Kristy took a deep breath as she approached the Fish-headed man first. She closed her eyes and felt for a connection to him, but nothing happened.

  It was a lot of pressure with everyone staring at her and expecting her to do something amazing, but she had no clue what to actually do. With Colin, she had already been connected to him and she was caught up in the moment. Officer Higgins hadn’t been saved by her at all since Colin was the one who ate the hypnosites out of him, Jenny, and herself. What if she couldn’t do it? She wanted to help the people of her town, the person in front of her, but she wasn’t sure she was capable.

  Kristy shook off her self doubt and forced herself to look at the two poor people in front of her. The Fish-headed man had scaled silvery colored fingers on one hand and a horrifying mix between a lobster claw and human fingers on the other. He smelled awful, like a gumbo pot gone bad. His shirt was pushing outward in the back with what she assumed would be some type of fin. The woman next to him had a head that was mostly a pig, but still human enough to be unsettling, her hair was balding and had a straw-like quality to it, the teeth were white and perfectly straight like a woman who brushed regularly, not pig-ish at all, her legs were stubbly and out of proportion with her torso. The worst part was the eyes though. They looked like perfectly lucid human eyes that burned with blame and hunger.

  Kristy shuddered as she thought of herself turning into something like this if Colin hadn’t saved her. Her heart ached to help and she steeled her resolve to listen to that heartache.

  Kristy reached out to the Fish-man and placed her hand on his chest. She closed her eyes and focused. The connection had always been initiated by Colin or Jenny in the past, but as she stilled, she felt something quiet from the man calling out to her in a pulsing rhythm. She focused on that point and like she did with Colin and Jenny, she sent a tether of warm feeling towards that quiet pulse. There was less love for this stranger than her family, but she had ample empathy and comfort she could send his way. The quiet pulse latched onto her tether and a tidal wave of panic and hunger tried to overwhelm her. The emotions felt primal and thoughtless like Colin’s had. The feelings tried to wrest control of the connection by tempting her to give in to her instinctual urges, but Kristy held firm in her resolve. Nothing would stop her from helping this man. Instinctual temptations meant nothing to her. Kristy was an unshakeable wall of compassion.

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  Kristy pushed against the tidal wave with a tsunami of comforting feelings and spoke softly aloud, “It’s okay, I’m here. I’ve got you.”

  Something shifted inside the man and the primal part of him shied away and the human side of him woke up. His panic was still present, but there was an awareness to it that reassured Kristy that she was on the right track.

  “It’s okay, I’m here. I’ve got you.” Kristy kept repeating the same words as she sent wave after wave of comfort.

  The man’s panic died down to confusion, but he slowly began sending feelings of gratitude towards Kristy.

  As the man stabilized, Kristy let go of the connection and opened her eyes. She felt a stab of surprise when she saw the fish face unchanged, but there was an intelligence in his eyes, “You can let him go, Colin.”

  Colin acquiesced and let go.

  The fishman fell unconscious as he wasn’t locked down anymore.

  “Why didn’t he change back to being a human?” Higgins asked.

  Kristy shook her head and wiped the blood from her nose away, “I don’t know.”

  “Cuz he’s part greenie. Is he sad because he doesn’t look like a person? Here, I’ll change him,” Jenny said and before anyone could respond, the fishman tensed, his body burbled, then shifted back to looking like a normal human. Kristy recognized him as the local bagboy at the supermarket.

  She turned to Jenny and asked, “Part Greenie?”

  Jenny nodded. “I can feel it.”

  “She’s right. I don’t think it’s a good idea to eat the Hypnosite portion out of them though. I get the feeling it wouldn’t be safe for them. I think they might be stuck with the change.” Colin said.

  Holly interjected, “I think it’s best we move to the pig woman if there’s nothing else we can do for him. Higgins and I will untie and take care of the cured man. Are you up to it, Kristy?”

  “I am,” Kristy nodded to Holly and took a deep breath. She was tired, but she had enough in her to help the Pigwoman, so she got to work.