Chapter 12: Reunion (Mort)

The next few days went by pretty quickly. I spent a lot of time with D and Jane, the three of us becoming good friends. I practised my abilities some more, as my hand slowly regrew. I was soon at the point of having stubs where my fingers should be. While D and Jane were at school I stayed with Joyce. I had a few more conversations with Gwen, who was getting more and more keen to meet up. After much discussion with Joyce and D, I agreed, and we set a time and a place which was public and relatively safe. So even if my sister was followed, they couldn't do anything. As an additional precaution D would come as well to make sure I was alright.

I was very excited to be seeing my sister again, and it seemed like the day couldn't come soon enough.

Finally the day came, I put extra effort into picking out my outfit intent on making a good impression with Gwen.

After some cautionary words from Joyce, D and me set off.

I found myself both immensely excited, and slightly nervous. It had been a while since I had last seen my sister, and in that time I had changed quite a bit. What would she think of me now, how would she react to my abilities, and my more feminine attire? These thoughts were bouncing round in my head on the way to the small open park we had chosen for our meeting place, right up until the point we arrived and I saw Gwen waiting.

At that I broke into a run, and practically tackled Gwen. Who, judging by the fierce hug, and kiss on the cheek, she gave me was just as happy to see me.

Most of the time I didn't really notice my new height, partly as I was spending most of my time with D, who towered over most people, making me feel as small as before. My change was brought home to me once again, by the disparity between Gwen's and my height. Where as before Gwen would have towered over me, now her head was shoulder level.

I was still held tight by Gwen, when D caught up with me.

"Oh, Gwen this is D," I said, breaking our embrace "She's the one who rescued me, and her and her mum took me in"

"Very pleased to meet you., Gwen said, shaking D's hand. "Thank you for taking care of my sister."

"I'll let you and Tish catch up," D told her as she retreated to a small bench.

"Tish?" said Gwen questioningly.

"It's a nick name that D has for me" I said. "It comes from some old TV show, with a character called Morticia"

"Hmm I see" she said, a bemused expression on her face.

We chatted for a while, and wandered around the park.

"How have you been Mort?" she asked

"Good, D and Joyce have been taking good care of me." I said.

"How did you meet them?" she asked

"D saved me," I replied "When I first got here, I ran into a bad area of town and this group of men attacked me. D showed up and fought them off. Then she took me back to her house and Joyce offered me a place to stay."

"Wow, you were really lucky to find such nice people."

"Yeah, they've been great. D and her friend Jane have been helping me with getting used to my new body, and been great new friends in general."

"You seem happier now, than I've seen you in a long time. Even before you changed, you had trouble making friends in Greenvale. It's good to see you coming into your own," Gwen said with a smile.

We talked away, happy to be in each others company again, we were so wrapped up in our conversation neither of us spotted the van pull along side us until its side doors flew open, and two masked men grabbed the two of us. We were pulled into the van and the door slammed shut. The van quickly peeled away. I fought with all of my newly enhanced strength, managing to get my hand free, and swiped at one of the masked men. My sharp talons cut through the flimsy mask, cutting bloody rents into his face, causing him to scream in pain. As I was capitalising on this, one of the other men smacked me over the back of the head and everything went dark.