Chameleon (Supernaturals)

by Kelly Oram

  “Well that’s…very nice actually,” I said. “And ironic since humans have turned it into a day to celebrate what monsters the supernatural are.”

  Gabriel smiled wryly. “They call us monsters, and yet it is they who commit the most monstrous acts.”

  “Not all humans are like the ones we saw in our vision, and I’m sure that there are supernaturals out there that do things just as horrific,” I tried not to be too insulted. Gabriel was raised by the Councilor when his own parents dumped him after all. “Evil is a choice. It doesn’t matter if you are human or supernatural. It matters what kind of person you are. Isn’t the prophecy about finding a balance between the two worlds? There has to be a way to show humans that there is no reason to fear your kind.”

  “Our kind,” Gabriel corrected again.

  “Oh, the young and idealistic,” the Supreme High Councilor said, interrupting our picnic. “It is a nice thought, Danielle, but very naïve.”

  I glared at the Councilor. “No one invited you into this conversation.”

  “Danielle,” Gabriel said in a tired voice. “The Councilor does not mean to offend you. It is just that, well, you do not understand yet. You have not spent years seeing the horrible things humans do to our kind.”

  “Whatever. I don’t want to argue right now.” I glared at the councilor again. “The only date I’ve ever been on up until now sucked, and I’d appreciate it if you would not ruin this one for me too.”

  “Forgive the interruption,” the Councilor said stiffly. “I only meant to tell you that we must go back now. I’ve received word that I’m needed.”

  “But we haven’t eaten anything but strawberries yet!” I said.

  “May we at least take the long way through the park?” Gabriel asked.

  The Councilor went from scowling at me to cracking under Gabriel’s hopeful expression. The fact that he was truly fond of Gabriel was the only redeeming quality I’d found in him so far.

  “I suppose it is not that urgent that I cannot spare ten minutes.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  I should have said thanks too, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  Gabriel and I folded the blanket and fitted it back under the handle of the basket. As we set off in the park Gabriel took my hand. The gesture was so natural to me now that I found it harder to resist the cravings when I was around him. My body ached to be closer to him and this time I stopped thinking about it, resisting it. I gave in.

  Then, when I let go of his hand and instead slipped my arm around his waist and leaned into his side, he glanced down at me with a worried expression. “Are you feeling okay? Are the cravings bothering you?”

  “The opposite,” I admitted with surprise. “I’m very comfortable right now.”

  “I am happy to hear that,” Gabriel said, but for some reason he frowned. “I—” He struggled for words. “I do not like knowing that you are only here with me because you have no other choice.”

  “Actually, if it makes you feel better, I was just thinking that if we’d met under normal circumstances I’d probably still have said yes to a date.”

  “Thank you. That does help.”

  Just as we reached the edge of the park and were about to step onto a bustling city sidewalk I was suddenly no longer outside, but in an apartment somewhere. Judging from the view it was very high up. A woman was sleeping on a sofa with the television on a muted football game that a man watched from the kitchen as he stirred pasta. Then without any warning another man slipped into the apartment and shot the man in the kitchen before he could even fully turn around. The woman screamed and then she was shot as well. The gun made next to no sound and the man locked himself inside the apartment. I wondered if he would rob the place, but instead he headed down the hallway. “No!” I shouted when he opened the door to a child’s nursery.

  I tried to close my eyes as what he did next was so awful I knew it would be forever engrained in my memory, but the vision forced me to take it all in. After the vision was over I was really happy that there was an open trash can on the corner we were standing on, because the strawberries came right back up.

  I fell down and couldn’t stop shaking. I was so traumatized that the Councilor ordered Duncan to carry me back to the apartment before they attempted to ask me any questions.

  Duncan laid me on the couch. Gabriel was immediately there, holding me and whispering words of encouragement. “Did you see it?” I asked. “Did you see what he’s going to do?”

  Gabriel frowned. “Actually I saw nothing. I did not share this vision with you. I wonder why that is.”

  “There was a man. He killed two people. Shot them. I thought it was just a robbery because they lived in a really, really nice apartment in some fancy high rise that overlooked a huge park. I think it was Central Park actually. That’s the one with the zoo, right?”

  “Most likely an apartment on Fifth Avenue,” Duncan mused.

  “But he didn’t rob them. There was a baby. She couldn’t have been more than a few days old, and he—he—” I gagged again. “I have to throw up!” I sat up and slapped a hand over my mouth. Gabriel took my left wrist in both of his hands and put some pressure between my wrist and thumb and my stomach settled. I took a deep breath. “What did you just do?”

  “Danielle, I know it is difficult, but we need to know what happened.”

  “He drained all of her blood into a Tupperware!”

  Duncan paled and quickly sat down. Even the Councilor looked white as a sheet. Gabriel’s face turned green and he pulled me into his arms. “I am sorry you had to witness that,” he whispered. “We will stop him Danielle. Remember that. We will stop it.”

  “All right, concentrate, Danielle,” the Councilor ordered with surprising gentleness. “There are probably not that many supernatural families living on Fifth Avenue. Can you tell us what kind of supernaturals they are?”

  “Supernaturals?” I asked.

  “You must be able to tell,” the Councilor said. “Gabriel has always been able to tell.”

  “But they weren’t supernaturals. They were humans. All of them. Even the bad guy.”

  “That explains why I did not see it,” Gabriel said to the Councilor.

  “Why?”

  Gabriel looked at me. “Because I only receive visions that concern supernaturals. I have never had a vision that involved only humans.”

  “But that doesn’t matter,” I said. “There may be a lot more human people than supernaturals, but I’m sure I can find the vision again like I did with the village. There’s probably a ton of things I could see out the window that could tell us what building they’re in. Or maybe I can even open the door and see the apartment number. I could feel that lady in the other vision real enough.”

  Somehow I’d said the wrong thing. Their mouths were open, aghast. “What?” I screamed.

  I looked to Gabriel, but whatever it was, he wasn’t going to be the one to break the news.

  “The council does not help humans,” the Councilor explained.

  “Excuse me?”

  The Councilor said it so simply that I was sure he was kidding, but Duncan looked very apologetic and Gabriel looked downright sick.

  “You’re serious? You’re not going to try to help that family?”

  “We cannot.”

  “Of course we can! We have to!”

  “It is council policy.”

  “Screw the policy! Those people are going to die!” I looked frantically at Gabriel. “You said we could stop it! I have to stop it! I can find them!”

  “And what would you tell them Danielle?” the Councilor asked. “That you had a vision of the future and their lives are in danger? They would not listen to you. They would probably call the police. Then you would be discovered by those in the supernatural world who are looking for you and the family would die anyway.”

  “How do you know? They might listen if it was for the safety of their child. At least they would be paranoid. Th
ey might be more prepared even if they didn’t believe it. It could still save them.”

  “We cannot risk exposing you or the supernatural world for one insignificant human family. They mean nothing.”

  “How can you say that their lives mean nothing?” I shouted.

  “They are only human.”

  “You…you…you…DISGUSTING, HEARTLESS, RACIST MONSTER!” I jumped to my feet shouting with so much force I felt the veins strained in my neck.

  I looked to Duncan and then frantically to Gabriel. “Say something!”

  “You are not human, Danielle!” the Councilor snapped. “You must start accepting it. Forget those disgraceful creatures. Your love for them is despicable. You are destined to save your own kind!”

  I lowered my voice, but couldn’t keep any of my disgust or hatred out of it. “The prophecy says nothing about saving supernaturals. It only says that I will battle Evil, and you are the most evil person I have ever met. How do I know you’re not the one trying to persuade me to choose wrong? How do I know YOU are not the ones I’m supposed to defeat?”

  “Do not be so ridiculous girl.”

  “You make me sick!”

  I stomped off to the bedroom and slammed the door as hard as I could.

  . . . . .

  It was a long time before Gabriel braved coming after me. The sun had long since set, and I had my head pressed against the large cool window, staring aimlessly at the sea of lights below me. Gabriel came up behind me but said nothing.

  I blew my breath on the glass and in the tiny patch of fog drew what I could remember of the first symbol on Gabriel’s back. “How does it go again?”

  “‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.’”

  Yeah. Fat chance of that. I smudged away my pathetic little drawing. “So what do I do when I see these nightmares and could stop them but don’t? How do I live with myself?”

  I was surprised by Gabriel’s response. “By letting it hurt you.” He came to stand right beside me and sighed as he looked out over the city. “Most of my visions are like those of the raid on the village. They can be stopped without anyone being hurt. But there have been times I have had to choose between humans and supernaturals. I have always chosen to help my own people above the others, but I mourn the loss of every life I am unable to save, no matter what they are. I believe the day I stop letting that loss hurt me is the day I become the monster you believe I am.”

  I finally turned to look at him. “You are not a monster. He is the monster. But I don’t understand how you can just go along with him.”

  “Because he is right, Danielle.” My eyes filled with tears, so Gabriel quickly added, “But I believe he is also wrong.”

  Gabriel let out a breath and then fell to the bed looking far too old for someone his age. “I do not know what to do this time,” he said to the ceiling. “I have never doubted the Councilor before, and I do not disagree with his choice not to get involved with this vision, but all life has value. Even human life.”

  “How can you think we shouldn’t help those people? If they were witches or werewolves, you would already have saved them. Why do those people not deserve our help too?”

  “They do, Danielle, but they will not listen. I have seen it so many times in visions. The supernatural trying to explain themselves to the humans they care about. It almost always leads to heartbreak or danger.”

  “Almost is not always.”

  “You are right, but in your case, I believe the Councilor is right that it is not worth the risk.”

  “So let me find them and send someone else to help them. Just give them a warning. Give them the chance to listen. That’s not going to put me in danger any more than sending someone to help that village did. The Councilor just won’t help the humans because he doesn’t want to.”

  Gabriel sighed again and closed his eyes. “I believe you are right Danielle. I tried to tell him that, but he will not listen to me right now. He thinks my loyalty to the council is being swayed by you.”

  “Is it?” I asked.

  Gabriel sat up and looked unwaveringly into my eyes. “My loyalty has never been to the council. I serve the Creator. She is the one who has given me this gift. She is the one who has given me you. She brought us together for a reason, Danielle. I believe you are right about needing to restore the balance between the two worlds. I just have no idea how to do it.”

  It was such a relief to have Gabriel on my side, and I found it even more comforting when he held out his hand to me. “Please,” he said. “The hour is late and it is I who need your strength tonight.”

  . . . . .

  Gabriel was finally sleeping, but my eyes wouldn’t close. I slipped out of his embrace, taking great care not to wake him, and went in search of something bland to eat, hoping that the memory of that awful vision would fade. My stomach felt queasy again.

  I found some tea, but it didn’t help, so I went back to bed and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

  The man from my last vision, who had taken the lives of that family, slit his hand with a shiny dagger and mixed the blood that dripped from it into a dark, thick substance I didn’t want to identify. Then he took the concoction and painted a large circle on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. Inside the circle he drew a five-pointed star and a strange looking symbol next to each point.

  When the man placed a shabby old crate in the middle of the circle and set candles on it I stopped paying attention to him. It was clear he was building some kind of altar.

  Instead of him, I tried to focus on the warehouse he was in. It was large, cold, damp and dark. The floor was littered with garbage and evidence of squatters. There was an old worn phone book for a place called Newark sitting on a dusty, cluttered desk, but that was the only detail I could see that might be of any use in finding this place.

  I focused on the man next. He was hairy and dirty. Dressed in rags. Scrawny and tired. His movements were robotic and his expression was completely vacant. Surprisingly, this comforted me because only an insane person would be capable of doing something so horrific as he’d done in my last vision.

  I watched as he finished with his altar and moved back over to the desk. Sitting on top of it was a photo of a young attractive couple—the couple I watched him murder in my mind’s eye. He shoved the photo into his pocket, and then licked the bloody dagger clean as he headed out of the warehouse.

  I let out a piercing shriek and sat up in bed, panting and sweating.

  Gabriel sat up and pulled me into his arms. “Was it the same dream?” he asked.

  “No,” I said. “They’re not dead yet. He hasn’t killed them yet. But he’s going to do something horrible with that blood. We have to stop it! We have to find a way to stop him, Gabriel!” I was crying.

  “Shh.” Gabriel pulled me away from his chest and wiped a few stray tears from my eyes. “Okay. We will speak with the Councilor again. I am sure he will understand. At his core, he is a good man, Danielle. He will see reason.”

  I wanted to be strong for Gabriel. I wanted to believe him. I even nodded, hoping to fool myself into thinking the Councilor would help us. But I knew he wouldn’t.

  Gabriel sighed. “If you cannot have faith in him will you at least try to have faith in me?”

  “I—I—”

  My heart pounded in my chest. I knew this. I’d had this conversation before. I knew the words that were supposed to come out of my mouth next. I could change it, I thought. I could change the vision I had right now.

  Instead, I looked into Gabriel’s eyes and told him the truth. “I do have faith in you, Gabriel.”

  It took him forever to do what I knew he would do. My words had taken hold of him. He looked at me as if I’d just validated all the emotion he’d been experiencing since we met.

  I could see in his eyes the precise moment he became resolved to act on his desire. He moved slowly, his hands trembling as he reached to take my face in them. Then his lips touched
mine so lightly I could barely feel them.

  He sat there frozen, unsure what he was supposed to do next, but when I kissed him back he learned quickly. I could feel the fire of the cravings burning inside me but it didn’t consume me the way it had when I’d kissed Russ. This kiss was slower, calmer. It was filled with a different kind of passion. It left me utterly and completely breathless.

  “Forgive me,” Gabriel said when he finally managed to break away from our kiss. His voice was shaking. “I should not have done that. I—I do not understand what came over me.”

  “It’s okay,” I whispered, though I wasn’t really sure if that was true. I felt way too much in that kiss—from both him and me. I was not ready to believe that Gabriel was my destiny, but it would be much harder to deny from now on.

  Gabriel apologized again and then shook himself from his stupor. “We should be concentrating on your vision. I need you to tell me everything. As many details as you can remember.”

  Show him.

  It was just a thought in the back of my mind, but somehow I understood it perfectly and knew I could do it. “Give me your hand.”

  Gabriel looked quizzical but didn’t hesitate to hold out his hand. I clasped it tightly with both of mine, then closed my eyes and replayed the vision. When the warehouse came into focus I heard Gabriel gasp.

  After it was over, Gabriel had a look of astonishment on his face. I assumed it was because I’d surprised him by showing him the vision, but that wasn’t it at all.

  “He was under a spell,” Gabriel murmured. “Danielle, that man was human, but he was under a spell. There is a supernatural behind this. One with magic. A very powerful one to hold a mind control spell for that long. We must go now. The Councilor will want to know about this.”

  Gabriel went to the kitchen and called the councilor. “Sir, we must speak with the council. Danielle has had another vision.”

  Gabriel listened for a minute. “But sir, this is different. The man in her vision was under a spell. He was going to use the blood to perform some sort of ritual. The victims are human, but they are being killed at the hand of a supernatural. I am sure of it.” There was another pause and then Gabriel exploded. “She is not lying! I know because I saw him myself! Yes, sir, Danielle was able to show me her vision. Yes. It was a mind control spell. It would have to be a very powerful witch or warlock to maintain such a spell for so long a time.”