Chapter 8
Thursday morning I realized that it had been a week since I’d first shifted. Seven days since my life had been irrevocably changed forever. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that it felt like should have been longer. At the same time, I could still barely believe that it had already been an entire week.
I was scheduled to meet with Karen again that afternoon to work on my shielding, and while I knew that I needed it, it wasn't something I particularly looked forward to. It was exhausting work even if it wasn't particularly difficult. Especially after the time I had spent that morning practicing what she had taught me earlier in the week.
Almost reluctantly I knocked on the front door of the house and waited, it only took a moment for Gabriel to open the door and invite me in.
"Hey, Nickie, Karen said you'd be here soon. Come on in," He stepped back out of the doorway giving me room to walk past him into the house, "She asked me to have you take a seat in the front room, and let you know she'll be here in just a moment."
"Are you going to join us?" I asked as he closed the door and motioned for me to start toward the designated room.
"No, I don't need to intrude on your lesson. I have some work to do in the back of the house but if you need me, call out and I'll hear you."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I said with a smile.
"I was wondering, if you don't already have plans, would you consider having dinner with me tonight?" He asked hopefully.
I was silent for a second, trying to decide how to do this, deciding to just spit it out I said, "I'm going to just put it bluntly, with everything going on right now I just don't have time for or interest in a romantic relationship. But if you'd like to go out as friends, have a little fun and get to know each other, I'd be up for that."
"I can see not wanting to get involved with someone right now," He admitted, "I'd still enjoy a chance to get to know you better, though and help ease you into our world as Bill suggested. Do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to meet me somewhere?"
"Why don't you pick me up? Normally I wouldn't give my address to someone I've just met, but if Bill trusts you with Karen's safety, I feel certain I can trust you with mine," I reasoned. I gave him my address and we set a time for him to pick me up that evening before he went into the other room to whatever he was doing to occupy himself.
I glanced around the room, making sure I was alone before I took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs angled toward the sofa. I'd discovered last time that sitting alone in a chair helped me to focus better because every movement of another person on the sofa was a distraction. Karen had said that as I got more comfortable with my focusing and shielding it would be easier to ignore the distractions, but for now I avoided them. I kicked off my sandals and folded my legs under me in the chair so that my heels rested under my thighs. I settled in and got comfortable before starting the focusing exercises we had been doing a few days earlier. It was what I had been practicing on my own since so I didn't need Karen's instructions to get started.
I'm not sure how long I'd been focusing on my shields when Karen entered the room, but I caught her scent before I heard her, and as soon as I detected the light scent that reminded me of nutmeg, I knew it was Karen.
"I'm sorry I'm late." She said moving farther into the room, "Before we get started today, do you have any questions? Not just about the shielding and what we're doing here, but anything? What do you think of our Lysandros and Harmonia, and don't be afraid to be honest, I'm asking for your feelings, your impressions?"
"I thought it went well, I really liked Alexis. I'm excited to see if I can learn to use the talent it seems I'm developing, I think it may be an important skill. Hank…seemed okay but I'm not as sure about him, there's something different about him, but I'm not sure what."
"Well, he's not from the area, Alexis met him while she was away at school and that might be part of what you're sensing. And, I'll admit, he's a bit more reserved than we're used to around here."
"Maybe. When I shook his hand I thought I felt something, like a spark or a shock but not exactly, if that makes any sense."
"Hmm..." She lifted her brows, obviously intrigued, "That's interesting. I'll have to look into it and see what I can find out. Are you ready to start our lesson for today?"
"I think so."
"Have you been practicing?"
"Yes, Ma'am. At least a couple times a day. Every time I get the chance, I sit down and work on focusing, on centering myself. Then I picture my shields, I see them surrounding me like a giant bubble. That's what I was doing when you came in."
"Good, continue with that, but we’ll change it up a little today. I want you to center yourself and focus on your shields. I'll give you a few minutes to get them set and then I'm going to try to test them a bit. That way we'll be able to see how strong you have managed to make them so far."
"All right." I settled down and beginning to focus on my shields again.
I quickly re-centered myself and once again focused on my shields. I concentrated on making them impenetrable, thick and resilient before I started waiting for Karen's tests. After what seemed like ages I felt the first blow. It was jarring I felt like my shields had been struck with a hammer, and I felt the vibrations moving though my shields echo in my body.
"Wow" Karen said, "That was…jarring."
"Yeah," I answered, "That was obviously not good."
"Well, not good but not bad either." She said, "It's a common error, almost everyone starts out forming their shields as solid"
"Well, if they're not supposed to be solid, what are they supposed to be? How will they stop anything if they're not solid?"
"Maybe solid isn't the best word, think more…" She paused, searching for the right word, "inflexible. You're picturing a bubble, of whatever material, that stands firm, and deflects anything that collides with it, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought I was supposed to do."
"In essence, it is, but compare an eggshell to a rubber ball, if something hits the eggshell hard enough it shatters and lets the attacker in. A rubber ball however flexes, it absorbs some of the impact, and pushes some of the impact back at the attacker."
"I see what you're saying, I need to make my bubble strong but flexible, more rubbery than stiff."
"Exactly. I'll give you a little bit to adjust your shields while I go get us a couple of drinks, but when I get back I'll test them again."
"All right, sounds good to me." I said as she left the room. I once again started focusing on my shields, this time making sure to picture my bubble of shields as thick but flexible. I constructed them layer by layer of stones sandwiching layers of rubber to help with the flexibility. I had several layers built up before I was satisfied with the thickness of my shields and simply focused on holding the mental picture of them.
I was so focused on holding my new shields I didn't sense Karen enter the room, and her attack on my shields surprised me. It hit like a sharp jab, but the new shields bowed inward toward me before an instant before bouncing back to its original shape, pushing the force of the attack back at her. I opened my eyes to look for Karen, expecting to find her sitting on the sofa near me. But the sofa was empty. I looked around the room, wondering where she was, only to find that I was alone in the room. As I started to stand up out of the chair she walked in the door, carrying two large glasses of iced tea.
"Very well done!" She said, handing me one of the glasses.
"You weren't in here?” I asked before taking a deep drink of the tea.
"Nope, I thought my coming back in might distract you, so I decided to try from the other room. It also makes the point that you don’t have to see someone for them to attack you. But you did wonderfully. You've build strong but flexible shields. With more practice on building and holding them, I think you will have a good, strong set of shields that can withstand almost any attack."
"That's good to know."
"Why don't you continue to focus for a bit, and I'll put together something to eat," she suggested.
"I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm getting pretty hungry too." I admitted.
"You want to be careful not to starve yourself; your appetite is going to be larger than you're used to because your metabolism runs a lot faster now. Don't be surprised if you lose some weight too, that's pretty common with new shifters; at least until they figure out how often they need to eat. If you don't eat enough long term, you'll find yourself weaker than you should be."
"I'll try to remember that, thanks,"
"Alright, I'll go fix us some sandwiches while you practice a while longer, sound good?"
"Sounds great," I said, and she left me alone in the room.
I while later I felt her pushing at my shields again and realized she was trying to tell me from the other room that lunch was ready. I stood up and slipped my sandals on before joining her in the kitchen. After we ate Karen made sure I had the address for the clinic, as I was supposed to start spending time there the next day. I left Karen after we ate; I had a few errands to run before getting ready for Gabriel to pick me up that evening.
I had showered, dressed, and was ready when Gabriel knocked on my door at seven. Not being familiar enough with him to recognize his scent yet, I checked the peep-hole before I opened the door.
"Hey, Come on in. I'm already, I just need to grab my purse." I picked up my purse and making sure my PCD was inside. "Are you ready?"
"Any time you are," He replied, still standing at the door.
"Then let's go," I stepped out onto landing beside him, locked the door before I closed it and started down the stairs.
Gabriel took me to a small local steakhouse for dinner. It was a popular place as the food was both good and reasonably priced. We waited our turn to be seated and were soon sitting at a quiet table in the corner with no close neighbors. We exchanged only a few words before placing our orders, discussing the options before deciding what to eat. But once the waitress had brought us our drinks and taken our dinner orders we began to talk more.
"I don't remember having seen you around growing up. Are you from around here?" I asked.
"I'm a few years older than you are; it's possible that you just wouldn't remember me." He said, a teasing smile playing at his full lips.
"Nah, I have older siblings about your age, and while you might not have remembered a girl as much younger as I am, I definitely would have remembered you." I flashed him a grin.
"Ok, you got me," he laughed, "I'm not from here, I grew up in Bisbee."
"And yet you tried to convince me I just didn't remember you…For shame." I shook my head, laughing softly.
"It was more that I was fishing for information." He said, "And it worked, I found out you have older siblings."
"Older and younger," I said happily, "How about you?"
"An older brother and two older sisters, I'm the baby of the family."
"Oh, the baby of four, I bet you got away with all but murder growing up."
"Pretty much, how did you know?"
"I would. I'm one of six. I was the fourth to join the family but I'm the fifth oldest."
"So you got away with a lot too?"
"Some, but not as much as you would think, girls just don't seem to get away with as much as guys do."
Gabriel nodded, "That's true."
"So, why'd you leave home?" I asked, "If that's not too personal."
"No, I don't mind." He smiled again, "I wanted to be known for me, to not be tied to or judged by the reputation of my family. Not that my family has a bad reputation, just the opposite. They've got a great reputation, but because of it I couldn't do anything without having the family reputation thrown in my face. Sometimes it felt like the family reputation was the most important thing. And you know how small towns are, I couldn't sneeze without word getting back to my family before I did."
"I've had that happen a few times myself." I sympathized.
"I wanted to get away, to have a chance to be known for me and not for the rest of my family."
"Is that uncommon? Among the Kindred, I mean,"
"Well, not really. A lot of people leave, especially to go to school, the males may or may not return, but the females generally do."
"Why is that, do you think?"
"I think females are more likely to return because they realize the importance of the support of the pack when they start their families. The males are less likely to return because they often marry, take positions in other packs or live as lone wolves. It is also very common to become part of the female's pack when you marry outside your own pack, though not required."
"Do the women have to marry people from outside their pack or home towns?
"No, it's not required, but it's common. It's a practice that was started long ago. We have always intermarried with humans, and it was easier to keep our secret if the humans were moved away from their families.
Sometimes people marry within the pack or a local human but it's more complicated when they do. When marrying other Kindred, marrying outside the pack helps to prevent inbreeding."
I wondered briefly how I would know if I was related to someone, who I could or couldn’t marry without the risk of inbreeding.
"Tell me about your family, you said you’re the fifth of six in age, but the fourth to join the family? I know you're adopted, but I take it you're not the only one?" Gabriel asked, interrupting my thoughts.
"Of the six of us, four of us are adopted. The oldest is Brittney, she's about your age, and the youngest is Shiloh, she's in her last year at NAU. I'll be glad when she's done and can come home. Hopefully she doesn't get a job elsewhere and not come home like Payson did. I miss having all my family close to me."
"What's your family like?"
"We're close. We always have been. And despite that, it doesn't stop us from picking on each other. It's really hard for me not being able to share this with them; we've always told each other everything. How about yours?"
"I get along with my family, but we aren't that tight. We talk and are friendly but we don't talk that often and there's a lot we don't share. I especially enjoyed the chance to get away when I went to college."
"Where did you go to school?"
"Denver. It was beautiful but I missed the desert." He smiled ruefully.
We fell silent while the waitress brought our meals, speaking only to thank her, and once she had left us to our meal I picked up where we’d left off.
"I wasn't willing to leave my family long enough to go to school." I said, "I couldn't stand the thought of living that far from them, or at least most of them. By the time I’d done my two years at EA, Brittney and Cam were back, Pace had graduated and taken a job in Tucson and Raine was already away at school. 'Low was still in High School and I just couldn't bear to be too far away. So I got my degree from NAU through the satellite classes they offer at EAC.
"You've never left town?"
"Well, yeah, of course I’ve been out of town. I've gone on day trips for shopping to both Phoenix and Tucson, and we've vacations have even taken me out of state, but I've never wanted to live anywhere that my family wasn't close by."
"it must be great to have family that means that much to you."
"It is. So, what made you choose Safford as your new home?"
"I ended up here for several reasons. I like the geography; it's a lot like the Sierra Vista/Bisbee area where I grew up. After college I knew I didn't want to live in a city long term, so I was looking for a smallish community. Somewhere I could get to know people and have them get to know me, which was a big thing I missed when I left home, the community.
"I checked out all the Anikitos in rural areas who were looking to hire an enforcer in Arizona. Of all the packs I looked into, not just the ones with enforcer openings, Bill and Karen have the best reputation. Not just among the other pack leaders, but with the average Kindred. They are
known for caring for their people, and not being overly domineering or violently aggressive.”
"I guess I just lucked into a good leader then."
"Not just a good leader, the best I've seen. Something about him and the way he treats people engenders devotion. I'm not talking about that creepy cult leader kind of devotion but the I'd lay my life down to protect him kind of devotion. I didn't come here straight out of college; I moved around some and go to know some other Anikitos before I settled here. Bill is the first I've ever seen to rule with caring instead of fear.
"Don't get me wrong, he doesn't hesitate to order punishments when they're called for. But he's not mean or cruel about it, and as often as not his punishments aren't corporal like most.
"Most Anikitos use physical violence to rule?" I asked, surprised.
"The ones I've encountered do, violence and fear. It's the way it's been done for hundreds of years and the only way that some know or understand."
"I'm glad not to be stuck with one of those. That kind of 'leadership' brings out the worst in me."
"You're also lucky to have such a close relationship with the Anikitos. I'll warn you though, there will be some who insist that you're getting special treatment because of that relationship, whether it's true or not. But overall, I still think a good relationship with the pack leaders is important."
"Bill's already warned me about people thinking I'm getting special treatment. He said if it gets too bad to let him know and he'll get involved, but unless it gets bad, it's best just to ignore it. It makes sense, if he gets involved it's just reinforcing the concept that I'm getting special treatment."
"Yeah, it does. But, if you want, you can come to be before you go to him, and I'll see what I can do. That won't go over quite so badly, especially if it's known we're friends."
"I'll keep that in mind, should it become a problem, and thanks for the offer."
"No problem, what are friends for if not for helping you out when you need it?"
We finished eating our dinner and Gabriel took me home. I invited him up for some dessert since he bought me dinner, but he declined, saying he had to be up and on duty early the next morning. I thanked him again for the dinner and the nice evening before I went up the stairs and into my apartment.