Scott and Katie’s Apartment

8:59 AM

An hour later I was getting worried where Mike was. It does not take that long to get a shirt and a pair of pants, just grab and go with no hesitation. When I was having breakfast, I was wondering if he did get them and was stopped, maybe the locals were asking questions about us, but it was unlikely since the complex’s tenants were the only witnesses that night. Or maybe he went to his house in Fawnskin and had trouble with Ashley. Who knows what happened to her, but if Mike wouldn’t tell us what his wife did, maybe our totems knew and would tell us.

If not, then I was out of luck.

I didn’t count on how hungry we were. Katie and I cooked four-egg cheese omelets, toast, sliced apples, other fruit, and coffee. With that much food we felt much better. We attempted to sit in new positions with our tails to our sides but I was annoyed that I was unable to lean back. We were more open with Keeji and Arana. We asked questions and they answered, but it turned out that Arana was holding back information.

Katie was persistent with Arana to about learning more, but was stopped short every time. “Come on, Arana, I know I’m magical, but I can’t tell if I am. You’ve got to give me some slack.”

Arana was across the table, sitting on the chair’s back like it was a tree limb. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you until you are ready.” Katie rolled her eyes and finished her breakfast.

“So,” I began, “since I’m not all freaked out now, you’ve been living in me since I was born, seeing what I saw, gathering all my memories into this ‘Inner Sanctum,’ and have no way to communicate but create feelings.” I blinked from the summation. “Now that you’re in the real world, you can affect the world just like us, and be annoying.”

Keeji nodded while sitting in a chair between us, “In a nutshell, yeah.” He appeared like a normal, polite person at the table. I can see complications in the near future.

I shook my head, “Trippy. Remind me to not go into my life.” Keeji nodded. As he knew me of my problems.

Katie coughed on her last sip of coffee, “Agreed. Scott, wanna get in the shower first?”

“I’ll wait, someone needs to watch the door.”

As she went into the bathroom I caught sight of her tail pressing against the inside of her robe, an obvious point that I had no choice but to get used to it. She closed the door and started the shower. I leaned forward and pushed my plate away.

“Okay,” I started, “now that I can somewhat trust you two, you need to level with me. What happened between Mike and Ashley?”

From their opening mouths I thought I was finally going to get my answer, but then they looked at each other as if neither wanted to be the first to break the news to me.

“Come on guys, it’s important. Did Ashley get hurt in the struggle? Was she taken by the police? I need to know, secrets irritate me.”

“I know, Scott,” Keeji said, “don’t remind me. The truth is…”

“Don’t,” Arana interrupted, “we made a deal and we’re sticking to it.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. He’s not here, at least we can give Scott a hint.”

Arana grunted as she unfurled one wing and covered her face, “Seems you already forgot what she did to you.”

I sighed and shook my head, “At least tell me she’s alive.”

Arana looked at me and said, “She is.”

“Okay, that’s a start, now why isn’t she here?”

Seems their promise was stronger. It was their first twelve hours in the real world and they were already conspiring against us. As Arana mentioned that little clue, Keeji seemed to remember something with a sudden eye movement. He raised his right paw and rubbed his cheek, looking away. That hinted something.

“Fine, be that way,” I said getting up from my chair, “I’ll wait until Mike gets back. I’ll be over there watching the world burn.”

I grabbed my phone and flipped through my messages after I had neglected the constant ringing. All the missed calls were from Katie’s parents and Joyce the landlord. She too had tried to see us last night after hearing the rumors, but was blocked by Mike and the sheriff. I called her number and as I sat down on the couch, I forgot about the tail and sat on it. Cursing I pulled it out to lay it beside my leg. “Friggin’ tail.” I reached Joyce’s voicemail and left a message asking about terminating our lease and whatever we could do to stay until the roads opened. I didn’t call Brenda and Jonathan without Katie, translating their emotions would have been difficult alone.

Me calling Katie’s parents would be tough enough without having to hear Jonathan’s bantering.

Most of their messages were calling us liars. They had treated me with care for two years as I took care their second born child. After the Wave, I just felt like a total jerk.

I turned on the TV and flipped every news channel. They were broadcasting reports in endless loops, sometimes it was the same from three different stations.

Massive religious movements emerged to control the few but growing transformations while a small number of groups viewed the crystals as a major godsend.

Monolith crystals were disrupting the traffic flow in major cities, and that was all on the local channels. One demolition crew, Fox News reported, blew up one to start repairs, but three workers were killed from fallen debris.

India and China were experiencing the greatest loss of life from fallen crystal deaths. There was a sea of crystals and blood across the land, as one anchorwoman described it. When the first transformation appeared three miles outside Dubai, she was immediately killed by the construction workers out of fear. They caught on camera her doberman totem dissolving into the same blue liquid that it was made from. I nearly lost my breakfast.

There were strange weather patterns all over the world; areas of heavy drought or no rain ever were getting poured on for countless hours. Egypt was experiencing a “desert flood” for the first time, leaving thousands homeless and some dying. The storm over Big Bear was weakening as they said.

As an interest for me, U.S. Government representatives arrived in D.C. to assess the mutations, trying to come up with a plan to either control or stop them. I gave them a week to give up because I figured that it would be a while until I got my old body back, but I didn’t mind keeping the muscles or flat stomach.

The rate of the transformations seemed so random. One place would have one or two popping up, while another place would have ten. One anchorman interviewed a theorist and she came up an idea that if the “infestation” continued, as she so nicely put it, the entire human race would be transformed four years after the Wave.

Talk about putting the president under more stress.

One story after another, all saying the exact hidden and relatable message: the world survived and we lived, barely. Katie would no doubt freeze from the gruesome, horrific, and depressing images of loved ones lost, tattoos emerging, and transformations in people’s backyards. One transformation occurred in the middle of a packed freeway in Los Angeles just minutes after I sat down. France showed one transformation in an old bakery built after World War II, the energy dome nearly destroyed the whole historical building.

Remember the woman in Seattle? I saw her again, but she came out of her embarrassing ordeal with a body worthy of a model in Milan.

It was post-9/11 drama all over again. It would be weeks before we had any other news besides the ugly and depressing stuff that morning.

Arana and Keeji came back; the hawk landed on the coffee table, her talons scraped the wood surface. She looked at the TV, then to me, shook her head and said, “On the subject of leaving the mountain, how will you protect yourselves?”

I heard the shower shut off and the glass doors sliding open. “I have my father’s pistol in the bedroom.”

“Yes, I know, it’s in the closet, top shelf,” Keeji nodded resulting in me rolling my eyes.

“But will that be enough to fend off an army?” Arana asked.

I covered my face with my hands, I hadn’t thought of that. With the gun I had one clip. Another reason was that I hadn’t cleaned the pistol. My eyes focused on the balcony blinds.

Getting up I told them, “I’ll wing it. Might as well steal another gun for the trip home then ditch it.”

“That sounds a little out of character, Scott,” Keeji said as he shifted uneasy. “And is that a good idea to peek outside? You might get seen.”

“I’m desperate, need to see what’s out there.” I pulled the blinds open just to have only my eyes exposed to the outside world.

The sun was high in the sky, shining as bright as I never seen it before. There were times when a storm rolled and would have the same effect, but this was like all the smog in the air was gone. Healthy atmosphere I imagined. The fresh snow was brighter as well, covering every nook and cranny of the complex and the surrounding forest. Some crystals stuck out and cast purple shadows. Down on the driveway my car was gone, towed away thanks to the sheriff, but there was still engine oil left on the street. Standing there I thought that Mike would be driving into the street with the truck that we would have to borrow the next day.

I couldn’t see our circles in the road because of the balcony, I thought that they were all cleaned up from what Nurse Betty said, and I could imagine the smell of the rotting body fat. Rotten eggs mixed with spoiled compost, I guessed.

I picked out the cop car blocking our stairs with McDermit standing close. I didn’t see where Betty had gone, but McDermit sure wasn’t alone.

“Wait a minute,” I muttered as I pulled the blind further.

Three men stood in front of McDermit, stiff and in control, a little too in control. They wore black business suits with white shirts, black ties and sunglasses. It was odd that they weren’t dressed for winter, and even stranger was how they seemed so casual. One, I believed to be the leader, was a dark skinned man with a very short buzz cut. Muscle bulged under the tight suit, maybe Marine material. The other two were a middle-age good looking woman with long blond hair tied in a tight ponytail, military posture with no hint of sass, and a Hispanic man that looked younger while and carried a briefcase. The leader looked up at my balcony, meeting my eyes, and waved with a mischievous, evil smile.

My heart sped up and I cursed and backed away from the curtain. I let go of the blinds and they swung on their hinges. My skin crawled from the sudden rush of blood and my tail swayed in a nervous manner.

“Scott, what happened?” Keeji asked. I didn’t answer; fearing the worst, I ran to the door and locked it, sliding the deadbolt into place.

“Sonofabitch,” I said, “what was that all about?” From how they dressed to the way they talked, they appeared to be the spitting image of those secret agents from sci-fi movies. No, really, they did look like it. Besides, the roads were closed.

How did they get there?

Nothing was making sense, reasons jumped in my mind that I couldn’t pin down. But an idea clicked: the government was figuring out the transformation problem. They were probably asking questions of who we are and are still in the building. Katie’s concerned voice and the twitch of my tail snapped me out of it.

“Scott, what’s the matter?”

“I do as well,” Arana added.

I took a few breaths to calm myself down as I turned to Katie. She was at the bathroom door wrapped in a towel, hand clutched on the bundle over her bust, hair flat and damp with her ears stuck out, and her tail was free and it wagged slow like a cat’s. The totems looked concerned.

“I…” I was breathing hard, “I was… looking outside and… saw someone that does not belong here.”

“Who is it?” Katie asked.

“I don’t know if you will like it.”

“Tell me in the bathroom, I need you to help cut my hair.” She turned and went, I followed and told the totems to watch the door.

Katie and I are a “hands on” kind of couple, we conduct more contact to feel better and improve our love, and the same time give each other space when needed. Sometimes it’s cuddling, reviewing Katie’s writings before they are sent, and a little dancing, but personal hygiene is very seldom thanks to her parents with the exception of hair. We allow it because she used to do my hair when I was getting back on my feet, heck, it constituted as our second date in high school. She does her hair too on rare occasions. By that time it will be a regular deal just so that the barbers get used to elf ears.

I know it sounds weird but it’s what we did so back off. Deal with it.

I told her to sit on the toilet while I fetched the comb and sheers. Katie grabbed a second towel and wrapped it over her shoulders like a poncho to catch the small flecks of hair. I couldn’t help but see her avoiding to look at my body. Wonder if she’s struggling to get used to my new look?

I, however, noticed some changes on her besides the obvious: her skin looked smoother and freckle free, beads of water still trickled down her legs and shoulders. From an angle, I recognized that she had an improved body, quite possibly her old high school volleyball figure, strong and lean. The semi-invisible scar above her left knee was still there. Her face was clean like she spent the whole day at the spa, that was one benefit I appreciated. I placed my hand on her shoulder and my suspicions of feeling silk skin were right.

I made a mental note to ask Arana about my scars and why they didn’t disappear.

“I need to re-pierce my ears when we get back,” she said with a short laugh, but still vaguely serious. “So, what’s going on? You seem scared back there.”

I stood at her right side, ready to cut her long, overgrown hair. “I still am. How do you want me to cut it?”

“The same as before. Not really caring if it looks good or not. And don’t change the subject.” She gave me a look and pointed a finger at me.

“Alright, here I go.” I took the hair on her right and re-imagined the style before her transformation. I angled it so that when finished, she would have long hair in front, an inch past her shoulders, framing her cute sensual face, and short in the back and fluffed. Essentially it is an inverted bob. Think of Akima without the purple hair.

“Looked outside when you were showering,” I started. “McDermit is still guarding the place. The news is full of transformation reports. But there were people talking to him.”

Katie’s ears moved a little, “Were you seen?”

“Mostly, but… I don’t know.” I twisted her head to the left and went on, “Three people wearing black business suits were talking to the sheriff.”

“What?” She said, confused by her tone.

“Men in black,” I simplified. “Can’t tell if they are government or not.”

Without warning she jerked her head towards me with wide eyes, and the scissors were knocked out of my hand, “Are you serious?”

“Hey, watch it, I almost cut your ear off.”

“Scott, this is a big problem. Not only we are stranded, we have suspicious government agents spying on us. This is beginning to suck more than before.”

You see why I like her? I picked the scissors off the floor and sighed, “I realize that. The sheriff looked determined to not let them in, and they agreed. Now let me finish this side.” I resumed my cutting. “But it doesn’t seem right. The roads are closed. How can they possibly be up here instead of down the hill?”

I used the comb to gather hair in the back and clipped it off, remembering the bunched up look as best I could. “Maybe somebody got word of our transformation and wants to investigate it,” Katie said.

“And ours is special for some reason? Something doesn’t feel right about them.”

I finished her right side and made my way to her left, doing the same cuts as before. Once the front was quickly done, Katie snapped her fingers, “Wait, what about Deryl?”

I stopped as I exposed her ear. I hadn’t heard that name for a few months. Deryl Porter is a very important person to the Walsh family and mine, including my parents. He was stationed on the same aircraft carrier as my parents during his Marine days. Growing up, I treated him as my unrelated uncle and godfather. The reason Katie’s idea had any merit was that Deryl is a US Marshal stationed in California.

I shook my head, “Hardly doubt he will remember us. You know what his job does to his mind.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to find out. He might already know and sent them here to get us. Maybe Mom and Dad called him. Maybe…”

“Katie,” I interrupted saying her name hard. She stopped at looked up at me. “I’m sorry for yelling, but the boss of the three looked at me, like a hunter. I can tell he can break my neck with one arm, and tell they are not with Deryl. I’m sure of it. And if they did call him, why hasn’t Deryl called me?

“Most importantly, if those agents are from him, we could be in a helicopter by now. They haven't knocked on our door, so they might be falling back for God knows what.” I pinched her chin, “We can’t trust them. I’m serious.”

Katie turned away, but nodded to agree with me, biting her lip, “But can you at least call him? He is in the government, but he’s family.”

As hard it was, I nodded. Deryl is family. I didn’t feel like fighting any more so I got my phone and dialed his cell phone. I got dial tone, but got a recorded message.

“You’ve reached Deryl Portal, US Marshal. Leave a message.” His voice lacked color, but he really is a bright guy.

“Got the answering machine. Let me try Grace.” I dialed his wife’s number, but it was disconnected. “Crap. No luck there.”

I finished her haircut by snipping the last strand, “I think I got it.” I then bundled the towel full of hair off her shoulders and set it on a corner of the sink. She still grasped on her towel. “Mind if you can do me? The usual hack job?”

Katie nodded. Since I too didn’t like long hair, might as well make it workable. So without further ado, here is Scott Dunne’s method of a homemade haircut: pull all of it back into a tight ponytail, but enough to leave slack, position it at the top of my neck, and let Katie sheer off the bundle. It all went straight to the hair covered towels, and she only had to do a little adjusting for my ears.

Just as we began to feel comfortable the first time since the Wave, Katie’s phone rang on top of the sink. Katie froze and gasped, staring at it. I was near the sink and could pick out Robert’s Caller ID. Even as the oldest of the Walsh family children, he still had that heavy metal goth phase he stuck with. In the picture his gelled hair was combed to give a lift and made his young face more attractive and alluring. The black t-shirt showed he was, and is still today, a Ramones fan. Under all that rock and roll attitude, he has one incredible palette for wine.

The phone went silent but we still didn’t move. The totems came back to the room and Arana asked if everything was all right.

“We’re fine,” Katie lied.

Arana shook her head and Keeji sighed.

The phone vibrated and displayed a voicemail icon. Katie looked at me and I heard her swallow; she grabbed the phone, finger’s trembling, and played the message through the speakers. It crackled, and then we heard a drawn out sigh of annoyance.

“Hey, it’s me,” said Robert’s voice. “Guess what. I got my lucky shovel out and almost clipped a guy stealing the money from the store’s register. But it doesn’t matter now since you’re still stuck in the mountains. Not calling us. Ignoring our messages, even Mom’s…” He paused, then spoke again, I detected anger. “This must be the twentieth message, Katie. I know you’re standing there, looking at your cell. We know what happened, you can’t keep this from us.

“I’m your brother for Pete sake and it’s your responsibility to tell us the truth. It is time to woman up and do the right thing. Call me back.”

The message ended and Katie dipped her head forward and lowered her phone.

“I’m sick and tired of this,” Katie said.

“Me too,” I said, pulling her into a hug and stroking her hair. To break another second of silence I pulled away, “I’ll go ahead and clean up. How about we call them together?”

“I’m more afraid what they will say.” Then, as her spirits dropped, her ears followed, like a cat’s. I was waiting to hear her whimper like one.

“Hey, you all right?” I asked her.

She wiped her nose with her arm and looked at me, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’ll watch the door.”

Before he closed the door and had the totems leave, I took one good look at Scott under the bright bathroom lights. To not raise suspicion, I kept on my “depressed and homesick” face, it wasn’t too far from my true feelings.

If you never knew him, you would have sworn that he came from Venice Beach, working out five times a week and making drinks in nightclubs. A definite test would be if he swam a mile and finished without being out of breath. Then my knees will go weak as he comes out, wearing only his trunks, and beads of water travel down the right places. Listen to me, my internal flirty girl side is controlling my emotions. I couldn’t hold it anymore, resulting me biting my lip. He caught it, smiled, and closed the door.

Besides feeling the high of hormones I was glad that I had short hair again. I ran my fingers through it, feeling the nearly dry strands while sighing, still thinking of Scott. With the ears I can see new and hot styles in the horizon, not to mention teenage influence. I thought Jacob could be part of it, depending if he will accept a life as a freak. Robert will, if he doesn’t go overboard. Mom and Dad? Who knows.

I turned to see Arana on the chair again, having both her glowing eyes appear amused. Keeji sat below her, eyes the same. Both staring at me.

“What?” I asked, bringing the towel tighter to me.

Arana shook her head, “You know what,” she answered with a sly, “admit it. You are going crazy over him, ready to snap and glomp into him, and to Keeji’s close scrutiny, Scott’s enjoying the attention. You looking at him and I notice a deeper shade of red on your face and your tail swaying in quick jerks as I suspect looking at his six-pack.”

I didn’t want to risk telling the darn bird the truth, but she had it in spades. Tail expressions are trouble. “Oh please, you…you’re crazy. You both crazy.”

“I know you, Katie, I’ve been in your head. That tells me you’re lying.” The corners of her beak formed a smile. Shaking my head I went to the bedroom, but I heard Keeji asking Arana to prove a lame brain perverted experiment and heard Scott laughing before closing the door. Thank goodness Arana disagreed, she understands my limits on weirdness.

Those two are gonna be the death of me, I thought and got dressed.

Even though getting dressed is the same, the tail was a problem, and a workaround. I put on my panties and jeans, but tried them under my tail—it didn’t work mind you. While the topside is plated and hard, the bottom side is skin, new skin, easy to scratch. To my dismay I made modifications: I found the poultry cutters in the kitchen and cut holes in my pants and underwear, not too small to be a struggle and not too big for anybody to peek. I got them on and they felt loose around my waist.

Never did check my weight. Oh well, nothing but a belt won’t fix.

I found a belt and tugged it tight. Next I put on my shoes, a bra (loose but filled), and a long sleeved layered maroon-white shirt with attached hood, my favorite shirt. An idea formed and I rolled my sleeves to my elbows exposing the plates. I looked rather good, sexy even. Make way for the modern elf… thing.

Knocking from the door jolted me from my reflection. “Hey Katie, I heard a truck pull up,” Keeji called out. “It’s Mike’s from the engine sputtering.”

“Okay, be right there,” I told him, I felt enthusiastic all a sudden.

I went out of the bedroom, ran to the front door, and looked through the peephole. I could only see the small second floor pathway and several steps of the stairs, but the shadow and the pounding up the steps was Mike for sure. He held a bag of what I presumed to be Scott’s new clothes. His head was hung low, he looked even more depressed than earlier. This isn’t good.

I unlocked the door and opened it. As he came in and set the bag down I said, “For a moment we thought you weren’t gonna come back.” I locked the door again.

“I’m grateful I’m out of the house, away from her and…” He stopped, his eyes lit up for first time in a while, and I appreciated that he saw something good for once, if seeing a mutant clean and dressed counts. “Wow. You cut your hair.”

“Thanks for noticing,” I thanked him. “So why the wait?”

Mike’s hands went to his waist while he shook his head in disappointment. “Come on,” I pressed. “You promised to tell us. How is she?”

Mike sighed. “Ashley still has her head up her ass from this whole mess. After the store I went to the house and saw her grasping the old baseball bat. I can’t believe it was years since we fought this hard.”

I folded my arms, “You know, you can tell us the truth. Ever since we woke up you’ve been angry and closed off from us mentioning her. It’s not healthy.”

“I can’t, it’s too disturbing. How she sees you two now is like she’s a completely different person, the same as the folks on the news.”

I was getting tired of Mike’s attitude already.

I grabbed the bag from him and headed to the bathroom. Scott was already done with the shower when I knocked the door. “Look, listen Mike. Ashley is our friend. I know what the news was saying, people not accepting the changes and so on. I might as well call her myself. Or even better, I’ll march into the house with Scott and his karate feet.”

The bathroom door opened and Scott poked his head out. “I’m with her, Mike, this has got to stop.” He took the bag and closed the door.

“And you made us promise to keep quiet until you come back,” Arana added. “Is their curiosity not important then their safety?”

Mike looked overwhelmed by our questions. His eyes darted to all four of us, and then he pushed his left foot a step back. I blinked. Could it be that he was expecting any one of us to come after him?

When he realized that we weren’t going to attack, he relaxed. “Alright,” he sighed. “You tell them, hawk. It’s hard for me to say it.”

I turned as Arana rolled her eyes. Scott came out too, dressed but without shoes. The clothes Mike had chosen were blue jeans, a little big as they were about to fall, and a green buttoned shirt somewhat tight against his chest. He didn’t have time to cut a hole for his tail and had to hold his pants with one hand.

“Finally,” Arana started. “At the very second I materialized in your world and as Mike helped you two inside, Ashley was speaking hysterics so much that when I spoke to calm her down, she ran into the mob and off the complex screaming.”

Scott stood next to Keeji, “Well that can explain a bit of her attitude. Nothing shocking there I can pick out.”

“It gets worse,” Arana continued. “Once the mob scattered, Mr. McDermit’s partner retrieved her. I followed and found her almost to the post office. He had to shove her into the car and drive her back.”

I had never met McDermit’s partner, which made me wonder where he was.

“How’s the partner handling this?” Scott asked.

“Officer Jensen is afraid like Ashley but McDermit ordered him to stay, most likely still in the car. I think he’s still out there right now. And I’d like to add that he would have shot me if it wasn’t for Keeji.”

Keeji laughed. “Yeah, I got him scared really good. Wimp dropped his gun.”

Deep inside myself, and it wasn’t like me to think this, but I wished that I was awake to see the action.

“Now bear with us. Ashley came back, she begged to go home and not go inside, saying she can’t be in the same building as you two. She was thrashing like a wild woman.” She paused and stared at both of us. “She called you demons.”

Mike let out a sigh and shook his head, internally cursing, but that didn’t compare to Scott’s and my reaction. I had theories of what the answer might have been, then when Arana said the truth, and my mind couldn’t process it. I gasped and covered my mouth in total shock. I wanted to meet Ashley face to face and slap her.

Scott cursed. “See. I knew there was a reason. Ashley thinks we’re untrustworthy freaks. Just fantastic.”

Mike spoke up, getting up his confidence enough to share his emotions. “Told you. I’ve tried to snap her out of it. I told her that you’re not bad or corrupted, just the same as before from my assumption and every time she refused. She called you demons for Christ sake.” Mike’s stance became edgy all of a sudden, scratching his head enough to mess up his hair. “It pushed me to slap her.”

My tail jerked. I was ready to go on a rampage.

Keeji started to whimper, and sadness formed in his eyes. “And before they left, I talked to her to make friends… and she kicked me in the face.” His body whirled around and leaned on Scott’s leg. Scott instinctively leaned over and rubbed Keeji’s neck.

Ashley’s a sweetheart towards animals, even the squirrels. I know, the totems aren’t real animals and they imitate them, but I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of Keeji whacked on the muzzle.

I heard footsteps and low voices on the other side of the wall, and it seemed like everybody else did as well. One was McDermit from his protective tone, the other was a woman and was about to scream her head off to him in her complex.

“And speak of the devil,” Arana grumbled.

Mike went to the door while I skipped over to Scott, expecting the worst. He unlocked the door and I saw the sheriff, along with another with a needy mouth.

McDermit’s head peeked through the door, “Ah, Ms. Rodriguez is here. I’ve told her to leave but she’s the landlord. She says she needs to look inside.”

“That’s Joyce,” Scott nodded. “Yeah let her in, but tell her to brace herself.”

McDermit nodded and went back out. Joyce pushed the door open and it hit the kitchen’s countertop. She had charcoal black hair, long and frizzed by the moist air outside, she was an inch taller than me, and had a hefty body. I’ve seen her all the time in business attire, but that day she just wore jeans, shirt, a thin jacket, and tennis shoes. My mind directed to thoughts of seeing her after a transformation.

“My god what a day I’ve… SANTA MIERDA!” She screamed and fell over from the sight of us, falling on her back, right on the lip between the carpet and the wood hallway. Luckily, here head didn’t hit the floor.

The three men went to her aid and I stood there shrieking, afraid that our appearance had made any permanent damage.

“Oh, geeze, Joyce you all right?” I asked.

Joyce shook her head, her face frozen. “My God, it is even freakier than the television.”

“Tell me about it,” Scott nodded. “Let’s get you up.”

She kept looking up and down Scott as she got to her feet. “Is that you, Scott? You look incredible.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that a lot lately. Thanks for getting my message.”

“De nada,” she said brushing herself off, then stared at me. “And look at you. I can’t get used to seeing tails on people but you sure do make it work.”

Best complement I had all day. “Well… thanks,” I managed. “So where were you? I never thought about you until you came.”

“That’s because my phone at my house was cut by a crystal.” She became frustrated as she explained, “God, then I dropped my phone on the fireplace stone. Then, this morning, I found out that a tree fell and crushed my car’s front end, crystal cut it and took time to break. I mean, it was a hassle just to get here, but I did hear your message on my friend’s phone.”

“Well you had the least worst car accident,” Scott sighed. “Mine was skewered through the engine and sent off to the scrap yard. We’re stranded until the roads open.”

“That sucks, my brother-in-law is the same. He can’t go to work. I’m so sorry about what happened last night. I wish I had been here to stop the mess.”

“You couldn’t do anything, the transformation was uncontrollable,” I added. “None of it was good to look at.”

Joyce shook her head, and then spotted the totems at the dinner table. She blinked, probably seeing Arana, but gasped. “Wow, are these the… the totems, right?” I nodded. “I’ve seen others winding up with lizards, alligators, house cats and all sort, but not a hawk like this one.”

Arana bowed her head and thanked Joyce, “Much obliged. Name is Arana, Katie is my host.”

Joyce smiled, “I like her, she’s polite.”

Keeji sneezed, “Keeji’s the name.”

“Aww you’re so adorable, you little fuzz ball. Eyes creep me out, but the dumb cute face gets me.”

Is she falling in love with our situation? I thought.

Scott must have been thinking the same thing that I was from the look on his face, “That’s great and all, Joyce, but what about my message? Can it be done or not?”

Joyce turned from attempting to pet Keeji, “What? Oh yes, the lease. I might be able to hold you until tomorrow. And don’t worry, I’m not like those selfish pendejos in LA kicking the transformed out. Seen too much of that lately.”

“Yes, I get it, but can we sign the papers today?”

Joyce took a second to think. “Yeah, of course.”

“Good, can you bring them over here? We can’t risk going out.”

The landlord nodded. “Sure, no problem. Anything to help.”

Scott thanked her.

“I’m a little lost, Joyce. You seem so cool about us. Why the sudden affection for this?”

Joyce let out a small chuckle that made her chest bob, “Well, I’m grateful that this happened. Back home I too was freaked out of dying. Then as the first transformed came up, meaning you, I’m starting to think that this is something else. This is a sign of good change. Who knows what else Asteroid Helen brought.”

She was happy like the first day we moved in, except that she was appreciating our transformation a little too much. It made me a tad uncomfortable.

“Believe me, Joyce,” I said, “it is good… in a way, and it’s not easy after the tattoo’s appear. I know that Mom and Dad will freak when they see us.”

“More likely they will freak out more from Scott,” Joyce added. “By the way, they called me too and talked. Makes me mad they called you a liar.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Keeji huffed, feeling my misery.

“I’ll make my way to the office for the papers. Just sit tight.” She went out the door and Mike relocked it.

Mike looked perplexed as he leaned on the door, “I might be losing it from the stale bagel and bland coffee this morning for breakfast, but does it seem odd to you she’s acting so normal in comparison to everybody else?”

Scott and I nodded. “She always acts this way,” I shrugged, “but this is sounding too… accepting.”

“I see, but what about how she sees you? To me it tips me off that something strange happened to her before she came.”

Scott shifted his weight, “This might be wrong, but what if those agents got to her first?”

Complex questions with no way of answering. A nervous feeling swept through me that Scott might be on to something. She came in scared to death and falling, then all a sudden she turns normal and completely accepting for who we are? My tail got the message and already it wrapped around my right leg.

“Terrific,” Keeji grumbled. “We really have no one to trust.”

“What do we do now? What can we do?” I asked.

Scott folded his arms and went into deep thought, “We can’t leave without a ride, we don’t know what’s waiting for us, our landlord might be on the agent’s side, and by the second, more and more people don’t like where the world is going. All I can think of is pack our things and wait.”

I nodded, “I think it is best to get the gun out, honey.” Scott nodded in agreement.

Arana coughed, but the tone made us pay attention. “Yes, but you have to reconsider the possibilities.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“How can you be sure that a gun can protect you?” Arana asked. “The world is turning into a dangerous place, humans turning violent over illogical motives. I fear that if we leave the safety of this building, we are at greater risk not making it home.” I gulped and she continued. “With that in mind we must rethink our strategy.”

I didn’t get what she was referring to, or maybe I did, so I let her speak.

Arana shook her wings. “Remember what I said, about not talking about the magic part?” I nodded. “Well, lately I’ve been recalling what I read from the new book in our Inner Sanctum. Some writings are daunting by comparison, even gruesome and was afraid of even telling you its secrets.”

“Wait a minute, back up,” Scott stopped her. “Are you talking about the book on the pedestal?”

“I don’t know what’s in your Inner Sanctum, but by your understanding, it seems so,” Arana nodded. “That book appeared the second the orb hit you, Katie, and I spent several hours skimming the complex pages. One detail I remember is how I can get back into your mind.”

Keeji’s ears perked and looked happy.

“And how are you gonna do that?” Mike stole the words from me.

“Like this.” Arana opened her wings and jumped right at me like a hawk would to tear my stomach apart. I shrieked, shielded myself from her, and Scott was about to pull me away. Is she crazy? I cowered in terror, but I didn’t feel the sharp talons on my skin or the high pitch hawk screech. Feeling lost, I opened my eyes.

Arana had stopped mid-flight and began to glow instantly with white and blue light, the same as what she was made of. Her body lost shape and writhed into a single stream of blue light, aimed towards my body. I backed up and fell; but I felt the energy enter my chest, almost like an electrical shock, but not enough to cause pain. All the light entered me and the feeling went away.

“Katie, what happened? You alright?” Scott and Mike knelt beside me.

“I-I think so.” My heart was beating so fast, and when I looked down I found no marks on my clothes.

Keeji came walked over to us and looked all over me for traces of Arana. “I have got to sit down with her and learn this shit,” he joked.

Then I jumped when I heard her voice again, it boomed in my head in total surround sound.

Everything is fine, I’m back in your head, Arana said. Strange, that portal wasn’t there before. Now where did that book go?

I kept looking for the source, but to them it must have looked like I was losing my mind. “Do you guys hear her?” I asked.

Scott blinked. “Hear what?”

Found it. Now let’s see if this works.

The feeling around my chest started again, and I looked down as small electrical pricks tickled my skin. Streams of energy began to form over me, then without warning, the pricks became surges of energy. Light burst out of me and flew in streams at Mike. He dodged the light as it hit the wall by the dinner table, then fell on it with a loud thud. The light cleared to reveal a very thick book, it looked old, weathered, and was sealed tight by a lock.

Another wave of energy filled me as Arana came out; she collected herself over the same chair. Her familiar red-tailed hawk shape returned and the light dissipated, the Celtic tattoo on her chest dimmed from blue to black, and her eyes opened to the same glow as before, “Honestly, I thought it would never work.”

“Never work?” Scott yelled. “You attacked Katie without warning you jerk!”

“Pish Posh. If it didn’t work, I would’ve punished myself.”

As the two fought, and Keeji just maintained a dumb stare at the spectacle, I got up and looked at the book. I held my breath the whole time; it was textbook size by comparison to anything I had ever owned. The hard cover felt like leather, dyed to a deep red color. On the front and over the spine were detailed borders and symbols of Celtic artistry. It was locked tight with a chrome lock that needed an old fashioned key to open, but after looking carefully at the lock, I saw that it had the same symbol as my pendent.

If I was right, and asked the right questions to Arana, then the red leather book was my personal spellbook. The question was, does the book have my entire collection of magical knowledge from fairy tales and mysticism texts in my trunk back home, or something different entirely?

The two kept talking, and I spoke, “Scott, hold up, look at this.”

He stopped and looked over to the book. “Wait a minute. Mine looks totally different from hers.”

Arana turned and jumped down to the table from the chair. “From the look in your eyes, Katie, it seems that you know exactly what it is.”

I nodded slowly saying, “It is a spellbook. Isn’t it?”

“You can touch it if you like.”

I extended my hand to the book and grazed my fingers over the three-dimensional designs. When my fingers touched the lock, a spark erupted from my fingertips and the lock opened with a loud click. I pulled my hand back and didn’t see any scorch marks on my fingers.

“That was freaky,” I exclaimed.

My heart was beating hard with anticipation; I was ready to be caught in Scott’s strong arms. He even took the words right out of my mouth.

“This has got to be the next craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Scott blinked. Keeji made his way between us, still quiet.

“You’re telling me,” Mike added.

Arana jumped on the book before I opened it. “And more will come. There are things in here I want to review very carefully before you read them, which means we need to make a deal. To make this as smooth as possible, packing your valuables is important. We need to leave in case there is trouble. Once the packing is done, we will get together and understand what this book explains. What do you say?”

At first I wanted to push Arana away, grab the book, hide in the closet, and read until my eyes hurt. She was making a deal with me and Scott and I didn’t like being prevented to learn. At a time when another mob might be coming for us again, we just had one gun and one magazine. She was right—we had no other way to protect ourselves.

I said, “If you say so, guess I can wait for a while.”

“Ah, Katie,” Scott said, “are you sure you want to agree to this? I mean, oh come on, you know me that I never liked magic. For me this is too much. It might be a trap.”

Keeji huffed and looked up, “Oh come on my butt, I’m more interested than you. I’m ready to find out how to merge back.”

Scott rolled his eyes.

“I vote for packing then learning,” I said. “You have to admit, she is smart.”

“But how smart? Sometimes she’s calling all the shots,” Scott told me.

“Doesn’t bother me. She is my guide you know, a part of me. At least let Keeji learn so he can shut up about it.” Keeji smiled.

Mike leaned a hand on the table, taking consideration, “Whatever she says is true. All we’re doing is bickering about the possibility that magic exists. That transformation might just be the tip of the iceberg. And Ashley…” He paused after mentioning his wife. “Might as well stick around and understand what I’m running into.”

“So is it settled then?” Arana asked.

I looked at all four of them. Scott—not believing this—but had doubts of going through the plan. Keeji’s tail, wagging and thumping against the floor, showed his eagerness to do the same “merge move” as Arana. Mike was fighting to believe in all this, and by his eyes wondering if he would do the same once he got his tattoo. There was only one answer.

“Yes,” I answered. “Let’s do it. Scott, help me with the boxes in the closet.” I felt like I was in control of myself, eager to complete my task. Scott nodded and followed.

“Alright then. Keeji, stay with me. You need to study too. I have a feeling Scott’s book is the same as Katie’s,” Arana told Keeji as she jumped off the book and opened to the first page. Keeji jumped on the chair and became Arana’s temporary student.

“Might as well help out too,” Mike said.

It was like we were back to our original plan from yesterday, even though there are two animals reading a book in the living room while Scott, Mike, and I pack whatever we brought last summer. I thought of something important and pulled my cell phone out. I had a feeling they had to call us sooner or later, so to ease their pain I texted Robert.

Sorry for not calling. Still freaked out from last night. Don’t call me yet, I’ll call you. Tell Mom and Dad I’m sorry for lying. Give us more time.

I hit send and a few minutes later Robert replied: You better.