Chapter 6
A noise to my left startled me awake, causing me to roll off the bed so quickly I hit my head on the nightstand. It took me a minute to register where I was and how I got here. Farmhouse, running from Valkyrie, Mason was okay. Got it. While glancing down at my brother's sleeping frame, I heard the creaking noise again and my nails began to curl.
A chuckle in the bedroom doorway set off the protect siren inside me. I turned and launched myself, fangs and claws bared, toward the intruder who caught me mid-air, and with some really bad move, spun me around with my arms pinned painfully behind my back.
"Whoa there, cupcake, you really should look before you leap." Abercrombie whispered close to my ear, infuriating and humiliating me. Leaning into my back and over my head, which wasn't a task for him being that he had a good six inches on me, he toed open my journal I'd left on the floor last night. "Totally hot with amazing eyes, huh?"
I kicked the book shut. "It wasn't about you! Besides, it’s rude to read someone else's journal. Now get off me!" Dangit, I woke Mason. I could tell by the changes in his breathing pattern.
His eyes opened. "Kylie!" He reached over and grabbed the lamp off the bedside table and chucked it at us, almost hitting me square in the face. Abercrombie moved me out of the way, releasing me.
Mason was already looking for something else to throw when Abercrombie raised his hands in mock surrender. "Now, wait a minute, little dude. She attacked me." I shot him an evil eye and he chuckled again. "It must be my eyes; they bring out the ardent side of your personality." Oh, I really didn't like him at all, or did I? Whatever.
"Look, what are you doing here, besides snooping in other people's journals?" I growled while swiping my journal from the floor and tucking it safely back inside my pack.
"She asked you a question, dude!" Mason came to stand next to me, crossing his arms. I laughed, loving that he showed no fear and threw his word dude back at him.
"Hey, I was just passing by and thought I'd see how you two were getting along after the trouble you had with the Slasher yesterday."
Mason jutted his chin out. "We're fine, great even. Kylie's totally got this. You should see her fight, it’s sick!"
"Kylie, huh? That's a pretty name." He smiled at me.
"Are you deaf, dude? We don't need your help or want it. So leave!" Mason really didn't like him.
"Okay, I'll leave, but before I do." He reached back into the hallway to retrieve and produce a bag full of groceries. He'd brought us items that we hadn't seen in a long time; apples, oranges, fresh baked bread, cheese and milk. Mason's eyes bugged out of his head; I knew he was hungry. "I thought since things were quite sparse these days I would gather a few items to help out." Abercrombie rocked back on his heals, smiling. Oh, he was so smug.
Mason took a few steps forward, peering into the bag, then swung his eyes back to me in silent question. I nodded. Abercrombie immediately handed it over to him. "Thanks." A simple word that meant a whole lot coming from my brother.
The look Abercrombie was giving me at this moment suddenly made all the air in the room hard to breath.
"Why don't we all go downstairs and let Mason eat." Mason was already halfway down while Abercrombie stood in the doorway, watching me like a hawk. His scrutinizing gaze was seriously making me extremely nervous.
"Your heart is racing; do I make you anxious?" His golden eyes glinted with mischief and amusement.
"No, and my heart is not racing." Throwing my shoulders back, I walked passed him without making eye contact. He chuckled behind me as he followed closely, too close. The electricity I could feel from him was wild. What was he?
"I'm a shifter."
As my foot landed at the base of the staircase, I stopped cold, standing completely still. He'd read my mind! I hadn't been imagining things yesterday. Okay, okay, what to do? My friends and I loved shows like Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Charmed and Buffy re-runs. I thought I remembered seeing an episode on how to keep a supernatural being from reading your thoughts; it was to hum or sing a song in my head. All fairy tales and myths have to have some basis of fact, right? I began singing the chorus of Pink's ‘Blow Me One Last Kiss’ silently in my head as I rounded the corner to find Mason tearing into the bread and cheese.
Folding my arms across my chest, I turned to face Abercrombie. "What's a shifter?"
"Nice touch." He pointed to my head. "Not my kind of music, though. I'm more of a Godsmack kind of guy." Who didn't like Godsmack? "Before we start getting all personal, wouldn't ya like to know my name? Not that I don't like Abercrombie, but it kinda goes against the whole image I got going on here."
Sitting down on the couch next to Mase and kicking my feet up on the table, I rolled my eyes, feeling more in control now that I could keep him out of my head. "Sure, what's your name?"
"It's Axel." He turned, showing me that his name was written across the back of his leather jacket in between two bloody skulls. Charming, I’m not impressed.
I kept my face impassive as he turned back around. "So, Axel, not that we don’t appreciate the food and all, but seriously, what's your deal? Surely you don't expect us to believe that you hunted us down just out of the goodness of your heart."
He feigned surprise, putting his hand over his heart as if my words hurt. "Cupcake, you surprise me with your cynicism. Can't a guy help out without being accused of having an ulterior motive?"
"Nope!" Mason grumbled around a mouth full of bread. "So spill, dude!"
I chimed in, "Start with explaining what exactly a shifter is. I mean, we know what is portrayed on TV and in books, but explain what it means in real life."
He pulled up an armchair then mimicked my movement by propping his black biker boots on the coffee table, his feet almost touching mine. I immediately pulled mine off, evoking yet another smirk from our newest otherworldly acquaintance, Axel. "A shifter like me can take on another’s physical appearance, accessing their power and thoughts. We're fast and cunning like an animal, but suave and creative like a human, only better." A smooth grin eased across his face. I must have appeared as alarmed as I felt because his smile instantly faded. "Wait, before you freak out, we can't just take over someone's body or anything, it’s like morphing into something that looks very much like them and it isn't easy and is incredibly draining."
Mason began choking on a bit of food. I patted his back to help him clear his air way. "You see, Kylie. I told you that you were morphing! I was right." Mason grinned proudly.
I had a ton of questions, but first I needed to understand what he was. Turning to face Axel, I spoke evenly. "Show me." If I was going to learn the ins and outs of my new world, I needed to know what I was up against.
"It's not that easy, sugar. Like I said, it takes a lot out of us. Makes me weak and vulnerable for a few minutes after I shift back," he replied solemnly.
"I think he’s scared, Kylie," Mason goaded in his usual, annoying little brother fashion, and for once, I egged him on.
"Yeah, I think you’re right Mase. He looks afraid to me, too."
"He probably knew the Slasher was after you and left you to fend for yourself. Lucky for us, you weren't chicken chiz." Our mom hated when Mason or I used slang and chiz was the one she hated the most. I almost corrected him out of respect for her, but decided to let it go. Mom would understand that it was a new world, new us and I even think she would be proud of how we were surviving.
"Makes sense; he showed up immediately after I ripped its head off. Too coincidental if you ask me."
"We're not scared of nothin', right, Kylie. Us against the world!"
"We don't need any wusses weighing us down. Us against the world!" Mason and I fist bumped.
For a moment I thought Axel was wise to our banter, seeming unaffected by it, until he stood suddenly, knocking the chair backward as the energy in the room went through the roof and the windows exploded. I threw myself on top of Mason, shielding his body from the shards o
f glass. After the energy settled, I glanced up to see myself standing there, staring at us.
"What the freak!" I shouted, vaulting to my feet.
Mason sat up, peering around me. "He did it! He shifted into a perfect version of you! Wow, this totally rocks! Check him out, Kyle!"
"I see him." I swallowed hard, even though I knew it was Axel, it still majorly weirded me out to see a sarcastic version of myself staring mockingly at me.
"Fine, you’re amazing and powerful and all that. Now shift back because you're really starting to freak me out! I don’t even look like that! You're making me look tough and cold."
"That's how you look now, Kylie. Isn't it cool?!" Mason walked between Axel and me. He seemed to be amazed by this whole experience.
"Aren't you curious what you can do? You must be. Don't you wonder about the powers that are lying dormant inside you?" Axel rocked back on his heels, placing his hands inside his… er, my back pockets.
"Get your hands off my butt, you sicko!" This whole experience was beyond bizarre, and seeing that he was touching my body with his hands—although they appeared to be my hands—was, well, there were no words to describe my emotion. "This is too creepy." I turned and left the room, walking out onto the porch.
A few minutes later, Axel—back in his rightful skin—joined me on the front porch, sitting down next to me on the steps. It didn't escape me that he sort of wobbled slightly as he did this. "You okay? I didn't mean to upset you. You asked me to show you and I did."
"You could have shifted into Mason instead of me. He would have loved it."
"I could have, but I was curious about you." He shook his head. "It was foolish of me not to consider the ramifications of my actions when you're going through the awakening process."
Okay, he'd successfully gotten my attention. "Explain this awakening process to me."
"Um, for those of us that are what we call, otherworldly, our bodies go through different phases of transition. First, we notice little things like we can see or hear better than other people we know, maybe run a whole lot faster than the average kid our age." Yep, that happened to me years ago, starting with my vision. "We all have a skill, something that makes us stand apart. It's usually handed down through bloodlines, like swordsmanship, mind control and casting, to name a few. Have you figured out yours yet?"
I'd never spent much time wondering about my birth mom as a lot of adopted kids I knew did. I'd been thrilled with my parents and couldn't have asked for anything better, but now knowing that I wasn't, um, human, I really would like to know about her now.
Nodding, I whispered, "I'm an archer." This was all so surreal.
"Really, wow! No wonder the Valkyrie want to get you to Valhalla like yesterday." He suddenly looked stunned he’d said that aloud. He really wasn't on his game after his shift.
Seeing my opportunity, I pressed, "Explain."
"It isn't for me to discuss Valkyrie business. They are the most moody chicks on the planet. My getting involved could really cause the other shifters a real headache. When you anger a Valkyrie, they make you pay for it." He half laughed. "My uncle is mated to one and she is a real pill."
"Mated? You mean married?"
"No, being mated is different from human marriage." He shrugged then changed the subject. "How long have you and your brother been on your own?"
"Three months or so," I replied, sighing. Then a thought occurred to me. "Do you know what happened to our parents and the town?"
He nodded. "There was a tear between the realms made by one of our enemies. Those that live in the human realm on this side of the tear, that would be your parents and town, were, um… well, they didn't survive." He looked down.
I swallowed hard. "You know how they were killed? Spare me nothing, Axel. I have to know."
He lifted his gaze to meet mine. "They were disintegrated by fire." It was my turn to look away as a tear leaked down my cheek. The thought of my family and friends being burned into nothing both wrecked me and infuriated me, I couldn't choose an emotion. "I understand how you survived, you aren't human, but I'm still not sure how your brother survived." We both settled into silence.
Lighting struck out in the distance with such force the sound vibrated all the way to where we were, shaking the porch.
"No freakin’ way!" Axel shot to his feet. "My uncle is going to kill me!" Looking out to where he was staring, I spotted that same yellow t-bird that I’d seen yesterday. How in the heck did they get it around all those wrecked cars?
The same redhead was leaning out of the open window, yelling, as Axel ran and fired up his bike. "I see you Axel, you little twit! You'd better run because when I catch you I'm going to skin your shifter hide!"
"Gotta run, sweetness, catch you later!" With that, he hauled tail out of there.