FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hope

Bernie kept laughing. The rapid decline of her life just rebounded in the biggest way. She kept marvelling at herself as she picked up a rock about the size of a football and, with a little effort, cracked it in two by squeezing it between her hands. Paws? They were still hands, she guessed. Just fuzzy, huge, padded, clawed. Exotic. That worked. They were massive too, even considering how big she was. Like three times the size of her old spindly digits. Where Bernie could cover her face as a human, she could span half her head with these mitts. Either way, she was launching heaps of the material aside with ease, slowly carving a valley in the pile in search for a door or something to escape and start living life again.

She knew she was counting chickens before they hatched, and she knew there was a whole mess of a situation ahead of both herself and Liam once she returned to civilisation as a giant bear woman, but this was the greatest gift she never knew she wanted. It was simultaneously proof of something beyond the mundane she had cynically taken for gospel. Yes, she wasn't superstitious, but Bernie had never been more glad to be proven wrong. Magic existed, and she was something actually supernatural. Bernie couldn't help but wonder where she might land on Liam's tier list of cryptids he wanted to fuck.

Sure, that was a little joke she had coaxed out of him one night when he was drunk, but it told her a lot about him as a man. He had his head in the clouds a little, and loved the exotic. It equally surprised her when he showed interest in her on a romantic level and asked her out. They enjoyed a classic meal and a movie, returned to his van, enjoyed an... awkward though meaningful night together, more exploration than passion, but it meant a lot to both of them.

Then, quite literally the next day, she got a call from the doctors about her initial cancer diagnosis. The affliction which had derailed her life, one that had resisted chemo and spread throughout her body. Her already weak constitution had been fading by the day, yet in this moment, Bernie had never felt such strength, or felt so unbelievably healthy. Indestructible.

Bernie suddenly felt a trickle of something on her head, muffled by her fur. She looked up at the crumbling stone ceiling in time for an existing crack to rupture and a large chunk to smack into her snout. It actually made her stumble for a moment and step back out of fear, only for the cascade to stop. She glanced first at the crack, then down at her muzzle. She could see a blur of red on the top of her snout as blood seeped from a nasty scrape. “Okay. Ow.” She squinted at the wound, mostly out of wonderment of still having so much of her own 'face' she could focus on, then gasped as the small gash first felt cool, then the parted skin simply pulled itself back together.

“How goes the excavation, Ms. Ursa?” Liam said and entered, a little confused as Bernie seemed to have her eyes crossed.

“I'm regenerating.”

Liam's head tilted. “... beg your pardon?”

Bernie dipped her head and pointed to her healed, though still subtly stained snout. “I'm regenerating,” she repeated. “I didn't even put two-and-two together earlier when you cut my hand and didn't see a wound, or how my arm fixed itself, or how it feels like my cancer feels like it's fucked off, but yeah.”

He froze for a moment, his eyes squinting as if he was questioning what he just heard, before asking, “seriously?”

She chuckled. “Do I now apparently shit in the woods?”

Liam laughed back in spite of the situation. “I almost feel like I shouldn't be surprised at this point. You're not just a bear woman, you've gotta be a werebear. A lycanthrope or something. Maybe we should start avoiding silver and marking calenders for full moons?”

“I don't know, but I'm definitely not not a were_wolf,_ himbo,” Bernie scoffed, then rolled her eyes at his confusion. “Lycan, as in wolf? Therianthrope would be an acceptable answer, meaning 'wild-beast person', or I guess I'm more specifically an ursanthrope?” Bernie scratched her head and ruffled her almost silly looking rounded ears. “Or ursa-maritimus-thrope?”

Liam threw his arms wide. “You've lost me. The hell're you talking about?”

“Ursa maritimus. Latin for sea-bear, which is what they called polar bears because of how often they were seen as aquatic mammals.”

Liam looked up at Bernie's smug, know-it-all expression, even if it was harder to read with her bear muzzle, but couldn't help himself. “Okay, little-but-actually-big miss-know-it-all. How's the exit coming along?”

“Just about there!” Bernie returned to her task of digging, no longer lobbing rocks aside than large handfuls of mud. “I think, anyway. Just had more shit fall in on us, but I'm definitely making progress. Must have been a lot of smaller collapses rather than one big one over the centuries.”

“This near the coast? No doubt it's been stormed in plenty of times, seeped through and eroded the rock.”

Liam let Bernie continue her work, mostly remaining quiet. There were too many complicated issues on their minds and too much uncertainty ahead to begin any sort of plans. Bernie's huge, clawed hands tore at chunks of the debris until, at last, her claws raked on solid stone. More determined scrapes finally unveiled a doorway of similar build to the way into the antechamber.

Bernie sniffed and sighed with contentment. “Smell that?”

Liam tried but didn't catch anything but mud and damp. “No?”

“Clean air. You really can't catch that?” Bernie sniffed again, then turned around as her black nose twitched with gusto. “Oh, right... bear nose!” She pawed at her snout, only to snort and sneeze as she accidentally caked it in her mud. With a lick of her long tongue and spitting out the offending dirt, she giggled. “This is still so fucking cool! Like everything I am has just been ramped up.” Bernie pulled more muck from the passage, and finally Liam could feel it rather than smell it. Moving air, a full whiff of the outside cold lashing through before Bernie's thick fur, rustling it, as she began to crawl through the passage, only to stop. “Huh?”

“What is it?” Liam backed up as Bernie crawled out and let him see. The debris has been cleared on the other side, revealing a clearer passage, then a construction light mounted on a wall bracket that had been hammered into the carved stone. “Oh, fucking hell. Seriously with this owner not giving two shits about historical preservation.”

“Important, sure, but not what I was confused by.”

Liam then saw it. A large wall of yellow painted metal with patches of dried mud and rust in front of the entrance. He knocked on it, and received a hollow, metallic tang. “I think it's a bucket scoop. You know, from one of the diggers.”

“We've gone full circle then. This must still be in the fenced off grounds.”

He ducked down and put his head to the floor, peering beneath the obstacle. “I think the digger's right above us with the arm reaching down and covering the entrance, but I don't know if we're going to be able to get out. There's maybe a foot of clearance at the top and bottom.”

“I could give it a try,” Bernie answered with a shrug.

Liam returned to her and then eyed the corridor. “I don't doubt you're strong, but a even smaller excavators have gotta be several tons.”

“Got a better idea? I'm getting tired of being cramped in here. Besides, I've only got to lift the scoop a little and you can get through at least, right?”

Liam crooked his neck. “I guess. And if I can get outside, maybe I can find a way to move it out the way. I'll have to go first 'cause I doubt I'll be able to get around you.”

“You calling me fat?” Bernie peered over her muzzle at him.

He was still getting used to the new Bernie, but he knew that telltale sign of her trying to be serious and failing, with the edges of her mouth crooking up and exposing her beastly teeth. Liam stood and replied, “relax. Your belly isn't as fat as your big-arse brain.” He reached up and mock-punched her in the forearm since her bicep was out of reach. “But seriously, I'm not fitting around you when you're crawling through.”

Bernie snorted a little, pretending to be offended. She then put her hand behind Liam and shoved him down the tunnel. It was like he weighed nothing to her. He marched up to the digger bucket, with Bernie close behind, where she managed to pull her knees beneath her as she ran her fingers over the metal, then slipped them underneath.

“Ready?” She asked.

“As I'll ever be.”

Bernie sniffed a deep breath, then began to try and lift. The bucket creaked and rattled as any slack was taken up then, to both their surprise, it lifted.

Liam said, “well, shit, lucky us. Maybe it's got busted hydraulics?”

“Maybe? It's really not as heavy as I thought it would be. Get ready to crawl.” She grunted with exertion but lifted the bucket high enough without too much ceremony, but the sound of trickling stones started to contend with the creaking metal. “Uh... Liam? You said the digger's over us?” The sounds intensified and they both felt a cascade of rocks as the offending vehicle tilted on the crumbling ground.

“Fuck. Quick!” Liam hunkered down as Bernie hefted the scoop. As soon as there was enough clearance, he scooted beneath and out and into the clean air and near-darkness of nightfall. He turned just in time for the entrance to collapse, with the digger falling forward with a crash of shingle, stone and metal. Liam stumbled back to avoid the carnage, but gritted his teeth and ran back in before it even settled. “Bernie!”

A growing silence set in as the excavator scraped forward, covering the new, loose topsoil and the dull chime of stones clacking and bouncing. Liam ran to the digger door, ready to try and hotwire it and try to drive it off, only for a low, guttural rumble to reverberate through the ground. The soil to shifted and shook again, then the digger itself began to shake and groan. He backed away as the vocal rumble grew tinged with a now familiar deep, husky yet feminine grunt.

The excavator lifted higher and higher as Bernie's thick legs came into view first, flexing with a hint of jiggle through the now muddy fur. Liam retreated farther as more and more of her body came into view, now using her full strength as the entire digger left the ground and she stomped out of the crumbled barrow exit, her large feet sinking into the half-frozen mud. It was when her face came into view, with her arms raised and entirely holding the digger, something bigger than her, aloft that made Liam almost fall to his knees in awe.

The supernatural in its full glory as Bernie let loose her strength. Not just bigger and stronger in body, but something else dwelled within her. Her eyes glowed the same blue as their natural shade, but radiating light that glowed across her muzzle in the darkness. With a savage roar, Bernie stomped and planted her feet, her legs and arms bulging with effort as she pivoted her hips and hurled the digger to the side.

Liam went pale as he watched something a vehicle that big and heavy fly in a steady arc a clear forty feet, silence filling its brief flight, only to land in an ear-splitting crash and shatter of both the digger winter twilight air. Fragments of metal, glass and plastic scattering along with the earth as it was chopped and sprayed in its passage. He had watched every moment, yet it still made him jump. It made it all the more real.

Bernie's breath steamed as she snarled and her eye's unnatural light faded back to her usual baby blue. She looked at the wrecked digger, blinked a few times, then down at her hands. “Holy fuck.”

Liam stood with a dazed stumble as he approached her. She almost didn't notice him until he reached out, where her focus snapped to him.

“D- did I just lob that thing like a fucking Tonka toy?”

Liam slowly nodded. “Yeah... yeah, you did. That was amazing.”

Bernie mirrored his nod. Her mouth opened and closed a few times silently before she barely managed a, “damn.”

“And kinda hot,” Liam whispered, no filter between his brain and mouth as more of the gravity of the situation sank in.

Bernie's ears wiggled at his muttering and her focus redoubled on his face. The shock knocked free a little more wherewithal and she winked down at him. “Oh? Want me to throw more shit around?”

Liam realised what he just said and he crashed back to earth with an awkward laugh and his pallor fast-shifting to bright red. “Y-ye... wait, no!” He slapped his face with both hands to both make sure he was awake and talking sense. “Fuck, we need to get out of here. Even if nobody's still around, someone could have heard that from the road.”

“I guess. At this point I'm just glad I can stand up straight.” Bernie stretched fully upright, arms and legs fully extending, with her musculature rippling and causing the pudge and womanly curves to shake in the aftershock. She suddenly bellowed, in as high a rasp as she could muster, “ahh! After ten thousand years, I'm free! Time to conquer earth!”

“Glad to know there's still a huge nerd buried under the huge nerd. Seriously, who even watches that show any more?”

“Someone with taste in the classics and can bench a lot more than you now, himbo.” She folded her arms, defiant and smooshing them against her expansive chest and looking appropriately smug, though still a little terrifying after her physical display. The imposing facade broke as she tittered like a little girl in spite of the huskiness of her tone.

Liam chuckled back, glad for the levity of the moment snuffing out the back-to-back panic and astonishment of escaping the barrow. The night was drawing in fast, but her form took up so much of his view that it played tricks on him. The pale and translucent fur seeming grimy, even through the mud stains, thanks to the low light beyond that of his head lamp, but she looked fantastic in a way that transcended the obvious.

The way she stood, the lack of any slouch, absolutely naked and had no shame. The latter of those he knew were partially from her being poked and prodded in hospital gowns, growing more and more familiar with exposure to strangers and her nearest and dearest alike, but a skinny half-Irish geek didn't have the level of raw confidence Bernie now possessed. Liam couldn't help but feed on the positive vibes that she didn't just give off, but radiated like a sun in the gloom.

He couldn't help but admire her for a while, awestruck and long enough that some of her older self seeped through as Bernie dropped one arm and rubbed her elbow as she struggled to keep eye contact.

She suddenly mumbled, “you, uh... you okay?“

“I should be asking you the same thing after all that, but... well, you know.” Liam gestured, but even he didn't know what to do with his hands, or what to say.

“Not really,” she agreed with his mood rather than his words. “I think shit's just beginning to dawn on me. What I am, what it means, or how the fuck we're going to explain this to my parents?”

“That's a fair point.”

Silence, barring the low whistle of the wind.

Liam cleared his throat. “Alright, let's get out of here and just wing it, I guess.”

“Right!” She wrung her huge hands together. “A Liam special it is: wing it and probably get arrested. Back to the van then. Though do you think it'll take... me?” She looked over at the collapsed barrow exit they'd just used, then over at the distant entrance from earlier, then back down at Liam. “I mean, I know it's a work van, but... shit, how much do you think I weigh? Like, a ton? It's not like I can just scale up my old bodyweight, because it's not like it's just a bigger me.” She emphasised the comparison with a slap of her gut, and they both watched it jiggle for a second. Her chest followed with an aftershock, less severe yet more persistent. Again, both watched. Liam swore he saw a hint of pink on her furry cheeks.

Liam pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “Well, we'll just have to hope the suspension's up to snuff.” He started towards the entrance. “It's gotta be pretty strong, right? I know it's only an old Movano, but still. Plus it's only got a few tools and some camping bits in it. Just, you know, when we get to the car park, try and stay away from the road? Last thing we need is-”

Liam suddenly felt his pocket vibrate. Bernie's phone. He pulled it out and looked at it, and his blood ran as cold as when he first saw Bernie as a bear. It was her mum. “Fuck, it's your folks.”

“Well, uh...” Bernie looked at her huge, muddy hands. “Just... answer it!”

“They'll wonder where you are! I can answer the phone, but you've gotta talk to them!”

“What? No!” She bounced from foot to foot in an adorable, panicked dance that Liam swore he could feel through the earth in tiny tremors. “My voice is all deep and whatever. It'll be fine, just tell them we're... fuck, what are we gonna do?”

After a few seconds of panic, Liam answered the call. “Hey, Mrs. Fothergill...”

“Liam?” Bernie's mother said, her Irish accent equally terrifying but despite the gentle lilt. “Is everything right, me-boy? Ye've been ages. Is Bernadette w'ich you?”

“She is! It's just been...” he turned and looked at the equally terrified Bernie. “A bit of an adventure. It's a long story.”

“So long as you're both well. Listen, the doctors wanted to keep Bernadette in for more scans tomorrow, but we'll be needin' ye back right sharp 'afore visiting hours are over. How soon can ye bring me girl back?”

“Oh... uh, we're a short walk from the van, it'll only take-”

“I must be hearin' things.” The voice didn't change in any perceivable way, but Liam could feel a lethal pressure on his heart at the tiniest drip of disapproval crossing the airwaves crashed into him like a tidal wave. Mrs. Fothergill continued, “you haven't been runnin' me girl ragged now, Liam? You know's well as I she can't be exertin' herself. E'en a 'short walk'.”

“Honestly, Mrs. Fothergill, I-”

“You call me Mrs. Fothergill again like some cold-callin' jackanape tryin' ta run a scam. Ye've known me fer five years an' more, Mr. Keeley_,” she added with fierce passive-aggression, _“so talk to me like it.”

Liam swore he was trembling, and not because of the cold. “Y- yeah. Heather. Bernie's right here.” He held the phone up to Bernie, who swung her hands in a crazed and desperate way, but eventually took a few long breaths and gingerly took the tiny device between her index finger and thumb.

She licked her lips and cleared her throat, facing away from the phone as she made a few short sounds with her throat, raising the pitch a few octaves before answering. “Hi, ma. What's-”

“Bernadette? Ye sound awful! I swear, if that boy has been makin' ye sick, I'll-”

“I...” Her teeth bared, the hackles on her neck puffed up, her ears wiggled and never had Liam seen something so big, so powerful so (understandably) cowed. “I... I choked on a crouton in my soup!”

Silence in response.

Bernie took a couple of quick breaths and continued. “I figured I could have a little tiny piece of solid food if I let it soak in the soup long enough. I was talking while I ate and scratched my throat. It's been a little sore since. That's all.”

“And what's this about makin' ye walk? In your condition?”

Bernie couldn't fight back the smirk as she hopped on the spot and celebrated her 'lightness'. She felt like she could run to the hospital and barely be out of breath. “Ma, I'm literally walking on borrowed days because of my weakness. I just wanted to enjoy the feeling as much as I can while I still have the strength. Besides, I was the one who suggested it. Don't take it out on Liam.”

An exasperated sigh replied before the words came. “A'right, a'right. I'm just worried. Anyway, you get Liam to drive you back to the hospital on t'double. They want to run some more scans. Mostly for research so hopefully nobody else has to go t'rough this horror, and need you under observation and a controlled environment overnight.”

The pair both gave each other a glance. Bernie licked her teeth, the tongue snaking out and half wrapping around her muzzle before answering. “You know... I've been feeling better today. Is it really necessary to have more scans?”

“What do you mean? Better?” Heather's tone became strained. “How?”

Again, they looked at one another. Liam shrugged and Bernie sighed and rubbed her neck, ruffling her fur. “Can we... meet away from the hospital? I kind of want to talk about it in private.”

“Bernadette Saoirse Fothergill, please stop mucking about, makin' me worried and just get back to the hospital. End of discussion.”

The call ended and Bernie sighed, with heavy tinge of a bear-like grumble. “Fuck... don't suppose we could go on the lam?”

Liam chuckled but shoot his head. “You and I both know it would cause your mum to freak the fuck out and I doubt I'd survive much longer after that. Let's just face the music and see where it leads us, okay?”

They resumed their approach to the entrance in time for night to roll in full. They reached the facility and Liam opened the door again, then back at Bernie. “Ready to squeeze through more narrow doorways?”

She knelt down and craned her neck to look inside, then scoffed and looked up. “Fuck that. I can just climb over.”

“You sure that's a good idea? This place looks half finished, and even what's there still looks half-arsed.”

It was too late. Bernie set her mind and her footing, reached up and held the ledge then casually hopped as if to amble up. Her thick, immensely powerful legs sent her up much higher than she anticipated, and where she held the roof sent her into an awkward head-over-heels sprawl. She landed hard on top to a cacophony of splintering struts and flimsy concrete, then through it with a crash.

Liam cringed as Bernie landed arse first inside the canteen of the building, cracking the floor. She impacted with enough force that Liam swore he felt the ground shake as she sat still while pieces of timber and plaster trickled around her.

After an awkward moment, she glanced over her shoulder, clearing her throat as she brushed off a few fragments of the wreckage off her shoulder and said, “um... sure, squeezing through works.”

Liam stared at the hole in the ceiling, then the doorway to the foyer. Swings and roundabouts came to mind again: they had already made a mess in their escape, more now was just a bucket of water in an ocean. “It'll not make much difference either way. Either that or you head back outside and hop the fence. Wait, scratch that; the less time spent exposed to the road, the better, and at least this way I can make sure the coast is clear.”

He led the way, with Bernie crawling after him, passing into the reception area. Liam turned and watched his massive companion eye the door frame with a wrinkled muzzle.

“This isn't gonna end well,” Bernie grumbled and, as with the barrow, she started wedging her way through. Unlike the hard, unforgiving stone of the tomb, even if that eventually cracked and buckled against her titanic strength, the opening met her shoulders and breasts and simply caved like thin plasterboard. They both scoffed as Bernie just hauled herself beside Liam and the wall collapsed, along with more of the already damaged ceiling. “I tried?”

“Doesn't matter, you're through,” Liam said and jogged to the entrance. “Wait here and I'll back the van up to the doorway.” He checked outside, watched for silhouettes in the occasional flash of headlights across the dual carriageway only a short distance away, then squinted at his van to the side, untouched. Liam left as nonchalantly as he dared, despite being covered in dirt, scrapes and cuts, unlocked and climbed into his van.

With a long, laboured turn of the starter engine, the van roared to life, and Liam backed it to the double doors. He climbed between the centre console and into the cargo area, to a sports bag full of random supplies he used to use for longer urban exploration trips and got some disinfectant wipes to clean himself before going through the back exit of the van. He stepped aside and nodded to Bernie as he cleaned himself up as best he could. “Right, let's see how this goes. Just take it slow and let's hope one of the tyres doesn't pop.”

“You know I've been a bear for, like... what, three or four hours and I've been able to stand up for about twenty minutes. This shit's getting old.” She sighed and leaned down, then stopped and stared at her hand braced against the roof of the van, and how it moved at what felt like a mere touch.

“Something wrong?” Liam asked.

“No, just...” she grabbed the van's tow-step, grinned, then lifted. Bernie hefted it with one arm as easy as Liam could a bag of spuds. “It's so weird I'm about to climb in something that feels so flimsy.”

“Bernie, stop benching my ride and get inside before someone spots us!”

“Right, right, sorry!” She gently lowered the vehicle, knelt down and slowly crawled inside. Liam's van bounced and creaked as her massive weight pressed down on the old suspension and cheap tyres, with her slowly shifting into almost a fetal position as she pulled her legs inside. “I think I'm in.”

Liam chuckled at the sight of the black, muddy pads and matted fur that were Bernie's paw-like feet, each big enough to smother his chest. He couldn't resist reaching out and patting one on the ankle. “Try and keep these stompers off the upholstery.”

“Har har. Do you even hoover this thing? I know I'm filthy already, but damn...”

She fidgeted some more as Liam carefully closed the doors with a chuckle, and heard Bernie try to relax within, punctuated with more shudders and shakes. He squeezed through the small gap between the van and building doors, got back in the driver seat and, with a sigh and a prayer under his breath, shifted shifted the gear into first and tried to start moving.

He instantly knew they were in trouble. The clutch met biting point and Liam redoubled the prayer as he released the handbrake, but they didn't move. He depressed the accelerator enough that he knew the van should have jumped forward, yet they spun on the gravelled ground instead.

Liam dropped the clutch again and said, “I think I need a 'heavy load' sign on the back of the van.”

He heard Bernie giggle, then she added, “when you reverse, do I have to make the beeping noise for added effect?”

“No, but do me a favour? When I say so, could you rock forward a bit?”

“'Kay.”

Liam once more got the clutch to biting point, said, “now!” and planted his foot on the accelerator. The van lurched forward as Bernie shifted her weight and they mercifully started to move. With a little more lead-footed pedal work, they were finally on their way.

After a slowly turning and joining the road, it continued to be clear the van was at its limit. It struggled to accelerate shy of straining the engine, not to mention a cringe-inducing squeal from the suspension over even gentle bumps. He didn't dare go at the 50mph speed limit and stuck to a casual 30mph, much to the irritation of the other drivers who overtook with the occasional blare of their horns.

It was a moonless night, black as pitch by the time they reached the hospital. Liam parked in the visitors lot as far from any street lights as he could, used his phone to pay the extortionate parking fare and then poked his head back in the van, occasionally glancing around for any other visitors coming and going. He asked, “how are we gonna play this, Bernie?”

With a shuffle that caused the van to buck and shake, Bernie looked up at him. “The hell if I know. Maybe... maybe go get my ma and bring her here? Just hurry, I'm feeling bloody well cramped in here.” Bernie fidgeted again to try and get more comfortable, and Liam winced at the dancing and bouncing of his van.

“Right, back in a mo.” Liam jogged to the hospital visitors entrance, receiving strange glances as he knew he was dishevelled and streaked with lines of mud. His heart almost pounced out of his throat when he saw a couple of police officers were standing over a slumped figure who swayed back and forth and moaned in slurred, staggered words as a doctor and nurse tended to him. Not wanting to draw the officer's attention away from what was almost definitely a regular drunk, he kept at a measured pace and only breathed when he was out of view.

He thankfully knew where he was going, and picked the straightest route to where Bernie had been staying for her checkup and scans. As he rounded the final corridor corner, he caught eyes on Heather, sitting with a styrofoam cup in her hands, who instantly snapped her eyes on him.

“There y'are!” She said and stormed up to him. She resembled Bernie a great deal, both being formidable in spirit in spite of being short and petite, but Heather was more healthier figured, with a trailing ponytail of red hair along with the faintest lines of age across her pretty face and far more intense. Her approach was enough to make Liam take a step back that even Bernie's bear form probably would not. Heather asked, “where's me girl, Liam?”

“It would be easier to show you. She's fine, but... just please, trust me and follow.”

His sincerity made Heather pause, and she folded her arms and nodded. “I'm about on me last nerve after all the worryin' you made me and my husband go through with this 'short walk' nonsense, me-boy, but fine. After you.”

Still desperate and unsure what was about to transpire, he retraced his steps and left the hospital with Bernie's mother in tow. A creeping dread came with every step, only amplified after a split second of relief as where the police had gone from the foyer, they were now lurking outside and chatting on the radio, but Liam's steps only truly slowed as his van came into view.

His palms grew sweaty and a white haze floated across his eyes. He felt like he was about to die, or throw up, or both. He knew it was just fear, but Heather was either going to faint on the spot in shock or murder him for letting any harm, or at least change, come to her precious girl.

Liam even saw movement in the van. The faint sight of Bernie's round ears poked up first, then her blue eyes creeped over the dashboard and grow wide as she saw Liam and her mother. Bernie dipped her head out of view again. The vehicle rocked about a bit then... lifted? As if it was getting lighter by the second. Yet the doors remained closed. He croaked, “no way...”

“No what, Liam?”

He didn't answer. He staggered over to the van's rear and slowly opened the door. Inside was the sound of shuffling movement, and it was only as the door opened in full he saw it. Saw her.

Bernie. Human Bernie. Completely stark naked and desperately trying to get into a sleeping bag he kept for longer road-trips. Yet something was off. Like when he first saw her transformed self, details stood out that the shock kept him from truly grasping.

Heather looked past Liam then shoved him aside and gasped as she saw her daughter finally wrap the camping bed around herself. Bernie's mum half-screamed, “what in the Devil's arse-hairs!?”

Liam's shock and attempts to understand were wrenched as tight as his ear as Heather pulled him aside as Bernie managed to cover herself.

Heather snarled, “what have ye been doin' to me girl, you fuckin' lousy gobshite!?”

“Wait, ma, stop!” Bernie called out. “It's not what-”

Undeterred, Heather poked Liam in the chest with a pointed finger. “You know she's sick, you bastard! You fuckin' dare put yer hands on my girl th'way she is!?”

“I didn't touch her!” Liam raised and waved his hands to try and ward Heather off, but the she seethed at him. He continued, “just listen for a second, I-”

“Is something wrong?”

Liam knew it before he even turned around. All his good fortune this day had come to a crashing end as the two police officers he'd seen were now standing right behind him, one with a hand on his taser.

“Fuck,” was all he could manage as Heather let him go and went to them. It didn't take a genius to know he wasn't getting out of this. He tried to think of some valid excuse, but while he was fast at thinking in danger, he knew he didn't have the tools to deal with this. How do you explain why a sickly, fragile girl is naked in the back of your van with her incensed mother pointing the finger at him for all the worst accusations? When he was covered in scratches around his hands and arms that could pass as being caused by frantic fingernails?

Even Bernie stayed quiet. Liam couldn't blame her. She was a long term planner, not great in a panic and even less so when her mother was enraged like this.

The rest was a blur as Liam went with the flow and tuned out. The accusations were accepted, the suspicions of sexual assault railed against him and he was cuffed and threw him in the back of their patrol car.