"What do you mean you adopted a fox?"

Judy flinched at the question. "I mean it literally, " she replied her parents, hiding any worry she had about their opinion. There was an awkward and discomforting silence afterwards, and the rabbit got more nervous by the second.

"Oh Judy, why didn't you tell us?" A feminine voice asked. It was Judy's mother, and her tone was a little clouded. Judy couldn't predict anything from it.

"We probably should've discussed this," another voice said. It was Judy's father. There was a faint rustle as Bonnie nudged Stu.

"I know...but it all happened so fast," Judy muttered, staring at the screen. Bonnie and Stu were staring back, but Judy could tell that they were very tempted to mute their side and get into a heated discussion about her situation.

"Guys?" She pressed a little, trying to get a response.

"Well, maybe you should come visit with him," Bonnie suggested. This time, Stu turned abruptly and stared at Bonnie. The two started whispering to one another, and under the cover of static and poor reception, Judy couldn't make out a thing. She bit her lower lip and awaited what they wanted to say.

"Well, okay, it's fine, but yes, you should come visit with him," Bonnie finally decided. While Stu didn't seem a hundred percent happy, he at least looked like he agreed.

"You still have the fox repellent right?" Stu blurted out just before the call was going to end.

"Stu!" Bonnie hissed.

"Okay, okay," He calmed, "Anyway, lookin' forward to see ya again. Give a call before comin' okay?"

"Er...okay," Judy replied, unsure of how to react. When the call ended, she sat in the same spot, pondering about the possible outcomes. While she was glad that her parents didn't react too strongly, bringing Isaac to the burrows sounded like an excessively bold idea. The kids most likely wouldn't mind, but she did still have a hundred or so uncles and aunts that probably wouldn't feel the same way. Currently, compared to most of her relatives, her parents were already very tolerant to predators. After all, Stu's bad (but thankfully improving) attitude towards foxes was as good as an inherited trait.

Judy looked around the house one last time. It was late. She had ensured that Isaac was fast asleep before starting her call, as she simply wanted to remove any chance of the fox hearing anything too negative. Shutting off the lights, Judy finally retreated to her room for some much-needed sleep. After the first day, Judy had set up another mattress in Isaac's room and now each of them had their own private room.

A low throaty growl sounded beyond the bushes. Judy edged backwards, going at a terribly slow pace. A wall halted her from behind, and she glanced around, accessing the situation. Her right leg was injured and refused to function. She was trapped in some sort of pit. And she wasn't alone.

And somehow, it seemed...familiar. The growl continued, getting louder and fiercer. Judy started to move sideways, attempting to put more distance between her and whatever was in the bushes, but soon, she saw its eyes. Emerald, glowing slits flashing through the bushes, and a malicious glint revealing sharp, teeth. It transfixed her, and she stared at it in shock.

Not it.

Him.

Without warning, he pounced, and for a brief second, revealed his full features. And then all went dark, with a scream of terror.

Judy gasped as she shot out, hitting and kicking at thin air. Her panic slowly wore off as her eyes registered her surroundings. Her hectic breathing calmed as she moved her right leg. The dark started to seem a little more ominous, as imaginary eyes stared from every dark crevice. Judy shivered slightly, and tried to relax, lying back down on her bed. The air conditioner's fan was still making its usual hum, and Judy took it as the only comforting sound. Despite the cooled surroundings, there was still sweat on her forehead. It had happened so long ago, that it was ridiculous to have a nightmare about it. She was never too shaken about the experience. Nick was just acting, and so was she. Just a plan to catch Bellwether unguarded.

So why, out of all that time, did she have a nightmare about it now?

Judy grunted in annoyance as she tried to fall back to sleep. Dreams are all random. Nothing to worry about...

Nick arrived at 6:30 am to drive Isaac to school. Judy woke up at 5:30am, prepared $30 as one week of Isaac's allowance, and made breakfast. Nick and Judy had a much later shift and so they didn't need to report at the usual time. And so, the rabbit decided to stick at home. A bigger apartment did mean more housework, and Judy couldn't think of anything other than her experience in the middle of the night. So, she busied herself cleaning. Judy was a tidiness loving person, but she normally didn't force her preference on anybody else.

In Isaac's case, she was pleased to note that his room was kept neat. The only problem was a pile of files and books that cluttered the floor under his table. While they were organised, it was making things difficult for someone trying to sweep the floor. Judy heaved as she lifted the pile up in one go, and grunted as she placed the items on the table. A brown, unlabelled book fell from the pile, and landed on the ground with a slight click, throwing its pages open. Judy bent down to pick it up but stopped upon noticing the dense text written in it.

Dear Journal...

Judy shut the book upon registering the words and stared at the cover. The brief internal thought of reading it was near-immediately extinguished. She placed it back with the other files and books and turned to grab her broom again. She glared at a tiny rectangular piece of paper on the floor, before picking it up and dumping it onto the table. She gathered the dust from under the table in a few strokes and placed the items back on the floor where she remembered. She swept the rest of the room's exposed ground and turned to sweep under Isaac's mattress. His mattress was on the floor but was thick enough for comfort. A blanket and two pillows were thrown around the top, seemingly the only noticeable disorder in the room. She folded the blanket and placed it along with the pillows on a nearby roller chair, and leant the mattress against a wall. She was about to continue sweeping when she spotted a paper with multiple little red markings. It was a report card. Judy's brows furrowed as she saw the results. Isaac practically failed everything but one or two subjects.

A sudden realisation hit Judy, and her hand followed up next as she slapped her forehead.

"Look at me, expecting a kid with family problems to do well," Judy muttered to herself, placing the report card on the table.

"The other day, two officers came looking for ya here," Brandon told Isaac. It was recess, and the two were walking toward the canteen.

"Was it a rabbit and a fox?" Isaac asked, a little embarrassed that the two brashly asked for him in front of his classmate.

"Yea. What was it about?"

"Oh. Nothing. Nothing much," Isaac shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic. He probably sounded unconvincing, as Brandon raised an eyebrow. Not many knew of Isaac's mother, but Brandon was one of the few.

"Did it...have something to do with... your... er," the otter searched for the words to put it in a non-awkward way.

"Well," Isaac bit his lip. "My mom was arrested."

"What? Really?"

"Yea. Someone adopted me afterwards," Isaac shrugged. The info spilt out on its own, but he didn't really want anyone to fuss about it.

"How is he?" The otter asked.

"She. She's okay. Clumsy, but nice," the fox answered. Brandon smiled back. It seemed as though Isaac's new parent was better, and Brandon was glad for him. But knowing Isaac, he didn't enjoy such conversations.

"Did you recognize the rabbit officer?" Brandon changed the subject. "It was Judy Hopps!"

Now it was Isaac's turn to raise his eye brow. "Okay...and?"

"You didn't hear? She solved that savage case some time ago. It was on the news and everything."

Isaac tried to recall, but he never really bothered much about current affairs. It probably slipped past him.

"What savage case?"

"The one where Mayor Bellwether made predators go savage with some serum," Brandon explained, trying to jog his memory.

"That one? How'd you remember that from so long ago?" Isaac asked, faintly recalling hearing of it a long time back.

"My dad was a victim of it," Brandon explained. "He's okay now, thanks to Judy."

"How was school?" Judy asked after she closed the door.

"Oh school was great," Nick jokingly replied, going into the kitchen.

"It was fine," Isaac replied.

"Okay, Nick and I need to leave for work soon, I'll be back about dinner time," Judy told him, adjusting her badge as she walked into the kitchen. "Nick, what are you doing?"

Isaac leaned his bag against his room wall, and turned on the lights. The first thing that greeted him, was an unwelcome sight on his table. The fox frowned as he picked up his report card.

Was Judy nosing around my room?

He dismissed the thought. If she was cleaning, she would've found it. He turned below his table, and was about to slot the card into one of the files when he spotted something. A small, rectangular piece of paper he used as a bookmark. He grabbed it, and glared at it, looking at it from all angles. No doubt, it was the bookmark that was in his journal.

She was reading my journal...?

"Isaac, we're going. There's food in the kitchen cupboard if you're hungry. Anything else you need?" Judy peeked from his door.

"No," he answered flatly, not looking back.

"Alright then. Take care," Judy replied, not picking up his subtle change in tone.

A crumpled bookmark fell on the floor as the door closed.

A/N

Hopefully I managed to nail the effect. Sorry if it was too rushed...

Anyway, thanks for reading, remember to leave a review (they help to break down writers' block).