by Mel Todd
"Thanks. I think I just needed to vent. It isn’t fair you know."
Cass frowned looking at the phone. "What isn’t fair?"
"That they get to change. And then they attack innocent people just minding their own business. Why didn’t we all get that ability?"
"What? Helena?"
"Nothing, I gotta go. I’ll call and let you know. The doctor is coming now. Thanks, sis." Helena hung up before Cass could say anything else.
What did that mean? I’ll talk to her later about it. Hope Oswald is okay. Why would a shifter attack? Just that person or something else? See yet another reason for me to stay human and let it all disappear into the past.
Cass shook her head and headed home, she still had work for the next few days.
14
String Pulling
Unexpected shifting ruin your life? Did you turn into an animal and were unable to control your animal urges or impulses? Call the law offices of Lion & Tiger, and we’ll make sure you’re protected from something you couldn’t control. ~Ad on KWAK
Work Thursday was an exercise in stress. Cass checked her phone constantly worried she’d missed a message from Helena. She’d even given in and texted her about noon when she hadn’t heard anything.
Before she walked back into the lab from a fretful lunch, her phone rang.
"Helena, finally. How is he? How are you?" She slipped outside to talk, needing the fresh air as she tried to convince herself she’d been overreacting.
"He’s fine. Came home this morning. Brun is here running the place like a military organization, but right now it is actually nice to not worry about anything. He’ll have some nasty scars on the back of his leg but shouldn’t have any long-lasting damage as long as he does the physical therapy." She sighed a bit. "And if anything, his mother is so busy focusing on her ‘wounded boy’ she doesn’t have the energy to point out my failings or change too much in the house."
Cass laughed. Brun had been known to reorganize entire rooms and usually Helena spent a month after each visit trying to figure out where Brun had decided something belonged.
"Good. I was a bit worried. You need anything?"
"Nah. Just going to be busy for a bit. Trying to juggle everything. My assistant is going to take a wedding I had this weekend, but I’ll be fine." There was noise in the background and Helena groaned softly. "I have to go. The kids are wound up because of what happened, plus Brun, and that means they are fighting like little hellions. Talk to you later." She hung up as she started yelling at the kids and Cass giggled.
And then I remember all the stuff that goes on with kids and I’m fine not having any.
After a quick trip to the bookstore and the grocery store, she headed home, anxious to read her new novel. The dreams that night were odd. She’d passed all the courses with flying colors and found it strange that some of the knowledge had slipped into her day job but not in a way that she could actually leverage. Not to mention she kept having to stop and double check what she thought was fact. It created a nagging sense of fear at the back of her mind centered around the fact that the knowledge was always correct—so far. Even things she couldn’t have known.
Tonight, she dreamt about taking a test. How unrestful was it to spend your sleep taking a test on medical stuff for species that didn’t exist?
It passed in an odd blur even as she participated in taking it.
Maybe I’m helping my host cheat. Would that be good or bad?
"Please wait for test results. Your assignments will follow soon after. At this point all candidates but one, have passed. That one will be released."
There was an odd shuffle behind her and she tried to turn to see what was going on, but she couldn’t. Her body stared straight ahead. The panels were relatively reflective so Cass focused on what she could see. A figure stood up as two others came into the room and was escorted out.
Shouldn’t there be a struggle or anger? Why go so easily to be released? Maybe it isn’t as bad as it implied.
But from the sag of her bodies shoulders Cass had the sense it meant exactly what she thought it did.
I don’t like this place, at all.
The top in front of her sprang to life and she glanced down at it.
Pass - 97% accurate.
The voice came again, but this time it only rang in her head. "Your scores have matched what was expected. Proceed to the welcome area. The Commander for your team is scheduled to arrive soon."
"Acknowledged." Her body rose and turned, moving towards the back of the room, and Cass mentally choked. If she’d been in control of the body, the odds were she would have quit breathing. The room had about ten other occupants. All humanoid in configuration but with fur and muzzles. They looked like really well-done movie special effects on how were-people would look. They didn’t glance up at her as she walked through them, instead staying with their gazes forward without more than an ear flick in her direction as she moved through.
Oh gods, is that what I am?
She focused as her body approached the doors and as they slide open, she caught an image of herself. Female from the breasts, which she’d seen out of the corners of her vision when in these dreams, brown fur that matched her hair, with two paler stripes running up from her forehead and over. A muzzle with the same wicked teeth that somehow fit the odd form. Then the doors slid open and she lost the chance to see herself.
But now she paid attention with a level of focus she hadn’t had since the first night. She had never moved around before. Staying in the same room she arrived in. Other beings with the same form structure, animal and human mix, moved around them. The lack of chatter struck her as odd. Even in the labs people would talk occasionally and almost always when out on break. She tended to be the quietest. But no one spoke, everyone just moved with efficiency. And she couldn’t identify the animals, they all looked odd, different. Colors, forms, movements, didn’t strike her as animals she was familiar with. And that created more confusion.
Her host moved through the corridors and Cass tried to take in the plain mustard brown colors and style. It came across as a ship more than a building, but she didn’t know why she had that impression. Though when she turned and entered what could only be a hangar of some sort it solidified that impression. Her host headed to where a small group of three others stood coming up and falling in line next to them. The only thing Cass could figure out, before her gaze no longer lingered on them, was black, brown, and spotted. Something about two of them screamed cat to her, but she couldn’t focus enough to figure it out.
Her host stood quivering with stress. Or was it fear? Maybe excitement? She couldn’t tell, even as she tried to get a sense of the beings to her left.
"Wait, I want to go back to sleep." The protest burst out as the alarm pulled her out of the dream and she sighed as she shut it off. "Really, my own personal movie where I’m the star and it ends just as it gets good."
The knowledge and emotions she’d felt haunted her all day. The knowledge seemed to have sunk into her bones and she had the odd thought she should go take the MSAT just for the hell of it and see what her score was.
The day ended, and she was relieved it was Friday. She wanted to check up on Oswald, maybe run by for a quick visit just long enough to say hi, and then leave before she and Brun could clash too much.
Even though she left early at four pm, the lot was empty as everyone else had already split for the weekend. She walked out thinking about the commander.
What did that mean? Who would that be? At this rate I might start reading sci-fi novels.
She heard nothing behind her before arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her back against a hard chest. Panicked she opened her mouth to suck in air to scream when a hand with something in it slapped over her mouth. Now in full blown terror mode, she started to thrash trying to get loose and not breath. But whoever held her didn’t even seem to notice her struggles to break free.
"Take her down. The drug should ta
ke effect in a minute. The van is coming up now. We need to secure her until we grab the others."
Drug? Take her? What the hell?
Her thoughts began to grow cloudy as the need for oxygen, and the drug she’d inhaled without wanting to, started to kick in.
"Stubborn isn’t she." An amused male voice.
Male. They are both male. What else?
Cass tried to pay attention, feeling the lumps of things under her back, the odd fabric she’d grabbed while thrashing. Focusing, she tried to lift her arms and pull down the arm that held the drug clamped over her nose.
"Very, but it won’t do her any good."
Those words echoed in her head as she took a shuddering gasp of air, tainted with the sweet drug. Her world started to fade as she felt them lift her up. Even though the hand didn’t move from her face, she felt her hands get secured and she was dumped into the back of a van.
The hand left her face, and she tried not to react. She wasn’t unconscious so maybe she could get free.
"Here, dose her." A painful prick in her arm and that hope fled. "Done. Let’s get ready. The others are scheduled to be grabbed tomorrow, early afternoon. We need to have her already prepped for transport. That mission will be at a dead run once we have them."
"Agreed." There were more words but as dark gray pulled her down they faded, and she couldn’t climb back to the surface. She knew nothing more.
15
The Places You Go
Stockholm syndrome is the feelings of trust or affection felt towards a kidnapper or hostage taker by the victim. Usually this only happens over long periods of time where a relationship builds between the two. If the hostage and the taker have similar goals or attitudes, it can increase the likelihood of this being created. It is not common with only eight percent of victims developing this, per the FBI’s Hostage Barricade Database System. ~ KWAK News commentator
Unfamiliar voices pulled Cass out of the darkness. Her mouth and throat felt dry, parched, as if she hadn’t had anything to drink in days. She lay there, not moving, trying to figure out the words even as it registered that she lay naked on the dirt.
She sat up quickly and moaned as it felt like fireworks exploded in her head. Cass rubbed her head pleading for the pain to stop. The rubbing helped, and she dropped a hand to her lap and her eyes flew up as she remembered she was naked and there were people there. This time she didn’t try to be brave. She covered herself and tried to scoot backwards.
"Why am I naked? Why are you naked? Who are you?" That last part came out in a shriek as moving caused a very tender area of her rear to hit something and she dropped the hand across her breast to rub the large knot.
Feels like a tetanus lump but worse. What the hell is all this?
"I think that is our question. We all know each other and were taken at a BBQ at my house. So, mind telling me who you are?" It was a woman who was spoke and glared at her. Cass couldn’t help but notice her muscled body and that she looked vaguely familiar.
Why do I think I know her?
Her gaze drifted to take in the others, all with muscles and she felt even more uncomfortable with her curves and chubby belly. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the more important part. Who where they and why was she here?
"Why do you two look familiar? Like I should recognize you?" Her voice came out slow and halting. Suddenly Cass was not sure if she really wanted the answer to that question.
They all stared at her. She didn’t know if she should run or fight, so she sat until nerves, not to mention her sore ass, forced her to move. She rose, trying to cover herself, even though everyone seemed to be keeping their eyes on her face. It was a hell of a lot more intimidating than one bored ranger.
"Um, well." She didn’t know where to look. "My name’s Cass. Uh, well, Cassandra Borden. I’m a research biologist. I work for a private research lab, Demeter, LTD, on small stuff mostly."
"You working with the shifter virus?" The woman demanded and Cass wanted to squirm away but tried to hold still.
"No. I don’t work with viruses, just plant-based biology, mostly working on new compounds to be found from plants and ways to harvest new pharmaceuticals that won’t exist if we destroy their ecology."
Cass fought down her rising panic and the idea this had something to do with the lichen.
"So, who are you? Why are we here? And really? No clothes?" She asked wanting to demand but the men looked like they could break her without trying. Besides right now she really wanted to break down in tears.
"What do you remember?"
Cass swallowed and tried to clear her head. None of this made any sense.
"Remember?" Cass frowned, then her eyes widened. "I’d just left the lab. It was late, and I was distracted. I walked to my car, and I heard something and then someone slapped something over my mouth, held me until I went fuzzy, then they carried me to a van. I think they gave me a shot. They talked about picking up others but then it all went dark. I don’t remember anything else." She tried hard not to start freaking out but really, compared to her dreams and shifting, this seemed too real, too scary.
"Hey, it’s okay. We’re all in the same situation."
It was the man who spoke, the huge one. She let her eyes linger on him and something in her relaxed. He wasn’t handsome, the opposite in fact, but something about him made her want to hide behind him, sure he’d protect her from everything.
What the hell, Borden? You’re not in one of your stupid romances, get a grip.
Her brain caught up with what the man said, and her jaw dropped.
Oh shit, that’s McKenna Largo and her partner JD, and shit the football player. These are all movers and shakers in the shifting world. Why in the world would I be here?
More than ever she wanted to run and flee, but where? The heat that surrounded them told her she was in the tropics. She’d been down here occasionally but running around barefoot was not smart in this place.
At the mention of the laptop her head jerked and focused on the innocuous object sitting there, the one that might explain why they were all there.
"I take it that laptop isn’t yours?" Cass sighed. Her voice broke as she spoke and she realized she really needed a drink. Water first then booze would be really nice.
McKenna graced her with a smile and Cass wanted to shrink back. The woman was so confident, sure of herself, and all Cass wanted to do was hide. She sank back down to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs, feeling a bit more protected now.
Sitting there she listened and felt her world fall apart as the stranger on the machine talked about how they needed to kill someone, or their loved ones would die. When Helena and the kids appeared on the screen her breath stopped, and she didn’t start to breathe until her vision started going gray on the edges and she gasped trying to stay conscious.
The rest of the message barely registered as she locked onto the threat of possible death for her family, that they had been poisoned, and they were expected to kill someone. By the time she came back to awareness they were talking about the situation.
She knew she squeaked out some words, but no one paid much attention to them. She didn’t even know for sure what she said.
Her brain finally caught back up at the poison part and verification by Wefor.
Who the hell is Wefor?
She stared at the three, JD, McKenna, and a woman she didn’t remember the name of, though she was the one with the kids. She’d been taken from her kids. That thought resonated and Cass felt a bit of her wariness fade as she took in the woman’s defensive angry body language.
This can’t happen. I won’t let it happen. Those are my niece and nephew and I love them. The hell some asshole is going to hurt my family because I wouldn’t falsify my reports.
The three people looked at each other, the NFL player standing a bit to the side as if he felt outside the loop like she did.
"Why are you guys all kinda just looking at each other?" She scooted back a
bit further not taking her eyes off them.
Do you go crazy if you shift too much?
McKenna sighed, then started to talk. The virus was actually nanobots. They had damaged nanobots in them and she was the commander with an AI in her head. Cass flinched at that part, but she didn’t think they’d noticed.
Programmed nanobots actually makes more sense than a virus, but an AI in your head? Think I’m glad I only have these drones. But talking to each other? Huh, that’s an interesting twist.
She watched in interest as Toni, with her back to everyone, said how many fingers Perc held up. A simple test, but she didn’t see any way it could have been faked. McKenna didn’t even speak to give voice clues.
Telepathy, or near enough. But what does this have to do with the dreams? Were they not dreams? Ewww, eating more raw animals. But I ate the snake fast enough. I hate snakes.
They discussed how it worked, that they needed to have some of McKenna's blood in them. At the discussion she started to relax a bit, though she still had issues with the idea of having someone read her mind.
"I am a being of pureness and light." JD said when McKenna teased him about his mind being a dangerous place.
Cass looked at him and snorted to herself. No one with a body like that was an innocent.
"So how do we do this? And I’ll admit I’m hungry. How long were we out?" Perc asked. Cass figured whatever they said she had at least twelve to eighteen hours more than them. She was starving and thirsty, but she’d be damned if she said anything. Just glancing at them, she knew she was the least fit of all of them. Because she hadn’t been shifting?
Twenty hours? Oh gods, no wonder. It’s been almost thirty-six for me then. How do they know I’m a shifter though? Hell, how did this guy know I was a shifter? My journal? Only thing I can think of.
"On the bright side being a shifter means no blood borne diseases."
Cass laughed as she stood up and just stood there, tired and if they wanted to look at her compared to McKenna or the other woman let them. Her give a damn was broken.