Chapter 10: 10

A week of being distracted by a sudden uptick of work later, Maxine wasn't expecting anything more to come of their conversation, but she was interrupted at 10pm on a rare Friday in by the doorbell blaring loud enough to distract her from the TV. And who should be on the other side of her door but Tori, hair slightly dishevelled and looking very determined.

"I broke things off with Becky," Tori said.

"Uh, come in, I guess," Maxine said, thinking of the popcorn spilled over her coffee table and the TV still playing a Real Housewives marathon in the background.

"Do you have a backyard we can go to?"

"There's a grassy area behind the building with all the clothes lines."

"We should go there."

"Sure, why not," Maxine said, shrugging.

*

The grassy area faced the lane way instead of the front of the street so it was a little bit dark, lit only by the lights from the apartment several floors up that never closed their blinds. In the darkness everything looked as grey as the boring blazer Tori was wearing. She clutched at its lapels, as if to reassure herself, and asked, "Do you want to see the scars?"

"Yes."

Tori took off the blazer and turned around. The dress was backless, and the scarring along her back was pale with age but impossible to miss. Long lines of puckered skin, reaching from centre back to her right shoulder blade.

"I'd show you mine but I haven't got any," Maxine said.

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"You probably think that's funny when you talk like that."

"Can you still transform?"

"Yes, it just doesn't look like it did back then. It's not pretty anymore."

"Keep much of the right wing?"

Tori was silent for a while, and then, "I'll show you."

She slowly transformed, wings growing out of her back in an interestingly grotesque display. The right wing was ragged, yes, but it was bigger and stronger than it had been when they were young. And that wasn't the only change to her transformation. Her skin changed colour, turning a dark mottled green. She turned around, nails as long and terrifying as a cassowary's claws and eyes a vivid yellow-brown. When they were on the show the transformation wasn't as profound as this, barely more than just claws and wings. This was nothing so delicate and decorative as the dainty butterfly wings and pointy nails of her youth.

"This is awesome!" Maxine said.

"It's not awesome. I turn into a creepy weird insect-bird-reptile thing," Tori said.

"An awesome creepy weird insect-bird-reptile thing. This is the best day ever." Maxine laughed and clapped, too excited to be cool.

Tori sighed and pulled her power back into that quiet, secret place in herself with a visible effort and turned back into an average looking human.

"I'm going to go home now," Tori said, putting her boring grey jacket back on, "but I thought you would want to know."

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