The Renegade Shifters

by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait

  “Good to see you, Marlow,” said the purple and black-haired guy behind the counter.

  “Better to see you, Traig. While you charge these against my credit and box them away, I want to show my friends dressing room nine.”

  His head sprung up from his work as he studied Bailey and Rye. “We—have other dressing rooms available if they need to try on the clothes.” His lips formed a deep frown making the purple lipstick almost touch his chin.

  “No trying on necessary, dude. The key to number nine.” Bailey stuck her palm under his nose, sighing her impatience.

  “Uh, sure. I’ll have everything ready when you return.”

  She curled her finger to have the three follow her down the hallway to the dressing rooms. Each was numbered, and each needed a key to open the carved wooden door. Marlow unlocked it. She had Bailey, Rye, and Geoff enter before she did, then she closed and locked the door from the inside. The room was large enough for them plus a few more and had mirrors on three walls from floor to ceiling. The distressed, wooden-paneled wall without a mirror had two easy chairs and a table in the middle.

  Marlow smirked and pulled the table forward. A gentle ‘ping’ sounded as a door popped open in the wall. Behind it, a dark tunnel lit by the glow of orange glowing sconces that would be fashionable in some castle dungeon.

  “Wow!” Bailey was clearly surprised. Rye wrapped an arm around her shoulder and followed Marlow into the hidden space. Geoff leaned forward, pulling the table back in place. He ducked through the doorway as it closed.

  The tunnel sloped downward for a great distance before it leveled off. In a few minutes the tunnel led them into a chamber that was at least twenty feet tall and wide, but more or less in a rounded shape formed out of chiseled rock. Embedded in the walls were five doors. By each door was a black raised stone. No words were engraved on them, only different symbols.

  Marlow stood at the first door. “You will need to memorize the symbols and what they mean. Our network prohibits writing the symbols or their meanings down. It is for all of our safety. Each door will guide you out of the city, into a safe place. The symbols are for guidance only, for you will be welcomed in any of these areas of Shifters. Trace the symbols in your mind. This one is for wolves, the next is for werewolves. The third is for vampires and the fourth is for the winged ones. The fifth? I’ve never seen anyone take it but it goes to an underground cavern almost completely filled with a dark lake.”

  “What do we do once we get to one of these places?” Bailey asked in a whisper.

  Marlow laughed, “You don’t have to whisper. No one can hear us down here. Anyway, once you enter the tunnel, a warning is triggered on the other side. Someone will be waiting for you. Once you emerge you can tell them what you need. Each safe place can shelter you or lead you to another set of tunnels to get you close to home. When we go back home, we will show you where to go to request entrance to our underground home. But only Geoff can enter a code for us to have entry. So, unless Geoff has you pre-coded, you won’t be able to get inside. It’s a safety measure in case any of us go rogue or try to bring harm to the others.”

  Bailey nodded while Rye held back any questions. He had to play it calm and steady. Unfortunately, it looked like Geoff had all the cards stacked. He could be able to keep Bailey from him and that wasn’t going to work. He would have to get in Geoff’s good graces before working out how to stop his pursuit of Bailey. Nothing is going to be easy, especially since none of them, not even Bailey, was looking to be cured of their anomalies. For now, he would push that out of his mind. He didn’t want to do anything if he couldn’t have Bailey with him.

  Chapter 8

  How was he going to do it, he wondered? By the time they made it back to the underground house, Rye was lost in inner turmoil. Had he already put things in motion he couldn’t stop? How the hell did he know he would run into Bailey, and here for the love of all things reverent? For all he knew, she was still in that ship which could be on the dark side of the moon by now, if not further. It could be light-years away from where he first was picked up.

  “Rye? Are you all right? You’ve been quiet for a long time.” Bailey nudged him in the ribs.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I’m still out of it from last night—I didn’t expect to run into you. How is that even possible?”

  “I know, right? I’ve been asking myself the same thing. I guess we’re lucky they left the two pods programmed for the same place. But the Earth is a big place for us to both end up here, you know?”

  “That’s what has me thinking—maybe this is all part of a bigger plan.”

  Bailey’s eyebrows furrowed in thought. “What kind of bigger plan?”

  “I’m not sure, but you know how evil they were when they mixed DNA chains into us. Maybe they expect we’ll infect the people here somehow. It still makes me sick thinking how easy it was for them to capture us and do what they wanted.”

  Bailey’s head dropped as she looked at her hands. “Let’s not talk about it, Okay? I just want to forget about them and to forget about what it was like. It’s no good thinking about it, Rye. What’s done is done.”

  Marlow chuckled. “Lighten up back there, you’re bringing us down. We didn’t go shopping just so the two of you could put a damper on our evening. We’ve got plans.”

  “Shit, girl, really? Does this go on every night? I wanted to get a little acclimated first.”

  “No, it doesn’t go on every night, dragon breath. Besides, this is for you. You’re the one that was so hot about the whole Hollywood scene. Linken set up a party in the hills, you know, for a lot of the wanna be actresses and actors. Look, nobody will miss a few of them. Hell, most of them are nomads like us. Anyway, we’ll head out in a few hours so get your rest.” Marlow turned back around and opened the car door.

  As Rye and Bailey got out, she threw a fist on her hip. “Besides, Geoff’s rules of the house say no one stays home on an evening out.”

  Bailey pouted her full lips out and spun to look at Geoff. “Why do you get to make all the rules?”

  His brow raised, but he smiled lustfully at Bailey. “My house, my rules.” He waved his arms wide, encompassing everything underground. “It took me a long time to set this place up and I won’t risk it. Not by leaving people I don’t know yet, behind.”

  Bailey threw a hand to her heart, in mock shock. “I do declare, Geoff, you have a way of making a lady feel unwanted.”

  His tongue traced his lips. “I have never made a lady feel—unwanted.” He smirked and opened the front door.

  The lights glowed like gentle moonlight as they entered the house. Geoff had the home set up to automatically dim during daylight hours. That simple tweak allowed them to get the required rest they needed. Rye excused himself to retire in his bedroom.

  Dropping his bags of new clothes on the floor, he fell back on the bed, the tension set firmly along his jaw and brows. His mind raced from one thought to another, wondering what to do. It hadn’t been difficult to fit in when he came back, as he looked relatively like the rest. Originally he wanted to find a way to fit in, but that thought was quickly snuffed out. He would never really fit in with the one-hundred percenters unless a drug to reverse his changes could be developed.

  What he discovered in his searching was something called the dark web, a place of hidden agendas and secret desires. When he started his research, it was like going through a wormhole. Clicking on links took him deeper into the web, into what surely must be the heartbeat of society since it was buried so deep within the information network. That is where he first discovered Dave. He was in a group known as Humans First, a society who believed the government was creating bad experiments and turning humans into different species to use as they willed. It sounded like a group he needed to get to know better so he corresponded with Dave until he received an invitation to meet with their group.

  It had begun innocently enough, learning what all was involved with their group and what means the
y could have to rectify what had happened to the humans. They were desperately working on a cure. A cure he, himself, wanted. No one should be mutated against their will. No one. His stomach boiled, remembering what he had endured. That’s when he left with Dave to head to L.A.. Dave had information that several different experiments had broken out of a hidden government facility and walked freely in the populace.

  Dave had a background in molecular biology and his looks made that all too easy to believe. His skin was a chalky-white, his eyes as large as a toads when view through his thick glasses. As far as blending in with the L.A. lifestyle, he was ill-equipped. That’s how it all began some months earlier, for Rye to mingle in the club scene. Most of what he found was pretenders, people who dressed like one thing, but were one-hundred percent purebreds. Humans, dressed for the thrill and not the kill.

  However, he did get into the right clubs and knew the right people who knew the right people. The true experiments. The mutated humans who were only part human, and part—like him. Mistakes. It wasn’t hard to get a female to follow him back to the house Dave had secured. It was an intriguing bungalow that had once been part of an estate so it had a lot of room around it, without being within earshot of another house. And, it had a full basement… something the chemists put to good use.

  The standard code was set with triggering lights that would trigger red light bulbs in the lab below them. One light would indicate a possible wolf, two lights was for a vampire, three for a mermaid, four for a demon and so forth. He would entice the visitor down to the ‘wine cellar’ where a hidden room was set up with racks of wine. Once the visitor entered the gloomy dark room, Dave appeared from behind the stairwell and injected the target with the vaccine they had created to subdue the DNA modifications. Rye hammered a fist into the bed. They were zero for fifteen attempts. This turned out to be where the cure was worse than the disease. And now, he had given Dave the information of a club that had true modified humans. The same club where he had found Bailey. He wouldn’t mind them trying to cure Geoff, but he definitely wanted to keep the rest of them safe, without having to explain what was going on—and worse, what he had helped make happen.

  Chapter 9

  Finally, he was able to shut down to get some rest when someone banged on his door.

  “Um, yeah?” he mumbled in a sleepy haze.

  “Just checking to see if you’re awake. We’re heading out in about an hour. If you want to catch a shower before we leave, you better get with it. Oh, and put on those sexy leather pants.” Marlow laughed as she walked away from the door.

  He shook his head with a smirk. She was growing on him. He knew all he needed to know to understand she was a wildcat dressed in wolf clothing. Even he got a chuckle out of that thought. After his first night there, he wouldn’t want to meet any of these modified humans in a dark alley. He had already seen what they can do and how fast they morphed into their altered states.

  The clock chimed nine o’clock, the time when the night comes alive. Geoff, true to form, was dressed in black. Black pants, black tight-fitting silk shirt, finished off with a black cape with purple silk lining that rippled when the light caught it. Aviator shaped sunglasses pulled up on his head, he was ready to go incognito at a moment’s notice.

  His heart slammed against his chest when Bailey walked into the room. He had only seen her in a lab coat or otherwise in jeans. Tonight she wore a tight mini skirt, torn fishnet stockings, black stilettos and a cropped top that showed all her curves. She wore her hair in a top knot with auburn tendrils flying loose around her neck and face. Her lips were transformed in a deep, lustrous blue that matched her eye shadow. Without knowing it, he licked his lips hungrily.

  In Hollywood style, Linken pulled the limo around front and tossed Geoff the keys. Marlow strode into the room amidst hoots and yells. She had dressed old school and went with a Marilyn Monroe ensemble, complete with a fur wrap. They piled into the limo, with Marlow pushing herself into the backseat across from Rye, blowing him seductive kisses. Bailey went to the other door and sat glued to Rye, leaving Linken to move in towards Marlow.

  “How about some theme music?” Geoff asked as he turned to look at his friends in the back. His grin grew as the music pounded louder. Shots were passed around as their theme song thundered inside. Funny, Bailey thought, how a song can get you in the mood for a good time.

  They wove their way through the freeway until they took their off-ramp to a modern style house sitting fully lit up like a beacon on a Hollywood hillside. The only thing missing was the searchlight flashing across the hills. The driveway was already littered with every kind of posh car and derelict. A band was playing either inside or out back, the beat pulsating and just loud enough you didn’t have to listen to the idle chatter of starlets seeking their first big break.

  The whole party was a sham. Linken had set it up with some friends of his who sent the invitations out. Supposedly, this was a meet and greet with the directors, producers and a gala of talent that would be auditioning for available parts in an upcoming movie. Even the producers had no idea this was a farce, but there was always something in it for everyone. Support, wine and dined and a bevy of mind-altering medications spilling over table tops. Rye cast a quick look at his new friends and it was obvious, at least to him, they were already on the prowl for later.

  Climbing up the smooth polished granite to the front door, Geoff led the way with invitations held in his gloved hands. They crossed the threshold into another world… a world saved for those crouching close to extravagance. Most would only taste dollops of it served on silver platters carted away before the evening dissipated like a fuzzy dream.

  Immediately, women flocked near Geoff and his brilliant smile. They were certain he must be somebody they should know, or at least be seen in his company. Linken had set up several photographers milling through the party taking pictures of the event. Everyone knew, in Hollywood if it wasn’t captured on film it might as well have never happened. Marlow had her own groupies clustering nearby, looking every bit the leading lady.

  Bailey latched onto Rye’s arm in a near death-grip. Suddenly, this wasn’t the fun and games she thought she wanted not so very long ago. It was loud, pretentious, and over-bearing. They snagged glasses of champagne as a waiter strolled through and asked where the bar was set up. Taking his direction, they moved to an inner chamber, a dark paneled room filled with books, couches, and easy chairs. Exchanging their empty glasses for Rum and Cokes, they milled through the crowd in search of a quieter place to sit.

  Rye saw the blue flash of the pool outdoors and led Bailey towards umbrella covered tables beyond the patio that was clustered with more partiers with dreams of fame and fortune. Once they made it down the rolling green-scape, they finally sat in peace.

  “I’d give anything if we weren’t here,” Bailey sighed.

  “Change your mind on the madhouse fun?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, but now we’re stuck. It’s like a bad movie that you already know how it ends. I thought when they messed with my DNA, they removed all thoughts of right and wrong. But now all I see is the blinded faith and hope in the eyes of everyone here. Geoff isn’t going to like it that I’ve changed my mind. I mean, this whole thing was set up for my weird fantasy of getting into the movie scene and well—”

  “Let me guess. You were going to get rid of any competition.” Rye’s look at her wasn’t judgmental. He understood how her mind had been altered.

  Bailey lips scrunched up as she nodded. “Look, I don’t want to change what they have going on. I just—well, I don’t want to kill for the sake of killing, you know?”

  He wrapped an arm around her chair and pulled her closer to him. “Yeah, I know. We’ve got to figure this out and we can’t do it living under Geoff’s roof. He has things set up where it makes us hostages there.”

  “But they’re my friends. I can’t just leave and where would I go, or you, for that matter.”

  “They
are your friends only because they believe you think like them and will act like them. When there are more people acting in the same fashion, it makes them feel like what they do is okay, maybe even necessary. We need to break from them and we need to do it right now, while we have a chance.”

  “Do you mean leave the party?” Bailey’s jaw dropped.

  “That’s exactly what I mean. You know if we don’t do it right now, when we return to Geoff’s, there will be another bloodbath. You’ve only came to the good sense to fight the urges. But if you go back—if you don’t leave now, that part of your life will come back in full force. It’s not right, none of it is right. The damn government or whatever they were, messed with us for their selfish desires, to make us some kind of killing machines that they could control. Sooner or later, they will find us, one by one. You know that as well as I do.” His hand reached and lifted Bailey’s chin. “Look at me and understand this. I am not going back. I won’t let them do anything to me again.”

  “How do we explain this to Geoff?” Her forehead crinkled with worry.

  “We don’t. Tonight is perfect, Bailey. While they are busy inside, we need to leave.”

  “How? They brought the limo and Geoff has the keys.”

  Rye smiled. “I’ll call my old roommate and have him meet us down the hill. He’ll give us a ride and a place to stay as we figure all of this out, okay?”

  Bailey looked at the ground, still searching for answers.

  “I can’t leave without you, Karmin.”

  Her head shot up as he used her Soul name, the one no one else ever used. She answered with a slow nod of her head. That was all Rye needed, he reached into his pocket and placed the call. When he hung up they found the way out of the back of the estate and walked down the hill, enjoying the warm summer breeze. Within fifteen minutes they were jetting down the freeway to a safe house, and Rye was dreading telling Bailey—the rest of the details.