Midnight Metamorphosis

by Deborah E. Kehoe

“I am an Elemental.” He said flicking a hand out and sending some loose tea into a small tornado across the table. “Elementals are men who can call on the four elements, Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. As Seers powers are matriarchal, Elementals powers develop only on the male side.”

  “Do you develop your powers at the same age as, um, Seers?” I stumbled over the unfamiliar name cautiously.

  “No, Elemental boys get their power at the age of twelve when the boys um, enter puberty.” Cole blushed slightly, the tips of his ears turning pink. I hid a smile looking away. He was so cute!

  “Your father, Mathis, is one of the strongest Elementals to be born to his line in the last century. His ability to call on all four elements has given his family tremendous wealth and power. With powers over all four elements, there’s not much your father can’t do.” Cole spoke with a fervor of pride in my father’s accomplishments that confused me.

  “Have you seen him? My father?” I asked looking hopefully at Cole, and he nodded, glancing down at his clasped hands.

  “Your father is friends with Cole’s father, honey. Your father arranged for Cole’s family to move here a couple of years ago, hoping that you and your mother would someday come through town to see me.” Tears filled Brenna’s eyes, “But we never expected you to show up on your own.”

  Remembering what brought me to town, I nodded slowly, then had a thought and looked up at Cole, my eyes narrowed and a ball of hurt filled my chest.

  “Is my father still alive?” I asked. When my dad left us, my mother kept saying he had to go away so he could work hard to come back to us. As a little girl, I just couldn’t understand why he would choose to leave. Then, when my mom just stopped talking about him and then got more and more paranoid, I tried to ask her about him again but my mother actually cried, trying to explain that he had promised her he’d come back. She seemed so upset that it was just easier to avoid the subject. When I think about how she died trying to sell her survival kits so she and I could eat, it made me sad. But it also made me mad.

  I had only a few memories of my father but could only visualize him from a photo I had of him tossing me into the air when I was a baby. I was giggling and my father had a big smile on his face. I wish that photo had been a full shot of him, but it was only a profile. Even so, I could tell that I looked like him, having the same two-toned blonde and brown hair.

  Cole answered, “Your father is now the First Sentinel of the Elementals.” He said that with pride, his face militaristic. I realized from his reaction that this was a big deal to him.

  At my questioning look Brenna explained, “The First Sentinel is the leader of the Elementals. As leader, he sits on the first seat of the Committee, a combined group of Seers and Elementals who make the decisions and laws for our people. Years ago, the plan was for Mathis to immerse himself back into Elemental society, so that he could provide some sort of protection for you and your mother. Your father has used his abilities over all four elements to gain power and rise through the ranks until he achieved First Sentinel status.” I was confused by the sadness in my aunt’s voice as she told me this and I looked to Cole for an explanation, but he misinterpreted my look and went on to explain more about Elemental hierarchy.

  “When you have powers over several elements, you are considered more valuable to your community. You’re given higher levels of training, and if you excel you can become Guardians.” Cole’s eyes were shining as he spoke.

  “Guardians? Of what?” I asked. This was a bit much to take in. My mom and I had been on the run for nine years, but my dad was now the leader of his people? When had that happened? If he was the leader, why had my mom and I moved around constantly? My head was spinning with all of this new information, and I looked back at Cole, trying to focus on what he was saying.

  Cole ran his hands through his hair. That, combined with the earlier battle, had given him a cute, rakish, rather disheveled look. His hair stood straight up in the front around his cowlick, and his eyes had turned purple with intensity. “A Guardian is taught to use his powers offensively and defensively, serving the Committee. Your father moved my family to Dover so I could be your Guardian and protect you.”

  I flashed back to soccer practice when the wind kicked up suddenly, and then here, today, with the ground shaking and the steam burning that man. “But you’re the same age I am! How can you protect me?” I asked.

  Cole looked embarrassed, but straightened up in his seat and said, “I have been in training to be a Guardian since I gained my powers four years ago.”

  Brenna jumped in with an explanation, “Cole can use three elements, and because his father and your father are close, and you both are close in age, he was assigned to you.” She looked undecided, but continued, “When your mom became pregnant by your father, it was assumed by the Committee that it was you that was prophesied. The first child born from the union of a Seer and an Elemental, since your grandmother’s vision.”

  “Wait.” I held up a hand. Jumping up out of my chair to pace in front of the table. “I think you guys skipped a part. Prophecy? Me?” Information overload, I thought.

  “Your grandmother spoke of a prophecy that said the birth of a daughter with mixed Other blood would cause a power shift, ending the peace that has lasted between our kind for the last two hundred years. Because of this prophecy, the two Elementals and Seers, who had been close allies, separated.”

  “But you all get along now, right?” I asked. “Yes, but at first, only the Committee knew about the prophecy. After your parents fell in love the Committee decided it was better for the younger generations to know about it. To keep other people from making the same mistake.”

  Brenna looked sad and distant as she spoke these words but nodded towards Cole. “Cole was taught about the prophecy at a young age.” Cole nodded in agreement.

  “So, how did my parents meet if Seers and Elementals were forbidden from getting together?”

  “I’m afraid it was partly my fault.” Brenna said. “Your mother kept me company on my walks in the woods to gather herbs. One day we came across Mathis practicing his craft and the rest was history. They fell instantly in love.” She told the story with sadness. “Soon they were meeting in secret, when they became eighteen, they wanted to marry. They told our families and everyone was horrified. They were forbidden to see each other, but they were already pregnant with you.” Brenna blinked back tears.

  I fought my own tears, realizing now, why my mother and I had been on the run all of those years. “If my father was climbing the ranks in order to change things so that he could help my mother and I why didn’t we ever hear from him?” I asked my aunt and her lips tightened in anger.

  I had another thought and spoke before she could answer. “I’ve been here for a couple weeks. Why hasn’t he come to see me?” That hazy memory of a father who smiled and swung me around in his arms dimmed and my heart shriveled.

  “I wanted to be sure that you were his daughter before I said anything to my father.” Cole winced and spoke up quickly, seeing the hurt on my face.

  I glanced down at the ring on my right hand and reached over with my left hand to twist it. Cole quickly covered my hand with his and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t think you should twist that ring,” he said, “it seems to be a focus for whatever powers you’re getting.” I remembered earlier when I had zapped the bookshelf, and nodded, confused.

  “That raises another question.” I said trying not to twist my ring. I really need to find another nervous tic, I thought crazily, as if that were the least of my problems after hearing about all of this!

  “Why do I even have any powers?” I declared, looking back and forth between Brenna and Cole.

  “Well, girls aren’t supposed to develop their powers until they are sixteen and the fact that yours are materializing early may mean that the prophecy is correct.” Brenna spoke with a grim look in her eye. “This could also be why we haven’t heard from your father. It could really make things dif
ficult for him as the Sentinel.”

  Great. I just moved to a new town, found an aunt I didn’t know I had, made some friends who just so happen to have some kind of freaky gifts, and found out my father was alive and the leader of the Elementals. I didn’t even know Elementals existed, and even more important, he hasn’t even come to see me! What else could happen? Oh yeah. “So, who do you think that guy was in the store and what did he want?” I asked, looking at the doorway into the store, as if someone was going to come storming through it.

  “I’m not sure,” Brenna said, “but, there was a group of both Seers and Elementals who weren’t happy about your mom and dad, so he could be from that group.”

  “OK, great.” I said, thinking that we needed to step up our security on this place if I was going to have this group popping in to do who knows what to me.

  Chapter 5

  Avery

  Ana and I walked out of Biology class, and I looked back with a shudder. We had just finished dissecting a cow eyeball and I could still smell the formaldehyde. Ana, with a skip in her step, was about to walk past Cole who had been leaning up against the wall next to the door. “Hey,” he said to us, and we both responded “hi” back. Ana giggling slightly as she gave me a glance and moved to her locker. He walked with us over to the lockers, which were on the same wall only a couple of feet apart. As I turned the combination on mine, he leaned up against it, next to me. I shoved my biology book and iPad into the locker and grabbed my bag lunch and looked over at him.

  “What’s up?” I asked quietly, trying to be low key. After our discussion yesterday, I felt even more nervous around him than I did before. I mean, here’s this guy, who is totally cute, can play Air, Water, and Earth like they’re instruments, and who is also my own personal bodyguard? I didn’t know how to act around him, but I was determined to not let that nervousness show, so I straightened my spine.

  “I thought I’d walk to lunch with you guys,” he said, looking down the row of lockers towards Ana. I looked over and saw her grab her lunch bag out of her locker and shut the door. I noticed, once again, that her skin tone had changed colors, making her blend in slightly with the beige wall.

  “Sure,” I said, and we headed down the hall towards the cafeteria. As we neared the Quad, I saw Summer and Ben sitting under a tree in the shade.

  Ben looked up. “Cole!” he yelled. Summer looked at us and waved. We walked past a couple of kids who were throwing a football to each other. As one boy threw to the other, the ball started to sail straight towards Summers head. I started to take a breath to yell at her to look out, when Ben, swiveled his head to the side slightly and leaped straight up from a sitting position, his hand reaching up and scooping the football from in front of her face to his chest. He landed standing up and threw the ball back to the other guy.

  “Thanks, sugar,” Summer said, reaching her hand out to hold his as he sat back down next to her. Ben grabbed a French fry off her plate and stuck it in his mouth.

  Wow, that was an incredible catch! I looked around at my group of friends for a reaction but noticed nobody seemed surprised. Apparently, Cole and I weren’t the only ones who had some unique gifts.

  Let’s just get this out in the open, I thought to myself. “Ok,” I said to the group, looking each one of them in the eye. “Is there something you’d all like to share with me?” Yesterday, when Cole and Brenna told me about my background as the daughter of a Seer and Elemental, that I might develop powers, and that Cole, being an Elemental, already had powers, I wondered about some of these unique abilities I kept seeing in my friends. Brenna had mentioned Others but didn’t really get past Cole’s background and mine.

  Cole, knowing what I was going to ask, leaned over to Ben and said with a smirk, “Show her what you can do.” Ben looked at me and blinked. His blink was not like my blink, which was normal with one eyelid moving from the top to the bottom of my eye. He had two lids, one that blinked from the top, and one from the bottom of his eye, and met in the center. He looked over at Summer’s plate of food and I noticed a French fry fly into his mouth. He chewed slightly and grinned.

  “What,” I asked, my mouth hanging slightly open, “was that?” Ben’s tongue unfurled from his mouth and zipped over to grab another fry from Summer’s plate.

  “Watch the tongue, Ben!” Summer laughed, biting into her cheeseburger.

  “Guys, throw the ball over here again!” Ben called over to the two boys throwing the football. The ball was thrown our way and Ben leaped from a sitting position and scooped the ball up again. This time, he didn’t throw it back, but turned his hand over. The ball stuck to his hand.

  “Take it from me,” Ben said, as he held the ball out towards me. I tried to take it, but it was seriously stuck to his hand! Ben curled his palm in slightly and the ball released from his palm with a small sound and popped into my hand. I stepped towards him and said, “Let me see your hand.” He held his hand out and flexed his palm slightly. When he did that, these little suction cups popped out. When he curled his hand in slightly, the suction cups disappeared. He took the ball and threw it back. I looked at him with my mouth hanging open and he reached out and closed it.

  “Don’t want to catch any flies in there, do you?” His eyes gleamed as he laughed and Cole gave him a high five.

  “Stop playing with her,” Summer laughed. “Ave, Ben’s dad is a frog shifter and his mom is human.” She said it so matter of fact, reaching for Ben’s hand again and tugging him down next to her. I turned that over in my mind and closed the door on that picture with a shudder.

  “You mean, his dad can turn into a frog? Like at the full moon or something? Do you do that too?” I laughed in amazement looking at Summer. Everyone laughed.

  “Nah, I don’t shift into anything, but I have inherited a little bit of his traits.” Ben said nonchalantly. “My dad’s family emigrated here from South America a couple of generations ago.”

  “Where’d that blonde hair come from then?” I asked mockingly, and Ben laughed.

  “The California sunshine, babe!”

  I laughed and shook my head. Then a thought occurred to me, “Wait a second, you’re our goalie, doesn’t that give our team an unfair advantage?”

  “Nah, Ventura’s team has a monkey shifter for a goalie.” I looked at him like he was crazy. “No, seriously, sometimes after the game they have a hard time getting him off the goal posts, but he’s a great goalie!” Ben laughed as he said it, but his eyes were serious.

  I turned to Ana. “Okay, you’re next. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your skin changes color!” I said to her. As we all watched Ana, I noticed that her hand, which was resting on the ground at her side, had turned a slight green tint, blending in with the grass.

  Ana smiled with quiet delight, “You’re right, I’m a Chameleon.” She held up her hand, and I saw little swirls appear on her skin and then separate into groups of freckle clusters. The color of her skin had turned back to a beautiful peachy tint. Her eyes turned a warm shade of brown. Ben let out a soft whistle and Summer slugged him in the arm.

  “That explains why no one ever seems to remember you.” I said to her, nodding towards Summer and also thinking back to my first day of class when Mr. Newsome argued with her about whether she’d been in class before.

  Summer chimed in with, “Sorry about that, Ana!”

  “No problem, Summer, my instinct is to always blend in,” Ana said quietly, “but I can also change my skin color at will.” She put her hand in front of Summer’s brown leather purse, and the freckles in her hand swirled and disappeared, her skin tone changing to an almost exact match.

  “Ok, so we have Frog boy, a Chameleon, and what are you?” I asked looking directly at Summer. Summer held out her arm and fur started sprouting from the top of it. I really wasn’t trying to catch flies, but my mouth was open as I watched her arm grow long golden fur. Her nails were now long claws that looked like they could shred through steel, the tips still painted with red poli
sh. Her nose had flattened slightly and I could see ears peeking through her still long blonde hair.

  “I’m a cat shifter.” Summer yawned, showing a mouthful of very sharp teeth that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “You know the full moon thing is just creative storytelling.” She stretched her arm back out, shut her eyes and grimaced. The hair, teeth, and nails receded back into her human form.

  “Shifters have lived in this area for a couple generations. Everyone in my family has cat like traits, but my immediate family more closely resembles a mountain lion. Of course, we don’t completely shift into a mountain lion. We still walk on two legs.”

  “But didn’t Ana say that you moved here only a few years ago?”

  “My father is from this area and went away to college in Georgia. That’s where my mom and her family is from.” She answered with a thickened southern drawl.

  “That does explain your super speed and how athletic you are on the soccer field.” I pictured Summer playing soccer with a family of cat shifters. Each one fast and having great foot, hand, and eye coordination. I don’t think I’ll be joining their pick up games!

  “But, isn’t it hard to hide what you are from everyone here?” I waved my hand at the other kids throwing the football around and eating lunch. Everyone laughed, and Cole pointed out a girl sitting at the table under the tree close by. She had been talking to a friend and at Cole’s whistle her head spun around on her neck, so that it was looking at us, but her body was still facing in the other direction. Her eyes glowed yellow, and then she gave a long slow blink, and her head twisted back around. I gasped, and Cole said, “Ayla is part Owl. Dover is filled with kids who are a little Other.”

  Knowing that everyone was a little different made me feel less anxious about sharing my story with them. I looked at my friends and started talking.

  “Well since you all have been straight with me, I have something to share too.” Cole and I took turns re-telling my story and also what happened in the store yesterday. They were already aware of Cole’s powers, but were impressed that he had been assigned as my Guardian.