Shifter

Chapter 1
August 17th 2007 1:30am


Dane slowly awoke to the sound of falling pine needles lightly striking the top of the tent as they fell from the tree branches above. He lay in his red goose-down sleeping bag, motionless for several seconds listening to the various sounds of nocturnal creatures going about their nightly business, trying to make up his mind to either get up and water nature’s lawn or try and return to the comfort of sleep, the light throbbing of his bladder made him choose the latter.

Quietly as he could, he unzipped his sleeping bag and pulled back the cover so as not to wake his brother and sister in-law who slept on the other side of the nylon partition that separated the tent into two separate sleeping areas. Slowly, he sat up on his air mattress and felt around for his slip-on sneakers. While groping around for his shoes, he knocked over the battery-operated lantern his brother had purchased shortly before the camping trip; it fell over and struck something that he could not see, figures, he thought to himself. The noise was loud enough in the stillness of the night to wake his sister in-law but not his snoring brother who for all intents and purposes was dead to the world.

“Are you all right, Dane?” his sister in-law asked in a whisper.

“Yeah Bridgett, just need to go and water the lawn.”

“Make sure you take the lantern with you so you can see.”

“I will,” he whispered back.

“And stay on the path, don’t be getting yourself lost,” Dane heard his sister in-law say as she drifted back into sleep.

Dane pulled on his shoes and wondered if he should put on his jacket, but thought better of it and left it lying on the end of his sleeping bag. As he stepped out into the warm humid air, he thought he heard a noise like thunder in the distance. He stood still for a moment to see if he would hear the same noise but there were only the sounds of the night insects and the flowing river meandering its way down through the valley. With the lantern in hand, he moved off toward the outhouse that stood fifteen yards away. As he cautiously made his way to the outhouse, careful not to trip over any exposed tree roots, he heard the sound like thunder again, but this time it sounded much closer than before.

"Shit, that's all we need is a thunder storm with no cover on the tent."

Dane wondered if he should return to the tent and wake his brother and his wife and let them know that it sounded like a thunders storm was moving in and that they should probably put up a tarp to cover the tent before the rains came. However, his bladder said otherwise and with it's semi-painful urging he decided he would wait and tell them when he returned from relieving himself. Dane continued on toward his destination, watching the ambient glow of the lantern light up the area around him as he stared at the outlying trees of the path he was on.

As he made his way up the path his mind wandered back to the past. It's been three years, Dane thought to himself. Three years ago, my wife and son were killed in a senseless automobile accident.

"It was nobody’s fault really." Dane painfully thought.

The road was wet, his wife lost control of the car, the car struck the guardrail and flipped numerous times before it settled on its roof in the middle of the road. Both his wife and son were killed instantly, end of story.

He recieved the news of their deaths while away on a business trip. His brother had called him and told him that he needed to return home right away. Thinking about it now, Dane could not even remember the flight back to the states but remembered seeing his sister in-law at the baggage claim with tears in her eyes and a look of pure sadness etched on her face.

Ever since that life shattering moment, Dane has been doing what he can just to make it through each day. For the past three summers, he has camped near the Red River Bridge with his brother and his wife. And every year, it was the same. Sit around the fire, talk about when they were kids, eat lots of junk food, and consume mass quantities of beer.

Dane stood in front of the outhouse lost in the past, it was the sharp pain of his bladder that brought him back to the present. Dane reached out for the wooden handle of the outhouse door and froze in place. He suddenly realized the sounds of the forest had ceased; where moments ago there was the hum of insects and woodland animals, now there was nothing but silence, dead air. As he turned away from the door, there was a bright flash of light and a thunderous explosion that sent him flying back against the outhouse door with tremendous force, knocking the air from his lungs. Blinded by the intense flash of light, and gasping for air, Dane instinctively covered his eyes with his hands and lay cowering on the ground.

The world shook around him as he lay there, and off in the distance Dane thought he could hear his sister in-law screaming.

The ground continued to tremble as Dane tried to rise to his feet, but each time he attempted to stand, he was knocked to the ground. After what seemed an eternity of ground shaking, it suddenly stopped and silence hung in the air.

What in the hell was that? Dane said to himself.

Dane lay motionless on the ground trembling, fearing to rise, "Should I try and get up, I can’t just lie here," Dane thought. He slowly reached up for the door handle, gripped it firmly and pulled himself up. He leaned his shaking body against the outhouse for support, feeling the sweat drip down his neck and slowly run down his back. "Feels as though the ground is still moving." Dane whispered.

He looked at the portable commode and was surprised that it still stood after all the ground shaking effects. He quickly glanced around for the lantern but was unable to see it. Lantern must have gone out when I dropped it, he thought. Moments later, eye sight adjusted, he was able to make out the trees and the path he took, he viewed the tent off in the distance. He was too far away to make out if any damage was done to the tent. Dane, with his bladder now strongly urging him to open the flood gates, refused to go into the outhouse with the fear of it possibly collapsing on him, he decided to step behind the wooden structure instead to relieve himself. While his yellow river ran freely he thought about the many times he had camped out with his parents and brother. Dane chuckled to himself when he rememmberd something his mom had said once to his father, "Jack, men have it made, you don't need a toilet to relieve yourself. You just take it out and let er rip."
"Thats right sweety, the world is a mans urinal."
Dane's father replied.
Dane sighed with relief as the last of the fluid left him. With a couple of quick shakes and a tuck back into its home, Dane made his way back to the front of the outhouse, when something caught his eye.

Off to the right, about five feet away, a small glowing oval-shaped object lay among the dead pine needles and leaves. The object undulated with a spectrum of colorful lights. The shimmering object first glowed a pale blue like a summer sky, then the object would glow brightly and change its color to a radiant purple similar to an amethyst gem. Throughout the color changes, Dane could not look away from the pulsating object, no matter how hard he tried. Funny that I didn’t see that before, Dane thought.

Dane slowly neared the object, a bit apprehensive at first, still feeling a bit unsettled from the earlier incident. Suppressing his fear, he moved toward it. When finally less than a foot away, it stopped shifting colors and remained a pale blue. An overwhelming urge to reach down and touch it came over him, and conflicting thoughts ran through his mind. His instincts told him that he needed to run back to the tent and tell his brother, but his hand seemed to have a different agenda in mind, he reached out and touched it.

At first, the glowing object felt cold and smooth but suddenly it grew warmer. Dane tried to pull his hand away, but it felt as if his hand had been glued to it. Suddenly, the object pulsated through different colors. Dane gasped, “Oh God”, tried in vain to pull his hand away; panic changed to terror. He opened his mouth to scream, but his tongue felt swollen with fear. Nothing would come out but a squeak. Then, without warning, the forest’s sounds around him were gone.

In the darkness the wind blew lightly. Dead leaves fell and the pine needles settled softly with a light tap upon the tent. Inside, a man and a woman snored softly, each dreaming their own dreams of past, present and possible future.

Chapter 2

“Hey mister, are you okay?” Dane sluggishly awoke to a child’s voice and a nudging sensation to his leg.

He raised his hand to block the bright morning sunshine and beheld the face of a young child, nine, maybe ten years old with shoulder length hair which appeared to be the color of translucent gold.

Slowly, he moved his eyes to her small porcelain colored delicate features. Her beautiful eyes stood out. They were almond shaped, giving her an almost Asian appearance, but the eyes held the deepest color of sapphire blue he had ever seen.

Dane took his eyes away from the girl and looked at his surroundings, “Where am I?”

“You’re in our meadow,” the girl stated with a questioning smile and a giggle. “Where do you think you are?”

Before Dane could respond, he was roughly grabbed from behind.

While his attention was diverted someone put him into a choke hold.

“What are you doing with my little girl, mister?” the male voice asked gruffly.

Dane instinctively reached for the vice-like arm, encircling his neck. He tried to pry it away, but the pressure increased. He observed his surroundings begin to gray and tiny specks of light flickered across his vision.

“I’m not going to ask you again, mister, what are you doing with my daughter?”

"Nothing," Dane managed to squeak out.

"What’s going on here, Calen?"

Dane heard the voice of a woman but was unable to see her.

"This stranger was..."

"This stranger was what! Let him go, you're choking him."

"But Avriel he was...."

"I said let him go; now."

Dane felt the pressure of the arm lesson from around his neck as he slid to the ground gasping for air. He slowly looked up at the three strangely clad individuals and wondered where he was.

"Who the hell are you people?" Dane managed to say between gulps of air.

"Maybe we should be asking you the same question," the woman stated in a harsh tone,. "You are on our land."

Dane, still rubbing his neck, stood up and faced the three people that stood before him.

“My name is Dane, Dane Sabastion. I have no idea how I got here, or where here is. I was only going to use the outhouse at the campground when…I.” Dane trailed off.

“When you what?” Avriel asked.

“When I…”

"Spit it out!” Calen said.

Dane reached up and rubbed at the side of his temples and winced. “I touched a light, or something like a light, I don’t remember what happened after that.”

“Bull” roared Calen “touched a light, and poof, you magically appear here. Do we look like we just fell off a horse cart; do we appear to be daft? I say we turn him over to the magistrates Avriel, he obviously doesn’t want to tell us why he is here.”

“Calen, give the man a chance. He is obviously not well and needs rest.”

“Well he’s not resting here if I have anything to say about it.” Snapped Calen

“Well you don’t, so quit your grumbling and help me get him inside.”

Calen opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it after Avriel gave him a look of defiance.

Calen turned toward Dane, “Come on mister, my sister has taken loss of her senses.”

“Names Dane.” He offered his hand to Calen.

Calen reached out to shake Danes hand and suddenly pulled back with a start. “By the Gods!” Calen said while drawing his hand away from Dane.

“Avriel look, look at his hand.” Calen stated, a look of fear in his eyes. “Son of a bitch! I should have known by the looks of him. I should have…”

“Calen, hush.” Avriel said sharply. “Mr. Sabastion, may I see your hand?”

Dane slowly turned his hand over so that he and Avriel could see it. What Dane saw suddenly made his stomach lurch and he felt bile rise up into his throat. “What…what is it.” Dane stammered.

Avriel slowly raised her eyes up until they were looking into Danes. “We need to get you inside, we will discuss it in there.”

“But Avriel, you saw his hand? He’s one of those…. People.” Calen said while pointing a shaking finger at Dane.

“He cannot be allowed to stay here. If the magistrates were to find out we would lose everything, including our lives, and I will not risk my daughters’ life or mine for a stranger, especially a Shifter."

“A Shifter? What in the hell is a Shifter” Dane asked looking from Avriel’s face to Calen’s.

“You and your daughter are not in any danger as long as we keep it quiet Calen. But for now, lets get him inside away from prying eyes and discuss what we need to do. Furthermore, it is quite obvious that Mr. Sabastion has no idea what is going on in this world. It just wouldn’t be fair to send him away without giving him some answers to his questions.”

Calen opened his mouth to respond to Avriel, but only looked at Dane and shook his head.

After a few awkward moments of silence Calen begrudgingly, and with a sigh, held out his hand toward Dane. Dane slowly raised his own hand and gripped Calens while looking him in the eyes. Dane could read suspicion and fear in those eyes and wondered what Calen was so fearful of. Calens hand felt strong and very callused and Dane assumed by the looks of his surroundings that his hands got this way from many years of farming the land.

“Names Calen Baptiste, and I want to get something straight right away. If I think for a moment that my life and those of my duaghter and Avriel's are in danger, I will turn you over to the magistrates myself, regardless of what my sister Avriel has to say about it. Do you understand this Mr. Sabastion?”

Dane wearily looked from Calen to Avriel and then over at Calens daughter.

“Right now I don’t understand much of anything Mr. Baptiste.”

"However, I do understand what you are saying and I don’t want to endanger anyone’s life on my account. But, I would be greatly in your debt if you could help me out here and explain how I got here and why I am here if at all possible?”

“You’ll know that soon enough Mr. Sabastion, but first we need to get you inside and into different clothing. What you have on now will definitely draw other peoples attention, and with that unwanted questions.” Avriel said.

“Avriel was right,” Dane thought, as the four of them walked in silence up the dirt path toward the Baptiste home.