Hidden in Sheridan (Tainted Series: Book 1)

Moon: FIRST QUARTER

Levi - Following Sterling, I notice he avoids flipping on the lights as we hurries down the hallway and into his parents bedroom. It turns out to be a very normal space for a supernatural-shapeshifter power-couple. Mrs. Wolfe’s chosen motif was inspired by a cabin in the woods. With log-like bed posts and bedding made of thick warm materials in earthy colors.

Adjacent to the bed was a large stone fireplace with a large LG TV above the mantle, which at the moment is muted while playing an episode from man versus wild.

This held little importance to Sterling. He lead us through the room and into the walk-in closet. Mrs. Wolfe’s eye for organization was clear. Her and Mr Wolfe’s clothes had been color coordinated and carefully placed. Then along the back wall a variety of colorful cloth boxes lined the white shelves.

Sterling reaches into one, and with a click he pulls the back wall open and there they were. Stairs, leading down into the deep basement.

Following from behind, I watch Ity. Her feet lightly touch the bottom of the steps and her eyes dance across the details of the basement. She spots the open office directly to her left. Then down to the far corner of the basement, where the rusted cage sits, door open. I fail to stop the shutter that vibrates through my body. We hadn’t bothered closing the door that morning, perhaps subconsciously I knew it’s where I’d be returning this evening.

I can see her studying it carefully, “You looked surprised.” Her voice bounces off the stone walls back to my ears, somehow making it more gentle. She turns to look at me, “When you changed in the woods. Was that your first time?”

My breath catches in my throat for moment but I manage to look away, “It was.”

“So were you caged yesterday but didn’t shift?”

“All I remember is pain.” I admit, no stoping the sigh as I shuffle past her, “They couldn’t tell if I was a danger to them or myself. So they locked me inside.”

“How did you know?” Sterling asks, his feet still firmly planted by the entrance.

Ity glances away before answering. “The blood on the bars is his.” My mouth opens to speak but she quickly redirects the conversation. “You have a library but no lights?”

Sterling reaches back and flips the brown switch, turning on the inset lights around the crown molding of the office. Giving that side of the room a different feel, not warmer but less morbid than other sections. Ity doesn’t say anything, she just slowly walks towards the bookcases. Her boots scratching across the stone floor.

“It’s my families legacy.” Sterling proceeds to explain. “Stories they’ve collected over time. Some they’ve written on topics not appropriate for the upstairs library.”

Her hand touches the top of the desk, beside the red French book I’d left there two nights before. Her slender fingers lingering on that spot for a moment but her eyes turned away to the books on the top shelf of the bookcase.

“We’ve been searching through these for days. To see if there was anything in them that might explain what’s happening to Levi.” Sterling explains, defeat clearly in his tone.

“You won’t find anything.” She says.

“Maybe with a new set of eyes,” I suggest stepping up beside her. Her green eyes flashing in the light.

“I do love old books.” She simply sighs, her voice soft for the first time and her expression reinforcing the truthfulness of her words.

“You do don’t you.” I say but she’s already grabbing a book. Her light touch slides across one that I remember. Its the one about Sterling’s Viking ancestor, Bo Ulf.

As her hand shifts through the pages I listen. I want to know the truth, and usually when someone lies their heart rate increases, and when they tell the truth it generally steadies. So I listen for her normal steady heart beat, instead, I hear nothing.

“Your heart, It’s barely beating.”

“Uh-huh.” She says, still looking at the pages in her hand. That is until the words finally register to her and her eyes snap in my direction. “I mean, what?”

“Your heartbeat. Can you feel it? It’s slowed down so much I don’t know if I can even hear it.” I explain, and Sterling seems to take notice of it as well. He came closer.

“Yep, and yours is nearing hummingbird range.” She replies returning her attention to the book as if this news didn’t matter. How could this not matter? My apparently hummingbird speed heart instantly sent blood to my head and my face flushed with anger.

“Aren’t you worried?” I blurt. “This is the weirdest situation on planet earth and you are not acting worried!” She barely blinks in my direction, and the expression on her faces mimics one of amusement. My fists tighten at my side, “What happens if your heart stops beating entirely, Ity? What happens then?”

“I’m more curious about what’s going to happen to you in the next few minutes, when the moon crests the horizon.” She says, still avoiding eye contact, “Will you even make it through tonight?”

“If I don’t you won’t be far behind me.” I point out. It’s strange even with Ity in the same situation I still feel completely alone in this.

Ity eyes close for a moment, using her finger as a bookmark she slowly closes the pages before turning to me.

Her eyes open, set on mine, still and calm beneath her thick dark lashes. “Yes, this is scary. Something powerful enough to change a human into, for lack of a better word, a monster, is scary. The disconcerting part is, it’s not natural species evolution that’s doing it, we’re seeing something else. And until we know what that is, of course it’s scary. Not just for you, but the entire Wolfe Pack.” She pauses, blinks and then her entire posture changes. A cold stillness sets in and one of her eyebrows lifts, “How was that? Comforting?”

She’d been acting, but I don’t care. She’d at least tried for me. “Better.” I say, “Why are you so bad at this?”

Ity shrugs. “I haven’t had to use words to express myself in a year, of course being sensitive is going to be difficult.”

“You did it so well when you were mute.”

“Because her real thoughts would take too long to communicate through sign language.” Sterling adds from his new position at the opposite end of the room. “She signed the basics and we filled in the blanks with our own interpretation.”

“It’s called selective hearing. Pretty sharp for a mutt.” Ity nods.

“Why is it you couldn’t talk … didn’t talk?” I correct myself.

A fake laugh slid from her vocal cords as she pondered carefully on the words she would use. “At first, I just didn’t want to. You see, it’s easier not to lie when you don’t say anything at all.”

“Why would you have to lie?”

Chewing on the inside of her cheek bought her a moment before answering. “Foster Kids always lie. It starts with one lie to protect a secret. Then to protect that lie, more lies always come. It’s just easier to share simple details and allow people to fill in the blanks,” She looks at Sterling, “with their own interpretation.”

“And then all you have to do is laugh and roll your eyes, without actually giving an answer.” I finish for her and she nods.

“Clever.” I admit.

“Besides it wasn’t my idea.” She closes Bo Ulf’s book and goes in search of another. “I wasn’t labeled mute until a week after I’d been here. The first person to actually come and talk to me was a senior. And for some reason, he talked to me in sign language.”

“You knew sign language before?”

Ity shrugs, “I like languages. They’ve been my distraction for a long while.”

“So you responded to him and from that people assumed …”

“They assumed I was deaf, yes.” She pulls a book from the top, covered in dirt, and bound only with thick rope. The front cover had words in, what I assume is the old Norse language.

I suddenly laugh, “Did people come up and yell at you, so you could hear them?”

“Indeed.”

The mood in the whole room lifted. It felt good. A little less death and fear, at least for a moment, but deep in my stomach something had begun pulling. The moon was cresting the horizon which makes me pause to study my condition. No pain yet, just … awkward. As if I were wearing the wrong underwear and only now realized it.

Trying not to draw attention to myself, I wander towards the bookcase pretending to be interested, even though I’m tired of looking at their spines. Nothing had come of them before, I hold no belief the answer to my problems lay in them.

Nor did Ity.

She closes her book and walks to the wall at the far end of the bookcase, where the stair’s disappear behind the stone wall. A place I hadn’t bothered looking.

“Have you tried shifting on command?” Ity asks.

“Its as easy as breathing,” Sterling answers, though he doesn’t look up from his place.

“Not you,” she says darkly.

“I don’t know.” I sputter. “It happened so quickly I didn’t think about. The adrenaline hit and it was there. And the next thing I knew it was gone.”

“Adrenaline,” She repeats. She had paused facing the dark corner. I force my eyes to adjust to the shadowed light. Inside a glint of metal and glass reflect back and demand further investigation. Tucked away are two large cabinets, full of unique weapons, all very old. The first to catch my eye is an enormous axe. Its wooden handle wrapped in leather cords but the metal head was polished highlighting three different textures of oar used in its construction.

Click!

The side of the other glass case pops open. Slick and smooth, Ity’s hand slips in and with a spin she whirls around with a piece of thick tarnished metal. I feel the air breeze inches passed my neck as I step backward. My hands slam against the desk, bracing my backward leap and stopping me cold.

The metal spins in her hand again and she pauses with its handle next to her ear her left fingers tracing down the narrow edge of its blade. My heart rate accelerates, my breathing is erratic, but Ity returns to me a look of disappointment.

She had wanted me to change. I pull my hands forward to see … nothing. Still human. A whoosh of air escapes my chest as I calm myself.

“Sterling, you have swords?” My voice comes out higher than intended, which I realize is happening more often lately. Sterling was on his feet and had positioned himself between myself and Ity.

“My ancestors were vikings, of course we have swords.” Sterling says, he starts to crouch low, preparing to shift, but Ity’s eyes slide back to the weapon in her hands.

“A T-double edged blade, nearly 35 inches long. Not many chose to use this sword.” She says pulling it down in front of her, both hands clenching the hilt. “It’s in very good shape, though dull.”

“How’d you know how to swing that thing?” Sterling quips, he’d released his stance the moment Ity relaxed hers.

“The history and evolution of weaponry is interesting. As powerful as weapons continue to get, there is something poetic and powerful about the sword.” She answers. My ears pick up on the irregular heart murmur beside me, and a stupid smile creasing Sterling stupid face.

My hand swung backwards, hitting Sterling in the stomach. He buckles over, not expecting it. “I’m just surprised.” He claims in his defense.

“But you didn’t shift.” She points the sword at me again, “Did you not believe I’d kill you?”

I did. I thought for sure she was going to run me through, however I really don’t want to admit that to her. Luckily I didn’t have a chance to make up a lie. That uncomfortable feeling grew in the pit of my stomach until it exploded outward, flooding into every single one of my limbs.

CHAPTER END