Reclaiming

by Gabrielle Demonico

  “I don’t understand…” Jett replied. “If he was so good, how did he die on a hunt?”

  “Exactly,” Owen said as he nodded and slapped his knee. “As soon as I heard the word ‘accident’ from Kane’s lips the day he returned… well… the very first thing I did was get you to David and Jo. They left Fesser’s Grove and never returned. They raised you like a son.”

  “So you saved my life?” Jett asked.

  “Yes,” Owen replied. “I suppose I did. It looks like you both owe me one doesn’t it?”

  Daniella and Jett looked at one another and nodded.

  “Then my adoptive parents, they are?”

  “Human as well. One hundred percent.” Owen replied. “There weren’t many who knew about us. Still that way. But your folks did which is why they were the only ones I could trust.”

  “Why did you leave the clan?” Daniella said.

  “That was an easy decision,” Owen replied. “Right around the same time I met your adoptive father’s sister. She was human like them, of course. I married her and we lived here for twenty plus years. We never had any children, obviously. Still, I reckon getting away kept me from being Kane’s next victim. I knew it was time for me to find a new path.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jett said. “Why is it my folks never brought us here, told us about you? I didn’t even know my father had a sister.”

  “Very, very difficult that. All those decisions.” Owen replied. “But out of respect to your birth mother and the rightful heir to the clan, your father, we all decided it was best to raise you as a human. For a long time that was good enough. That is, until Kane decided it wasn’t.”

  “Rightful heir?” Jett said. “What do you mean by that?”

  “We’ll talk about it later.” He replied. “Look boy, we don’t have much time. Kane knows you are still alive and he will stop at nothing to…”

  He stopped for a moment and crossed his arms at his chest. “Tell me this…” Owen began. “Have you shifted?”

  “If by ‘shifted’, you mean transform into a bear, no, I…” Jett replied. “I mean, yes, maybe.”

  “Well, which is it son? Yes or no?”

  “I did once… it was under hypnosis and there was another time possibly but I can’t be certain.”

  “Shit…” Owen said as he stood. The speed with which he moved tipped his chair over backwards onto the floor. It crashed into the ground with a loud bang.

  “There isn’t much time for certain now.” He said as he started to pace back and forth. “Not much at all.”

  “Not much time for what?” Jett asked.

  The old man disregarded his question. “No doubt about it, boy. You are young and strong, like your father before you. But… Kane…” The old man reached up to his chin. As he rubbed his palm against the grayed stubble, he exhaled. He looked at Jett and shook his head.

  “What?” Jett replied. Concern laced his tone. It was the first time Daniella recalled ever seeing him show any real fear.

  “There’s work to be done. That’s all. At least a week of it. We’ll have to hope for the best after that.” Owen said as he waved off the question.

  “Work? What are you talking about?” Jett said.

  “It doesn’t matter right now. I will explain everything. Tomorrow will be a long day. Get plenty of rest. Don’t do anything to…” The old man narrowed his gaze in Daniella’s direction as he spoke. He looked at Jett once more and continued, “waste energy. If you do, you’ll never keep up.”

  “Keep up?” Jett asked. “What does that mean?”

  Owen ignored him once again. “We begin at daybreak. Now…” he said as he gestured towards the bedroom, “get some sleep.”

  ***

  Fifteen minutes later, exhausted and bewildered, Jett and Daniella laid together on the small mattress she’d napped on earlier in the day. It was a clear night out. The stars and moon cast a somewhat bright light into the room. The cabin was silent but doubt hung heavy in the air. Jett laid awake and stared at the ceiling.

  “Jett,” Daniella whispered, “what are you thinking about?”

  “Hmm? Oh, I don’t know.” He replied. “I mean, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  Daniella stayed quiet for a moment and then turned her head towards him.

  “Let’s run. We can get out of here, together.” She said with desperation in her tone. “I don’t care about anything except you and I don’t want to lose you. I can’t.”

  Jett propped himself up on his elbow. As he looked down at her, he noticed her eyes pooled with tears.

  “Why do you think you are going to lose me?”

  Daniella shrugged and started to sob. He pulled her close. For several seconds he hugged her as the emotions she’d bottled up for weeks started to pour out.

  “Jett, I don’t belong in that world that you come from.” She said. “I’m not one of you but I don’t want to live without you, either. Please, can’t you let it all go and run off with me?”

  Jett exhaled. “Sweetheart, you know I want to be with you more than anything but… that’s something I cannot do. Not after everything I’ve just learned about my true identity.” He replied. “And you’re wrong, you may not be like me but you do belong with me.”

  Daniella continued to weep softly but didn’t reply.

  “Right now, you need to have faith,” he continued. “You need to believe that the cause I am fighting for is the right one because to win without you would be meaningless. Don’t you see that I am fighting for our future and not my own?”

  Daniella draped her body across his. “I feel so bad for you,” she said. “I wish there was a way I could help you with whatever Owen wants you to do.”

  “What do you mean? You’ve done so much for me already.” He said as he caressed her check. “I couldn’t possibly ask you to do even one more thing for me. And anyway, you can’t stay here. You have a brand new job, remember?”

  The truth was Daniella had all but forgotten about it… But he was right. There was no way she could stay. Not for a week. It would be impossible unless she wanted to lose her job.

  “Yes,” she sighed at last, “I know.”

  “Look, try not to think about it for now.” Jett said. “Let’s see how things go tomorrow. I’m going to give Owen at least a chance. I have nothing to lose at this point. If it works out, great and if not, well, I’ll figure something else out.”

  “Okay,” Daniella replied.

  “Now, let’s get some rest.” He said. “As much as I would like to do any number of other things with you, my instincts tell me Owen wasn’t kidding when he said I’d need my strength.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you’re right.” Daniella replied as she exhaled, snuggled up to him and drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  When Daniella next awoke, early morning sunlight filled the bedroom. She glanced over to where Jett should have been to find he’d gone. She sat up, looked around and noticed the bedroom door cracked open. In the other room, she heard Jett and Owen, so she threw on her clothes and walked towards the doorway.

  As she peeked around the corner, she noticed Max and Amigo at the far end of the hallway. They both looked at her, jumped up and trotted down the hallway towards her. As they neared, she knelt down and petted them both. After a few licks to the face, she stood and walked towards the kitchen.

  As she entered, Jett stood from the table and kissed her on the cheek. “Morning,” he began. “Coffee?”

  She rubbed her eyes. “Good morning… and yes, please.”

  “There’s eggs and bacon there on the counter.” Owen said as he scraped the last morsels of food off his plate. “Help yourself.”

  “Thank you. I’m not hungry at the moment.”

  Owen nodded. “Well, be sure and get something in your belly. We won’t be back here ‘til late afternoon. Long day ahead.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “About two miles west. Good training ground that.”
He began. He stood from the table, pushed his chair back and walked into the kitchen.

  As he did he continued to talk, almost mutter. “Rugged terrain, challenging… Yes, it’ll do. It has to.” He said.

  The trio set on the trail a little past eight o’clock. Max and Amigo wandered ahead as they apparently followed a route they’d taken in the past.

  “Trail’s pretty open here for a bit,” Owen began. He gestured towards a ridgeline in the distance and said, “Past that, it gets tricky.”

  Of course it does. Why would any of this be easy?

  They walked in silence for several minutes until the trail split into two. Owen stopped and whistled for the dogs. As they returned, he looked at Daniella and said, “I imagine you are wondering why all of this is necessary? Aren’t you?”

  “I don’t know,” Daniella shrugged. “A little I guess…”

  “Come…” he said.

  Daniella walked over to him. He placed his arm over her shoulder and pointed to a nearby pine tree. “There, you see that?”

  She followed the direction of his finger. “No. What?”

  He pulled her a bit closer. “Up there, about halfway to the top. There’s a nest. Magpies…”

  “Oh, okay,” Daniella nodded. “I see it now.”

  “It’s tough out here for Magpie chicks,” Owen began. “They have to learn to fly the hard way. The parents kick them out of the nest before they hardly have a feather.”

  “Uh, that’s terrible!” Daniella exclaimed as she stared up at the nest. “Why do they do that?”

  “Because that’s their nature.” Owen replied. “Sounds bad, I know, but right away, the first thing the baby learns is how to survive without its greatest asset, the ability to fly. It has to learn to survive first before it can fly at all. Only by experiencing fear of death will its greatest power come to it.”

  “I’m confused.” She said. “What does this have to do with Jett?”

  Owen nodded and smiled. “That’s a secret.” He said with a wink.

  Daniella laughed and they got back to hiking. About forty minutes passed when Owen stopped and looked around behind them.

  “Where’s the dogs?” He asked.

  Daniella and Jett looked at each other and shrugged.

  “They were behind us a minute ago…” Jett replied as he did a half turn and looked back down the trail.

  “Well, go rustle ‘em up.” Owen replied. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a dog whistle. “I reckon they got down that trail that heads to the blueberry bushes. Damndest thing you ever saw… Dogs eatin’ blueberries.” He handed the whistle to Jett and said, “Just walk back to where that trail splits off. Blow it. They’ll come. We’ll keep going.”

  Daniella chuckled at the mental image of foraging canines as Owen spoke.

  “Okay,” Jett said as he took the whistle. “Back in a bit.”

  Jett turned and jogged back down the trail.

  “Well, no sense standing here…” Owen began. “Let’s keep movin’…”

  Daniella nodded and they continued to walk along for a couple of minutes when she asked, “Owen… when Jett partially shifted before, it seemed painful. Is it always that way?”

  “In the beginning, yes.” Owen said as leaves and twigs crunched under his steel toed boots with each step. “But with time the pain not only goes away but it feels incredible to shift.”

  “Incredible?” She replied with disbelief.

  “Absolutely!” He exclaimed. He stopped and turned to face her. She’d never seen him this excited since the moment she met him.

  “Close your eyes…” he said. “Go on.”

  Daniella stopped and did as he said.

  “Now, I want you to imagine a single moment in your life when you felt stronger than ever and each one of your senses were the sharpest possible.”

  Daniella squeezed her eyes together as tight as she could. Her lips came together in focused concentration.

  “Do you see it?” He asked. “Can you feel what that’s like?”

  She tried for several more seconds. Her hands came together and made tiny fists in support of her effort but at last she shook her head. “No, I can’t.” She replied with frustration.

  Owen placed his immense hands on her shoulders. His touch startled her and her eyes flipped open. “Exactly,” he said. “You can’t. And do you know why?”

  “No.” She replied as she shook her head.

  “It’s because of this…” he said as he pressed the side of her head with his index finger.

  “My head?”

  “Not your head but what’s inside.”

  Daniella frowned as Owen turned and started to walk away. “Wait, I don’t understand. What do you mean?” She asked.

  Owen sighed. “There was a time Daniella when man was closer to his nature but it hasn’t been that way for thousands of years, maybe more.” He said. “Long ago humans placed the center of their power in the head and in doing so, betrayed the true source of all power in this life.”

  “And what’s that?” She asked.

  He stopped once again, turned and placed his hand on her chest, above her heart.

  “It’s that… right there…” he said. “Do you feel that?”

  “Yes, my heart, you mean?”

  He nodded. “Yes. That beat… the steady pump, pump, pump is all the proof in the world that you are a part of this universe.” He replied. “And that rhythm, the alignment with one’s true nature… that is what it feels like to shift. I am not the bear and the bear is not me. We are one, the same.”

  He smiled and turned away from her and as he did, she looked at him with bewilderment.

  “There!” He shouted as he pointed to a break in the tree line up ahead. “Time’s a wastin’…”

  Daniella stood frozen in place as Owen took off with the speed of a man half his age.

  “You okay?” Jett said as he walked up to her several seconds later.

  “Yes,” she smiled. “Maybe a little jealous but otherwise okay…”

  “Jealous? Of what?”

  “Of you, shifters…”

  “Really? Why?”

  “It’s a secret.” She replied with a sly grin. Daniella turned and started to walk up the trail behind Owen.

  “A secret?” Jett said as Max and Amigo dashed by. “Daniella, wait! What are you talking about?”

  ***

  They came upon a large clearing. The trail spilled out into the open and everywhere she looked alpine flowers painted the landscape. Daniella sat down on a nearby boulder. As she did, Max and Amigo laid down on either side of her while Owen and Jett stood nearby.

  “This is as good a spot as any.” Owen said. He made a sweeping gesture with his right hand and said, “Get used to this place, boy. For the next week, it will be your home.”

  Jett surveyed the landscape and replied, “If you say so. Just looks like a bunch of trees and rocks to me.”

  Owen chuckled. “When I need your commentary, I’ll ask for it. You’re here to learn so pay attention.”

  Jett rolled his eyes but nodded in understanding.

  “Those ‘trees’…” Owen began. “they will tell you when danger is near or your prey is close. You will learn to understand the subtle difference between a short creak or a long groan. The ‘rocks’? Every stone from the tiniest pebble to the largest boulder gives you clues to the world around you. All you have to do is learn how to interpret them.”

  Owen knelt down and pointed at something in the dirt. “Come here,” he said to Jett. From her vantage point, Daniella couldn’t make it out but looked on with interest as Jett squatted down next to him.

  “Tell me what you see, boy.”

  Jett squinted at the ground and then shrugged. “I dunno… animal tracks?”

  “Just one kind?”

  Jett looked at the ground once again. “No, there’s a couple of different kinds. I don’t understand. What does this have to do with me learning how to shift?” />
  Owen laughed at Jett’s question. He turned to Daniella and said, “Daniella, tell Jett here what the Magpie chicks have to learn before they can fly.”

  “Um,” Daniella said as she tried to remember. “Oh! They have to learn how to survive on the ground first before learning how to fly.”

  “That makes no sense at all.” Jett said. “How can a bird survive without the ability to fly?”

  “How indeed…” Owen said. “And yet, they do. The chick must learn to evade predators, to eat and stay alive with its wits alone. So once it learns how to fly it becomes the stronger predator possible, more adaptable and better able to survive. Flight becomes a complement to its survival skills; the bird does not need it to live. If a Magpie ever breaks a wing, it will live because it already knows how to live without them. Nothing is accidental in nature.”

  Jett listened to Owen as he spoke but didn’t respond.

  Owen continued, “See boy, your bear can’t survive because it never had to learn how. Shifting for us is like the Magpie chick learning to fly. We are at our peak with it but you must never rely on it exclusively. Shifting is not an automatic, off or on kind of thing. It requires concentration and focus to master. The more you do it, the better you get but in the presence of a superior foe, like Kane, you will fail. At this moment, you are little more than the shifter equivalent of a Magpie chick.”

  “Okay,” Jett replied. “I think I understand.”

  “Good,” Owen nodded as he slapped Jett on the back. “Because there’s much more…”

  Owen returned to a discussion of the tracks in the dirt. Over the next several hours, Daniella watched as Owen tutored his pupil. They wandered off into the woods at one stage. When they did, she thought it best to stay put with Max and Amigo. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the mountain lion fiasco. If Owen saved her twice, she’d never live it down. At around noon, they walked back over to where she was.

  “How’s it going?” Daniella asked.

  “Okay, I…” Jett began but as he started to reply, Owen interrupted him.