CHAPTER 2

Sunlight filtered through the window of Greer's bedroom until it came upon its victim's eyes.  Greer winced at the day, usually she was up and awake much earlier but pain and fatigue had stopped here usual routines.  She groaned at the light, "Today's going to suck."  Her new apathetic attitude trickled out.  Scrapping herself form her bed sheets, she made her way to her bathroom.  Already Greer could here the noises of her mother making Sunday lunch. 

It was kind of a joke.  None of the family ever saw each other at breakfast ever, or most other times, due to everyone's busy schedules.  Her father always worked odd hours so there was no telling when he was home or not and Greer like to have basketball practice in the mornings and do anything else than spend time with her family.  The only one in the house with a normal schedule was Greer's mother, Marie Nelson.  Ms. Nelson vowed to at least have the family together for one meal a week, thus Sunday lunch was born.  Marie Nelson craved routine but that came few and far between in the Greer household, most likely Marie missed being a cop. 

She was a police officer with the Dallas police department before they moved to California.  She was on her way to making detective but the unexpected blessing of Greer growing inside her, stopped her mother's motivations for a career in law-in-forcement.  Marie wasn't bitter about it though; she moved with her husband to start a family and a new life.  David had an offer for a position at a new pharmaceutical company, to research gene growth and developed a revolutionary new procedure. She found a great job as an emergency dispatcher and their new life began.  Greer's mother was always a detective at heart though, making her teenage years a living nightmare.  Now, she dreamed of those days and was thankful for her mother's constant unwavering support, even if she didn't know half of what was going on. 

Greer stepped out of her shower to dress. Most days after her procedure she would be bed ridden for at least a day but she had missed an important test as well as lecture notes form her biology class, so she needed to make an appearance at, her best friend, Nancy's house to do some copying.  Lazadazeicly plopping down the stairs, Greer shuffled into the kitchen.  "Well, someone's up early for herself."  Mrs. Nelson chirped from across the kitchen.  Greer only gave her mother a Mona Lisa smile and made a b-line for the coffee pot.  Smirking, Mrs. Nelson chimed, "Sorry dear you're a little late for that.  Do you want some OJ instead?"  Greer stopped her pursuit for the, none existent, coffee and nodded to her mom as she shuffled to the breakfast bar.  "So why has miss sleepy pants graced us with her presence this afternoon?"  Greer couldn't help but smile at her mom for her childish remarks she knew she hated.  "I need to go over to Nancy's to barrow her notes for my bio class."  Turning around to shake a spoon at her that she was cooking with, "Now your not slacking on your school work are you?"  Greer giggled as her mother splattered foodstuffs, all over the counter in front of her.  "No mom, I just need to get the notes from the days I missed last week."  "You know if you hadn't missed those days you wouldn't need to be up at this ungodly hour of the day."  Her words dripped with sarcasium and ridicule.  "Mother, your grotesque displays of affection, really must stop." Greer mocked.   Mrs. Nelson couldn't hold her parental demeanor any longer and laughed, whole-heartedly, at her daughter's quick wit.  "One day my child I shall cut out that silver tongue of yours and cash it in for a new truck."  Both women laughed.

  Satisfied that she had both fed and watered her young, Ms. Nelson grabbed a seat across from her happily eating daughter, "So my dear, how are you doing?"  Greer mumbled through bites, "Swell now that the swellings gone down."  Putting on her 'I'm your mother' look, "Really, no kidding."  Greer couldn't stop herself from saying, "Who's kidding."  Greer looked up from her plate to her mother's concerned face.  "Really mom, everything's fine.  I'm just tired."  Marie Nelson knew her daughter better than anyone and she always knew when she was lying.  "Greer, you know you can tell me anything, even if you don't want daddy to know.  I'm here for you baby."   Her mother's southwestern drawl slipped out, telling Greer her mother was worried.  Slipping away from the breakfast table, trying not to make eye contact.  "Everything's fine mom, really.  I have to go, Nancy was expecting me like an hour ago."  Rushing out the door to her car in the driveway, Greer gave her mother a hurried good bye.  Waving at her daughter rolling out of the drive, Marie Nelson let out a loud sigh.

In Greer's rush to evade her mother's questions, she had forgotten her book bag and books, that wasn't her worry at the moment thought.  She hated to lie to her mother, not because she knew her mother knew when she was lying but for the honest reason that she didn't like to deceiver her.  Greer relied on her mom more than anything during these torture sessions.  Her cheery personality and constantly pushing her to be her best, even though she felt less than human, made Greer feel normal, which she felt she was far from.

 Pulling into Nancy's drive she saw Nancy coming out of the front door, dramatically looking at her watch.  Greer smiled at her best friend.   They were worlds apart on just about everything.  Nancy loved sexy tight clothes and always had her hair done in fancy cornrows and braids, while Greer preferred the sportier look and always kept her long dark hair in a tight ponytail but the two grew to be best friends since freshman year.  Nancy called out to the old Oldsmobile in her dad's drive,  "Let me guess all the clocks in your house are broken."  Greer climbed out of her car calling back, "Actually they were all an hour and a half off.  Can you believe that, must be a trans dimensional time warp or something."   Nancy smiled broadly at her friend, "Or something." 

Walking through the cluttered home they made their way to Nancy's end of the house.  "When is your dad going to clean up all this stuff?"  Mentioning to all the magazines and tool parts scattered around the place.  "Hummm, let's see.  He said he was going to clean up, I think, after dinner, five years ago."  Greer laughed but Nancy only moved forward toward her room.  Greer knew that the house had been a huge mess since her mom died so she never really pressed the subject.  Opening the door to her sanctuary Nancy let out a light sigh, "Ah, my humble aboud."  Stepping in, Greer always loved Nancy's room, she wouldn't want to live in it but it was fun to visit.  Nancy loved techno music and R&B.  Bright techni-colored posters and beautiful singers covered her walls.  Feather boas hung around her huge four-poster bed and glitter was the steady theme.  "Isn't a little loud to sleep in here every night?"  Greer quirked at her friend, "Girl it isn't loud enough.  So were is your stuff?"  Greer flopped on the huge bed,  "I rushed out of the house to get here and forgot it."  "And you wonder why your failing biology."  Greer's eyes perked up,  "Not failing.  Getting behind in."  "So that's why, you're not on the basketball team anymore or going to violin lessons and missing school on a regular bases.  You're just getting behind." Nancy gestured with her 'I told you so' face.  Greer sat up from her comfy spot on the bed, with an irritated tone, "Come on Nanc, you know why I'm not one the team anymore and I wanted to stop going to violin way before I got sick.  Stop sounding like my mother."   Sitting down at her vanity, "I know girl but I'm worried about you.  Your so down all the time and I miss my, give'em hell, Greer.  You know, I almost foaled when I was doing a lay-up in our last game.  If you were there, I would of, foaled, got us the ball and give that Lake Vista High girl a split lip, the little bitch."   Greer laughed at her friend's uncommon, violent out burst,  "Well I'll make it a point to be at each game to cheer on the blood spray."  Nancy smiled, "Damn straight!  So are you going to copy my notes or what?"   Greer nodded and asked for a pen and paper too.  "Because the sooner you get done with that, the sooner I get to take you out."  Nancy chimed, handing her the paper and pen.  "I don't know about that that Nanc.  It took all I had just to get up today.  I just have no energy." Greer confessed.  "Girl, we'll fix that.  We'll get you all caffeinated first."  Nancy smiled wildly.  "You won't be able to even stand still and then we'll call up Tasha and see if she wants to go raise some hell or something.  It'll be a girls night out."  Greer submitted to her best friends optimism, "Okay but if I get tired, promise to take me home, Kay."  "Okay but only if you let me do your nails before we go out.  They look, all Frankenstein, or something."  Greer looked down at her nails.

 They really did look bad.  The nails themselves were very, very long, which was unusual for Greer, and the cuticles around them were very red.  She press the tender skin and yelped at the sharp pain that it cause.  She wondered why she didn't notice it before.  All of this was done in front of her friend's watchful eyes.  "Are you okay, Greer?"  Greer looked up from her hand to her friend's worried face. "Yeah", she said distantly.  "Hey let me give you a rain check on our girls night out.  I'll get your notes back to you on Monday, Kay." Having said that, Greer raced out of Nancy's house before she even had a moment to protest.  Greer almost ran from the front door and leaped into her beat up Oldsmobile cutlass.  Backing out of the drive she saw Nancy spring from the front door worry written all over her face.  Greer didn't stop though; she backed out and threw the car into drive speeding down the street.

 Greer looked at her hands and arms on the steering wheel, as she speed down the neighborhood streets.  Her nails were growing longer, right in front of the eyes; they were at least an inch long now.  Her arms had long red orange hairs growing from her ivory skin.  Pulling into her driveway, Greer leapt from her car again, ripping the door handle off, as she did so.  Greer only looked at her mal-formed hand, holding the door handle, horrorified and ran inside. 

Inside Greer called out to anyone that might be home.  Her mother's face popped into view shortly.  "Greer, what's the matter?!"  Confusion and fear painted over her, "I…I..".  What was she going to tell her mother, that she was turning into a monster, "I need to see dad! I'm having side effects from the medication I'm on." She quickly spat out.  "Are in pain honey?"  Her mother touched her hands, which Greer ripped away and moved behind her back.  Almost in a panic now,  "NO!  I mean, no.  I'm not hurting, I just need to see dad.  Can you call him or something, please mom it's important."  Greer was almost in tears.  She wanted to tell her mother, so much, what was going on, but the fear that her mother would treat her differently was too great.  "Sure honey, we'll go to the lab and get some answers."  Greer's mother grabbed her keys to the truck outside and both walked briskly out the door. 

During the drive to her father's lab, Greer sat on her hands and cried lightly looking at the floor of the truck.    Her mother looked over, pleading with her daughter,  "Please Greer, tell me what's the matter."  Greer only shook her head and continued to cry.  Coming up to the security gate of the laboratories, Greer's mother had a page sent to her husband.  A minute later they were ushered into the large compound.  Parking the truck, Marie could see her husband jogging up to them.  Opening Greer's passenger door, Dr. Nelson held Greer by the shoulders.  "Greer what's the matter?!"  Greer couldn't speak; she was in sobs now, she only moved her hands to be in full sight.  Dr. Nelson gasped at what he saw.  His daughter had claws.  No longer nails but actual claws that moved in and out of her finger tips like a cat's would as well as her arms were covered with bright orange fur.  Dr. Nelson understood the mutation was taking over.  It was taking over his baby.  Marie had exited the truck and was looking over her husband's shoulder to see what her daughter had been hiding all this time.  "Oh, my god!"  Dr. Nelson heard a voice behind him with an unmistakable twang.  "Marie! Get in the truck.  Go home!  I have to keep Greer here, she needs treatment now."  "Treatment," Mrs. Nelson almost screamed, "what the hell kind of treatment have you been doing to our daughter!  I'll be damned if I'm going any where until I get some answers." Turning his attentions to his wife, "Marie, this is a secure area.  I'm sorry but you can't stay here.  We didn't want to upset you.  I had hoped that the treatments would stop this before it started but I under estimated the speed of the genetic material."  Marie was now crying just as hard as Greer was, still in the truck, "David what are you talking about?"  Holding his wife in tight embrace so that only she could here, for now there were many techs and security people brought over to the commotion, "Our daughter is a mutant."