Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (5 page)

“They were able to pull the fire alarm in time to allow the students to escape, but when FBI team members followed the suspects inside, the students set off their explosives.”

“As you can see from the tape, it shows the six Lincoln High students fleeing from the building. They are now wanted for murder.”

We all stare in horror as our yearbook photos flash across the screen. “Police are asking if you see any of these children, to report it immediately. They are armed and dangerous.” The reporter is in his mid-forties. He
’
s a well-dressed man in a gray suit and has nice, clean-cut light brown hair that sets off his tan skin and blue eyes. He doesn
’
t look like the sort of person who would deliver the worst news of your entire life. He looks like a handsome guy who might live next door.

Alice is the first to speak. “Why aren
’
t you on that footage?” she asks Kai.

He shakes his head, turning from the television. “There
’
s a lot you need to know,” he says. “About Shifters, about Keepers . . . about who your friends are.”

Alice and Melinda turn to look accusingly at me.

Chapter 7

Keepers and Shadows

–TANNER–

We
’
re all in this motel. Honestly, I don
’
t really know where we are. We drove until dark, so we could be 50 or even 200 miles away from home now. I have no idea what Keepers are, but I sure don
’
t like them. That guy actually shot at us!

Now we
’
re on TV? I have to admit I’ve always wanted to be on TV, but this isn
’
t exactly what I had in mind. That story is seriously messed up. Those guys were not FBI. I don
’
t think the FBI makes a habit of trying to kill unarmed kids. Frederick may have broken the gas lines, but the explosion wasn
’
t even our fault. If that idiot black-suited guy hadn
’
t tried to shoot us, the school wouldn
’
t have gone up like an out of control Fourth of July display.

It
’
s kind of awkward in the room. The girls are all huddle together on one side with the boys, on the other side trying to sleep, although not huddled together like the girls—that would be weird. I
’
ve slept over at Frederick
’
s and Chucky
’
s houses before, but this is way different.

I don’
t know what it is, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve been noticing that my sister
’
s friends are kind of cute in their own way. Everyone always pays attention to my sister. It
’
s not really fair. Alice has amazing black hair and perfectly tanned skin. And she
’
s tall. I have no idea why I like that. I just do. And Melinda just has a natural beauty about her.

Chucky and Frederick fell asleep pretty quickly—must have been too much excitement for one day. Now I
’
m just laying here. Kai gets up to go to the bathroom. Maybe he can
’
t sleep either. He tiptoes back in and settles into the spot he chose on the floor by the bathroom.

I whisper, “Kai, are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don
’
t you live with your parents? Where are they?” I ask quietly.

“You don
’
t want to know,” he whispers. “Try to get some sleep.”

“I can
’
t. I want to know.”

“Okay. In the bathroom so we don
’
t wake the others.”

“Okay.”

We both move as quietly as we can. Like a klutz, I jam my toe on the coffee table leg. I somehow manage not to cry out in pain as I hobble like a quiet injured mouse to the bathroom. Kai closes the door most of the way and sits on the floor by the tub. I sit against the opposite wall.

“My parents died a couple of months ago,” he starts as he stares at his feet.

“Did the Shifters find you?” I ask.

He looks up. “No. Actually, other than my parents, I
’
ve never met any others until you and your sister. That
’
s why I was afraid to talk to her,” he admits.

“You were afraid of her?”

“Yeah, I honestly had no idea what she would do to me,” he says. “If she really was one. I knew she hadn
’
t Shifted yet, but if she did when I wasn
’
t expecting it, she could’ve killed me.”

“But you
’
re bigger than her,” I say.

“I
’
m still not used to that either,” he admits.

“What does that mean?” I ask pulling my eyebrows together.

“A couple of months ago, I was about your size,” he says with a shrug, like being a runt is no big deal.

“I doubt that. You
’
re huge,” I say, still confused. I blush, realizing this is not your typical guy conversation. I practically just admitted being self-conscious about my size, which is not exactly something guys talk about.

“Its kind of a Shifter thing. One of the reasons I thought your sister was one of us is because of how early she matured. That
’
s why I started watching her. And you.”

Now I’m totally confused.

“That doesn
’
t make any sense. I
’
m a runt.
”

“Exactly. For some reason Shifter girls and boys mature at different rates. My mom said it
’
s the same for Ordinaries, but it
’
s more pronounced in Shifters. Two months ago I looked just like you.”

That actually explains a lot. I
’
m not really a runt. I
’
m just a Shifter.

“So will I grow like you?” I ask, actually feeling hopeful. I hate being the smallest guy in my grade.

“My guess? In a couple of months, you won
’
t recognize yourself,” he says, with total conviction.

Remembering my original question, I ask, “
If Shifters didn
’
t kill your parents, who did?”

“The Keepers. Shifters are bad, but Keepers are more dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re regular people, and they’re way more afraid of us than we are of them,” he explains.

“They seem pretty scary to me,” I say. “Why are they afraid of us?”

“I
’
m not completely sure. Probably because we can Shift mostly.”

“If your parents could shift, how did the Keepers kill them?”

“If there are enough enemies, it doesn
’
t matter what you do.” He meets my eyes for the first time. “You will die.”

That sends a chill through me.

I
’
m almost afraid to ask, “Did you see it?”

When he lifts his eyes to meet mine again, I see such pain.

“We were surrounded. There were hundreds of them,” he pauses, wiping a tear from his cheek. He locks his eyes on his feet and continues, “We were hiding in an old warehouse. My dad lifted a grate from the floor. There was a narrow drainage tunnel. I didn
’
t know where it led. I thought they were getting in, but they closed the lid. My dad said, ‘Don
’
t make a sound.
’
I tried to get out so I could help them, but my mom stopped me. I could hear hundreds of Keepers pounding on the doors trying to get in. I couldn
’
t believe how loud it was. My mom told me, ‘Run! Don
’
t look back. No matter what. We’ll find you. I promise.
’”

Kai looks up at me. I realize I
’
m not breathing and take a pained breath.

He goes on, “I didn
’
t run. I couldn
’
t. I stepped back into the shadows when I heard them finally break though the doors. My parents were amazing. They were impossible to follow. The Keepers were falling one after another. They were in a panic. They began firing rounds everywhere not caring who or what they hit. Those armed with swords began swinging wildly.

“Then, it happened. My mom stopped when a blade swung right where she was Shifting. It hit her right across the back as she was avoiding a gunshot. The funny thing is,” he looks back down and says, “The guy that hit her took the bullet she was avoiding. He dropped like a rock.”

I remember to take another breath as Kai goes on.

“When my dad saw it, he just stopped and looked at her,” Kai says as he glances between the ground and me. He buries his face in his hands then props his face up on his fingertips and continues, “At first, it started slowly. A tiny red dot on the left side of his chest; then, it blossomed like a flower. They just looked at each other as they both dropped to their knees and then collapsed to the dingy warehouse floor. I couldn
’
t help it. I screamed. The ones still left all looked into the grate right at me. They were crazed. I didn
’
t know what to do. My heart felt like it exploded and everything stopped. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing as I stood there gazing into, drowning in, the hate in their frozen eyes. I ran. I don
’
t know how long I was Shifted, but I got far enough away they would never find me. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

How am I supposed to sleep after that?

Somehow, I fall asleep again though. I’m startled awake by Chucky kicking my foot saying, “Get up. We
’
re on TV again.”

–RYLAND–

I wake up to Chucky yelling about the TV. Of course, there we are again. This time, I see Melinda
’
s crying parents. “Did you know your daughter was unhappy at school?” the reporter asks, somehow caught between sympathy and accusation.

“Of course not, Melinda would never do something like that,” her mother weeps.

“She was such a bright, happy girl,” her father continues. “There must be some mistake.” He shakes his head, confused.

“It was that Ryland girl!” her mother spits.

Melinda gasps, her green eyes wide and round as saucers. She turns to look at me and shakes her head, lips trembling. “I
’
m sorry, Ry. I . . .
I don’
t know . . .”

I shake my head at her. “It
’
s okay,”
I answer.
“The ‘FBI
’
probably told them to say that. They want to blame us, not you.”

Kai looks angrier than I
’
ve ever seen him. His hands are clenched in tight fists, and he
’
s shaking. I follow his eyes to the background of the news report. There I see one of the agents standing with his arms folded across his chest.

“Is that one of them?” my brother whispers to Kai.

Kai gives one, slow nod.

I don’
t know why he’s so angry to see one particular Keeper, but there must be some reason. “Are you okay?” I ask, but he just shakes his head.

Alice jerks upright, and I turn back to the television. On it, for the first time, I see her dad. He
’
s tall with dark bronze skin and eyes as deep and black as his ebony hair.

His face is expressionless as he speaks to the reporter. “I know my Alice was in no way involved in this. I believe she was dragged into it.”

I turn back to see Alice tremble, just slightly. She turns and immediately walks from the room. I don
’
t know what to do. Everything is so crazy.

While we hesitate, Tanner runs after her. Tanner? Weird.

The TV once again catches my eye as a Keeper begins speaking to the reporter. “We do believe the Ascunse kids, Tanner and Ryland, are to blame for this incident. We encourage anyone who sees them to contact their local authorities immediately. They may be armed, and we are afraid for their friends
’
safety.”

Suddenly, my parents are on the screen. They’re rushing into the house from their old Ford Explorer. My dad has his arm around my mom, trying to shelter her from the camera.

The reporters are shouting at them. All sympathy is gone. “How could you—”

“—children are monsters!”

“—bad parents!” they scream over one another.

Once my mom is inside, my dad turns around to glare at the camera. “Leave my family alone!” he shouts. “You have no idea what’s happening here!”

The reporters begin to scream and clamor, but he just goes inside and slams the door behind him. The camera stays there, focused on the shaking door for a moment. I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

My family. This is why I wanted to leave. I didn
’
t want them to be persecuted for my . . .
crimes doesn
’
t fit here. Existence?

I
’
m glad Tanner left because he didn
’
t need to see that. It
’
s not until I see several men and women in the background across the street in high-end casual clothing with strange eyes that I realize the real danger they
’
re in.

“The Shifters are here,” I say.

Kai nods. “All this attention would have drawn them.”

“What will they do?”
I ask, afraid.

He shakes his head.

I bite my lip. I wonder if we should go back. Would that help? I just don
’
t know.

Chucky and Frederick look at the ground for a moment before they begin kicking each other and laughing. Melinda’s crying in the bathroom. Alice ran from the room. I
’
m worrying about my parents
’
safety, and my brother
’
s friends are horsing around like it
’
s a snow day and they get to skip school.

Boys.

“What’s the plan?”
I ask Kai.

He sighs and sits down on the edge of the bed. I realize in that moment he
’
s just a kid too, no older than Tanner. Maybe he still doesn
’
t know what to do.

“The Keepers,” he begins. “The Keepers are humans working within the government. Their job is to destroy any Shifters they find. They don
’
t want their world to be overtaken by us. They see us as a threat.”

I nod slowly. That makes sense. “So, they
’
ll be able to use the human police, feds, et cetera to find us.”

He puts his head in his hands. After he slowly pulls it back out, he says, “We
’
ll need to stay away from people. They
’
ve said we
’
re fugitives.”

“Not you,” I say slowly. “Why didn
’
t they mention you?”

“Some of us,” he says, finally looking me in the eyes, “have what my parents called Apts.”

“Like apps for an iPod?”

“No, Apts, like short for aptitude. We have certain aptitudes or extra talents.”

“
I don’
t understand,” I say softly, but Chucky and Frederick are listening, eyes wide.

“You mean, like, you can do more than that Shifting thing?” Chucky says quietly.

Kai nods. “I, for instance, can shadow.”

“Which means . . . ?” Frederick half asks.

“I can . . . I can be invisible, but only to technology,” Kai finally says.

“So, you fritz out tech, just like Tanner?” Chucky asks, confused.