The arctic fox preened in the mirror for a few moments and adjusted the antique hair comb her mother had given her. Karla had to think hard to remember how long it had been since she'd last spoken to her mom. Over five years ago, she finally decided. Aside from John, Karla hadn't seen another fox since then, and she wanted to look her best for the one they'd brought in last night.
Karla looked at her reflection in the mirror and her eyes were drawn to the shock collar she wore on her neck. Thinking of John always reminded her of it, her punishment for sneaking off to the warehouse and trying to use the tod's old phone weeks ago. She could probably remove the collar, but if Boris saw her without it on… Karla shuddered. She didn't want to disobey the wolverine, because Boris had killed mammals for less.
Karla put a tiny dab of perfume on her neck and forehead. She noticed the bottle was almost empty and sighed. Given how angry Boris was with her, it would be awhile until she saw more. The vixen fluffed the fur on her head one last time and adjusted her sweater to hide the shock collar. If she could get something useful out of the new fox, maybe Boris would allow her to remove the device.
Karla wrapped her jacket tightly around herself before she stepped into the courtyard. Stray snowflakes fell from a gray sky as she hurried through the waist deep drifts. She bent low against the cutting wind and avoided looking at the rusting razor wire atop the crumbling walls of Butryka prison.
The vixen made her way through the large open room that served as a garage, where several vehicles were in varying states of repair, and walked down a long hallway to the room with a row of cells, all empty save one.
Karla was a little disappointed to find the fox curled up on the bed, asleep. The vixen noticed he was older than she was, and his fur was missing patches in an odd pattern. Still, she couldn't help but admire that he was physically in good shape.
"Whatever it is you're selling, I'm not buying." His words made Karla jump, and the vixen realized her gaze had been lingering on the tod a bit too long, causing a spike in her scent that was probably overpowering her perfume.
Before she could think better of it, Karla blurted out, "I wouldn't even give you the time of day, much less sell you anything." The tod sat up and blinked his green eyes at her before he stretched and yawned. She was startled and took a step back when he lept up from the bed and hurried to the bars to look closely at her.
Karla picked up a scent from the fox, a confusing mix of completely unexpected emotions. Love? Desire? Whatever they were seemed pretty forward, especially after what he'd just said. She noticed him staring at the side of her head and realized he was looking at her hair comb. Karla turned slightly to show it off. "Like it?"
"Yeah, it's… nevermind." The change was almost startling, as the raw emotion on his face was quickly masked by a smug grin. "So, what's a pretty young thing like you doing in a place like this?"
"I'm not young. I'm almost 30," Karla said petulantly.
The fox extended his paw through the bars. "The name is Nick. Nick Wilde." When she didn't move, he added, "I don't bite. Usually." His smile made her blush. The vixen remained motionless, so eventually he shrugged and withdrew his paw.
They looked at each other awkwardly for a few heartbeats before his last name finally registered with Karla. "You're related to John Wilde?"
Several emotions flickered across his face until Nick settled back on a smug grin and half lidded eyes. He nodded. "Probably. It's a pretty common name. Is he a guest here too?"
Karla chuckled at the last part. If there was one thing she'd learned the hard way, anyone connected with John was trouble. The vixen tried to gather her thoughts to ask him another question, when Nick looked at her neck and asked, "So, are you part of the official welcoming committee, or just another inmate?"
Karla reached up and realized her sweater had betrayed her by shifting to reveal the shock collar. The vixen made a few adjustments and hid it again before she stuck her chin out haughtily. "I can come and go as I please."
Nick moved to sit back down on the bed. "Great… then could you pick up something from Bug-Burga for me? I'm starving."
Their talk was definitely not going as Karla had planned. She considered her options and finally said in her silkiest voice, "I can answer your questions, maybe even get you some food, if you answer some of mine."
Nick looked at her skeptically. "Uh-huh." He continued to examine her for a few moments and his eyes narrowed. "You're Karla Lisza, aren't you? Mother's name is Olivia?"
The vixen was speechless for a moment before she finally sputtered out, "How… how do you know who I am?"
Karla wanted to reach through the bars and slap the smug look off Nick's face when he replied, "I'll answer that question, if you answer one for me first." She fumed at how easily he'd turned her words around and Nick spoke again. "Who's this Boris mammal I keep hearing about?"
She looked away and involuntarily touched her collar. "He's a wolverine you don't want to mess with." It was the vixen's turn to feel smug after she looked sideways at Nick to find him expectantly waiting for her to say more.
Karla wondered if it would be better to try to get information out of him later, when he said contritely, "I realized it when I saw the hair comb. Who you are, I mean."
The vixen tried and failed to keep the excitement out of her voice. "Do you know my mom? Have you seen-"
Nick shook his head. "You gotta answer one of mine now." Karla huffed and started to leave. Nick blurted out, "When was the last time you saw your mom?" Something in his voice made the vixen pause. Karla could see him struggling with some internal debate before he took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this- "
Nick was interrupted as two wolf guards barged in through the open doorway, flanking a fox whom Karla quickly realized was John. She didn't expect to see him, since he'd been put in isolation after the fiasco with his phone. The vixen's surprise quickly turned to anger. "John, you asshole. What happened to my mom?"
But the older tod was too distracted to hear her. "Nicky? Is it really you?" Nick tensed and John stepped closer to the bars for a better look. "Nicky, it's so good to see-"
Karla was surprised at how quickly Nick moved when he snarled and leapt forward to yank John's shirt roughly, pulling the older tod against the bars with a loud crash.
As the wolves cursed and tried to separate the two foxes, Karla shivered at Nick's sudden aggressive turn. His flashing teeth and low growl made her stomach flutter and Karla blushed when she realized how much his predatory behavior turned her on. She felt almost disappointed when the guards separated the foxes and moved John to the empty cell at the end of the row.
Nick glared at John, who rubbed his arm and looked back with obvious discomfort. After locking John in the cell, the guards left through the door in the far side of the room, and eventually both foxes turned to glance at Karla before they moved to sit on their beds.
They probably wouldn't say anything while she was there, so Karla said, "I'll leave and let you boys catch up."
The vixen turned to walk out the open doorway and she heard Nick say, "Make sure to get my burger without onions."
She retraced her steps back into the hallway and stopped just outside the room. Neither of the tods could see her, but she was close enough to hear them. Karla quietly sat down on the floor and waited.
After a few minutes John spoke first. "You didn't have to smash me against the bars so hard, I wasn't going to say anything dumb. Unfortunately they figured out you're my son already."
"Sorry I'm such a disappointment to-"
John cut him off. "I didn't mean it that way. Look, Nicky, let me-"
"Stop calling me that. And thanks for getting me involved in… whatever the hell this is, dad." The sarcastic emphasis on the last word made Karla wince.
"How did you find me?"
"We don't have time to go over that right now." There was a pause before Nick said in an accusing voice, "Seriously, you took Ma's comb and gave it to some vixen?"
"Your mom threw it at me the last time we spoke."
There was a long silence before Nick asked, "Where are we, and who is this Boris mammal I keep hearing about?"
"We're in an abandoned prison somewhere outside Northlund where Boris and his band of idiots hang out. I've been here since right after I got picked up at the hospital." He paused and cleared his throat. "Boris… he's in charge. He's a dangerous wolverine, Nicky. Don't mess with him. I'm not kidding, Boris is a mammal you do not want to play games with."
"So what's the cute little vixen's story? Karla. Is she your daughter?"
"No, but I feel… responsible for her.
Nick laughed humorlessly. "Well, at least you feel that way about someone."
John sighed. "I didn't want Boris to find out about you and Ma, so I left. I sent your mom money whenever I could. She never knew where I was, though. And I never stayed in one place for long. Until I met Olivia." Karla's breath caught when she heard her mother's name and John continued speaking. "She was a wonderful vixen, but honestly Olivia was just a distraction to help me forget about your mom. And then Boris found out that I was living with her… Nicky, he murdered Olivia to get to me."
Karla was stunned. It was bad enough John had lied to her all these years about her mom, but to find out he was directly responsible for her death filled the vixen with rage. She barely heard the rest of what John said until he spoke her name.
"Karla went missing, so I tried to see you at the hospital, to ask for your help finding-"
John was interrupted by Nick's angry words. "Why didn't you come talk to us sooner? You know Ma's dead, right?"
"I heard that she-"
"And you couldn't even be bothered to show up at her funeral?"
John almost whined as he said, "I was afraid, ok? Look, I don't want to argue about-"
Nick cut him off with a snarl. "Yeah, well, I do."
Karla's attention again drifted from their conversation, which became more heated as Nick and John hurled increasingly angry words back and forth. She gulped and fought back tears. Karla tried not to think about her mom, until she finally shook her head. There would be plenty of time for mourning later.
The vixen realized the two tods had been quiet for several moments before John's shaky voice finally broke the silence. "I love both of you." Nick made a rude noise, but John continued talking in a quiet voice. "I do. I know what Boris does to the families of mammals who cross him, and I couldn't stand the thought that either of you would be hurt or killed because of me. I've had quite a bit of time to think about my mistakes. I'm a coward, and I regret everything I did that took me away from you and Ma."
Silence descended again for a few minutes before Karla heard someone open the door on the opposite side of the room. John said urgently, "They're coming to take me to see Boris. Remember what I said about him."
If Boris was hurrying back from wherever he was to hold audience today, Karla wanted to be there for that. She heard the low murmur of the two wolf guards talking and the sound of a cell being unlocked. Karla strained to listen while John spoke again, his voice plaintive. "When the time comes… bury me next to Ma? I don't deserve it, but I'd like to know I'll end up next to her again someday."
One of the wolves snarled, "Hurry up, runt. The boss is almost here, and you don't wanna keep him waiting."
Karla heard a series of noises as the wolves took John from the cell. Only after the guards left and the room was silent again did she hear Nick quietly begin to weep.