Shifted (The Undari Trilogy Book 1)

by Sarah Reeves

  “Okay, none of this makes any sense to me,” Alex finally said, pushing the paper in front of her away. “Did you find anything?” she asked Oliver. Hannah, who was still sorting through the box, looked up at Oliver as well.

  Oliver shook his head. “Nothing I search for is coming up with anything except a bunch of D&D type gaming websites,” he said.

  “Well Travis wasn’t into any of that stuff, was he?” Hannah asked.

  “Obviously not,” answered Alex dryly. “My dad also didn’t work for any foreign governments, so that doesn’t explain the whole bit about the royals.”

  Hannah held something out to Alex. It was a prescription bottle. “I think I know what the medication part was about,” she said. “I don’t think you’re going to like it, though.” The look in Hannah’s eyes had Alex reaching for the bottle without thinking; she held it up and read the label.

  Take one pill by mouth once per week, it read. Medication to reduce symptoms gradually, stop treatment and consult your doctor if any adverse reactions occur. Alex's hand began to shake as she read the date of refill. It was last week.

  “She’s been giving me medicine recently?” she whispered, looking up at her friends. “For what?”

  Oliver reached out his hand for the pills, read the label, then began a search for the medication. “It isn’t pulling anything up,” he said. “I’m searching for the name, and I can’t find it anywhere.” He looked over at her with concern on his face. “I have no idea what you’re being treated for.”

  Alex sat for a moment, staring back at him. Finally she looked down at her hands. “So there’s nothing that we know for sure, then. In all of the crap that’s in these boxes, all we’ve learned is that I’m taking meds for something that I didn’t know I had, and the things my dad wrote about in his journal can’t be found anywhere except fantasy sites.” She tossed the pill bottle onto the couch, eyes burning with frustration. “That’s lovely.”

  Hannah opened her mouth but before she could say anything, they heard Jennifer’s voice on the stairs. “Alex, honey! I found your favorite chips-” Jennifer stopped at the bottom of the basement steps. Alex knew immediately why; none of them were trying to hide what they’d been doing. Instead, Alex stood, calmly reached down, and picked up the bottle of medicine again. She showed it to her mother.

  “What’s this, Mom?” she asked. “And don’t lie to me. I’m sick of you lying to me.” She pointed to the box. “What is this stuff? What does it mean?”

  Jennifer was frozen for a moment. “You shouldn’t have-”

  Alex’s fury broke. “I shouldn’t have what?” She asked, lowering the bottle. “Shouldn’t have investigated? Shouldn’t have found out that you’ve been giving me medicine? Or maybe you were going to say that I shouldn’t have found out that you lied to me?” Oliver and Hannah had straightened up behind her, and Oliver put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. She shrugged it off, not breaking eye contact with her mother, whose face had gone pale. “You told me that the cult killing had nothing to do with us. Right? That we had nothing to worry about. So if that’s true, then what is this?” She seized the papers and shook them.

  “Alex, just let me explain-”

  “No, Mom, I’m not going to let you explain. The last time I asked you to explain, you lied. Whatever your intentions were for doing that, I don’t want to hear them.” Alex’s hands were in fists, bunching up the documents, but she didn’t care. “Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Or were you going to wait until the Unseen came back to finish us off?” At that, her mother flinched. “Oh, and by the way,” Alex continued, raising the bottle up again and shaking it. “I’m not going to take these anymore. I don’t know what’s in them, or what these ‘Signs’ are, but I’m not doing it. Unless you can fess up now and tell me why I’ve been taking them since I was five.” When Jennifer said nothing, Alex narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Don’t tell me. It’s not much of a change. At least this time you didn’t lie.” She pushed past her mother, clattering up the stairs and out the front door.

  In the yard, Alex paced back and forth, struggling with her mounting anger. Guilt surged in her as she thought about the look she’d put on Jennifer’s face, but she pushed it down quickly. “She deserved that,” she muttered to herself. She kept walking back and forth under the rapidly darkening sky. Stars were beginning to come out, blocked here and there by clouds that burned scarlet in the light of the sliver of sun still visible. Hearing footfalls behind her, Alex whirled on the person, only to see it was Oliver standing there watching her.

  “Are you going to be okay?” He stepped towards her, hands in his pockets. “You were really upset back there.”

  “Where’s Hannah?” Alex avoided the question with one of her own.

  “She’s inside, cleaning up the papers you dropped. Your mom went to bed I think.” Oliver tilted his head, blue eyes searching. “Are you going to answer the question?”

  “No,” replied Alex. “Not to be difficult. I just don’t know. I know that sounds dramatic but I feel like I can’t trust Mom anymore. There’s so much that she’s kept from me, and even if she comes clean, how do I know there isn’t still more that she won’t say anything about?”

  Oliver shrugged. “You don’t. But that doesn’t mean that she didn’t have a good reason for keeping it from you. Maybe she was just trying to keep you and Teagan safe. Not to say that it was the right idea,” he continued. “But her reasoning wasn’t malicious, you have to know that.” Alex ducked her head at his words. “She’s pretty torn up about this,” he added. Alex closed her eyes, not wanting to listen anymore. “If she decides to tell you about it, would you do me a favor?” He didn’t say anything until Alex reluctantly raised her head to look at him. “Would you listen?” He asked.

  Alex opened her mouth to answer, but something at the corner of her vision caught her eyes. Charred grass, partially hidden by bushes. She must not have seen it on her way out of the house. She walked toward it with Oliver in tow, until the entire thing was in full view. Horror washed through her in a dizzying wave. “Go get Mom,” she whispered through lips that had gone numb. She didn’t know if Oliver had heard her, but he was already sprinting around the side of the house. She stayed rooted to the spot until she heard Oliver return with Jennifer close behind. Jennifer’s gasp registered faintly in Alex’s mind, but she couldn’t look away from the symbol burned into the grass of their front lawn. The Unseen’s mark. They’d been found.

  Chapter Three

  The cave was devoid of any sound, save for the steady dripping of moisture from the stone. There was no movement, either. On the outside, at least. Inside the mother dragon’s mind, however, the monster had taken over completely, leaving the mother’s consciousness to thrash and claw fruitlessly at the cage in which she was forced to watch the events of the next few minutes.

  With an almighty woosh, the monster spread it’s new wings. Oh, yes, this body was much more powerful than the last. If the foolish dragon hadn’t been so focused on her stupid children, she would have defeated it easily. It stretched, testing it’s new muscles, before turning to the glowing orbs laying in the nest. Miraculously, they had survived the initial encounter, and the taking over of their mother’s mind. As the monster raised a huge, clawed foot, the mother fought with all of her strength to regain control, but it was of no use.

  Shells cracked beneath the paw, and grief nearly shattered the mother’s awareness. Over half of the eight eggs were destroyed, small chunks of flesh with even smaller scales spilling out among the fluid that had surrounded them inside the protective shell. The monster lifted it’s paw again, only to be interrupted by an anguished roar.

  A larger male dragon had flown into the entrance of the cave, and upon seeing the mother dragon and the body of the monster, promptly destroyed the carcass on the floor. The male came closer, looking at his beloved. He had yet to notice his children, dead on the floor on the mother’s opposite side. He came forward, and when he stepped in som
ething sticky, looked down. There were the remnants of his children, five of them, underneath his feet. Before his mind could even register what had happened, he saw the paw of his mate raise again, poised to strike.

  With a snarl of anger and grief the father launched himself forward, slamming his mate’s body into the wall opposite. The impact shook the ceiling, causing stones to fall. One more egg was crushed beneath the rock, and the father felt another piece of his heart shatter. His mate landed on the floor and was still.

  Without pausing to see if she was still alive, the father took up the last two eggs, cast one last grief stricken look at the remnants of his children, and fled the cave. Powerful wings snapped out, carrying him quickly into the sky and he flew fast, leaving the body of his beloved behind, where the monster inside her was just beginning to stir.

  Alex’s breath came in short gasps, and her throat burned. She had fallen to her knees, but barely registered the resulting pain. Distantly, she could hear Oliver and Hannah saying her name, could feel them shaking her, but she couldn’t move. Her worst fears were realized. They were marked. The Unseen were coming.

  They had to run.

  Alex shot to her feet, making Hannah and Oliver jump back. The fear had solidified in her gut, painful enough to make her focus. She strode over to where her mother stood, staring at the mark, and grabbed her by the shoulder. Jennifer started when her daughter shook her roughly.

  “Alex.” She seemed incapable of saying anything else. Wide sapphire eyes stared out from a face that had turned a sick, milky white.

  “We have to leave. Now.”

  “We’re coming, too.” Hannah stepped forward, and back again when her friend whipped around. Intense green eyes bored into blue.

  “No.” The reply was snapped out, but not by Alex. Hannah turned on Oliver, opening her mouth to argue, but he raised a hand. “The more people that go, the quicker and easier they’ll be caught, and killed. Let them go. We’ll keep an eye on things here. Let them go, Hannah. They’ll be fine. Leave,” he looked at Alex, his face set into grim lines. “Now.” He grabbed Hannah and began to drag her away, but she yanked her arm from his grip and spun to seize Alex and pull her into a fierce hug.

  “You’d better not get caught. Understand? Do not get caught.” Alex’s neck felt wet, and she saw tears running down Hannah’s face when she was released. She managed to nod. Oliver came and hugged her next, a quick, hard embrace, then gave her a small shove towards her mother.

  “Call us when you get somewhere safe.” Alex nodded again at his order. They stood and watched as Alex took her mother by the arm and pulled her into the house.

  Inside, Teagan was still asleep on the couch, and Alex felt another wave of terror. Her little sister. She couldn’t think of how this was to be explained in a way that kept Teagan from sensing anything was wrong. Rapidly disappearing footsteps meant that her mother was already gone, presumably to her room to pack. Alex, after a moment, scooped her sister off the couch and went to her own bedroom. Teagan stirred, but didn’t wake as Alex laid her gently on the bed and hunted down a suitcase.

  There were a couple times when Alex had to pause and take deep, calming breaths to stave off waves of panic, but she was able to finish packing in record time. As a last minute thought, she ran up to the attic to pack the box of her father’s remaining things. She then picked Teagan up and dragged her case behind her into the living room once more to find Jennifer coming back in from the car. The fear from earlier was gone from her face, replaced with a robotic expression Alex recognized as the one her mother used when she was exerting tight control of her emotions.

  “Everything else is in the car,” she said, taking Teagan from her eldest daughter. “I’ll put her in her car seat, you put your things in the trunk.” Alex obeyed silently, and they were on the road a minute later. For a while, there was no sound except the sounds of traffic around them. As they took the ramp onto the interstate, Alex finally spoke.

  “Where are we going to go?”

  “To your grandmother’s. She’s staying with her sister in Florida for a few months, so the place will be empty. I have a key,” she added, noticing Alex’s look. “But she lives in Savannah, so we’re going to be driving for a while. You should get some rest.”

  “There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep right now.”

  “Try anyway.” Unwilling to start a disagreement, Alex leaned her seat back, careful to make sure Teagan’s car seat wasn’t behind her before doing so. She settled in, trying to relax her muscles one by one and closing her eyes. She fell asleep almost at once.

  She awoke in time to see the sign announcing their crossing into Georgia. Groggy, Alex glanced back to see that Teagan was awake as well, watching the cars fly past out the window. She looked around as her big sister sat up.

  “Hey, Crazy,” said Alex, smiling at her baby sister. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Good.” Teagan rubbed at her eyes. Alex guessed she hadn’t been up much longer than she had. “Mommy says we’re going to Gran’ma’s.”

  “Yeah, we are. We’re going to stay there for a while. Do you remember Grandma’s house?”

  “Uh huh. There’s a big yard, with a lake.” Teagan tilted her head. “Why are we going to Gran’ma’s?”

  Alex glanced at her mother, whose gaze didn’t waver from the road. “We’re taking a vacation.”

  “What’s a bay cation?”

  “Vacation,” Alex corrected gently. “And it means we’re staying somewhere different for a little bit.”

  “Are we there yet?” Teagan’s head rotated to tilt the other direction.

  Jennifer interrupted, meeting her daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “No, honey, we’re not there yet. It shouldn’t be too much longer, though.”

  “I’m hungry,” she complained, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. “And I’m bored.”

  “I know, baby, I know. Here.” Jennifer picked up her phone from the center console, unlocked it, and handed it to Teagan over the back of the seat. “You can play some games on Mommy’s phone, if you want.”

  “Okay, Mommy.” Teagan fell silent as cartoon-like sounds filled the car. Alex and Jennifer exchanged grim looks before Jennifer focused back on the road. They both knew Teagan could sense that something was off.

  It was another couple of hours before they pulled off onto a gravel road, a few miles outside of downtown Savannah. The driveway was lined on both sides by forest, unkempt undergrowth reaching forward to tickle the sides of the car as it moved past. This went on for about a mile, then they rounded a curve and the house came into view.

  It was an old Victorian style house, three stories high and white, with a wraparound porch. There was a willow planted in the front yard, next to a small pond where ducks swam idly. There was a small tire swing attached to one of the low hanging branches of the tree, and Alex smiled faintly, remembering the time she had tried to jump off of it and broke her wrist. The driveway wound around the left side of the pond, and the ducks flew off as the car came around and to a stop. Alex released the catch on her seatbelt and got out of the vehicle as it was turned off, and stretched, reaching up and standing on her toes. It felt good to finally be stopped. She took a look around as she circled to the trunk. There was an aura of peace here, one that soothed her raw nerves. The pop of the trunk latch made her jump, then she laughed quietly at herself. Not as soothing as she’d thought, apparently.

  The family’s luggage was moved into the guest wing of the house, but Alex only laid her suitcase on the bed, lid open. Turning, she then sat on the bed in her new (temporarily, at least) room. She put her father’s belongings next to her on the faded quilt, and picked up something at random. It was a harmonica. The memories were blurry, but she could almost hear Travis playing it loudly, amid his wife’s protests. He wasn’t good at playing by any stretch, but it had made Alex laugh. She set it down, then brought out her phone. She needed to call Oliver and let him know they were safe. Bef
ore she could, Jennifer knocked on the door frame.

  “Hey,” she said softly. “Can I come in?” Alex nodded after a split second. Jennifer came and sat next to her daughter. “I know you’re upset with me,” she said. “And you have every right to be. But I wanted to have a chance to explain to you what’s going on, since I didn’t get a chance to before we left.” Alex didn’t say anything, so Jennifer continued. “Let’s start with what you’ve already found out.”

  “I know that Dad was killed by the Unseen, which from what I understand is the leader of the cult that killed the old man a couple days ago,” Alex said. Her voice was quiet, monotone. “He was the one that put the Unseen in jail, and The Unseen killed him as revenge. For some reason, he’s after us now, too. What I don’t know is why, or what any of the other stuff that was in Dad’s stuff means. Or what I’m being treated for.”

  Jennifer took a deep breath. “I’m going to explain to you what I can. It’s not going to be everything, and I wish it could be, but it’s for your own safety, you have to understand that. Telling you what I’m about to is putting you at enough risk, but since we’re already in danger, explaining to you this much won’t hurt us. Okay?” Alex almost got mad again, but she recalled Oliver’s words earlier and nodded instead. “Okay.

  “The Unseen was being investigated by your father, but it wasn’t a cult. It’s a terrorist organization, which has been underground for nearly twenty years. Travis put them away, but before he did, he got a little...obsessed. He always did with his cases, but this one was worse for him. He knew a few of the victims. There were times I would wake up in the middle of the night and come downstairs to find him in the kitchen with papers spread all around him, poring over one book or another. He never gave up on this, not even when it seemed like the case would go cold. You were very young then, so you probably don’t remember anything.