Myth (Book 1)

by Angela K. Crandall

  “Go behind that tree and don’t come out til I bring you some clothes,” she said as she headed back to the house.

  “Oh, I will, you don’t have to worry about that!”

  Jenson’s room appeared to be a jumbled mess of clothes, sports equipment, and books. He called it organized chaos. I hastily explained to him what happened as my eyes surveyed the rest of his room. A computer and the internet would be helpful. I sat down on his cluttered bean bag, pushing items onto the floor.

  “Starla, how do you wind up in these odd situations? I’m glad you found the house. The previous time it was tricky trying to locate you. Especially without you being able to give me any street names.”

  I gave him my best geeked out smile, as I rolled my eyes. “Why would vamps, let alone a mixed breed of them, be after me? Why would I change into a fox of all things?”

  “You said you screamed. It irritated them enough for them to plug their ears, giving you time to run.”

  “I ran alright. Do you suppose my mom and Megan are safe?”

  “Umm, about that, you’d better call. My Star Wars collectible has been off the hook tonight!” Jenson exclaimed, gesturing with his hands for emphasis. “Here, I’ll even dial the number. I hope you’re not in deep poo.”

  He handed me the phone, and I waited for an answer.

  (Tri)

  “Mom, the phone!” yelled Megan. “It’s probably her, want me to grab it?”

  Starla had better be somewhere safe. “No, I got it. Go back to cleaning up that room of yours or no movie night!”

  She better be safe. I had been de-cluttering my closet in hopes of soothing my nerves. I wondered if my mother ever had it this tough. I took my cell off the dresser and hit the green button.

  “Starla?”

  “Mom, I’m at Jenson’s. I’m really, really sorry!”

  “Couldn’t you, at least, have left me a note?” I said, annoyed.

  “Mom, please just understand this once that I cannot explain it. I came home and the sprinkler system went off. Did you see all the puddles on the floor?”

  “Megan mentioned something about that, but it didn’t look like sprinklers caused it. Are you sure you’re alright? Did you hit your head on anything today, dear?” I asked, as I riffled through the bureau.

  “No, I am fine, really I am. We have an assignment to do for an upcoming project. I may be here late. Is that going to be a problem?”

  I loved my daughter. I tried to understand my daughter and needed to give her space. I kept repeating the things I’d been told. I should not reveal anything too soon, or become too worried, or panic.

  “OK, but call me if you need a ride home. Be back by one a.m. at the latest please.” I stated sternly.

  “Yes, mom, and if not I’ll call ok?”

  “One a.m.,” I snapped and slammed down the receiver. I prayed they hadn’t been here.

  (Starla)

  I wanted to laugh, how the hell am I going to tell my mother I changed into a fox, that two vamps or wolves were preying on me, maybe for months. I hung up the phone.

  “So did your mom lose it?” asked Sage, while she stood in the doorway.

  “No, it’s cool for now.”

  “Oh man, you honestly turned into a fox!” Sage laughed. “That is so outrageous,” she exclaimed, and skipped into the room.

  “You’re not to tell anyone about this, my little princess,” I said as I tickled her.

  “You two really need to stop messing around. It’s almost midnight, and your mom’s orders were to be home by one. It doesn’t give us a lot of time to figure this shiz out.” Jenson turned on his computer. “I don’t want you going home if it’s not safe.”

  “You’re right, come on Sage, you should go to bed. Jenson will fill you in later.” She pouted, then hugged her big bro and me, goodnight.

  Thank goodness she had found me. I sure wouldn’t have wanted his mom or dad to discover me naked and cold on their back lawn. I shivered again, considering it. How would I have explained myself? They definitely would have called my mother. What would she have done?

  “Lost in thought?”

  “Huh,” I shook my head a bit in an attempt to bring myself back to reality. “Is this, could it be somehow connected to our myths and studies class? Bits of research, we’ve dug up on foxes forced me to re-examine their role in our world. Could they really be guardians? Jones claimed some of them were. The guy, although well versed, seemed out there. My first instinct, subsequent to changing form, had been to scream in rage, shriek, and run. What do they want from me? What is my purpose in this? The only vampires, I ever encountered were on the television show Buffy until tonight. They said they knew me, they’d been watching me.”

  “That tattoo on your arm, is it still there?”

  “Yes, since birth.” I pulled back my shirt sleeve on the right side of my upper arm. The paw print remained, similar to three small peas with a big blob below it. I repeatedly thought of a cat or dog print when inspecting it. Mom had claimed it to be a standard birthmark.

  “Do you believe she’ll continue to argue it has zilch to do with you now?” He drummed his fingers on the computer desk, disturbed. My mother didn’t hate Jenson, but she wasn’t fond of him either.

  I shrugged, and then looked him in the eyes. “Jenson, I don’t know. Why would she cover something like this up?”

  “To protect you, these crazies could want to use you as a weapon, or worse.”

  “A weapon, what kind would I be? They laughed at me during my transformation. That is, until my scream left them reeling in an anguish of pain.” I stood up and stretched. “Now explain to me what this has to do with our research?”

  Jenson pulled out a binder from the drawer underneath his desk. He opened it up to the first page. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my borrowed jeans, scanning over his shoulder. Witty, trickery, there was a lot of information about foxes around the world.

  “Which one am I?”

  “I have yet to see you in your fox body, or how you interacted with those creeps. It will be hard to tell from your brief encounter with your err new self.”

  “My new self!” I exclaimed shoving him playfully. “I am still me. I’m just more super.”

  Jenson laughed, “Yeah, you’ve always been pretty super.”

  He patted my arm. I gave him a little push, urging him to get up so I could take control of his laptop. He smiled at me, the queen of his computer. I’d used it frequently since I’d moved here. Mom claimed the library was best for studying. She didn’t want me up all night chatting with friends. What friends? Jenson and Molly were the only people I knew, personally. The rest were in passing or acquaintances.

  “Starla, focus on the research, it’s twelve thirty!” Jenson pulled up the beanbag and sat next to me.

  I hurriedly typed in, can a fox be a guardian over animals, into the search engine. A long list popped up before me. Immediately I clicked on the website referring to a fox as a spirit animal. Scanning it, I looked at Jenson, “Care if I print this out?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “We should start a folder, print out all the information we can about foxes. This is going to take longer than one night to analyze.” He nodded. I hit the print button and gave Jenson a troubled look.

  “We’ll work this out; it could be to your advantage. Those things,” he shuddered, “they left when you screamed; this article you are printing claims you may have magical abilities. They either want you as an ally or to scare you. You’ve had a lot of crazy stuff happen, but never this. How did being a fox feel physically?”

  “Strange, a sense of freedom, but mostly fear overall. The crowd I ran with back home would be envious. We regularly talked about spirit animals, guides, and mystical beings. It made my mother terrified. She warned me not to mess with the stuff. It’s why we moved here.” I stood up and pushed aside the comfy swivel chair.

  Jenson reached from his seat, pulling me down to him, into a hug. I returned the favo
r briefly, then nudged him away.

  “Don’t start getting all ga-ga for me. You know with all that is going on...”

  “Yeah, the last thing you can handle is a relationship,” he grumbled as we stood up. He handed me an extra jacket that had been thrown on his bed. I put it on, a bit big, yet it would do.

  “Jenson, I have school, work, and now this!” I said, throwing my arms into the air.

  “Please let me walk you home.”

  I rolled my eyes at him as I slouched against the wall.

  “Come on, your mom would approve. You know how overprotective, she can be. If she finds out about this...”

  “Hell will freeze over.”

  “Yep, and then what will happen to all the baddies?”

  “They will come back to earth to torture us, and we’ll have to fight like Buffy,” I sighed.

  “Ok, now let’s get you home. We’ll just have to keep our senses alert,” he warned.

  Jenson took my hand. I shoved it away. Then we stepped out into the night.

  Chapter 3

  (Monday)

  I swung my backpack behind me on the way to Myth class, supposedly based on local legends, but no one knew if it was historically accurate. My glasses had never been recovered. Did mom notice this morning? I exhaled out into the air, an anxiety held within me. Things were going to change sooner or later. At least, Jenson would be in class today. As I nearly tripped over this speculation, my hands flew out to stop myself. Were my shoes untied? Yep. What ever happened to Velcro? It made everything easier. Yeah, I was that old!

  “Hey! Where were you last night?”

  I finished tying my laces and turned to see Molly, her brownish-blonde hair in waves. She wore jeans and a simple green sweatshirt. My best friend was not the style police. I almost chuckled, standing up to lean against the white brick wall.

  “What happened, and where are your glasses?” she asked.

  “I had some pretty strange things go down last night.”

  “Strange, as in?” she asked, walking up to me.

  “You remember when I told you about my old high school?”

  “You mean how you were practically comparable to Buffy, but no big bads, well similar to Buffy anyway,” she said.

  “Yeah, anyway, after dealing with work, as usual, I came home. This silly old couple had locked themselves out of their unit so I lent them my phone. That’s the normal part of the night. Once inside, Fritz greeted me. When I attempted to go upstairs, the sprinkler system turned on. I didn’t even know we had a sprinkler system!” I continued my candid details of the evening’s events as we headed to class.

  “So you don’t need your glasses anymore?”

  “I guess not, I made my way to Jenson’s OK without them.”

  “My imagination’s running rampant with your details. You naked in Jenson’s yard!” she exclaimed, and then laughed. “What did your mom say when you got home?”

  “Nothing, thank goodness. She’d already turned in for the night. I don’t suppose I’d want to reveal what occurred. You know how my mom has been about me, and mysteries, now and in the past.” She gave me an understanding glance as we entered the class.

  I took my seat next to Jenson, Molly joined us. He pushed some papers towards me.

  “Your mom’s been hiding something from you. You’re either going to be ecstatic or very angry.”

  (Tri)

  “What did you tell my daughter? Why were they in my house? Dan, she is not ready for this! We had an agreement. You would not send them until she’d completed college. I was adamant about that. Afterwards, she’d join you. Not now, when I finally have her level headed again. Look how long it took me to convince her that the tattoo was just a birthmark!”

  I ranted on the phone with my ex err Starla’s father. It had been years since I’d seen him. The girls knew little about him. It hadn’t been right, me denying him access to his offspring. It had been the only way to keep them safe.

  Megan wasn’t like Starla. She was different, and the time would come when I’d have to let go of her too. I’d just wanted to hang on for as long as I could. While listening to Dan, I remembered the day it had happened. The scene kept playing over in my head days after it materialized.

  “Mommy, it looks like a fox’s paw. It can’t be just a birthmark!” Starla had been pushing my buttons at five years old. One of her friends in kindergarten had pointed out that her birthmark appeared to be a fox paw.

  “Honey, it’s just a blemish. Many people have them at birth. It’ll probably eventually disappear.”

  “Mommy, it glowed! Cal said she saw it, mom! She wouldn’t lie!”

  “Honey, maybe she really thought it glowed, but observe how the light reflects onto your arm.”

  Starla had looked up at me with her big eyes. It hurt to have to lie to her. I didn’t want to do it, but she was only five. Finally, I convinced her. It took me a few years to do so, but by age seven, she’d stopped asking.

  “Honey, are you there?”

  He hadn’t called me that in years. “I’m here!” I snapped.

  “I’m sorry this is so aggravating for you. I wouldn’t have sent them if this wasn’t so urgent. We need her help. You recall all the times she solved those mysteries in high school, the ones you didn’t want her getting into?” he asked.

  “That was you?”

  “We didn’t exactly set them up. We needed them resolved. She happened to be at the right place at the right time. Analyzing the current problem now with regards to your emotions, be grateful she’s learned to figure things out on her own. She needed to discover some of her abilities. You’ve seen her becoming stronger, and that glow you once tried to hide will no longer stay hidden. We cannot wait any longer. I’ll need to be re-introduced to her soon. If not, she could be in danger. Tri, please hear me out on this. I do not want our daughter’s life at risk. I have honored your request for her protection for 19 years. This cannot continue.”

  I hung up the phone. I’d have to mull this over. Maybe Dan was right. I needed to evaluate her safety, the security of our people. This Jenson boy she’d been seeing better understand the situation about to occur. If only I could stop their friendship. Damn! I remembered being a teenager once. Falling in love with Starla’s father, created an ache that would not cease. It seemed so long ago.

  (Starla)

  A loud slam startled me. Mr. Jones made his way past our tables.

  “I guess now would not be a good time,” I said to Jenson.

  “Probably not, stick ‘em in your folder. We’ll deal with it later.”

  “OK.”

  Mr. Jones meandered towards his desk. He shuffled through a stack of boxes. “Ah, here it is,” he mumbled to himself picking up the round reel. “Now class, this film isn’t very new. Pay close attention to this legend in particular. Recall when we discussed the findings of fox appearances in Hunters Park. The killings of men that once took place there and the one that occurred just a few weeks ago. Be careful around the campus don’t go wandering in parts near the wooded area leading to the park.” He turned down the lights, and the projector began.

  What killings? I hadn’t heard of any. Neither had Jenson or Molly, they would have told me about it. As I slumped down into my cold hard seat, the room fell silent. Not once had we watched movies or any sort of motion picture during the semester. The discussions were the basis. Mr. Jones didn’t care for technology. I made a note of the old school projector with its long reel in my notebook. This film appeared as if it had been spliced together, or repaired. Where had it come from?

  The mythology and folklore of the Kitsune Fox beamed out in its loud, old-style sound. A cassette tape player sat off to the side. Mr. Jones had to start it as the film began. The pictures on the screen were cartoon-like in black and white, women luring men into the woods.

  “Where did he get this film?” I whispered to Molly.

  “Who knows, an archive? National Geographic’s never covered it in
their magazines,” she replied.

  “It reminds me of a website someone put up. It seemed totally suspicious. I couldn’t even get an IP address on it. The legend focused on exactly this!” Jenson pointed to the screen.

  The women on it had begun to seductively dance, taking the young man in her arms. Without warning, her torso began to change into the form of a fox.

  “They would lure men away in female form, make love to them, then kill them, or possibly let them go,” Jenson interjected.

  I hid my face away from the screen and listened to the audio: Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, and these spirits represent knowledge and enlightenment. They are common in folklore. These intelligent beings possess magical abilities, which increase with age as they gain wisdom. They are able to take human form; some use it to trick others, but not all. Some of these foxes are faithful guardians, friends, lovers, or wives. The rise of the legend arose when humans and foxes began living close to each other. Kitsune are said to grow up to nine tails the older and wiser they become. Some people make offerings to them like they would a god. Stories of fox wives bearing children occur in folklore; they can acquire physical or supernatural abilities.

  The hair on my arms started to rise. My heart pounded as if it were going to dance right out of my chest. Deep breaths, relax, breath, relax-- I kept at it, attempting to calm down. Then, before I lost it and went all foxy on my class, I got up and left for the bathroom.

  After getting myself emotionally back together, I proceeded to the cafe, my favorite place to unwind, no one bothered me. Our college consisted of local high school graduates who’d soon transfer. I didn’t know most of them. People came and went, often. Finding a table near the back, I sat and sipped my slushy ice lemon water through a purple straw. The little green umbrella in it sat off to one side. I’d needed something girlie for a change.

  “Are you OK? You just bolted out of there, even Mr. Jones seemed worried,” said Molly. She sat down beside me. I played with my little umbrella. It was green. I loved green.