Scarlett woke up abruptly with her mouth tasting as if someone pissed in it, and her head as if a jackhammer was working to break it. She groaned and grumbled, “What the eff happened last night?”

The last thing she recalled was drinking a glass of the house special and boy did it taste divine. It went down smoothly, and afterwards…well, she woke up. The only sensation she remembered was the heat pervading her body and senses, and her loins aching from desire.

She kicked off her blankets, freezing when she realised that she wasn’t under cover but she was still quite warm. The Season of Earth’s temperature varied but was more on the cold side, especially this far north. But she was warm and cosy and felt loved all of a sudden. And there was an arm around her waist. In fact, she was being aggressively cuddled, and only the fact that she was still wearing her dress and that she still had her panties on, relieved her. She hadn’t been taken advantage of, she thought, but she clearly brought someone home. Divines help her.

She tried to get free, but the arm around her just tightened up, and there was a moan of protest behind her head. She could feel someone’s breath against the nape of her neck, but instead of feeling creeped out, Scarlett felt a titillating thrill run up and down her spine before it focused on her crotch. She could feel herself getting a bit damp too. That moan…

A bit of golden hair floated over and now that Scarlett got a better look at the arm, she recognized it. Somewhat.

‘I mean, it’s lighter now, but that’s Lily’s,’ she thought to herself. Lilibeth must have brought her home, then was either too tired to go back to her home or too drunk. Oh. Did her friend drive while drunk? Or did she do the sensible thing and call a cab?

Scarlett blinked at the ceiling. “Ah, this isn’t my home.”

She was in Lilibeth’s apartment. She shivered again, not quite sure why. She could feel the softness of her friend’s bosom against her back, and the twin hard points of her nipples. Scarlett’s dress didn’t cover her entire back, and she could feel Lily’s bare skin against hers. She eased herself into a roll, and she confirmed her guess. Lily was clad only in a pair of white cotton panties, and not a thread more.

She felt her face flush completely red, and the lingering effects of the liquor burned through her veins. She’d been hungover before, but it hadn’t been as bad as now. Lilibeth was murmuring something in her sleep, but Scarlett couldn’t understand her gibberish.

Then, the other girl threw her leg over Scarlett’s and continued the aggressive cuddling. She didn’t quite want to wake up her friend and disturb her rest. She wasn’t sure if there were any other reasons why she didn’t want to move, so she just laid there and enjo—suffered.

It didn’t take more than a few minutes before Lilibeth stirred awake. She finally let go of Scarlett, rolled on her back and stretched her arms and legs out, which did interesting things with her bosom. Scarlett wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or disappointed that Lilibeth had stopped cuddling her. She…wasn’t a lesbian, was she? She was sure she was attracted to boys, but she was crushing so hard on Lilibeth right now that it was taking all her willpower not to jump Lily’s bones.

“Good morning, Scar,” Lilibeth said, going from groggily awake to full alertness in the blink of an eye. She got off the bed in a single, smooth motion, glanced at the clock. “Ah, it’s well past dawn. Good thing I’m not walking Nessa today,” she muttered to herself.

Scarlett just shook her head, but her gaze didn’t leave Lily’s mesmerising figure. When did her best friend start working out? She looked so much different than a couple of weeks ago, that she almost couldn’t believe she was the same person. But who else could it be? Lily had always been a bit withdrawn, and everything else checked out.

Did she…become Altered?

Scarlett held in a frown. It was probably the best explanation why Lily changed so much. Unless she got plastic surgery or something, but in that case, she would have been recovering over the past weeks instead. But no, Lily was as active as ever.

Altered. Her best friend had become Altered.

She should have felt anger, disdain, hate…

Her hatred for Altered bordered on the irrational, according to her therapist. It wasn’t as if tragedy had befallen her because of them. Rather, they were biases passed down from two generations before.

After being brought up by members of White Label, who wouldn’t harbour fears and anger at Altered, who were not only unnatural, but possessed powers that broke the laws of nature?

But…she couldn’t hate Lilibeth, and she felt that her best friend’s power was probably beautification or something equally vain. That suited Lilibeth, alright.

Besides, Scarlett would rather explore the differences closely than dismiss them out of hand. Yes…as close as possible.

“Scarlett?” Lilibeth turned around and raised a questioning eyebrow. Eff, those tits were perky. And those pink nibs looked so chewable she wanted to nibble and blow on them like bubblegum…

Poke!

Lilibeth’s finger tapped against Scarlett’s forehead and her spirally, lecherous thoughts halted. She took a deep breath, her face completely aflame, and she coughed. “Eh, yes?”

“You were drifting off. Need more sleep? I can keep you company since my job’s not until 10 AM.”

“Oh, sure, but, uhm, put some clothes on?”

Lilibeth smirked then ran her hands sensually down her body. “Why Scarlett, I didn’t know you cared.”

That was the limit. Scarlett barely managed to stop herself from pouncing, but she couldn’t stay. The temptation was too strong, and she was weak. “I…I’ve gotta go.”

Lilibeth’s teasing expression vanished like fog at noon. “I’m sorry,” she said hastily, “that was out of line.”

“No, no it’s not,” Scarlett said faintly. “But I…” Her thoughts raced to find an excuse. She didn’t want to hurt Lilibeth by being rude. “I’ve got to finish an… an essay, yeah.”

“Oh, alright. Well, you have today and tomorrow, I guess.” She took Scarlett’s car keys off the bedside table and tossed them over before throwing on a pair of jogging pants and a crop top tee. “I’ll bring you downstairs. I’m gonna run.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Scarlett murmured as she trudged after her gorgeous friend.

Her thoughts raged in her head, warring with deep-seated biases—bigotry if she was being honest—and the vision in front of her. A beauty Alteration wasn’t anything new, and Altered who abused it, did so in specific ways. But, unless it was paired with mind-controlling aspects, it was mostly a vanity change, and really, no one who didn’t know the person before would even notice it.

Was this the result of that summoning ritual Lilibeth and Jenna had been busy with weeks ago? If it were, then maybe it would be worthwhile to change her beliefs…

She stumbled into her car while Lilibeth hovered worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Scarlett repeated. “I’ll head home and sleep there. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“You’re my friend Scar. You don’t have to worry about that,” Lilibeth said.

“Yeah. Friend.”

Scarlett sighed, waved goodbye after she started her car and pulled out of the parking lot. She drove off but constantly glanced at the rearview mirror to watch Lilibeth jog down the street.

She had much to think about.

___________

The Beans and Coffee Cafe opened at ten o’clock in the morning, but prep work began an hour earlier. Yuriko could have arrived at the opening hour, but her training only lasted an hour and since had little else to do, she threw on her waitress’ uniform and walked over to Greyham Park. The uniform was simply a frilled headband and a white, decorative apron. What she wore underneath was up to her so she wore a button-down shirt, a short, pleated skirt, knee-high socks and Mary Janes.

“Hey boss.” Yuriko greeted the cafe’s floor manager, Carly, a youngish woman with her brown hair in a bun and her face caked with makeup. Not that it was tacky, but the foundation colour didn’t quite match the shade of her skin. “Do you mind if I clock in early today?”

“I can’t pay you overtime,” Carly said as she arranged the chairs and tables. “You can off-set, if you want. Since you’re here anyway.”

“Alright. Anything urgent I can help with?” Yuriko asked but she was already moving to help place the furniture in its settings. Afterwards, she headed behind the counter to help prep the coffee machines. The aroma of the beans in their canvas sacks permeated the place and Yuriko couldn’t help but take a deep breath to savour it.

About ten minutes to ten, Carly asked Yuriko to go outside and try and attract customers. “Go grab the placard and wander around the park for a while. Return by eleven or when I call you.”

“Sure thing.”

The placard was secured on a stick and looked much like a protest rally sign. Yuriko grabbed it, raised it up like a banner, and marched outside. The sign had the cafe’s logo and a vicinity map, though that bit was small enough that it should only be readable if someone was close to her.

She hummed as she strutted around the park. After a while, she noticed that she’d picked up a train of gawkers and she turned around and smiled at them. “The Beans and Coffee Cafe is open, enjoy a cup of hot coffee and embrace the day!” It was the cafe’s approved line, and she was obligated to say it. Not that she minded sounding like a television commercial.

“Lead the way, miss!” a young man laughed.

“Sure thing!” Yuriko hummed as she turned around and led the customers to the shop. She left them inside, but she could hear the sour grumbles upon her exit. She giggled as she went to a different section of the park.

An hour later and the cafe was full to bursting. Yuriko was then moved to service duty as she brought the drinks and pastries to the tables. She weaved around the crowd, deftly avoiding a couple of wandering hands, practically ignored catcalls and propositions, and then later, was tasked to quietly encourage the loiterers to either buy more drinks or get lost.

It was fun, in a way, but Yuriko hoped to get a different weekend job since this was rather tiring. Controlling her Mien exhausted her more than the grabby hands, the lustful boys and girls, and loud and obnoxious admirers.

She also noticed that Carly’s expression vacillated between annoyance at the rowdiness and satisfaction at the full house.

At the end of her shift, Yuriko made three times as much as her salary in tips, so all in all, it was a profitable gig.

____________________

Jeremiah King stared at the video that had just finished playing with incredulity. He leaned back in his chair and looked at his partner.

Haven Owen was tapping her foot irritably. Across the table was their federal liaison, Maxwell Parr, a stiff man with dirty blonde hair who had a penchant for wearing shades indoors.

“What did we just watch?”

The man snorted. “Exactly what you saw. Aliens. Infiltrators. As soon as they had the chance, when they realised they were held captive, they killed themselves and left nothing but ashes.”

“Careless,” Haven grunted.

“Indeed, but they never got into our custody. The local police forces apprehended them after a tip-off. Here,” Maxwell took the tablet and switched to another video. “This is CCTV footage captured on the street. Notice someone?”

Jeremiah stared at the new video, frowned and grunted, “It’s her.”

“Yes.” Maxwell said, “Bring her in for questioning.”

“Good.” Haven, Lightfoot, grunted as she smacked her fists together. “Time for a rematch.”

Jeremiah sighed and rolled his eyes, but he was looking forward to tangling with that girl again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep