Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  Penny exclaimed, “He isn’t my lover—he’s invisible! But he’s my friend and I missed him. His presence is so calming. I feel completely protected when he’s nearby.” Seeing the disbelief in their eyes, she said, “You change into an animal so you of all people should believe in the supernatural. Someday I’m going to find a way for Casper to communicate back to me. Then you’ll see that I’m not crazy.”

  *~*~*~*

  As planned, the twins borrowed a car from one of the members of their make-shift family and drove over to Penny’s cabin. After blindfolding her, they drove a little over an hour into the mountains to their home. As they turned off the winding road onto a gravel path, Taylor announced, “You can take your blindfold off. We just turned onto our property.

  Penny watched out the window excitedly, waiting to see what Taylor and Tadd called home. After driving down a private dirt road that was at least ten miles long, they finally turned a corner to reveal a home built directly into a cliff face. Between the massive trees and the fact that the sun had gone down, the design was difficult for Penny to make out. The scene changed completely the moment they stepped into the house.

  All nervousness for the evening’s events left Penny’s mind as she scanned her surroundings. She screeched, making everyone jump, and exclaimed, “This home… it’s astounding!” She forgot this was a life and death situation for her. Her fate was in the hands of those assembled, but she couldn’t stop herself. She wanted her sketchbook to capture the artistry of blending nature with modern living.

  She scanned the room. Instead of simply building a normal home tucked into a mountain, their home was designed to directly incorporate the nature surrounding them. As she caressed the cool stone of the walls, she noticed that the structural part of the house was a beautiful mix of the dark native stone of the cliff with large supporting wooden beams so wide that Penny knew her arms would barely wrap half way around them. If the modern furniture was removed, the effect would have made her wonder if she was still in the forest outside.

  When she looked up, she found a ceiling of stone several stories tall. Straight ahead was a nature-made spiral staircase that led up to an outcropping of stone that served as a balcony. This ledge connected to the ground floor by a massive flowstone. She speculated to herself that there must have once been a waterfall that flowed down this mountain at that very spot.

  Resting on top of the ledge was a catacomb of cave-like archways leading to several other rooms. She loved that the openings were not all at the same height. It was as if they worked with what nature had already provided. She snapped her head to Taylor and asked, “The rooms upstairs… they were made from the existing cave system?”

  Although Taylor never really thought about it, he shrugged and said, “I guess so. Tadd and I have bedrooms up there and there are also several guest rooms.”

  “How did you find this place? Did you build it? Is this all natural cave or did you have to excavate?”

  Tadd interrupted her to stop her non-stop barrage of questions and said, “Penny, take a breath before you pass out. We brought you here to meet the family.”

  Penny’s eyes finally focused on the group assembled in front of her, who were waiting patiently. She gasped and said, “I’m so sorry. It’s just if I were to dream my perfect home, this would be it.”

  Sam stepped forward and said, “I’m glad you like it.” He cleared his throat and said, “Hello Penny. My name is—”

  Penny’s excitement at meeting so many Changelings got the best of her. Before he could finish his introduction, Penny blurted out, “You must be Sam.”

  Sam smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded. When she caught sight of his set of fangs, her mind instantly focused on the real reason for her visit. Although he kept a gap between them so that Penny had a moment to adjust to his pale white skin and less than Human appearance, she closed the gap and held out her hand.

  After a moment’s pause, Sam wrapped his hand around her small fingers.

  As she gave his hand a tight squeeze, she said, “I’m honored to meet you. I’m Penny.”

  Tadd whacked his twin in the shoulder hard and said, “I told you she wouldn’t be afraid.”

  Sam led Penny forward to introduce his adopted family, but Penny interrupted him again by saying, “Let me see if I can guess who’s who. The twins speak so highly of all of you, I feel like I know you already.”

  She looked at the woman with features similar to Sam’s and said, “You must be Susi.” She then caught the smile of a man that looked around eighteen and said, “You must be the newest addition, Ben.” When he nodded, she scanned the room and asked, “Where’s Chad?”

  Tadd answered, “He’s around here somewhere, chasing something. You’ll meet him later.”

  Penny’s gaze shifted to the last person in the room who was leaning against a wall. She was shocked to find that she recognized him. When her eyes locked on the man, her body involuntarily shuddered. Even with the distance between them, she could feel his strength and commanding presence. She announced, “You’re Ice, the one that rescues Changelings in distress.” Although she was initially intimidated by his physical size and striking face tattoo, his eyes called to her and she found him quite intriguing. She was dying to touch him and see if his skin was as cold to the touch as the twins said. She quickly regrouped her thoughts and said, “I don’t know if you remember me, but we’ve actually met. You came into the store several months ago and looked at climbing shoes.”

  The twins stiffened, knowing the only reason Ice would have been in the store was to scope out his potential prey.

  Knowing Ice was the one allowing the group to decide her fate, she said to him, “Thank you for allowing me to come here tonight and talk to all of you, and I’m sorry for interrupting your lives.” Forcing herself to break eye contact with Ice, she scanned the group and said, “Just tell me what I must do to prove to you that I mean you no harm. I know that Humans have treated your kind terribly, but I’m not like that. Instead of embracing you as our future, they cling to their fears and ignorance. It makes them do stupid things. We could learn so much from you.”

  Sam said, “Ben has the unique gift of reading people’s thoughts. If you will allow us, we want him to ask you some questions.” He motioned Penny to sit on the couch.

  Once she was seated, she watched the skinny young man with messy brown hair approach. Knowing this was her first test, Penny squared her shoulders and, while looking at Ben, said, “Go ahead; ask me anything.”

  Ben knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. While staring into her green eyes, he asked her general questions to help her relax, then he began to ask her pointed questions about how she felt about Changelings. After everyone had a chance to add in their questions, Penny looked over at Ice who had remained silent and motionless throughout the discussion and asked, “Are there any questions you would like to ask me?”

  Ice stepped forward and said, “I have one question for you. Will you keep our existence a secret from everyone, including your family?”

  Although she never kept secrets from her family, she understood that this point was not negotiable, so she replied, “Yes. I’ll keep your secret. And I would die before betraying your trust in me.”

  Ben sat silently, scrutinizing Penny’s subtle non-verbal responses. When he seemed satisfied, he gave her a smile, stood, and looked at Sam. He announced, “She’s telling the truth.” He chuckled and added, “I’ve never touched a mind so open and free of hate. It almost tickles.”

  Sam sighed in relief at the news and said, “Welcome to our make-shift family.”

  Penny beamed.

  Susi wanted to learn more about this unique woman and asked, “Penny, were you raised here in Oregon?”

  “No. I’m originally from Charlottesville, Virginia and my family still lives there. I’m currently the Assistant Manager at Gone Wild. It’s an outdoor store.”

  Sam laughed and said, “Trust me. We know all about that store.
Actually we have a storage room located a few hundred feet from the house that’s crammed full with all of the stuff that the twins have bought there.”

  Penny laughed and said, “They’re our best customers and the most notorious. They’re the talk of the store for days after one of their shopping sprees.”

  Tadd interjected his own knowledge of Penny and said, “Working at the store is only temporary. She really wants to be a painter. You should see what’s she’s done with her bedroom.”

  Taylor flipped out his phone and, after finding what he was looking for, he handed it over to Susi, saying “Check this out.”

  As the phone was passed around the room, Penny explained, “My life goal is to start my own painting business. I want to create theme rooms for people. Much like what was done with this house, I want to create homes that integrate nature. The pictures Taylor has is of my bedroom. I’m transforming it into a jungle and plan to use it in my advertising as an example of my work.”

  Susi gasped as she stared at the face of the tiger. She asked, “You did this?” When Penny nodded, she said, “You’re very talented.”

  “It’s my passion, but I need capital to make it my living.”

  As Penny explained how she was making the trees to Ben and Sam, Susi noticed Ice watching their visitor intensely. She was shocked to see that the look was curiosity, not anger. “Interesting,” she thought to herself.

  As they continued to talk, a scruffy looking country dog with bright blue eyes came bounding into the room. The animal stopped in his tracks when he saw a stranger among the group.

  Penny’s face lit up as she said, “You didn’t tell me that you have a dog.” She patted her leg and called to the animal, “Come here, Sweetie.”

  The dog walked over to the one that called him and she let him sniff her hand. The family watched, knowing that the animal in front of their guest also had a gift of sniffing out those with bad intentions. When his tail began to wag, Penny scratched him behind the ears and said, “I love dogs and this one is a real sweet heart.”

  When the dog put his pawns on her lap, she laughed and added, “And a friendly one too.” After he gave her a lick across the face, she kissed his muzzle and said, “I like you too.”

  Tadd said, “Ahhh, Penny. There’s something you need to know.”

  While continuing to scratch behind the dog’s ears to the animal’s delight, she said, “What’s his name?”

  In an instant, Penny jumped and let out a screech as the dog shifted. She found herself staring into the eyes of a naked man squatting at her feet.

  The man said, ‘I’m Chad.” Seeing her shocked expression, he quickly added, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “That’s okay. I should have expected it. The twins shift in front of me to watch me jump. They seem to thoroughly enjoy scaring the hell out of me.”

  When she looked over at the twins and gave them a scowl, the twins shrugged their shoulders and Tadd said, “You’re reaction is quite entertaining.”

  Penny switched her attention back to Chad. Although in his dog shape he contained many color shades, his Human form was completely neutral. His body was lanky with pale skin, almost white hair, and very light blue eyes. Even to Penny she had to admit that he looked like a blank canvas and almost disappeared into his surroundings.

  She asked, “Can you shift into any animal or just dogs?”

  “I can shift into any animal that I’ve researched well enough to get their form in my mind. Right now, dogs are my preferred state and I’m getting pretty good at it. I think other animals will come in time. As you can see, I’m not much to look at as a Human. I’m like unbaked dough that has yet to be shaped into anything. I think I was meant to be baked into another form.”

  “I like both of your forms, although it would be less distracting if clothes shifted with you.” Although she tried terribly hard to not look at all of his exposed parts, curiosity won over. Her eyes couldn’t help taking a quick peek and then her cheeks turned pink to announce her lack of will power.

  Chad gave her a chuckle and said, “Sorry about that. What’s your favorite dog?”

  Penny didn’t have to hesitate and replied, “I like them big and cuddly—a massive harlequin Great Dane would be my dog of choice. I saw one once and fell instantly in love. I want a dog that can handle a healthy hug and can also hug back.”

  To her extreme pleasure, she watched as Chad shifted into the animal she described. When Chad rested his massive head on her lap, she couldn’t stop herself from scratching his ears. When he leaned closer to her so that his face was inches from hers with a silly dog grin on his face, she couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around its neck. When she realized that she was hugging Chad, she released him and said, “I’m so sorry Chad. I shouldn’t treat you like a dog.”

  The massive dog rubbed his head against Penny’s hand asking for more attention. When Penny looked to the group for instruction, Sam explained. “Chad prefers the life of a dog so you can treat him as one while in his shifted form.”

  Penny looked into the dog’s large blue eyes and, after contemplating the idea for a moment, she shrugged her shoulders. Showing her acceptance of his chosen form, she gave him another hug and then began to scratch him behind the ears again. Chad rested his head happily on her lap and closed his eyes contentedly.

  Chad’s presence made Penny bold so she asked the group with hope in her voice, “Now that you all know about me, would you be willing to share a little bit about yourselves? I have so many questions.”

  Everyone instinctively looked over at Ice for permission. Ice groaned and said, “Well we’re already neck deep with this Human, why not go completely under.” He motioned them to proceed.

  While staring at the people Penny longed to meet all of her life, she said, “I don’t know where to start.”

  Taylor leaned into his brother and said, “Penny, left speechless. That’s a first.”

  While Tadd laughed, Ice had to look away to hide his snicker. He was thinking the exact same thing.

  Susi came to Penny’s rescue and said, “Sam and I are called Night Walkers.”

  Penny found her words and asked, “Are Night Walkers vampires?”

  Sam replied, “In a way, but not like in the movies. They did get it right with the pale white skin and that we can only come out at night.”

  Penny asked, “Do you burn up in the sun?”

  Sam shook his head. “We don’t burst into flames. It’s more of an allergic reaction to sunlight.”

  Susi added, “Sunlight really hurts and we’ll get what looks like a nasty sunburn even if we’re out for only a few seconds.”

  Ben added his knowledge by saying, “They also don’t turn into bats, they aren’t dead and, although they’re both surprisingly strong for their thin build, they don’t possess superhuman strength. Although my lifespan is the same as any human, Night Walkers can live quite a bit longer than a typical human, but they’re far from immortal.”

  Susi said, “The reason they say that we’re the walking dead is because our heartbeat is extremely slow and very hard to pick up.”

  Penny asked in return, “Do you drink blood?

  Susi answered, “As you can see we do have fangs and, also contrary to the movies, they don’t appear and disappear at will. We can’t hide them so it’s one of many reasons that we can’t conceal our identity.”

  Sam added, “Nature gave us fangs for a reason and they serve a valuable purpose. They not only allow us to drink blood from our prey, but they let us do it without mutilating our catch.”

  Susi jumped back in and said, “It isn’t the only thing we eat. I love spaghetti and Sam can’t get enough Lasagna. We don’t need to hunt Humans because we have a stockpile of Human blood stored in our cellar. To appease our hunting instincts, we do supplement with animals we catch while out at night. Although we don’t hunt Humans, I want you to know that there isn’t anything quite like the taste of Human blood fresh from the vein.
The craving is always there, just under the surface.” She absentmindedly licked her lips.

  Fidgeting in her seat, Penny asked cautiously, “Does my presence cause you issues with your thirst? This is your home and I don’t want to cause you discomfort.”

  Sam replied, “I’ll be honest with you. We can smell your blood from here and it’s quite pleasant. I have an easier time than Susi in resisting the draw, but you’re not in any danger right now.”

  Wanting to distract them from her veins that she knew were pulsing with her accelerated heartbeat, she turned to Ben and said, “I’ve already seen your gifts in action, but I was wondering; can you actually read minds?”

  Ben replied, “Depends on the individual. With you, I can actually pick up some words, which I’ve never experienced with someone I just met. Others I can only sense their emotions. The longer I’m with someone the easier it is for me to connect to them. I was very grateful to leave the city and come out here. Feeling so much hate caused me physical pain.”

  Penny reached out and put her hand on his arm and said, “I hope that my mind never causes you pain.” When she looked over at Ice, she asked, “What about you? What are your talents?”

  He replied flatly, “I hunt.” It was obvious, even to Penny that her door to asking him questions was locked tight.

  Taylor leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Don’t take it personal. He never shares anything about himself.”

  Looking back at her new friend she said, “There is a question I wanted to ask you. Is it true that your lifespan is shorter than a human’s?”

  Taylor nodded and said, “It’s true for any Changeling that shifts into full animal form. The process is very hard on our bodies and, over time, our ability to heal inside from the transformation wears out.”

  Seeing Penny’s instant distress, Tadd added, “But my twin and I plan to make every second count.”

  To lighten the mood, Sam suggested, “If Penny is still interested, why don’t all of you take her on a quick tour of the house?”