Shifter Falls Academy- Year One Page 2

  But where was I supposed to go?

  I didn’t have my keys anymore. I couldn’t get into the house and Fiona would be asleep already. I could run back around to the convenience store, but would Caleb recognize me as an animal? I didn’t even have time to think about why I had changed into an animal or how it had happened. I just had to hurry up and get somewhere safe.

  There would be plenty of time to figure everything else out later.

  I ran toward the convenience store. That was closest to where I was. I hurried, turning clumsily down one road. I ran on the sidewalk, close to the walls of buildings. I thought I might be some sort of cat or puppy, maybe. It was possible that I was even something I didn’t really like very much, like a poodle. How had I turned into an animal? Who knew? Maybe the wolf cast some sort of spell on me, but somehow, I didn’t think so. He had seemed just as surprised as me about the shift.

  Finally, I saw the convenience store and ran up the glass-paneled door. The door was shut, but I could see Caleb inside. He was walking around, talking to someone on the phone. I could see him clearly, but was more important was that I could hear him. I was just about to start scratching on the door to have him let me inside when something made me stop.

  Caleb didn’t look quite like Caleb.

  Something was wrong.

  “What do you mean?” He was hissing into the phone. “I practically served her up to you on a silver platter.”

  What was he talking about?

  “She always takes the same damn route home. Tonight’s the eve of her 18th birthday. If she’s going to shift, then it’s going to be now.”

  Why was Caleb talking like that?

  Shift?

  Was he saying that I was a...

  Of course.

  I looked down at my paws. So I was a shifter myself. It wasn’t that someone had put a spell or cast a curse on me. I myself was a shifter. That meant I had essentially done this to myself. I had the power to change into a person and then into an animal. That was all me.

  But why had Caleb planned for me to be attacked? We were friends: at least, I thought we were. Then again, I’d been wrong about things like this before. Was I wrong now?

  “Then you’d better find her,” he snapped. “We don’t have much time before-“

  Then he stopped talking.

  And he sniffed.

  It was that same little sniff-sniff he always gave when he came into the shop during his shift. Then a nasty smile spread across his face.

  “Scratch that, Daniel. I found her.”

  He dropped the phone into his pocket and walked over to the glass. I shrunk back, but he stood just inside the glass and looked at me.

  “So that’s what you are,” he laughed. “A kitten.” He shook his head. “Pathetic. Do you know that? Here I was, hoping you’d be a tiger or a lion or something good. Oh well. The buyers won’t care. A late shifter is a late shifter, and they always say your blood is the best.”

  My blood?

  He wanted me for my blood?

  Who was this guy?

  And why was he – oh no. He was changing. He ripped his clothes off before changing his body into his own form: another wolf. So that was it, was it? There were wolves in Growl Valley? I probably should have known. Werewolves were always rumored to be the most dangerous of the shifters. Well, now I knew that was true.

  And I knew that I only had one shot to get away from this guy.

  I was tired, though, and a little overwhelmed, and I really didn’t want to have to deal with whatever Caleb was doing. I didn’t know he was crazy when I befriended him. I didn’t know he was bad. Now I didn’t have much of a choice, though. I had to run.

  If Caleb caught me, I was dead.

  I started running. He growled and threw his body through the glass door of the convenience store, which unfortunately for him, triggered some sort of alarm. It started blaring loudly and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the police came along. Maybe that wasn’t a comforting thought anymore, though. Maybe they were wolves, too.

  I raced down Main Street and turned a corner, and then another. He was close to me and I knew that if I slowed down, even at all, Caleb would get me. His other wolf-friend would probably be joining us, soon.

  Great.

  Just the way I wanted to ring in my 18th birthday.

  I turned a corner and ran down an alley. Like before, this one had a fence, and I wiggled through it to buy myself some time. I hopped up onto a dumpster in the alley and looked around wildly. There was a fire escape. I jumped, trying to make it, but I just ended up on the ground on the other side of the dumpster.

  Caleb growled and I turned to see him throwing his body at the fence. He was bigger than the other wolf, and stronger. It wouldn’t be long before he was able to knock the whole thing down. I took off racing again, heading toward town. I didn’t want to go straight home anymore. If I went home, Fiona would be in danger. Or maybe I would. Was she a wolf, too? Had they all been waiting for my birthday to try to catch me?

  I passed a little park full of trees and playground equipment. I thought about hiding in the slides, but there was no way they wouldn’t find me there. The slides were kind of an obvious choice, weren’t they?

  On a whim, I ran up a tree, surprised at how easily I could climb up it. My claws came out on their own, helping me grip the tree firmly, and I made it up into the branches of the Maple tree. I climbed as high as I could, and then I crouched down, pressing my body flat against the branches. I felt like my heart was pounding really, really loudly.

  Calm down.

  I tried to relax myself, but my entire world had just changed. It was like someone ripped the rug out from under me because all of a sudden, I was no longer just the girl who worked at the convenience store.

  No longer was I just Charlie the Cashier.

  Nope.

  Now I was Charlie the Cat, apparently, and I was also Charlie the Hunted.

  Perfect.

  I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I needed a plan. I needed something. Anything. These guys weren’t going to stop. They wanted me for some reason: my blood, apparently. I could hide up here for a little while, but not forever. Eventually, I’d have to crawl out of the tree. At some point, I’d have to figure out how to turn back into a woman, and then I’d have to figure out where to go from here.

  What was I going to do?

  I couldn’t keep hiding eternally.

  Then I heard them.

  The two wolves passed by the park. They sniffed around, smelling the equipment. Could they smell me? Was I high up enough that they couldn’t find me? The tree smelled fragrant, and I hoped that would be enough to mask my own scent. There were also lots of other animals that lived in the park: squirrels, rabbits, and maybe even some snakes.

  I lay in the branches, looking down until I was certain they couldn’t find me and that they weren’t going to notice where I was.

  They passed back and forth a few times, growling. Were they communicating with one another? It felt like they were. I held perfectly still, and finally, after what seemed like an hour, they left.

  What was I supposed to do next?

  I didn’t know how long to wait until I was sure they were actually gone. I’d seen a lot of movies before: films my foster moms didn’t know I watched. In horror movies, the bad guys always waited just out of sight. Then, when you thought they were safe, they pounced on you. That was how they got you. That was how they killed you.

  I might be a small little cat, but I wasn’t going to be killed.

  Not on my birthday.

  Was it after midnight yet?

  Was this really what I had to look forward to for the rest of my life?

  I didn’t know I had the ability to change into another animal. I’d heard of shifters before. Everyone had. It was just that the idea of humans being able to magically transform into animals seemed like, well, like a bunch of crap. It was like the kind of thing people made up on the fly as a wa
y to get kids to behave.

  Like Santa Clause.

  Like oh, if you aren’t well-behaved, a shifter could catch you.

  Only, I didn’t see myself as a villain.

  Were all shifters bad?

  Did this mean my parents had been bad, too?

  Were they the same kind of creatures as me?

  And what was I going to do now?

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. No matter what happened next, one thing was for certain: my entire world had just changed.

  Chapter 3

  When I woke up, it was mid-morning, and there was a squirrel sitting on the branch in front of me, watching me.

  I sat up and looked at it. Then I tried to hiss to make it leave me alone.

  Instead of a fierce growl, though, a tiny purr came out. The squirrel cocked its head, silently mocking me. So I would need to work on my growling abilities, apparently. I’d probably never be able to look or sound as fierce as Daniel and Caleb had last night, but maybe I could figure out a way to get close.

  I mean, first I had to figure out how to turn back into a woman.

  Happy birthday to me, indeed.

  I stretched, looking down through the branches. I didn’t see or hear anyone at the park. I looked over at the squirrel again, but it was just watching me. I thought it was probably a normal squirrel, not a shifter, but who could be for sure?

  You can do this.

  I couldn’t speak out loud, but I could still encourage myself. I didn’t remember my real parents, but I thought of the types of things I imagined they would say to me, and then I finally took the leap. I half-climbed and half-fell out of the tree. I landed awkwardly, but I survived. Looking back up, I stared at the squirrel for a minute. It was still watching me curiously.

  Then I took off running.

  There was no time to waste. Obviously, I couldn’t go back to the convenience store. Luckily, Caleb didn’t know exactly where I lived: just the general area. Somehow, I’d always been uncomfortable with people knowing personal information about me, so I’d erred on the side of giving too little information. He knew part of my route home, and that had proven to be too much.

  Hopefully he wouldn’t figure out I was staying with Fiona.

  I ran all the way home. I took different roads than I usually did just in case Caleb or Daniel was lurking around. I had already proven that I was horrible at avoiding trouble. It was best to play things safe as much as possible.

  By the time I finally got home, it was mid-day and I was tired. Walking as a cat was time-consuming. Having four legs wasn’t really that great since I couldn’t move as fast as I could with two.

  That begged a question, though: how was I going to get inside?

  And how was I going to change back?

  I didn’t want to be stuck in my cat form forever, and honestly, I hadn’t really had any time to worry about it until I was looking up at the little two-story home. It was blue with faded white shutters and a big, wrap-around porch. The porch was almost as big as the house. It was the kind of place you’d read about in a fairy tale, and I loved living there with Fiona. It was the first place I’d ever felt safe, but now, staring up at it, I wasn’t sure if it was a place I’d be able to stay.

  Was Fiona going to want a cat living with her?

  What would she do if she caught me before I turned back into a girl?

  What if she rejected me and I couldn’t get into the house at all?

  Would Caleb find me?

  Was I going to be killed?

  Stop panicking.

  I tried to calm myself down, but taking deep breaths as a cat still wasn’t easy for me. I would have to learn how to self-soothe myself in my animal form eventually, but for now, I just needed to get inside. I sprinted up the porch as well as I could, which wasn’t very well at all. I was a clumsy cat, and my motions were awkward. When I reached the front porch, I stared at the door.

  I pawed at it, meowing semi-loudly. I didn’t want to be too loud and attract the wrong sort of attention, but I needed to be at least a little loud.

  Meow, I called out. Meow, meow.

  Nothing.

  Fiona’s car was in the driveway, so I knew she was home, but she either didn’t hear me or didn’t feel like answering the door for a cat.

  And that was when I remembered Petey.

  Fiona used to have a little dog called Petey. She’d told me about him many times. He passed away before I ever came to live with her. I knew she missed him, but more importantly, she’d left his doggy door open.

  I didn’t know why, but she hadn’t boarded up the little door after Petey passed, which meant I’d have a way to get inside. I looked over my shoulder. As far as I knew, nobody had followed me home, but I didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. Fate didn’t always have my back these days. I wanted a way to make sure I was safe.

  Getting inside was a good first step.

  I ran around the porch to the backdoor. Sure enough, there was the door. I walked over to the little rubber flap and pushed through, stepping into the house. Immediately, I heard a gasp. I looked up, and sure enough, Fiona was there. She stared at me for a long minute, and I stared at her. At first, I thought she might boot me back outside, but when she didn’t act right away, I knew something else was happening.

  She put down the pan she was holding and stepped forward. Then Fiona crouched down so she was low to the ground, like me.

  “What a beautiful kitty cat,” she said softly.

  Feelings of pride rushed through me. Beautiful? That wasn’t a word I’d heard often during my life. I mean, I always thought I looked okay, but beautiful? When you’re a foster kid, people don’t like to get too attached. They know you’re going to be leaving soon enough, which means the hugs and compliments are few and far between.

  Somehow, Fiona’s comment felt genuine, and I started purring.

  Fiona held a hand out and I went to her. She petted me gently, touching me, and then she shook her head.

  “Charlie?” She whispered. “Is that you?”

  I looked up at her sharply.

  She knew?

  How could she know?

  Suddenly, I tensed and looked toward the door. Was she a wolf like the others? Was she going to hurt me? What was I going to do?

  “Don’t panic,” she said, following my gaze. “I’m not going to hurt you, little one. In fact, I have a feeling we’ve got a lot to talk about. I suppose I always sensed you were a shifter like me.”

  So she was a shifter.

  But what kind?

  I looked up at Fiona’s long, pointy nose and her narrow bones. Was she some sort of bird? Or was she something else entirely? What was it about her that made this moment so important for her?

  “I’m like you,” she repeated. “But we’ll talk about that more in a minute. First, we have to get you back into your human form. Do you know how to shift back?”

  I stared at her, blinking.

  “Of course not,” she shook her head. “If you knew how to shift back, you probably would have done it already, right?”

  Pretty much.

  I mean, being a cat probably had its perks, but being able to communicate effectively wasn’t one of them. I didn’t exactly have an easy way to share my thoughts or feelings with Fiona. That was going to be a serious problem if I couldn’t figure out how to change back. Luckily, it seemed like she did know how.

  “Okay. Come with me.”

  It would have been easy for her to pick me up and carry me to the other room. There was a part of me that was grateful she let me stay on my own four feet. Somehow, it reminded me that I was important and valuable, and that I was my own person. Well, my own shifter, anyway. I didn’t need to be carried or coddled like a baby. I wasn’t weak.

  Together, we would figure this out.

  “It’s been a long time since Petey passed,” Fiona said as we made our way into the living room. “But I still miss him every day. I sure am glad I didn’t close
up his door.” She shook her head. “I never really understood why he wanted the doggy door. He was a shifter, after all. Surely he could have just changed his form and opened the door. You know how men can be, though,” she shook her head again, and I realized something with a shock.

  Petey wasn’t just Fiona’s favorite pet.

  Petey had been her partner.

  Her lover.

  Her husband?

  She seemed to realize I was beginning to understand because she smiled and reached down to pet me on the head.

  “Yes, the world is much different than you thought it was, no? I’m certain of it. Judging by your inability to shift back, I’d venture a guess you didn’t know you were a shifter at all.”

  Fiona walked over to a cedar chest she kept in the living room and started removing decorative items she kept up top: a little ferris wheel and a couple of dolls.

  “The thing about shifters, Charlie, is that most of us learn to change when we’re about 12 or 13. It’s rare for a shifter to change as late as you did. Your 18th birthday, right? Well, I’m a bit surprised, but not shocked. I’m just glad you made it home.”

  She started unpacking the cedar chest. She pulled out a couple of blankets that were folded neatly on top, and she spread one out on the living room floor. Then she pulled out a couple of books and a long, white feather.

  “Ah, here it is.”

  She held up the feather and waved it at me.

  “Come sit on the blanket.”

  For some reason, I felt like I could trust Fiona, so I did what she told me to. I moved to the blanket and sat in the center of it, and then I looked over at her. She smiled and held the feather in front of her.

  “This isn’t a magical feather,” she said. “Shifting doesn’t require any magic except that which is already contained within you, but when I was learning about my own change, I found this feather and used it as my focal point. Today, you can, too. Look at it.”

  I blinked and then tried to stare at the feather. Honestly, it looked really ordinary and normal. There wasn’t really anything special about it at all.