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the one she had scratched Sierra with, out in front of her. Where there should have been fingernails there were now deep, shiny black hooked claws. Chocolate brown fur had sprouted on the back of her hand. As Sierra watched, the fur began to sprout on her face as well and push its way out the top of her head.
     
    “I’m sorry.” Brenda said.
     
    Her hands were rapidly changing shape, forming themselves into padded paws. Her arms and legs ballooned out and burst the seams of her froggie pajamas, leaving ribbons of fabric on the ground. The child dropped to all fours and opened her mouth to make room for the yellow fangs that were forming where her baby teeth used to be. Her face began to change, morphing into a long snout that better accommodated the teeth. Her ears became small and round and moved to the top of her head, settling in almost the exact place her pig tails had been before. Now completely covered in brown fur, the last thing to change was the eyes, which remained eerily human right until the end before shrinking and turning black.
     
    Now standing where Brenda had been was a black bear cub.
     
    The cub regarded her for a moment and cocked its head sideways. Sierra approached it cautiously.
     
    “Brenda?”
     
    The cub roared at her and charged. Sierra screamed and ran as fast as she could, not even looking where she was going. The cub chased her towards the crowd around the pit. The people backed away, clearing a path as she ran past them, steering clear of the angry cub. Panicking, Sierra kept running, knowing the cub was gaining on her. She tripped on a rock and fell face first on the ground. Quickly, she flipped on to her back and tried to scramble to her feet, shuffling backwards as the cub ran at her.
     
    Then with an almighty roar, the huge black colored bear leaped out of the pit and positioned itself between the cub and Sierra. It stood its ground and roared into the cub’s face. The cub let out a meek squeaking noise and sat down, complacent.
     
    The white bear, the one she had been sure had his throat ripped out, scrambled out of the pit. Using his teeth, he picked the cub up by the scruff of her neck and carried her away.
     
    The crowd was pointing at her now, muttering. The black bear turned towards her. Sierra watched, fascinated and appalled as the change she had witnessed in Brenda happened in reverse. The bear shrank. Fur vanished in clumps as the paws stretched themselves into human fingers. He stood upright as his head took shape again, the ears moving back into place and the teeth shrinking into that familiar smile.
     
    Sierra knew who it would be long before the shift finished. Joe was standing naked in front of her now as she pulled herself unsteadily to her feet.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 4
    One of the people in the crowd handed Joe a pair of pants. He took his time pulling them on, clearly not ashamed of his nakedness (and he had nothing to be ashamed of).
     
    “Joe,” Sierra asked shakily, “what the hell is going on?”
     
    Joe didn’t answer. Instead, he walked up to her and rudely ripped off her jacket. He eyed the wound on her arm.
     
    “Did she bite you or scratch you?”
     
    “She scratched me.”
     
    “She should have bit her!” someone yelled from the crowd.
     
    Those were not friendly faces out there. They were all staring at her. They looked angry and scared.
     
    Joe turned to address them. “Everyone this is Sierra. She’s a friend of mine.”
     
    Eric trudged toward them, wearing only blue jeans like Joe was. His long white hair whipped out behind him.
     
    “The reporter, Joe? Really?” he exclaimed.
     
    At the word “reporter” a fresh burst of angry murmurs stirred though the crowd.
     
    “Is Brenda alright?” Joe asked him.
     
    “She’s fine. Sneaky brat’s tearing up her sleeping bag.”
     
    Sierra was startled by the realization that Eric was the white bear. She looked uneasily at the crowd around her. Where all of them…what would