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       #Post#: 66672--------------------------------------------------
       The Furry Club - A short story
       By: puddincat Date: April 14, 2018, 6:05 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       This is an abomination to writing but I would appreciate some
       critiques before I turn it in for a grade on Tuesday.
       [center]The Furry Club[/center]
       It was a fateful Tuesday at Clovis South High School. Tabitha, a
       transfer student, was talking to her friend Liz before class.
       The two students failed to notice that they were in a certain
       someone's usual spot.
       "Excuse me?" said the boy who had crept up behind Liz.
       Liz turned to face him but didn’t say a word.
       "Hello?" the boy spoke again.
       "Who are you?" Tabitha piped in.
       “I should be asking you that. But whatever. I’m Furnando,” said
       Furnando.
       Tabitha observed that Liz was in no mood for talking, so she
       went ahead and introduced them both. Then suddenly Liz
       interjected, “Why are you here?”
       “You’re in my spot,” said Furnando.
       “Oh, am I?” Liz asked with an ominous chuckle. “Well, pardon
       me.”
       With a sweep of her black trench coat, Liz was gone, and Tabitha
       was alone with Furnando.
       Weird, thought Tabitha. It's not like Liz to just give up her
       seat like that. I remember the last time someone stood up to her
       like that— Liz got detention for homicide. This boy must be very
       powerful... Or Liz has something planned...
       "Oh hey! Someone left some chips here! Well, finders keepers,
       losers weepers."
       Furnando's voice snapped Tabitha back to reality.
       "Want a chip?" he asked.
       Tabitha was just about to seize the morsel when Furnando drew
       his hand back and shoved the chip in his own mouth. "HA! Just
       kidding, they're all for me."
       "Actually, they're all for me," said Mr. Sensei, grabbing the
       bag and throwing it in the trash. "No eating in my class."
       Furnando looked dejectedly at the floor, and Tabitha almost felt
       sorry for him. Damn, what a rebel, she thought.
       "Now class," Mr. Sensei began, "Today we will be discussing the
       meaning of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Would anyone like to
       share their th--yes, Cole Slaw?"
       "I think Animal Farm is vegan propaganda."
       "Interesting perspective. Is that a hand I see, Francesca?"
       "Yeah. I think it just shows that Orwell was speciesist and
       preferred some animals over the others."
       "What in the world is wrong with these people?" Tabitha muttered
       to herself. "I know literature is difficult to comprehend, but
       still."
       "Did you say something, Tabby?" said Mr. Sensei.
       God, I need to get out of here before I really blow up, the
       blonde high schooler thought.
       At that moment, both Tabitha and Furnando raised their hands to
       go to the bathroom. "Can I go to the bathroom?" they asked.
       "Furnando, you can go. Tabitha, you can go when Furnando gets
       back. I don’t want anything silly to happen in the bathroom,"
       Mr. Sensei said, winking.
       Furnando left and Tabitha pouted in her chair.
       "Now, let's get back to the discussion. Liz, I haven't heard
       from you."
       The raven-haired girl stared unflinchingly into Mr. Sensei’s
       eyes, but didn't say a word.
       Oh no, bad idea to call on her like that, Tabitha thought.
       But then Liz spoke: "Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian
       Revolution of 1917 and the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. It
       is meant to warn against the terrors of communism."
       Then everyone clapped.
       "Great observation, Liz!" said Mr. Sensei.
       Oh, my God, thought Tabitha. Literally, it’s not that deep.
       Maybe the guy just liked his animals. If I don’t get out of here
       soon I’m really going to go crazy.
       "Mr. Sensei, I really gotta drop the kids off at the pool, if
       you know what I mean. Pinch a loaf if you catch my drift. THE
       POOP IS COMING AND IF YOU DON’T LET ME GO I WILL SMEAR MY
       HERSHEY SQUIRTS ALL OVER THIS DESK,” Tabitha screamed.
       Mr. Sensei, not wanting to deal with that problem, allowed
       Tabitha to go.
       --
       When Tabitha arrived at the bathroom, she encountered two doors,
       each with some unfamiliar symbols on the front. One sign
       featured a stick figure, and the other sign had a stick figure
       whose body was a triangle. Tabitha figured the regular stick
       figure was for people wearing pants, and since she was wearing
       jeans, she opened that door and headed in.
       "Finally, I can get some peace of mind," Tabitha said to
       herself.
       "What the heck! Is that a girl's voice!" yelled someone from
       another stall. A brown-haired boy charged out, fists ripe and
       ready for a fight.
       Big Chungo. Tabitha had heard of him. He was so strong he once
       beat even Liz in a fight, and she’d taken karate since the third
       grade.
       "What are you doing in here, you pervert!" Chungo yelled. Just
       as Tabitha was about to be pounded into the ground, a tsunami of
       fecal matter swept the two of them off their feet.
       "Ew, gross!" Chungo cried and ran out of the bathroom.
       Tabitha, however, stood still in amazement. "Who...who did
       this?" she stammered.
       "That would be me," said a familiar voice. It was Furnando.
       Tabitha ran over to give her hero a big poopy hug.
       "Furnando...You saved my life!"
       "Ah, well, all in a day's work I guess."
       Wow, now I know why Liz left this boy alone. He's extremely
       powerful, Tabitha thought.
       "You're not from around here, are you, Tabitha?"
       "I just transferred from Clovis West. How did you know?"
       "This is the boys' restroom."
       “What, no way! Well, heh, I just saw a better interpretation of
       Animal Farm in here than I did in all of English class.”
       “What do you mean?”
       “It’s really just a big shit show.”
       Tabitha and Furnando got cleaned up and headed back to class.
       Mr. Sensei saw them walk in together and rolled his eyes. Ah,
       young love, there's no stopping it I guess, the English teacher
       thought to himself.
       "Well, that about concludes today's class," Mr. Sensei said.
       "Tabitha and Furnando, you came back just in time to get your
       homework assignment!"
       Tabitha got her things and ran outside to catch up to Liz. "So
       Liz, that Furnando guy's pretty powerful, huh?" she asked with a
       smirk.
       Liz stopped walking. "He's nothing special."
       "You sure gave up your seat to him pretty quickly though."
       Tabitha gasped. "You have a crush on him!"
       Liz smirked and raised her fist. "No... but I will crush him."
       With a swish of her trench coat, she vanished.
       "Well great, now I have to walk alone," Tabitha mumbled, and her
       stomach grumbled.
       I’m so hungry, she thought, and she went to the vending machine
       to buy some chips. She got angry just thinking about how Mr.
       Sensei threw Furnando's chips away in class. Maybe, just maybe,
       he might have shared them with her and then she wouldn't have
       had to spend her money on the overpriced vending machine chips.
       Seriously, $2.50 for a bag of Cool Ranch™ Doritos®? That's
       ludicrous.
       Just as she was about to insert her dollar in the machine,
       Tabitha was knocked over by none other than Furnando. "Move
       over, peon, daddy's hungry."
       The sheer power of that boy...Where does he get it? Tabitha
       wondered as she lied on the floor.
       Furnando came Tabitha's way with about $50 worth of chips. "Want
       one?" he asked.
       "Yeah, thanks," Tabitha said, reaching out for a bag.
       "GIRL, you thought!" Furnando hollered, swiping them away.
       "Come on, you're really gonna eat all those chips?" Tabitha
       asked incredulously.
       "Uh, yeah, that's why I bought ‘em."
       "Is that where all your powers come from?" Tabitha asked.
       "Powers?" Furnando asked, perplexed.
       "Your incredible strength!"
       "Oh. Well, you see..." Furnando pointed to his face.
       "Why are you pointing to your face?" Tabitha asked.
       "What, you don't notice anything...different...about it?"
       "Uhh, you got a haircut?"
       "No."
       "You’re wearing makeup?”
       "Are you blind? Half of my face is literally a wolf. I can do
       anything a wolf can."
       "Oh, that makes sense," Tabitha said, processing this
       information. "But that doesn't explain how you were able to
       cause such a massive diarrheal explosion earlier."
       Furnando looked off into the distance, a grim look on his face.
       "That's the thing...I don't know how I did it either."
       --
       As Tabitha rounded the corner on her way to English class the
       next day, she was blocked by a huge crowd of students, the
       police, and several news reporters.
       "What’s going on here?" Furnando said, coming up behind Tabitha.
       "No idea," she replied. "I can't get through."
       "Allow me," Furnando said, wielding his claws and threatening
       anyone who got in his way. "S’cuse me, pardon me..."
       Tabitha followed behind him. The crowd parted like the red sea,
       and in the middle of the red sea...was another red sea. Of
       blood.
       "JANITOR JOHNNY!” came Furnando's agonized scream. He collapsed
       on the floor and started caressing the dead custodian’s grimy
       black hair.
       "Oh Johnny, sweet Johnny," Furnando cooed. "Who would do such a
       thing to you? All you ever did was clean our toilets. You were
       Clovis South’s humble servant. And they made you a martyr; for
       what cause? This was a man with dreams, with ambitions. And now
       look at him. He's a corpse. He's a red Sourpatch kid in a puddle
       of Kool-Aid. From now on, Johnny, I will be your hands, your
       eyes, your feet. I will make sure to always flush the toilet
       from now on. I will even eat the cafeteria food you used to so
       lovingly make until I contract salmonella and return to you in
       the next life.” Furnando stood up, blood on his face, rage in
       his eyes. "I don't know what exactly has transpired in this
       wretched hell you call a school, but I swear to God, Johnny,
       whoever did this to you will feel my wrath."
       "I think you mean what did this to him, Furnando," said Tabitha.
       "Look what he's holding."
       Johnny had in his grip the chips Mr. Sensei had thrown away
       yesterday, and he had crumbs on his face.
       "You mean...Janitor Johnny was allergic to chips?!" Furnando
       exclaimed.
       "No," said a police detective. "These chips were poisoned. The
       real question is: why was Johnny eating chips from the trash?"
       "That's easy," said Furnando. "I’m Furnando, a close friend of
       Johnny’s. He would always complain that he wasn’t paid enough,
       so sometimes he had to scavenge meals from what was left behind
       in the trash at the end of the day. Oh god. I miss him so much."
       "You're Furnando, huh?" the police detective said. "Sensei told
       me that those were your chips, which makes you a suspect. I'm
       sorry, but you'll have to come with me."
       Things were starting to come together in Tabitha's mind. The
       chips, the poop, it was all connected. "Wait!" said Tabitha. "I
       sat next to Furnando in class yesterday. He ate some of those
       chips and wouldn't even give me any. And then later he covered
       the entire boys' restroom in sloppy diarrhea runs from food
       poisoning. Furnando's a victim, too. Whoever poisoned those
       chips, it wasn't him."
       "Compelling story," said the cop. "But what were you doing in
       the boys' restroom? That's almost as illegal as this
       cold-blooded murder.”
       "Mr. Officer, leave my students alone," said Mr. Sensei,
       emerging from the crowd. "It was my mistake. I let him go. Has
       this tragedy not softened your heart at all? Surely you can find
       it in yourself to forgive these children, who are simply trying
       to find their way on the path of life and love like the rest of
       us. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach."
       Mr. Sensei's students filed into the classroom somberly, and
       gradually the crowd of students dissipated into their own
       classrooms. Outside it was raining, and inside it was raining
       the tears of the boy with the face of a wolf.
       After what happened the day before with their conflicting views,
       Tabitha and Liz refused to talk to each other, so after class,
       Tabitha found herself walking alone. Alone, that was, until
       Furnando approached her again.
       "Hey, wait up!" said Furnando, and Tabitha stopped walking.
       "Thanks for saving my ass earlier, I'm too young to go to jail."
       "Hm," Tabitha grunted.
       "You okay there, buddy?"
       "I'm depressed."
       "Oh. Well, gotta blast, I have a furry club meeting."
       "Furry club? Is that some sort of criminal organization?"
       "Basically," said Furnando.
       Besides going in the boys' bathroom, Tabitha hadn't committed
       any crimes since she got expelled from her old school, and she
       was having serious withdrawals. "How do I join?" she asked, some
       of the usual enthusiasm back in her voice.
       Furnando laughed. "As long as you're breathing they'll let you
       in. They're desperate. After Jennifur left they came begging for
       me to join, and with all the drama going on, they'll probably
       need another replacement soon."
       --
       "What do you mean, you quit?" yelled a girl in a chihuahua
       fursuit as Tabitha and Furnando arrived at the bleachers for the
       meeting.
       "Looks like it's your lucky day, Tabitha," said Furnando.
       Blinded by white hot rage, the angry chihuahua girl didn't even
       notice them. "Chevin James, you good for nothing crapsack. Have
       you no loyalty? After everything we did for you, after
       everything we've been through, you decide to abandon us in our
       darkest hour?"
       "Yeah, I just feel kinda left out sometimes, so uh, yeah. Sorry
       guys," said Chevin, walking away.
       The chihuahua girl screamed and started punching dents into the
       bleachers. "I could just murder him!"
       "I could do that for you," said Tabitha.
       "Who are you?" asked the chihuahua girl.
       "My name is Tabitha. I want to join the furry club."
       "What does this look like, some sort of charity organization
       that just gives fursuits to any old pariah? These costumes are
       expensive."
       "Jesus, Bella, calm down," said a different furry, a boy in a
       lion fursuit. "We just lost another member, we can't afford to
       reject people like that." He turned to the new arrival.
       "Tabitha, is it? I'm Leo, the leader of the furries. Welcome to
       the furry club…for now.”
       After Bella calmed down and everyone finished getting ready, Leo
       called everyone together so the meeting could start.
       “Alright everyone,” the lion boy began. “Since we have a new
       member, I feel it’s necessary to go over why this organization
       was formed. Polly, can you fill Tabitha in?”
       “Yes, sir!” a girl in a colorful parrot fursuit replied,
       clearing her throat. "In the beginning, there was only darkness.
       Then God said, 'Let there be popularity.' God saw that the
       popularity was good, and he separated the popularity from the
       darkness. God called the popularity 'preps,' and the darkness he
       called 'goths.' And then came 5:00pm and God clocked out and
       went home--the first day.
       "And God said, 'Let there be a vault to separate the smart from
       the dumb.' So God made the vault and separated the smart from
       the dumb. God called the smart 'nerds,' and the dumb he called
       'jocks.' And then came 5:00pm and God clocked out and went
       home--the second day.
       "Then God said, 'Let there be a cafeteria, which shall produce
       foods of various kinds,' and it was so. And God saw that it was
       good. Then came 5:00pm and God clocked out and went home--the
       third day.
       "And God said, 'Let there be bells in all the classrooms to
       separate class time from break time,' and it was so. He also
       made fire drills and earthquake drills for the safety of his
       beloved children. And God saw that it was good. Then came 5:00pm
       and God clocked out and went home--the fourth day.
       "And God said, 'Let there be cockroaches,' for no apparent
       reason besides that he wanted to mess with us. But God thought
       they were good. God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and
       increase in number and fill the classrooms with your offspring.'
       Then came 5:00pm and God clocked out and went home--the fifth
       day.
       "Then God said, 'Let us make furries in our image, in our
       likeness, so that they may rule over the students at Overland
       Park.' God blessed them and said to them, 'Be popular and
       increase in number; fill the school and subdue it. Rule over the
       goths, the preps, the jocks and the nerds. I give you every
       variety of Doritos and every undercooked corndog in the
       cafeteria. They will be yours for food.' And it was so. God saw
       all that he had made, and it was very good. And then came 5:00pm
       and God clocked out and went home--the sixth day.
       "And on the seventh day God still wasn't finished yet. God just
       said, ‘Whatevs,' and clocked out early so he could get home in
       time to watch the big game with the boys." Polly took a deep
       breath. "And that's how America was founded."
       “Exactly,” said Leo. “God made us furries to be Clovis South’s
       noble guardians, to keep watch over the school and make sure
       nobody like your friend Liz (no offense) does anything to harm
       it.”
       “Hey now! Why are you bagging on Liz?” Tabitha exclaimed
       indignantly. “We might not get along very well anymore, but that
       doesn’t mean she’s a threat to the school. She only kills people
       when she has a good reason.”
       Leo looked unconvinced, but he dropped the matter. “I
       apologize,” he apologized. “So, after learning what the furry
       club stands for, what do you say? Will you stand with us, the
       noble defenders of Clovis South?”
       “Yeah, sure.”
       “Great. Then let the ritual begin.”
       “Ritual…?” Tabitha began, but she was unable to finish as she
       was knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she felt different. Her
       senses were enhanced and she felt stronger. She reached up to
       her face to discover that her ears had been moved to the top of
       her head and she had soft fur covering a good portion of her
       face. Was she a cat now?
       Tabitha didn’t have time to dwell on her new body for long,
       because almost immediately after waking up, she was being
       monologued at by Bella.
       “Oh. My God. Polly is dead. She’s dead because you killed her,
       Tabby! Do you know what this means?! We could all go to jail.
       Even worse! It means another member of the furry club we have to
       replace, and we are running out of good replacements! There’s
       only one person left who would be willing to join the furry club
       at this point. If we don’t let Sally Mander join, we’ll be down
       another member. If we let her in, she’ll warp what this entire
       organization stands for! Tabby may have killed Polly, but she’s
       taking the furry club down with her.”
       At this point, Tabitha was extremely confused. “I don’t know
       what you’re talking about! I didn’t kill anyone.”
       Leo sighed. “It was during the ritual. You were still
       unconscious, but you went crazy and killed Bella because you’re
       a cat and she’s a bird.”
       "Who cares about that? There's goddamn human body parts lying
       around everywhere," Furnando interrupted. "I've already been
       convicted of murder once today, and that's not gonna happen
       again. Who's gonna help me hide this body?"
       The furry club solemnly collected Polly's remains and threw them
       in the trashcan outside the cafeteria--Furnando told them that
       was usually where the Janitor Johnny and the other cafteteria
       workers gathered their ingredients for lunch the next day. The
       body would then be completely disposed of, and there wouldn't be
       any wasted food either.
       It started to rain, washing the blood off the scene of the
       crime. But no amount of rain could wash the blood out of the
       cheer team's consciences, or clear their minds of the promise of
       impending doom.
       --
       One of the rules of being in the furry club was that they had to
       sit together for lunch. I hope Liz doesn't feel lonely without
       me, thought Tabitha as she stood in the lunch line with the
       others.
       "They've gone TOO far this time!" an angry Leo hissed as he
       approached the front of the line.
       “Now with vegan options?!" Furnando gasped in horror. "This is a
       high school cafeteria, why are there vegan options? There's no
       way this hippie joint can replace Janitor Johnny’s homecooked
       frozen chicken nuggets."
       "Actually, it looks like it can," said Leo grimly. Everyone was
       raving about the new cafeteria food. "This is a travesty for
       carnivores everywhere."
       Tabitha had never been so confused. They were furries, not
       actual cats, lions, and wolves. They could still eat vegetables
       if they had to! As they all sat down, she was about to ask the
       question when an unfamiliar girl with the face of a salamander
       approached them. Tabitha could feel the tension in the air as
       the whole furry club stared daggers into the new girl.
       Leo narrowed his eyes. “Sally Mander. Just what do you want?”
       "I'm here to take over the position of alpha furry," Sally said
       confidently.
       Leo laughed. "How are you supposed to do that when you don’t
       even have fur? You’re just an ugly, useless little scaly."
       "Well, I know that the furries always sit together, and I
       noticed Polly isn't with you today...That means you're looking
       for another replacement. Face it, Leo, you need me. Nobody else
       wants to join your club of weirdos. Make me alpha furry, and
       I'll return Clovis South to what it once was. Don't forget, I'm
       rich. I can do things for the cheer program you middle class
       losers couldn't even dream of."
       "The thing is," said Leo, "Tabby here surpasses both Chevin and
       Polly in skill. She more than makes up for what we lost from
       those two. We'll never need you on this team, Sally. Not now,
       not ever."
       "Let's stop playing games here, Leo," Sally fired back, her tone
       darkening. "I know what happened at yesterday's meeting. If you
       don't make me alpha, I'll tell Principal Donrump that the furry
       club is responsible for Polly’s death."
       A look of horror crossed Leo's face. "What?! How did you--we hid
       the body and everything!"
       "I was there the whole time. I knew Chevin was going to quit, so
       I planned on coming to the meeting to take her spot. What I
       didn't count on was this girl showing up too," Sally said,
       glancing towards Tabitha. "Anyway, I decided to stay hidden and
       watch the whole practice to figure out the club's weaknesses, of
       which I observed many. After Tabitha killed Polly, I had
       everything I needed... So, Leo, what's it gonna be?"
       "Well, I guess I have no choice," Leo said through gritted
       teeth. The lion boy turned to his club, the look of defeat on
       his face. "Behold, your new Clovis South furry club alpha."
       Sally smiled. "I'll see you all at next week’s meeting, then."
       --
       It was time for the meeting. “It’s time for the meeting,” Sally
       said. “Oh also, I got us a faculty supervisor.”
       “Supervisor?” hissed Leo. “We’ve never had a supervisor. We’re
       furries, we govern ourselves.”
       “You can’t be an official school club without a supervisor,”
       Sally said matter-of-factly. “Everyone, meet our new supervisor,
       Mr. McMike.”
       “I don’t see a supervisor anywhere,” Bella said. “Wait, what
       the—”
       “SURPRISE!” Mr. McMike hollered, materializing out of thin air
       and knocking Bella out with a swift boot to the head. “Can you
       see me now?” he said, flashing a mouth full of unnaturally shiny
       white teeth.
       “Of course she can’t, you knocked her unconscious!” Furnando
       growled.
       Mr. McMike scratched his head. “Oh, I guess you’re right.”
       “I thought you were going to help the furry club, Sally, not
       give us all concussions,” said Leo bitterly.
       Mr. McMike patted the angry lion boy on the back. “Hey now, this
       is no time for negativity! We’re about to make the furry club
       the best it’s ever been. First order of business, new uniforms!”
       Mr. McMike proceeded to pull out several chameleon suits that
       matched his own.
       “I would not be caught dead wearing that,” said Leo, and
       everyone else seemed to agree. They were furries, not scalies!
       “Aw, come on guys, it’ll help with team bonding!” said Mr.
       McMike enthusiastically “Don’t get me wrong, I like all your
       costumes right now. But they’re a little too individualized for
       a unified team, don’t you think?”
       “That’s the point, our fursuits express who we are,” Furnando
       growled through gritted teeth.
       Even though Tabitha had only been with the furry club for a
       week, she knew enough about it to know that Mr. McMike wasn’t
       going to help them at all. “I’ve had it with this buffoon,” she
       said, and crouched into a hunting position, ready to attack.
       The other furries, excepting the alpha, all followed Tabitha’s
       lead. Together, they took down Mr. McMike. “How’s that for team
       bonding?” Furnando howled victoriously as they surrounded the
       supervisor’s dead body.
       “My God,” Sally whispered, voice shaking. “I can’t believe you
       just killed him. We’re all going to jail.”
       Furnando laughed. “You said it yourself: you’re rich. If we got
       caught, you could just bail us out.”
       Sally’s face was horrified, but she agreed that it would be for
       the best if no one found out about the furry club’s second
       murder and reluctantly helped the others hide the body.
       --
       The next day at lunch, nobody talked. It seemed as if the furry
       club’s sins were finally getting to them, and they all sat
       around the table in guilty silence until Furnando suddenly
       shrieked, “JANITOR JOHNNY?”
       Everybody’s faces whipped around in disbelief. There in front of
       them was Janitor Johnny, alive and well as if he’d never eaten
       those poisoned chips. He was flanked by Polly and Mr. McMike,
       who had also been presumed dead.
       “What the fudge nuggets is going on?” said Leo.
       “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” an ominous voice said. Liz
       emerged from the shadows with a knife in her hand. “Today is the
       day the furry club is finally eliminated.”
       Sally got up to join Liz, sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry it had
       to come to this, Liz. I did everything I could. They simply will
       not reform their murderous ways.”
       “Which is why they must die,” said Liz, charging forward to stab
       Bella in the chest. Blood seeped through her chihuahua fursuit
       and onto the floor as she collapsed, never to take another
       breath.
       A security guard noticed the commotion and rushed in. “Hey! No
       weapons at school,” he chastised Liz.
       “It’s for religious purposes,” she replied, and the security
       guard backed off.
       “Oh, I’m sorry. Carry on.”
       Liz now approached Leo with her bloodied knife, along with
       Janitor Johnny and the other zombies.
       The lion boy wasn’t so brave now. He backed into a corner, large
       paws covering his face as he begged for mercy. “Please Liz, I’ll
       do anything!”
       “Anything?”
       “Yes, anything!”
       “Then perish.” Liz raised her arm to give Polly the command to
       attack. The bird girl launched herself at Leo, using a sword to
       slice his head clean off.
       There were only two furries left. Tabitha clung tightly to
       Furnando, awaiting their certain death. All she managed to say
       was, “Liz…Why?”
       “Why? WHY?” Liz growled, clenching her fist. “You remember when
       Furnando said I was in his spot and wanted me to leave? That’s
       why. Revenge is a dish best served cold, sweetie.”
       Tabitha was dumbfounded. “Okay, but that was literally two weeks
       ago. The dish isn’t even cold anymore at this point. It’s been
       sitting out for so long it grew mold and had to be thrown away.”
       “You’re missing the point!” hissed Liz. “Furnando was trying to
       get me out of the way so he could brainwash you into joining the
       furry club. Let me guess, they told you that appropriated Book
       of Genesis story as their club’s history? I always knew you were
       stupid, Tabitha, but I didn’t expect you to believe that. It’s
       twisted, Tabby, using the Bible to promote their devilish ways.
       All they are at their core is a cult of hypocrites that performs
       human experiments. Did you ever wonder why Leo, Bella, and Polly
       wore fursuits instead of having actual animal features like the
       rest of the club? They were the ones behind all the experiments,
       willing to put others through hell for their research but too
       scared to undergo the transformation themselves. What’s worse,
       they discriminate against people whose spirit animal manifests
       itself in the ritual as anything other than a mammal. Do you
       have any clue what they did to me?” Liz pointed at her face.
       “They dyed your hair?”
       “No.”
       “They…made you get a face tattoo?”
       “No! They turned me into a goddamn humanoid snake freak,
       Tabitha! And then when they didn’t like the results they just
       discarded me. They kicked me out of the furry club, the only
       place on earth I could possibly fit in. Do you know what my mom
       did when she saw my face? She had my name legally changed from
       Elizabeth to LIZARD!”
       “Oh. Well if it’s any consolation, I thought you just looked
       like that naturally,” Tabitha responded.
       Furnando was quiet the whole time as he reflected on his sins.
       “Do you have anything to say for yourself, Furnando?” Liz hissed
       at him.
       “It’s all true,” the wolf boy said quietly. “And about Polly?
       When they said Tabitha killed her, it was a lie. It was Leo who
       did it. Polly’s fursona wasn’t a mammal, and when he saw that
       Tabitha’s fursona was a cat, he finally had a good excuse for
       killing her off.”
       Tabitha was relieved. That meant she was only responsible for
       one murder instead of two! Liz, however, seemed even more
       disgusted with the wolf boy.
       “So you were in the know too, then? And you still decided to
       bring Tabitha into all of this. How coldblooded do you have to
       be to take advantage of an innocent transfer student like that?”
       “I didn’t have a choice. Since I caught Leo and Bella talking
       about their plans, they threatened to kill me if I didn’t bring
       in more members. B-but I never killed anyone!”
       Liz’s eyes were cold. “You hurt my best friend Tabitha, so you
       must die.” Liz sent Janitor Johnny to attack Furnando, but
       before he could end it all, Tabitha jumped in front of him.
       “Enough, Liz!” she cried, tears streaming down her face.
       “Janitor Johnny, do you have any idea how much Furnando cared
       about you? How he cried when he thought you were dead? How could
       you try to kill someone who loved you so much?”
       The custodian remained silent, and Liz started to laugh. “You
       fool, Janitor Johnny is dead. And you know what? I’m the one who
       killed him. He ingested my venom, so now I’m able to control
       him. I was hoping to kill Furnando instead so I could have a spy
       on the inside, but now you’ve forced me to go to desperate
       measures. All these people you see here, I am able to control
       through necromancy. There’s no escape, not when I have an army
       to back me up.”
       “Liz, no!” Tabitha cried again. She couldn’t believe this was
       happening. “I won’t let you do this! You aren’t helping me at
       all by killing Furnando because I... I love him!”
       “You’re in love with someone who treated you like that? How dumb
       can a person be?”
       But nobody made any further moves. Liz couldn’t attack Furnando
       without hurting Tabitha, and Tabitha refused to attack her best
       friend. Furnando couldn’t bring himself to kill anyone else, so
       he stayed behind Tabitha, a crying mess. Was there anyone who
       could resolve this deadlock?
       “Well, well, well, what have we here?” Mr. Sensei approached the
       trio, a disapproving look on his face. The English teacher
       sighed, taking Liz’s knife away and gesturing for everyone to
       sit down. “You guys are in big trouble, you know that? You’re
       lucky I’m here instead of Principal Donrump or the police.”
       The three students looked at the ground in shame.
       Mr. Sensei chuckled. “You know, you remind me of myself when I
       was your age. You know what? I’ll let you three off with
       detention if you promise to never do this again. And…if you let
       me use this as writing material.”
       Liz, Tabitha, and Furnando exchanged glances, the looks in their
       eyes conveying more than words ever could. None of them were
       free of sin, but none of them had sinister intentions either.
       Despite their animal-like appearances, they were only humans at
       heart. It was like Mr. Sensei had said earlier: they were simply
       trying to find their way on the path of life and love like
       everyone else. The lizard girl, cat girl, and wolf boy turned
       back to Mr. Sensei, nodding their agreement.
       “Great,” said Mr. Sensei with an understanding smile. “Now let’s
       go back to English class.”
       *****************************************************