Did I tell you about the different kinds of work? [ she shakes her head quickly, because it doesn't really matter. ] Dream work, emotion work, blah blah blah. There is a really rare kind called transformation work and it basically does what it says on the package. So Cassel, the boyfriend, happened to be a transformation worker. He had, um, a couple brothers, Barron and Philip, older than him. Philip was best friends with my cousin Anton.
[ she swallows, licking her lips, and shifts slightly so her fingers can press against her upper arms. ] He was older than me and before I was born he was supposed to take over for my dad, even after I guess he just assumed. Because I'm not a man. [ her mouth twists into a scowl. ] But Daddy, I was his baby girl, and a Zacharov, so I became the heiress. It was unheard of, even the idea of a female run family was just ridiculous. Anton hated it. [ the scowl turns into the barest hint of a smile. ]
So he tried to kill me. I was fourteen, Cassel and I were watching tv in his basement. Anton and Philip had known about Cassel for a while now, they just wiped his memory so he wouldn't know. They had Cassel do it, my best friend. I remember him holding me down, his hands around my wrist so tight. He was so much heavier than me I couldn't move. And then he leaned down and whispered "run" in my ear. Run where? [ the story breaks off in a brittle laugh. ] And then suddenly everything was bigger and I was smaller, and nothing worked right. He turned me into a cat.
[ her fingers tighten against her arms. ] I tried to run, but I was so small and weak, I didn't get far before Barron caught me. And then I spent the next three years in a cage. Except, Barron is a memory worker. Their blowback kind of... destroys theirs. I tried to escape at first, but then Anton got me a shock collar, so. Three years. Stuck in a cage. With a memory worker who forgot to do really basic things like, feed me, or clean my cage, or acknowledge my existence, that I used to be a girl, a girl he dated. And I would cry and cry and cry for attention, but it never... [ she shakes her head again. ]
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[ she swallows, licking her lips, and shifts slightly so her fingers can press against her upper arms. ] He was older than me and before I was born he was supposed to take over for my dad, even after I guess he just assumed. Because I'm not a man. [ her mouth twists into a scowl. ] But Daddy, I was his baby girl, and a Zacharov, so I became the heiress. It was unheard of, even the idea of a female run family was just ridiculous. Anton hated it. [ the scowl turns into the barest hint of a smile. ]
So he tried to kill me. I was fourteen, Cassel and I were watching tv in his basement. Anton and Philip had known about Cassel for a while now, they just wiped his memory so he wouldn't know. They had Cassel do it, my best friend. I remember him holding me down, his hands around my wrist so tight. He was so much heavier than me I couldn't move. And then he leaned down and whispered "run" in my ear. Run where? [ the story breaks off in a brittle laugh. ] And then suddenly everything was bigger and I was smaller, and nothing worked right. He turned me into a cat.
[ her fingers tighten against her arms. ] I tried to run, but I was so small and weak, I didn't get far before Barron caught me. And then I spent the next three years in a cage. Except, Barron is a memory worker. Their blowback kind of... destroys theirs. I tried to escape at first, but then Anton got me a shock collar, so. Three years. Stuck in a cage. With a memory worker who forgot to do really basic things like, feed me, or clean my cage, or acknowledge my existence, that I used to be a girl, a girl he dated. And I would cry and cry and cry for attention, but it never... [ she shakes her head again. ]