The Inevitable
I walk down the hall calmly looking for Deshawn, Victoria, and Katie. As I round the next corner, I see all three of them standing next to the bathrooms. Their backs were to me. Quietly, I walk up behind them and begin to push them towards the front doors.
"What're you doing?" Deshawn asks trying to turn around.
"Don't turn around." I hiss. "Ya'll are compromised. Your covers are blown."
"What?" Katie whispers. "How?"
"They saw you three shift. Get you families. Tell them the truth."
They nod solemnly as we exit the building.
"Are you going to tell your family?" Victoria asks looking back at me.
"Yes." I reply tightly. "As long as Dean's not there. Now go. We'll meet up in the forest behind my apartments. Ok?"
They nod then go off to tell their parents the truth. I sprint home at top speed. I leap over walls and slide under cars. When I enter the apartment complex, I slow down to a walk. I see my brother, Dean, walk out the front door.
"Hey." I call. "Where're you going?"
"To a club meeting." He replies hurrying past me. "I'll be back in a few hours."
"Good." I whisper when he's out of ear shot. I rush into the house to find both my parents and the rest of my brothers in the living room.
My dad looks up from watching TV. "Hey, Ryan. How was school today?"
"Great." I reply. "Can we have a family meeting? I have something to tell you. Something I've kept secret for a long time."
He frowns as he turns the television off. "Family meeting. Ryan has something he'd like to tell us." Everyone, except me, sits on the couch. I stand in the middle of the room.
"Have you heard about the animals that have terrorized the city?" They nod. "Well… That's been my friends and me."
They just stare at me like I was crazy.
"How do you mean?" My mom asks nicely.
"I mean… my friends, Deshawn, Victoria, and Katie, and I did that. We were the animals."
My brothers gasp while my parents stare at me like I was psychotic.
"Maybe we should get you to a hospital." My mom says standing up and walking to my side.
"You don't believe me?" I ask looking from my dad to my mom and back again.
"No. It's not that." My dad answers.
"It is that." My mom cuts in. "There's no way that you can turn into animals."
"Ok." I step away from her. "Then let me show you." I begin to focus on one of my favorite birds. The Blue jay.
The floor races up at me as I shrink. My toes melt together then split to form the Blue jays three toes. A feather pattern sketches itself across my skin as my skin turns a sky blue. The feathers become real Blue jay feathers when my legs and feet grow a hard layer of skin over them. My mouth collapses then protrudes outward to form a beak. When I start hearing my bones crunch and grind together and my organs slosh around, my vision sharpens to that of the bird. I was fully a Blue jay.
I flap to get into the air then land on the table. My family stares at me in shock.
"How…?" My brother, Nathan, stammers sliding backwards.
"{See?}" I ask flapping my wings in irritation. "{Those animals were my friends and me. And right now, you have a choice. Either you can forget about this and continue living in peace… or I can give you this power and you can join the fight to save Earth from the Hypnotizers.}"
"Who are the Hypnotizers?" My other brother, Alan, asks.
"{Hypnotizers are a species that conquers other species. They can make themselves look like other species. That's how they conquer entire races. They slip into human society then when they want to control someone, their eyes turn into a black and white spiral. The person will then do whatever it says. The only way to free those people is to kill the Hypnotizer who controls them.}" I reply.
"Oh."
"{So… are you going to help or forget?}"
"Can you give us a few seconds to talk it over?" My dad asks hesitantly.
I nod. "{Sure.}"
While they think about my offer, I change back to human. After a few seconds, they all look at me.
"We choose to help you and your friends." My dad gets up and places a hand on my shoulder. "But your mother will have to stay with E.J."
"I kind of guessed." I nod. "Now, whoever's going to fight, come here and place your hands on top of each other's."
Alan and Nathan hurry over to us. They all place their hands on top of one another. Then I place my hand on theirs.
"Ready?" I ask. They nod. I close my eyes and concentrate. Green light spreads from my hands to theirs. After a few moments, I let go. "It's done."
"Really?" Alan inquires looking at his hands.
"Yes. Any animal you can imagine, you can become. Mom? I need you to pack for you and E.J. and meet us in the forest behind here." She nods then rushes upstairs with E.J. I turn to the others. "It's time we meet up with the others." I walk out the back door.
"Wait! What about Dean?" My dad asks following me.
"I'm sorry to say this, but Dean's in the war already. Just not on our side."
"NO!" He drops to his knees.
I nod slowly. "He's tried to kill me before. Don't worry. I've always left him alone."
When he stands up, his eyes are blazing with hatred. "They will pay for this."
"Who or What are those?" Nathan points behind me.
I turn around to see eleven birds flying towards us. I smile. "Those are my friends and their families." I wave to the birds.
There were four Ducks, three Bald Eagles, and four Cardinals. They land five yards away then start to shift back to humans. Deshawn emerges from a duck. Victoria emerges from a bald eagle. And Katie emerges from a cardinal.
Their families grow around them. Deshawn's mom, dad, and sister emerge from the other ducks. Victoria's mom, dad, and brother grow from the bald eagles. And Katie's mom and dad emerge from the other cardinals.
Deshawn rushes up to me. "We've got a problem."
"What?" I demand.
He opens his mouth to answer when U.S. Army soldiers burst from the forest. They point their guns at us.
I stare at them then smile. "It's time to show them the power of family." I start to change.
Light brown fur sprouts all over my body and my ears roll to the top of my head. I fall forward when my legs reverse directions. Sproot. A long tail with a ball of dark hair on the end grows out of my backside. My hands and feet swell and shift into huge clawed paws. A feline maw replaces my human mouth as a great mane of dark brown hair grows around my head. I was finally the mighty lion.
I look around and see that everyone else had shifted, too. Deshawn was a gorilla. Victoria was a wolf. And Katie was an anaconda. Dehsawn's mom is now a cobra. His sister is a rattlesnake. And his dad is a komodo dragon. Victoria's brother was a jaguar. Her dad was an Asian Elephant. And her mom was a poison dart frog. Katie's mom was an alligator and her dad was a cheetah. Alan is an African Elephant. Nathan is a Siberian tiger. And my dad is now a grizzly bear.
"{Let's do this!}" My dad shouts as he lumbers forward.
"{Yeah!}" We all yell. Everyone sprints at the soldiers.
I open my maw and cut loose my ultimate weapon. My roar.
"RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!" I roar.
The soldiers turn and run, but don't get very far. We crash into them and rip them to shreds within seconds. I claw one soldier's face to ribbons then clamp my jaws on another's throat. After we finish killing the soldiers, we shift back to our normal forms.
"What now?" Katie asks turning to me.
I look around at our group. "Now… we work on defeating this enemy… together." Everyone shouts with joy and exchange high fives and hugs.