Fighting for the Strange

Chapter 5: Differences

            Fiona perched on the arm of the fat leather armchair that was closest to the door. The family room smelled strongly of roasting turkey and pine. The white room was filled with a scuffed leather couch and loveseat along with a second fabric two-seater by the fireplace, all surrounding an antique looking coffee table. In one corner, surrounded by the selkies and their mother, was the Christmas tree. Topped with an angel and decorated in gold, blue, silver, and green, the goodies at its feet were all neatly stacked into piles, the wrapping already gathered up and left near the fireplace to be burned later.

            Stomach stuffed with the massive breakfast they'd all tucked into before opening presents, Fiona almost felt like taking a nap. She looked over at her roommate, seeing Meredith talking to her mother while the twins carried on their own conversation. Dylan stood slightly apart, blue eyes on her.

            She blinked as the realization that the eldest selkie was watching her. A moment later, he moved over so that he stood in front of her. Fiona tilted her head back so she could see his face as he loomed over and wondered what it was he wanted.

            "Did something happen to the D-Meredith?"

            Fiona raised her eyebrows, not missing the nickname he almost let slip. She had a good idea what he meant, but she wasn't about to make this easy for him. "What do you mean?"

            "She's... she hasn't been acting like herself. Not like she used to, I mean. She's more..." he rolled one hand as he searched for the right word. "She's talking more and she doesn't hide as much."

            "Mer has gotten less self-conscious," she replied with a shrug. "Not that it's much of a surprise with what happened."

            Dylan frowned. "What happened?"

            Fiona stared at him. "What happened?" she echoed, surprised. "Did you not hear about the craziness that happened at the academy?"

            "We heard there was some kind of sickness or something going through the students, but not much more than that. Did Meredith get sick?"

            She shook her head. "It wasn't a sickness. One of the teachers went crazy and tried to bring her daughter back to life by sucking power out of the students. She put several of them into comas. Mer was one of them. In the end she tried to draw on the whole school and everyone basically ended up in comas until...Well, everything got fixed." She wasn't about to get into all of it, not when the look in Mme. Fontaine's eyes still made regular appearances in her now more frequent nightmares.

            "I hadn't heard that! This teacher, she's been dealt with? There's no more danger?"

            "Yeah. Mr. Bishara took care of it. And that's why I think Mer's a lot more free with her opinions. Being put into a coma and drained tends to put things in perspective. At least, that's what I'm guessing."

            Dylan ran a hand through his hair and grimaced. "It's better than her hiding I guess," he said, more to himself than to Fiona. His eyes went back to her and he frowned. "She isn't attracting attention from-"

            The sound of someone coming to a stop beside them drew both their gazes. Meredith eyed her brother before she looked at Fiona. "Is he bothering you?"

            Fiona swallowed a smile. "Nope. We were just chatting."

            Dylan glowered at his sister. "What's your problem?"