by Mina Carter
“Think nothing of it, Nickie,” Bill spoke up. “You’re family to us, we could do no less. Speaking of family, have you given any thought to when you might want to tell your parents?”
“I’ve thought about it, but I just don’t know. I know that I’m not ready to tell them yet, and I don’t know when I will be.”
“That’s all right. You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to. But I think you’re going to find that the longer you wait the harder telling them is going to be, and I really think you’re going to want to tell them in the end.”
“I know I probably should, but just don’t think I can handle it right now. I’m doing okay handling things one day at a time. By taking each hurdle and change as it comes at me and not worrying about what is to come I’ve been able to deal with it all. But when I start thinking about what to say to Mom and Dad, how to tell them about all this, I end up in the middle of a panic attack. Let me get used to what I am before I tell them, at least. If I have more knowledge about it, I will be better able to answer their questions, and I know they will have questions.”
“Fair enough. You’ve done surprisingly well handling all that has been thrown at you in the last week, and I don’t want to do anything to compromise that, so I’ll let you decide when you’re ready. I’d like it if once you’ve decided you’d let me know, I told you we’d help you tell them, and I meant it.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the peal of the doorbell.
Neither Bill nor Karen moved to answer it, instead Bill said, “Terry will get that, he’s playing butler for me this evening.” A moment later Terry escorted the couple I was there to meet into the room. Neither of them were anywhere near what I had expected. I was expecting to meet an older couple, closer to Bill and Karen’s age than my own. Neither of them was more than a few years older than myself and that surprised me. I stood up to greet them, as Bill introduced me from where he remained seated.
“Nickie, this is our Lysandros, Hank Jeffries, and his wife, as well as our Harmonia, Alexis.” Turning, he addressed them, “Hank, Alexis, this is Dominique Daniels. She goes by Nickie. You know, now that I think about it, I think the only time I’ve ever heard anyone call her Dominique was when she was in trouble,” he said, smiling fondly in my direction.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Hank said stepping forward to shake my hand. I felt a strange current of energy run through my body when his hand touched mine, not quite an electrical shock but not much different either. I had to look up several inches to look him in the eyes, so he was at least 6’ tall, if not a little over. He has a muscular build, well defined without being overly bulky. He appeared to be a man who earned his muscle with what he did for a living, not one of those pretty boys who built it in a gym. His dark hair was cut in a short men’s style that has been popular for decades, and his deep brown eyes seemed to look inside you and be able to tell what secrets you were hiding.
“So glad to meet you, Nickie,” Alexis said, smiling as she took a turn shaking my hand. She’s a couple of inches shorter than me and slender and beautiful. Something about her size and graceful movements made me feel over-sized and clumsy. She had shining blond hair that was cut in flattering pixie style around angular her face, and large green eyes that caught and held your attention, she reminded me of those classic tiny film stars
“It’s nice meeting you both too,” I said, trying to keep a smile on my face in order to hide my confusion.
Bill looked past the group of us to the man standing in the doorway and spoke, “Thank you, Terry. You’re free for the evening, if you’d like.”
“Thank you, sir, but with the four of you in the same place I’d rather stay if you don’t mind. Just in case. But I’ll stay in the other room unless I’m needed, and leave you to your evening,” Terry replies, waiting for Bill’s acceptance before turning to leave the room.
“Very well,” Bill said, before looking at Hank. “Have a seat you two. Hank, I told you over the phone when I invited you over, that she shifted suddenly last week.” The couple sat on the love seat positioned on the opposite side of me from the sofa.
The other man nodded. “I remember.”
“I asked the two of you to come meet Nickie because, as you know, she wasn’t raised among us and she’s still learning the pack hierarchy. She needs to know who the leaders are, and who to turn to if she has a problem. She’s comfortable with Karen and I, as I’ve been a friend of her father’s since before she was born or adopted. I want her to know who she’ll be turning to for help in case Karen and I can’t be reached.”
Alexis turned to me. “Is it true you had no clue what you are until you shifted last week?”
“None at all,” I replied. “It’s still pretty new to me, though I’m starting to get over being stunned and confused. I’m doing my best to get it all figured out.”
“I wanted you to meet Alexis for another reason, Nickie. She’s the only member of our pack who can teach you to call animal forms, and after what you told me this morning, I think you may need to see what she can teach you. I’d like for you to get to know her a little, see if you can work together so she can train you.”
Alexis turned to me with a surprised look. “What makes you think you have the ability to call or restrict animal forms?” She asked
“Well,” I started, “Yesterday Brandon and I…”
“Brandon?”
“Brandon Stone. He’s been my best friend for years.”
“Ah, I see, continue.”
“Anyway we were out on a run. He told me that is what it’s called when you go out and run around in wolf form.”
“It is,” Alexis acknowledged, nodding for me to continue.
“Well, we wandered around as wolves for a while and then we went back to the cars and Brandon was going to shift.” I could feel myself blushing as I tried to explain. “Well, I’m just not comfortable with that yet, I’m having a hard time with the casual nudity. So I kind of thought ‘I don’t want him to shift yet’ but I didn’t think it at him like I do for him to hear it, I just thought it to myself and he didn’t shift. I managed to get around to the other side of my car, to where I couldn’t see him anymore, and then I didn’t care if he shifted anymore. Once we were both dressed he confronted me about it, asked me why I kept him from shifting. I had no clue what he was talking about. I didn’t intend to do it, I just didn’t want to see him naked, or for him to see me that way either.
She nodded, seeming satisfied with my explanation. “I see. It appears you may actually have the gift to restrict animal forms at least, and I’m willing to work with you to develop the talent. We can see if you can call forms too, if you’re willing. However, I’ll warn you, you’re going to need to get past the squeamishness of seeing people naked. Most of us don’t care to keep losing our clothes from shifting in them and it often, isn’t convenient to find a changing room.”
“I understand why nudity is so casual among the Kindred, but it’s going to take some getting used to though. It’s not anything I’ve ever been exposed to.”
“On top of all the everyday reasons for it, most of the calling and restricting of animal forms that I do is medical related. That means that if you want me to teach you to control this talent, you’ll need to be able to handle blood at least to some extent and sometimes extreme and very emotional situations.”
“Blood doesn’t bother me. I have two brothers and three sisters, someone always had one kind of wound of another and we all learned to deal with the injuries we tended to give ourselves and each other.”
“Very well, I’ll give you a try. Where do you work?”
“I’m the Dean’s secretary at the college.”
“So you work Monday through Friday?”
“Generally, but not right now. For the summer we’re on a 4/10’s schedule.”
“Oh, that will make it easier. Mondays or Fridays off?”
“Fridays.”
“Is there any reason why you can�
��t spend at least part of your Fridays helping me out in our clinic?”
“You have a Kitsune clinic?” I asked surprised. “How do you keep humans from coming in, seeing things and finding out about us?”
“It’s not officially a clinic, or any kind of business. It’s an unofficial clinic that’s run out of the guest house at my place. We’ve converted much of it over to be used as a Dr’s office, and we do what we can when we need to. There isn’t a huge call for a Kindred clinic but we get a few walk-in’s a day. Broken bones, torn muscles, random injuries. But it would look strange for them to turn up in a Dr’s office with an injury that would normally take weeks to heal and then hours or days later be fine.”
“I can see how that would be a problem,” I said.
“So I run the clinic, it’s mostly for non-emergent cases, but we also have a couple of Dr’s who we can call if we need and there’s an EMT too. It’s not entirely my responsibility but since it’s set up at my place it’s easiest for me to staff it a lot of the time. So, what do you think, can you spend your Fridays with me for a while?”
“I don’t see why not. It would probably be a good opportunity for me to meet more of the pack too,” I said.
I liked Alexis right away, she was a few years older than me but very friendly and she didn’t treat me like a child, like some do to people my age. She was kind without being patronizing. I wasn’t so sure about Hank, it wasn’t that he was patronizing or spoke down to me; he was just quiet, making it harder to get to know him. He had spent the time that Alexis and I were making arrangements watching me, as though he was trying to figure something out, I did my best to ignore it while occasionally sealing glances at him, trying to figure out what he was up to. He seemed reserved, as if he hadn’t yet made up his mind about me either. And I have to admit, that the strange sensation I got when I touched his hand was still on my mind, but I had no clue what it might mean. Hank seemed like the polar opposite of Alexis, she was outgoing and engaging to his seemingly quiet and reserved.
“Have you had any other talents emerge yet?” Hank asked.
“We’ve learned that I’m telepathic, in both directions, but that’s all that we know of so far,” I replied.
“I’m working with her myself on that one,” Bill put in. “And Karen’s been working with her on shielding, since she’s one of the best in the pack, and Nickie knows us both already.”
Hank nodded and continued to listen to us talk. He seemed a bit intimidating. Not because of his size but something about him that I couldn’t quite place. I tried to ignore it and continue the conversation as if he wasn’t watching me so closely.
After we had been talking a while Karen excused herself to check on dinner. She was gone for a few minutes before she reappeared to call us to the table. We all moved into the dining room and started to take our seats. Terry reappeared and Karen followed him into the room. Apparently she had called him to dinner as well. It was a nice evening and after dinner we visited a while longer. I got the Jeffries’ address from Alexis before I left for the evening, so that I knew where I was supposed to be Friday morning.
Chapter 8
THURSDAY MORNING I realized that it had been a week since I’d first shifted. Seven days since my life had been irrevocably changed forever. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that it felt like should have been longer. At the same time, I could still barely believe that it had already been an entire week.
I was scheduled to meet with Karen again that afternoon to work on my shielding, and while I knew that I needed it, it wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to. It was exhausting work even if it wasn’t particularly difficult. Especially after the time I had spent that morning practicing what she had taught me earlier in the week.
Almost reluctantly I knocked on the front door of the house and waited, it only took a moment for Gabriel to open the door and invite me in.
“Hey, Nickie, Karen said you’d be here soon. Come on in.” He stepped back out of the doorway giving me room to walk past him into the house. “She asked me to have you take a seat in the front room, and let you know she’ll be here in just a moment.”
“Are you going to join us?” I asked as he closed the door and motioned for me to start toward the designated room.
“No, I don’t need to intrude on your lesson. I have some work to do in the back of the house but if you need me, call out and I’ll hear you.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a smile.
“I was wondering, if you don’t already have plans, would you consider having dinner with me tonight?” he asked hopefully.
I was silent for a second, trying to decide how to do this, deciding to just spit it out.
“I’m going to just put it bluntly, with everything going on right now I just don’t have time for or interest in a romantic relationship. But if you’d like to go out as friends, have a little fun and get to know each other, I’d be up for that.”
“I can see not wanting to get involved with someone right now,” he admitted. “I’d still enjoy a chance to get to know you better, though and help ease you into our world as Bill suggested. Do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to meet me somewhere?”
“Why don’t you pick me up? Normally I wouldn’t give my address to someone I’ve just met, but if Bill trusts you with Karen’s safety, I feel certain I can trust you with mine,” I reasoned. I gave him my address and we set a time for him to pick me up that evening before he went into the other room to whatever he was doing to occupy himself.
I glanced around the room, making sure I was alone before I took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs angled toward the sofa. I’d discovered last time that sitting alone in a chair helped me to focus better because every movement of another person on the sofa was a distraction. Karen had said that as I got more comfortable with my focusing and shielding it would be easier to ignore the distractions, but for now I avoided them. I kicked off my sandals and folded my legs under me in the chair so that my heels rested under my thighs. I settled in and got comfortable before starting the focusing exercises we had been doing a few days earlier. It was what I had been practicing on my own since so I didn’t need Karen’s instructions to get started.
I’m not sure how long I’d been focusing on my shields when Karen entered the room, but I caught her scent before I heard her, and as soon as I detected the light scent that reminded me of nutmeg, I knew it was Karen.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said moving farther into the room. “Before we get started today, do you have any questions? Not just about the shielding and what we’re doing here, but anything? What do you think of our Lysandros and Harmonia, and don’t be afraid to be honest, I’m asking for your feelings, your impressions?”
“I thought it went well, I really liked Alexis. I’m excited to see if I can learn to use the talent it seems I’m developing, I think it may be an important skill. Hank…seemed okay but I’m not as sure about him, there’s something different about him, but I’m not sure what.”
“Well, he’s not from the area, Alexis met him while she was away at school and that might be part of what you’re sensing. And, I’ll admit, he’s a bit more reserved than we’re used to around here.”
“Maybe. When I shook his hand I thought I felt something, like a spark or a shock but not exactly, if that makes any sense.”
“Hmm...” she lifted her brows, obviously intrigued. “That’s interesting. I’ll have to look into it and see what I can find out. Are you ready to start our lesson for today?”
“I think so.”
“Have you been practicing?”
“Yes, ma’am. At least a couple times a day. Every time I get the chance, I sit down and work on focusing, on centering myself. Then I picture my shields, I see them surrounding me like a giant bubble. That’s what I was doing when you came in.”
“Good, continue with that, but we’ll change it up a little today. I want you to center
yourself and focus on your shields. I’ll give you a few minutes to get them set and then I’m going to try to test them a bit. That way we’ll be able to see how strong you have managed to make them so far.”
“All right.” I settled down and beginning to focus on my shields again. I quickly re-centered myself and once again focused on my shields. I concentrated on making them impenetrable, thick and resilient before I started waiting for Karen’s tests. After what seemed like ages I felt the first blow. It felt like my shields had been struck with a hammer, and I felt the vibrations moving though my shields echo in my body.
“Wow” Karen said, “That was…jarring.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “That was obviously not good.”
“Well, not good but not bad either.” she said. “It’s a common error, almost everyone starts out forming their shields as solid”
“Well, if they’re not supposed to be solid, what are they supposed to be? How will they stop anything if they’re not solid?”
“Maybe solid isn’t the best word, think more…” she paused, searching for the right word. “inflexible. You’re picturing a bubble, of whatever material, that stands firm, and deflects anything that collides with it, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought I was supposed to do.”
“In essence, it is, but compare an eggshell to a rubber ball, if something hits the eggshell hard enough it shatters and lets the attacker in. A rubber ball however flexes, it absorbs some of the impact, and pushes some of the impact back at the attacker.”
“I see what you’re saying, I need to make my bubble strong but flexible, more rubbery than stiff.”
“Exactly. I’ll give you a little bit to adjust your shields while I go get us a couple of drinks, but when I get back I’ll test them again.”
“All right, sounds good to me,” I said as she left the room. I once again started focusing on my shields, this time making sure to picture my bubble of shields as thick but flexible. I constructed them layer by layer of stones sandwiching layers of rubber to help with the flexibility. I had several layers built up before I was satisfied with the thickness of my shields and simply focused on holding the mental picture of them.
