by Mel Todd
~Yes.~ Jessi responded as she stood and stretched.
He headed to the lake and the nearby drinking fountain. The park seemed empty, no people at this time in the morning on a Monday. He relaxed a bit. Even the homeless weren't really up and moving.
On the walk over to the fountain he didn't see anyone, which helped. The area didn't have a lot of traffic, so when Jessi came out of the undergrowth and walked next to him there was no one to see.
The drinking fountain had a dog bowl attached to it, so Charley rinsed it out, then filled it full of water for her.
They both drank their fill. The water helped but they would still need food.
That knowledge ate at him but he pushed it away, not having any answer to that worry right now.
Jessi trotted ahead pouncing in and out of the shadows, her joy bubbling through the link and Charley felt his mood lifting as they went.
~Stay here. I'm going to go grab some eggs.~
Charley didn't know for sure how eggs worked but if they were laid they could be eaten, right? He spied a few geese, their black and grey feathers making them obvious on the greenish grass.
Jess dropped beneath a tree, her attention fixed on birds in front of him. He headed over to the bird, the geese getting bigger as he moved closer.
I didn't realize they were so big.
He got up to the bird and it raised its head to glare at him. It's beak opened in a hiss as he approached.
"Hey, birdy, I just want the eggs. Go away now."
Charley moved over and started to reach for the bird, thinking the eggs would be under it.
The goose shrieked at him, at least that is what it sounded like, and the beak darted out at him, nipping him hard, wings spread and flapping.
"ACK!" He stumbled backwards as the goose attacked him, hissing and shrieking as its wings slapped at his face and the beak aimed for his eyes.
Charley, taken off guard, fell backwards on his butt. He threw his arms up, covering his face from the goose’s wings.
~I got this.~ Jessi said, coming pounding out of the shadows.
Relief swept through him as she bounded forward and he expected to see the goose panic and fly away.
Instead the goose freaked, honking like crazy. The other geese near them started to shriek too and started swarming towards them. They attacked Jessi, wings, beaks, and feet with sharp claws flashing out at her.
A cry of pain slipped out of Jessi, the sound of a cat crying out that slashed across his ears and his heart. He looked and saw a goose had fastened on her tail in a death grip. Jessi spun around trying to get to the bird attached to her tail.
~Charley, get it off.~ Panic laced her voice.
He jumped up, trying to move over to the bird but her movements, and the birds flapping wings, all meant he couldn't get close to it or her.
"Jessi, run!" he yelled, backing up away from the birds and towards the shelter of the trees.
She darted towards him. The goose released her tail and fell back honking at them, its feathers puffed out and the other geese joined it. Charley and Jessi ran until they came to a stop and stood, panting, under the canopy of a nearby oak tree. The geese stood near the shore, wings mantled, hissing at them until they finally went back to their nests.
~You guys, okay?~ Jamie’s worried voice filled their head.
Charley glanced at Jessi who was licking her tail.
~Yeah but let’s just say, no eggs. Geese are mean.~
~Yes, very mean.~ Jessi added glaring at the still agitated geese. ~I don't think we can hunt geese. They're too mean.~
A feeling of curiosity filled the link. ~Do I want to know?~
Jessi pouted, her attention fixed on her tail. Charley caught a whiff of blood.
~Let's say, Jessi and I are really going to enjoy eating goose when we get a chance.~
~Very, very, much.~ Jessi muttered in their minds.
Jamie's snickers filled their mind as Charley and Jessi headed back to him.
10
Running from Yourself
Should zoology be required for shifter kids? With basic biology mandatory for all children to graduate high school, some had suggested adding zoology as mandatory for kids that shift. They should know how the bodies they can inhabit function. While humans don’t have seasons, most animals do. Will shifters? Proponents of this say that this way any biological oddities will be known before they run into them. With no new animals having been found in the last month, the variations seem well known. Focusing on those might be possible, but given the problems teaching sex education in schools, teaching about coming into heat and mating habits of animals, may not get that much support. ~ TNN News Anchor
With no eggs and nothing to supplement their supplies, they went through most of the food they had stashed. Jessi refused to change, for now. But Charley worried-about everything. He wanted to cry.
I want McKenna.
They avoided talking about it, but boredom started to set in, and while Jamie had brought a book, Jessi wanted to run and play, and so did Charley.
~I wanna do something.~ Jessi said, a bit of a whine in her voice. She lay on her side, sprawled in the shade.
~You always wanna do something. I have another book. You can read.~
Jessi growled in response to his suggestion. Charley fought back a smile, but he soon lost the good humor.
What can we do? We’re just kids, I don’t know where McKenna and the rest of them are and I can’t keep Jessi and Jamie safe.
Everything in him hurt at the idea of getting taken away from them, but being out there, with them, he didn’t see how this would work. He couldn’t do it.
Jessi had apparently decided to entertain herself by seeing if she could piss Jamie off. She kept flicking her tail over his book, making it so he couldn’t read. Then she’d whip her tail away when he went to grab it and move it out of his way.
“Jessi, stop it. I’m not bugging you.” This time he tried to slam the book shut with her tail in it, but again she moved it too fast. Then she flicked him in the face with her tail.
Charley tried not to laugh but a snort of laughter slipped out and Jamie glared at him, then Jessi.
“You aren’t helping,” Jamie pouted as he made a grab for her tail, managing to snag it this time. He yanked it backwards and Jessi snarled a bit. Having your tail pulled hurt, he knew this for a fact.
She whirled, curling up to bat at his face. Charley noted she made very sure her claws were fully retracted. They exploded into a mock fight. Wrestling back and forth, one human, one cat. Charley laughed as they sent needles scattering everywhere, enjoying the bit of normalcy.
A sound rippled through the air, and he froze.
~STOP~ His command made them both freeze and look at him, eyes wide. ~Listen.~
Jessi’s ears perked as she turned, and Jamie crawled out a little bit. A siren coming into the park, getting louder.
The moved over to a tree that let them hide behind as they peered out at the parking lot. Two patrol cars pulled into the lot and four cops got out. Looking around the area.
~Fudge, someone must have seen us. We need to leave.~ The instinct to run grabbed him, and he fought not to shift to wolf, who ran so much faster than he did. He felt Jamie and Jessi react with the same level of stress that he had wrapping his body. They scooted backwards into the depths of the shadows, peering out towards the cops.
~What do we do?~ Jamie looked at him, his face pale and drawn.
Thoughts rambled in his mind but it was the jangle of keys as Jamie pulled out the bags that decided it.
~We’re heading to JD’s. I have the keys.~
~Should I change back to human?~
~No. Not yet. We can cross through some of the yards and back areas. It will take us a while but if we are careful no one will see us. Everyone’s at work, and if we don’t set off any alarms we can get there without anyone seeing us.~
He grabbed her bag, pulling it on one side, his on the other as Jamie grab
bed his. Moving out as a single unit they headed towards the trees, his mind automatically tracking where they needed to go. The fact that he knew and could orient to that location in his head both seemed very odd and perfectly normal. Another thing to ignore until later because he didn’t know why he had memories of things he never done.
They moved out of the park, going across the road well away from the parking lot, and then crossing yards. They hunkered down behind a rundown apartment complex, the type Charley knew too well.
~We need to wait until dark. Jessi will stand out too much in the day, even now. People don’t walk around in their animal forms.~
~We can’t hide here all day. It’s still early.~
Jamie had a point. Charley looked around the buzz of traffic catching his ears. ~There. We can hide in the oleanders. No one ever looks there. Just don’t eat any. They are really poisonous.~ He’d had to write a report last year about the bushes, why they were there, and their toxicity levels when one of the teachers caught him about to chew on one of the stems. Too bad the same teacher didn’t think about why he’d been hungry enough to even take a chance at chewing on a strange plant. His mom hadn’t been home in three days that time. The only thing in the house at that time was beer and he didn’t qualify for the free meals. It had been a bad week, but the paper taught him a lot about this particular plant.
They darted over into the thickest clutch of oleanders and sagged down a bit, ignoring all the trash caught up in the branches. The constant buzz of traffic, the exhaust, and the flinching at every siren, made the time crawl by. Their stress level remained so high, that other than the constant tail lash from Jessi, none of them even talked. They just waited for the sun to crawl down towards the Coast Range and cast shadows they could use. Even with more people being home, shadows were their friends.
~I think we can go now.~ The shifting shadows settled his worries, it would be easy to hide in them. And hunger and the need for water clawed at his insides, so he knew Jessi had to be worse.
They slipped out and started to move across the distance towards JD’s house. They kept to quiet areas, avoiding anything with people. They made sure they crossed at cross walks so jaywalking didn’t grab anyone’s attention, though Jess hid in the shadows until they gave the signal, then she sprang across the distance, a dark darting shadow you could miss.
He didn’t know how long it took, but the moon was high in the sky. Most houses had all their lights shut off, and they were all exhausted by the time they got within view of JD’s house. They stopped at the fence, crouched next to the bushes as they looked at the house. The lights were all off, and JD’s car wasn’t there, no car was. Which made him feel better.
Inside meant food, beds, shower, toothbrush, and safety. It also meant risk. All the adults knew about the place but he could feel the exhaustion that radiated from Jessi and Jamie, though they refused to complain. They needed food and to be kids, not on the run, no matter the cost to him.
With that thought he stood and strode to the door. Nothing popped on, and he almost sighed in relief. JD must not have set all the motion sensors, since he’d only planned at being at McKenna’s for the afternoon. Pulling the keys out of the backpack, he unlocked the door and the three of them slipped into the house.
Standing there, his senses alert and with Jessi on his right and Jamie on his left, he shut the door. They waited, sensing their environment.
11
Running for Safety
A battle is brewing as the summer ends when it comes to high school sports. There hasn't been any proof of greater athletic abilities for people who change but the benefit of being in better shape and healthier is obvious. Arguments are being raised that those who shift have an unfair advantage of not having to work as hard to be in shape and just being in shape makes gaining athletic skills easier. So far everything is being discussed at this point. ~ KWAK News
Charley stood inside the dark house, trembling, his hand on Jessi’s head. ~You smell or hear anything? Anyone here?~
Her head tipped up under his hand and he could picture her pulling her lips back, scenting the air, in that weird thing all the cats did. Jamie hovered in the corner of his mind, poised to attack or flee. That thought pulled at him for a moment. Jamie was so quiet and calm but the not-memories of him calm, cool, and deadly fought with that. Something in Charley knew for all Jamie’s quietness, he would be there if they needed him.
They?
Before he could follow that thought, Jessi responded. ~No. The house is empty. So, can we eat?~
~No lights, but there should be food in the fridge or the freezer. JD said he liked the frozen burritos better than the chimichangas. Let’s go change and use the bathroom.~ Charley offered. Jess had never liked having to pee as a cat, she got cranky fast. The time in that place had only solidified that dislike.
~Me first.~ Before the words even finished she had made it to the bathroom and shut the door.
Charley dumped his stuff on the couch and headed to the kitchen. JD had night lights scattered around, meaning he didn’t walk into any walls. With relief he reached the kitchen and pulled open the freezer. Just as he thought, frozen burritos were piled in there. Sure of his ability to use the microwave, he started heating up the burritos creating three for each of them.
Jessi emerged as the first two were done cooking and climbed up on the stool to sit at the kitchen bar. She unpeeled it from the wrapper and blew on it trying to cool it down. Charley slipped out before Jamie could decide to head that way. The urge to brush his teeth drove him crazy. He found some wrapped toothbrushes under the sink and after washing his hands and face, gave in and brushed his teeth. Next time he ran away, he’d pack a toothbrush.
After all that he opened the door to find Jamie waiting there. The boy slipped in without a word. Charley smiled, but dread coiled tight in him as he realized they couldn’t do this. They weren’t old enough, not when they needed to avoid all adults.
Swallowing and resisting the urge to cry he headed back in, taking a heated up burrito out of the microwave and putting in the next one. In the dark kitchen, with only the lights of the appliances, the microwave, and the night lights, it felt more like home than any apartment he’d ever lived in with his mom.
Three burritos each filled them up and by unspoken consent, they piled into JD’s bed together, dressed in T-shirts, and fell fast asleep. This time they weren’t worried about hands grabbing them in the dark.
Charley felt himself getting pulled into the dream, the not-dream and didn’t fight it. It reminded him of the best video game ever. Something told him it was more but he couldn’t figure out what it could be.
He stood at attention, back straight in the strange wolfman form he’d seen McKenna fight in. He didn’t need to turn his head to know Jessi and Jamie were on either side of him, black fur covering their bodies, strength in every line. Between them, he felt safe and knew they’d always be there, but it felt odd to be in the middle. Jessi normally took the middle position.
The voice bellowed in their heads, and in their ears, and he snapped his attention to the voice, knowing not paying attention would cost him pain. A vague memory of pain lashing through his body made him shudder and pay even closer attention.
“This is your last day of training.” The voice growled the words and he felt the being saying the words stalking towards them. “If you do not pass the course today, your bodies will be recycled to make way for a new group of Kaylid that can learn and serve the Elentrin with honor. Break up into your squads. Your assignments will display in your HUD’s.”
Without conscious thought he turned and Jessi and Jamie turned with him. A quick trot brought them to their assigned area. A series of figures lay on the ground, a mix of their animal man forms, pretty human forms, and a few others that his mind refused to resolve into something else. A huge being came up on his right and they all snapped to attention as they waited for him.
He stood at almost nine feet tall, covered i
n brown and tan fur, with a short muzzle and eyes that looked like black pits. Long flexible ears on either side of his head flicked back and forth. Everything about him yelled male, even though he couldn’t see anything to prove it.
Charley couldn’t assign an animal to him. No animal he’d ever heard of would match what he saw here but if it didn’t exist in the zoo, he wouldn’t know.
Maybe it’s one of those extinct animals they’ve been talking about.
“Your squad is still short your fourth partner. However, you’ve done well enough our commanders have decided to teach you basic triage and first aid skills. Once you’ve graduated you will be an expensive investment and care will be taken to preserve that investment within reason. This will teach you the basics for stabilizing and keeping other Kaylid alive, as well as how to assist an Elentrin should one be hurt in some unforeseeable way.” The horror that laced his voice made it clear how horrible that idea would be. Charley felt there was something here he should understand but he couldn’t pull it out.
Instead, they replied the only way they could reply. “Yes, Sir.”
“Then get to it! Why are you standing here?” he barked out and strode way.
On automatic they turned and followed the instructions on their HUD’s. They applied pressure to wounds, set broken bones, diagnosed concussions, applied regrowth paste for missing appendages, and killed those who could not be saved within the strictures of the program. They were all life like models, not real beings, so Charley didn’t fight too hard at the demands. And it fascinated him. Maybe he could be a medic? Being a doctor didn’t interest him but the paramedics who had checked them over after that week had fascinated him.
It might be nice to help people.
He kept trying to talk to Jessi and Jamie. The links were there but blocked. He could feel them but he couldn’t turn them on so they could talk. Instinctively he knew that if he tried to talk out loud to them, the consequences would be very unpleasant for all of them. He focused on the instructions, learning, reacting, until it sank into his movements. By the end he knew all of it almost without conscious thought.
