Continued from scene twenty-eight

In pursuit, I caught up with him as he flipped a switch causing the entire tunnel to come alive for as far as I could see in both directions. Astonished by its length, I lost track of my tour guide, who hid snickering in the distance.

“You know I can hear you.”

And with that, the lights went out.

“Funny.”

“Is it,” he said from behind.

“SHIT—you just about gave me a heart attack.”

“What if I had been Montresor and chained you to the wall? How would you escape this old fool you took to be unread?”

“Scream like hell, you crazy bastard.”

“Really? That’s what you want me to tell Karen when I drop you off. ‘Yep, said he would scream like a girl.”‘

“You make the “Girl” reference, and we’re both going to be in trouble.”

“You got a point, but seriously, what would you do?”

“I don’t know?”

“If you were Fortunato chained tightly to the wall, you would be screwed, But you’re not. You’re a shifter with survival skills and the ability to switch from thick to thin. So scream like a girl if you will, but your hands will slip free.”

I felt like a fool standing there in silence. Jeff was right, and I needed to start thinking like a shifter. “Lesson learned, my friend.”

“Then we shall have another glass of wine?”

“Wine?”

Okay, maybe not wine,” he said, pouring from a flask. “But the day is long, and our nerves need calming.”

“You think?”

Continue to scene thirty

Shift is an online work of fiction.

This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Continued from scene twenty-six

Chapter Six

“Mrs. Wilcox tells me I won’t get to go trick-or-treating this year. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“I’m afraid so, Jeff, and send my apologies to Olivia.”

“Are you kidding? She lives for weddings. I’m not sure if you know it, but she’s president of the Elysian Woman’s Club. On top of that, she bakes and apparently, has plans for a colossal cake with a Halloween theme.”

“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful, so send her a big thank you.”

“I’ll do it, now climb on. We’ve got a tour to complete.”

“I haven’t ridden on a tractor fender in quite some time.”

“Well, hold on, so you don’t fall off. I’d hate to tell the Chief I ran over her fiance.

Our first stop was the old farmhouse where Jeff hurt his foot. Once inside, we descended steps into the basement, where I stopped halfway, expecting them to move like the ones in Doc’s house. Who, by the way, has taken to his new nickname quite nicely, as most everyone has started to refer to him in that way.

“Were not fancy over here, son. You’re going to have to keep walking,” said Jeff as he continued to the floor below.

“Who’s place is this?”

“Mine now. It came with the land. Been here a long time, I imagine.”

As he dug through a can of rusty screws, he continued. “Some say the place is haunted.”

“Is it?”

“It is if I’m a ghost. Now, put some pressure right there, Christian, while I maneuver this screw in between the blocks.”

As he did, it clicked, causing a wall section to swing wide open, revealing a ten-by-ten room. Along the back, shelves of liquor bottles overlooked two shot glasses standing ready at the bar. While an old jukebox full of vinyl stood quietly in the corner. A round card table finished out the decor.

“This is your labyrinth?”

He chuckled. “Nonsense, this is where I come to get away from Olivia.”

“You old drunk, no wonder you hurt your foot.”

“A connoisseur, my friend. Now let us drink to privacy and secrecy as we continue on our journey.”

Stepping out into the basement, we once again made our way across fallen boards from the collapsed floor above to another wall. And just as before, he worked a small hole, revealing another doorway.

Continue to scene twenty-eight

Shift is an online work of fiction.

This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Continued from scene twenty-five

“Why did you choose Isabella?”

“She was my friend, and we had a pact stating the other could use our body as a verifiable should we die at home. It’s not uncommon. Shifters do it all the time, and it’s the only way to get a verifiable body as the death is never reported. In other words, there is no doppelgänger problem.

“What happened?”

“Pneumonia, three years ago. It caught us all off guard. She was the picture of health, as you can see.”

I grinned at that.

“Do her parents know?”

“Horace does. Her mother Nelly was killed in a car accident.”

“His name sounds familiar.”

“It should. Remember the laughs he got from his reptilian joke the night you fainted.”

“Horace Turbeville, the old jokester himself.”

“He meant no harm, and he thinks the world of you. Laughter helps him cope. He fell into a deep depression after Isabella died. It was over a year before I saw him smile. I can’t say as I smiled much either that year.”

“It must be weird for him to see you in her body.”

“On the contrary, our families were very close. And Horace and I are the only ones left. Mom, Dad, and Ethan Wright, Isabella’s husband, were also in the car the night Nelly died. Ethan volunteered to take them home after an Elysian meeting while Horace, Isabella, and I cleaned up. Dad was Chief back then.

“Thanks for telling me. It means a lot to have you finally open up.”

“You’re welcome. Now we need to get off this emotional roller coaster. I have a wedding to plan.”

I took her place by the window as she picked up the phone.

“Linda, we’ve moved the wedding up to Halloween. Can my maid of honor pull off a miracle?”

I don’t know what Linda said, but the laughter coming from Karen was music to my ears. As they talked, I looked out the window and I saw two white crosses nestled inside the tree line. I’m not sure how I missed seeing them before.

Continue to sene twenty-seven

Shift is an online work of fiction.

This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Continued from scene nineteen

The directions she gave to Decker’s house followed a tractor path between fields of various crops. In one stood an abanded farmhouse where I saw Mr. Wilcox waving.

“Thought you were going to pass me by for a minute there. Can you give me a lift to Doc’s? I stepped on a nail.”

“Sure, hop in. What were you doing in there anyway? Looks like the place is about to fall down.”

“Looks are deceiving around here, friend. What you see and don’t see are equally important. And I reckon it’s okay for me to tell you about it, seeing as you’re one of us now.

“Underneath this land of ours is a labyrinth of hidden tunnels connecting rooms filled with supplies and weapons. And that old house is one of many secret entrances.; as time goes by, I’ll show you around the place. But right now, I have a foot that needs tending.”

“I’d appreciate it. Karen has set my training aside for the time being. So I’m feeling a little lost.”

“Don’t you worry, Mrs. Wilcox, and I will fill you in on everything you need to know.”

Continue to scene twenty-one

Shift is an online work of fiction.

This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Continued from scene fifteen

Chapter four

“Hello, everyone, I’m Susan Cross; thanks for joining us. Tonight the mystery continues as the number of faked doppelganger videos surge to over one thousand. But some can not be explained away so easily. Our own Derick Miller is in Atlanta with the story.”

“Susan, I’m here with Donna Taylor, who saw herself in the Texas video after returning home from a seven-night cruise to the Bahamas. Debbie, how did it feel to see your doppelganger for the first time?”

“Honestly, I was in Shock. I thought my mom was joking when she said I was in the background of a local news report. But you can clearly see the date and temperature on the sign proving it was not me––I’m kind of freaked out by the whole thing, to tell you the truth.”

“Derick, have they been able to identify the girl in the video?”

“They have not, Susan. The video clearly shows the unknown woman getting into an Uber around ten o’clock, and a police spokesperson confirmed she was dropped off at 410 Danby Ave. But no one living at 410 Danby fits her description. For that matter, no one in the entire neighborhood fits her description. To top it off, the card used to pay for the ride belongs to the owner of the house.”

“Thanks, Derick; let us know if there are any further developments. In other news….”

“I’m I correct in saying a shifter lives at 410 Danby?”

“You are; now turn it down while I make a call.”

I could hear the phone ringing on the other end as I walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of ice tea.

“Hello”

“Robert, this is Karen. I heard you got a black eye last night.”

“Yep, got my blocked knocked off.”

“Well, have Kate take you to the doctor.”

“Yes, mam.”

It took Karen several days to make up her mind, but there was no going back once made. The black eye comment gives Robert permission to blackout an entire city block using the silencer while his team kidnaps Kate from a homeless camp. After which, they are to make several vehicle changes before dropping her off at the Decker Farm.

During the Elysian meeting, Keith promised Karen he could restore Kate’s ability to shift with a new hypnosis technic he had been working on. She was hesitant about kidnapping a shifter, lost or not, but decided it would be better for her to have a chance, than no chance at all if she got picked up by the NSC.

“It must have been hard for you to make that call, but we couldn’t leave her out there to disintegrate into madness. Decker is an intelligent man. It might work,” I said hoping to ease her mind.

“And what do we do if he fails. Throw Kate back to the wolves? She knew the dangers and chose to ignore them. Her life was her’s to screw up, and she did. What happened to her was of her own doing, and I was fine with that. But now, her life is in my hands. And you don’t want to know what some tribes do to their lost shifters. Remember when I said we are human, and all humans are shapeshifters?”

“I do.”

“Every human on this planet has a good and bad side. Which one they choose is up to them, and shifters are no different. Their leaders are no different. And some see lost shifters as a threat and treat them as such.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning they kill them.”

Continue to scene seventeen

Shift is an online work of fiction.

This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.