Forgiving a Felon
Right now, she was lost in her thoughts, the gentle bounces of the steel seat underneath her barely registering in her mind.
How had it come to this? How did one end up here after raising a beautiful family?
"Miss Tanya," A voice roused her from her thoughts. She looked up, and the steel collar around her neck jangled as she pulled at the chain that restrained her to the floor of the van. "Miss Tanya, I hope you don't get hurt during all of this."
Tanya nodded solemnly at the other female, also clad in orange, also chained to the floor. "Wait...all of wha-"
A violent explosion cut her off, and the armoured van jerked violently, throwing the guard against the back door. The chains did their job, and held fast against the forces of inertia, effectively saving both females from meeting the same fate as the guard.
Bullets pinged off the side of the van, and the noise of combat roared inside the armoured steel box. Tanya kept her head down, tears flowing freely, she screamed, and the noise died down. The door burst open, and two quick bursts of gunfire echoed into the van as the wounded guard was finished off. Tanya looked up for a brief moment, and saw two tigers wearing kevlar vests leap into the van.
"What do we do with the mousey?" One of the tigers asked.
"Get her out too, this van has to go up in flames." The female's voice answered. Tanya heard two loud snaps, steel breaking like chalk, and suddenly, her chains were free. "Come on miss Tanya, get a move on, I'm sure you don't want to stay here."
Tanya jumped from her seat and hopped out of the van, in the distance, sirens filled the fading orange sky. The night would help her escape, but not if she didn't get away from here. Before the other female could offer to help her with the chains, Tanya bolted into a nearby alleyway. For a fur of normal height, the chains around her ankles would restrict their movement greatly enough to make them easy to capture, Tanya, however, was just over five feet tall, and her short legs could nearly reach full stride before the chains would entangle her.
She never stopped to take a breath, her ankles were raw from the rubbing chains and cuffs, but Tanya ran until the sounds of sirens mixed with the sounds of a sleeping city: A quiet factory in the distance, perhaps a powerplant, humming; A train, it's clacking wheels on the tracks; The occasional woosh of a car passing by one of the alleys. Then, she collapsed against a trash bag, her lungs ablaze with pain, her whole body sore and completely burnt out.
She moaned in agony, fear, and exhaustion, and then perked her ears as a new sound approached from a distance. Sirens, again. Her eyes welled up when she remembered the chip they had implanted in her wrist. While it couldn't track someone to a pinpoint due to battery life issues, it would always give a good general location. Tanya flipped her hand over, and opened her maw, ready to tear the chip out of her wrist if she had to...until she came to the realization that the chip was safely nestled under her wrist cuffs. Now the tears really started to flow, and she held her head in her paws, tears trickling down to the cracked, filthy pavement. Night fell, and occasionally, the flickering blue and red lights would flash over her as police cars circled the neighbourhood, waiting for someone to report a break-in, and searching for her. She had to get off the streets, there was no other way to survive the night with everyone hunting for her.
She perked her ears and concentrated, a city girl all her life, Tanya knew what sounds to look for, sounds that didn't quite fit on a street. Her eyes widened as she heard soft gunfire, then, squealing tires, and finally, something crackling and burning, then exploding...finally, a voice: 'looks like the bet's over, DuHart', a movie! She could hear a movie playing, but where, there were no theatres nearby as far as she knew. She followed the sound, it was above her. Just as she looked up, a light flicked on, and through the open window, she heard the movie turn to static, then to silence. She heard a yawn, and then the light clicked off. Tanya waited for a moment, staring up at the window...whoever was up there didn't close it, and rightly so, there was no point in closing a third story window, if only to stop the most dedicated parkour-burglar. She grinned. Parkour was far from her speciality, but she was fit, firm, and athletic. Six and a half years working out and playing sports in High-Security prison would do that to you.
She grasped the water pipe on the edge of the building, and with a grunt, began to climb up. A car pulled into the alley just as she reached the second floor, it's cherry-top flashing. Tanya froze, clinging to the pipe, trembling like a leaf. The police car stopped, and both officers got out, gazing around in the dark.
"Signal says she's really close by."
"If she didn't take the chip out already."
"Oh hell, it's gonna take days to search through all this shit and find that damnable chip."
"Well let's hope it's still stuck in her, let's have a quick look around."
Tanya shivered, and inched up the pipe to the small ledge just above the second story windows. There, she gently slid off the pipe, and shuffled across the ledge until she was between her target building, and the next-door building, completely concealed by darkness. A flashlight clicked on below her, and the beam washed across the alley-lot, up the sides of the buildings, and right across the spot where she had been just moments ago. She sighed softly as the light clicked off, followed by two doors clicking closed, and the sound of the cruiser idling away slowly.
There was no time to lose. She jumped, pulling herself up onto the next ledge, slipped around the corner, and then jumped to the windowsill. Her fingers barely caught the edge, and for a moment, she could feel herself slipping. The cheap stucco around the window started to flake and crack, and before she could shriek, the entire section gave way under her fingers. She fell, and suddenly snapped forward, slamming into the wall just above the second floor window. The long chain that connected her wrists had snagged on a piece of exposed steel mesh where the stucco had broke off. The mesh shouldnt've held, but she was thankful it did. A few moments later, she had seized the chains, and pulled herself up to the windowsill, letting herself in as silently as a shadow.
Thunderous snoring filled the room, and Tanya smiled. She could probably saw her shackles off with an angle grinder and not wake up the sleeping beast in the next room. Nevertheless, she tiptoed quietly into the kitchen, and very carefully opened each drawer, looking for something to pick the locks on her shackles with.
Most of the tools were easy to find, a magnet, a butterknife, a paperclip, simple household items, but she couldn't find a pencil anywhere. Unfortunately, according to the convict she had learned this from, it had to be a pencil. A pen wouldn't break at the right point and jam the relocker.
There were no pencils anywhere in the kitchen, or the living room. There was only one place left to look, and Tanya really wished she didn't have to go there.
The snoring was even more prominent up close, as was the size of the creature, a grizzly bear fur that could easily have been over six and a half feet tall. She whimpered under her tongue, and inched over to the computer desk tucked in the corner of the room, where she could already see a perfect pencil, just waiting to be snatched.
With a grin, she leaned over and plucked the pencil from the metal cup it sat in. And immediately, her perfect stealth was met with a heavy clang as the cup tipped over onto the floor, spilling pencils and paperclips across the floor. The snoring stopped suddenly, "who the hell's here!" The roar filled the room, and in a split second decision to fight or fly, Tanya made the wrong choice. She sprang into the air, flicked the chains around her paws, and landed ontop of the bear's massive chest, slamming the chain down against it's throat. If she had to kill once more to be free, she would take the opportunity.
The bear's paws flailed and hit a touch-lamp, suddenly bathing the room in light, and blinding them both for a moment. Tanya held her grip as she felt a massive paw grab her by the side. She blinked and shook her head, then looked into the bear's eyes.
There was no anger, or fear, like she had expected. Her grip almost loosened. The bear's eyes were sad, as though he was looking up at his closest friend who had just betrayed him. His mouth moved, but he hardly had the air to form words.
"Wh-...w..." He gurgled, then tried again, "what did I do wrong?"
A tear formed in the bear's big eyes, and Tanya jerked the chains away from his neck. He gasped, sitting up slightly, coughing hoarsely. Then, the bear looked at Tanya. There was a flash of anger, and then only sorrow. "A criminal." He spat the words out. "what do you want with me?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Why are you here, why do you want me dead? What the hell did I ever do to you god dammit?!"
"I-..." She searched for the right words. "I didn't want to...you woke up...I got scared..."
"Scared?" He laughed curtly, looking over at her, "killers don't get scared."
"I'm not-....how did you know?"
He pointed at her one-piece orange suit. "Dalassy Correctional Facility, I used to be a guard there, high security, murderers, rapists, etcetera. You don't look like a rapist to me."
"Thanks...I think..." She looked at the floor. "For what it's worth, I didn't do it in cold blood."
"Husband?"
"Yes."
"Abusive?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She sighed. "What man beats his wife with the belt she got him for his birthday?"
"A dead one, evidently." He grinned, but her stern glare made him want to swallow his words. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault...I mean," She cracked a slight smile, "I just tried to kill you. To be honest I'm amazed you're talking to me and not throwing me against a wall or calling the cops."
The bear tilted his head at her, and brushed his messy headfur back with one paw. "You chose not to kill me."
"I....felt guilty."
"Criminals don't feel guilty." He smiled slightly.
"Well I'm convicted and..." She jangled her chains to end her sentence.
"But you're not a criminal. Or we wouldn't be talking." He patted the bed, "sit here, you look like hell."
"Thanks." There was a little more edge on it than she had intended. "Sorry...nevermind...thank you."
He looked down at her tiny form, and smiled, not just a regular smile, but a genuine one, teeth showing, eyes glimmering, everything. She smiled back nervously. "Thanks for not hucking me at the wall."
"Thank you for not killing me."
"You know you had plenty of time to stop me." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh of course," He smiled, "But then would you have learned your lesson?"
Tanya started, shooting him the most bewildered look she could muster. He just smiled. She got up and backed away.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Billy Sloane, or you can call me William if you like."
"I mean...what are you? How did you know I wouldn't kill you..."
"Are you asking if I'm supernatural?"
She nodded desperately.
"No. My dear." He waved her closer. "I had faith. If you chose to kill me, you could, but once I could see you, I knew if you saw me, realized what you were doing, and considered it, I was sure you'd control yourself."
"But...but that's-"
"Crazy? Stupid? Foolish?" He nodded. "But it worked. I now know who you are, and if you think you deserve to be helped, I'm willing to offer you help."
"You want to help me?!" She cried, "Why on earth would you do that?"
"Because you're not who everyone thinks you are." He offered his paw to her, and she took it gently, coming closer. "You're just a poor young girl who got backed into a corner, just like my daughter."
"Your daughter killed her husband too?"
"No, she did things a thousand times worse." He bit his lip, "involved with gangs, criminals, and always in trouble. Finally they caught her two months ago, and she's in for life."
"I'm sorry." She patted Billy's husky shoulders.
He sighed and nodded. "Maybe we should get those cuffs off, and that little chip?"
"Right."
For the next hour, Tanya used what she had learned from another convict to fashion a lockbreaker. She wedged the pencil in first, then the bent paperclip. Billy held the magnet over the main bolt, pulling its locks free, and Tanya rammed the butterknife into the keyhole, twisting sharply and forcing the paperclip into the gear mechanism. The internal locks clacked, and the pencil snapped just as it was supposed to, jamming the locks open. In one smooth motion, the cuff came loose. Inside it's clamps was a hidden key only the higher-ups in security knew about, higher-ups like Billy once was. He took her paw gently in his, turned her wrist over, and used the first cuff to unlock the other wrist. Then, he lifted her feet into his lap, and unclamped both of those cuffs as well. She sighed in relief as the shackles and chains fell to the floor, the only one left being the collar around her neck. Billy leaned in close, brushing her shoulder-length brown hair out of the way, and began to undo the clasp on her neck.
Tanya sat still, but the moment she heard the lock click, the sudden joy of freedom overwhelmed her, and she leapt into Billy's lap, giving him a more-than-friendly kiss. In fact, that kiss had felt so good, she gave him another, and another. "Thank you so much Billy...thank you..."
He blushed and smiled. "You're welcome, stranger."
"Oh goodness, you don't know my name yet do you?"
He shook his head.
"I'm Tanya, Tanya Christofan."
"So you were the mouse I saw on the news so long ago. My god you look so different."
"I know..." Her fingers immediately ran through her hair. It was once beautiful, long, full, and vibrantly brown, with caramel highlights. It had lost its life over time, and now was simply flat brown headfur that only stood out because of her fine silvery fur. Tears formed in her eyes. "But I'm free now."
"Not entirely."
"Wh- what?"
He pointed at the orange jumpsuit. "go out in public like that and you'll probably get nabbed."
She looked down at the bright orange clothing, and it suddenly felt so heavy that she could hardly breathe. She stood, jerked the buttons open down the chest, and let it fall to the floor. Billy could hardly speak. It took her a few full seconds to realize what she had done. Under her jumpsuit, there was little else. She had very small breasts, so she wasn't issued a bra, and the standard-issued underwear was so uncomfortable, she (along with most of the population in the female wing of the prison) had chosen simply not to wear any. She now stood in the kitchen, completely naked, save for her socks. She blushed vividly, and her whole body turned pink under her fur. "Oh my god what did I just do..."
Billy snickered, and finally stood up. "Don't you worry your pretty little head dear, I've seen much more in my life."
He pulled a jacket off the back of his chair, and wrapped it around her, it's immense size nearly swallowing her. She trembled, still blushing bright scarlet. "I'm beyond humiliated right now."
"Oh hush," He smiled, "go, sleep on the bed. I'll find some clothes for you in the morning."
She nodded, and then walked shamefully to his bedroom. Midway through the door, she stopped and ducked into the shadow of the bedroom. Billy got up, made his way through the crushed beer cans on the floor of the living room, and laid on the couch. She watched, and shook her head as she watched him try to fit his massive form on such a small couch. She sighed, and walked out into the livingroom, took his hand, and towed him up onto his feet. "Come here." She dragged him to the bedroom, and pushed him towards the bed.
"Are you sure? It's...I was just getting comfortab-"
"Go to sleep, Billy."
He sighed, "Sorry Tanya.."
She turned and stood in the doorway for a few minutes, then moved towards the couch.
"Tanya-"
She paused.
"Would...would you join me?"
The thought had hardly crossed her mind, but now that it did, it awoke something in her. Six years she had been in prison, her only contact with males was through the guards, and despite some of them being less than reputable and enjoying the company of some of the females, she had never said the right things or winked the right way. She had been without any sort of male companionship in so long, that now that it had become possible, her body yearned for it.
"I-..." She turned around.
"Oh..." He shook his head, "forget I said anything."
"No, Billy..." She shrugged her shoulders, and the heavy jacket fell to the floor with a whump. "I'd...I'd love to join you."
(And that's all he wrote folks. Sorry to leave you hanging.)