by Rain Oxford
“A wolf, I know. Do either of you have a pack or are you three the only ones here?”
“We left Skrev because our packs tried to kill us when Malla got pregnant. They couldn’t accept us being together. Ronez saved us and brought us here a few days before Alyssa was born. Please help our daughter. We can’t lose her.”
While he was talking, I let my magic do its work intuitively. Alyssa was quiet now, just watching me as if waiting for me to tell her she was doomed. I didn’t know what her eye color was before, but now they were glittering gold like her father’s. I brushed her hair back and examined the color carefully. Her irises were shifty, but definitely staying gold.
One last scan determined that she was stable. She definitely had the potential to shift into a cat, but it looked like the wolf was the dominant beast for now.
“Please, tell us what’s wrong with her,” the mother cried.
I sighed and turned to her. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“You know what’s wrong with her?” the father asked.
I nodded. “I do. It’s incurable, but it’s not permanent.” His mother was on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry to say this, but you have a teenage daughter.” They both looked confused. “It’s puberty. Your daughter is going to be a miserable little psychopath for the next few years. I suggest keeping her away from boys, getting earmuffs, and possibly locking her in a cage at night.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“I don’t know that much about adolescence from Skrev, but if she’s anything like humans, then yes, yes it is. Just be glad you have a daughter. As far as her shifting goes, I’m afraid it may take her a few years before she can control it. When does a child normally shift for the first time on Skrev?”
“For my kind, it’s about three or four years old. Many of Hon’s kind are born in their beast form and have to learn to shift, which takes around a year.”
“Well, this is about the worst time in a girl’s life to suddenly be able to shift. The next few years are going to be very confusing. She’s going to get upset or angry at the drop of a hat and she may find joy in the weirdest, most inappropriate things. You’ll just have to deal with it and make sure she knows that you love and support her. That’s the most important thing you can do. Also, talk to her about sex and protecting herself.”
Her father swallowed. “She’s a little young for mating.”
“You’re on Earth, not Skrev. Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist and whatever you do, don’t shame her if she’s interested in it. Preach the dangers if you want, warn her of all the risks, but make sure she knows she can talk to you if she needs to.”
“Normally, the pack shares the responsibility of raising the children.”
“It’s up to you two now, but you can do it. Buy some books and get really familiar with Google.” I pulled out my notepad and wrote my home phone number. “If any of you need someone to talk to, call me, but keep in mind that I only have sons.” The happy little Skrev family left and I returned to the nurse station.
“What happened with the doors before?” Ms. Manning asked.
“I don’t know. If the Cofers ever come back, especially Alyssa Cofer, please send them straight to me. Even if I’m off, call me.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Confidential. If it’s quiet now, I’m going to head over to the general station,” I said.
She nodded. The hospital was calm as I went to the main nurse station. Of all the stations, the main station was the busiest, so the fact that it was empty immediately put me on high alert. I stuck my head into the waiting room and it was just as empty. Even if there were no patients, there was always supposed to be someone there.
The phone at the station rang and I stared at it for a few seconds before walking over to the counter. I reached for the phone just as the ringing stopped. Something behind me moved, but when I turned to look, nothing was there.
There were three hallways and two doors out of the room with no hiding places. I could feel something watching me, but whatever it was wasn’t visible. This was a well-lit hospital, not haunted catacombs. I reached my energy out to search my surroundings and a small popping sound made me wince. I had forgotten about the computer. In my peripheral vision, a shadow moved.
There was something seriously weird about this town.
My phone startled me and I groaned after I saw who the caller was.
Chapter 2
Ron
My earliest memories were playing as a child with Hail. I thought it was normal that we could hear each other in our heads because we knew Dad and Mordon could do it. My brother was no more mortal than I was, it just took us a little while to figure it out. Hail could see things that hadn’t happened yet, but I could understand his visions better than he could. We were happy with our system; he would see the problem and I would come up with a solution.
When we were little, we were constantly staging and plotting. The world was full of problems to fix and people who we could manipulate. We thought we knew best because I could solve any puzzle and my brother could see what I didn’t. We made some mistakes along the way.
Vretial helped us and we learned from our parents as best as we could. Eventually, Hail and I learned that some things were meant to be and some weren’t, but we sometimes crossed that line. We were powerful, naïve, and spontaneous. Then when Hail saw what our father was to endure, we decided that we would make the rules after all.
I took the balance into myself after Hail and I determined he could help me control it. We had assumed it to be some inanimate force. At first, it was sort of dormant. I could feel it, feel what acted against the balance and how strongly, but it seemed content to stay quiet. We were fooled.
About two years later, I started having dreams of times when the balance was denied, as well as the consequences of those events. I thought they were the darkness warning me not to reject it. Unfortunately, I was six years old, the son of a god, and right.
I ignored it.
We were on a trip to Anoshii so Dad could get some paperwork done and Mom could get some unique potion ingredients. One minute, we were boarding the ship… and the next, I was on my bed in my room. In my confusion, I tried to find clues. I may have only been six, but I realized that my clothes had changed. I checked my nails for any sign of a struggle and my arms for needle marks. Nothing. My next move was to tentatively search my surroundings with magic. The world around me was real, I was home, and my magic responded normally. Mom and Dad were outside the house and Hail was in the kitchen. He could feel my stress and burst into our room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“We were going to Anoshii.”
He frowned and hesitated. “We went to Anoshii. We came back.” Seeing my confusion grow, he tried to conceal his concern and sat down next to me. “Let me see.”
“There isn’t anything to see. We were going to Anoshii, and now we’re home.”
“That was three days ago. We went to Anoshii and came home.”
“Did I act weird?” I asked. I knew nothing could possess me except for the darkness that I had let into myself, but I also knew the darkness was powerful enough to make me do something I didn’t want to. As long as I was with Hail, I could never do anything wrong.
“When I saw you, no.”
“What do you mean? Were we separated?”
“You wanted to go with Mom and I needed to go with Dad to get my school forms.”
“I wanted to go with Mom? Why in the world would I want to leave you? And how could you let me? Didn’t you realize something was wrong?”
“You seemed perfectly sane at the time. I just figured you wanted a few minutes on your own,” he said. I stared at him until he frowned. “That was weird…” He looked down. “I didn’t really think much about it, I just let you go.”
“It’s messing with me, Hail,” I said. He put his arms around me and held me against him. “We’
re not going to make it.”
“We will. We’ll be fine,” he said. “Let’s talk to Dad.”
I was shaking my head before he could finish talking. Hail always wanted to go to Dad. “No. He’ll be worried and try to get rid of the balance. Not Mom, either. We all know the dark was always after Dad. If Mom thinks I’m a threat to Dad, she’ll send me away.”
“You are so sure our parents are going to abandon you. You have to get passed that. They both love you.”
He didn’t understand. He never understood.
We ended up going to Vretial, who was completely unhelpful and told us he had no idea what happened. He tried to look through my mind, but Hail didn’t have enough control to let him in. Although we considered letting Hail’s magic go for a while, we decided it wasn’t worth it. The power of the balance was too strong to risk someone influencing my mind.
Over the next three years, I got used to the balance. It was always there, always compelling me to act. I never remembered what happened or what I did those three days.
* * *
“I don’t want eggs for breakfast! I want pancakes!”
My brother’s cries woke me early. I couldn’t hear Mom’s quieter response, but I got out of bed with a sigh. He would only get louder until he got Dad’s attention. Yawning, I entered the kitchen to find Mom and Hail sitting at the table, each with a plate of eggs. Hail stopped whining and gave me his weepy face.
“Ron, make pancakes.”
Without a doubt, as far as mothers went, ours was fantastic, but she couldn’t cook. Mom’s culinary abilities consisted of… apparently scrambled eggs. I picked up Hail’s plate, wondering how they achieved that particular shade of neon yellow… and turned the plate upside down. The eggs stuck to the plate.
“Mom… doesn’t the school provide breakfast?” I asked.
“Oh, does it? That is the best news I heard all month.” She looked so relieved it was difficult not to laugh.
Dad walked in wearing a dress suit and pants and gave Mom a kiss on the way to the coffee pot. Poor dad was so tired at his new job, which was odd because he got to wear pajamas all day. Dad had worked as an emergency doctor for a month as he and Mom tried to get things prepared for all of us to move to Earth. He had to flash back and forth every day and was very careful not to wear his work pajamas to Duran because he didn’t want to introduce dangerous Earth germs to Duran.
We all waited quietly as he sipped his coffee. I had sampled the dark liquid once before and found it disgusting. I was still waiting for the perfect time to trick Hail into drinking it, because he never tried it.
“Your class schedules arrived yesterday,” Dad said. “I got you both in advanced classes, but they wouldn’t put Ron in sixth grade because he’s too young.” His tone was resigned, as if he knew an argument was coming.
“So we’re in fifth grade?” Hail asked, predictably.
“Sorry, honey, but the best I could do was get you in the same school. You’re in sixth grade and Ron is in fifth grade. Seventh graders are in a different building. This year, you’re going to have to be bear with it. Next year, you’ll go to seventh grade and Ron will skip sixth grade so the two of you can be in the same class. So, Ron…”
“Show them all up so I can skip sixth grade? No problem. Thank you for getting us in the same school. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“No! We have to be in the same class!” Hail cried. “Ron needs me! What if something happens?”
Mom sighed and Dad looked apologetic. I knew Dad spent every single spare minute with us, trying to give us the love and attention he never had growing up. I took Hail’s hand and sent a gentle burst of energy through him. He took the hint and shut up.
“We haven’t got the bus schedule yet, so somebody has to drop you off at school.”
“Not it!” Mom declared.
Dad laughed, kissed her, and told us we would be going to school with a neighbor. He was getting more coffee as Mordon walked in wearing jeans and no shirt. Dad’s very slight shifting from one foot to the other was the only acknowledgement he gave his brother until he turned around.
“There’s plenty more coffee.” Their usual banter followed.
Dad left after hugging Hail and me, and Mordon turned to Mom. “So what are you really doing?”
“There’s a demon stalking a woman in Cardiff. I’m going to speak with Janus about why his demons are getting out. What about you?”
“I’m going to figure out how to use a computer. Dylan showed me to the library yesterday and I’m going to get online to find an open field or something.”
“You can’t read English. I think the best you’re going to find is a forest.”
“I can’t shift in a forest. And actually, I’ve learned to use Dylan’s magic to translate, even literature. We are so used to combining and swapping energy that it has become instinctive any time we touch. I touched his arm on his way out, so we are able to use each other’s magic for a few hours. That should give me a little time to do research.”
“Wait, you two have to touch to---?”
I slapped my hand over my brother’s mouth to stop him. “You have to let them discover their abilities on their own.”
“But they didn’t grow up together like we did. We should help them.”
“Not with this. Especially if there is something we can do that they can’t. We’re both part god, but they’re not. Mordon is part dragon and we don’t know what Dad is. Maybe their bond is different.”
“That’s so sad,” he said.
I nodded and retracted my hand. “We have to get ready for school,” I said. He scrunched up his face and pointed to his Batman t-shirt and Scooby-Doo shorts. “You’re not wearing that to school.”
“Dad didn’t say I had to change. Mom, can I wear this?”
She considered his clothes and shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
He grinned brightly. I glared. “No way. If you wear that, I’m avoiding you. I will not be seen with you wearing that!”
His grin dropped like a rock in the water. In fact, he looked devastated. “You can’t do that. Do I embarrass you?”
I sighed and considered my next words carefully. Mom could make Dad do anything she wanted without upsetting him. Why couldn’t Hail just be reasonable? I took his hand in both of mine and looked him in the eyes. “You could never embarrass me, but you need to trust me that I know what I’m talking about.” There. I think that’s how Mom would handle it.
Hail stared at me until I was sure it didn’t work, before finally nodding. “Okay.” He got up and left the kitchen.
“You shouldn’t manipulate your brother,” Mordon advised.
“I just did what Mom would have done with Dad. I couldn’t let him go to school like that. Oh, no, I’ve got to go pick out his clothes before he finds something equally ridiculous.” I ran to our bedroom. Hail was holding up a bright red t-shirt and dark green cargo shorts. “Oh, god, no.” I picked out a dark green button-up shirt and blue jeans. “Wear these.”
He didn’t argue with me, so I picked out a dark blue t-shirt and jeans for myself.
“These jeans don’t fit,” Hail complained.
My brother was big for his age and grew quickly, probably because he was half dile. I, on the other hand, was very small and couldn’t seem to grow no matter what I ate. “Do they button?” I asked.
“Yeah… barely.”
“Then they’re fine. Ask Dad for new clothes when he gets home tonight.”
We got dressed and grabbed our bags and schedules on the way out. Mordon, after putting on a very thick black sweater, took us to the apartment one door over and knocked on the door. A pretty woman with shoulder-length, light blond hair and celadon green eyes opened the door wearing a tight black skirt, bright blue blouse, and black heels. She glanced between us and Mordon before smiling. “Are you Dylan?”
“No, Dylan has already left for work. I’m his brother, Mordon.” He held out his hand, whic
h she shook.
“I’m Stacy. Drake is getting ready, so he’ll be just a minute. Come on in, boys,” she said to Hail and me.
“I’m Hail,” my brother said. “This is Ron. Your shirt is pretty.”
“Hail,” Mordon growled in warning.
“What?” Hail asked, confused. I was confused, too, but I was also irritated that Hail hadn’t said he liked my shirt. They were the same color, so it wasn’t fair that he liked hers more. He looked at me, sensing my emotions. “I like brighter blue more than darker blue,” Hail explained.
I sighed, knowing I would ask Dad for new clothes. I pushed Hail until he passed the woman and went inside. The house was a mirror image of ours as far as the brown carpet, tan walls, and layout went. Instead of the rented furniture we had, this apartment had black leather furniture. Whereas our place had toys, potions, and medical books strewn about, Stacy’s was immaculate. Personally, I thought it was boring as hell.
A boy about my age entered the living room wearing a Superman t-shirt, blue jeans, and a backpack that looked way too big for him. He was small, like me, but too skinny, as if he never ate anything. He also wore a bright-red wool hat on his head. I thought that was odd, because it was not nearly cold enough to require a hat, but Dad had said he was sick. Maybe it made him cold?
“He looks so scared,” Hail said.
I nodded. We would both be watching out for this guy. Nobody would mess with our new friend or they would find out what being on the wrong side of two demigods was all about.
“Hey, Superman!” Hail said excitedly, as if he just realized it. “Superman is awesome.”
Drake smiled. “I have a Superman lunchbox, too.” He set the backpack down, which matched his shirt, and started pulling out a ton of Superman stuff, from notebooks to his lunchbox.
A few minutes later, we were all heading out to the parking lot and piling into Stacy’s light blue Prius. Drake sat up front with his mother for the ten minute ride to school. When we parked in front of the building, Hail leaned over me to peer at the huge school. Everything was concrete, brick, and glass.