Shifting Truth

by Francheska Fifield

  I sigh and promise the demons a good tongue lashing when I am up to it.

  "You said the demons were needed."

  "Yes."

  "And you attacked them. Why? You had to know you had no chance to win."

  "I know. I was careless…humans saw me as a bear with two small beaten up women."

  He didn’t have to continue. I know exactly what happened. He could have stopped after saying he was careless[CB8]. Yet another conversation to have with the demons when I have more energy.

  "So what did the docs do to you after I fell asleep?"

  He looks at me smiling, but it is pained and tight. It’s not a real smile. Whatever happened with him and the demons while I was not in control has scarred him. And I don’t mean physically, though I am pretty sure if he fought the demons he would have those as well, but emotional ones. Scars that will never disappear. The haunting of his soul is guaranteed.

  "I was malnourished, exposure to elements, and basically completely out of MP [CB9]as Brian would say."

  I know that feeling. "Me?"

  "According to them, exhaustion and great strain from playing host to two demonic entities."

  I don’t want to ask, but I know I have to. I had seen Brisa on the ground, blood pouring out of her. Under no circumstances is that a good thing. Jason and I have been together for our entire lives so he knows. He knows what I am thinking.

  "She has extreme blood loss, partial organ failure; her body went into shock, she had exposure issues, dehydration…"

  "Organ failure?"

  "Not entirely. She pushed her human body too far with her Fae power. She…"

  "When I am back up you two stay and rest up, heal some more, I will carry on alone. I will be out of here tomorrow. Your visitor passes will last a week longer. You both need time."

  He wants to protest, but the look on my face tells him he better not even think about arguing. Jason always says it reminds him of the look his mother gave him when he was bad as a child. It is ingrained in him to not argue.

  "If she dies…will the Fae blame us?"

  I try to shrug and can’t. I’ve recently had stitches. How bad was I to not be fully healed after a feeding?

  "Beth…"

  "She won't die. I will contact Brian and have him send a Fae healer over. She needs their power. I would have her come back with me, but I am unsure if she will survive the trip home in this condition. She needs to be stabilized first."

  He says nothing but doubt is written across his face.

  "Jason back to bed with you. Your sister will survive. A few more feedings and she will be able to go back home. Neither you nor Brisa have that option."

  He slumps off to bed and lays down mumbling his protests. They shut him up by injecting him with a sleep aide, a fast acting one by the looks of his droopy eyes. His demon must not be as pushy as mine are.

  "Sit up, you need to feed. The doctor wants lots of different donors so no one is drained. Two of my wolves are here for you to bite."

  I follow instructions because I don’t want to be sedated. They have already proven how they deal with protestors. A female wolf sits on my bed and holds me close so I can bite her. After I’ve had a hefty amount of blood she goes over to devour food and drink that is set up for the donors while the second wolf comes over. A bite and few sucks later wolf number two is devouring food.

  I look down expecting to see a food baby after everything I’ve ingested in the last few hours. Nothing. No sign that I have gorged myself on food or blood. No bloodlust either. The demons are keeping my own at bay. It is refreshing. I will almost be sad to see them go. Key word being almost.

  "I feel a lot better. The blood is strong."

  I get no response from the blood donors so I look over to the doctor that is taking notes.

  "Have I mentioned how much I love being an experiment?"

  "You are not chained to a bed or being hurt."

  I shrug. The stitches are going to be pushed out by my healing skin within hours if I keep getting this treatment. Hence I am trying to keep my mouth shut.

  "Thank you for that."

  He nods, finishes his notes on the wolves, and goes over to Brisa's bedside. Damn they are attentive.

  "Get some sleep Beth. We will feed again in four hours."

  I nod. Promise the annoying demons in my head I will ask about the birth of civilization when I wake again. I have to go wherever that is so the demons can witness their first sight of the human world again and get me to the Fae world to complete my mission. Ahh the day of a hunter.

  Chapter Ten

  "Beth I cannot believe you do not even know the birthplace of civilization. Babylon. How are you related to me and not know that?"

  This is what I get for keeping a promise to demons. Both Jason and I are awake and having food shoved at us. It is a good thing the Fae court is picking up this tab. Medical treatment, food, blood for me. The bill is racking up. So while getting some light walking in and eating I asked Jason about the birthplace of civilization. Now I will never hear the end of it.

  "Yes while I was hooked up to machines getting blood taken from me and things pumped into me while you were in school. Forgive me for not knowing or caring."

  Normally I would take his teasing in stride, but I am kind of annoyed. The more in control I am the further back the demons go and the more my blood lust comes to the front. Not to mention, Brisa is still teetering between life and death. Oh and I am going to have to take an extra day to go to the ruins of some long dead people instead of saving the freaking world.

  "I'm sorry I shouldn’t have said anything."

  We are sitting on a bench outside getting some non-sterilized air. Shifters need the outdoors almost as such as the Fae. I lean against him closing my eyes. His scent always calms me.

  "It's not your fault. The anger and bloodlust are returning. The demons are letting me be in control and its affecting me. They are holding it back so I don’t snap, but I can feel it, clawing at me like a caged tiger."

  "The Fae are supposed to fix you…"

  "They cannot. The vampire side of me is weak to the bloodlust from the drugs I was given. The vampires are like death, the Fae living. They cannot help me. The demons might be able to, vampires are the children of demons and humans mating, but I swore to send them home as soon as I am done using their power to destroy Kyle. Or put them asleep until I find a way at the very least. After this I am on my own. I hope I can hold on long enough to repay them."

  "Beth…"

  "It's not your fault Jason. There's nothing you can do. Just promise me something."

  "Anything."

  I stand and walk away. Not far, but I don’t want him to see the tears streaming down my face while I talk.

  "I need your word you will help Brian. I don’t have much time left before I go insane. I can feel it. The hunters will put me down. Or my grandmother. I made her swear if she caught me first she wouldn’t let me hurt anyone. Promise you won't let him lose himself after he loses me."

  "Beth. Don’t tell me all that and ask that of me."

  "Jason he loves me. I don’t always know why, but he does. And it will hurt him when I have to be put down. Don’t let him get brought down with me or off himself after. I know you love me, but you aren't a vampire that has to worry about losing themselves when their reason for living is gone. So please don’t let him go."

  "Fine I promise."

  Once I have his word it is okay for him to see how much it bothers me. Despite my tears I am genuinely happy to receive the promise so the smile I wear while turning toward him is real.

  "Thank you."

  "Shit. Why do you have to be the one to do this? There are plenty of hunters out there?"

  "Because I am already broken and expendable. You cannot send someone in to get destroyed if there is someone already on the path to destruction that’s just as good at hunting. Not to mention I am the only one with a genius computer nerd boyfriend with a great spy networ
k and a brother that knows everything about this ancient crap."

  Jason looks ready to rail on the world. I know the feeling but I am right and I know it. I was already losing myself and this mission would lead to the destruction of whomever completes it, I am ninety percent sure anyway, and if it has to be anyone it is going to be me.

  "It's time for my blood. I'll see you in a bit."

  I scrub my face with my sleeve and go in to eat. A few more doses of blood and I will be ready to continue the mission with my full power, and that of the demons, behind me.

  "These three are you last blood donors. We will be cuffing your hands behind your back this time."

  I don’t argue because I know it is a good idea. Last time I’d been a bit rougher and harder to get away from the donors. The killing drive is returning. The demons are mostly dormant now. I am afraid of them killing someone in impatience. Now I am looking forward to heading towards Babylon because I am giving them control back. I am healed up and good as new so they won’t run me into the ground. They can go at their pace and keep me from attacking someone.

  "Chain me to the wall or something after you cuff me."

  They don’t say anything, but comply with my wishes. I wonder how they have gotten any volunteers, or maybe the alpha just commanded it.

  An arm is put beneath my nose and I bite. I try not to go to deep and I try to make it quick and painless. It is harder with an arm, less meat and fleshy areas. I do manage to keep myself under control so that as soon as the feeding is done I am uncuffed.

  "You have feeding frenzy."

  "I have a bad reaction to drugs created to subdue me by a Fae and a warlock. The bloodlust has been uncontrollable since then. I've been hunting rabid animals in New York and thinning the herds in the outskirts of the state…and taking on jobs nonstop."

  "That is why your body was so easily worn down?"

  "I had a vacay a year ago, but apparently I overdid it again."

  I don’t really want to go into details on my bloodlust. I don’t want to talk or share or be poked at again. I am so done with all of that. I have been experimented on enough to last a lifetime. Shrugging it off and making it seem like a joke or not as big of a deal as it is happens to be my default mode.

  "I see."

  Luckily Weres are not, by nature, a chatty group. Their socializing happens in the pack and those related to the pack. Everyone else is just there and taking up space. Ahhh wolves.

  "When can I leave?"

  "Your brother and the Fae girl are not ready to be moved."

  "I'm going it alone. Me and my demon haunting."

  "Then as soon as you wish."

  I write down the information for payment and hand it over. "Try running this card number for expenses incurred. If it doesn’t work, when Brisa awakens she can message them a few choice words."

  "Your brother gave us the card after he woke the first time. It works. We bill it at the end of each day."

  Well at least the Fae hadn't stiffed us there. Their people have been around so long they have collected all kinds of artifacts, art, gold, gems and so on. They sell enough that the entire Fae hill can exist in the real world as freaking billionaires. They use it to keep up with the times, provide safe houses and for hiring's. They have plenty of money so my level of guilt over the astronomical billing this stint will cause is zero.

  "I think I will take a nap and head out once I wake up. Let everything settle before I go walking through the desert like a lost tourist."

  "You could go with a caravan visiting the site. Tours happen, quite often. It will be hard to avoid the people."

  Just great. Oh well, I have a way to fix that.

  "No one else can be around. I don’t know how my little tag alongs will react when they get back to their first stop in the human world."

  Our doctor nods but says nothing else. I am glad he warned me about the tours. To avoid people I will need to go at night. And I will need to fly. I will get there when no one else is, let the demons wail or whatever, and then continue on the mission. It sucks to make a pit stop, but I get it. They haven't been home in so long, they want to see the place closest to that, the place they arrived in when they were dragged over.

  In the dark of night I sneak out, quick and quiet. Jason wanted to come, to keep me safe and sane, but I know he can’t.

  'Once I get there and change back to human you need to take over and stay in charge until I absolutely have to be in the forefront.'

  'Are you not worried about losing yourself?'

  'I am, that’s why I want you to be in control.'

  They give me a type of mental nod, a nonverbal agreement, and stay back so I am me enough to become a bald eagle. I usually prefer a hawk, but I want to get there fast so the bigger the wing span the better. Being female gives me the edge this time; female eagles are twenty five percent bigger than males so I can be a much bigger version of the bird, optimizing flying capabilities.

  I know the demons are worried about drowning me out, destroying my ability to tether my spirit to my body, but I am worried about the loss of control I’ve had before now. I would rather become an empty shell than the very thing I hunt.

  When I land it is eerily still. No animals, no people, no insects. Even the wind that helped carry me here doesn’t touch this place. I can feel the ionization in the air. The hairs on my arms and neck are standing and I can feel the static in the air. What the hell is this place?

  The demons take over, pushing my personality back. They keep me in the loop enough so I can still see what is going on in case I need the knowledge for the fight to come, but they are in control. I see the world as they see it. feel as they feel. Burn with their power.

  'It is ruins.'

  I want to say duh. We had been told directions for the RUINS of Babylon.

  'What did it look like new?'

  'Bābilim was a fantastical and beautiful city. Much larger than this.'

  'Well I heard only three or so percent of the old city has been excavated. Perhaps what you are looking for is under the sand still.'

  I feel it then. I hadn't been paying close enough attention before, but as I mention the city being under the sand a wave hits me. They are crestfallen. Absolutely devastated. I feel the tears prickle my eyes, I can barely tell if it is their sorrow or my own it is so consuming. This was their way home, the only way they knew to leave our forsaken plane of existence.

  'I am going to find a way to get you back I swear. I don’t care what it takes.'

  The crying stops, but there is no indication if they heard me or are done with their melancholy.

  'Please believe me. I swear I will do every bit of research. I will make the Fae help, I will contact every witch, wizard, blood mage, and every other supernatural in the world. I don’t care how far I have to go. I will get you home.'

  'Your brother said you would do what you had to to help us. He said you had been tortured and alienated as well so you would understand our feelings, or as much as anyone could. He wasn’t wrong. You are very kind.'

  'No. I just don’t think you should be stuck here because a human brought you here.'

  'Solomon was not a normal human. He was much like you.'

  'How so?'

  'He had many backgrounds. His mother was part shifter and part Fae. His father half human and half vampire. His father had magic, he was a blood mage. One fourth of him was anyway. He had access to the magic of many lands and many peoples. He was a combination of everything. It was how he was able to relate to all and be so wise; he could see everything from everyone's point of view because he was everyone.'

  'If you told my brother about that he would flip out. He is the historian ancient crap lover. Though I must say I find it cool he was a mutt like me. Even more than me. Jason once told me he had hundreds of wives and lovers, is that true?'

  'He was devoted. He loved God above any other. But God does not give out power and so he summoned us from the other world. We helped him rule and
expand. He did however have a weakness. Women. We advised him against overreaching, but he felt making another deal, even if he gained another wife as a result, was the right way to go. Too many directions, too much back and forth. For such a wise man he let his body rule him as many did and still do. Soon he had no time to govern and the world fell apart. We always told him to pick a Queen that could help him, instead he picked many and it tore him apart. It ended the world's greatest empire.'

  'Men and their dicks.'

  They metaphorically agree, which amuses me, and bend down saying a prayer before turning and walking away. I can’t shape shift with them in control, but they can channel their power through my body, which I can’t do.

  "We will complete the mission and sleep. Hopefully another mutt will come along and put us to sleep."

  I am glad there is no one around because my voice echoes in the space around us. They have chosen to speak out loud. I don’t know why, maybe they are resigning themselves to their fate. A fate I am determined to get back on track.

  I look out the window at the rain wondering where Beth and her demons are now. Are they back in the Fae world? Are they all still alive? Have the demons gotten to Babylon and gotten so pissed they blew themselves up taking Beth with them. Whatever they thought to find they won’t. Babylon is no longer the place people consider the center of the world. The pinnacle of civilization. Now it is a mystery, an unknown, a lost piece of our world.

  "The Fae girl is conscious. She may not understand much, she is still in shock and weak, still too close to death, But she is awake. She looks scared and confused. We thought seeing you might calm her."

  I don’t even wait for them to finish but thanks to shifter talents I hear the whole spiel even as I run at full speed, or what constitutes as full speed right now, and basically slide into the bed.

  "Brisa its okay. We are at a hospital; a shifter doctor in Israel is taking care of us. The Fae know about it. It's okay. You are safe."