“I would do the same in his shoes,” Eryx said, taking the letter from Nyx. “Surely he’s concerned that the Council will discover the Creatura…” Eryx paused, glanced at me and corrected himself. “That the Council will somehow discover Isis’ existence as well as his violation of the laws.”
“But why would he try to contact me now? He had a perfect opportunity when my dad, Hector, passed on. He could have enclosed a note or something along with the first letter addressed to my mom.”
“He knows you’re Creatura,” Alezzander said. “He may have an idea that you would be coming of age soon and with that would come your transmutation.”
I lowered my head and shuddered. What was I? Uncertainty and dread had the best of me. And to make matters worse, David would become whatever thing I turned into.
“I don’t want to be a monster.” I looked at David with pleading eyes. “I don’t want to be another species. I just want us to be normal.”
David pulled me close to him.
“You were born looking human, so the transformation must only be internal, dear.” Nyx brushed my hair with her fingers. “Keep calm. I’ll monitor your progression.”
“And if something should arise—a malformation?” David asked.
I looked at Nyx.
“We’ll deal.” Galen placed an arm over his brother’s shoulder.
“We’re here for you, my brother.” Eryx nodded. He glanced at me. “And Isis.”
Alezzander tugged at his chin. “I hadn’t contemplated the chances of an undesirable trait until now. The odds—calculating by my previous experiences with Creatura—are variable. Seeing as she’s in human form, I would estimate between a thirty-three and sixty-five percent chance of the transformation being for the worst.”
“Sixty-five percent!” I gasped. “What types of internal malformations are we talking about?”
“The traits could vary,” Alezzander said, “from personality changes, such as, impairment of your better judgment or inflicting physical harm with but a glance or a touch.”
“Impairment of my judgment? Like insanity?” I asked.
“Or…” Galen said, “like becoming a cold-blooded murderer. A homicidal genius. A psychotic killer…”
“I think you’ve made your point. Thank you for causing her more distress than necessary.” David shot Galen a scornful look.
“She should be aware,” Galen said. “She has to be able to recognize changes in her moods or thoughts in case we fail to notice them.”
“He’s right.” I sighed. “I just don’t understand how you can fix a lunatic.”
Eryx explained, “We’re able to control the chemical imbalances that cause the thought or desire to kill; only… we’ve found that the process has to be done at the beginning of the change, otherwise, it won’t work.”
“It doesn’t mean this will happen to us,” David told me. “We’re just discussing the possible outcomes. Nothing is definite. For all we know, you could remain as you are now.”
“Oh that Deus might hear you.” Alezzander closed his eyes for a moment.
I turned to Nyx. “Can you tell me if these changes are occurring now?”
“Give me your hands. I don’t want to skip over a single minute change in your emotional or physical state.”
Nyx closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her head tilted back. She remained in this position for a couple of minutes.
“Have you had spikes in temperature, or have you become more aggressive?” Nyx asked.
David coughed.
“No.” I gave David a sheepish look. “Not that I’ve noticed.”
“As of now, I sense nothing,” Nyx said.
“That means David is fine also, right?”
“He shows no sign of transformation other than the closing of the lesion in his torso, but that’s normal.”
I sighed in relief.
“When will he begin to lose his abilities?” I asked.
Everyone in the Chios family exchanged glances. I had touched a subject of concern.
“The changes in me will be slow,” David said. “The interesting thing is that there should already be some noticeable pattern of metamorphosis.”
“Such as?”
“For example, lapses in my strength and in my ability to fly. We don’t understand why these changes haven’t occurred yet.”
Great. It was the blind leading the blind.
“My real father is the only one that might know what’s happening to me,” I said. “I have to find him.”
“We have to find him,” Alezzander said.
***
I needed air. Dealing with this was giving me a headache and an anxiety attack. David suggested we take a stroll along the nature trail.
The day was cloudy and humid. There was a fine mist coming down. I knew the forest’s peace and quiet would calm me. For now.
We took refuge from the drizzle under the boards of what looked like the remains of a tree house. David reassured me that we wouldn’t turn into freaks of nature.
“My brothers promised to help us if worse comes to worse.”
His embrace reassured me, but didn’t make the worry disappear.
“Is there any remote possibility that I might turn into what you are and not the other way around?” I asked.
“Let this go for today. Think about something else for your own sanity.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
I felt the vibration of my phone on my hip pocket and reached for it. It was Andy calling.
“Are you home?” she asked just as I hit the answer key on the phone.
“No, I’m at David’s. What’s up?”
“I was on my way to your house with Bill to pick you up. Stay where you are until I call you back.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s Gabriel. He pulled us over on Henderson Road and asked where you were. We assumed you were at your house, but we told him we didn’t know. He was angry and had the gun with him. He pointed it at Bill and me and demanded that we tell him where you were.
“Bill tried to calm him down, but he said he knew you were with him. We guessed he was talking about David. He said he was gonna find you and deal with you two. He kept talking to someone behind him, but there was no one there. He was acting like he was nuts again.
“Isis, I’m still shaking. We have to call the police,” Andy sniffed. “I just saw your mom’s car at the courthouse. I’m so glad you guys aren’t home.”
I started to tremble.
“Isis?” David noticed my reaction.
“Gabriel…” I said. “He’s looking for us—for you and me. He threatened Bill and Andy with a gun.”
David took the phone from my hand.
“Andy? Are you or Bill hurt?” He paused. “I can’t understand what you’re saying over your crying. Calm down.”
I clenched my hands together and started to pace.
“Andy, can you put Bill on the phone? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” David held one hand on his forehead as he spoke.
David instructed Bill to drive to Ebony Estate. We hurried to the house and warned the family of the threat that Gabriel posed and that Andy and Bill were on their way.
“Call the authorities,” Alezzander said.
“Not yet, Father,” Eryx said. “It must be Bill and Andy that give a statement to the police.”
“But will they want to press charges?” Galen asked. “After all, he’s still their friend, isn’t he?”
“Not anymore. Not after that,” I said. “Andy definitely wants to call the police.”
“She’s very upset,” David said.
We waited for the doorbell to ring, but nothing.
David walked to the front door and opened it. I stood with him on the porch biting my nails, waiting for Bill’s car to drive up.
“Dammit!” I hit my thigh with my fist. “Where are they?” I was worried that Gabriel might have stopped them again,
or worse, followed them; they had had more than enough time to reach the estate.
“There.” David pointed to the Mustang making its way up the driveway.
“Oh, thank God,” I said.
“I was beginning to worry, as well.”
We met Andy and Bill in the driveway. Bill opened the door and stepped out of the car. He looked like he was in shock—pale and nervous.
Andy remained in the car with her head lowered. I ran to the passenger door, opened it. I hugged Andy as hard as I could. She was shaking and in tears.
“He—put—the gun—on Bill’s head,” Andy sobbed. “I thought he was going to pull the trigger. I shouted at him to stop, and then he shoved the gun in my mouth.” She pulled away from me and wiped her tears. “I’m so scared for all of us.”
Bill and David were behind me listening.
“What took you so long to get here? I was about to go looking for you,” David told Bill.
“Sorry about that, man. She was hysterical. I had to pull over.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
I pulled Andy out of the car. “C’mon, girlie. We’re going to be okay.”
“Why didn’t you go straight to the police?” David asked Bill as Andy sobbed on Bill’s shoulder.
“Would you have gone to the police first or tried to warn your friends in a situation like this?”
Alezzander and Nyx appeared on the porch.
“Bring them in,” Alezzander said. “Let their nerves settle.”
We walked into the den where Eryx was speaking on the phone. He hung up as he saw us approach.
“Dearest, you should offer them something to calm their nerves,” Alezzander said to Nyx.
“What can I offer you to drink?” Nyx asked Bill.
“Nothing for me, ma’am… thank you.” Bill rubbed Andy’s back. Andy was having trouble controlling her weeping.
“I’ll bring you a special tea—to soothe your nerves, dear. Is that okay?” Nyx said softly to Andy.
“Yes, thank you.” Andy nodded.
Galen handed Andy a box of tissues. “I think she needs something stronger; vodka, perhaps?”
I didn’t think joking was appropriate at the moment, but Andy giggled a little.
“David, will you help me in the kitchen, please?” Nyx asked.
“Join me.” David took my wrist.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Andy and Bill.
We walked into the kitchen. Nyx was placing a teapot on the burner.
“Can I help?” I asked.
“I need to show you something,” David said. “Mother, make enough for two cups. They both need this.”
“What are you giving them?” I asked.
“Your friends are in shock. Bill hides it well to keep Andy from becoming frantic again. I can sense their adrenaline levels are still high,” Nyx said. “Once the water boils, David will add a small amount of tranquilizer to each.”
“How will you do that?” I turned to David.
“Watch,” he said, placing his thumb and index finger over the spoon Nyx held in her hand.
David rubbed his fingers together and a gold shimmery dust fell on the spoon.
“Don’t overdo it,” Nyx warned. “That’s enough for both. Hand me another spoon, would you, Isis?”
Nyx divided the small amount of gold dust between both spoons. Just then, the teapot started to whistle.
“The water now, David,” Nyx instructed.
“They’re going to see the gold dust in the tea and probably taste it too,” I said.
“Not at all,” Nyx said. “This is the tea. It’s sweet and the water will turn a golden yellow—like chamomile. It’s quite good.”
“You’ve had it before,” David told me.
“When?”
“When you had that lovers’ quarrel and you slapped him—a well-deserved slap in my opinion,” Nyx said.
“I don’t remember.”
“After you came to, I offered you tea.” Nyx stirred the gold dust into the hot water. The scent was spicy and sweet, and I remembered that it tasted like a very sweet pomegranate.
“I recognize the smell.” I shuddered as I thought about that terrible day.
“It’s the reason you were able to keep calm.” David took the teacups from Nyx and placed them on a tray.
“You doped me up?”
“My dear, we do not dope anyone. We heal them,” Nyx said.
“Right. Sorry.”
Nyx took the tray from the counter and walked out of the kitchen.
“Is she mad?” I asked David.
“She’s fine. You women have tender points we men will never understand.”
David took my hand and we returned to the den. Bill and Andy were drinking the tea. Bill was recounting the incident in his own words to the family. Andy seemed calmer.
“I took the liberty of calling the police,” Eryx said. “They say you have to file a report with your parents at the police station because you’re both minors, and you left the scene of the incident.”
“He’s after David and Isis. Shouldn’t they file a report also?” Bill asked.
“Yes, David and Isis have to file a report also, since they’re Gabriel’s main targets.”
Claire was going to have a cosmic fit. She was a feisty lady with an attitude when it concerned her only daughter. I felt sorry for the police officers that would have to deal with her.
“Can I have some of that tea?” I asked Andy, reaching for the cup. Suddenly, I felt very nervous.
“No!” the entire Chios clan said in unison.
“I’ll prepare you one if you’d like,” Nyx said.
I glanced at Andy and Bill who had confused expressions on their faces.
“Uh… no… that’s ok. I don’t want to trouble you. I’m fine.”
“It’s okay. You can have a sip of mine,” Andy offered.
“No. You need it more than I do,” I said. “I’m okay—really.”
After Bill and Andy had finished their tea, Nyx and Alezzander drove with us to the police station. We crunched into the twins’ Land Rover. I noticed Bill and Andy were both yawning.
“Are you guys tired?” I asked.
“No, why?” Bill said.
“You both are yawning.”
David squeezed my hand and gave me a stare. “It’s the body’s way of releasing tension after a traumatic episode,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, and dropped the subject. It was the special tea.
We rode in silence down Highway 100, through Los Fresnos and to the precinct.
“My dad is going to freak.” Bill held his head between his hands. “And your mom is going to have you home schooled, Isis.”
“She’s going to want to go looking for Gabriel,” Andy said as we opened the heavy glass door to the small station.
“The lioness on the prowl. Ugh!” I grunted. “Gabriel’s parents will probably end up filing a restraining order against her instead of the other way around.”
Alezzander spoke to a woman clerk at the window. A moment later, a police officer escorted us in through another door and to his desk.
“I’m Officer Ramirez. What can I do ya for, sir?” he asked Alezzander.
Alezzander explained the situation. The officer called our parents to the station on the spot. Officer Ramirez didn’t give details as to why we were there, for fear of causing them panic.
Once our parents arrived and introduced themselves to Alezzander and Nyx, Bill and Andy started giving their account of the incident as the officer took notes.
Our parents were shocked and mortified at the thought of Gabriel running around with that gun. The officer had to keep telling them to hold it down, because the conversation would become unintelligible with so many people wanting to speak at once.
“What are you doing about this, Tomas? I need to know my daughter is going to sleep safely tonight. I’ll find him myself if I have to,” Claire said, leaning into O
fficer Ramirez’s face.
“Told ya.” I elbowed David. “She’s going to get locked up before Gabriel does.”
“I heard that,” Claire snapped. “This is a serious matter, Isis. So what the hell are you doing about this, Ramirez?”
“Calm down, Claire.” Another officer, Krystle’s dad, walked into the room. “I can hear ya through the damn doors.”
“I’ll shut up when I see that kid behind bars, John,” Claire said.
“Hello, folks,” John said, addressing Alezzander and Nyx. “I’m Constable John Mendiola. I’ll be assisting Officer Ramirez in the case.” He held out his hand to the couple then tipped his hat at Dr. Jameson and his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Nesbit—Bill’s parents.
“What do we got, Ramirez?” Constable Mendiola asked.
“Threat with a handgun, possibly stolen,” Ramirez said.
“I’ll draw up a search warrant. Do we know where the kid lives?” the constable asked.
“Yeah,” Bill answered, “we know where he lives.”
“You know him?” Constable Mendiola asked.
“Yeah. He’s Isis’ ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Betancourt.”
“Hmm,” Mendiola muttered. “Jealous ex-boyfriend, huh?”
“Sounds like it,” Ramirez agreed.
The parents assembled in the parking lot, discussing the matter while waiting for four police units that were called in and assigned to each of us as surveillance for the night.
Claire had a lot to do with the night patrol being set in place. She argued with Ramirez and Mendiola until they agreed to call in detectives from the neighboring city of Brownsville to cover the shift; there were only five police officers in the town of Los Fresnos, two were off duty. We were escorted to our homes by the patrol units. I thought it was pretty silly to have a police officer escort the Chios family; they needed protection from no one.
I couldn’t sleep that night. Claire kept peeking out my bedroom window and trying to convince me to go to work with her in the morning. She didn’t want to let me out of her sight.
“I don’t want to spend the day listening to judgments or old ladies with coffee breath asking me about this. I’m staying here. Besides, I’ll be fine with that detective outside watching the house.”
“Then I’m not going in to work,” she said with a frown. “I’m not leaving you alone until this is resolved and that is final.”
“I can spend the day at David’s or Andy’s place. I won’t be alone there.”
I didn’t want Claire’s paranoia to rub off on me. I was already scared. I only felt safe with David and his family, but I couldn’t tell her that. She wouldn’t understand. They were like real life super heroes to me.