Chapter 4

20:00 – -01:15 before incident.

 Gildy managed to get back to the school without any more irritations.  Shi had calmed down quite a bit from the cold air and the brisk walk.  Shi daresay, felt a little happy about being able to relax and if something broke out at the dance, shi could excuse hirself with little worry of retribution.  The event was already starting by the time shi got there, the gymnasium’s lights were on and the sound of the audio system was just barely made out by Gildy’s black furred ears.
 Shi purred to hirself as shi made hir way up the stairs and into the hardwood floored room.  The students were sparse, but the night was still young.  It was a very usual young dance in the Kingdom, the female humans were out dancing and having a good time, where as the males were predominately spending their time looking at the laces of their shoes, or chatting amoungst each other about what movie or videogame they’ve watched or played recently.
 Gildy spotted a fellow teacher and friend in the corner of the place as shi smiled wide, making hir way through the students to the bearded, white haired human and took plenty of will power not to hug him right there infront of the student body.  “Reverend Johnson, I’m surprised to see you here!”
 He returned the smile with his own wrinkled one, “Gildedtongue, I’m happy to see you here.  Apparently we’re a little under chaperoned tonight, so I’ve had to help pull the slack,” he gave out a hearty laugh, “Of course, it’s this sort of overtime working when I wish I didn’t take a vow of poverty.”  The monsignor pat the chakat’s shoulder, “Heard what happened in class today.”
 Gildedtongue’s ears drooped, hoping shi hadn’t offended one of hir few good, close friends in hir outburst, “Yeah, I guess I’ve been stressed out lately, Frank.”
 Frank merely chuckled, then gave a pair of shifty eyes before leaning in to whisper, “Between you, me, and the Lord, I think you let her off easy.  People like that need a good slap of reality now and then.  Call it human weakness, but I would have dug deeper than you did.”
 Gildedtongue blushed inside of hir ears at the comment, “Heh, thank you.  Glad to see someone giving me a bit of support today.”

21:45 – 30 minutes after the incident.

 “You fucking freaks make me sick!  I’ve read all that propaganda the Feds keep dishing out about your kind, but tonight just proves you’re all a menace to everyone around you!”
 The police officer was screaming into Gildedtongue’s face as shi sat in the interrogation room.  Hir eyes remained fixated on the steel wall infront of hir, counting the cracks in the paint, as hir tail remained wrapped around the leg of the table in front of hir.  It’s only been a few minutes since shi was thrown in here, but it already felt like an eternity.  Shi hasn’t said a word since shi was taken to custody, keeping hir yellow muzzle firmly locked with hir tongue swelling against the roof of hir mouth.
 Hir left paw unconsciously stroked over hir right arm, still tingling and burning from the event of being stunned.  All of hir muscles ached, having had been rapidly twitching from the effects of the stunning weapon.  A stun ray was little different than a 20th century Tazer aside from less needles and direct electricity.
 The officer continued to ramble and rave loudly in front of hir, hir brain having droned him out with the sounds of the air conditioner unit.  Finally the man swung open the door and stepped out with a huff, slamming the steel door behind him.  Gildy could hear the door latch and lock, not that shi was in any mood to escape at the moment.

20:30 – 45 minutes before the incident.

 Gildedtongue wasn’t too interested in leaving at the moment.  The large hall was pounding with the sounds of synthetic music from the speakers on the ceiling and multi coloured lights were dancing around the room, bouncing off the faces of the various participants.  Gildedtongue felt a little bored that not much was happening, however, after today, Gildy certainly could appreciate a little boredom.  A familiar face popped out of the crowed, carrying a very uncomfortable older human male.  Gildedtongue purred softly as shi bowed hir head to Dreamweaver.  “Good evening, Dreamweaver.  And this must be young master Miller.  Your reputation precedes you.”
 “Glad you could make it, Gildedtongue, and yes, this is Jacob.” Dreamweaver said in a smile, smitten and in a healthy bit of lust, Gildy noticed.  Shi also noticed that Jacob’s eyes were traveling all around the hall except to hir and Dreamy, as if to check out all the exits and the location of everyone.
 “Erm, hi,” is all the rugby player had to say.  He did take the time to look Gildy straight in the eye and give hir a cocky salute.  Gildy nodded hir head back, not really minding the brush off, shi was about to do the same.  Dreamweaver purred a bit, stroking over the thick forearm on hir date.
 “Well, we’ve best be going, Gildy.  Have a good evening!” the younger chakat purred as shi drug the athlete along behind hir.  Gildy purred to hirself, at least shi isn’t letting him drag her around like a trophy.  Shi padded over towards the punch stand, thinking to hirself, ‘maybe they’ll make good companions,’ but shi doubted seriously that they’d become anything closer.
 Students continued to dance, forgetting what lives they may have in the future, but embracing the moment.

22:00 – 45 minutes after the incident.

 The cold interrogation room housed only Gildedtongue for a short period of time, letting hir stew a bit.  The chakat remained completely unmoving, locking hir muscles on the floor.  Finally the steel door opened up again as a thinner, lankier officer stepped into the room carrying two cups of coffee.  His uniform was left unbuttoned, showing off his work shirt and loosened tie.  He set one of the black liquid filled paper cups in front of the stoic felitaur as he proceeded to sit down on the chair on the opposite side of the table, propping his feet up.  Hey, let me level with you, Gilded.  It’s not your fault.”  The blonde haired yuppie started.  “It’s completely understandable why you did all of that, hell I would have too.”
 Gildy’s eyes betrayed hir as they moved to look over the human, hir brow softening just a little.  The goateed face let a small smile as he felt he might have dug in a bit, “I mean, shi was a pretty girl, you know, for a morph,” he shrugged to himself, “and I’d be jealous too.”
 The chakat’s brain, probably too weak to keep up the stone face, opened up a little as shi muttered the first intelligible thing in over an hour, “Jealous?”  Hir tail tightened around the leg of the table separating hir from the officer.
 The officer nodded a bit, “Yeah.  I’ve read up on your kind.  You don’t care about the age of your lovers, or who they are.  A little release is all fun and games right?  Maybe you got too attached to this one, and you were upset that someone else, someone younger was pushing you out of the picture, am I right.”
 Gildedtongue was speechless; hir slight softening to this kinder man had only become thicker and colder with his every word.  A slight growl developed in hir lower lungs, but shi swallowed it down reluctantly.  Hir teeth clenched harder in hir muzzle as shi tried desperately to refrain from any more outbursts, enough that shi felt one of hir molars starting to break under pressure.  The officer leaned over again, chuckling softly, “C’mon, you know I’m right.”
 Gildedtongue could barely think in the residual wrath brewing in hir cortex, but managed to keep reasonable and silent.  Shi knew this man was wrong, completely wrong, however shi could not even fathom trying to attempt to convince him this.  The officer produced a small datapad, smiling, “Just sign this with your verbal signature, and maybe I can get the judge to let you off a little easier.  After all, you were only doing what instinct dictated.”

21:10 – Five minutes before the incident.

 Gildedtongue stepped out of the gymnasium to start hir rounds and to take in the fresh night air.  Hir soft footpads moved silently across the concrete below hir as shi kept an eye out for any student or students trying to try something against the rules while most of the chaperones were inside.
 Shi came across a number of students smoking out behind a dumpster can behind the cafeteria.  They were rather surprised to see hir as they probably have found this reeking hiding spot to be useful for previous uses.  The chakat was in the middle of checking their identification when shi heard a loud shriek from the parking lot.  “Vae!*  What’s going on?” shi muttered, turning back to the students, “I’ll attend to you later.”
 Shi knew perfectly well that the students wouldn’t be there when shi returned, but shi quickens hir step towards the sounds of screaming.  Hir breathing was getting harder as was the pounding of hir hearts while a great sense of foreboding swallowed hir feelings.
 The sounds seemed to come from a PTV parked just next to a light tree.  Hir pace quickened as shi saw the back of a young male student in front of the passenger side rear door.  The vehicle was rocking rapidly as the screams were getting louder.  Gildy recognized it was Dreamweaver!
 The chakat was in a bounding sprint as shi approached the vehicle.  The screams were getting louder as she saw the back of the cheap suit her date was wearing standing in front of the rear passenger door, trousers bundled around his ankles.
 “Shit, beast, what, are you ‘kats all that shallow?  Barely got the tip in.” Jacob muttered, not hearing the approaching teacher.  “Keep it down, beast, or I’ll give you something to scream about.”
 Gildedtongue was there in a flash, grasping the athlete’s shoulder and wrenching him around to look at hir.  The boy gave a yelp as he was forcefully spun around, looking blankly, then angrily at his assailant.  A long, sharp knife clutched in his right hand, dripping with red.

22:30 – One hour, fifteen minutes after the incident

 A knock on the door preceded another detective entering the interrogation room.  She was tall with brown hair, clutching a datapad in her left hand.  A glance over at the quiet chakat made her visibly shudder.  She turned back to the smug looking officer seated at the table.  “We got the results in from the hospital.  Mr. Miller is in stable condition, however both of his hands will be need serious attention.  His right hand should require the least amount of care, however his whole left hand will require reconstruction from the most base level.  This isn’t counting the amount of plastic surgery required to rebuild his face.”
The smug officer nodded, giving a wink to the detective, “Thanks for the report.  And the other that went in?”
 “The… construct claimed a number of lacerations from the knife, however the medics nor the doctors could find any.”  She finally said, taking another look at the angry Gildedtongue, then made a hasty retreat out.  The officer was quiet for a moment, cradling the cup of coffee in his hands.  His eyes shut, as he seemed to be thinking.
 “You know, he was one of the best, shir Gildedtongue.  One of the best in his field, and in an instant, you managed to hurt his career, possibly destroy it.”  He leaned over the table to look at the chakat more intently.  “How does that make you feel?”
 Gildedtongue remained silent, looking down at hirself.  Hir dress was torn in shambles, blood caking the bottom half of it as a long slit seemed to be healing well across her bosom.

21:15

 Gildedtongue couldn’t think.
 All of hir vision seemed to match the red hue that was dripping from the knife.  Time seemed to move slower, more clean and crisp.  The left hand of the student pulled back, balling itself into a fist as Jacob threw a sloppy haymaker towards the chakat’s temple.  It drifted in the air like a toy ballon.  Gildedtongue lifted hir right hand, catching the fist as easily as snatching a ball from the air.
 Hir fingers curled and clasped around the hand.  It had weight and velocity, but it didn’t feel that way.  Adrenaline pushed out of hir large glands, filling hir body with the potent hormone as shi squeezed the hand much like one would crush a Styrofoam container, feeling it collapse just as easily.  Like a paper lantern, shi felt it go flat, then try to push back to regain rigidity, but unable to withstand the force.
 Jacob’s face contorted and opened in a scream that Gildedtongue couldn’t hear, not with all the blood pumping loudly in hir ears.  The knife moved faster than the fist, hir left hand couldn’t intercept it in time as it scored a slash across hir chest, leaving a deep, bleeding gash in hir bosom.  Hir left hand managed to catch up with the knifed hand at the end of his swing.
 Hir grip of his wrist made his fingers open up just for a moment, causing the knife to start to fall towards the earth.  Hir right hand let go of the remains of the human’s fist, falling to snatch the knife out of the air as shi slammed the offending hand on the top of the car.
 Shi caught it with the blade pointed downwards, where shi needed it.  Hir right hand raised like a priestess offering a sacrifice to a pagan god as it pierced into the heart of Jacob’s right hand, pinning it and him to the roof of his vehicle.
 Jacob’s face was no longer human.  A wailing banshee of terror and pain, but Gildedtongue couldn’t see that.  All shi saw was the various aspects of hir life being flattened out like a ball of clay under a brick.
 "Stop it!" a scream pulled Gildy out of hir rage, letting go of the teenager as he slumped forward, held up by his hand still pegged to the roof of the vehicle.  Gildy pushed Jacob to the side to see Dreamweaver trapped underneath the seats rigged to hold hir in place.  Gildy shoved the backs of the bucket seats, hearing the hinges snap before pulling the young felitaur out of the PTV, wrapping hir arms and forelegs around hir, sobbing loudly.
 "Dreamweaver.  I'm so sorry Dreamweaver, I should have said something and stop you.  Oh God, My Dreamweaver." Shi muttered, holding Dream squeezing hir tightly.  Hir eyes shoot open wide as shi realizes what shi's saying.  'My Dreamweaver?  Am I believing shi's my daughter?  Am I that lonely I've taken another's child as my own mentally?"
 Gildy's train of thought was cut short at the arrival of the police, called by one of the students shi saw earlier.  Hir vision went dark as the stunning weapons struck hir, Dream, and the unconscious Jacob.

06:45 The next morning.

 Gildedtongue's eyes opened slowly as the rays of the sun  crept through the barred windows above hir.  Shi lifted hir head from the ground, looking around a bit, realizing that the prison of hir life has become far more literal than shi'd care to.  Shi climbed onto all four legs, looking out of the bars to the hallway, whining to hirself, feeling lonliness growing heavily, knowing what shi did has made hir a monster.
 Shi barely had the drive to use the toilet, but figured it was best to not dirty the concrete floor.  Hir hearts felt like they were made of cast iron as they weighed heavily in hir chests.  The adrenaline that left hir body is still making hir hands shake in nerves as hir bloodshot eyes stared blankly at the brick wall opposite of hir.

Shi was alone.

* (Latin) Damn!