A New Dawn
                        By Jason Rodencal

     Loneliness; A simple word that can have such tragic results.  It can bring a strong man to his knees without a single physical blow.  It is said that every person on this Earth has someone waiting for them somewhere, yet, many never break from loneliness' grasp.

     Thoughts like that kept running through Meph's mind the entire night as he laid there, on top of his bed.  Was Allicia his someone, his chance to break free?  Meph couldn't answer that question with any diffinity no matter how hard he thought about it.  The impromptu dinner that they had shared only a few short hours ago had gone beautifully well in his eyes.  Somehow, Meph had scrounged up enough items to create a decent sized meal.  Unfortunately though, a lingering hint of musk had attached itself to the apartment from his days in bed and the change on Allicia's face as she enter told that the smell was still at objectionable levels.  Meph had lost count of how many times he apologized for the musk odor that night as he kept writing mental notes to buy deodorizers and room sprays.  Allicia kept saying that it wasn't his fault and that it didn't bother her, but Meph could tell that it was just a mask of politeness she wore on her face.

     Their conversation lasted well into the night as their dinners slowly disappeared in between sentences.  Meph had finally revealed his past at the orphanage to someone other that Ilari and it seemed to help him feel a little bit better about his present surroundings.  Allicia didn't know what to say.  She had never heard of anything a cruel and unforgivable as those years Meph spent in tortured loneliness.  Meph in turn asked the same questions to Allicia about her past.  Everytime, though, the question came up, she quickly turned the conversation toward something else.  The emotions Meph could smell coming off of Allicia were strong and confusing to him.  What really distressed him, though, was when he asked about her family, she became flushed and the smell of hatred washed off of Allicia like waves.  Meph quickly changed topics, but that emotional response bothered him in the back of his mind all night, even now as he laid in bed.

     Meph stared up at the bumps in the stucco ceiling as he had done for so many nights before, but tonight was different.  He wasn't counting the bumps as he often did to put himself to sleep, he was just staring at the whiteness, lost in thought.  Allicia was an enigma to him.  Did she truly care for him?  Could he ever trust her after the betrayal to John?  Every question only led to more questions and half answers as the night turned into the early morning.  Sleep was a lost cause to Meph as his nocturnal nature kept him up that night.  Meph had thought that he had finally reset his internal clock from being a nighttime creature a long time ago, but this whole business with Allicia and the town had just screwed everything up.  And now he was paying the price with a lost night of sleep.  Meph eventually gave up tossing and turning and sat on the edge of his bed to watch the sun rise over the tops of the buildings.  As the first rays began to snake into the room through the window, he wondered what the new day held in store for him.

     Meph was glad that he didn't have to work that day as he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.  Out of curiosity, he looked out of the window at the sky.  The dark skies looming on the horizon seemed to be so foreboding to Meph, almost as if they were mocking his chance to find happiness.  He yawned as he turned away from the window and wished that he could just go back to bed.  Meph, though, knew that if he did, his biological clock would remain out of whack, that and he wouldn't have anything to eat around the apartment.  Meph scratched an itch on his back as he pulled out some clothes and went back to thinking about Allicia.

     Meph stepped out into the weak sunlight and stopped for a moment to look about.  The dark clouds were moving in fast and Meph could tell he didn't have much time to do his shopping before the rain came.  The townspeople also knew this and busily went about their business.  Meph was actually glad for that, because it meant that they didn't have the time to bother and taunt him.  Meph turned up the collar on his rain jacket and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

     Meph hurried about his business in the town from store to store and done well before the clouds were reaching the town limits.  The smell of rain tickled the back of his throat with every breath and that meant it was about to start falling very soon.  Meph hugged his bags of groceries closer to his body and walked just that much faster toward home.  Though, just as Meph was about to take a step, someone's food shot out from the side and sent Meph flailing to the ground.  He looked up toward the sound of laughter to see John, standing there as if he owned the sidewalk.  The sudden rush of hatred that flowed through Meph's blood actually made his hackles rise.

     "You Goddamn freak!  How dare you steal my woman away from me!  I'm going to teach you a lesson that you'll never forget!" John spat out at Meph.  Meph only growled in response.  The growl startled John for a second, but then he swung his foot out in a kick that Meph easily dodged.  Meph then leaped right at John and bowled him over and the two began to brawl and roll about on the ground.  John finally managed to pull himself free of Meph's grip and reached into his jacket.  Meph instantly knew exactly what John was reaching for and quickly turned around and raised his tail.  Just as the gun cleared  the outer lining, Meph fired his own natural weapon with precise accuracy into John's face.  John dropped the gun and clawed his face in agony as the musk burned his eyes like concentrated mace.

     "Now, what was that about teaching me a lesson??" Meph hissed through his clenched jaw.  John didn't answer as he was too busy gagging and wiping his eyes.  "If you ever think about coming near me again, just remember the smell."  With that, Meph began to gather up his spilled groceries and put them back into the bags.  He never got the chance to take them home, though, as the sheriff's car came screeching to a halt in front of him.

     "Put your hands up!"  Sheriff Davis yelled at Meph as he pulled out his revolver and aimed it at Meph.  Meph didn't have the slightest urge to be shot, so he did as he was told. Sheriff Davis roughly slapped a pair of handcuffs onto Meph and shoved him into the back of the car.

     "Why am I being arrested?!?  He attacked me!" Meph screamed through the Plexiglas wall in the car.

     "Listen here, furball, just because you're a skunk, you just don't have the right to go around spraying people."

     "Even people about to shoot me?!?  It was in self-defense!"

     "Listen, you're lucky I don’t' charge you with disturbing the peace for that God-awful smell.  How can I hold the other guy with him smelling like that?"

     "Try tomato juice," Meph muttered under his breath.

     It was only a couple of minute's ride to the sheriff office, where Meph was quickly booked and unceremoniously shoved into a holding cell.  There were a handful of other people in the cell who quickly retreated to the farthest corner from Meph as he sat down on one of the benches.  One of the inmates even went as far as to scream for the sheriff to change him to another cell, claiming "cruel and unusual punishment."  It was a few minutes later that John was escorted by into another cell.  Meph noted with some degree of satisfaction that John was wearing a new set of clothes and looked like he had been drowned in some liquid.  The sneer that came off of John's face as he passed by Meph's cell was just priceless in Meph's book.

     "Serves ya' right, bastard..." Meph thought to himself before lying down on the bench, awaiting his fate.

     From the look of the other inmates' faces, Meph could tell that the sheriff hadn't been able to get rid of all the musk from John.  They were torn between siting next to him or smelling skunk musk the rest of the night.  What kind of hurt Meph's feelings, though, was the fact that out of five men, only one ventured to sleep near him.  The rest just covered their faces the best they could and bunkered down for a long night.

     The next morning, Meph received a rude awakening from the sheriff at around what his internal clock said was seven in the morning.

     "Alright, furball, the judge wants to have a few words with you," Sheriff Davis said as he banged on the bars to wake Meph up.

     Meph blinked a few times to refocus his eyes.  "Wha...? Now?" was all he could coherently think to say at the moment.

      The sheriff opened the cell and led Meph down a hallway to a large oak door with a big glass window in it.  On the glass was painted:  Judge Harry Smith.  Meph felt his heartbeat suddenly go into overdrive.  He had never been in this deep of a mess before and was now terrified at the fact that he was about to be blamed for something that wasn't even his fault.

     "In you go," the sheriff said as he opened the door and shoved Meph inside.

     The office was richly decorated with large bookshelves and a huge oak desk.  Behind the desk was a tall leather desk chair that had its back toward him.  Though, the moment the door was shut behind Meph, the chair turned around to reveal Judge Smith.  The moment his eyes laid on Meph, Judge Smith's eyes closed to slits and his frown grew even sterner.  It was well know throughout the county that Judge Smith was a devout hater of morphs because of his religious beliefs, claiming that they were nothing more that "sons of Satan."  Meph knew this quite well, too and the instant Meph saw Judge Smith's frown, he felt his stomach fall out.

     "Oh, God, I'm screwed..." Meph thought to himself.

     Judge Smith folded his hands in front of himself and began speaking.  "It is lucky for you that all of the witnesses' stories support your own.  It has also been brought to my attention that this is not the first time that you two have had a confrontation.  All the evidence proves that you were acting in self-defense and, as much as I hate to say it, you're free to go. But, if I ever see you in here again, for any reason, I will bury you so deep, not even your stench will be found.  Now get out of my office before I charge you with violating the clean air act," he finished saying as he pointed to the door.

     Meph didn't sit long enough for the judge to change his mind and just about ran out of the city jail/court.  "Great, now I've got Smith breathing down my back..." Meph growled to no one in particular, "Thank you, John."  He slowly made his way home.  Meph didn't care about the time anymore, he was already late for work and probably wouldn't make it in before lunchtime as it was.  He didn't want to just go straight to work, because he was starting to smell a bit heavily of musk from not having a shower in almost two days.  Meph didn't think that Ilari would appreciate that too much.

     It was almost an hour's walk back to his apartment and the first thing Meph did was get into the shower.  He could just feel the grime and ick from the night in jail wash right off of his fur with every drop of water that pelted his body.  After spending almost an hour in the shower, Meph finally got out, dried off, and casually pulled on his work clothes.  He then called the dinner, just to let Ilari know what had happened to him.

     "Hello, Ricky's dinner," answered a voice on the other end.

     "May I please speak to Ilari?"

     "Just a moment, and Meph, just a word of warning... he's not happy with you."

     "I knew he wouldn't be.  Just get him, please."

     Meph waited a few moments before a very irate Ilari picked up the phone, "Meph, you better have a damn good reason for being a no show, no call!"

     "I just got out of jail," Meph bluntly replied.

     "You just,.... WHAT?!?!"

     "I just got out of jail.  It seems that John is back on the rampage and I'm getting the short end of the stick again," sighed Meph.

     "Tell me what happened, Meph."

     It only took Meph a few minutes to tell Ilari of the past day's events.  As he finished up his story, there came a knock at the door.  "Now, who could that be?"  Meph wondered.  He went to the front door and looked through the peephole.  Standing outside was Allicia, a worried look plastered to her face.  "Ilari?  I need to go now.  I can be in by noon if you need me."

     "No, I have someone taking your place for the day.  I would suggest using today to take care of that mess before it can get a chance to get out of hand.  I'll see you tomorrow, Meph."

Meph said his good-byes and then opened the door for Allicia.  "What are you doing here?"  he asked.

     "I just heard what happened.  I just can't believe that John would go that far, to try and shoot you," Allicia said as she gripped Meph in a death-hug.

     "Acckk!  I can't breathe!" gasped Meph.  Allicia eased up on her grip.  "Now, how did you hear about it?  Even better, how did you know I was here?"

     "For your first question, it's all over the paper.  As for the other, you weren't at work and the sheriff said that he had just released you."

     "Oh..." Now Meph felt a bit like a twit. He was just glad that Allicia couldn't smell the embarrassment coming from him.  "Well, it looks like I've got an unexpected day off," Meph said with a grin.

     "Do you, now?  Then how about we have a nice private lunch down in the cafe just outside of Coppersfield?"  Allicia asked with her own sly little grin.

     "Never heard of it, besides, how would we get there?  I don't have a car, you know."

     "But," Allicia put a finger on the tip of Meph's nose, "I do.  No excuses, we both could use some time away from here."  Meph didn't argue the point at all.

     The drive out of town was a new experience for Meph, who had never been in a car before.  He just had to open the window and feel the air rush through his fur at 60+ MPH. on the highway to Coppersfield.  Though, the only thing he couldn't  get used to was how cramped his tail was against the back of the seat.  Meph thought to himself that if he ever did buy a car, he would definitely look into getting a custom seat.

     Allicia and Meph hardly said a word the entire trip.  Meph was too involved in the ride and the passing blur of scenery, and Allicia was just content to let him enjoy that new wonder.  As the car passed the sign welcoming them to Coppersfield, Allicia turned off at an exit and drove down a small country road to the outskirts of town.  Set out on it's own was a small building done up in the Pennsylvania Dutch style of decorating and on it's side was painted "Coppersfield Cafe."

     As Meph stared at the little cafe, he asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea?  I don't want to cause any more problems to crop up, especially here."

      "What do you mean?" Allicia asked, puzzled.

     "When I first left the orphanage, I looking into living here and I got an even colder response from the town than Airsdale."

     "Don't worry.  Before I came over to your place, I called the cafe and told them that we were coming."

     "You did what?!?!"

     "And the owner is very excited to meet you.  She's never had the chance to drive over to Airsdale and see the only morph in the entire county.  Even over here, you're famous," Allicia said with a smile as she pulled up to the cafe and parked.

     "If you say so...  I'll believe it when I see it,"  Meph said as he unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car for a much-deserved stretch.

     The interior of the cafe was occupied only by a scattering of small tables that completely filled the dinning room.  As Allicia and Meph sat down at a table, Meph's ears picked up a smattering of excited chatter from the somewhere nearby.  He looked around and saw that they were the only ones around.  The voices sounded to be coming from the direction of the kitchen and Meph thought he saw a brief glimpse of a face appear in the door's window.

     "You know, I am not comfortable with this, at all," Meph whispered to Allicia.  The tip of his tail was starting to twitch in nervousness as they waited for service.

     "Don't worry so much."

     "I can't help it.  I'm naturally nervous."

     "Just calm down, here comes the waitress," Allicia said with a quick scritch behind his ears.

     The waitress came up to their table with the same nervous attitude and restlessness that Meph had the first time he served Allicia.  The waitress appeared to be no older than Allicia and the waves of excitement washing off of her tickled Meph's sensitive nose.  The waitress scribbled down Allicia's order and quickly turned her attention to Meph.  Meph was actually somewhat embarrassed by the woman's eagerness and just blurted out the last thing he read on the menu that sounded good to him; A "works" pizza.  The waitress was quite surprised by the order and asked if he was sure about it.

     "I am.  Unlike other morphs, I'm quite omnivorous with my diet.  In fact, I just had a nice salad the other day,"  he said as he closed and handed the menu to the waitress.

     "Well, live and learn..." the waitress said as she left to put in their orders.

     As the waitress left, Allicia turned toward Meph.  "You know, she reminded me of  the very first time you waited on me," she said to him with a smug grin.

     "Don't remind me..."

     "Aw, you look so cute when you're nervous, your tail twitching this way and that way."

     Meph rolled his eyes and was silent for a moment.  "I just thought of something, how could you have called this place and made reservations or whatever if you didn't know if I had to work or not?"

     "Woman's intuition?"  Allicia said as she tried to look innocent.

     "I smell Ilari's work.  He had a hand in this, didn't he?"

     "Someone's coming," Allicia quickly said to dodge the question as a woman other than the waitress came up to the table.

     "Hello, I'm Kathy, the owner of the cafe," the woman said as she extended a hand in greeting, "I'm glad to have finally met you."

     Meph shook her hand and introduced himself, "I'm Meph.  Nice to meet you, too.  This is a nice little place you have here."

     "Thank-you, it was designed by a relative of mine.  I think you might know him."

     "Eh?" Meph asked with a raised eyebrow.

     "His name is Ilari."

     "I knew it!  You people just like setting me up, don't you?  I mean, what is it, a hobby??"

     Allicia put her hand on Meph's, "No, we just thought you could use a day away from everything."

     "And," Kathy sat down at the table with them, "I want to know all about yourself.  You're the fist morph I've ever met, so make it a memorable visit," she said with a smile.

     Meph felt just like a trapped skunk in a cage between the two women and there was no place to get away from them and their questions.  Meph was grateful when the food came as conversation died to a minimum as he and Allicia ate.

     Various customers came and went during the time they sat and talked to Kathy.  Meph could feel people's eyes on him, especially from the younger crowd as they stared in wonder at the unusual creature before them.  Meph wasn't bothered by that as he had learned to ignore the feeling, much like how he ignored the people of Airsdale.  On a few occasions he turned toward a person looking at him and mentally laughed at how fast the person turned the other direction to avoid eye contact.  Eventually, Meph finished the last of his pizza crust and asked for the check.  As he paid the waitress, he thanked Kathy for an interesting time.

     "Do, come back again sometime, the both of you," Kathy said as she waved goodbye.

     "If I ever get a car, I plan to," Meph stated as he returned Kathy's gesture.  When he and Allicia were in the privacy of the car, Meph turned to her.  "Between you and Ilari, I swear, I'm going to lose my mind!"

     "Why are you complaining?  Didn't coming out here make you feel any better?"

     "It did... It felt good to be part of a conversation, not the topic, for a change.  But, that still doesn't excuse you from doing this.  I just can't keep taking all these surprises, even the good ones."

     Allicia started up the car and pulled out onto the highway as she responded to Meph's statement, "Even the good ones?  Are you that high strung??"

      "It's this whole mess with John, it's got my stomach in an uproar.  There are times that I actually wish that I wasn't a morph, just a normal full-human that no one would pay any special attention to."

     "You would give up meeting people like Kathy and having that nice bushy tail?"

     "Two words:  Tail kinks..."

      "What about Kathy?"

      "Encounters like that are even more rare that us skunk morphs.  Yea, it's nice to be appreciated for a little while, but what about those long hours when I'm all alone?"

      "But you're not alone."

      "No, I guess I'm not anymore,"  Meph said as he put his hand on top of Allicia's.

      The drive back into town was just as uneventful as the one out.  Allicia dropped Meph off in front of his apartment and then drove off to her own home.  Meph lingered for a moment at the curb and watched her drive away.  "Maybe her love really is true..." he thought to himself, "Maybe this is a new dawn for happiness.  Maybe I'm just crazy..."  Meph sighed as he turned and walked into the apartment building.

      Meph heard the phone ringing as he approach his apartment door and hurried to open it and reach the phone in time.  "Hello?"

     A poorly disguised voice came across the line, "If you want to even be allowed to live in this town, I wouldn't see the girl anymore, you worthless animal."  Click, and the line went dead.

     "And who died and left you the zookeeper, asshole?!?" Meph yelled at the dial tone. "Just what I don't need...  And how the hell did someone get a hold of my number?" he asked the empty room, "It's supposed to be unlisted."

     Meph went to his fridge and took out a soda.  As he slowly drank it through a straw, he looked through the window at Airsdale.  Was all the pain and hatred worth staying in the town for a job and two friends?  Even if he tried, he couldn't even buy a friend like Ilari, but the job was just that, a job, nothing special.  Meph wished that there was a simple answer to his questions, but there never are.  "Hell, I'm almost willing to bet John's loose by now..." Meph softly said to the window as he turned away.

The threatening phone calls kept coming at irregular intervals the rest of the day.  Meph eventually disconnected the line, but not until he had heard the voice long enough to mentally crack the disguise.  He was almost 100% positive it was John, probably using the old cheese cloth trick.  As he sat on the couch, thinking about the calls, an urgent sounding knock came from the door.  Meph opened it to see Allicia, standing there, pail faced and tears streaming down her cheeks.

     "What's wrong???"  Meph asked as he tried to comfort her.

     "They threw me out of my townhouse...because I'm seeing you.  The eviction letter stated "non-payment of rent" for the reason, but I have all the receipts that show that isn't true."

     "Can't you fight it?"

"It won't do any good, the landlord is buddies with my uncle, Judge Smith.  He'll just twist the facts to support the eviction because you're a morph."

      "Your uncle is that bastard??!!?!??  No wonder you kept trying to change the subject..."  Meph said as he hugged Allicia.  "Then I'll just have to raise my tail in the air at them; You're moving in with me.  Let's see how they like that!"

     "What?  You're willing to do that for me??  What about your landlord, though?  Couldn't the same happen to you?"

     "That crusty old bitty??  If Judge Smith tried to muscle her, she'd probably smack him upside the head with her cane.  She's more interested in money than species.  I think I'm safe for the moment, but what about you?  You've heard my offer."

     Allicia laughed for a moment at what Meph had said, but then turned serious again, "Are you sure about this?"

     "Not really, but I've never been sure about anything in this town, especially the integrity of the populous."

     "Well, then, let me be the first."  Allicia then suddenly grabbed Meph and planted a deep kiss on his muzzle.  Meph stumbled back a few steps in shock at the gesture.

     "...." was all he could say as Allicia closed the door.  That night would be the most memorable to them both as they settled in bed for a long 'rest.'

     Sometime late that night, Meph was awoken out of a deep sleep by the sound of distant sirens.  He carefully unwound himself from Allicia and padded over to the window.  Meph looked outward to see an orange haze in the distance, obscured by the taller buildings in town.  A sinking feeling settled in his stomach as he realized that the haze was in the general direction of the dinner.  Meph hurriedly pulled on a set of clothes, but the noise he made while doing so woke Allicia.

     "Wha...?  What's going on?" Allicia asked in a half-awake stupor.

     "I have a bad feeling.  Stay here and keep the door locked," Meph said as he closed the door.  He ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the dinner, only to find it engulfed in flames.  Meph could only drop to his knees in disbelief as the tears started to fill his eyes, "Noooo......"

     Ilari arrived only a few minutes after Meph and sat on the ground next to him.  County  firefighters worked quickly to contain the blaze as the extreme heat it was burning at threatened to catch the adjacent buildings on fire also.  Ilari and Meph comforted each other as they watched "Ricky's" become a lost dream in the flames as they danced high into the night sky.  Eventually, the fire marshal came over to them.

     "Mr. Sergio, one of my men found evidence that points towards the possibility of arson."

     "No... who would do such a thing???" Ilari asked in total shock.

     "Oh, no... John!  Allicia!  I've got to go!"  Meph realized.  He ran back to his apartment to find the door kicked in.  Cautiously, Meph peered into the living room and saw no one in it.  He dropped onto all four and slinked into the apartment and slipped behind the kitchen counter.  Meph carefully peered about, but he couldn't see into the bedroom.  As he looked about, a shrill cry came from within the bedroom.

     "Get away from me!!!" a female voice cried out.  Meph knew it was Allicia's and that she had to be in trouble.  He burst into the room to see John gripping Allicia by the wrist as she struggled to get free.

     "If I can't have you, no one will, especially that freak!!" John yelled as he raised an arm.  In his hand, he held a large hunting knife.

     "NO!!!!" Meph screamed as he leapt into John and bowled him over. The knife went clattering away as they fought tooth and claw on the floor.  The wrestling match quickly became a slugging match as one or the other got into an upright position and landed a solid hit or two before getting rolled over again.  Eventually, Meph and John got separated and wobbily stood up.  Meph was bleeding quite profusely from his nose, but the blood that covered his teeth was not his own; John was covering a deep bite on his shoulder.

     "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone again!" Meph yelled as he leapt at John again and ended up in another free-for-all.  This time though, the two rolled near the knife and John grabbed it before Meph could kick it away.

      "DIE!, You Goddamn ani~"  John never finished his sentence or the swinging of the knife as he slowly dropped to his knees and then fell to his side.  Behind him stood Allicia with a horrified look on her face before she covered her face and broke down.  Meph slowly pulled himself from under of John.  Doing so allowed him to see the kitchen knife sticking from out of John's back.  Meph hugged Allicia tightly and just held her as she cried into his neck fir.

     "It's all over now... It's over..." he kept saying softly into her ear.

     Meph finally was able to call the sheriff but still held onto Allicia as Sheriff Davis arrived only minutes later.  As it was to be expected, Meph was quickly put into handcuffs when Sheriff Davis saw John's body.

      "No! Don't!  He didn't do it, I did.  John was about to kill him..." Allicia said as she grabbed onto the sheriff's arm before he could lead Meph away.

      "Now you've got her covering for you?!?  You sicken me, you animal trash!"  Sheriff Davis said as threw Meph into the hallway.  Meph slammed into the opposite wall and slid down it, not even trying to get up or say a word in defense.

     "I'm not doing any covering!  Dust the knife, only my prints are on it!  Let Meph go!"

     Sheriff Davis just ignored her, "On your feet, furball!"  When Meph didn't move, Davis kicked him hard in the chest, "I said up!"  The kick caused Meph to cough up a small puddle of blood and just double over in pain and shock.

     "Stop it!  You're hurting him!"  Allicia put herself in-between the sheriff and Meph and kept Sheriff Davis from taking a second kick.

     "Get out of my way," Sheriff Davis said as he grabbed her by the wrist and threw her aside.  Allicia lost her footing and fell forward.  As she fell to the ground, she hit her head hard into the door jam and didn't move.

     "Allicia!!!" Meph cried out when he saw her go down, "No!"  Meph rammed Sheriff Davis and set him flying backwards onto the ground.  Meph then knelt beside Allicia and tried to see if she was alive.

     "You son of a bitch!!!!"  Sheriff Davis brought his nightstick down on Meph's back with all of his might.  Meph cried out in pain as he fell face-forward and landed hard on the floor.  "Just try that again!  I'll shoot your ass right here!!" he yelled as he drew his service revolver.

     The commotion in the hallway was beginning to draw out the residents of the apartment.  The shock and pain on their faces as the sheriff beat Meph was something Meph never expected them to show.  Eventually, Sheriff Davis grew tired of using the stick and just dragged Meph down the hallway.  Behind him, a thin trail of blood pooled on the wood floor.

     As Sheriff Davis came to the front door of the apartment, he was blocked by the owner.  "Stand aside, Liz.  This is none of your business."

     The feisty old black woman stood fast.  "You come booming in here like gangbusters, beat up my clientele, and scare the hell out of everyone else and it's none of my business???  Like hell it isn't!"  She looked down at the sorry sight of Meph as a small puddle of blood began to form around his muzzle.  "It's people like you that made growing up in the 50's a living hell.  I don't think the federal office over in the capital would take very kind to your treatment of him."

     "Don't threaten me, old woman.  Now, move out of my way!"

     Liz stepped aside, but as Sheriff Davis passed her, she said, "I don't make threats.  You're going to regret this decision..."

     Sheriff Davis threw Meph into a cell and didn't even bother to take off the handcuffs.  Meph just laid on the floor, too much in pain to move.  The deputy came over and asked what was going on.  The sheriff just replied, "Book him, murder one.  Wake up Judge Smith while you're at it, he'll want to know all about this."

     Meph floated in and out of consciousness the rest of the night.  He was only dimly aware of the conference between the sheriff and judge outside of the cell as he felt bolts of pain in every muscle of his body.

     "She's.....hospital......concussion..." was all he could make out when the Judge asked about Allicia.  Meph just finally gave up and fell into a pain-filled sleep.

     Meph was awoken buy the sound of shouting and general chaos.  He painfully turned his head to look out the cell to see Sheriff Davis arguing with Liz and two unidentified men.

      One of the men pointed in the direction of Meph's cell and said, "Release him now.  You purposely dropped the ball in blatant disregard of the evidence."

     "You have no right to just come in here and tell me what to do!  He murdered a man!"

     "Our testimonies from witnesses say otherwise.  So does our own investigation.  Those two put together also point towards your abuse of his civil rights and excessive force.  If you release him now and drop all charges, just maybe you can avoid charges of your own from him."

     Sheriff Davis let out a string of expletives that even blushed Liz's face as he took Meph out of the cell and undid the handcuffs.  "I hope you're happy, furball," he whispered into Meph's ear.

      As the second man helped to keep Meph upright, the agent that had done all the talking before then took out his badge, "Sheriff Tom Davis, you're under arrest for civil rights charges and excessive force."

     As Sheriff Davis was suddenly spun about and handcuffed, he stammered out, "Wai... Wait a minute, I thought you said I wasn't going to be charged!"

     "By the morph.  A young Ms. Patterson has levied these charges, who seemed to have been put into the hospital by your neglect.  Now, you have the right to...."

      Meph just remembered those last words as he mentally laughed before giving up continuousness once again.

      Meph awoke in the hospital, surrounded by his friends.  "Welcome back to the land of the living, Meph," Ilari said as he shook Meph's hand.

     "Allicia!  Where is she?  Is she alright??"

     "Right here," came from the opposite side of Ilari.  Meph turned toward the sound to see Allicia, standing there with a bandaged head.  She bent down and kissed Meph deeply.  "God, you had me so worried."

     "I can say the same thing about you," Meph said as he ran his hand through her hair.

     "I have some wonderful news for you.  Judge Smith and the sheriff were both arrested.  The fed's also said that the fire was set by John and that you were acting in self-defense.  They won't level any charges against you."

     "But, what about you?"  Allicia didn't say a word in response.  "Tell me, you owe me that much."

     "I don't know.  They haven't said anything, all they've told me is that the case was closed."

     Meph didn't know what to say, "....What ever it is, I'll stand by you."  Meph brought Allicia's head close to his and held her tight.  Meph then noticed the smug smile on Ilari's face as he just watched them.  "So, what are you going to do now?"

     "What else, rebuild.  I've been in worse places before," Illari looked down at Meph for a moment, "But what are you going to do?  You're place of employment has kind of gone up in smoke."

     "Something, nothing, I don't know.  Whatever it is, it won't be in Airsdale.  That I do know.  Hell, I don't even know how I'm going to pay for this treatment."

     "The sheriff seems to have graciously picked up the tab for the both of you, so there's no need to worry about hospital bills," Ilari said with a smile, "I've also have heard a rumor that a cafe down in Coppersfield is looking for employees."

     "Ilari.... you're just impossible..." Meph groaned.

     Time passed and the world moved on.  Airsdale lost three citizens and a dinner as the slow process of rebuilding lives took place.  Meph followed Ilari's rumor to Coppersfield and found a job as host and an apartment big enough for two.  Meph's and Allicia's love grew stronger each day together as the whole mess with John faded from memory.  Meph waited for the repercussions from the case, but none ever came.  Some nights, Meph held on to Allicia as she slept, almost hearing the door being broken down and her taken away.  That night never came and Meph looked at each new dawn with a new spirit and new friends that helped him and Allicia live a new life together.