Shift – A Happy Home

The couch made my back hurt overnight, but she got the point. Seven years older or not, things were going to change.

“Get up; we’ve got some decisions to make.”

Apparently, the argument wasn’t over.

“It’s six o’clock in the morning. It can wait.”

“No, it can’t. Every decision I make involves our family. So get your ass up off the couch. After all, you’ve been a shifter for well over a week now. So you should be capable of making decisions about our family and the lives of shifters you barely know. And the dynamics of tribal politics should be a breeze for someone with your fortitude and knowledge. I don’t know what I was thinking when I made those DECISIONS without you.”

“You knew what I meant yesterday, so come down off your high horse. I get it; I’m not there yet as a shifter. But I’m going to be your husband and the father of our child. So a little respect on your end isn’t too much to ask.”

I waited for a harsh reply, but she stumbled over her words.

“You’re––well, I guess….”

Her phone rang saving her from having to say more.

Hanging up, she turned, arms crossed. “Looks like your man brain is needed after all. Decker wants help with Kate’s therapy.”

“They already have her?”

“That’s right, Elysians wast no time when their families lives are at stake. Now come into the kitchen and eat the breakfast I cooked for you.”

After breakfast, she smiled and led me to the front door, where she said, “Don’t work too hard today. I’ll be sure to clean the house and have dinner ready when you get home.”

Her sarcasm was not lost on me as I drove off in her old pickup truck. Looking back through the rearview mirror, I saw her blow a kiss, and I could not help thinking I should have kept my big mouth shut.

Continue to scene twenty

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.

Shift – Moving Day

Continued from scene seventeen

The phone rang before I could ask another question and Karen quickly picked up the phone. Saying nothing, she listened, then responded, “I understand. Will Kieth be there as well?’

“Thank You, Linda. We will be there soon.”

“Be where?” I asked.

Placing her phone on the counter, she replied, “We’re moving to our farm house.”

“We have a house?”

“We have a lot of things. But that’s for another time.”

“And we have to go right now, today?”

“Yes, doctors orders.”

“You seem worried. What’s going on?”

“I’m vulnerable while pregnant. Now go pack. I’m running out of time and patients.”

Stunned by her sharpness, I felt like a child being sent to my room. But I packed anyway, and two hours later, we were sitting in a house with property butting up against the Decker farm. In fact, all of the property surrounding ours was owned by Elysian members.

“You know, you could have given me a little heads up on the move.”

“I’m sorry, but I had more pressing issues.”

“Like what?”

Reports from France suggest outliers are stoking privacy fears to try and gain support for a strike against the technocracy.

“What kind of strike?”

“The kind that leaves us in the dark.”

“Grid-down?”

“Shifters may have already embedded themselves within the power companies. If we fail to hold our union together, It will happen.”

“On second thought, I don’t need a heads up; I’ll just be over here in the corner.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“THEN DON’T LEAVE ME OUT OF DECISIONS THAT INVOLVE OUR FAMILY!”

Continue to scene nineteen

Shift is an online work of fiction.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Shift – Threat

Continued from scene sixteen

My heart sank upon hearing those words. Would Karen actually put a hit on Kate if Decker fails?

“Lost shifters are an exposure risk that can not be overlooked,” she continued. “If a problem emanates from my decision to leave her on her own. I will become the threat as far as tribal leaders are concerned.”

I raised my head quickly. “But, Kate is one person in a world of millions. Why would another tribe come after you for her exposure? So what if she has the same fingerprints. She can’t shift. The NSC would have nothing more than a mystery on their hands.

“Her eyes––they can shift involuntarily, just as yours did. Documenting this in a controlled setting would get the attention of the President and unlimited funding to capture others like her; tribal members, you, me, our baby.”

She had my full attention now.

“The truth is, I would go after them if they put Elysians in harm’s way.”

“Right now, we have one strike against us with the doppelganger video. And I will not allow Kate to become the second.”

Continue to scene eighteen

Shift is an online work of fiction.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Shift – The Call

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.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Shift – Elysian

Continued from Scene thirteen

“Drink this glass of water while I go back up on stage for a moment.”

I looked at Karen with a big no in my eyes, but she went anyway.

“Everyone, if I could have your attention again, please.”

As the room went quiet, she glanced over at me with a smile.

“As you can see by my love’s reaction tonight, he has fallen hard for me.”

Laughter ensued from the floor.

“And I have fallen hard for him.”

“Over the last two weeks, I have put more pressure on this man than I should have. For that, Christian, please forgive me. You are my soulmate, my love, my one and only.

The tribe applauded, and Keith Decker stood up from the back again, holding his glass high. “A toast for Christian Lore!”

The room responded in kind, so I walked up on stage to stand with Karen, who politely stepped aside. “Thank you all for overlooking my nervousness. Like Maggie, I too have never been happier than I am right now.”

Applause irrupted again as Karen asked Maggie to join them on stage.

“Tonight, we celebrate the newest members of Elysian and our bond to one another. Let no one divide that which makes us strong!”

The roar was deafening as we descended the stage. “This way, Karen, I’ve saved seats for you both at the head of the table.”

Linda Wilson, I would later learn, is Karen’s right-hand. And next in line should she be unable to fulfill her role as Chief. A title given to male and female leaders of the 3006 worldwide tribes.

Continue to scene fifteen

Shift is an online work of fiction.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.

Shift – The Eyes

Continued from scene twelve

“Here, son, let me help you up,” said Kieth, referred to by most as Dr. Decker in Wilmington. “You took a hit to the head, so let’s step down off the stage and have a seat while I look you over.”

“My eyes do feel a little weird.”

A crowd formed around us as we sat at a nearby table. “Look straight ahead as I move my pin light back a forth,” said Decker.

“Karen, did you see that?”

“See what?” I asked before she could respond.

“Your eyes made a quick involuntary shift before turning back to normal. This is not unusual for someone under a lot of stress; you’re going to be okay. But in the future, be aware of this and cover them if you feel it coming on. You don’t want to accidentally expose yourself to a non-shifter.”

“You’ll get pinned as one of them reptilians if you get caught on camera,” said Horace Turbeville with a snort.

Everyone laughed and eventually made their way over to the banquet table, leaving me to my embarrassment.

Continue to scene fourteen

Shift is an online work of fiction.

The story centers around shapeshifting.

I’m currently working on chapter Ten.