Mark glanced at his phone and sighed. She's late again
It was the late midday rush, cars squeezing through intense traffic, buses and trams full of commuters, queuing up to gain access to the station, people crossing the street and a lone cyclist angling between the traffic to the great consternation of the drivers. A steady stream of people flowed past Mark on the sidewalk, important men dressed in black suits with suitcases, varied by shoppers and highschool girls in tight knit formations with their noses in their phones. He stood on a bridge across a small river near the city centre, leaning over the railing to observe the ducks quaking away their lives underneath. The river was their home and they lived off the roots and worms hidden away inside the mud but mostly their diet comprised of handouts and human leftovers. The ducks recognised such an opportunity in the form of an old man sitting on a bench, throwing breadcrumbs on the ground, and they hurried to gather around him.
As he put his phone back into his pocket, someone called out his name.
"Mark, is that you?" A soft voice spoke. He turned to see his classmate from social studies, Stephany, standing a few paces away with her hands clasped in front of her. She wore a blue, knee long skirt and a blouse in matching colors, fitted over her bountiful chest. Although she had the appearance of a girl she wasn't, she was a futanari.
The sudden appearance of futanari was a mystery to geneticist and biologist across the world. A third gender, with both male and female genitalia. Although female in appearance they grew taller and stronger than women and even men. Approximately a third of newborn children were futas, and it was only a matter of time before a third of the population would be futa. Society was hard pressed to accept them at first and they were subjugated to harassment and prosecution, often seen as second hand citizens. They struggled to find jobs and take part in society, making them one of the most ostracized groups in recent history. In less developed countries their situation was even worse. Certain cultures took up the practice of gelding futanari babies, their very existence declared to be an affront to god, and they the spawn of the devil. In Those countries futas were hunted and put up in public displays to be humiliated and tortured. The modern world had progressed though and most futas of today could lead a normal life though the rifts of past oppression hung heavy and there were still many who distrusted them. The younger generations got along with them though, especially men.
"Hey Stephany! How's it going?"
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"
"Good. It's nice that winter is over, right? I can't believe this weather, one week it's snowing and freezing and the next it's sunny and full spring. I'm not complaining though, another cold week like that and i would have considered seeking asylum in Africa, a refugee of cold weather."
Stephany giggled and raised a hand to hide her smile, a cute gesture of hers. She always hunched low, probably in an effort to look smaller and appear more feminine. She was several inches taller than him.
"So did you have an exam today?"
She nodded, "Yes, in maths and biology."
"How did it go?"
"I don't know, i guess biology went okay, i should pass it, but i botched the maths test."
"You say that every time and every time you place the highest in our class."
He smiled at her, "You should have more confidence in yourself, you're probably the smartest person i know."
"Really? I'm not sure I'm that smart but thank you anyway." her cheeks flushed.
"Meanwhile, I'm barely scraping by. Last test I passed the limit by a single point!"
"That's no good Mark, you need to study more."
"I know, it's just that whenever I try my head gets filled with all the other things I can do."
Stephany looked happy at that comment for some reason.
"If you want we could study together."
"You'd do that for me? That's so nice of you Stephany, it'd be a great help."
Her blush grew in intensity.
"Well of course, I mean we're, uhm, friends, right?"
Mark smiled and nodded to her.
"So if you're perhaps free this Saturday we could study and... I'm sure you have other plans but if you'd like we could catch a movie after?"
She payed close attention to something on the asphalt as she spoke.
"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. We could see that new hero movie that just came out, if you're ok with it."
"Yes absolutely, I love hero movies," she called out, a bit too loud.
"I'll ask Henrietta if she wants to come too."
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I guess if she wants to come too that's okay."
She was being odd about it, he thought. It was just a movie.
Then someone jumped up on his shoulders and covered his eyes.
"Guess who?" a girl spoke behind him. It was Henrietta.
"Judging by the deep whisky infused voice and brooding tone I'd say it must be my physics teacher. Mr Sanders, what are you doing here?"
"Hey you!" Henrietta exclaimed "it's your girlfriend, recognise your girlfriends voice, you bum."
She gave his shoulder a light push.
"All right, all right it was just a joke."
Henrietta grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulled herself close and stood on her toes to kiss him on the lips. He was surprised by the passionate display but answered the kiss. Henrietta still clinging tight to him, turned towards Stephany and looked at her as if she just realised she was standing there.
"Oh hey Stephany, how are you?"
"Hi Henrietta, I'm fine, thank you," There was a challenge in Henriettas gaze and Stephany looked away with a defeated look on her face. Something was off by the situation.
"Well, I guess I should be going then," Stephany said, still looking away.
"Okay, take care Steph, see you in school." Mark responded.
"Yea," she said and glanced at Henrietta who still clung to Mark, waved to them and quickly darted away.
"What was that about?" Mark asked but Henrietta didn't answer and instead grabbed his hand. "Should we go?"
"Sure, lead the way princess."
Henrietta smiled, she liked it when he called her princess. They crossed the street, squeezing between two busses stuck in the traffic. Mark got a look at the driver. The man leaned his head on his palms, elbows on the wheel, with a dull expression, surely contemplating his career choice as the traffic had ground to a complete stop. They walked down a street and reached their destination. A small café, specialised in cupcakes. The topping was quite artsy, adorned with elaborate patterns and chocolate figurines. After ordering a coffee and a cupcake each they sat down at a table near the windows. Henrietta looked to be in a good mood.
"Oh yea, I almost forgot. Stephany asked if we wanted to catch a movie this Saturday. There's this superhero movie that just came out."
Henriettas face soured and Mark remembered that she wasn't a big fan of superheroes.
"I know you're not into films like that but i thought it would be fun if it were the three of us."
Henrietta pouted her lips as she looked him square in the eyes.
"Why would you want to go with someone like her?"
Mark was taken aback by her response.,"What do you mean someone like her?" but Henrietta just kept glaring at him.
"I mean we're friends, why wouldn't I wanna go watch a movie with her?"
"friends, huh," Henrietta snorted and gazed out the window, "you are too nice, you know that, right?"
Mark didn't like the way this conversation were going.
"She's a futa," Henrietta added as if it mattered.
"Well yea, so what?" He didn't want to fight with her, especially since their date started off so well but her words seemed very unfair.
"You really don't have a clue, do you?"
"What are you talking about? She's a futa, so what? I don't care about that and you should know better than to judge someone by their gender."
Henrietta straightened herself up and met his disapproving gaze.
"You are too quick to trust people, she's different from us, and besides, it's no secret. Everyone knows."
"What secret? Tell me!" Mark started to get angry, he didn't know that Henrietta harboured such prejudice against futas.
"That she's head over heels for you! Really, how clueless can you get? Everyone with two eyes can see it, everyone except you. Why do you think she always keeps her hands in front of her when she sees you, she's hiding her erection!"
The pair sitting at the next table stiffened and the man cleared his throat in a meaningful way. Henrietta, realising she'd spoken too loud, leaned over the table and whispered, "She's always staring at you in class and Angelica swears she saw a picture of you in her purse once."
Mark was at a loss for words, could it be true? Had he misinterpreted her advances as acts of friendship? He'd never thought of her that way, she was beautiful and nice for sure, but...
"I.. I had no idea," He mumbled as Henrietta glared at him. They fell silent and looked out the window. People passed by in a steady streams but Mark was so caught up by the revelation that he couldn't perceive it.
"What should I do?"
"You're asking your me that?"
He thought of Stephany. They'd been in the same class since kindergarten and he'd always gotten along with her. She was intelligent, kind and had those feminine curves that all guys fawned over. But then there was the fact she was a futa. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. It didn't matter though. He wasn't the kind of guy that would jump from girl to girl. While Henrietta could be a handful and somewhat possessive she was way above his standard and he knew it.
"Baby don't worry. You know I love you."
She didn't seem convinced and he realised she'd need more convincing than that, so he leaned further in and whispered in her ear, "you are the most beautiful girl in the whole world and the only girl for me," That was more effective and she raised her chin in a happy expression while still feigning disapproval. He wasn't as tactless as to not know she wanted more, "You are way too good for me, I know that and I would never leave you for someone else, besides I only see Stephany as a friend, you don't have to worry about her. You are my girl and I love you with all my heart, princess."
She couldn't resist his sweet nothings anymore and her mouth crept up in a wide smile.
"Oh you," she said and punched his chest. Mark nudged closer and their lips met in a kiss.
"I'll tell her something came up and I can't make it on Saturday."
"You should go. You don't have to do that for me," Henrietta said.
"No, I don't want to make you jealous. She's still my friend, so I won't end our friendship but if it ever gets to that, I'll make sure she knows that's all we are."
"Just be careful okay? You've heard what they say about futas. That once you do it, men get infatuated by them."
"Ugh, now you're just being gross," They laughed and then talked about something else. Henrietta told him of something her friend said, he didn't much care but enjoyed watching her plush lips move as she spoke. He made a mental note of it though, if she would ask him about it later. A man must uphold the pretext that his womans words were golden. As they chatted away the afternoon there was suddenly a loud gasp in the café and people all around began to fish for their mobiles.
"What's going on?" Mark asked Henrietta as she was fumbling to get her phone out of her pocket. An employee ran across the floor and turned on a TV hanging on the wall. The screen was black with the Network logo in the middle. A female voice rang out. "This is the RMC network, normal programming has been suspended until further notice."
Then it went quiet with only a static buzz until the voice repeated its message.
"Hey look here," Henrietta said motioning towards her phone. Mark edged closer and read the news notification. Terrorist attack at the parliament, await further updates. They looked at each other.
"A terrorist attack, here?"
The tv screen flipped on to a reporter dressed in a black suit with a white blouse underneath. They recognised the background as a street nearby. A man called out from behind the camera, "you're on air."
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," the reporter said and looked into the camera, "we interrupt this broadcast to bring you an emergency alert. There has been a terrorist attack at the parliament in the capital and a majority of the ministers and senators are as of this moment held hostage by the terrorists. There has been no reports of casualties but several witnesses report that they've heard gunfire from the parliament building. Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the terrorist group responsible and we're awaiting further information. Swat teams have surrounded the parliament, and it is yet unclear what their approach will be. To everyone staying in the capital we beseech you to stay indoors, do not go outside as we do not yet know the full extent of this attack."
There was a loud sound outside, like distant firecrackers exploding.
"Is that gunshots?" Henrietta asked.
"The military has been called in. I would like to repeat to all listening, stay inside. The streets are not..." The reporter stopped mid sentence and held a hand to her ear, listening to something in her earpiece. Her face twisted into a look of horror and the man behind the camera called out, "We have to get out of here, go!" The reporter dropped her mic and dashed out of the screen.
Mark heard it before he saw it on the screen. The walls shook, rumbling the pictureframes so hard that several crashed onto the floor. Glasses and plates gor hurled off the tables, spilling their contents all around. A table got overturned. A woman screamed and people jumped down onto the floor, covering their heads. with a slight delay the explosion erupted on the screen,filling the entirety with flames. The signal crackled something loud and then turned back to the Network logo and the static noise. The loud explosion was enough to make his ear ring. He grabbed Henrietta and pulled her close.
"Hey are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," she replied, "What's going on?"
There was another salve of gunshots outside, much closer this time. Mark peered over the table and looked out the window. There were people were running and screaming outside. He pulled Henrietta up.
"We have to get out of here, it's not safe."
She nodded and let him lead her towards the exit but then, just as they were few paces from the entrance, he stopped. It may have been something of a sixth sense but he felt that if he stepped out of that door he would die in an instant. He stared at the exit, perplexed, unsure what to do.
"Hey let's go, you said we had to get out of here. What are you waiting for?"
He looked at her and back at the door. Then it happened. The building on the opposite side of the street was engulfed in flames. The roar of the explosion was so loud that it blew out both his eardrums, terminating the illusion of sound. The shockwave hit the café, shattering the windows, and struck them so hard they vaulted several paces across the floor. A cloud of dust burst into the café.
Mark groaned, blinked his eyes and tried to rub them clear, the world span. He looked around, people crawled and screamed everywhere, some wailed and others walked aimlessly around in a confused state. Through hoarse painful coughs he sat and tried to clear his mind. He could barely hear anything, the sounds were muffled, like distant echoes, and above it were the constant ringing in his ears. He squinted to make out the interior of the café, the shapes of people were distorted by the clouds of dust. Where was Henrietta? He called her name but there was no answer, his voice sounding like a whisper. He called again but still no answer. Then he heard a scream that sounded far off yet somehow he knew the person screaming was right next to him. His heart stopped as he saw shape before him. It was Henrietta. She was lying on her back, arms raised and mouth wide open with her tongue sticking out in a scream of utter terror. Her face covered in blood and dust, her fingers crooked and broken, probing at an object lodged deep into her eye, a shard of glass nearly a decimeter long. Blood pulsed out of the wound like a bubbles from a clearwater spring.
Mark panicked. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her head onto his lap. He wanted to run and escape the carnage but more than that he wanted Henrietta to be safe. It didn't take long for him to determine that he couldn't pull the shard out without inflicting further harm. He screamed for help but his voice drowned in the panicked calls that rose from all around him. Pulling her into his arms, he stood up and ran for the exit, screaming for someone to help him. There was no help for her to be had though. The shard had penetrated deep and pierced her brain. Her life ticking away as he ran with her in his arms.
She would die that day.