“Do you know what happened to you?” Gone was the harsh edge to Ahalya’s voice.
Danielle was finding it difficult to keep up with the changing situation. “I became a tiger… a tigress.”
“I see. We do have an open-door policy for anyone who is interested in learning more.”
Ahalya took Danielle by the chin once more, forcing her to meet her gaze. “I think I understand why Volk let you in.”
“You do?” She couldn’t stop the bubble of nervous laughter from escaping. “I’m glad one of us does.”
“Well, kitty, you are so eager to go back to normal, but why don’t you try to enjoy more of your new form?” She grinned. “Oh yes, this an be so much more fun if you stop worrying about what you lost and focus on what you have now. Come with me, darling. Let me give you a little tour of my domains. You can decide what you like about it, and if you want to stay.”
With her mind reeling at the sudden change of events, Danielle stumbled as Ahalya took her by the hand once more and led her around the club. “I pride my club on its simplicity. There are other places that are more specialized, most of them are nothing more than brothels, in fact. Chrysalid is about meeting others with similar interests and conditions, having a place to unwound on the end of the day. And with some lucky, even meeting that special other.”
“Now, you probably had never seen another like us before.” She laughed as she tugged Danielle in the direction of the stairs. “Can you imagine why?”
It wasn’t something Danielle would have ever considered.
“Most of the time people like us are protected by a veil, people around you will see and not-see you. For most people you will look completely normal, there will never be any sign that any change occurred, only those that had also been afflicted by such portent will be able to see that there’s something different.”
Each stair up that Danielle took, the more nervous she became. Now she had a clear picture of what went on, Danielle was beginning to believe this was an even bigger mistake than she’d originally realized.
Written by Ashley-natter on 17 April 2018
