It was the early hours of the evening. Shirley was still rummaging through her walk-in closet, looking for the appropriate outfit to wear to Alicia's tournament later that evening, when her phone beeped. She made her way to the dressing table right inside the closet, where the phone was and picked it up. She had just gotten a text message from Alex. She opened the message and it read: "Can't wait for tonight. Alicia will be so excited. I still haven't told her you will be gracing the tournament with your presence. Imagine how surprised she will be when she sees you." Shirley smiled and was about to start typing a reply when her phone beeped again. Alex had texted her again. It read: "I will pick you up in an hour and 30 minutes." There was a winking emoji at the end of the message. Shirley's smile widened. Some people never changed. She could feel his excitement even over the phone via his simple text messages. Even back then when they were still kids, Alexander had always been the

Minutes went by quickly as the two girls engaged in a staring contest accompanied by a deafening silence. Amelia's expression remained unchanged even after hearing Shirley's words so it was hard for Shirley to tell what she was thinking. "Say something," Shirley's voice broke through the silence and Amelia hummed before tilting her head to the side but she returned her gaze to Shirley in the next second. "I think you are not thinking straight and that's understandable considering this unfortunate situation," Amelia finally spoke. "And what do you mean by that?" Shirley raised an eyebrow. "You can't just turn your friend just because you can. It is wrong," Amelia muttered. Shirley nodded. She did get Amelia's point but she clearly couldn't just let Alicia die. "I am not letting Alicia die. Not when I can do something about it," Shirley spoke through gritted teeth and it was Amelia's turn to nod. "Think about it for a second Shirley; you bite her, she turns and gets better, what

Shirley was so immersed in her thoughts, Amelia noticed and that wasn't the only thing she noticed. Amelia could see some sort of turbulence playing in Shirley's chocolate eyes. "Is something wrong?" Amelia asked, taking light steps closer to Shirley and only stopping when there was just a small distance between them. Shirley's eyes blinked when Amelia spoke, and then she shook her head in negation, a little too quickly, compelling Amelia to furrow her eyebrows at her. "It's nothing," Shirley spoke in a tone so low, Amelia almost didn't hear her, and then she added, "We should go." "What happened to wanting to do everything within your power to help your friend?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow. She could tell that there was something Shirley wasn't telling her and she didn't like it. "I am helping her. At least we now have additional information about this person who shot my friend. The person had been in some other country until yesterday evening. And in that country, it had

The day went by very quickly, after Shirley's examinations for the day, she stopped by at the hospital to check on Alicia. There was a crowd of reporters and the paparazzi at the entrance of the hospital when Amelia and Shirley arrived. When Shirley and Amelia stepped out of the car they had driven to the hospital, the reporters and paparazzi swarmed around them. "Shirley Blakes, are you here to visit Alicia Gilbert?" "Are you two close friends?" "What can you tell us about the shooting?" "Do you know anyone who could have targeted Alicia Gilbert?" They bombarded Shirley with countless questions, flashing their cameras and microphones on her face. The escorts that always followed Shirley around, led by Amelia, swung into action helping Shirley easily weave her way into the hospital with a natural smile, while they kept the reporters back. ****** "How is she doing?" Shirley asked as she moved closer to Alicia's bed, her eyes watering up on seeing the tubes and machines attached

Running on all fours, that is with both her hands and legs touching the ground, Shirley continued down the woods. She had used the route through the woods to the hospital as she couldn't quite run on all fours on the main roads. Not if she didn't want to cause a frenzy, she hadn't lost her rationality quite to that point. Amelia had tested Shirley's super speed during a few of their training session, how far she could go. Shirley could go faster than a speeding car. That was why she didn't bother to use a car. The thought that Max could already be on his way to kill her friends fueled her speed as she ran in the woods. Her eyes were a glowing blue, the fangs had grown out of her mouth, her claws were out too, her ears were a few inches longer... Shirley continued to race until she neared the hospital. Taking deep breaths in succession, Shirley stood on her two feet, and then started to dust off the mix of sand and grasses from her body and clothes. Her eye colour and ear size had retu