CH1b

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JULY 8TH, 2011

"Who do you think you are?"

"I don't wish to cause you any harm, sir." Seline was trying her best to keep her cool. If she even showed the least bit of frustration, this salesman would probably call the authorities on her and they would drag her straight back to her camp outside of her master's house, where she'd get beaten, electrified and tased until they were satisfied. "I just want to purchase something for my master's family to eat."

"I don't serve your kind. It'd be best for you to leave."

Seline winced at this man in front of her. Her kind? How dare he? He wouldn't be saying anything if Seline wasn't being monitored by her masters and the village authorities. She clenched her fists underneath her cloak, scraped up the coins she had thrown onto the counter in front of her and turned around to leave. "Thank you for your time, sir." She pulled her cloak back around her shoulders and tugged down on the hood. How embarrassing.

She began on her way out of the marketplace, then she felt a tug on her cloak. She peered over her shoulder and saw a small Algerian child standing there. "Yes?" she asked, trying to be polite and child-friendly.

"Are you a witch?" the child asked her, trying to get a good look under her hood.

"No. Why would you ask that?" Seline pulled her cloak back towards herself, out of the child's hand.

The boy looked away. "Because," he said, "I saw the police take away another lady like you and they…"

Seline frowned. She knew what he was talking about. A few days earlier, the police had found an untagged woman that tested positive for the virus. She had attacked a postman while he delivered the mail to her door...then they burned her at the stake. Barbarically. They'd been doing this for several months now. Nobody disagreed with the way the infected were handled, anyway. Seline had to be careful of her own actions, or she would end up the same way as that poor woman.

"No," Seline repeated, "I'm not a witch. You should probably get home, though. It's getting dark."

"Okay!" the little boy beamed up at Seline, then ran off to a small group of his friends in a dusty alleyway. Seline watched them for a few seconds as they whispered to each other, casting quick glances and pointing at her. She shrugged and continued on her way out of the marketplace. Her master wasn't going to be happy at all.

"Lady!"

Seline could hear several footsteps coming up behind her. The little boy and his friends had decided to follow her. "Miss, miss!" She was about to turn around to see what the children could have possibly needed when she felt her large, fluffy canine tail being pulled.

That's when her large, fluffy canine ears started to ring.

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Reality returned to Seline with the sound of sirens. They rang just like her ears did when she'd felt her tail being pulled.

"Uuughh."

She felt dizzy and exhausted. Her head hurt so bad. She opened her eyes—that hurt too. Her eyelids felt heavy, as if it was a difficult task in itself just to open them. It was dark. It hadn't been dark a few seconds ago. Seline looked around, which put a strain on her neck. "Ouch," she muttered.

She was in an alley. It looked like, from what she could see outside on the streets, the alley where those children were hiding and whispering things about her. She had no idea how she'd gotten herself there, but there she was, huddled in the corner. She stood—that was probably not the best idea. Not only did her disfigured legs hurt from the effects of the virus, but she slipped and fell on some warm, slimy substance, hitting her head on the brick wall behind her. She rubbed her forehead to try and soothe the ache, but stopped when she felt that slimy warm ooze on her hands. Her keen sense of smell recognized it instantly: blood.

"Oh no…" she stared at her slightly disfigured hand. It was drenched in warm blood, and there were clumps of hard, molded red 'stuff' under her nails…or claws. "Oh no," she started to repeat. "Oh God, no."

She looked down at the dusty pavement. There were bloodied footprints leading to her exact location, along with small puddles of blood spattered out on either side of the footprints.

Blue and red flashing lights shot down the street, darting across the small vertical view Seline could see the street from. They were looking for her, and it probably wouldn't be too long until she was found.