Chapter 8

I woke up to the usual morning bustle, a rush to get breakfast and off to lectures. Ours didn't start till a bit later, so we were somewhat more at our leisure than some of our colleagues. We sat with our housemates for breakfast and talked. We told them about what had happened to Shaun and they were horrified.

"Right in the middle of campus!?" said Jenny.

"It's very worrying that someone could just be attacked like that and no one saw anything," Laura said, "I mean Shaun's a big bloke. Imagine if it were one of us girls attacked like that."

"Yeah," said Nat. "What bothers me most is there doesn't appear to be any motive for it."

I nodded, "It does seem odd. Usually there'd be some reason behind it."

"Maybe it was just random," said Tom. "I had a mate, Jake, over at Southampton uni, who was walking home from something and some nutter just bottled him for no reason. He had to get a load of stitches and got a really mean looking scar. Course in his case he was quite near the bar and it was some bloke who'd had too much to drink that did it. It doesn't sound like this is the same thing."

"Maybe it was one of those anti-MORFS idiots," suggested John.

"I know that those sort have attacked people in the past, but why would they attack Shaun? He's not been changed by MORFS," said Nat.

"Maybe because he's friends with people who have undergone MORFS, like Emily," John said.

"Seems a bit of a flimsy reason. There are loads of people who have friends who have been changed by MORFS. Why single out Shaun? Seems to me there must be more to it than that," I said.

We sat in silence for a bit thinking, it was a fairly depressing topic, so we switched to other things.

"So are you going to see Caitlyn again today?" asked Nat.

"Might do at, maybe after lunch. I had such a wonderful time with her at the picnic she made me yesterday," I said.

"Caitlyn made you a picnic?" asked Laura.

"Yeah, the two of them were out picnicking together in the park," said Nat.

"Wow, sexy, and she makes picnics. You're a lucky girl, Em," said Laura.

I smiled, I guess I was very lucky. I had good friends and a wonderful new girlfriend. Things could certainly have been worse. We finished up our breakfast, then got ready to head up to campus, I grabbed my stuff then me and Nat had a leisurely walk up.

When we got to the gates I saw the anti-MORFS protesters where still out in force, it seemed like there were a few less than yesterday. Kathy was still there shooting me angry glares. She even moved to stop me, but one of the others held her back. They had obviously been warned about stopping people and what that would mean.

Lectures were same as always, high points and low points. By the time lunch came around I was ready for a break. I checked my phone and found a message from Caitlyn saying she couldn't meet me for lunch. I was a little upset as I had been looking forward to seeing her. She ended her message by saying she might see me later, I texted back, saying "I would love to see you tonight."

I went to hall for lunch with Nat. As we were leaving campus, this guy stopped us. It took me a second to recognise him, but it was Mark Bishop.

MORFS had changed him a little he looked a little taller his hair and eyes were a different colour. It was a host of little alterations that made it tough at first glance to see who it was.

"Emily, it's me, Mark. I've changed and I know I look different, but it is me," He said.

"What do you want, tosser?" said Nat. "Didn't they tell you to leave her alone after you attacked her in the library?"

He completely ignored Natalie and looked straight at me, his eyes now a piercing blue, "Please, Emily try to understand. I wasn't in my right mind that day. I was in the early stages of MORFS, you know what that's like. I was confused and I acted in a manner that I'm ashamed of. Please find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Look Mark I don't care if that one time could be understood. I don't want to be with you. Please leave me alone. Find someone else who does want to be with you, like I have," I said, trying to be reasonable despite every instinct telling me to run.

"No Emily! I can change. Please give me a chance. I can be who ever you want me to be," he said pleadingly.

"Ha, for you to be what she wants would require some fairly major surgery or else another case of MORFS," said Nat.

Mark shot her an angry look and moved closer to me. "Please. Emily, we are meant to be together!" he cried.

"No Mark, we were never meant to be together. Leave me alone, I'm with someone else now," I said, getting angry that he wouldn't take the hint.

"We are soul mates! You are bound to me!" he cried manically, and lunged at me, grabbing my arms.

"Get your grubby little hands off her or I'll break them off!" said Nat menacingly.

He turned to look at her with a nasty sneer on his face, "You can't stop me! No one can stop me! This is destiny!"

I decided enough was enough, and kneed him in the groin. He collapsed to the floor, moaning in pain. Nat walked over and gave him a kick to the ribs. At this point some campus security people showed up. We quickly explained what was going on. They grabbed the still incapacitated Mark and marched him over to the Student Union where a lot of the offices were. I talked again to one of the staff, a pleasant woman who seemed like a good listener. She assured me that Mark would be punished and made fully aware of the fact that he was not to bother me again. She also said she would speak to the police about him, to see if there were any additional measures we could take, like a restraining order or some such. She was not a legal expert, but she assured us that all the complaints and witnesses names and addresses were on file, so they could give the police anything they needed.

We headed off to lunch a little shaken, but OK, if a little jumpy. I kept half expecting Mark to leap out from behind every bush we passed to have another go at me. I was glad Nat was there to put my mind somewhat at ease. I felt a bit better after lunch and was able to face my afternoon lectures with somewhat renewed vigour.

After the day was finished, I spent a little time in the library looking things up for a project. Some time in the computer rooms doing a little surfing and emailing. I had got a mail from my mother asking how things were going. I detailed some of my recent adventures, leaving out the more unsettling aspects. I didn't want her worrying too much about me. I got a call from Caitlyn as I was on my way back to the house. she offered to take me out later that evening to some sort of university club she thought I would be interested in. I accepted and arranged to meet her at the house after dinner.

Then I joined Nat in welcoming Shaun back from hospital. He was looking a lot better, and with a little help was up and about again. His parents were taking him out to celebrate his release and give him something other than hospital food. They invited Nat and I along. I declined due to my plans with Caitlyn but wished them well. They asked if we knew any good restaurants and I was quick to recommend the place my mum had taken me. I headed back to hall to get some dinner before Caitlyn took me to the mysterious club she had mentioned. She had been quite cagey on the details but had said I would fit right in, whatever that meant. I decided to let her have her fun, it was the least I could do to repay her for the picnic.

With dinner out of the way I did a little work while I waited for Caitlyn to come and get me. I was just about caught up again from my week off from MORFS, but couldn't afford to slack off too much. By the time I heard a knock at my door, I had got most of the stuff I needed to do done. I grabbed my big coat and then opened the door to find Caitlyn waiting.

"Cool coat, Emily. It looks really good on you. Where on earth did you get a leather coat with six arms?" she asked.

"That same place I mentioned the other day, that makes custom designed clothes for people with additional limbs or other strange body types. It's down by the ice rink, called Wings and Tails. I got a lot of my clothing there. They have an automated process. Mum had this made as a present for me, it's not real leather, but it's a pretty good imitation."

"It is a really swish coat. I might have to check this clothes shop out. Getting things to accommodate my tail can be problematic."

"The do a load of off the rack stuff for the more standard alterations, so you'd probably find a fair amount of stuff to fit you. Me being somewhat unusual, I had to go for the custom job."

"Yeah, I guess getting clothing for you must be tough, I'll have to remember that for birthdays and the like."

"Well, my top half is the problematic part, the rest of me is fairly normally shaped."

"Right, so saucy knickers is doable but not a top. Got ya."

I raised an eyebrow, "we are still talking about presents for me."

Caitlyn. Grinned, "Hey, just because I can get enjoyment out of it had no bearing on the matter."

"Hmm, I guess for you I'd have to get ones that were tail friendly. Maybe something in a thong."

"Hey now who's talking about buying things for their own enjoyment. Anyway, you little minx, we must be off, or we'll be late."

She grabbed my arm and led off. I pulled the door to and then we headed out. I had worn the coat partly to show it off to Caitlyn, but now we were out, I was glad I had it on, as it was a wet and blowy night. I pulled my coat a little tighter, Caitlyn put her arm around me hugging me tight, to avoid some of the wind and rain.

"So what is this thing you're taking me to?" I asked.

"Oh you'll see,. I want it to be a surprise," she answered with a wink.

We walked up to campus and then she led me up to one of the languages buildings. It was one of the older large 3 story blocks with a vaguely industrial look. The place was so quiet at night, almost eerie With all the normally bustling corridors silent and the rooms empty.

Caitlyn lead us to one of the classrooms where the lights were on and I could hear people moving about. She opened the door and led me in. I was confronted by a large room with maybe thirty people. All seemed to be hybrids, or physically unusual. A sea of faces and attached wings, tails, and all sorts turned to face me. Most of the people looked interested in me, a couple looked vaguely displeased, like I was intruding somehow. The atmosphere was a little cold to me. I wasn't sure Caitlyn had been right about me fitting in, I self consciously moved back a bit, positioning myself behind Caitlyn. A tall partial lizard hybrid walked over, seemingly in charge.

"Hello, Caitlyn, who's this?" he asked.

"Hi Ross. This is my girlfriend, Emily," she answered.

He looked at me assessingly, "Not to be rude, but you know this meeting is only for hybrids and the like. Why have you brought her here?"

"She's like us," she said and turned to me. "Hold out your arms so they can see them."

I had tucked my extra arms deep in the pockets so they sort of blended in with the black of my coat. I tentatively moved them and held them out away from my body. All the eyes in the room were on me, which was a bit disquieting. Almost immediately, I saw people relax a bit and I got quite a few smiles. The place became much more welcoming all of a sudden, as if now they knew I was different, they were happy to meet me.

"Well, I can see you are indeed one of us," said Ross. "Sorry for the somewhat frosty reception, but we have on occasion got people who come along to treat us like the circus side show. So we are fairly picky when it comes to admitting new members."

"So this is some sort of club then?" I asked.

"Caitlyn didn't tell you?"