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The Mixes (Prequel) Part 2

During her evening meal, Susan stared into the distance, thinking about everything that had happened. She lived in a small house with Eliza and a few other orphaned girl Mixes. Each of them was trained for a specific area. Stel, a blond Mix with dog ears and claws, was trained as a tracker. Ellie, a dark-skinned leopard Mix with long black hair and dark eyes, was working as a model. Her entire body looked human, and no one could tell any difference. And Juliet, a curly-haired eagle Mix, was trained for scouting. Due to the enormous wings she hid under a backpack, she couldn't live in the normal world, but she learned plenty from the other girls. A young human woman took care of them. She had been born out of a union between a Mix and a human and hadn't displayed any animal traits. The girls called her Amy.

"Susan, what's up?" Juliet asked, throwing an arm and a wing around her back. Susan shrugged, staring at nothing in particular.

"She's in love," Ellie realized, staring at her. "Susan, who's the boy?"

"What boy?" Eliza asked, looking up to stare at Susan.

"There is no boy," Susan muttered, her face turning red.

"There definitely is," Ellie said, looking at her.

"She's right!" Stel cried, her dog ears sticking up. "I can always tell when someone is in love, and girl, you're definitely falling for someone. Now, what type of animal is he? Because if he's another bird like Juliet, please choose someone else."

"Hey!" Juliet cried, waving a wing and accidentally knocking half the plates off the table.

"See what I mean? Nothing but chaos and trouble." Stel said, motioning to the toppled plates, and then started laughing. Juliet made a face, and Ellie shook her head at Stel, turning to Juliet.

"You're fine, Juliet. We understand the struggle of having wings."

Juliet nodded. "Thanks, Ellie."

Susan sighed. "There is no boy."

"It better not be that human," Eliza mentioned, stirring her spaghetti.

"A human! That's illegal." Stel cried. "You know you can't date a human."

"I'm not dating a human!" Susan shouted. "Please stop!"

"We have a job to do, and you can't get distracted by a boy." Eliza continued.

Susan picked up her plate. "I'm bringing my food to my bedroom."

She heard the girls murmuring behind her as she walked up the stairs to the room.

"A boy!" Juliet said. "I love human boys."

"She can't date a human," Eliza said firmly.

"But what if it's meant to be?" Stel wondered.

"Maybe it can be allowed; it's been done before," Ellie added.

Susan imagined Ellie looking dreamily off into the distance. She shook her head. All girls, whether Mixes or humans, obsessed over boys way too much.

The next day at school, Susan sat next to Noah. Noah smiled at her and moved to hug her. Susan slowly hugged him and felt tingles spread down her body where she touched him. Her breath caught in the back of her throat. Maybe he really did like her... but no. It wasn't an option. But when Noah offered her his hand after class, she accepted it.

Three weeks later...

Susan walked into school. Noah was waiting for her by her locker. One of her other friends, Katie, was heading towards her, but as soon as she saw Noah, she turned and walked in the opposite direction, only turning to wink at Susan. Susan bit her lip and walked up to her locker.

"Hello, beautiful," Noah said and hugged her. Susan hugged him and began to grab her books for class. Noah gently brushed her hair back, glancing at her ears. Susan looked up at him, frozen. Noah smiled. "Beautiful," he repeated and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Have an amazing day." Susan smiled and squeezed his hand before heading to her classroom.

After class, Susan stepped out into the hallway. Suddenly the entire school began to shake. Susan fell to her knees. What was going on? She heard yells and screams from the basement and quickly followed the sounds. She peered downstairs and saw Eliza fighting three Mixes.

Susan almost screamed in horror. These Mixes were clearly evil. Tufts of fur and scales covered random parts of their limbs, and their eyes were red. She recognized a panther Mix as one of the leaders of the Rebels, a picture that she had been shown many times. But this was impossible. How had they gotten here? Susan tossed her backpack to the side, and her claws extended as she threw herself at the nearest Rebel.

"Did you call the others?" she yelled to Eliza as she slashed out, her battle training kicking in. The other girl managed to nod before she struck at another Rebel with her fangs. The Rebel elbowed Eliza in the mouth, and Susan watched in horror as Eliza's fangs snapped, the sound echoing through Susan's head.

Eliza screamed in pain, and there was a crash as Juliet entered the scene, smashing through the doorway and knocking over a pile of chairs. They clattered to the floor loudly. Her enormous wings seemed to fill the tiny room even more than usual. A Rebel leapt towards her, claws extended, and slashed her wing. Juliet screamed in pain and was knocked sideways, hitting the ground hard.

"What's going on?" a voice asked, and Susan whirled around. A human man was standing there. The principal of the school.

"Help the civilians!" Eliza screamed around her shattered fangs as she stabbed one of the Rebels in the heart with one of her detached fangs clutched in her left fist. The woman screamed and collapsed.

"Got it!" Stel answered, bounding through the door, not unlike a dog. "Come with me, sir," she said, pulling the principal out of the basement.

Ellie landed gracefully at the bottom of the stairs and lunged for the final Rebel. Juliet had managed to finish off the other, and Ellie's sharp leopard claws made fast work of the final Rebel. The five girls stood there, staring at each other. Eliza gently touched her shattered fangs.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked.

Eliza nodded. "I'm a snake; they'll grow back. Don't worry. Juliet?"

Juliet was already wrapping a bandage around her wing. "I'll be fine. How are we supposed to explain this?" she asked, motioning to the damage. "I never expected to have an actual problem to deal with; I thought our training would always be to fight them on the battlefield, never in Eliza and Susan's school."

"No need to worry about that." a voice snarled behind them, and Susan felt something hit her on the back of the head, and everything went black.