The Baby Shift: West Virginia
Shifter Babies Of America 45
Becca Fanning
Copyright © 2019 by Becca Fanning
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Also by Becca Fanning
Chapter 1
The wriggling weight in Aiden’s arms was becoming too much. All of his fingers and both his forearms had gone completely numb under the strain. Gripping the wriggling boy was almost impossible. The more he lost the sensation in his arms, the more he struggled to keep hold of his son’s little body.
Aiden paused on the sidewalk and hoisted the boy higher against his body. Once his arms were tight around his body, he continued to walk. The last thing Aiden needed was his son to tumble to the ground.
Even though he couldn’t see his boy’s pale little face or the expression drawn across it, he knew the toddler was unsettled. Usually, he was such a sweet, compliant boy. Not today. All morning, he’d been squirming to get away from Aiden’s grasp.
Even ice-cream hadn’t placated him. His little legs kept kicking Aiden’s stomach, and his tiny toddler hands kept grabbing handfuls of Aiden’s shirt. The boy was trying to twist his body around so he could look at the world.
“Come on,” Aiden sighed. “Buddy, you gotta stop wriggling. I’m gonna drop you in a minute.”
Aiden didn’t want to risk it, though. He paused on the sidewalk again and set the toddler down onto the slabs below. His little feet pattered against the concrete, and he waved his hands in the air, shrieking and spinning on the spot. It was clear he was overjoyed at his new-found freedom.
“Zack,” Aiden sighed.
He couldn’t get angry at him for releasing some pent up energy, even if it meant slowing down their walk. There was nothing in this world that Aiden loved more than watching his son enjoying himself.
They stood there for a moment, as Aiden gazed down at his boy. Zack instantly started to giggle. There were only a couple of teeth in his mouth; all of them revealed the world as he grinned.
They couldn’t stay there forever, though. Aiden could feel the pressure on his skin, sending a cold shiver up and down his spine. He took hold of his son’s tiny fingers as he gazed around at their surroundings.
Nothing was happening. The warm, sunlit streets were empty. There wasn’t a soul to be found. Most people were at work in their offices, their backs hunched over their desks.
And yet, he could still feel something brewing. Something dark. Something was coming. Whatever it was, Aiden knew that it was wrong. He couldn’t explain it, nor did he know what it was exactly. All he knew was that it was bad and that it was coming.
A pit opened up in his stomach as he continued to stare around them. All of the joy seeped out of his body as his mind went wild with possibilities. I could be anything, and they wouldn’t know until it was on top of them.
If his son was unsafe, he knew they wouldn’t be in town very long. There was no point in getting involved in whatever it was. Best to turn their backs and run the other way. That was the only way to ensure his son’s safety, and that’s what he always did.
Despite his best efforts, trouble seemed to follow them around everywhere they went. There was always something they were running from, something that they had to escape. Aiden didn’t mind doing it to keep his son safe, but he couldn’t help getting tired of seemingly always being on the run.
As his son grew older, he would need more stability. They couldn’t live like this forever. Soon he’d have to start going to school and getting an education, that way he’d be able to make something of himself.
He won’t follow in my footsteps, Aiden thought bitterly.
His son’s beaming face looked up to him, with his mop of brown hair floating around the sides of his face. His sparkling green eyes glowed in the sunshine, making his whole face shine. Just looking at him made Aiden’s heart melt.
“Come on,” he said, leaning down to pick up his boy. “We got to get a move on.”
Aiden leaned down and grabbed his son under the arms. Instantly the boy wrenched his mouth open, allowing a shrieking nuuuh! sound to burst from his lips.
He tried not to let Zack’s squeals of displeasure take hold of his heart. They needed to move. Whatever it was that was coming for them, it was only getting worse. It was almost as if Aiden could feel the heat of the event on his back, radiating at his skin and burning him.
Zack’s pleas to be let down went unheard. Aiden couldn’t focus on it. He was too consumed by the feeling of dread taking over his body. He walked quickly down the street, clutching his son to his chest as he squirmed. There was no getting out of his iron grip, though.
Aiden could feel the pressure rising, the tingling down his spine getting more intense, sending shakes and shivers through his muscles. He couldn’t bring himself to even look behind them for fear of what he’d see.
As they kept on walking, Zack quietened down and settled into his father’s grasp. Clearly, the boy had realized the futility of fighting. Instead, he stayed perfectly still, not making a sound.
Although he didn’t say it, Aiden was glad. Struggling to keep his son under control as he tried to escape wasn’t his favorite part of fatherhood. Zack was growing his own personality, and Aiden knew that it was going to become a bigger part of his life. The boy was going to fight more and more, especially towards his teenage years.
He didn’t want to think about that, not yet. His boy was still a baby, and that was how he was going to stay for now. He shook the thoughts free from his mind as he hunched over, protecting Zack with his body as much as he could.
Whatever it was that was coming, it was nasty. With every step Aiden took, he became more sure of the fact that they were going to have to skip town.
There’d been murmurs and rumors going around for weeks down here in West Virginia, but nothing solid had emerged. Aiden thought that it was the end of that. Even if no one else could tell that something was coming, he could. That was enough proof for him.
Up ahead, he could see their car parked in a small parking lot outside the ice cream shop. Aiden let out a sigh of relief as they slowly approached it, drawing nearer and nearer.
The feeling of dread wouldn’t leave him. He could feel his stomach tying itself into knots as he wrangled Zack toward the car. Without thinking about it, his feet began to move quicker as impending doom set in.
When Aiden felt his hand slam against his metal door, his fingers fumbling for the handle, his heart started to calm down. He opened up the backseat and put Zack into the safety seat, strapping him in as quickly as he could.
Aiden smelled burning in his nostrils—a sooty scent that clung to the insides of his throat, forcing a heavy cough from out of his mouth. Zack looked up to him with wide eyes, and Aiden watched as the boy’s skin paled.
It took him a moment to realize his son wasn’t looking at him at all: he was looking behind. Aiden turned his head, glancing over his shoulder, and was horrified to see thick, black smoke pluming up into the air.
“Jesus fuck,” he whispered as he stared up into the sky.
Everything around him melted away as he stared up to the black smears drifting up high above his head. His eyes trailed down, following the smoke to its source. He couldn’t see the flames; they were hidden behind buildings and tal
l trees waving in the gentle breeze.
It didn’t take long for the screams to start. Aiden could hear the cries of women and children piercing his ears and delving deep into his brain, taking root there. Even when the screams petered out, he could still hear them.
Zack’s soft moans somehow brought him back into the real world. Aiden looked down at his son’s face and felt his heart lurch in his chest.
They needed to leave, and they needed to leave now. This wasn’t just any fire. It was happening. The war had finally come to them, and now they had to get out of dodge.
Aiden didn’t know when or how this was going to end, but he knew he didn’t want to stick around and see any of it. All he wanted to do was protect his son… and the people he loved.
After one long look back at the smoke, Aiden climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking lot. He wasn’t afraid to put his foot down and speed along the empty roads. The police would be too busy with the fire to pull him over.
He made his way through the small town, concentrating on the road in front of him while listening to his son babble in the backseat. Within ten minutes, he was out of the town, riding through the countryside, the road winding between fields and forest and farmer’s land.
There was no way he’d get lost—he knew the route like the back of his hand. How many times had he driven down here? Too many to count. All his teenage life was spent riding on bikes up and down this road, terrorizing the neighbors and passersby.
Whenever Aiden thought about his youth, a sadness crept over him. Not only had he been a lout and a complete ass, but it had been the best years of his life. Everything was so simple back then. He had a family, a circle of close people surrounding him—people that would do anything for him or die for him if it came to that.
Now, what did he have? A motherless son and a drifter lifestyle, moving from place to place without much rhyme or reason, getting by on scraps of work and feeding his son with the money.
This wasn’t the life they’d pictured for their boy, and Aiden wasn’t proud of how everything had turned out. There wasn’t a lot he could do about it now, though. The only thing he could do was keep his chin up and set a good example for his son. Work hard to put food on the table and try to get them out of this horrible mess.
Aiden turned left off the road, letting the tires thunder against the dirt road. Trees and bushes surrounded the road, turning the inside of their car almost pitch black, blocking the sight of the sun and the clouds above.
His car rolled through the road slowly while his eyes gazed through the trees, trying to search for any movement inside. As far as he could see, there was nothing in there, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.
He followed the road until he came upon the chain link fence, tied together with a metal chain, and locked with a padlock.
This is new, he thought.
The last time he’d visited, he’d been able to roll right up to the compound.
Maybe they didn’t take too kindly to that, he thought.
He knew they wouldn’t take kindly to this visit, either. The last time he was here, they had warned him to stay away or risk his life. It had hurt his heart badly, but the words weren’t going to keep him away. There was no way they would actually go through with their threat. They just wanted rid of him.
Aiden climbed out of his car, leaving the engine running and walked up to the fence. He slotted his fingers through the gaps and let the chain rattle, trying to alert his old family inside.
He couldn’t see much through the fence. They’d planted new trees and flowers, blocking most of the view. He could see a couple of the cabins in the distance, though, and a couple of dark figures moving behind the bushes.
It took a couple of minutes, but someone stepped toward the gate. She had beautiful blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, shining in what little sunshine was beating down onto them.
“Sophie,” Aiden breathed. “It’s so good to see you.”
She didn’t seem happy he was there. With her arms folded across her chest, she shifted her weight from one foot to the next, eyeing him suspiciously.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “They’re gonna hurt you this time.”
“They won’t do shit,” Aiden sighed. “Look, just go get Darren, will ya?”
Sophie’s eyes hardened, and she took a step back from him, letting her eyes drift down to the ground. She pressed the toe of her shoe into the dirt, moving around the rocks and stones in the dust.
“What?” Aiden snapped.
“Darren died,” Sophie said, almost whispering.
It felt like someone had stabbed his heart. He turned his head away from her and pressed his cheek against the fence, feeling the warm metal sear into his flesh.
As he closed his eyes, he pictured Darren’s face: his double chin, his huge mouth, and off-white, crooked teeth, his broad shoulders that heaved up and down as he laughed.
Aiden choked back the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes and clamped his teeth down into his bottom lip. He could feel his throat turning tight, but he wasn’t about to let that seep out into his voice.
“Who’s in charge, then?” He asked, unable to look at Sophie just yet.
“Adelaide,” Sophie said slowly. “We voted her in two months ago.”
“Get Adelaide,” Aiden snapped. “Tell her I’m here.”
Sophie squinted at him, her eyebrows curving up her forehead. “Are you sure?”
“Just go!”
Sophie skittered off without another word, clearly startled by the forcefulness of Aiden’s voice. He wanted to feel bad about screaming at her, but he was too broken up about Darren. That man had been like a father to him.
When Aiden’s parents had died, Darren took him under his wing and looked after him. Those years had been rough, but without Darren, Aiden knew that he wouldn’t have survived it. Sure, he was brought deeper into the gang, and his life took a dark spiral after that, but Aiden couldn’t help but wonder if that’s the way his life was always destined to go.
He tried to wait as patiently as possible while Sophie retrieved their new leader. The last time he’d saw Adelaide, she had been a skinny little thing attached to Darren’s side. There were at least ten years between them, but somehow they had made it work.
Now, apparently, she’d taken his place as the leader of the gang. Who better to replace the leader than the love of his life?
Aiden’s heart hurt just thinking about it. The pain, the trauma, everything that must have gone on here… He regretted that he wasn’t part of their group still, and he regretted that he wasn’t there to support the people who had supported him.
When Adelaide finally came up to the fence, he barely recognized her. The first thing he noticed was the large scar down the middle of her face, stretching from her eyebrow all the way to her chin, slashing across her nose along the way. It was still pink and sore, healing slowly.
Aiden looked at her face, taking in the sight, before noticing that her expression wasn’t that of a young, immature girl anymore. She was hardened, toughened, and not looking to break bread.
Her body had changed, as well. Beneath her tank top, he could see her capped shoulders and muscled arms. She had been doing some fighting since the last time he saw her, building up her strength.
Gone were her long, manicured nails and heavily make-upped face. Instead, it was replaced with attitude and grit.
Aiden let his eyes drift down to her stomach, where he saw a rounded belly protruding from her body. A pang of guilt rolled through his body. Swirling, tense emotions pulsed through his body as he stared at the unborn baby in her stomach.
Not only did it remind him of his own situation, but he wanted to cry for the child who would grow up never knowing their father.
“Adelaide,” Aiden breathed. “It’s so good to see you.”
He wanted to reach out through the fence, to try and grab her hand, but he knew it wouldn’t go over we
ll. She was standing away from him, her arms folded across her chest, with a stern look in her eyes.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice stony and cold. “He told you he’d kill you if you came back. You remember that, don’t you?”
Aiden wasn’t an idiot. He could see how much Darren’s death pained her—she couldn’t even say his name.
“I know,” he said slowly. “But, I had to.”
“Why?” Adelaide spat. “Why shouldn’t I just shoot you where you stand?”
“My son,” Aiden said. “He’s in the car.”
Adelaide’s eyes shot to the idling car behind them. He saw the emotion flash across her expression. She couldn’t orphan Zack. It was hard enough to have one parent gone, she knew that, and she would have to live with that pain, just as Aiden would.
“Why are you here?” Adelaide asked, trying to keep her voice harsh.
“There’s trouble,” he explained. “Big trouble. You need to leave. All of you.”
“We know,” Adelaide said. “Do you really think we’re that stupid without you?”
“There’s a fire in the city,” Aiden said quickly.
She was getting tired of listening to him, so he knew he had to speed this up.
“It’s going to come this way,” he said. “I don’t want you guys getting caught up in this. Please, consider leaving.”
“Too late,” Adelaide spat back at him. “We’re already in this. If you’re so worried, perhaps you should leave yourself.”
She didn’t give him a chance to reply—she turned her back and walked away with a slight waddle. Aiden stood there for a while, watching until he could no longer see her.
More than anything, he wanted to go into the compound and force them all out. Something deep inside of him knew that if they didn’t leave, they were going to get hurt. He desperately wanted to fix it, but there was no way he could.
They’d made their choice, as had he. They had gone their separate ways, and he was lucky enough to be able to leave without being killed. Some gangs weren’t that forgiving. Aiden knew that he had done everything he could. If he pushed it any more, they would lash out at him.
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