[Quadhouse]

Chapter 2

Lorie stared at the breasts. She knew she should stop, but she couldn’t. Not only were these breasts huge, they were right at eye level. How tall was this woman? The snapping in front of her face broke her focus and she shifted her gaze up. It was slow going. Those breasts really tried to hole her attention. But she persevered and was rewarded when her gaze met the breasts owner’s face.

“Y-you’re,” stammered Lorie.

“Yes, me,” smiled the woman. “I’m Annalina Jager. But I think you already know that.”

Lorie did know who she was. Annalina Jager was a world-famous Dutch supermodel. But, three years ago, she suddenly announced that she was retiring. She then vanished. Nobody could find her or what happened. There was a lot of speculation on what happened to her. But not one of them even came close to this. She didn’t think anybody would have guessed that she had came here of all places.

“Why did you come here,” Lorie blurted out. She slapped her hands over her mouth as her face heated from the furious blush. She had not meant to say that. Some reporter she was.

Annalina just laughed. “Don’t worry. I get that a lot. It’s usually one of the first questions people aske me when they see me.”

“One of the first questions?”

“Yeah.” Annalina pushed a strand of her blonde hair back behind a pointed ear. “They also ask me why I’m a centaur.”

“Why you’re a centaur,” Lorie repeated as she lowered her gaze to Annalina’s waist. Lorie’s mouth dropped, and her eyes bulged. From the waist down, Annalina was a horse. Not a human with horse features. But a whole horse. How did she miss that!? Annalina’s horse body was a glossy white. Her tail was a golden blonde. It perfectly matched her hair.

“B-but I thought they only made anthromorphic mods,” stuttered Lorie.

“I’m the first centaur,” Annalina said proudly. “Already there are people asking for the same mod. As long as everything remains stable, I won’t be the only centaur.”

“How will you know that everything remains stable,” Lorie asked. Her reporter’s side was making itself felt.

“Well, when my boyfriend finishes up cooking,” Annalina said. “We’ll try to get me pregnant. As long as my body only reacts to the pregnancy, then we’re stable.”

“When your boyfriend finishes cooking?”

“Yeah,” Annalina answered with a smile. “He’s undergoing his mod. It’ll be another eight months before he’s finished. Then, if he proves stable, we’ll try to get me pregnant.”

Lorie was stunned. She was, possibly, talking to the mother of a new race of beings. One created here on Jonathan’s island. Sure, it was inspired by legends. But legends were meant to inspire people. A sudden thought popped into her head. “How did you get here so quietly?”

The centaur pointed at her hooves. “I’m wearing rubber booties,” she said. “They really cut down on the noise. I know they’re not horseshoes. I just can’t stand the thought of someone hammering nails into my hooves.”

Annalina looked around. “Look,” she said. “We can stand her talking if we want. But I think Sarah and her daughter have places to be.”

Startled, Lorie turned toward the two tiger people. She had forgotten about them. “I’m sorry Sarah,” she said. “When I saw Annalina, I completely forgot about you.”

Sarah waved the apology away. “Don’t worry. I understand. She is a shock to first time you see her. And we can wait on you. I’m still upset that there was nobody her to meet you.”

“There wasn’t,” Annalina asked. “I was told there would be somebody here.”

“There wasn’t,” Sarah growled. “I’m thinking about going to the center and give them a piece of my mind.”

“I have a better idea,” smiled Annalina. It wasn’t a nice smile. “I’ll tell Charlette. That’ll teach them not to ignore visitors.”

Sarah laughed. “That’s a wonderful idea,” she said. “That will be a lesson they will not forget.”

“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Lorie said. “I know that reporters aren’t welcomed here.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Sarah firmly said. “They did when they didn’t have anybody here to meet you.”

“That’s right,” said Annalina. “As for reporters not being welcomed here, you were invited by Jonathan himself. So, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Now that we have that settled,” Sarah said as she rubbed her hands together. “Let’s get those bags moving. I’m sure Lorie would like to get settled in before she begins interviewing people.”

“Did they at least unload your luggage,” Annalina asked Lorie.

“They did,” Sarah answered for the reporter. “They’re on my cart.”

“Good. Then we can get going.” The three women and one girl started walking. Lorie, being the only unmodified human, started to fall behind. She couldn’t match Annalina’s speed, or Sarah’s and Crystal’s stamina.

“This won’t do,” Annalina said when she noticed Lorie falling behind. They were only halfway to the admittance center.

“I’m sorry,” Lorie said. “I’ll speed up.”

“No, you’re a guest,” Annalina said. “I have something else in mind.” With that, the centaur grabbed Lorie by the waist, lifted her, then placed her on own back. “There. Now you can ride. You do know how to ride horses, don’t you?”
Lorie, sat, frozen on Annalina’s back. Until she started to slip. Then she scrambled to keep her seat. “No,” she said nervously. “I’ve never ridden a horse before. Are you sure I should be on your back?”

“As I’m the one who put you there,” Annalina said. “Yes. If anybody has a problem with it, they can take it up with me. Or Charlette. I’m sure she’ll love to know why I’m carrying you.”

“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Lorie said.

“Again, you’re not,” Sarah said. “In the early days of furry mods, reporters got a bad rep with us because most of them put their own slant on the interviews. They couldn’t, or wouldn’t, understand why people would want to modded this way. They kept trying to make us look like a cult, or a bunch of loonies. Or worse, sex addicts. That’s not to say a lot of furries got modded so they could have sex as their furry self. But furry culture is more than that.”

“I don’t understand furry culture,” Lorie said. “And I freely admit it. I also don’t see anything wrong with it. You’re not causing trouble. Most of you just want to live your lives in peace. As long as you do that, you’ll have no problem from me.”

Annalina nodded to what Lorie had said. “If anybody’s causing trouble,” she said. “It’s those who aren’t giving you a chance. How many gave you dark looks or jumped to the wrong conclusion on your trip over?”

“Most of the passenger and just about all of the crew,” Sarah answered when Lorie didn’t. “The first mate even tried to blame her when my Crystal scared her. Like most people wouldn’t scream when they wake to a tiger in their face.”

Annalina snorted, then laughed causing Lorie to hug Annalina’s body with all four limbs. “She didn’t,” the centaur gasped.

“She did,” giggled Sarah. “Of course, when Lorie screamed, Crystal learned why you don’t get that close to a sleeping person. Especially when you look like a tiger.” Lore and Crystal looked at each other and blushed.


Thirty minutes later, Lorie was shaking her hand in wonder. Once the group had gotten to the admittance center, Annalina became all business. She had the employees quaking in their boots. She ripped into them about their poor service. They were running around trying to placate the centaur, but she wasn’t having it. She even threatened to bring Charlette into it. Lorie didn’t know who Charlette was, but she could tell that the mere thought of the woman getting involved terrified the people at the center.

Now the group was walking toward the island’s center. Lorie wasn’t walking. She was riding Annalina at her insistence. There Lorie would be staying in the suite of rooms set aside for her. Unless they came here for modding, visitors were put in rooms scattered around the island. Since Lorie had been invited, she got to stay in the resident area. “Don’t you think you were a little rough on them,” Lorie asked Annalina.

“No,” Annalina replied. “While you may be a reporter, you were invited by Mr. Bellsworth. That alone should have told them something.”

“She’s right, you know,” Sarah said. While she and Crystal could have gone ahead of the others, she decided to wait for them. The smile she had while Annalina was berating the employees told Lorie why she decided to wait. “You have been very polite this whole time. The only person I’ve seen you ask questions is Annalina.”

“Speaking of,” said Annalina. “Where are your tools? You don’t even have your phone out.”

“Because I’m not interviewing anybody,” Lorie answered. “I only planned on interviewing Jonathan. And I’ll do that at when he’s ready.”

“So the questions you asked me?”

“Those were me trying to understand you,” Lorie said. “I don’t know why any of you want to be the way you are. Some furries have tried to explain it, but I just don’t get it. In a way, you remind me of some strippers. Some of them have get huge breasts, or butts, to fill a niche. Others do it because they see it as part of their job. But, you don’t have that particular motivation.” She sighed. “You puzzle me. But not as a reporter. I try to keep my professional life and my personal life separate. That way, I’ll only report the facts. Hopefully, unbiased.”

“Well, you have my vote,” Sarah said. “If more reporters were like you, furries would have a better reputation with the general public. As it is, most think we’re a bunch of freaks. I’ll admit, there are some of us who the rest would rather just disappear. But all groups can say that. The rest of us, are just normal people who just want to live our lives. We just happen to have fur and other animal features.”

“You know, I can arrange for you to be able to talk to others beside Jonathan,” Annalina said. “If anyone can give an unbiased report on us, it’s you.”

“That’s up to you,” Lorie said. “And anybody who decides to talk to me. I will not force anyone. I’m a guest here. But why would you do that?”

“Because our story does need to be told.” Annalina said. “With what you said, I believe you can do it. I want to help you do it. I’ll talk to Charlette and see if she approves. If she does, she’ll talk to Jonathan and convince him to allow it. That is, if he’s against it in the first place.”

“Alright,” Lorie said. “You’ve pricked my curiosity. Just who is this Charlette you keep mentioning. Just her name is enough to scare people here and now I hear she may be able to change Jonathan’s mind. How can she do that?”

“I thought you knew,” Annalina said. “You went to school with both of them. Didn’t you?”

“Both of them?”

“Jonathan Bellsworth and Charlette Alberton,” Sarah said. “Charlette is Jonathan’s wife.

Lorie fell off Annalina’s back.