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Holding Helena: A Paradise Story
(Melton’s Eleven, Part Two)
By Chris Meadows
Note:
This story is set in the “Paradise” shared-universe setting, which has many stories by a number of different authors. Inthis setting, a mysterious change has been secretly altering people’s bodies into anthropomorphic animal forms…though for whatever reason, those who have not been changed yet are unable to notice the change in others—at least until recently,when the number of Changed finally grew too large to ignore.This story is set in summer, 2010, and is a direct sequel to my other story “Tiffnapped”.So let mercy come,And wash away…What I’ve doneI’ll face myself,To cross out what I’ve become.Erase myself,And let go of what I’ve done. — 
 Linkin Park, “What I’ve Done”
At a hundred feet across and thirty feet deep, the enclosure would have been the envy of any zoo in the world. Divided by along stream and dotted with large boulders, it was the kind of place where large cats would be at home during the hottestdays of summer and the coldest days of winter. And if the weather turned inclement, or the cats just wanted some privacy,there was a cave at one end to provide cover. A railing around the rim provided a place for visitors to stand and watch, butthere was also an enclosed observation platform at the west end.Mostly open to the sky, the bowl also harbored a number of trees—some species native to North America and some nativeto the African Savana—that provided shade and places where cats that liked to climb could find respite. The shade wasnecessary at this time of year, when the summer sun blazed hot overhead and left little shade except that cast by the treesand the walls. Whether they were cougar, cheetah, or lion, the cats that had once been housed here would have been pleasantly comfortable on this hot June day.Today, however, the enclosure only had one occupant—feline, but not entirely. She was covered in tawny fur, and her headresembled that of a North American Cougar but with more expressiveness—especially around the eyes. Brown hair cascaded down her back to just past her shoulder blades, providing even more evidence of her nearly-human nature. Naked but for her fur, the cougar-woman sat on a sun-warmed rock near the center of the enclosure. She was crying: tearsstreamed from her eyes and left wet trails through the fur on her face. How had it ever come to this?
TWO MONTHS EARLIER 
Leo ran up the hallway with the others, his naked paws easily gripping the smooth parquet floor. He still halfway couldn't believe it; after months imprisoned in a giant cat pen, they were finally free! With the help of a turncoat guard, the sixChanged most able to fight had escaped their enclosure, taken care of the other guards, and were now closing in on the manwho had held them prisoner. The other five were back in the now-open pen, with the paramedics they'd called for thecaptive who had gone into labor.
 
The turncoat guard, James Case, had the security codes to Hugh Melton's mansion. He'd let them in through a servant'sentrance. The place was furnished expensively: the paintings that lined the walls probably cost more than most cars; thefloor was marble and the scent of floor wax irritated Leo's feline nose. The house was deserted; James had already spreadthe word for the staff to get out.Case pointed up the sweeping, curved staircase. "His bedroom is on the second floor." He glanced back at the six of them— five snarling cats and one angry squirrel. "Look, guys—I know what he did—""What you
all 
did," Lee, the snow leopard Changed, growled."—um, yeah. But all I'm saying is…no fatalities, okay? Two wrongs don't make a right."Tiffany, the tigress, put a handpaw on his shoulder. "James, it's all right. We're not going to kill the bastard.""Much as we'd like to," Lee muttered. Her ears were flat against her skull, and her eyes gleamed dangerously."He needs to be around to face justice," Tiffany continued. "We're all clear on that, riiiight?" She drew out the last word asshe looked at the rest of them, in a way that brooked no argument. They all echoed the word, "Right," though Lee's assentwas more than a little reluctant."So no little 'accidents' with claws and teeth.""We get it already," Lee said through clenched fangs. "Let's get
on
with it!""Like, chill out with the, like, negative vibes, stripey-babe," Dan, the surfer-turned-Cheshire-housecat Changed said, hisears perking forward. "You're, like, totally harshing my mellow here.""Whatever that means," Lee muttered, trying to ignore the way Dan immediately grinned at her. Leo was pretty sure Danhad feelings of some kind toward Lee but was still trying to work out the best approach. Given that his own advances in thatdirection had been met with the threat of an impromptu veterinary procedure, Leo wished Dan luck—he was going to needit."All right, then let's do it." Tiffany and James led the way up the stairs.Leo followed behind the others. The lion-Changed was slumping a little. If he was honest with himself, he supposed thatonce the adrenaline had worn off he wasn't really good for much. Some lion he was. "I'm a lover, not a fighter," hemumbled."Huh?" Lee said.Glad it was hard to see a blush under fur, Leo responded, "Uh…nothing."At the top of the stairs, Tiffany braced herself to kick in a fancy, mahogony-finished door—but James held up a hand to stopher. He reached down and tried the knob, and it swung open at a push. Tiffany led the way into the luxurious apportment,looking almost resentful she hadn't gotten to kick the door in.Leo looked around. The room was big and spacious, with deep pile carpet and expensive furniture. There were a couple of doors, and a balcony entrance visible at the far end of the room. One corner was occupied by an unmade queen-sized bed. Alump under the disheveled comforter seemed to be shivering.Tiffany strode over and yanked the bedclothes away…to reveal a cougar-Changed woman alone in the bed, staring up withwide, terrified eyes. "Well son of a…" Tiffany muttered. "This is a new low, even for Melton. Don't worry, honey, nobody'sgoing to hurt you now." She nodded to the study, then the rest of the house. "Search the place. He can't have gotten far.""Got it." James went through one of the adjoining doors, and the others headed back to the hallway.
 
Leo started to follow, then stopped. Something about the woman in the bed held his attention. He moved over for a closer look, but was stopped by Tiffany glowering at him. "I don't think there's anything you can do here, Leo. This one's already been traumatized enough."Leo shook his head. "There's something…just let me close enough to smell her."Tiffany rolled her eyes. "We're only
 part 
cat, you know. We don't
have
to sniff each other's butts."Leo sighed. "Tiff, I'm not a
complete
jerk. I'm also the only one who met Melton in person."Tiffany's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?" But she let Leo come close enough to get a good whiff.Leo's sensitive nostril picked up the scent—and underneath the musky odor of female cougar, and the tang of fear, was ascent Leo had never forgotten. He looked up. "I think this
is
Melton."Tiffany gaped. "What?"Then James came back, holding a portrait in a desk frame. "Tiff, I found this in the study. I think you need to see it."Tiffany spun to face him. "What?""I've seen this picture a hundred times, Melton keeps it right on the edge of his desk. It's him with Representative Sandrick at a fundraising dinner." He slowly turned the picture around to show the familiar badger…arm in arm with an attractive brown-haired woman."Did someone photoshop it?" Tiffany asked."No, it's ROB. The RDF," Leo said."Huh?""Look, if you hadn't mixed with any TG Changed before, uh, y'know, you might not have heard," Leo said. "But ever sincea year or so back, whenever you, uh, reverse polarity in your Change, the 'Random Omnipotent Being' searches and replacesall your records in the world with a new face and name. Driver's license, newspaper clippings, everything.""So Melton's turned into a woman?" Case asked.Tiffany looked from the photo to the cougress, who was still curled up and whimpering on the bed. The woman in bedmight have fur and a muzzle now, but her hair was the same. Tiffany caught James's eye, and nodded toward the bed. "Awoman…and a cougar." James stared, his mouth making an "O" shape."See if you can find anything that would have had his name on it. Certificates, diplomas, whatever," Leo suggested. "Weshould at least know what to call her." James nodded and slipped back into the study.Tiffany sighed. "I'll go get the others.""You…you
bitch
!" Lee growled. "How could you have done this to us?" She was standing over the bed with her clawsunsheathed, glowering at the cougar-woman who was still lying there. All the other captives except Clarisse, Tim, and Jack (who were still down in the pen with the paramedics) had also gathered in the bedroom."Um, technically, Lee, she—he—wasn't a 'bitch' yet when he…did…" Leo trailed off as Lee turned her gimlet eye on him. "…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…I didn't…I wasn't…" the cougress whimpered. She'd rolled over with her head back, exposingher neck, in a gesture of submission. "…please don't hurt me…""Her name is Helena," James Case said, holding up a philanthropic award certificate taken from the study wall. "That's whatevery article, reference, license…anything I can find that had his name in it says now.""He must have had an out-of-phase Change, just recently," Leo said. "That's why he wasn't in the observation booth the lastfew days."
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