by Noah Harris
“She always crashes after rehearsal,” Jared chuckled, glancing back at his friend and dance partner. “Its energy, energy, energy, with her, then it’s just like somebody shuts off the switch.”
“She’s always been that way,” Nick replied. “But, then again, she’s danced as long as I can remember.” He glanced over at Jared’s lean dancer’s physique, trying to assess how long it took him to build such fine musculature. Then, he added, “Did you always dance?”
Jared took a bite of an apple he’d brought, wiping juice from his chin with the back of his hand, then onto his shorts. His mannerisms were fluid, yet also casual. Overall, as a person, he seemed very at ease with himself and his position in the world. Nick admired that, especially since it was in stark contrast to his own existence. He had always felt slightly off, slightly out of place, even though he was a social person. No wait, a shifter—not a person, he reminded himself. It was all still so alien to him, but the fact remained that he was neither a person, nor human, and he needed to get used to it.
“No, not always,” Jared relayed, “My dad pushed me really hard in little league sports—football, basketball, baseball, hockey, you name it—‘til finally he realized it just wasn’t my thing and gave up. Don’t get me wrong, I know sports are great for teamwork and discipline, but I just really wanted to dance. When I was around fourteen, I tried out for the school musical, just to see really, and we had to take these dance lessons for it. That was it—from that time on, I was hooked.” Jared smiled, obviously happy to have found his calling.
“Was that in Atlanta?” Nick asked.
“Atlanta? How do you know about Atlanta?” Jared flirted. He shoved Nick’s arm very slightly as he drove, “Have you been checking up on me?” Nick looked a little flustered, forgetting he had not told Jared about meeting Fiona.
“Oh, um, no. Your cousin introduced herself the other day,” Nick affirmed. Jared’s smile momentarily disappeared from his face, and he appeared more serious, pursing his lips slightly before speaking.
“Fiona? She’s what you would call a distant cousin. She likes to act as if she’s really tight with our family, but the truth is, I didn’t grow up with her or anything. I think she just wants a job with my Dad’s company when she graduates.” He thought for a moment and then clarified. “He has a global company with a very good international program, if you’re into that sort of thing.” Nick could tell Jared was ill at ease.
“Well, I am a business major,” Nick joked, and Jared’s tenseness seemed to melt away. “So, if not Atlanta, where then?”
“What?” Jared asked.
“The high school musical—where was that?” Nick pressed on; suddenly feeling like he wanted to know everything there was to know about Jared.
“Oh, well that was San Francisco, but I didn’t get to do the show. I mean, I got the part, did the classes and everything, but then we had to move for my Dad’s work before I actually performed. We left for Copenhagen, but I had already realized that dance was in my blood, so I picked up my studies there.”
“Oh wow, what was Copenhagen like?”
“Great. The people are so nice, and my room was at the top of the house, far away from everyone else, and had this beautiful view. I wish we’d stayed there.”
“So, you graduated in Copenhagen then?” Nick listened intently. Given the progression of heat and humidity common to Florida, combined with the midmorning sun, Jared was peeling off layers. He had already taken off his jacket and now the light sweatshirt went as well, both ended up in a ball atop his backpack but he remained in a ribbed tank. Nick looked at his tan, muscled arms as Jared leaned the seat back a bit, laced his hands behind his head and looked upward.
“No, we moved to New York my senior year. That’s when Fiona started hanging around all the time. I’m sure her parents told her to be nice to me, introduce me around and all, which… she did.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t do a program in New York,” Nick conveyed with sincerity. “Isn’t that city all about dance?”
“Yeah, but I was too late in the year to get any real recommendations. Programs already had their favorites by that point, plus…” Jared paused, measuring his words with care, “I had… other complications.” Sensing his discomfort, Nick didn’t pursue it further. He was trying hard to concentrate, since having Jared sitting right next to him seemed to make him hyper-sensitive. It was almost in the way it was to be near the other shifters, only not as intense, yet in some ways, with more feeling. Maybe that was just what attraction was like for shifters, and maybe it was different to be attracted to humans than to shifters. Nick wondered and was just speculating, since he had no basis for comparison. All the guys he had liked before had been human… at least as far as he knew.
Nick watched as the landscape changed slightly the farther north they drove, palm trees gradually giving way to pine and oak as the flat ground became slightly rolling hills. He finally saw the first exit sign for Tallahassee and, shortly thereafter, they arrived at Abby’s house. Nick stopped in on a pretense, but really just to get a few more minutes with Jared. He said hi to Abby’s parents, who adored him, and made plans to meet up with Abby and Jared over the weekend.
By the time he arrived at his own parents’ house, Nick was inordinately tired, though he had only been driving a little over three hours. His hands and feet felt tingly, then numb. As he emerged from the car and stretched his legs, once again he thought he saw a flash from the corner of his eye but, when he tried to focus on it, nothing was there. Shaking his head, he felt the continuing dull ache to which he was now accustomed. I hope the Nydor is causing my symptoms, he thought. Maybe I can get off of it. He was tired of feeling poorly, that was for sure and was really curious about what the pack had said—that he had more powers and abilities than he realized. There’s one way to find out—he thought as he swung open the front door. He instantly observed that while this would always be ‘home’ in some ways, it really wasn’t his home anymore now that he didn’t live here. It did smell like chocolate chip cookies, though!
Nick entered the house, dropped his backpack at the bottom of the staircase and headed toward the kitchen in search of the cookie smell. He found a fresh batch cooling on a cookie sheet near the stove and dug in.
“Don’t eat them all, Mom will kill you,” Phoebe warned. “And you better move that backpack. That’s against house rules since you don’t live here anymore.” He hadn’t been gone long enough yet to miss her teasing.
“Okay, Phoebe. How are you liking my room by the way?” Nick responded.
“It’s okay. Hopefully in another few weeks the last of the boy smell will be out of there. I don’t know if it’s that body spray you used, or armpits, or old socks… but whatever that boy smell funk is… it reeks. Hope you enjoy my old, smaller room with no view… at least it smells good.”
“Yeah, if you like the smell of bubble gum perfume. Doesn’t matter, I’ll probably be sleeping or studying most of the time, anyway.” He thought of all he had learned that week, and suddenly envied Phoebe for not having graduated yet. Even though she was eighteen now, his parents had decided not to tell her about being a shifter until after graduation. She must not have come into much of her power yet, because she seemed fine on the Nydor. His mother had always told them it was a mineral supplement, no different than the vitamins they always took as well. He had never questioned it, and assumed Phoebe didn’t either. Nick glanced around, scanning the open-concept home looking for his parents.
“They went to the store,” Phoebe reported, noticing the time. “Hey, you’re earlier than they expected.”
“Yeah, I really need to talk to them.”
“Flunking out after two weeks? Oh, the school realized that admitting you was clerical error or something, so they rescinded your acceptance?” she teased further, still owing him for bringing up her unfortunate affinity for bubble gum perfume.
“Oh no, nothing like that,” he replied, feeling guilty for keeping
things from her. He had never had to do that when they were younger, save for the normal brother-sister things like sneaking out, or hidden curling irons. The stakes were so high now that Nick felt heaviness in his chest. Better let her have her last bit of childhood, he thought.
“Fell in love with one of your professors then, is that it?” she continued, “Let me guess—the really old Econ guy wearing the plaid hat and bow tie in his picture?”
“You got it. That’s the one,” Nick said chuckling as he began to leave the room. “Wake me up when Mom and Dad get back.”
“Okay,” she shouted after him as he gathered up his backpack and climbed the stairs, surprised at how much effort it took. Moving past his old room, Nick marched down the long hallway to Phoebe’s former room at the back of the house. He had never been in it without Phoebe in there, so he now noticed the neutral furnishings, suitable for any guest, and that—although the room was smaller than his old one—it was also much quieter. No view, given that a large oak stood very near the window, but it was quiet and cool. His urge to sleep, again made him feel like a narcoleptic. I’ve gotta get this dosage right, or gone completely, he thought. He flung his flip flops off with unexpected force, and one ricocheted up and made a scuff mark on the wall. He flopped onto the bed and stared at the starry mosaic on the ceiling. He and his Dad had painted it by hand for Phoebe for her ninth birthday. She had loved it and made them promise to never remove it so long as they owned the house. A few stars were fading and one had a slight water stain around it, but overall it was very relaxing. Nick thought he might touch up the fading stars this weekend, if he had time, then lingeringly moved on to thoughts of driving with Jared in the car. The more he was around Jared, the greater the appeal, and it was on that thought precisely that Nick fell asleep.
He began to dream, and at first he was on a beach with Jared. They were walking along the shore, watching dolphins, with no one else around for miles. They smiled at one another, and Jared grabbed his hand. Then somehow, they were suddenly playing tennis. Tennis? That’s when Nick had one of those moments where he wondered if he might be in a dream. He also considered the possibility of ever playing tennis—which he detested—with Jared. Jared did look good, tan and smiling in his tennis whites, but that could hardly justify him actually playing tennis, right? As he was thinking this to himself, in the dream, he saw the air near the net begin to shimmer in the mirage-like way he had observed twice at school. Something or someone was near the net, he was sure of it then suddenly, the other side of the net grew dim and he couldn’t see Jared anymore. He called out, shouting louder and louder, then he began screaming and, each time he did, the shimmering place in the center of the court grew larger and larger, until it covered the full expanse between them and there was no way he could ever get to Jared. He continued shouting Jared’s name when, suddenly, the pack appeared behind him.
“Stop calling out like that. You’ll attract attention to yourself,” Michael scolded. Nick then heard Jared start yelling for him. Over and over, “Help! Help! Help!” He tried to get through the shimmering wall, but couldn’t. “He’s faking. He’s baiting you,” Isda added, but Nick ignored her. He charged full force into the shimmering barrier, and his whole body began to feel as if it was on fire. His heart raced, he felt searing pain in his head and every nerve in his body screamed in agony. “Jared!” he yelled and sat straight up in his bed. The sheets were completely soaked with sweat and twisted into knots, as if he had been thrashing violently in his sleep.
Nick’s heart continued to race, and he remained flushed with adrenaline. He closed his eyes and focused on slowing down his own breathing. Gradually, his heart rate slowed and he breathed in rhythm with the steady beat, finally feeling his breath and his heart in complete unison with one another. Suddenly a vision flashed through his mind of his parents driving down the street toward them. He could see them very clearly in the car, laughing and talking, though he couldn’t hear what they were saying. The pain in his head continued, and the vision evaporated. Within two minutes he heard the door open downstairs followed by the familiar clomping of his dad’s size twelve shoes and then the click-clack of his mother’s heels following behind. Cabinets were being opened and closed as groceries were put away. They must have stocked up for his visit. He retrieved his wayward flip-flops and shuffled downstairs.
“There he is! The college man returns!” his mom fussed, “You missed my cooking already, didn’t you? I told you those student plan meals weren’t as good. You should let me teach you how to cook!”
“Vivian, he just got here. Let the boy get settled,” his father said, putting his arm around his son. Nick was still clammy from the nightmare, and it took his mother only a few seconds more to notice. She felt his forehead.
“Are you okay? Did you catch something from all those other students? I knew those dorms were going to be a viral incubator.” He tipped his head backward away from her hand.
“I’m fine, physically at least, but I do need to talk to you.” He opened his mouth to continue, but Phoebe bounded in sinking her arm deep into a grocery bag. As if she were a fisherman not knowing its catch, she pulled her arm up dramatically, visually inspecting her haul.
“Chips! Cool.” She was oblivious to her parents staring intently at Nick, and the fact that she had interrupted. Nick’s silence and a knowing glance toward his parents confirmed for them that this was not a subject that could be discussed in front of Phoebe. “Oh, and Abby called while you were sleeping. She said your cell went to voicemail and to meet her and Jared at the lake at four o’clock this afternoon,” she dutifully delivered the message as she returned to the TV room. Nick glanced at his watch, which read 3:25 p.m.
“I gotta go. Can we talk tomorrow? Maybe in the morning before Phoebe gets up? It’s important.”
4
When Nick arrived at the lake Abby and Jared, along with some others, were already swimming near the dock. Jared watched as Nick sauntered down the length of wooden planks and swept his foot into the water to test the temperature. Not exactly warm yet, but not too cold for swimming either. Nick thought as he removed his shirt, revealing to all the thirty or so pounds of muscle he had put on since the summer before. Abby whistled and catcalled in an attempt to embarrass him, which was unsuccessful.
“Very funny,” he yelled as he jumped in, sending a high splash arcing over her head before it rained back down, soaking her completely. Abby laughed and swam underwater as if she herself were a dolphin. Nick swam backstroke for a distance, coming closer to the group, but not yet joining them. He looked up toward the blue sky, noticing the puffy white clouds and remembering the innocent times of childhood, without all the current complications. As if on cue, something moved in the water near him. As the next closest person to him, Jared saw the water move too, and began glancing around nervously.
“There aren’t alligators in here, are there?” Jared asked, hesitantly.
“Not usually in this lake and a gator would make a much bigger splash than that,” Nick responded casually, still looking around for the true cause, which he knew wasn’t a 'gator.
“Not usually. Oh, that’s reassuring,” Jared replied. He smiled again at Nick and moved closer toward him. The two shared a moment before another large splash nearby, clearly human, led to an emerging Abby. She flopped up and down like a sea mammal, and then rose up, shaking the water from her head all over them like a dog. Nick shook his head, having been through this countless times before. Abby couldn’t swim without a lot of movement.
“We’ve been swimming here forever,” Abby added. “It was probably just a turtle or something,” she concluded, though neither of the men looked convinced. A short while later this was all forgotten when the group began paddling kayaks back and forth across the lake. A few people sunned themselves on beach towels along the sandy shore, occasionally swatting at a fly, mosquito, or some other airborne pest. Nick paddled all the way down to the other end of the lake and into a small alcove, which
he knew led to a small cave, though it was not visible to the occasional passerby. He jumped out of the kayak with athletic deftness, his feet touching the slimy algae growing on the lake bottom. The water rose almost to his shoulders, which was higher than he expected, and he held onto the kayak edge as he glanced toward shore, considering whether he should check out the cave or not. Maybe the cave drawings he and Sal had done one summer, probably in sixth or seventh grade, were still there. Just as he pondered this, Nick heard a large splash behind him and felt himself being pulled under the water. Once he was fully under he could see nothing, but he could feel a heavy weight, something was holding his arms and pushing on the top of his head, though whatever it was really didn’t feel like hands. He thrashed violently in the water and as his arm broke free he hit whatever it was behind him, which felt fairly solid and rough. Maybe it was an alligator, though how it could be holding him in three places escaped him. From the other end of the lake the others noticed and began paddling toward him as fast as possible. Jared was in the lead, but the length of the lake was over 300 yards. Nick had been without a breath for some time, so throwing an elbow; he bought himself a few moments with his head above water and was able to catch a few gulps of air before being pulled under again. This time, the weight felt even heavier, and seemed to be carrying him deeper and farther toward the bottom.
Jared paddled the kayak as hard as he could. Across the smooth lake water he could see thrashing and heard the choppy splashes of water, but no other sound. Not far from the incident, the kayak Nick had been in sat awaiting the return of its owner. Jared thought he saw Nick’s head pop up, for just a second, but he was submerged again quickly. Jared’s concern grew, and he felt almost panicked as the importance of reaching Nick hit him; the feeling that it was life or death.
Below the surface Nick felt himself, with a weight on top of him, sinking farther toward the bottom. His heart was racing, and he continued to thrash, punching at whatever was holding him, even though he could not see it. Suddenly, he felt a rush of heat and fire ate at every nerve, followed by tingling and numbness all over his body. His vision began to clear and his heart rate became very, very slow. He walked along the river bottom, regaining his senses and getting his bearings. He looked in front of him, as clearly as if looking through a glass of water, he saw before him—an octopus? What? It paused, looking at him for a moment, before shooting off, propelling itself in a fast and rather elegant swim. Am I still dreaming? Nick thought for a moment, walking along the river bottom. Feeling the danger was gone; he pushed with all his might and soon broke the surface, with his head just slightly above water. Oddly, the sun in his eyes made it harder to see up here than underwater and he saw his kayak was still there, plus another approaching with Jared in it. Jared!