Fox Life

Iris really wanted to contact Kyro, to ask for his advice on whether she should try to learn anything more from that family or try to escape as far away as she could. Both choices were tempting in their own way. She could sense that there was something wrong about that family, but not what, and she wasn't certain that she could figure it out before something happened.     

But she wanted to know. There was a nagging feeling within her that she was on the precipice of learning something about her that might shatter and rebuild her whole understanding of who and what she was.     

Was she capable of finding it out by herself, though? Iris opened her laptop and looked through all she'd learned, which was pitifully little. All her questions in the last couple days had yielded her nothing. The only new things were her observations, like the story having been memorized by everyone and that the cousin was missing.     

Observations… That seemed like the only way to go, but was she brave enough? At first, she hadn't noticed anything, but the more time she spent with that family, the more uncomfortable she felt. There was just something there…     

And there was no one with whom she could talk about it. She knew Kyro's email address, so she could write to him, but should she? That was the real question.     

If it was okay for them to keep in contact, wouldn't he have called her already? There was no way that Gale would have not given him her number.     

Iris tried not to think about worse possibilities, but they swirled in her head, unwelcome. It wasn't good for her to stay alone. She hated it more than anything.     

To calm her agitated self, Iris drank a cup of warm milk and went to sleep. Maybe the next morning would bring her some great idea in regards what to do next.     

It didn't, however. Iris was as lost in the morning as she'd been the day before. Annoyed, both at herself and her situation, she threw the problem of her identity to the back of her mind and found her university material.     

There was little point to prepare herself for the exams that she might not even take, but it was better than just sitting and staring at the empty walls. She was told not to contact anyone she knew, and she had no wish to visit Tyler's family.     

Her self-imposed lock-up lasted for three days, until her food ran out. Once the fridge got empty, she was forced to step outside. The moment she entered a supermarket a good distance away from home, since she wanted to walk around a bit, she was approached by Tyler.     

It should have surprised Iris, or maybe even terrified her, but she just looked at him, smiling wryly to herself. She hadn't thought about it, but if someone had asked her, she would have guessed that she'd meet that guy, one way or another. She also was certain that his next words would be an explanation to calm her down, to make sure she knew that it was just an accident that he popped up there, and he didn't disappoint her.     

"Hey! I didn't know you were shopping in this place. Do you come here often as well?" he asked, panting. His cheeks were red from running in the cold wind outside, which was an even more telling sign than his eye-roll worthy explanation that he had no reason being in this part of the city, let alone the supermarket itself.     

"Hey," Iris said, turning away from him to pick up a kilogram of apples. A bit farther away, she saw a packet of cherries and smiled to herself. Those didn't look as good as the ones Gale had brought to her when she was still a fox.     

As she was about to leave the fruit section and go to the fish one, Tyler grabbed her hand. She wrenched it free and glared at him. What was with him and trying to drag her around all the time? She was not some child to be pulled left and right as he wished.     

Without a word, she marched off. But as she knew he would, he didn't let it go. Jogging in front of her, he blocked her way. His expression was full of doubt and confusion, which might have worked on Iris if she wasn't in such a foul mood.     

Kyro hadn't contacted her in almost a week, she was hungry, numb from writing her business paper, and Tyler himself was not innocent in her books, either. He was withholding possibly vital information to her.     

"Is something wrong?" Tyler asked in a lower voice, eyeing her. "You don't look good."     

"None of your business."     

To emphasize that point, Iris walked around him and to the fish section. She found herself smoked salmon and a few raw fish. They looked good so she picked them up and left to find something for a sauce and side dishes.     

Tyler jogged to her side once more and looked at her basket. "I can carry it for you," he suggested.     

"I'm not an invalid, I can carry it myself," Iris threw back and picked a few more products. For a moment, she tried to remember what spices she had at home, but then just picked what she needed from the shelves. She couldn't remember what was in the house, and it was Gale's money she was using; he could survive her spending a few extra pounds.     

"What happened? Why are you so angry?" Tyler asked again, not letting up. He was starting to really get on Iris' nerves. Couldn't the dude get a hint?     

She didn't speak to him anymore and just proceeded with her shopping as if there was no one shadowing her and repeatedly trying to get answers out of her. It was infuriating, but she told herself that she was going to leave him behind the moment she got out of the shop.     

While standing in the queue, with Tyler of course behind her, Iris took out her phone and called a taxi to her location through an app. It was done in a few quick swipes of the finger, so her new shadow didn't even realize what she'd done.     

After paying up, Iris left the shop and Tyler was still walking right behind her. "Let me carry it for you. Please, stop ignoring me. I want to talk to you."     

Iris spotted her taxi, then turned to Tyler while slowly moving in the general direction of the car park. "So now you want to talk? It's okay to ignore me, throwing all sorts of nonsense at me, but the moment I ignore you, it's the world's end? Go to hell, Tyler, okay?"     

Her words stunned him, and she darted into the taxi. When the driver saw her swift escape, he started the car and drove it out before Tyler could get his bearings back.     

"Argument with your boyfriend?" the driver asked after they had left and Iris had thrown the first address that came to her mind at him.     

"No boyfriend," Iris said with a frown. "Stalker."     

And she was certain of it. In some way, Tyler was stalking her. There could be no doubt about it anymore. His words about shopping in that supermarket were beyond ridiculous. It was on the other side of the city, and even if he liked that store, there were many branches closer to his home.     

"I have a stalker..." she murmured to herself again, feeling her skin crawl. Things had just gotten from bad to worse.