She hadn’t meant to kill him.
She had been reaching for a can of peas. Now, admittedly, she would never again wear a skirt with no underwear to the local Walmart again. It just wouldn’t happen. When he had snapped her photo, she had a sharp mental image of herself ending up on that friends of Walmart site with her hoonannie poking out.
Her mother would be so proud of her.
Mockingbird, despite her pleasant name, had one heck of a temper. She tried to reel it in, knowing that it was explosive and that it frightened her. But sometimes, no matter how hard a lid she kept over her emotions, her temper eked out.
She kept her secrets to herself but if anyone really found out what she was, she was done for. Her brother, Owen, had dropped her off at the Walmart. He was due to pick her up in an hour or so.
She had gone to reach for a can of peas and felt the hand on her ass. When she turned around, she saw a man glaring at her. At least she thought he was glaring at her. There was a cloud of smoke that hung around his head.
“Nice ass.” He said. His voice was gruff and deep.
“Take your hand away.” She said.
“No, I like it right where it is.” He said. He squeezed harder and Mockingbird shivered when heat ran along her skin. If he kept his hand there, he would get more than a sharp tongue in the bargain.
“You’ve got such soft skin.” He said. “My wife is all doughy and fat. You’re nice and firm.” He said.
“I won’t ask you again.” She said.
The heat moved along her skin at a rapid fire pace. She could feel the blush moving along her body and knew that he skin was reddening. The man with the cloud noticed the change.
“What’s going on?” He asked. “What are you doing?”
“You should have listened to me.” She said.
When she turned to face him, he recoiled. Where her face had been, a birds face shimmered over her features. “I don’t want to do this.” She said. “But it’s too late.”
The Phoenix took over, fire spilling out from her inside as she slashed at him. Blood spattered her skin but she knew that once the Phoenix faded, so would the blood. She could taste him in her mouth, the sickly sweet smell of his cloud of smoke choking her.
When the heat receded, she looked down. She stiffened a cry that would alert others and ran to the woman’s washroom to make sure she was alright, to make sure the Phoenix had receded completely.
One time, she had been part way through the change and her eyes were still golden. She looked at them now and they were full of worry. She blinked and the gold was gone. There was no blood on her.
What had been there had been taken away with the change.
When Owen picked her up later, he eyed her empty hands. “Didn’t find anything you wanted?”
Mockingbird thought of the dead body that lay on the linoleum floor, the cloud of smoke still hanging there. “No, nothing at all.” She said.
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