by Mel Todd
Home Alone
Kaylid Tales
Mel Todd
Bad Ash Publishing
Atlanta, Georgia
Copyright © 2018 by Melisa Todd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
Bad Ash Publishing
Powder Springs, GA 30127
www.badashpublishing.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com
Home Alone/ Mel Todd -- 1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-0000000-0-0
Moving forward is all we can do in this life.
Adults lie.
― Charley Davis
CONTENTS
Day in the Sun
Run
Dealing with Reality
Adults Take Over
Squad Tactics
Incoming
Crossroads
Day in the Park
Day Alone
Running from Yourself
Running for Safety
Cooking with Movies
Fire
Hiding
Killing Time
All Fall Down
1
Day in the Sun
A British mother has donated her children to the zoo. British mom Laura Smythe says she can’t handle her two kids, an eight and ten-year-old boy who can change into grey wolves. “They refuse to change back to human, all they do is run around, howl, and mark everything with their pee. I’m done. They want to be animals, they can live in the zoo.” Outrage and oddly support, has risen for this woman. The zoo in question has not answered our requests for interview. ~ TNN World Affairs
“You’re here, finally.” Charley said, bouncing to his feet from the video game. Playing by yourself equaled boring. The twins might only be seven to his nine, well nine and a half, but they were fun to play with.
“We can’t drive. Mom took forever,” Jessi protested even as Jaime bumped shoulders as he went by.
“Still…” he trailed off, walking in with her as Jaime beelined for the bookcase. McKenna had bought some more books. Charley liked to read, Jaime loved to read. Even shifting and playing occasionally took a second seat. Apparently, this time none of the books were that exciting, because he turned and looked outside where the grill and table were set up, waiting for JD to work his magic.
“Hunter and prey?” Jessi asked, bouncing a bit on her toes.
Charley narrowed his eyes at her. Jessi cheated. Not in a bad way, but she firmly believed in using every advantage to make sure she won.
“Fine. But no mind speech. And you get to be prey first.”
~No fair. Mind speech is the only way to talk in animal.~ She protested crossing her arms.
Charley glanced around to make sure no adults were paying attention. Their parents knew they could talk without them being able hearing them. A separate room in their mind that only had the three of them and maybe room for one more, instead of the big room with everyone. It was theirs and something they didn’t want to risk.
~True but talking to Jaime and making him not find you is misusing it. If we play, we play like we are animals and we can’t talk.~
“Fine,” Jessi said and wrenched open the door stalking out. “I’m still going to beat you.”
“Ha. Go for it.”
He could feel Jamie’s humor as he followed his sister out, though his face stayed like they were forcing him to play.
The adults never seemed to notice anything odd, well McKenna did sometimes, but she and Toni were talking so they headed out. Jessi got to change first and as she streaked out of the changing room in her cat form, Charley started to count.
“1,2,3...” He kept counting and Jaime hopped up and down with a grin spreading across his face.
“29,30. Go Jamie.” Jamie dove into the little curtained area, and before Charley could begin to get antsy he bounced out, tail lashing back and forth as he lifted his head and scented.
Jessi’s excitement and joy of the hunt rippled down the link and he smiled in response, feeling his own excitement rise.
Charley scrambled into the area, stripping off his shorts and shoes and socks, even as he started to change. The last sock he had to pull off with his teeth. Springing out of the enclosure he inhaled sharply, drawing air into his nose.
Jessi’s familiar scent wrapped around him and he grinned, jumping off the deck. He began to hunt his best friend, Jamie right on his tail, literally.
The next thirty minutes were spent chasing each other. Jamie hid the best, rolling in a strong-smelling bush to hide his scent. It took Jessi and Charley fifteen minutes to find him, as opposed to the eight it took them to find Jessi. She always went up the tree, then denied she always hid here. He knew she loved being able to see the area and feel like she could see forever.
Panting, they laid in the shade under a tree with the deck and the promise of grilled meats in their sight. Animal forms didn’t sweat the same and after the first time they had heat stroke, they’d learned to take breaks.
The sound of cars, more than the familiar sounds he knew, grabbed his attention. He heard so much in wolf form that he had learned to ignore a lot of it. But laying in the shade felt good and he let his mind wander.
~Cars pulled up. One is JD’s big thing. Who else was coming over?~ Jessi asked even as she rolled in the dry California grass.
~No idea. Wanna go see?~ Jessi’s ability to be bored was a running joke between the boys. Anything more than a few minutes of quiet and she was ready to get into mischief.
~In a bit.~ Charley smirked as he watched her stretch. Making her wait would drive her crazy. He got a perverse pleasure out of driving her crazy.
They lay there a bit more, her tail lasing back and forth between the two boys as she practiced patience, poorly.
Figuring he’d tortured her enough, she got mean if she got too bored he yawned, his ears catching more cars.
~Huh, more cars. Come on, lets head up. I’m hungry.~ Charley rose, and Jamie followed.
~Think they’re going to start cooking soon?~ Jessi had quit her rolling on the ground and stretched, then followed them.
~Probably, you know none of us want to go hungry.~ Charley didn’t look back, he could feel her coming behind him. The link between the three of them had deepened to a point where they almost felt each other’s feelings but it didn’t scare any of them. They also didn’t spend any time poking at it, it just was.
A weird sound grabbed his attention, his ears perking up. He picked up the pace a bit, breaking into a slow lope as smells that were just wrong assaulted his nose.
~Something wrong?~ Jamie’s asked in his head.
~Don’t know.~ And he didn’t know, but the scream in his head from Wefor took every other thought away and he broke into a flat out run. He turned the corner at the same time he saw adults in all black gear and funny guns coming around the corner of the house. Their weapons aimed at his foster mom.
2
Run
Renowned child psychologist speaks out against allowing shifter children to spend time as animals. Per Dr. Suzanna Kort, “Children need to develop on the schedule of a human body. We have always known animals develop faster and in different ways than humans. This disturbing rise of allowing children to spend significant time as an animal could cause uneven maturity, issues with emotional control, and even changes in their physical structure. I i
mplore all parents to prevent their children from shifting until after the end of puberty.” This opinion seems to be held strongly by the medical community but parents en mass are laughing at the very idea of being able to do this. ~TNN Anchor
~Charley, run!~
McKenna's command echoed in his mind even as his body responded, unable to disobey, to the point he almost fell over as his body jerked to a halt. Struggling to stay upwards and wanting to fight the order, Charley spun and raced away from the prone form of his foster mother, of his McKenna laying on the ground with men in black tactical gear and guns headed towards her.
~Jamie, Jessi, run! ~His scream mimicked the one he heard echoing in their minds from their mom, Toni.
~But Mom!~ Their screams echoed in his mind even as they sprang away from the house, their black tails whipping as they streaked across the field.
Charley chased after them as fast as his four paws could carry him. Hide she'd said, away from the men. He wanted to go protect her but he couldn't do much. Even as a wolf with sharp teeth that could shred a man's leg, there were too many with guns.
So he ran.
He heard the shouts and yelling. A frisson of awareness made him jerk to the right and a burning streak went across his shoulder.
“Yip!”
The yelp of pain and surprise underscored the burst of speed he and the twins put on.
~Where are we going? We can't run forever.~
Jessi's tart voice didn't hide her stress or fear. But he couldn't help with that, not when it took all he had not to run back towards McKenna.
~Into the creek, then back track towards JD's. There’s that big drainage pipe running there towards his subdivision. We can get into it easy and it should hide us.~
~Us maybe, your white coat will act like a target. ~
She had a point. So as soon as they hit the creek he rolled in the mud. There wasn't much water, or mud, but enough to turn his white coat to a dingy brown.
~Better.~
Jamie's voice held reassurance, but the same stress Charley had heard in Jessi's voice echoed in his.
~Run! I can still hear them.~ Jessi ordered her brother, even as she glanced back at Charley who stood up and shook himself off.
~Ready. ~
~I run faster than you, so go. ~
Her black tail lashed and he knew at any other time she would have challenged him but today she just ran. Her black jaguar body low and lean, near the ground, and the three of them covered the distance to the pipe as fast as they could. The shouting faded about the same time McKenna's link went dark, then Toni's and JD's.
He heard and felt the whimpers from Jamie and Jessi, but none of them slowed down their pace until they had scrambled into the pipe. They crawled until it bent and even a light wouldn't show they were there.
They curled up in a pile, one cat on each side of him. They lay there panting and listening. Cats weren't made to run for as long as they had and while wolves could, they usually paced themselves, but not running flat out. All three of them were exhausted.
~Now what? I can't reach Mom. ~
Charley swallowed and thought over Mckenna’s last words.
~We stay here until we are sure they are gone. ~
~Are they dead? ~
The fear lacing Jamie's voice echoed his own fears but Charley refused to believe that.
~McKenna will always come back for us. We just need to give her time to get rid of the bad guys, like she did before. And if they took your mom and JD, those guys are gonna be sorry.~
~Yeah, Mom will kick their asses. ~
A hiss of reproach from Jamie at his sister’s word choice.
~What? She will, and she isn't here to hear me say that.~
~Both of you, stop it. ~
Charley laid his muzzle on top of Jessi's body, even as he curled his body to pull Jamie closer to him. They lay there in the pile of wolf and jaguar, taking comfort from each other even as he listened for every sound.
Part of his mind focused on the links for the adults in his life. Adults that he trusted. The new guy that had come over, he didn't know him. McKenna had already proved she'd die for them. Toni loved her kids but had accepted him without a blink and the twins were devoted to her. And JD was just cool. They were adults he liked and trusted. So, he'd trust them. Otherwise he would go crazy with worry and fear.
Charley shook his head and refused to go down that road. He'd trust. As far as he could tell two hours had passed since they ran away. Jamie had fallen into a light doze, but he could sense Jessi's mind racing around as well as her twitches with needing to do something.
The three of them had created their own mind links, something the adults couldn't see, or hear. It gave them their own private communication group. He figured McKenna suspected but she didn't seem to have an issue. Either way, it left them able to talk just fine with Wefor gone. But it also meant they talked to each other all day at school, him helping with words for the two younger kids and Jamie helping all of them with math. He could do multiplication and division in his head without thinking about it. Charley was pretty sure Toni didn't know. Jamie refused to show the teachers what he could do because he would never leave Jessi behind.
Charley nuzzled down a bit more into Jessi's thick warm fur. She had no patience for anything that required her to sit still, needing to run and do things. But she shone in the physical. Even with being a shifter Jamie would still trip or fumble, Jessi never did. She moved like a cat even as human.
Charley didn't read anymore into it other than the twins were his, and he was theirs. At least they weren't in this alone.
~I'm going to go check.~
The words had Jamie at full awareness and Jessi froze, her head tilted towards him but neither protested. He pulled himself up from their pile, missing the warmth as he stepped away from them. With slow cautious steps he moved towards the light, listening and sniffing to see if anyone waited for them.
Dirt, grass, sweat, and wet wolf invaded his nose and left but nothing that caused his hackles to rise, at least not any more than they already were. He reached the entrance and paused but heard no steps and the air had no smell of others. He took two steps into the light, body tensed, ready to spring at someone or back to the relative safety of the pipe. But no danger loomed.
~It's safe, or at least they didn't follow us back this far. Let's head back and see what happened. ~
The padding of two sets of paws filtered through the tunnel until both kids were next to him, their tails slapping against his legs. His wolf form stood about five inches taller than their cats, but they were longer. The twins weighed about thirty pounds less than he did, yet they moved with lethal grace. Young jaguars are more than capable of taking down a deer but right now they just needed to get to safety and they couldn’t do that without a phone. Which meant going back to the house.
~I guess it's safe. Just be careful.~ He told them as he moved out quietly.
Normally Jessi would have snapped back at him. It indicated her stress that she just hummed in agreement in his mind and let him go ahead, then they started to follow. It felt like he had twin shadows behind him, both moving as silently as they could.
The entire way back to the house he stopped constantly, sniffing, listening, his heart pounding in his ears, but Charley never scented the gun oil or other smells until they got much closer to house. Even there the smells were old. They crouched in the bushes near the house, looking. The expected cars were there, with the new one from that adult they hadn't met but nothing else.
~I guess we go in. I can't sense anyone.~ He left the thought with a questioning tone.
~Me neither.~ Jessi said and Jamie just twitched a tail. Their silence ate at him. Normally Jessi chattered in his mind, while Jamie didn't as much but still this silence stressed him.
I want McKenna back.
3
Dealing with Reality
On a popular website, an entire thread has been devoted to dealing with children shifte
rs. Among the common complaints are that the parents can’t control their children. They are running wild and acting like animals. These are from god-fearing, loving parents. And you ask why I say the presence of these animals are but demons in habiting us and must be exorcised. Not through torture or drugs but by not repenting of their sins that invited these demons into our hearts and souls. ~Popular local TV Evangelist.
He pushed back the wail before it could become more than a thought.
~I'm going to go change and go in. You two stay here. Let me know if you see or hear anything.~
He felt the annoyance in Jessi even as she narrowed her green cat eyes at him but she didn’t say anything. Jamie just gave him support.
He moved up onto the deck, practicing the silence and stealth they'd tried to cultivate. Experience told him it would be needed someday. Still nothing. The doors were firmly closed and trying to open them in wolf form would be a pain. He slipped into the little changing area and shifted, a wave of hunger and dizziness hitting him.
~Remind me we need to eat when it's safe.~
~Will do.~ Jamie responded. He did much better with that sort of stuff; Jessi never remembered if it didn't interest her.
Charley pulled on clothes and hesitated over his sandals.
Better to be wearing them if I need to run. I'd have to strip anyhow.
With that thought, he pulled them on and then stood there in the protection of the changing area, as flimsy as it was. Fear swamped him. He wanted to run and hide. What if McKenna lay in the house dead? What if she could have been saved if he hadn't waited so long?
~Charley? You okay?~ Jessie voice broke through the spiral of fear than had him blinking back tears.
~Yeah. I'm okay. Going in now.~ He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and stepped out. ~Tell me if you hear anything, my ears and nose aren't as good now.~
