by Noah Harris
“How are you feeling?” Michael asked him quietly.
“I’m okay,” Nick replied, aware of the half-lie. “I’ve been busy. Just a lot of schoolwork to catch up on right now. I didn’t feel you coming at all.”
“Your powers are still drained from the incident at the lake,” Michael advised, “Gideon thought he knew best, so without checking with anyone, he decided to try out some of your abilities.”
Nick was immediately angry, but he didn’t even have the energy to get really mad, or to show it.
“And he’s very sorry,” Michael added, nodding in Gideon’s direction.
Like a forced apology from a five-year-old who’d stolen convenience store candy, Gideon finally acquiesced.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding sincere. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought it would be funny. I didn’t know you knew nothing of control at all. I assumed your parents would have taught you that at least.”
Nick shrugged, still annoyed and still feeling somewhat poorly.
Gideon continued, clearly trying to dig himself out of a hole. “I really didn’t mean to scare you, man. I thought I could show that I could do some training.”
“It’s okay,” Nick relinquished. “But if you ever try something like that again, I’ll figure out how and I will beat you.”
Gideon chuckled, “Okay, but you’ll have to learn to catch me first. I must say, I knew you could animal-shift. I just knew it. And rather than having to wait for months to find out, now we know.”
“Not the most prudent approach,” Michael said, still disciplining him. “But the information is valuable. It’s unfortunate that it happened as it did, however. Had it been intentional—of your own volition, rather than reactionary—it still would have drained you, but not as much as it did. That’s why you didn’t hear us coming today. You’re vulnerable until you are back at 100 percent.”
“Understood,” Nick replied.
“So, the schedule for your training,” Michael began, but Nick cut him off.
“Wait, wait. I said okay, trying to be a decent sport about this renegade’s stunt,” he pointed to Gideon. “But I haven’t decided to join the pack yet. I’m still considering that and frankly; nearly drowning me didn’t do much to promote trust.”
“You were never going to drown!” Gideon said, too loudly for a library. Realizing it, he lowered his voice. “You just don’t know what you can do. That’s like saying a bird shouldn’t sit on a rooftop.”
“Until it learns to fly properly, it shouldn’t, Gideon,” Michael chastised.
“You push the bird; it puts its wings out, then its flying. I don’t get all the drama, you two,” Gideon responded.
“And that is precisely why you are not in charge,” Michael growled sternly, lowering the depth of his voice.
“Look, I’m still thinking on it. I have a lot going on with school; I still don’t feel well. Just give me some time,” Nick confirmed, his natural desire being to mediate and end their disagreement.
“Just not too much time,” Michael warned. “There are enemies all around. How about we just show you a few things, no strings attached? You don’t have to officially join the pack yet, but just get to know us a bit.”
“And learn enough not to get yourself killed,” Gideon quipped.
“All right… we’ll spend some time next week,” Nick agreed, aware this was a first step toward his new life.
6
By Saturday morning, Nick felt more like himself. Even better, having been either in bed or lethargic for the majority of two weeks, he finally felt physically strong again. Since he had found out that the lake incident was Gideon’s feeble attempt at helping him learn, he felt a lot calmer and not so paranoid, enough to quit jumping at shadows and looking around every corner. Tightening his laces, Nick set off on a running trail, truly freeing his body and mind, for the first time since this all began. He ran fast, with grace and agility. Any coach would have been happy to have him, even without using any shifter power, but after a few moments Nick began to wonder if he could force himself to go faster than human speed. He tried thinking of fast animals, to no avail. For some reason, he thought of a train, and envisioning the wheels speeding across the track allowed him to match the imagined pace of the locomotive.
Through the trails, his feet moved almost of their own volition, flying along, but for the occasional tap on the ground for balance. Nick sped through a grassy field, which then led to a small dirt footpath by a stream. Moving through the dirt, his heels threw mud up the back of his legs, splashing in the occasional puddle as he went. His heart beat strong and solid, his breathing deep and steady. He was the picture of health and fitness. Nearing a short fence, he cleared it as a hurdle and followed the small dirt path to a place where it opened to a larger concrete one. This path was one often used by students, so he slowed his pace to a normal human run, which felt to him like a nice breather, before he turned around back onto the dirt path and opened up to full speed before finally stopping by the stream to get some water.
Leaning over the stream, Michael cupped his hands and let the moving, clear stream fill them up with water. Three or four times he swept his hands to his mouth taking big gulps of water until his thirst was quenched. Since he was already standing in the stream, Nick used the water to wash the mud from the backs of his legs and shoes. Off the glint of the water, out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw a shimmering patch near the tree across the small stream.
“I know you’re there, Gideon,” he said calmly. “You can stop following me.”
Gideon emerged from the world of the nearly unseen, and manifested into his normal self, his golden locks pulled back into a sweaty ponytail.
“Can’t,” he said, through heaving breaths. “Michael’s orders.” He gulped some more air, “You’re a really fast runner. I mean, even among shifters.”
“I wasn’t even going my fastest,” Nick broke the news, “I was afraid someone would see me.”
“I bet not. You haven’t even learned anything yet. I can’t imagine how fast you’ll be once you’re trained.” Gideon sounded sincere, with none of the posturing he’d done before.
“Seriously, I don’t want you following me,” Nick reminded the man.
“It’s not my idea of fun either, sport, but I’m still on half voting rights from the lake thing last week, so if Michael thinks you’re going to get your little shifter ass killed between now and next week, you’re just going to have to deal with me until you can learn not to walk into a shift trap or accidentally join a cannibal pack or something,” Gideon retorted.
Nick paused, “I don’t even know where to start with most of that. I hope you’re kidding.” He stepped out of the stream and sat on a stump next to Gideon, having gotten most of the mud cleaned off of him.
“Half voting rights? What’s that?”
Gideon stretched out on the bank, lying down from his overexertion. “Our Wisdom is the oldest, most traditional one, and our votes are very formal. They act like its parliament or something. While my one vote getting fractionated probably doesn’t affect the outcome too much, if it happens to too many of us younger shifters, the old ones start making all sorts of old-fashioned rules. Besides, it’s pretty embarrassing. Everyone knows Michael is pretty fair, so they know I must have done something pretty bad to get my voting rights reduced. It doesn’t look good for the pack, either.”
“How many packs are in a Wisdom?” Nick asked, curiously tilting his head. He liked learning about the shifters under less formal circumstances. Just a nice, friendly conversation.
“Depends on the Wisdom. There are five of those. Ours has hundreds of packs, but it is the oldest, plus—” Gideon stopped himself, thinking for a moment. “You know, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you this stuff, since you’re not even in the pack yet. Michael didn’t tell me specifically not to, but I’m already in hot water so don’t mention it to him, okay?”
“Okay. Seems harmless enough,�
� Nick said, rising from the stump. “Look, I’ve gotta get back. I’m… meeting friends. Don’t follow me anymore. Seriously, I take full responsibility.”
“Okay,” Gideon responded in a sarcastic tone that made it clear he would disregard the request. Nick ran off, and after a minute, Gideon arose, shifted back into a shimmer, and followed him the rest of the way home, keeping a wider distance now that he knew Nick could spot him.
Entering the building, Nick knew the shimmer that was Gideon, was still a few hundred feet behind him, and would wait outside until he had to go out again. However, as he rounded a turn in the stairwell, breathing heavily and with a racing heart from his run, he saw a shimmer up ahead. He wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t seem as familiar. Maybe it was the light in here.
“Gideon?” he called, but got no answer and no movement at all. The shimmer just sat exactly still. “I can see you, you know,” Nick added, but still it did not move an inch. Since it blocked his path directly, meaning he would have to literally walk through it to get to the door, Nick thought better of it and decided to take another route. Not wanting to turn his back on it either, Nick stepped carefully backward until he was out of the stairwell, and then took the elevator instead. He was probably being paranoid, but better paranoid than immobile and stuck in bed for another week, or worse. Check one in the column for joining the pack—safety in numbers, presumably.
Later that night, Nick emerged—showered, shaved and in freshly-pressed clothes. He almost felt like a full human being again, he thought, just before reminding himself that he was anything but. He and Jared had decided to meet at the restaurant. When Nick arrived, Jared was already sitting at a small booth tucked in the corner. Nick sat down across from him and wondered how Jared could look even better in a collared shirt and dress pants than his signature dance, or casual, clothes. The bright red shirt brought out the intensity in Jared’s dark, intense eyes, and set a stark contrast to his shining white smile. Nick smiled back, widely.
“Hey,” Nick began.
“Hey. Nice to see you up and about. The last time I saw you, you didn’t even have the decency to wake up,” Jared half-joked.
“Yeah, sorry about that. In the future, I’ll try to get attacked by alligators when you’re not around,” Nick said, and instantly felt bad about the lie.
“Abby said that has never happened before,” Jared replied.
“Yeah, very strange. I can honestly say I’ve lived there my entire life and never seen anything like that before,” Nick took a sip of water. When he set the glass back down, Jared grabbed his hand.
“We didn’t want to leave, you know,” he looked deep into Nick’s green eyes, seeking confirmation that he knew. “Your mother practically had to force us out.” They gazed at one another for a long moment, until the waitress arrived with menus, disrupting the mood. Glancing over the menu, Jared continued casually.
“I didn’t realize how much I was enjoying getting to know you until I saw you lying there, helpless.”
“Okay, now! I don’t know about helpless,” Nick smiled, “I think I probably could have crawled for some distance, under my own steam, at that time!” Jared’s look turned slightly more serious.
“You didn’t have a scratch on you. I don’t even know how you survived getting rolled like that, but you came out without a scratch.” His eyes almost seemed to be searching Nick’s face for the slightest revelation. Nick remained straight-faced, but prickled slightly under the scrutiny.
“Well, he didn’t bite me or anything. He just held me down with his weight, pinning his body on me. No scratches from alligator belly, I guess. Maybe some nice boots next time, though,” Nick said, trying to change the subject. Jared paused, deciding whether he would stick with this subject or not.
“Or maybe a belt,” he jested.
Over the course of the rest of the meal, Nick learned that Jared had no siblings, that his mother had died when he was ten—and that he didn’t know how. Nick thought it odd that Jared’s father wouldn’t tell him how his mother had died. He could understand it if he was younger; certainly there were things you didn’t tell a child about, such as a drug overdose, suicide, murder or something, but to still not tell him, as an adult, seemed odd. He also learned that Jared hoped to join a professional dance company after college, or maybe become a choreographer for large productions. The stuff of dreams. It was when Jared pushed Nick on his future goals that he suddenly sounded undirected. Two weeks ago, he would have answered this easily and unequivocally—go to grad school and start a business of his own, one that donated a portion of all profits to charity. Fairly rote stuff, but now it seemed everything was changing, and he was already lying to Jared just by hiding his true shifter nature. Nick didn’t want to lie any more than necessary. He liked the guy, and really could see this going somewhere, so he told the truth—that he wasn’t sure. Fortunately, Jared didn’t seem to care about it half as much as Nick did. Whether he was certain of his future plans or not, getting to know the other man was proving to be enjoyable.
Walking back to their cars, they held hands and looked at the starry sky. When they reached his car, Jared gave Nick a long, deep kiss and he felt like he never wanted to leave. Nick grabbed the back of Jared’s head and began kissing harder, but suddenly he felt a familiar presence nearby. Backing away slightly, but still holding Jared, Nick looked over his date’s shoulder to see a shimmering nearby. Shaking his head slightly, but feeling unwilling to continue with an audience, he stepped away from Jared. They could go somewhere else, but Nick felt like he should just get himself out of being followed altogether before proceeding.
“I had a great time. I hope we can do it again,” Nick said, squeezing Jared’s hand one last time before letting go. Jared seemed confused for a moment, but gave a slight squeeze back and smiled before turning away to his own car. Swinging open the car door, Nick cast a disparaging glance in Gideon’s direction, then floated home, humming along with the music, in disbelief that he may have found a guy as great as Jared.
7
On Monday Nick arrived early for his ‘training’ with the pack, and found Gideon, Isda, and Michael already there.
“How are you following me if you’re already here?” he needled Gideon.
“I guess I figured that if you can’t make it a quarter mile by yourself, maybe natural selection should win out,” Gideon lobbed back.
Isda piled on, “What? Gideon joking, without the intent of personal character assassination. Miracles, really do, never cease.”
“Enough! We have work to do,” Michael interceded. “Nick, there are ten exercises. Today won’t be a bunch of talking and explaining. Just doing. Just follow and do what you’re shown. Isda and Gideon, explain when necessary, but keep it to a minimum. Let’s show him what he needs to survive and then, if he prefers the company of humans to our pack, he can go on his way. Afterwards, if he gets himself killed, it’s not on our conscience.” Isda and Gideon looked at one another, noting Michael’s rare ill-temper.
“Okay, Michael,” Isda answered for both of them.
Exercise One.
Gideon stood before Nick and began changing. First, an ebony panther. He howled a cat howl, and quickly changed into a smaller house cat, wiped his paw on his face, washing it and stopped—looked at Nick, winked—then continued.
“Great for surveillance,” Isda added.
Gideon continued, as a snake slithering around Nick’s feet, a toad hopping around and then in mid-hop he changed into a butterfly. The butterfly morphed into a seagull and flew around the room once, became a pelican and then an eagle. Spreading his wings wide, they became the shoulders of a large bear, then a smaller bear, then a panda. The black and white of the panda multiplied into the black and white spots of a Dalmatian. Gideon barked once, then barked and barked again, non-stop.
“Enough!” scolded Michael. “He gets the point.”
“Gideon is one of the best in the whole Wisdom at animal transformation. You really are
lucky to have him as your trainer,” Isda added, attempting to soften the moment. As Gideon returned to his human shape, she added as an aside to Michael. “We are trying to recruit him, right?” Michael nodded, understanding her point and softened a bit.
“Now you try,” Michael instructed. Gideon produced a frog.
“It has to be something you’ve touched before, at least once in your life, so your cells learned the structure of its cells. When you’ve touched it once, you can remap the cell structure anytime you want, simply by thinking about it, and focusing on the animal,” Gideon instructed.
“Like the day at the lake, we’d been talking about alligators just beforehand. It must have been on my mind,” Nick responded.
“Is there an animal you’re very familiar with, like a family pet?” Gideon asked. “If you think about it, about petting it, what the flesh felt like, the fur, focus on the moment of touch; then imagine yourself as that animal, breathing like it, running like it, eating, whatever it takes for you to visualize that you are actually it.”
Nick thought of Snowtread, their old, grey husky who had died years ago. He loved that dog, slept with it every night and played with it for hours every day, for over ten years. He thought of Snowtread sleeping, though about his breathing… the rib cage, rising and falling slightly with each breath, what his rough tongue felt like when it licked him. He closed his eyes and matched his own breathing, visualizing himself as Snowtread running in the fields behind their house, jumping for a steak from the grill, curling up beside the fire. In a moment, he felt the familiar hot flash as if fire raced through his veins, and then realized he was now looking up at Michael, Isda and Gideon. He wasn’t in any pain, he wasn’t panicked, but he felt the effort of retaining this new form. It was like when you hold a rubber band at maximum tension between your two hands; not a great effort, but an intentional one. Once you let go, it will snap back to its original shape. Nick looked at his own paw and then tried to move around while holding the form. He ran back and forth at full speed, dug at the ground with his paws and then jumped in the air. A moment later, he barked—but hearing it was such a shock he momentarily let go of the vision and snapped back to his pre-set human form. He did feel tired and was encouraged to take a short break and drink plenty of water before proceeding. He sat on the ledge and drank.
