Sere from the Green (The Shape Shifter Chronicles Book 1)

by Lauren Jankowski

  The DVD skipped and Suzy was creeping down a dark hallway with golden leaves painted on the walls. Isis frowned and looked around for the remote control. The few DVDs she owned were in good condition and never had one skipped on her before. The murky blue light made visibility nonexistent. She jolted at the sound of a gasp, shaking her head when she realized it was only the movie. A crash of lightning and another sharp gasp had her looking for any kind of remote so she could lower the volume. Her TV had suddenly become louder and the last thing Isis needed was to be evicted for fighting with angry neighbors. Where is that damn thing? Don’t tell me it disappeared too, she thought as she got on her hands and knees and felt around under the couch. She could hear ragged breathing from the TV behind her, the volume making it sound much closer. Isis could almost feel the breath on the nape of her neck.

  “Who is it!? Who’s there!?” an unpleasant rough voice demanded, causing Isis to jerk up. Her insides clenched up and she gripped the sofa, letting out her breath when she realized it was only the movie.

  “Get a grip, Isis,” she chastised herself. “You’re acting like a child.”

  As she stood up and approached the TV, the witch began to cackle in sadistic amusement. Isis reached down to lower the volume. The room was briefly illuminated in red and then blue again.

  “Now death is coming for you!” the witch cackled as Isis tried to turn the volume down and the television suddenly blinked off. Isis looked at the TV and then the DVD player. Both were black, indicating that the power had gone out.

  “Dammit,” she grumbled in annoyance, looking toward the kitchen. The clock on the microwave was also dark. Isis groaned and ran her hands over her face, wondering if her week could possibly get any worse.

  Moving to the kitchen, her bare feet soon touched smooth linoleum and she went over to the refrigerator, reaching for the small cabinet overhead where she kept matches and a flashlight. Isis paused when she saw a glow out of the corner of her eye, noticing the light was on in the hall. How could the power be out in just one apartment? She was up to date on her bills so . . .

  Before another thought could form in her mind, a coil of steel wrapped around her throat and cinched to completely cut off her oxygen. Isis gagged as her hands flew up to the sharp metal about her neck. Lifting up both feet, she pushed off the fridge, hoping to knock her assailant off balance. She succeeded in knocking the mysterious person back a couple steps, enough to collide with the counter, but the coil remained tight. The attacker spun her around and began dragging her out of the kitchen. Isis, using her free hand, desperately searched for any kind of weapon. Her thrashing knocked everything off the counter.

  Her assailant suddenly fell backward and the two crashed to the ground. Isis gagged, fighting for air, as she dug her elbow into the attacker’s ribs and clawed at their face. A thin line of hot blood welled up beneath the coil as Isis tried slamming her head against her unknown assailant. In desperation, she began to kick her legs around.

  Dark spots started to form in her vision and moving became more and more difficult as her breath slowly ran out. Above her, the drapes once again fluttered about in the cool night breeze.

  *~*~*~*~*

  Jade stood in the elevator next to Electra, who was drumming her fingers impatiently. She had not said two words since telling Jet and Lilly that she would help them and her ire was almost tangible. Jade glanced at the floors as they lit up, wondering what had happened to the music that used to play in elevators. It had been annoying as hell, but a situation such as the one she found herself in warranted it. Jade wasn’t a fan of stony silences. Of course, she wasn’t a fan of inane blather either.

  “I don’t suppose anyone has given any thought about what we should say to her,” Electra growled. Jade looked over to her, surprised she had broken the quiet first.

  “What were you thinking of saying?” she asked.

  “Hi, I’m your identical twin sister. Welcome to your new life, everyone will lie to you until it benefits them to tell the truth and you’ll be treated as little more than a pawn,” Electra replied icily. Jade studied her for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek as she looked back to the floors lighting up.

  “Maybe I should do the talking,” Jade mentioned. The gold door finally slid open on the fourth floor and the two women stepped out into a clean hallway. It was quiet and their footsteps seemed strangely silent on the hardwood floor. Whatever faint sounds they heard were peculiar, more muted than was natural. Jade frowned as she looked around them, sensing something wasn’t right. It felt exactly like the warehouse had, right before all hell broke loose. She was distantly aware of Electra continuing to speak, but paid no attention. Jade reached for the gun she was concealing in the back of her pants, carefully pulling it out and holding it in a two-handed grip.

  “Jade?” Electra asked, noticing the firearm for the first time. Guardians were forbidden from using guns and their laws prohibited violence. Protectors led more dangerous lives than the guardians and so their use of weapons was allowed.

  “Probably nothing,” Jade replied, but she picked up her pace a little and jogged down the hall. They reached the door and Jade immediately noticed that the lights were out. She tilted her head, listening for any noise inside the apartment. When she heard nothing, she glanced over her shoulder down the hall she and Electra had just come down, noticing faint traces of light under all the other doors.

  “Maybe she’s not home,” Electra offered as she leaned against the wall behind her. Jade shook her head as she reached for the knob.

  “Our source says she will be in all night,” she said, trying the knob and finding it locked. Jade swore under her breath as she pointed the muzzle of her gun toward the ground.

  “Stand back,” she warned Electra.

  “Wouldn’t picking the lock be a better, less destructive solution?” Electra suggested as she stayed leaning against the opposite wall.

  “Takes too long,” Jade replied as she raised her long leg and kicked at the doorjamb. It took two strong kicks, but Jade managed to splinter the doorframe. The door swung open as the chain snapped and rattled against the wood.

  The apartment was dark and silent. In her peripheral vision, Jade saw the drapes flutter in the breeze. Jade swiftly, but cautiously, moved inside the apartment. Her dark brown eyes did a sweep of her shadowy surroundings. Nervousness coiled in her stomach, but years of experience allowed her to ignore the unpleasant feeling as she moved around the apartment. She didn’t like the vibe she was getting in the apartment. It was too similar to what had happened last week. Everything was unnaturally cold and still. The darkness had an abnormal heaviness to it and it almost seemed to be breathing. Tiny droplets of sweat began to bead on Jade’s forehead as she continued to look around.

  A sudden shriek behind her and a burst of blue light caused her to spin around, gun drawn. Jade let out a breath of relief when she saw it was only the TV, which had suddenly burst to life. The image of a once beautiful woman, now grotesquely deformed by barbed wire, filled the screen. Jade spun back when she heard coughing and was startled when a dark form bolted past her. The protector didn’t have time to wonder about it as she narrowly dodged a club of some kind coming down toward her head. Jade was able to maneuver her skull out of the way, but the blunt weapon managed to clip her wrist and caused her to lose her grip on her gun. Jade let out a cry of pain and was thrown across the room by a phantom force. She collided with the wall, bringing a picture down with her as she crashed to the floor, hearing the glass on the picture shatter next to her. Jade’s eyes fell on a bat within reaching distance and she lunged for it, grabbing it and rising to her feet again, prepared to take on whatever the mystery form was. She was shocked to find the apartment empty. Her eyes darted about the room as she held onto the bat, doing a mental check of her injuries. Her wrist was at the very least sprained, more likely fractured, and her ribs hurt every time she inhaled, probably from her collision with the wall. The sound of ragged breathing and
high-pitched screaming brought her attention back to the television. In the movie, small trinkets began to explode and an empty chair slid across the room. Jade approached it, her walk a little stiffer than normal, and turned it off, her eyes still traveling about the apartment.

  Her gaze landed on the open window and, for a moment, Jade could have sworn she heard the rattle of the fire escape outside. The sound was so faint, she was unsure whether or not she had just imagined it. Better safe than sorry, she thought as she took a step toward the open window.

  “Jade!” Electra’s winded voice came from the hall, making Jade hesitate. She had completely forgotten she was with a guardian and therefore responsible for her safety. As a protector, her loyalty to the guardians always came first.

  “Dammit,” Jade cursed as she hurried to retrieve her gun, before running out into the hall. Electra was pushing herself up from a sitting position, looking dazed.

  “She kicked me,” she stated, sounding indignant. The kick had obviously been well-aimed because it had knocked the wind out of the young guardian.

  “Which way did she go?” Jade asked, looking down the hall. They had to get out of there fast. There was a chance a tenant had called the police and dealing with cops was not something Jade particularly enjoyed doing.

  “After she kicked me?” Electra asked, nodding down the opposite way they had come. “Down that way and she took the stairs.”

  “Go back to the car and stay there until I get back,” Jade ordered as she tossed Electra her keys before dashing down the hall, the cream-colored doors becoming a blur. She reached the door to the stairs and threw it open, running to the railing and looking down. It wasn’t long before Jade caught a glimpse of someone two flights below, running down the stairs. She turned and began making her way down the first flight, allowing her body to melt into another form as she continued her pursuit. The muscles and bones expanded and contracted as she shrunk down to all fours, a long tail growing out behind her. Fur sprouted from her flesh and within seconds, she was an adult snow leopard, her personal favorite form. Growing up in Brazil, Jade had heard stories of such majestic creatures and never lost her fascination with them. To her, there was something almost magical about snow and the animals found in colder climates.

  Her body easily wove down the stairs as she made use of the leopard’s natural agility. She leapt up onto one railing and soared across to another, hopping down entire flights that way. Finally, she caught up to the woman and moved in front of her, turning on her heel and getting up on two legs. Using her two front paws, Jade pinned the woman against the wall. The woman let out a yell, her eyes widening, and without thinking, Jade allowed her body to shift back into its usual human form. Her muzzle shrank back into a human nose and mouth, the fur disappeared and her joints straightened out again. Jade shook her head as her ears returned to their normal form and she rotated her shoulders a bit.

  For a moment, the two women stood staring at each other. Both were breathless from the chase and Jade could see the other woman’s entire body was shaking. She was taken aback by how similar the woman looked to Electra. It was uncanny, right down to the charm she wore at her throat. The younger twin wore her hair shorter than the guardian, but other than that, she was her sister’s mirror image.

  “I take it you’re Isis?” Jade asked, arching an elegant dark eyebrow. The woman stared at her in complete disbelief, still shaking.

  “You just . . . you just . . . What the fuck!?” she stammered, on the verge of a panic attack. Definitely a bad idea, Jade thought as she removed one hand from the wall and picked up the emerald shamrock from where it rested on the woman’s chest. She flipped it over and read the inscription on the back, nodding once.

  “Yep, you’re her,” she said, dropping it again and looking back to the frightened woman. “Look, I know that was kind of . . . shocking and probably a lot for you take in. I apologize for that. I fear I was a little careless.”

  Jade winced in sympathy as her long fingers drifted over to Isis’ throat where there was a thin line of blood. Isis jerked her head away from the touch, raising one hand defensively. Jade dropped her hand and lowered her other hand, not offended by the woman’s suspicion. If she’d had the life Isis had, she would probably be wary of strangers too. Especially strangers that could turn into animals, a feat that should have been impossible. It was stupid and impulsive to shift in front of her, Jade thought, annoyed with her carelessness. It was something she frequently chastised younger protectors for: relying too much on shifting and getting sloppy about it.

  “You’ve had a very long night and probably have a lot of questions. Come on, there’s a car waiting,” Jade offered as she turned and started moving toward the next flight of stairs. She was halfway down when she realized Isis wasn’t following her. Turning, Jade placed her hands on the black railings, moving back up a couple steps.

  “Somebody tried to kill you. Chances are they’re not the type to just give up. Next time, I won’t be around,” Jade pointed out as she looked to the woman who still stood with her back pressed against the wall.

  “I have no idea who you are,” Isis replied, suspicion reflected on her face.

  Jade smiled and offered her hand. “Name’s Jade and I just saved your life. Please come with me.”

  Isis didn’t move, causing Jade to sigh and drop her hand. She climbed back up the stairs and leaned against the banister at the top.

  “You want evidence that I’m on your side, all right. I know about the body, Bryn Adams,” Jade said, deciding to try a different tact. Bingo, she thought as Isis’ eyes widened again and she straightened up from the wall. The younger woman swallowed and took a careful step toward her, unable to hide her curiosity.

  “That wasn’t a hallucination?” she asked, but it sounded more like a statement of vindication. Jade shook her head once.

  “No. I was there,” she replied, looking down the steps. As much as Jade didn’t want to think about that night, she knew she had to if only to coax Isis into coming with her.

  “So, what happened? Where’s the body?” Isis demanded, now within reaching distance. Jade turned her dark brown eyes back to her.

  “I said I knew about the body, not what happened to it,” she clarified, starting down the stairs. “If you want to help solve that mystery, come with me.”

  It took a moment, but Jade finally heard Isis’ footsteps trailing hers as they moved down the stairs and toward the lower floor. She smiled a little, pleased that she had accomplished what she had set out to do.

  *~*~*~*~*

  Isis sat in the back seat of Jade’s Mustang, which was currently doing eighty by her estimate. Isis clutched her seat every time Jade took a sharp turn, which felt like every other minute. In the front seat were Jade and Isis’ twin sister, Electra. Isis had only known her sister less than an hour and had already managed to royally piss her off. Her uncanny ability to get on people’s bad sides was still going strong. Though Isis knew she wouldn’t have enjoyed getting kicked in the diaphragm.

  “Ow! Quit elbowing me,” Electra snapped at Jade, shifting in her seat so she was a little further away from the driver.

  “Say something to her,” Jade said under her breath.

  “Like what?” Electra asked, not even attempting to be quiet.

  “Um, I can hear you,” Isis said from the back, wondering if they had forgotten about her. She wasn’t sure she should draw attention to herself, but there was an uncomfortable tension in the car and she was still incredibly nervous. Raising a hand to massage her aching throat, Isis grimaced a little at the sting.

  “Look, it’s not her fault that the High Council thought it best to lie to both of you,” Jade replied, ignoring her passenger in the backseat. Electra sat back in a huff and it became uncomfortably silent once again. Isis leaned forward, resting her arms on the backs of their seats.

  “Are you with the FBI?” she asked.

  “No,” Jade replied.

  “CIA?”


  “No,” Electra responded, staring out the window.

  “MI-5?”

  “No,” Electra and Jade responded simultaneously in obvious exasperation. Isis frowned, thinking of other organizations that employed covert agents. Deciding that was a fruitless line of questioning for the moment, Isis turned her attention to Jade.

  “So, can I turn into a snow leopard? Or is it some sort of virus, like transferred through a bite or sex or something?” she asked. Electra let out a huff that sounded like a laugh and shook her head, massaging her brow.

  “It’s hereditary and you’ll be able to shift once you’re trained,” Jade answered.

  “How much longer before we get to wherever we’re going?” Isis asked, glancing out the window when a car shot by with its brights on. The buildings became sparser as they traveled further from the town.

  “It’ll be a while yet,” Jade replied, glancing over at Electra when she shifted her weight. The young guardian glanced over at her sister before turning her eyes to the clean windshield.

  “Great. Then you two will have no problem explaining to me just what the hell is going on,” Isis stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Because last time I checked, wereleopards didn’t exist.”

  Electra snorted while Jade screeched to a halt at a red light. The sleek car jerked a little at the sudden stop.

  “I’m not a wereleopard,” Jade protested, sounding offended. “Electra, please explain to your sister just who and what we are.”

  “Fine,” Electra said and twisted in her seat so that she was facing the back and looking at Isis. It was weird to suddenly have a sibling, especially one who happened to be her identical twin. I’m even weirder than most people assume, Isis thought, waiting for the woman to speak.