by P. Mattern
Tossing her hair back she laughed shortly.
“But that DOESN’T mean that I’m ‘what’s for dinner’! You copy that?” she added saucily.
“I copy that.” Carey replied, starting to lean toward Kimbra’s smiling face for another kiss, when they were both startled by an adolescent male voice coming from behind their seats.
“Hey man, sorry to interrupt your make out session there,” Loki/Avi intoned ,”But can I borrow a pair of shorts or something? I seem to be in form again!”
Carey,looking irritated and also pissed at the interruption, told Kimbra to keep her eyes facing forward and grabbed for his backpack, which held most of his wardrobe.
“Here!” he said, tossing them at the boy.”Put these on as quickly as you can. We’re in the center of town for crapsakes!”
“Thanks, man!” the boy returned cheerfully. “And by way of introduction to your lady-hello Kimbra, I’m Avi.”
Kimbra turned around after an interval long enough for Avi to have slipped on the cargo shorts and said ,”I’m pleased to meet you finally. Carey told me about you but I wasn’t sure whether he was delusional until just now.”
“Open a window.” Carey sighed as he pulled away from the standing lane,”Dude you smell MORE like a dog in human form than you did in dog form. I’ll find that camping ground that I saw on the map-it’s a few miles out and they have camper showers.”
“Who are you talking to Carey?” Aunt Ida’s sleepy voice drifted toward the front of the RV from her comfortable makeshift bed in the back .
“Oh just a hitchhiker Aunt Ida, his name is Avi-say hi to Aunt Ida Avi.” Carey answered casually, giving Avi a warning look.
“Pleased to meet you ma’am.” Avi said, throwing his voice behind him and showing a mouthful of white teeth, not unlike the teeth he’d displayed when in canine form. Reaching past Carey and Kimbra he wrapped his long fingers around a can of Red Bull in the cup holder and pulled it back towards him, drinking it in three noisy, large gulps.
“Sorry man,“ he said, wiping his mouth on his forearm ,I’ve been wanting a taste of your Red Bull for the last 100 miles!”
“And how graciously you’ve helped yourself…dog manners!!” Carey retorted, driving in and out of traffic in the mildly congested city streets.”Why are you able to shapeshift to human form NOW?”
“I think the hex is wearing off.” Avi replied,”I mean I’m happy to have shapeshifting abilities but being stuck is a bummer. And having sex in dog form lacks a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’, you know? Pretty impersonal.”
Kimbra started laughing and Carey shook his head as if he couldn’t believe Avi’s comment.
“TMI dude!! “he responded, and then added , with a touch of genuine sadness in his voice,
“-AND already I’m missing my DOG.” He began humming”Oh where, oh where, has my little dog gone?” much to Kimbra’s amusement.
The campground was the first one that they came to, located on the outskirts of town and clearly not wonderfully maintained, but for a modest fee they had access to some facilities. Carey had made a brief stop at a Quickiemart to grab some grilling paraphernalia and some cheap steaks, hotdogs,coleslaw and chips as well as beverages, including a few energy drinks that he stashed in his backpack.
Bad enough he had to share his clothing, he figured-but he refused to share his stash of energy drinks!
Avi emerged from the public shower facilities wearing a plain white tee and cargo shorts and looking how an attractive young man of Indian descent in his late teens should look. His expressive dark eyes fringed by long curly lashes( that any girl would kill for) were the main attraction of his evenly featured face. His hair was curled in wet ringlets that reached nearly to his collarbone, and his skin was the color of deep caramel. He was well muscled, though somewhat thin, and at 5’10” tall, slightly shorter than Carey. As he walked toward Carey, Kimbra, and Aunt Ida as they sat in front of paper plates piled high with slightly blackened hotdogs , hamburgers and steaks(except for Carey’s plate which contained rare versions of everything) they stopped eating momentarily to stare at him.
“You clean up nicely, Avi.” Kimbra remarked, looking Avi up and down and causing a perturbed look to descend on Carey’s countenance.
“You DO look very nice.” Aunt Ida added, a dollop of mustard on her chin,” If you don’t mind my asking, are you of native American descent or from India- as in India the country -descent?”
Avi slid into a spot at the picnic table looking famished and hungrily bit a huge mouthful out of a large hamburger before responding.
“Actually I’m not sure…because I was…adopted. I’m thinking probably a mix of those two. I guess that makes me a mongrel.” He said lightly, smiling at Carey across the table.
“And where is Loki?” Aunt Ida asked,”I haven’t seen Loki since we got here!”
“Probably out in the woods stretching his legs and victimizing smaller animals.” Carey answered evenly.”More potato salad Aunt Ida?” he offered, placing a plastic deli container in front of her.
As Aunt Ida dug into seconds on the potato salad and the sun began to retire to the earth’s edge, Carey stood and held out a hand to Kimbra.
“Excuse us Avi and Auntie, K and I are going to take a short walk.
Carey walked slowly and purposely toward a grove of trees somewhat distant from their campsite. As the sun waned a slight but cooler breeze seemed to emanate from their forest surroundings. It was as if, because the day was drawing to a close, the forest was sighing, all it’s cool greenness wafting out toward them . Kimbra gave a slight shiver, and Carey pulled her closer to him, putting his arm around her as they strolled along.
“I have to ask you a question, Kimbra. You’ve been a trooper about all this, but are you really okay? Or is it all going to hit you at once and you’re going to lose it-and I couldn’t blame you if you did- and start screaming or running around in circles or something?”
Kimbra sighed and looked up at him. She looked not only perfectly sane but also remarkably relaxed and determined.
“Can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone, Carey?”
“Sure…anything.” Carey said reassuringly, ”Although it would be really cool if the thing you wanted to say was something spontaneous like, ”To hell with my virginity-lets do this!” he teased.
“Nope.”she smiled , shaking her hair and flipping part of it back behind her shoulder.”It’s about how unsurprised I am at your condition-or Loki, I mean Avi’s. I always thought that there was more to life on this planet than the normal stuff we take for granted. I always imagined that there was another clandestine world that existed, hidden in secret places or somehow camouflaged and existing right out in the open. I was seduced by the notion that the world around me contained a little more magic than we were lead to believe. A world that only a few fortunate souls could see or be privy to.
And Carey-I always wanted to be one of those fortunate souls!”
He turned to face her., his long fingers resting on her upper arms.
“So-you’re okay with all this?” he asked.”Because if you’re okay Kimbra, then I’m REALLY okay!”
As Carey leaned in for a kiss, someone a few feet outside of the forested area where they stood cleared his throat. Carey immediately went into alert mode: the figure silhouetted against the brighter light of the clearing behind them cast a long shadow; the face was shrouded in darkness and in the fading light could have been one of the things that had attacked him.
But it was Avi.
“Sorry to interrupt-again-but Aunt Ida climbed into the RV to rest and I have information for you Carey. I’ve been waiting for a chance to tell you. Because, although I don’t anticipate this happening mind you, but if I shapeshift to dog form again it might be awhile before I have the opportunity.”
Carey was dubious.
“Look dude, I haven’t even gotten used to you in human form yet. And what is it that is of such burning importance that it could
n’t have waited 5 minutes?”
“Oh nothing…except I know what you ARE Carey. And if YOU knew that, well, you could spend a lot less time in the public library.”
Carey could feel the hair on the back of his neck starting to stand up.
“Well okay, then spill it! Or were you waiting for a drum roll or something?”he added with a nonchalance that he certainly wasn’t feeling. He could feel his pulse upticking to a staccato beat as he finished his sentence.
Avi stepped closer to the couple and noticed that Kimbra was quiet with a concerned look on her lovely face, her body more rigid and somewhat braced and a questioning look in her cornflower blue eyes.
“You’re a Hybrid, or you were MEANT to be a Hybrid-obviously somewhat went wrong when they tried to turn you into one of their own. The best way that I can describe Hybrids is to say that they’re the ‘Killer Bees’ of the Vampire Classification. They share a mass mentality. Few of them speak. Even fewer of them fly. They tend to hunt and swarm together and unlike the more urbane V-net vamps they live outside of the modern vamp society, in the karstlands and underground caverns and by their own primitive rules.
You’re an escapee recruit, man. A half-baked Hybrid. That is something they don’t allow. Your existence is an insult to them. They’re probably hunting you as we speak!
And as I mentioned the first time I shifted to human form, if you recall, their ‘solution” to your state of classification limbo will be either to turn you completely to their kind by way of another gang attack or just eliminate you altogether.
Either one of those two options sound appealing to you?” Avi finished, sliding his hands into the cargo pockets of his shorts and leaning against a tree trunk.
“And you’re the expert on Hybrids and their habits because…?” Carey challenged . Although he had to admit that much of what Avi had said made sense, the thought that he was still being hunted filled him with an uneasy feeling and an familiar cold , sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
Avi straightened up and learned slightly forward.
“Only because they decided to keep me as a sort of mascot-without changing me. I never got a straight story, but I think they killed my parents when I was only a toddler-I don’t remember them at all. And I was lucky they thought I was cute, or I could have ended up as one of the unfortunates in their meat locker. As you descend deeper and deeper into the caverns they have these niches that line the walls, with creatures of all phylums caged into them. Their sole purpose is to provide snacks for hybrids. And they don’t just suck their blood-some of the hybrids eat flesh. The beings are chained and the niches are shallow so that the hybrids have access. They are kept just barely alive.”
As Carey and Kimbra listened to Avi’s backstory, spellbound, he swallowed and continued.
“There are two leaders there. The one that interacts with the rest of the hybrids, keeps them busy, organizes hunting and tracking parties and metes out punishment to the unruly ones is Balik. I have known him since my earliest memories, and he taught me English. He is more civilized than the rest of them although , make no mistake, he is a ruthless killer when the occasion warrants it! Most of the hybrids speak Goth, and some never speak at all. Some don’t seem to have two brain cells to rub together and others are clever in the way primitive and adaptable creatures are clever. Some of the ‘recruits’ are also smart, and they retain just enough knowledge of the modern world to make them twice as dangerous!
The other leader, who is a practitioner of the darkest Magick arts ,and who is supposed to be a minor god in his own right is the Mavesla. He is indescribable because he changes form constantly-he wears a veil because of it. Supposedly he can kill with a look. He is rumored to be the last of the Fourth Bittens. All hybrids fear him. When I ran away I think that he put a spell on me so that I couldn’t control my shapeshifting. Or maybe he meant for me to stay a dog. But apparently it was time limited. And I’m not technically a hybrid so they can’t track me.
But YOU,” he said , giving Carey a significant look.”You might as well wear a neon sign on your back that says ’please kill me’! YOU’RE THE ONE with the tracking device…it’s in your blood!”
Carey realized that despite the creeping coolness of the spring evening he was bathed in a cold sweat. There was something inarguably believable in everything that Ari was telling him, but a part of him didn’t want to believe that he had not only the townspeople of Cassis to contend with but also a group of nonhuman enemies that were even more dangerous and determined.
Kimbra stepped forward to give Avi a heartfelt and spontaneous hug.
“Thank you, Avi. Thank you for telling us all this. Is that your real name-Avi?”
Avi seemed delighted that Kimbra had hugged him but his grin at her embrace only caused the glowering look on Carey’s face to deepen.
“Actually my full first name is “Avinash’. I’m pretty sure that at least one of my parents was a Shapeshifter also, because it means ‘indestructible ‘ in Hindi.”
“Wow, another random factoid about you that I didn’t need to know.” Carey said sarcastically, causing Kimbra to frown at him slightly.”Here’s something that I WOULD like to know Avi - Kimbra told me that she saw you in canine form a few days before I even arrived at Cassis. That seems a very curious coincidence. And you just told us that you were raised by Hybrids….so , to my mind ,that begs a question.
Are you a SPY for the Hybrids? “
Carey’s unexpected question caused Kimbra to emit a small gasp and Avi to blanche a shade lighter than his usual caramel color.
“Is that what you think, man? That I’m spying on you and Kimbra, keeping track of you so that they can come and get you?” Avi responded in a tension filled voice.
Carey folded his arms across his chest and perused Avi up and down, the shadow of a sardonic smile twitching around his lips.
“Well if I didn’t, I’m more inclined to think so NOW-your response was EXACTLY what someone who was spying, yet didn’t want to reveal himself AS a spy, would say. Why were you even IN Cassis, Avi? DAYS before I even got there? Answer the question, and no stalling this time!”
To the surprise of both Kimbra and Carey , Avi whipped around and struck the tree he had been leaning against with his fist, hard enough to cause chips of bark and wood to fly out from his blow. Kimbra, who had been standing equidistant from the two young men, quickly slid to Carey’s side. Avi stood in the rapidly fading daylight looking down at his hand , which was bleeding at the knuckles. His dark curly shoulder length hair was concealing his face. Carey instinctively pushed Kimbra behind his back as his fangs began to protrude, uncertain of what the strange shapeshifter would do next.
When Avi lifted his handsome face, with its defined cheekbones ,pleasing facial planes, and darkly expressive eyes, he looked tortured.
“You’re a smart guy, Carey. But your assessment is a slightly off. I wasn’t sent to SPY on you…I was sent to KILL you!”
“You can TRY.” Carey spat, his fangs in full extrusion.”I’m ready any time you are!”
Avi answered Carey’s challenge by waving his hand dismissively.
“If I really WANTED to I could have torn your throat out WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING at Aunt Ida’s when I was in dog form. But I didn’t.”
“I would have healed” Carey snapped back.”I healed from the first attack.”
“You’re a HYBRID, dude!” Avi shot back,”NOT a vampire. You CAN die if the wound is severe enough, believe me! And while I’m tutoring you concerning your own physiology,” he added, taking a napkin from one of his cargo short pockets ,shaking it out ,and twisting it tightly around his bleeding knuckles as he spoke, ”I should also tell you that you’re not immortal either-run of the mill Hybrids only live about 200 years.”
Carey refused to be sidetracked .
“So have you been reporting back on us somehow? Did they fit you with a tracking device?” he asked. His fangs – and the prescient feeling of impending danger-
had passed, but he was still wary of the teenager.
“I’m not wired” ,Ari said , pulling up his shirt momentarily to show a slender but well muscled and hairless chest.”Hybrids are not cops. Didn’t you notice that when I shifted from dog to human form?”
Carey sneered.”I don’t generally look at naked dudes that closely. Well, thanks for the update. But you should have come clean a lot sooner.”
“I couldn’t TALK.” Ari reminded him with a slightly offended air.”I was in canine form.”
“Excuses, excuses,” Carey replied rubbing his chin contemplatively.”I’m still not convinced that you’re trustworthy. Fortunately for you I need your help though. Let’s get the ladies settled in and then grab a couple of flashlights-I want to check out our surroundings . I wanted to see if we could get away from the easily discoverable tourist section and maybe drive the Winnebago deeper into the woods.”
“Sure,” Avi replied, ”We can do the boy scout thing if you want-but I have an alternative plan of action if you’d like to hear it.”He finished by looking at Carey hopefully.
“And what would that entail?” Carey asked indifferently, folding his arms across his chest again.
“You keep forgetting that I’m a SHAPESHIFTER, man! I can fly over the area and be back in 5 minutes with several possibilities.”
Carey and Kimbra both looked at Avi speculatively. Avi’s suggestion seemed to renew Carey’s interest.
“Okay”. Carey answered slowly ,”Let’s see what you got, Shapeshifter! Bring it!””
As Carey and Kimbra watched, enthralled, Avi began morphing-first his entire being seemed to collapse to the ground in a brown amorphous pile that quivered and stretched itself until suddenly it became a falcon with glittering beady black eyes. The large curved beak of the bird popped out last of all, and with a triumphant sounding squawk that sounded almost like a war whoop , he took off into the dusky azure sky of the fading day.
“Whoa!!” Carey remarked, looking at Kimbra, whose face was showing a similar expression of incredulity. “There you go Kimbra! Never a dull moment around here!”