Change

by Melissa Stevens

  Chapter 21

  I was leaving work on Tuesday evening when I ran into Brandon. I walked out of the Administration building on my way home, I found him leaning up against my car, obviously waiting for me to come out. I wondered why he was waiting for me, why he didn’t just call.

  "Hey, how you doing?" I leaned against the side of the car beside him

  "Okay," he replied, "How are things with you?"

  "Pretty good, I've been working, spending time at the clinic, trying to get things under control. I think I'm doing pretty well, all things considered." I stood up, so I was no longer leaning against the car, "Why don't we get in the car so we can talk a little more privately." I suggested, not wanting to risk being overheard. I'd become sensitive to such a possibility recently. I'd overheard a conversation in the clinic about a comment a pack member had made in public. It had led to some questions and suspicions some humans, and the Kindred who made the comment had been dealt a very severe beating for the careless comment that had endangered the pack. I could see the reasoning, but I really didn't want to be on the receiving end of such a punishment.

  "If you want to," He stood as well; there was something that seemed off about him. Something wasn’t right.

  I pressed my thumb to the lock plate next to the driver’s door and after hearing the lock release; I opened it and hit the button to unlock the passenger's side. I sat down in the driver’s seat, pulled the door closed and waited for Brandon to close his door before I speaking again.

  "Like I said, I'm doing pretty good. We've discovered that along with my telepathy and ability to call animal forms, I've got some talent that lets me sense power in all kinds of people, not just the Kitsune, though it does work better among us."

  "Oh?"

  "We've figured out that this talent is what was causing me to sense something different about Raine. It wasn't that something about him had changed, it was something about me, and it was letting me sense the power in him. It's a difference that I’m still baffled how he managed to keep secret all these years."

  "What is it?" He turned in his seat so that he was facing me.

  "I can't say, it's his secret to tell or keep, not mine. But it also let me sense just how powerful our Lysandros is when I first met him." I twisted behind the wheel so I was angled toward him as well.

  "He can't be more powerful than our Anikitos."

  "Actually? I’m pretty sure he is. But he's content where he is. Bill's a good leader, and until Bill's not strong enough to lead the pack, or he's ready to step down, then I think Hank's happy letting him lead."

  "Huh. I never would have guessed."

  "The only way I did was this talent. I actually felt a physical shock from the strength of his power when I shook his hand the first time I met him, but that may also be because he has the same power. We aren't sure about that yet."

  "So you're not only close with the Anikitos and Alekto, but you have become good friends with the Lysandros too?"

  "Not exactly, I don't know Hank all that well, I haven't spent much time with him yet, though so far we seem to get along fine. I am becoming good friends with Alexis though, she's a lot like me, and very easy to get to know."

  "So your good friends with the Anikitos, Alekto and Harmonia?" Bitterness leaked into his voice, "Is that why you never have time for me, or is it because of that human you've been spending time with?" I was shocked, I'd never heard such resentment from Brandon, and he said the word human as though it meant something contaminated.

  "I've been spending a lot of time with Devon, but he's not human. He's Kindred too, he just doesn't shift."

  "Which makes him human." Disgust dripped from his voice.

  "Hey, I was human until a month ago." I was starting to get angry, "I never knew you had such distaste for humans."

  "I really don't, but suddenly you're spending all your time with him, and I don't like it."

  I calmed some, trying to reason with him, "Devon lives in my complex, and he's an old friend who's only recently gotten back into town, why shouldn't I spend time with him?"

  "Because I don't want you to." He turned sullen.

  "Brandon, what has come over you? Why are you acting like this?" I tried to figure out what was going on with him.

  "You're mine." I blinked at him, shocked speechless for at least a minute.

  "No, I belong to no one but myself and I do what I want. You of all people ought to realize that." I said firmly once I had regained the power of speech.

  "You've been mine for years and now that you shift like a proper Kindred, you can be mine forever."

  "What has gotten into you?" I was aghast. I wondered where all this was suddenly coming from.

  "I don't like you spending time with him." Brandon seemed to think he was being reasonable, I disagreed.

  I was losing my patience, "I'm an adult. I get to choose who I spend time with and when, and if you don't like it you can just go to hell." I spoke slowly, telling him what I thought of his new attitude.

  He moved so fast I barely saw the movement as he reached out with his right hand and slapped me across the face. I was shocked that Brandon would do such a thing, but not shocked enough to put up with it. Before I had time to think about what I was doing I clenched my left fist and punched him in the nose. My movements were hampered by the steering wheel and how I was sitting, but that didn't stop me from doing some damage. I felt his nose crunch with the impact, it started bleeding immediately

  "GET OUT, NOW" I said through clenched teeth.

  "I'm sorry!" He apologized, one hand covering his nose, he seemed shocked by his own behavior, and that I had hit him back.

  "I don't care. Get out." I wasn't willing to listen, I wanted him gone, "If you want to talk to me later then call, but give me some time, and don't show up without calling first. This is going to affect things."

  "I didn't mean to, you just made me so mad."

  "I don't care, get out." I repeated.

  "Okay, I'll go. But I'll call you tomorrow."

  "You do that," I didn't care if he did or not, "Now get out." I was ready to hit him again if he didn't do what I wanted, immediately.

  "I'm going, I'm going," He opened the door. While he was still climbing out of the seat I started the engine and as soon as the door clicked shut I backed out of my parking space, I drove straight home.

  The incident with Brandon still on my mind, I walked swiftly across the courtyard and climbed the stairs to my apartment only to find Devon sitting on the top step, waiting for me. I’d forgotten that I’d invited him over for dinner tonight. I stopped in front of him, and saw in his face the moment he spotted the mark Brandon had left. He stood up to let me continue up the steps, I saw the anger build as he realized what the red mark on the left side of my face was, and for the first time ever I wished that my apartment was farther from work.

  "Who hit you?" Devon asked, his voice soft despite his obvious displeasure.

  "Don't worry about it, I took care of it." I stepped past him to thumb the lock on the door and let us both into the apartment.

  "Who hit you?" He followed me inside and refused to drop the subject.

  "Brandon. But I took care of it, his is worse than mine." I hung my purse in the inside knob of the door where I kept it.

  "Why would Brandon hit you?" He persisted.

  "Because I told him that I'm an adult and I decide who I spend time with and if he didn't like it he could go to hell."

  "Wait a minute. You've lost me. Who doesn't he like you spending time with that he would hit you over it?" Devon looked confused, though still unhappy.

  "You."

  "Ah...” The confusion lifted from his face, "I think I understand."

  "Good, then you can explain it to me, because I still don't." I flopped down into one of the chairs near my sofa, and scowled, not at Devon, but at the situation in general.

  He sat down on the edge of the sofa, facing me, "Why don't you tell me exactly what happe
ned and I'll do my best,"

  I took a deep breath and let it out in a rush, "Sure, just give me a minute to change. Why don't you pull the casserole dish out of the fridge and stick it in the oven, 350, set the timer for an hour. I'll be right back." I pushed myself out of the chair, and went into my bedroom and closed the door. I pulled a comfortable pair of shorts and an old t-shirt out of the closet and quickly changed clothes, hanging the suit I'd worn to work back up after I checking it carefully for blood spots. I pulled my hair up into a messy ponytail and washed my face in the bathroom sink. The cool water against my skin was refreshing; I didn't bother to fix my hair before I went into the kitchen to join Devon.

  Walking into the room I saw that in addition to getting our dinner in the oven, he'd helped himself to a soda out of the fridge, and when he saw me he handed me the glass of iced tea he’d fixed for me.

  "Thanks." I took the glass and took a deep drink, almost draining the glass.

  "Dinner is started. You ready to tell me what happened?" He took the nearly empty glass out from me and refilled it out of the pitcher in the fridge.

  "Sure, but let's go sit in the living room to do it, I want to be comfortable. We have a while before dinner will be ready." I took the glass he brought me back to me.

  We went into the living room and sat down on the sofa; I pulled my feet up into the seat and tucked them underneath me. Devon sat on the other end of the sofa, but he turned sideways and faced me.

  "So..." He laid one hand on top of mine, moving his thumb back and forth over my skin, soothing me.

  "I walked out of the office and there he was, leaning against my car, waiting for me. It started out normally. He asked how things were going, and I started to tell him. I didn't want to talk about the Kindred in public so I suggested that we get in my car so we wouldn't be overheard."

  "That's good,"

  "So we got in the car and I told him how things have been going. About how I'm learning to use my gifts and that we have discovered my ability to sense power. It was normal at first; it didn't start to get strange until he brought up Bill. He seemed upset that I'm friendly with Bill and Karen and that I'm becoming friendly with Hank and Alexis. He got more and more agitated, and then he asked if they were the reason I didn't have time for him or if that was because of you. Only he was really nasty about it."

  "Me? I haven't stopped you from spending time with him." Devon kept his thumb moving over the back of my hand, the sensation calming me.

  "I know. I told him I decide who I spend time with, but he kept trying to tell me I was his. He even said that now that I'm Kindred we could be together forever. It was really bizarre. He said he didn't like me spending time with you and that's when I told him I'm an adult and I get to choose who I spend time with and who I don't and if he didn't like it he could go to hell, then he slapped me." I reached up and softly touched the cheek he had slapped, though I knew the mark was already fading.

  "And then?"

  "Well…"I ducked my head, embarrassed at having to admit it, "I punched him."

  "Where?"

  "In the nose. It seemed right at the time, though I had to use my left instead of my right because of how we were sitting. It's probably a good thing though, because I still felt it crunch, and it started bleeding instantly, I'm pretty sure I broke it. I don't want to think about the damage it would have done if I'd hit him with my right."

  "Good for you. He had no right strike you." Devon's voice was soft, but determined.

  "I know." I paused for a moment, "Anyway, I hit him, and I told him to get out. He tried to apologize, but I refused to listen. I just kept telling him to get out, and as soon as he did, I left. I came straight home by then I’d totally forgotten you would be here. I was focused on getting home, I wanted to change, to put on something comfortable, so I could unwind, and try to catch my balance again."

  "And I made you talk about it."

  "Yeah, you made me talk about it, but talking about it’s made me feel better, not as lost. And some company is probably a good thing; I would have just sulked if I was alone."

  "I know what you mean," He picked up his soda from the coffee table and took a long drink before setting it down again, "So you wanted to know what I think is going on?"

  "It would be nice."

  "I'm going to need you to answer a few questions for me first, and then I'll see if I can explain."

  "Okay…." I wondered what he was going to ask.

  "You said he was nasty when he asked if I was the reason you weren't spending time with him, how so?"

  "He kept calling you 'human', but it was the way he said human, it was like it was a dirty word. I've never heard anything like it from him before."

  "I've heard it plenty, though not from him specifically. I heard a lot of it before I left." His thumb stilled, but he kept his hand over mine, "You probably haven't seen any of it, at least not yet. But there's a group of Kindred, the ones I encountered are about our age, but there may be others. They believe that anyone who doesn't shift is inferior, is somehow not as good as those that shift. And since they, naturally, shift they must be superior to those that don't. I don't know how big the group is, or if it exists outside of our little valley, but it's a nasty one no matter how small it may be."

  "It sounds like it."

  "From what you've told me I think it's likely that Brandon’s part of this group, and he wants you. He's probably has wanted you for years, but felt he couldn't have you unless you shift. Now that you do, the two of you can be, as he said, together forever."

  "That does explain it. The whole concept leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but it makes a lot of sense. I've never seen Brandon act that way, he's always been my friend."

  "If you'd never shifted that's probably where it would have ended, but now that you have he seems to believe that now that you’re Kindred, that you belong to him."

  "Not for long. When I'm ready to speak to him again, I'll be setting him straight."

  "Just be careful. He's already shown that he thinks you belong to him, and that he's not above using physical intimidation to try to keep you. I don't want to see you hurt again."

  "I'll keep it in mind." I shifted for the first time since sitting on the sofa, I pulled my hand out from under his and picked up my tea, taking another long drink, "Thank you for listening to all the drama and for explaining to me what he's thinking. The logic of the male mind escapes me."

  "Hey, now. Don't lump all men into the same category. Not all of us think on the same cave man level."

  "Oh, I know that, but it never would have occurred to me that he was one who did. I've known him for twenty years; we've been friends since kindergarten."

  "Sometimes we hide a lot from those around us." He turned where he sat, until he faced forward too.

  "Don't I know it? I've had so much revealed to me in the last few weeks that I don't know how I'm managing to handle it all."

  "Just like we all do, one day at a time." Devon sympathized.

  "Pretty much."

  Devon and I visited; we talked about a couple of new movies that looked interesting until dinner was ready. After we ate we called it a night, Devon left and I took a hot bath, and tried to unwind from the stress of the day before I went to bed.

  That night I dreamed of Brandon and Devon fighting, not over me, but for respect from each other.