yeah, I've known Sampson," Sean thought about that, "I think all my life. He lives next door to my mom, works at the same casino. Why?"

  "He's dead."

  Sean didn't even remember jumping to his feet as he stared at the detective, "What! What do you mean dead! What happened? What?" Sean had to restrain himself from grabbing the detective who was looking at him concerned.

  "Were you two close?"