Little Fox in Big Trouble

Fifteen

“Briseis, honey. You might want to get up!” My mom called through my bedroom door. She added a couple of knocks for emphasis before she stepped away.

            A glance at my cell phone told me it wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning and I was exhausted. I couldn’t fathom a good enough reason for her to be waking me up right now, but then again, the way things had been going there could be a pterodactyl in my living room so I figured I’d better just get up and see what was going on. Since I hadn’t bothered to do more than kick my jeans off before I collapsed into my bed, I dug a pair of swears out of my dresser and hopped my way into them as I went.

            My mom was standing in front of the tv in her satin pajamas and sheer robe, the remote in her hand hanging limp at her side. Something big was happening on the morning news. Helicopters were shooting footage of police swarming all over the park near Dahlia Lake (the actual lake that the town is named for). They had a tent erected on the west side by the tree line, and dogs being led into the woods. I was so distracted by what I was seeing on the screen that I didn’t hear the words of the reporter until several moments later.

            “The body was reported at approximately three o’clock, by an early morning jogger. While the woman has refused to speak to the press, the police have confirmed that she discovered the body just outside of the tree line and did not witness anything that may indicate how or when the body came to be in this area.” She looked grimly at the camera for a single heartbeat before the program cut to a commercial break.

            “A body?” I asked. Of course, there was a body in the park. Why wouldn’t there be?

            “They haven’t been able to identify the individual as of yet, honey, but it appears to be a young woman between the ages of 18 and 21 years old. There is no obvious cause of death, but they said that the time of death was most likely sometime near midnight. They don’t know if she died at the park or if she was moved to that location after the fact.” She explained.

            “We have to go,” I blurted. If this was one of the girls we have been trying to help, I needed to know.

            “I thought you might feel that way,” she said. “Although, I’m not sure what we could possibly do by being there.”

            “I don’t know either, mom.” I sighed, “but, I need to see if I recognize her or if there is anything at the scene that might be able to tell us something.”

            “Okay. Give me a couple minutes to get dressed and then we’ll go.” She said.

            I flopped onto the couch and called Troy while my mom headed into the other room to put regular clothes on. It was obvious that I woke him up with the call and it took him a few minutes, and more than one explanation, before he was able to comprehend what I was trying to tell him. When he finally understood the situation that was unfolding, he agreed to meet us at the park and made me promise not to get myself into any trouble before he could get there.

            Fifteen minutes later, we were circling the block around the lake, searching for a place to where we would be able to walk up to the incident scene without being run off by the police before we got within 100 feet of it. We ended up parking two blocks away, ducking police, and sidestepping reporters the whole way to the park. Troy was standing about ten feet from the crime scene tape, chatting with a woman in tight black jeans and a gray crop top. Even under the circumstances, I couldn’t help but notice that she was beautiful; tall and thin with clip in cat ears sticking out of her black pixie cut.

            I looked down at my sweatpants and yesterday’s t-shirt, and recalled how I hurriedly stuffed my hair into a half hazard bun on top of my head before running out of my apartment, this morning. Then, I decided I could catch up with Troy a little later and I headed toward the tent.

            “Briseis,” my mom said, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop. “They aren’t going to let you just walk up and examine the poor woman.”

            “I know that, Mother,” I said. “I have to see her face, though.  I’ll figure it out.” I started walking again. I may have been a little short with my mom, but I needed to get over there and figure out how to get them to cooperate with me.

            “Briseis,” she said again.

            “What?” I snapped.

            “Come with me,” she said, sounding slightly exasperated.

            I rolled my eyes and did as I was told.

            “Now, shift, Kit.” She said when we had slipped behind a bunch of trees.

            I stared at her for a second, understanding dawning in my brain, and realized I was an i***t.  Then, I closed my eyes and willed myself to transform. At some point, I would have to remember that there are options I didn’t know existed a couple of weeks ago.

            I looked up from my new position near my mother’s knees and yipped.

            “Now, why don’t you see if you can get close enough to get a look.” She swept her hand out in front of her and stepped out of the trees.

            I darted toward the center of the activity, keeping as close to the tree line as I could. As I got closer to the tent, I heard Troy call out to my mom and stopped to see what was going on. I watched as my mom jogged over to where he was standing, and he introduced her to his friend.