Shifted (the novel)

Subject: Shifted (the novel) Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:10 am

Faythe

I knew I was being hunted, my animal instincts confirmed that. Every nerve in my body was telling me to run, to get out of here, which is exactly what I was trying to do. I was getting closer to the forest though my destination was a ways farther than that. I was heading for the valley of thorns that lay just beyond the forest line.
The vines were four times larger than normal ones you would find in human territories and much more dangerous, rendering it almost impossible for humans to go through. If a human ever tried to go through it and got cut… oh, it would not be pretty.
I stopped briefly and looked back at where a gunshot rang, a group of boys stepped out of the shadows. Recognizing who they were, I whimpered and hauled tail out of there. I could’ve sworn I killed them a year and a half ago! Crap!
I pushed myself to run faster than I have ever run; I had to get to the vines before they catch me. Another gunshot rang and a bullet flew past my right flank. The vines were at least half a mile away, God I hope I can make it. I couldn’t run any faster; I was already pushing maximum and any more pain in my limbs or in my already burning chest just might make me collapse.
A bullet went straight through my left forelimb, staining my white fur crimson and bringing back once forgotten memories. I stumbled forward then turned, with my injured arm’s paw raised and growled at the hunters. I had all intensions to kill them. Even with my new wound. Bullets began flying in all directions around my body, as if I kept them from coming in contact with me. I finally snapped out of my road rage and began running for the forest.
I ran lopsided; my injured arm wasn’t healing as fast as it normally would since I cant stop and let it heal. Before I knew it I entered the forest entrance. Almost there! I told myself. I sprinted and jumped over the vines and landed on the other side without so much as a scratch.
I examined my wound and was not surprised to find it was almost healed. I waited until my fur began to grow over the newly made skin before I kept moving.
Thank God I am a shifter. There was no way I could’ve walked into a hospital with a bullet wound… then again if I was human I wouldn’t be hunted down… at least I hope not. I walked farther into the forest, avoiding the vines, before passing out from exhaustion.
* * *
I soon awoke to a silver fox growling above me, his red eyes were cold and dark. I took note of his size, he was much larger than a normal fox should be but I decided to ignore that, everything in this forest just happened to be larger… even the kill. With a roll of my eyes I threw a paw over my muzzle in an attempt to cover my eyes. I really wasn’t in the mood for God’s twisted sense of humor.
First you send the guys and now this fox, what else you got for me?! A deep cat like growl came out of nowhere and I opened my eyes to find a tigress growling in our direction. A tigress… in the forest… uh huh, very funny God!
The tigress pounced on the fox and placed a massive paw on his chest. She growled at him for a long while before releasing him. He looked at both of us, growled at me, and walked off, not frightened in the least. The tigress turned to me and lowered her head, a sign of meaning no harm, before moving forward and sitting down in front of me. Her entire body shook as her fur rippled and changed to skin. Her limbs and muzzle shrunk until she became a human girl. So that’s what shifting looks like…
I sat up and looked at her curiously. I’m not the only one? She had beautiful light olive skin and reddish brown eyes. Her black hair had red streaks in it, which hung in curls around her shoulders.
“Are you a Shifter?” She asked, her eyes pleading. “A Shape Shifter?” I sighed mentally before morphing into my human form. She smiled, the wind blowing her hair back gently.
“That’s a yes.” She stuck her hand out. “I’m Freya.” I shook her hand carefully, as if she’ll bite.
“I’m Faythe… didn’t your mother ever tell you not to get face to face with wolves?”
She giggled. “As often as your mom told you not to run alone in the woods.”
A machete hit against a vine and I jumped up, alarmed, stunned even, that they were able to get this far.
“We have to go!” I yelled as I grabbed Freya’s wrist and pulled her away.
“What's going on? Who was that?”
“Don’t ask just run!”
We were already running faster than any normal human, and even that didn’t seem fast enough for me. I had to get us out of there.
I desperately wanted to rip their heads off their bodies at this point but I couldn’t get myself to turn back around. I felt like a frightened bunny, running away from a large menacing snake.
Freya didn’t ask anything else until I stopped running. I was looking back at the forest when she asked what was going on.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I turned and started walking into the large flower field. She grabbed my arm and I turned and growled at her.
“That was not nothing.” She growled back, then in sympathy asked. “What happened to you?” My face turned from pissed to frightened in a second. No one knew the story… it was always my secret, my dilemma, no one knew me since that night… I don’t know if I can trust her.
As though she read my thoughts she said. “Trust me. It’s going to stay between us, I promise,” she placed a hand on my arm. ”Just picture it in your minds eye.”
“How would that help either of us?”
“Shifters can show their experiences, their memories, through physical contact. As long as one of us is touching the other I can see everything that happened. Ok? So picture it in your mind.”
“I’ll just tell you…” I sighed. “Though its not a day I like to remember.” I then began telling my story.
“I was fifteen or sixteen when it happened. I was walking home from baby-sitting, normally my parents would take me home themselves but since my parents were working late I insisted to walk. It was five minutes to midnight. I hated walking in the dark. It’s not like I was afraid of the darkness itself, I just didn’t trust the things hiding in the shadows.”
I looked at Freya and she nodded, her eyes urging me to continue. I could she was trying to understand so I pictured what happened next in my head and I placed my hand on hers in case I wasn’t able to continue.
“I was ok for a long time until I heard drunken laughter behind me. I kept walking, just a bit faster, hiding in some nearby shadows hoping they wont see me. Someone out of the group grabbed me from behind I was raped… next thing I knew I was a wolf and their blood was all over me.”
“It’s not uncommon to kill during your first shift.” She told me “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
I scoffed. “I wish I killed them. The three guys who were chasing me? They were my rapists.”
Freya’s eyes grew wide then glared as flames grew in her eyes. I couldn’t read her thoughts but I was positive she wanted to kill them too.
“We have to get you somewhere safe. There’s something not right about them…”
“What? Aside from the fact they are drunks, rapists, and attempting to murder me?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me through the field to an outhouse.
“This is somewhere safe?” I asked. I mean of course no one would think to look for me in there!
“Uh huh.” She opened the door, pushed me inside and then walked in herself.
“Hey!? What the heck? What are you doing?”
She shook her head and she sighed. “Listen… what do you know about Shifters?”
I stared at her blankly, confused by the question. I mean what is there to know? My mind was on the fact that she was pressed up against me in this cramped little outhouse!
“We can shift into any living animal.”
She giggled, apparently amused by my minor knowledge on this subject. “That’s only part of it. We can shift into any known animal and if you are experienced enough you can shift into another person. It’s fun to play tricks on the humans.”
“We can shift into another human?” I asked, stunned. I never knew that, I always wondered what my limit as a Shifter was though…
She nodded. “Uh huh. See watch…” She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair and over her face. Her curly black locks turning to straight dark brown hair, her olive colored skin lightened, and when she opened her eyes they were hazel. She looked exactly like me now! That was my hair! My eyes! My face!
“Holy…” I could barely speak I was so shocked.
“If I wanted to,” she began with a smile, my voice coming out of her mouth. “I could go back and kill them in your body. They would never know the difference.” I had no idea what to say. I wanted her to do it but they will probably get stuck in the woods and die from starvation, so what did it matter if we killed them? We could let them suffer and just let vultures eat them. I shook my head no and she nodded then said.
“I needed to let you know this because if this doesn’t work and live among humans you would survive longer…” she sighed and looked at me, seriousness filled her eyes. “There are people out there who will hurt you without a second thought, ‘cause you are different. ‘Cause you can do things they cant.”
I nodded. I already knew that. “You need to have a place where you can be safe. I’m willing to claim you as my sister so you can have that place. We’ll stick together and I will protect you. Will you be my sister?”
I nodded and she smiled as she kicked the wall causing the inside of the outhouse to descend into the earth.
OhmyGod! I kept repeating in my head, this was crazy! What did I get myself into?!?!
“Calm down! It’s ok. You’re safe.” Apparently she was a mind reader or the expression on my face just screamed ‘ohmyGod imma die!’.
“Where are we going?” I asked, trying to ignore the pounding of my frightened heart.
“Home. You'll see.”
I had no choice but to believe her. I kind of couldn’t move. Freya’s body was pressing me into the wall. There wasn’t room for both of us.
When we finally stopped and Freya opened the door and stepped out, I had to bite my lip to keep from gasping.
“This is where you live?” Everything sparkled like a diamond; aside from the crappy elevator everything was beautiful. It looked like the interior of a very expensive hotel. The elaborate staircase led down into the lobby. A few animals and people paused to look at Freya and me.
“Wow.” My reaction caused Freya to giggle and pull me out of the elevator.
“Come on, let’s get you a room.” I was smiling for the first time in a long while until a familiar growl came from behind us.
“Don’t you think letting a rogue into our home will result in problems for us?”
Freya and I turned around and stared at a cute guy. Well… I stared and she glared at him. He was tall, silver haired, crimson-eyed guy with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed in frustration. My guess was he was in charge, though his attire spoke otherwise. He had on a t-shirt, long shorts, and sandals… not the best ‘I’m in charge’ look.
“Garrett, she needs a home.” Freya said.
“So you brought her to yours? What if she is not who she says she is?”
“Like what, a were in shifter’s clothing? I doubt it.”
He growled at her under his breath, his red eyes flashing violently. I’d seen eyes do that once before… he was the fox in the woods!
“You do not know that!” he growled. “You have only seen her shift into one form. A wolf.” I blocked out the rest of his rant and shifted into a silver fox. An exact duplicate of his fox form.
“See, She mimics you perfectly.”
Who’s the fraud now? I thought.
He obviously didn’t like this so he told me to shift back and go away for a moment. I looked up at Freya who just smiled down at me.
“It’s ok.” She reassured me. “Go check out your new home. I’ll meet you in a bit.” Hesitantly I shifted into a wolf and ran to check everything out.

* * *
Freya

I crossed my arms and growled at him, why does he have to be an ass?
“Do you not understand what is at stake, Freya? We are in the midst of a traitor and you want to let in a rogue who could possibly be an accomplice?! Do you understand what would happen? Who is at stake?” He began pacing and I spoke with him as he finished his rampage.
“We would completely perish. They will stop at nothing to kill us all off.”
“Yes I know, Garrett, but there is innocence in her heart.” As Garrett scoffed Freya continued. “Her heart is pure. God must’ve given her to us to help. How else would we both find her?” Garrett didn’t budge. Apparently religion doesn’t work… “She is being hunted, do you want to have another death on your shoulders?”
I watched him flinch, his eyes filled with pain. I knew I struck a nerve. “Please Garrett?”
“She isn’t a stray puppy you can take in Freya…”
“I know. Just as you know I’ll sneak her in when you’re not looking if you say no.”
He kept silent so I tried a different approach. “Besides… I claimed her as my sister.” His eyes darkened immediately.
“Fine.” He growled. “But she is your responsibility. Do NOT expect me to help you with her. If she is a traitor, your fate will match hers.”
And with that he disappeared, shadows twisted around him until he disappeared in thin air. I turned around and glared at the throng of people gathered at the bottom of the staircase.
“Disperse!” I yelled. They all scrambled over each other so they would not have to face my fury. So damn nosy! And why the hell did he talk about her as if she was a freaking puppy? God! I pushed my anger to the far corners of my mind and walked off to find Faythe.

Faythe

I kept walking through different hallways, each looking exactly the same. I felt more like I was in a labyrinth than in a home. It was getting late and I began zoning out. I didn’t notice it earlier but exhaustion was attempting to take over me. I turned around to find Freya but my legs buckled and everything went black.
* * *
I moaned and rolled over as I awoke, getting on all fours I sank slightly into the ground. Not the ground… a bed. How the heck? A light flicked on and Freya was by the door.
“Good morning, Faythe.” I shifted into human form and looked at her confused.
“Freya… where am I?” I asked. “Last thing I remember was exploring the endless hallways.”
“I talked Garrett into letting you stay here. I told you I had your back little sister.”
I smiled. I forgot I was claimed. Even something like a sisterly claim has a really tight bond, almost impossible to break it. It definitely has its perks. She returned my smile with one of her own and told me to get dressed. Apparently I have a long day ahead of me, starting with talking to Garrett.
“Aww…” I whined.
“Get dressed!” she ordered, laughing.
I put on a black tank top; sweat pants that had ‘wolf girl’ up the right leg, and flip-flops.
Freya examined my outfit and shrugged. “Guess that would work. Lets go.” I reached for the doorknob and behind me I hear Freya going,
“Whoa! Nice tat, girly.”
I turned around to face her. I forgot about the wolf paw tattoo that I had in between my shoulder blades. When I found out what I was I had experimented on which one I would always use, and wolf had won. Ever since then I shifted into a wolf. I got the tattoo when I was seventeen; it’s a black tribal wolf paw.
“You like it?” I asked her.
“Love it!” she smiled. “Come on we gotta go.”
We walked out the door and next thing I knew I’m on the floor holding my head.
“Ow! Ugh, get off me!” I yelled pushing the guy I ran into off my body.
“Watch it!” he yelled back. His iPod lay on the floor beside us, blaring rock music.
“Faythe,” Freya sighed, as if she didn’t want to do this introduction. “Meet our resident ice king, Ryden.”
I looked up at Ryden and scowled. He had spiked hair, brown eyes, and an attitude that just screamed ‘hit me’ to me. His Tripp pants jingled as he stood up, grabbed his iPod, and fixed his shirt.
Ok, I thought, conceded much?
I hopped up and slammed into his shoulder as I walked past him. I’m guessing he turned around to glare at me ‘cause I saw Freya smile triumphantly in his direction and said ‘bye Ry’ curtly before we walked off.
“Don’t worry about it,” Freya told me as we walked to Garrett’s room. “He’s an ass to everyone.”
“Oh I wont.”
“Same with Garrett. Don’t take it personally with him either.”
“He made it seem personal.”
“Only cause we are in the middle something. He gets away with it ‘cause he’s in charge.”
“And Ryden? Why does he get away with it?”
“He teaches martial arts.”
“So?”
“So he knows every type of martial arts out there and can execute each move flawlessly! Not that I'm bragging…”
I nodded. “And you?”
“I help run this place; I do what I can and I kick every ones asses when needed!”
“Oh… so where are we going?” I wasn’t paying attention and we were almost to the top of a spiral staircase.
“I need to grab something.” We walked into the large double doors to the right of the stairs and Freya grabbed one out of what looked like a million and one books.
“Mh-kay, lets go.”
“O-ok…” she had to drag me out of the library. I wanted to stay and read! I sighed. Off to Garretts we go. We walked into another library and I looked at Freya.
“This is his room?!”
“Yes, it is.” Garrett appeared in front of me, glaring just as he did last night. “Are you claimed?”
“By Freya.”
“Anyone else?”
“Not that I know of.” What was I talking about?! I didn’t know who I was till a few years ago!
“How long have you been this way?”
“Claimed or Shifter?”
“Shifter.”
“About three years or four years.”
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“And have you ever killed?”
“Only woodland animals…”
“Have you tried to kill people?” he asked, telling that I was hiding something.
“Once, three teens boys.”
“Shifters?”
“Human.” I told him.
“The reason being…?”
“They raped me.”
He stayed quiet for a moment, as if deep in thought then sighed.
“You have a room now, you can stay.” I smiled. “But you will be watched.” He finished and disappeared.
“Good job.” Freya applauded.
“Thought you said you talked to him?”
“I did. He wanted answers from you.”
I scoffed. “Some questions.”
“I heard that!” Garrett’s voice echoed around us.
“Bye Garrett!” I yelled as I pulled Freya out of his room. As I closed the door I heard Freya squeak and run off toward some brown haired guy.
“Cole!” she hugged him tight from behind. “Hey!” he had to weight lift in his spare time, he had large muscles in his arms and on his chest and abs (his muscle shirt definitely did its job).
“Cole, this is my sister, Faythe.” She informed him.
“Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand and I shook it. He tried to grip my hand tight enough to make me say ‘Ow’ but I just gripped it back as tight as I could.
“Nice grip, you a Shifter?”
“Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” I reminded him.
“Very true.” He studied me for a few moments before I started getting self-cautious.
“What?” I asked.
“What race are you?”
What is with the questions today?
“Native American; Cherokee.”
“Sixteen?”
Really? That’s his guess? “Eighteen.” I corrected him.
“I have a friend who’s been looking for someone… I wonder if you could be her…”
“If it’s Ryden you can forget it!”
“Not Ry. Bray.”
I shivered. That name struck a nerve. I didn’t recognize the name but something just felt… weird inside me after he said it.
He walked in a door and in a few seconds a tall blonde runs out, his green eyes wide.
“Faythe?” He asked taking small steps toward me, like I was a scared animal he didn’t want to run off.
“Yeah?” I watched him try and make his mouth work, unsuccessfully. “You must be Bray, nice to meet you.” I stuck out my hand but he ignored it, his eyes bore into mine, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. I lowered my hand down and looked at him, not meeting his wide, hopeful eyes. He had on only jeans, no shirt or shoes, and his hair was in a ruffled mess, like he had just got out of bed. His eyes shone bright, like emeralds in the moonlight. Why does he seem so familiar?
“We’ve… met before…” he closed the space between us in one step. “A long time ago…” his eyes never left mine as he placed his hand on the back of my neck and before I could begin to freak out or push him away his lips met mine and his memories played in my mind.
I saw myself at six years old, running and laughing.
“Bray!” I giggled as he poked me in the stomach and said, “You’re it.” Before running away.
I remember this part… I could never catch him; he was always too fast for me. I would stop and whimper and just so he would come back for me. In moments he would come back and comfort me.
That vision faded and another began. This time we were thirteen and he confessed that he liked me and I blushed and looked away. The next was when we were fifteen and we had our first kiss under the cherry blossom tree.
How could I forget him? If we were this close then how could I forget him? Oh yeah I ran off and left my old life behind…
Just before I pulled away I thought I saw a bright flash of light, just my imagination. I thought. I pushed Bray away slightly and took a breath. I just realized I wasn’t paying attention to breathing and from the looks of it he wasn’t either.
“Do you believe me now?”
“I never said I didn’t.” I informed him. He smiled and I rolled my eyes. “You just wanted an excuse to kiss me…”
His eyes shone bright. “Did I?”
If it was anyone else I would’ve smacked him, but I just smiled and playfully punched him.
“Yes.”
We hung out with Bray and Cole and I soon retired to my room. It turns out that hanging out with a bunch of Shifters was tiring. I lied down on my bed and rest my eyes…
* * *
Unknown
This place is really starting to piss me off. They spent countless hours questioning me, thinking I would be a threat, and yet they let in this little girl in without a second thought! GAH! I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed and growled as I contemplated what to do next. They already suspect someone is the traitor… I should have some fun with this new girl hmm? I began laughing. “Let the games begin, Faythe.” I shifted into a black panther and snarled, stepping out of the shadows. “You better hope you’re ready.” I laughed again; I can't wait to tear her to shreds.
* * *

[/size]

Subject: Section 2 Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:00 am

Faythe
“Let the games begin, Faythe.” A voice echoed around me. I sat up, startled.
“You better hope you’re ready.” A panther emerged from the darkness of the room and snarled at me. I turned toward the panther, but not leaving the safety of my bed. He looked at me then placed a paw on the bed.
Ok. The bed isn’t safe!
I slid off the bed and inched toward the door. The panther jumped in front of me and I jumped back. His claws elongated and I shivered. He swiped at my arm and when I tried to turn out of the way of his claws they cut into my shoulder and got caught in my arm. He practically ripped the flesh off as he pulled his claws out. I cried out and shifted into a panther, slashing his arm with my damaged one then fell to the floor, gripping my arm.
“Faythe?” A voice called out from outside the door. The panther retreated to the shadows and I Shifted back into a human just as the door flew open. As light exposed the shadows I looked at the place where he disappeared but nothing was there.
“Faythe? OhmyGod are you ok?” Freya ran toward me. She checked out my arm. I had to move my hand from the one spot that I could cover and some blood fell to the floor. It dripped from my shoulder down my arm and dripped off my elbow.
“Holy sh- Cole! Come in here quick!”
“Cole?” I asked, not paying attention to the violent bleeding in my arm, nor attempting to stop it.
“He spent the night with me.” She told me.
He ran in my room, looked at me, then Freya, then my arm. “What happened?” he asked as he pulled off his shirt and gave it to Freya to help stop the bleeding.
“Someone was in my room!” I told them what happened, the voice, the panther. They looked at me sort of like I was crazy. “Its true!”
“No one was in here Faythe. Not when I opened the door. Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”
“Says the girl who’s trying to stop the bleeding from my arm.” I said irritably.
“Let me see your nails.” Cole ordered. I showed him both sets of nails, being careful with my right arm. The only blood under my nails was on my right arm from when I slashed that panther, rendering it impossible for me to do this to myself.
“I didn’t do this to myself! I swear to you someone was in here!”
“Alright, alright. Calm down! You’re making it difficult for your body to heal if you don’t chill out.” I tried meditating with Cole as Freya cleaned and bandaged my wound. There was going to be a scar. I know it. Even though Shifters can heal quickly there is always a silver scar left over from your injuries. It’s only noticeable when you're in the sun or searching for it, not so much when you're not.
“You should be fine. I’ll check on you in a little bit. No more fighting shadows. You’ll get hurt.” Freya told me.
“Yes mother.” I joked, and I fell asleep.

* * *
Unknown
Damn! If only Freya and Cole hadn’t walked in! She would’ve been dead by now… just like the others. She’s told Freya and Cole I'm sure. Hopefully they will take some convincing before they jump in and start searching for me. I looked at the wound on my neck; it stretched from under my jaw to my left collarbone. I raised the washcloth and hissed as the alcohol on the washcloth wiped across a part of the cut that didn’t fully heal. Thank God she didn’t cut the jugular. I thought. I would’ve been a goner then. Scary thing is though… she knew where she was aiming. She was trying to cut where I would bleed to death… She maybe more useful than I thought…

* * *
Freya
“I’m really starting to get worried… I don’t think I should’ve brought her here…” I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my head on my knees.
“You brought her here to save her.” Cole reminded me, as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
I scoffed. “So much for saving…” I looked up at him with worried eyes. “Did you see that scratch? It was seriously deep.”
“It wasn’t that bad…” he rested his head on my shoulder.
“I could see her bone Cole! Your shirt was filled with her blood! She has blood stains on the floor!”
“Relax.” He told me. “She’s ok now. Calm down.” He kissed my cheek then my neck; clearly he was trying to distract me, and was doing a dang good job of it too.
“All right! Ok.” I pushed him a little bit and then lay down. “Let’s just get some sleep.”
Cole sighed and lay down beside me. “’Kay.” He wrapped an arm around my waist. “Night.”
“Good night.” I whispered and then closed my eyes.

* * *
Faythe
I awoke the next morning and pretty much ripped off the bandage Freya put on me last night. I walked into the bathroom, threw the bloody bandage into the trash and grabbed a washcloth to wipe the dried blood off. It wasn’t too terrible. I could see three red lines starting at my right shoulder blade and ending on my elbow.
Dang, he got me good… I thought. Its not silver yet… wonder why… I wondered who did this. Who would attack me of all people? I wasn’t the most powerful, I knew less about Shifters than most of the other people here. Why would I be a liable target? I shook my head and began to change my clothes; I don’t want to think about this now. Not yet at least. I pulled on a pair of ripped jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, to hide the scar. I brushed my hair and teeth before going to Freya’s door.
“Freya? Hey you up?” I knocked on the door a few times. I heard someone groan and Freya growled sleepily ‘go away’ so I backed away slowly and went to get something to eat.
The cafeteria was a pain in the rear to find. It surprised me that I had spent two days here and I haven’t eaten anything. I walked in and automatically smelt the dozens of food. My mouth began to water. I ran to the table and grabbed me a plate and stacked it high with pancakes covered in syrup, strawberries, bacon, and a large glass of milk. Finding an empty table I sat down grabbed a fork and knife and dug in. Everything tasted exquisite, as if a gourmet chef cooked everything. I devoured all of the pancakes by the time Bray walked in. He wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings; he just grabbed a plate and began piling it with as much as he could. He only noticed me when he was walking back.
“Hey Faythe!” his face brightened instantly and I smiled.
“Think you got enough there hot shot?” I asked. He had a large stack of pancakes and waffles, bacon, a biscuit, and a glass of O.J. He just smiled at me and shook his head.
“Nah, I think I have just enough. So how are you liking it here?”
“It’s pretty good. As long as people stop trying to kill me I think I will be ok.” I picked up a strawberry and took a large bite out of it as Bray gawked at me.
“What are you talking about?” I showed him my scar and told him about last night. His frightened expression grew with each passing word. He walked to my side of the table and examined my arm.
“How deep was it?” he traced his fingers down the visible portion of the scar.
“With how much blood I had lost I think it was pretty deep.”
“I'm so sorry I wasn’t there Faythe…” his face twisted into true pain, like it was killed him that he wasn’t able to protect me.
“It's fine. I'm alright.” I pulled my arm away from him and told him to finish eating. When he stood up I noticed the faint silver scar on his neck. A shiver went down my spine. It couldn’t be him…
“Hey what happened to your neck?” I asked after I was able to get my mouth to work.
“Oh, that’s a simple one… my dad and I were raking the yard and we were joking around and he accidentally hit me with the rake, hence,” He motioned to his neck. “Scar.” He caught on to what I was getting at and his eyes widened. “You don’t think that I would… Faythe!” he his fingers touched the bridge of his nose and his eyes closed for a moment then looked at me. “I thought we've gone over this. I would never hurt you. I told you that.”
I nodded. “I know but the-“
“The scar was from after you ran off. When I was sixteen, Faythe.”
His story was believable… maybe I was just overreacting… still scared from last night… I slowed my breathing and finished my meal.
Bray made small talk, and he got me to laugh at some of the stupid things he’s done while attending school. Apparently there were a lot of different ways to startle people while going to public school.
“I do not recommend you shift into a frog in a science classroom,” he laughed after telling me about how he danced on the lab table and sang as the Warner Brothers frog instead of dissecting them.
“I figured that one out on my own.” I assured him. We dropped our plates in a washing bin and walked out of the cafeteria.
“So… how’d you find this place anyway?” he asked as we walked.
“Well… Freya found and claimed me so I can have a place I could be safe. You see how well that worked out.” I joked.
“Sorry about that.” His hand went to the back of his head.
“Why are you sorry?” I asked, stopping. His arm dropped to his side.
“You shouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“It’s not like it's your fault Bray.”
“I know but-“
“You couldn’t have stopped it. You weren’t there, ok?” I sighed. “Lets just stop talking about this. Please?”
He nodded. “Alright.”
We began asking each other questions like: favorite colors, favorite foods, and favorite animals to shift into. Things like that, semi personal questions.
We got to his door and I stopped. “I uhm… better go check on Freya, to let her know I'm ok.”
“You sure you don’t want to come in?”
“I'm sure.” I smiled. “Bye Bray.”
He kissed my forehead and I blushed.
“Bye Faythe.”
I turned and quickly walked toward Freya’s room.

* * *
“Hey,” I banged on Freya’s door for two minutes and still no reply. I pressed my ear against the door and held my breath… nothing. No sound whatsoever. Hmm… she wouldn’t be avoiding me now would she? Nah, why would she? I lifted my head and knocked on the door again.
“Freya?” I sighed and backed up, fixing to go to my room but instead backed into Garrett.
“Sorry…” I mumbled, looking away from his glare. “Do you know where Freya is?” I asked him.
He looked down at me and sighed. “She didn’t tell you did she?”
I looked up and arched my eyebrow. “Tell me what?”
“Must I remind her of everything?” he growled. “Come along.” He started walking off and I timidly followed.
“Where are we going exactly?”
“Rydens class.” I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Nuh-uh, no way I'm not going!”
“Yes you are. It's required that you take his class while you're here. You need someway to defend yourself.”
“I can defend myself just fine. He is a butt-head. No way am I going to be taught by him.”
He stifled a laugh at my cussing abilities and then regained his composure. “You'll have to leave us if you don’t go.”
“I’ll go then.” I growled.
“Good then let’s go.”
“I meant I would leave you.”
“You would rather leave than be taught by him?”
I nodded. Garrett scoffed and looked me in the eyes, calling my bluff. “You wouldn’t last two minutes out there right now. I am amazed you made it this long.“
“Fine…” I growled. Knowing people were trying to kill me made me go. Not Garrett, just for the record.
He glared at me for a moment longer then continued walking, checking every so often that I was behind him. Even with superhuman hearing I was still pretty darn silent. Whether it was from being a predetor at heart or from my heritage, either way I like to think of it as the latter. Thank you Cherokee ancestors!
We walked to a door and had a hand on the handle when I asked why we didn’t use the elevator.
“Because. We could get caught in the forest, out here…” he opened the door and I peaked out. “We can't get caught.”
It was a training ground, with an artificial sun and grass and everything. I almost forgot that I was underground. I looked up in the sky, there were even clouds! If this was a dream no one wake me!
“Whoa…” I sighed.
“Mh-hmm… come along Faythe.” He said then we headed to the group of people ahead of us.
* * *

Subject: Section 3 Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:02 am

When we walked up I heard Ryden say. “Ok now you try to knock me down.” I saw Ryden and Freya were circling each other, slowly sizing each other up before Freya charged forward and tried a cheap shot at Ryden, who swiftly anticipated her move and stepped out of the way while kicking her feet out from underneath her and she fell to the ground with a loud ‘oomph’. I stopped myself from giggling and they both glared at me.
“I’d like to see you do better, little sister.” She challenged. I smirked and stepped forward.
“My pleasure.” I told her before I glared at Ryden, happy that I can hit him without getting in trouble. “Ryden.” I growled in acknowledgement.
“Faythe.” He got into a fighting stance and I did the same. I quickly thought out all the possible ways I could take him down without killing him. So far nothing came to mind that wouldn’t brutally injure him.
“Any time now!” Garrett yelled making me look over in his direction. Big mistake. A sound escaped my throat as Ryden kicked me in the head and I was thrown sideways. I shook my head slightly and tried to blink out the black spots. He grinned triumphantly down at me, like he had already won the war. I scoffed. Like I would go down that easily. I stood up and all attempts I made trying to knock him off his feet were failed, epically. In truth I was getting killed. He kept knocking me down, each time harder than the last. This went on for a while. I knew I was being watched, graded, but I didn’t care.
Ryden kicked me in the stomach and I skidded backwards, one arm wrapped around my stomach, the other scraped against the ground.
Stop thinking of this as giving a butt-head what he deserves and start thinking this as if your life depended on it! I told myself. I looked up at him, the suns rays hit him and I saw three silver lines shine on his neck. My eyes darkened with rage and pain from past and present endeavors.
I ran full speed toward him and before I could knock him down he kicked my legs out from under me and I skidded across the ground. Hard.
Ryden towered over me. “You done?” he asked.
“Nope.” I kicked him in his face before jumping to my feet.
I landed a few punches on his stomach, which seemed to do absolutely nothing. My uppercuts and jabs either were dodged or they weren’t effective, so I tried a new approach. I started kicking him, aiming for his head and stomach until he stopped guarding ‘himself’. I stepped forward with my right foot and my left hit him hard in his crotch. He fell to his knees instantly.
“You done?” I heard a groan in response as well as a promise to get me back. I just smiled.
“There's nothing you could do to possibly hurt me,” I narrowed my eyes. ”Though I would love to see you try.”
He grimaced and I stood up and looked at the group staring at me.
* * *
Bray
I walked out to the field to attend Rydens class. I despised this part of the living agreement. He was a complete A-hole. He treats everyone like shit. I can't wait till he gets what's coming for him, and I hoped I was there to see it.
As I approached the sparring field I saw the group of teens staring at what I believe was the fighters in pure astonishment.
Freya must have heard me walk up because she looked in my direction, did a double take then ran toward me.
“Hey Bray, let’s get a drink or something… now.” she started to pull me away from the field and I pulled back. I wanted to see who was fighting.
“No thanks. Who’s fighting who?”
“Nobody special. Come on.” She pulled again and I stopped and looked at her curiously.
“Freya… what's going on?”
“Nothing!” She gulped slightly and pulled me again. All of a sudden it dawned on me why she was doing this.
I twisted my hand out of her grasp and grabbed her own wrist, tightening my grip slightly as I glared at her, daring her to lie to me. “Where’s Faythe?”
She shrugged and mumbled ‘I don’t know’. I growled and ran to the sparing field.
“Bray no!” Freya yelled but I ignored her.
Please don’t let her be hurt. I begged mentally, please!
When I got to the field Faythe was practically getting murdered. I snarled Rydens name under my breath and swore if he did too much damage I was going to kill him! She looked up at Ryden after getting what looked like a very painful kick to the stomach.
Come on, Faythe! I yelled mentally. Get up you can beat him!
As if she heard me she sprinted toward him, and got tripped. Then Ryden leaned over her she kicked hard in the head, by lifting her foot up over her, and then jumped up onto her feet. I watched her closely, completely entranced. She was honestly beautiful. The sun, even being artificial, made her look line she had an aura made entirely of fire. I now see why everyone was entranced. She began hitting him again and I noticed something was wrong. There was something about how she hit him, how her attacks were. It was as if she wanted, needed, to kill him.
She got some punches and kicks in before delivering the final blow to his nuts.
“Ooh.” I hissed. That had to hurt. He fell to his knees, grabbing himself then rolled over to his back. For a moment they talked until she stood and looked at the crowd. I watched her movements; she didn’t break out of her trance like state until she looked at Freya. We all gawked at her. Aside from Garrett and Freya I don’t think anyone has ever knocked him down, even if she used a cheap shot. No one else besides Garrett, Freya, Cole, and me has had enough training to beat Ryden. I just never bragged about me beating. I guess it doesn’t count when it's not on the field. She walked toward us and asked me why is everyone staring at her so funny.
“You beat him.” I smiled. “Though if you count up all the falls you had…” I paused. She hit me playfully in the shoulder.
“Not funny.” She smiled and looked nervously back at everyone else before mumbling a ‘see you later’ and sprinting to the house. She jumped in the air and shifted into a wolf as she ran.
“Bray.” Cole placed a hand on my shoulder. “Something’s not quite right about her.”
I blinked a few times before turning to look at him. “What?”
“You know what’s going on right? The traitors? She has to be with them.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Did you not see her eyes as she beat Ry down? They were pure black. It was as though darkness had filled her.”
I didn’t believe him one bit. “Have you told Freya this?”
“She wouldn’t believe me because she is her sister. She sees the goodness in people, even if they are not quite good themselves.”
“Yet she hates Ryden?”
“Everyone does. That’s just how he is.” He shrugged. “Just be careful.” He began to walk toward Ryden before calling back at me. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I looked back in the direction Faythe ran off in. I didn’t really believe what Cole was trying to convince me of. But she is definitely something though…
* * *
Faythe
God! I growled as I entered my room. I completely and totally embarrassed the heck out of myself!!!
I walked into my bathroom and looked in the mirror. I had some dirt in my hair and I had dirt stains all over. I removed my clothes and jumped in the shower. Turning the hot water on full blast before allowing myself to relax. I just let the hot water pound on my shoulders and make the cold spots on my shoulder blades and back.
I washed my hair and body before I got out of the hot shower into the cold air-conditioned bathroom.
Towel… towel… where is it? I growled. I could’ve sworn the bathroom was stocked with them… I checked underneath the sink but nothing was there. Giving up I stepped in my room and jumped back behind the bathroom wall.
“What are you doing in here?” I yelled at Cole.
“Sorry I knocked. I didn’t realize you were in the shower…”
“You shouldn’t have walked in, in the first place!”
“Right sorry. Is Freya with you?”
“No why would she be with me in the shower?”
“Right. Never mind… Do you need any help in there?” I peered around the corner to glare at him, keeping everything from the neck down concealed.
“Yeah, I do actually,” His eyes widened a bit in curiosity. “LEAVE!”
“’Kay.” He turned around and left the room. Waiting a moment I walked to my closet and tried finding something that I can wear even though I am soaked.
The door opened again and I jumped into my closet.
“Didn’t I tell you to get out of here?” I yelled.
“Not yet you haven’t.” Freya walked to the closet.
“I brought this for you.” She dropped the towel on my head. Wrapping it around myself I got out of the closet.
“What are you doing in here, Freya?” I asked as I looked for something to wear.
“I was just coming by to ask if you wanted to do something tonight.” She paused for a moment then asked. “What was Cole doing in here?”
“I think he was trying to snoop in here. Panty raid or something… but he asked me if I needed help.”
“With?”
“I was in the shower.” I pushed some shirts over and found a nice black top; then walked over to my dresser on the left side of my bed.
“He saw you in the shower?”
“Doubt it. I jumped back behind the wall before he saw me.”
She growled harshly, I turned toward her and as soon as I saw the fire in her eyes I automatically wanted to hug her. “Sorry maybe I shouldn’t have-“
“No. I'm glad you told me.”
“How’d you know that I’d need a towel though?”
“I forgot I took your last one, sorry.”
“It’s ok.”
“Now if you excuse me… I have a boyfriend to kill.” She walked out of my room and slammed the door. “Cole!” She hissed.
My guess, she saw him in the hall. My shoulders slumped and I pulled some sweat pants out of the drawer as well as a bra and underwear.
I dried off and threw my clothes on. I had just put my bra on when a shadow moved along the wall.
“Who’s there?” nothing jumped out at me nor did anything answer. “I saw the shadow move. I know you're here.” Still nothing. I pulled on my shirt and tried to ignore the feeling that I was being watched. Maybe I just imagined it…
I heard something move behind me but saw nothing.
I lay down in my bed and I just tried to fall asleep and soon sleep did come.
Someone knocked on the door and I jumped up.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s Freya.” I opened the door and giggled as I saw her in a short blue dress with large slits in it and Cole in a tux.
“Oh you like it?” she smirked. “I brought you one.” I stopped laughing and stared at the black dress she had in her hand.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“Nope put it on.” She tossed it at me as she stepped in the room and looked back at Cole. She must’ve glared at him or something in her eyes made him apologize to me.
“I was referring to a towel. I didn’t mean to make you think otherwise.”
Yes you did. You just didn’t know I would tell Freya… “It’s fine.” I told him although it really wasn’t. He was still snooping but I was going to leave it be for now.
Freya told him to wait there and she closed the door.
“Why do I have to get dressed in that?” I asked her.
“Because we are double dating.”
I stared at her in shock. “You, Cole, me and…”
“Bray.” She said proudly.
“You set me up on a blind date!” I yelled. She smiled.
“Yup.”
She pulled off my shirt and I pushed her away and told her I could do it myself before she stripped me any further. I slipped on the dress while Freya searched the closet for high heels to match. I looked in the mirror.
“Are you sure you gave me the right dress?” I asked.
“Positive. It leaves much to be desired doesn’t it?”
I looked at the slits in the dress and hissed. “Does it show enough?”
“Not really.” She giggled.
The dress was a tight black number with a slit below my rib cage on the right side and another on my stomach on the left side of the dress that continued on the back. It stopped just before my knees but the slits up the sides exposed most of my thighs.
“Please tell me I can wear something else.”
“No you can't.”
“I look like a hooker!” I told her.
“You do not. Now stay still I need to put some makeup on you an do your hair.”
I refused for her to put makeup on me but I let her fix my hair. She braided most of it back but allowed me to have some of my bangs down in my face.
“I am going to kill you Freya. You know that right?”
“I know.” She giggled.
* * *
We walked to the staircase and Freya and Cole concealed me from brays’ eyes until they reached the top of the stairs. When they walked out of the way, I swear his mouth almost dropped. It was probably the magic of the promiscuous dress. He looked good in a tux I had to admit that.
We left in the elevator two at a time, Bray and Cole then Freya and me; I would’ve felt too uncomfortable being in a cramped elevator with Bray and getting in with Cole was out of the question.
We got two of the teens to lend us their motorcycles for the night. I snagged the Kawasaki Ninja before Freya could since it was my dream bike. I was planning on driving it until I remembered the tight dress I was wearing and unless I wanted another slit in it or to hitch it up to the tops of my thighs, I couldn’t drive it.
“Bray, do you know how to drive it” I asked.
“Yeah of course.” He got on it and started it up like a pro. Looking over at Freya I saw that she did the same, she pulled her dress up a little and straddled the bike behind Cole. I side straddled the bike and held onto Bray tight as he drove off behind Freya and Cole. I laid my head on Bray’s back and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind in my hair.
Freya ended up taking us to a nightclub in the middle of town. When we arrived Freya had Bray talk to the bouncer about letting us in, I guess we were too underage to go in… Bray had his arms crossed and his face looked as if he was concentrating hard as he talked to him, in a few moments his face relaxed and he waved us over and the bouncer let us in. I looked up at him as we passed. He looked as if he was in a trance… What did Bray do to him?
We stepped into a large room with bright flashing lights. ‘Earthquake’ by Family Force 5 started and Freya and I pulled the guys to the dance floor.
Freya pulled Cole close and they ended up getting lost in the crowd somewhere. I placed a hand on Bray’s shoulder and began to move my hips back and forth to the beat. I blushed as Bray placed a hand on my waist and moved with me. We danced for what seemed like forever, multiple fast songs played and we were getting exhausted.
As a Nickelback song ended ‘Valentine’s Dance Tango’ by the Twins began. I placed my arms around Bray’s neck until he released my grip and spun me around and around then pulled me back into him. My eyes never left him as we danced, everyone around us a blur until they disappeared all together. As the last few beats of the song finished Bray slowly bent down and we kissed. Not thinking, I kissed him back. Not that I regret it.
Soon after we ended up having a few virgin drinks and left the club.
“Hey Bray,” Cole called. “Were gonna head off for a while. Take our bike back ok?”
“O…Kay?”
I watched as they shifted and ran off as tigers.
“Where do you think they are going?” Bray asked.
“Torment the townspeople probably.” I looked at the bikes then down at my dress. How am I going to do this…?
“You wanted the Ninja right?” Bray asked.
“Yeah, thanks.” I looked at the bike and I straddled and kick started the bike. When I saw Bray eye me curiously I blushed deep red and clamped my knees shut.
“Well don’t look!”
He chuckled. “Let’s go.” And we sped off. The kid who we loaned the bikes from was standing outside when we got there. Then Bray walked me to my room.
“Faythe do you know what today is?” he asked me. When I shook my head he continued. “It's August sixth. Your birthday.” I looked at him stunned.
“Today’s… my birthday?”
He nodded. “This was your birthday party.” He smiled. “And this is your present…” he leaned in slowly and kissed me softly. He backed away and handed me something from his pocket. “Happy Birthday, Faythe.” He opened the box for me and a locket lay just inside. The locket my grandmother gave me years ago. It was pure gold and on the front it had a green floral pattern.
“Oh Bray…” I sighed as he took it out of the box and put it on me. “You found it.”
“Look inside.”
A picture of Bray and me when we were little was on one side and a picture of us kissing from when he showed me his memories was on the other side, so that’s what the flash was…
“It's beautiful… I love it. Thank you!” I hugged him tightly.
“Your welcome…” he hugged me back. “It’s late. You better get to bed.” He hesitantly let me go.
“Okay…” I kissed his cheek. “Goodnight.”
I opened my door and after I closed it I squealed in excitement. When I finally calmed down I changed into the sweats and t-shirt I was wearing before Freya and the guys took me out.
Someone knocked on the door and I looked at it with my eyebrow raised.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Bray. Open up!”
I smiled as I ran to open the door. “Hey Br-” I growled as Cole stood before me. “You altered your voice I see.” He smiled.
“Sorry to disappoint.” He said as his voice slowly became his own. He stepped around me into my room.
“Uhm excuse you? Get out.”
“I don’t think I will. See you got me in trouble with Freya. You shouldn’t have done that…”
I growled, ready to shift. “Get out.”
“I don’t think so. We need to talk.”
“Not now. Not alone.” I walked around him to my door and opened it for him. “Now leave.”
He door closed the door and pulled me away from it. “No. I'm going to talk and your going to listen.”
“What makes you think I am going to listen to you?”
“Unless you want another scar to match the one on your right arm you better sit the hell down.” He threatened before pushing me toward the bed. My eyes narrowed as I sat down, as soon as my butt touched the mattress he began. “I'm warning you. I know who you are and what you are up to.”
“Which is?” what is he talking about???
“You are the traitor! You are killing off the other Shifters!”
“I am not! I have never killed anybody!” That’s what the traitor’s doing?
“Yeah right.” He took a step forward, closing the distance between us. “I don’t suppose you would tell me the truth… would you?”
“I am telling the truth.”
“Perhaps I should get Bray involved… I think you would tell him plenty.” Before I could retaliate, tell him to leave Bray out of this, the door blew open, making Cole jump back away from me.
“Hey Cole. Freya wants you.” I peered around Cole to find a blonde girl standing in my doorway.
“We’ll continue this later.” Cole growled, leaving the room. The blonde looked over in the direction he left before running to me.
“You all right?” she asked me.
“Ya, I think he was trying to scare me is all.”
“It worked. You look pretty damn scared.”
“Who are you anyway?” I asked.
“Oh, sorry. I'm Tara.” She smiled brightly. “And you're Faythe.”
“Right.” I looked over by the door.
“I saw you knock down Ryden.” She told me, getting my mind off Cole.
“I only won because of the cheap shot. He wants a rematch.”
“I bet he does.”
We ended up talking for a little over an hour. She was really cool. I told her my favorite shift was a wolf and when I asked for hers she told me her favorite was a lioness.
I laughed. “A feline?”
She smirked at me as her skin changed into fur and a muzzle and a tail shot out.
I giggled. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty…”
She hissed at me and I shifted into a wolf and growled. We pawed at each other andf fought playfully before shifting back, laughing up a storm.
She slowed her laughter and looked around the room before turning back toward me and whispered. “I heard they’re building up an army. They are going to kill off whoever doesn’t want to join them.”
“Who?” I said still not fully able to stop laughing.
“The traitors.”
I stopped laughing. “And join to?”
“To take over the Shifters and the humans.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “What?”
She shrugged. “Who are you going to join?” She reached into her shoe and left her hand there, I pretended to be oblivious.
“I’m with the good guys. Freya gave me a home here and I am not going to turn my back on you now.”
She smiled, apparently pleased. “Good to hear.” She pulled out a small dagger and held it in her hand.
“Wouldn’t want to have to use this on you…” It was relatively tiny; it was the size of her hand, from tip to hilt. But I was sure it was able to cause some serious damage.
The hilt was in the shape of a blue dragon and the blade looked like ice. “It’s so sharp that you can't even feel It.” she slid it lightly against her skin and a trail of blood followed instantly. She licked the blood off her arm and her wound healed.
“Bad thing is the rest of us, with no weapons, have to learn martial arts from Ryden…” I told her.
She looked at me funny. “You think Ry is the martial arts mastermind here?” she busted out laughing.
“What is it? What's so funny?”
“I taught him everything he knows.” She couldn’t stop laughing.
“Really?” I asked. “Can you teach me?” she stopped laughing and looked at me with complete seriousness.
“Will you do everything I ask of you? No questions asked?”
“You're not going to make me wax your car or paint a fence are you?” I asked.
She laughed, surprised at my knowledge of the Karate Kid movies. “No but you do have to train hard.” She ruffled my hair, like I was a little girl. “Meet me out onto the training field when you wake. We have a lot of work to do.” She began to walk to the door.
“Tara? Can I ask another favor?” I looked up her then to the door. “Can you stay here tonight? You can have my bed.”
She smiled. “Sure. But we share the bed, you don’t need to be sore before tomorrow.”
“We are going to need all the help we can get.” She yawned while we lay on the bed. “At least half of the kids here are going to join them, if they have not already, just to save their own skins…”
“We’ll figure something out… how many people live here?”
“A couple hundred but that’s nothing compared to the shelters everywhere else, not to mention the Shifters not living in refuge… if the traitors get to them we are going to have a lot of problems…”
I nodded. “We just have to get to them before they get to us. Have you talked to the Shifters here? Let them know what's going on?”
“We did and as far as we know they are with us.”
“Who dare I ask is we?”
“Freya, Bray, Cole, Garrett, and myself.”
“And everyone said they are with us?”
“Yeah, why?”
“The traitor lives among us and everyone said they were with us. What does that tell you?” I asked her.
She slapped her forehead with her hand. “It’s one of the people who asked!”
I nodded. “Probably… or someone they asked lied to you. Either way…” I sighed. “We’re screwed…”
“…And dead.”
After that we both fell asleep.

Subject: Section 4 Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:04 am

Freya
I stepped out of my shower and pulled on some dry clothes. I couldn’t wait to hang out with Faythe again tonight. I laughed to myself. I get her before Bray does. I hated how she was hanging out with Tara all the time, but I understood why. Everyone who has been here for a few years know how to protect themselves with martial arts, she doesn’t. I know she doesn’t want to be the cause of the Shifters demise. I pulled on a skirt and a sky blue top. I looked over at my door. Wonder where Cole has been… I haven’t seen him in a while. He said he was going to hang out with some guys but that was ten hours ago… I sighed.
Just then Cole walked in the door and stared at me.
“Hey baby.” I walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. “…You alright?”
He shook his head. “I'm sorry Freya… this isn’t about you. Trust me.”
Now it was my turn to stare at him. My eyebrow rose. He’s not breaking up with me… is he? “What's not about me?”
“We need to talk.”
“No you’ve said it all already. Get out.”
“I'm the traitor.”
I stopped short. I almost fell over myself. “W-what?”
He nodded. “Freya. I don’t want to hurt you…” he grabbed my hand and held it. “Join me, so I don’t have to.” He smiled. “We can rule the Shifters and humans together. You and me.”
I pulled my hand away from him. “You killed Garrett’s sister… and some of the other Shifters…”
“All to get what I want. And now I want to rule. And I want you.” He kissed my cheek and along my jaw line.
“No.” I pushed him away. “You murdered our friends, the last of Garrett’s family… how could you?”
“I did it so I can take over. Have you not been listening?”
“I won’t do it.” I stepped back, closer to my door so I can make a run for it. “I can't love a murderer…”
“You did all this time, why not now?”
“Because I know now.”
“Then I'm sorry I have to do this.”
He shifted into a panther and pounced on me.

* * *
Faythe

We spent the majority of the next several weeks training. In my spare time I hung with Freya and had dates with Bray. Cole had stayed away from me since I was never alone. Tara spends the nights with me, and constantly training me until we both fell to the bed and passed out. I helped her with her dragon shift and she taught me how to change instantly. One second I'm human then, poof, I'm a fly on a wall, poof, and then a wolf. It made me a little light headed though. And with all the spinning kicks Tara made me do, I was getting dizzy.
I fell to the grass holding my head. “Wee...” I laughed.
“Faythe.” Bray called out as he ran to us. “We have a problem…”

* * *

Bray
I couldn’t get the words out fast enough. My mind was going crazy and with the air around me I could feel Freya’s blood drying on my skin, which didn’t help me at all. My words sounded like one large sentence and I tried hard not to stutter.
“Freya’s hurt, and Cole is nowhere to be f-found. Half the Shifters are gone, Garrett is preparing everyone else for b-battle and no one knows how to s-stop Freya’s bleeding!” Faythe looked up at me with alarm and pain for a split second then just when I thought she was going to be frozen in shock she shifted into a cheetah to get to the house fast and Tara and I followed her on foot.
“Why can't anyone be found?” she asked, as we ran to the house. “You’re a Shifter. You could’ve turned into a bloodhound and tracked him down.”
I showed her my hands and arms, covered in Freya’s blood.
“A bloodhound was the last thing on my mind.”
“You didn’t… did you?”
I knew what she was asking, I yelled. “No I did not try to kill Freya!” she mumbled an apology and I sighed, trying to calm down. “If she dies though it's going to kill Faythe…”
“I know… and we need her for the battle. I hate to have to kill my own kind but if that’s what it's going to come down to…” she trailed off, hoping I’d catch onto what she was saying. I did.
“It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
We reached Freya a few moments after Faythe did. The other Shifters were gone, I supposed she shooed them off since they had no idea what they were doing.
Faythe pulled off her tank top and pressed it against Freya’s neck in an effort to stop the bleeding though she couldn’t cover everywhere at once. She either didn’t notice or seemed to care that she was only in a bra and jeans.
“Don’t just stand there!” she yelled at us, her voice slightly quivering. “Go get a first aid kit, and something to stop this bleeding!”
“I’ll go.” Tara said, running off.
I pulled off my own shirt and helped stop the bleeding from the gash in her stomach, though it all seemed pointless. She had cuts all along her arms and neck, her shirt practically in ribbons, and her jeans weren’t in any better shape. Faythe was working on her neck when she looked up at me; half of her face was covered with Freya’s blood. She asked me to get some water, a lot of it. I ran to get it. Please let Freya live… I thought. We need them both to help us and if Freya dies… so does Faythe’s spirit…
* * *
Faythe
“Come on Freya.” I begged. “Stay with me… please!”
My tank top was filling up with too much of her blood way too quickly. I checked her neck but I couldn’t see if the wounds had healed through the dried blood. Where is Bray and Tara with the supplies?!
“Were back!” Bray panted, handing me one of the dozen of water bottles he had in his arms and Tara put the first aid kit and cloths beside me. I poured some water over her neck and tried to remove the dried blood without making her neck bleed again.
“Stop her bleeding guys. Please…” I begged. Freya was still breathing, her chest rising and falling painfully. I grabbed an alcohol-covered cloth from the first aid kit and wiped it over her neck wounds. She shivered and whimpered slightly from the pain and chill of alcohol.
“You’re ok.” I told her. She hasn’t gone into shock yet, thankfully. As long as we stop the bleeding and the wounds begin to heal she will be ok.
We got her entire front side cleaned and healed and I thought we were done until I felt a sticky wetness against my knees.
“Flip her onto her stomach hurry!” I barked. I hated being assertive and rude and I hoped they knew I didn’t mean to but with Freya in this condition I didn’t want to take any chances.
I pulled the back of her ripped and bloodied shirt up and I had to bite my lip to keep from getting sick. It was as bad as the scratch I had down my arm. But unfortunately there were multiple scratches, some almost healed while others still exposed her muscles and bones.
I began putting pressure on her back, doing everything I could think of to stop the bleeding. Slowly her wounds closed up and I wiped away the blood.
“Faythe…” Freya moaned in pain. I laid her supine and checked her heart rate and breathing before answering.
“I'm here Freya.”
“Stay away from panthers…”
“I know Freya.” I paused for a moment then I asked her. “Who did this to you?”
She chuckled painfully. “Surprising who you end up falling for, huh Faythe?”
I looked over at Bray. He didn’t… I growled. And Freya laughed slightly while placing a hand on mine. “No, no. I meant mine. Your little Silver-tongue had nothing to do with this…”
Silver-tongue? “Mind if I kill Cole?” I asked her.
“As long as you save me some.”
I smiled down at her and lifted her off the blood soaked floor.
“Faythe I-“ Bray started.
“I got her don’t worry.” I lifted her bridal style, and carried her to her room, changed her clothes and laid her in bed.
I closed her door and told Bray I wanted someone at her door guarding her until she is fully healed. “Do you think one of the other Shifters could do that for us?”
“Probably. I’ll run and go see if I can talk one of them into doing so.”
Talk… I thought. Silver tongue… “Bray?” I grabbed his arm slightly. “What's a ‘Silver-tongue?” he looked at me funny.
“A tongue that is silver?” he asked as if it was a trick question.
“Do you have one?”
“I don’t know… do I?” he stuck his tongue out at me.
“Why did Freya call you one?” I asked ignoring him being cute. Realization struck his face and he sighed.
“She was talking about my being able to talk people into doing what I want.”
I stared. “Anytone?”
“Just about.”
“Even me?”
He chuckled. “I haven’t tried,”
“Oh. Go get that guard. We have to go see Garrett.”
“Twilight?”
“Explain later, go!”
He ran off and I leaned back against Freya’s door, daring anyone who walked past to try and hurt her again.
I knew no one would, not with how I look now. My eyes were narrowed and my hair was matted down and slightly red from Freya’s blood and the side of my face has her blood from when I checked her breathing. I hoped to God she put up a decent fight and Cole was worse off than she was…
* * *
Cole
I growled at Jason as a wave of pain spiraled up my body. I was still in panther shift and I didn’t have enough strength to shift again… Who knew Freya was actually able to strike back like that. She was like a vicious rattlesnake. If you get too close to her when she is pissed with you, she will kill you with her neurotoxins. My lips curled up, baring my teeth. I thought about how she used all her strength to stop me by herself. I hissed as Jason poured peroxide onto my wounds, it bubbled and cleaned out my wounds to help it heal.
“She surely got to you didn’t she?”
I growled at him again. There were abrasions all over my body and I felt as if I was on fire.
Ry walked in and smirked. “Shoulda let me take her.” He told me. I tried shifting but as soon as I looked almost human I snapped back into a panther, like a rubberband snapping. Damn it! I hissed. It hurts like a S.O.B! I licked at the scratches in my skin, willing it to heal faster. All these deep cuts are going to take a while to heal. If she didn’t cut me so deep I would be done by now.
“You should have known she wasn’t going to give up easily.” Ry said as he sat down beside me. “You dated her for, what, three years?” I barked a laugh. It would be four on the eve of the war. I thought. I was almost sad that I would have to kill her.
“You have to do me a solid, Cole.” Ry smirked. “Faythe is mine.” My lips pulled back in a smile and I nodded. Ry’s eyes turned into a dark shade of brown. The way they normally do when he is pissed, I'm guessing now it's because he gets to kill the girl who knocked him off his feet.
I couldn’t wait to rule over the humans… it will be just like the good olden days. Back before politics and it was straight dictatorship. Ah… sweet ruling…
* * *

Subject: (part 5) Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:11 am

Gin

"Finally you two show up." I called out to Faythe and Bray as they walked into the room. i looked over at the remaining students and waved them off. "You guys go for now, spar, practice all you can we need all the help we can get." When they left i turned to Faythe. "What took you?"
"We were caring for Freya." she explained.
i nodded. "How is she?"
Bray was about to tell me when Faythe blurted, "she's fine. We stoppedher bleeding and made sure she was healed before we left. We have her resting with aguard at her door."
When i nodded she waited a moment then in a whisper asked, " were in trouble... arent we?"
I saw the look in her eyes before she realized how she looked and she looked away. she looked more frightened than i have ever seen her; she looked more like she was about to be killed right here and now... for all we know that could very well be true, but she didnt want to show it. she was very brave, either that or she didnt want to show she was weak.
When she looked back up a second later her facial expressions changed back to her brave facade.
"So whats the plan, Chief?" Bray asked and i looked over to him.
"We dont have much time left. We dont know when they plan on striking so we need to train and prepare for their arrival as fast as we can. they cant succeed."
"We cant let them. Well win!" Faythe smirked.
"I hope so..." i sighed. "Go train with the others ill be down there soon enough."
i turned away from them and walked off. There was no way we could win, and i think we all realize that... Ryden and the others had turned their vacks on us and thats whatever but with them starting a revolution and planning on fighting us. thats completely different...