Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga.
"Shape shifter?" Harry spoke up before I could. I chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. "Your grandparents sure are creative Kells."
Neala and John frowned at him, I did too.
I glanced at my grandparents. They looked pretty serious to me...
"Harry, I don't think they're joking..." Harry stopped laughing, I guess he was studying the very much serious faces of my grandparents as well.
"But they have to be. Shape shifters? Really? Fairy tales don't even have shape shifters in them!" He waited for me to say something, but I couldn't look away from John. He looked so...serious. He wanted so bad for me to believe him, but he didn't at the same time.
"Would you like some cookies Harry? They're fresh out of the oven." Harry shot up immediately and followed Neala to the kitchen.
"Kelly." I looked up at John, he frowned at me.
"Yes?" He sat down beside me on the couch.
"Have you?" I shook my head. Why would he think I had? He smiled suddenly, like he knew something I didn't.
"I think you do." I opened my mouth to ask, when someone knocked on the door. I looked to John, but he shrugged, leaning back into the couch.
"You wouldn't mind getting that, would you?" I raised an eyebrow at him, but got up. It could be an Irish tradition. Who was I to question that?
I opened the door slowly, before going to slam in closed again.
He caught the door before it could close unfortunately, and Paul walked inside. I glared after him. He was acting as if he owned the place.
"Thought you said you weren't coming?" He turned to look at me before leaning against a wall.
"I didn't say that." I glared at him.
"Well, you made it very clear that you didn't care if I left." Paul pushed off the wall to stand in front of me. He leaned over so he could peer straight into my eyes. He smirked.
"I guess you can't read me very well." I bit my tongue, taking a deep breath.
"I think you should leave Paul." He shook his head, smiling down at me.
"Nope. I think I'll stay. You granddad said something very interesting..." Paul looked away from me and started drifting towards the living room.
I grabbed his arm before he could get very far though. My nails dug into his skin.
"You were listening?" Paul sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned to face me again.
"Did you honestly think I'd let you go off on your own. If something happened to you because I was ignorant..." His voice trailed off and his arm shook beneath my hand.
"Fine, fine. You can stay." I hated how easily Paul could make me forgive him. "But behave." He forced a smiled, and tried to get his shaking under control.
"For you? Anything." I stuck my tongue out at him, but led him to the living room anyway. John was waiting when we got back to him. His expression was a cross between pride, anger and, well, if his eyes could say "I told you so", they would.
"Sorry. Uh, Paul this is..." I gestured toward John uncertainly, unsure as to what to call him. John was his name, but I was guessing it'd be disrespectful to actually call him by it.
"John." I nodded, relieved.
"Right, John. And John, this is Paul." John heaved himself off of the couch to shake Paul's hands. They glared at each other as they shook hands.
"Nice to meet you sir." My eyes widened. I didn't expect that... Then again, he was the only family I had left. Other than Harry, and Paul had already been approved by him. I guess Paul wanted John to like him too.
"It was the eyes, wasn't it?" They dropped hands and Paul stared at John, confused.
"I'm sorry, what?" John chuckled, shaking his head.
"Nothing." He looked back at me. "I thought you didn't know about shape shifters?" I started to tell him that I didn't, but he just looked at Paul, like that was supposed to mean something...
"She wouldn't remember... Sir." Now I looked at Paul, even more confused than I was before.
"You know about this? This shape shifter business?" Paul shrugged.
"Shouldn't be surprising that I do." He stared at John. "But I do want to know how he does." John sat back down on the couch, patting the seat next to him. Neither Paul or I sat down.
John sighed.
"I was about to get to that part. You would have heard about it a lot faster if you'd stayed outside." Paul's eyes narrowed and mine widened in surprise.
"About did you..." John waved off my question and patted the seat next to him again. This time I sat down, curious. Now I wanted to know what John knew just as much as Paul did.
"First." He rubbed his hands together before looking at Paul. "How much did you tell her?"
"Everything." I frowned. When had he done that? "But she more than likely forgot." I looked down, trying to rack my brain. I didn't remember anything about shape shifters. I remembered imprinting. And...werewolves?
I shuddered.
"I thought you were a..." I took a deep breath. Obviously I had trouble saying that word out loud.
"A werewolf?" Paul smirked, dropping onto the couch next to me. "Yeah. But technically," He put air quotes around the word, rolling his eyes. "We're shape shifters. We just happen to shift into the shape of a wolf." He shrugged.
"Oh." I didn't know that part. I turned to John again. "I'm sorry, I guess I do know something about shape shifters."
John smiled. "That's what I thought. Now, back to my story." Paul and I both leaned towards him. "I'm assuming Paul over there has already guessed this part, but our family, going back generations, have also been able to shift their shape." I leaned back, staring at John incredulously. Paul maintained his intense position.
"Continue."
"Unlike Paul and his tribe, we don't shift into wolves. We shift into bears."
"Bears? Like the big furry things with four legs?!" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop and think. Of course I knew what a bear was. Who didn't? It was trying to comprehend people turning into bears that caused that reaction. Heck, I had trouble imagining Paul turning into a wolf, and I'd seen it.
"Yes Kelly. Bears." I shook my head.
"Sorry. But, what does that have to with me? With my parents?" John stared at me for a long time, before getting up to look at the pictures.
"My son, your father. Was a shape shifter. We tried to hide it from him, everyone thought that gene had gone extinct. You know, once you stop changing, your children tend not to even change in the first place." He sighed. "When he imprinted on your mother, we knew it was going to happen. We didn't tell him though, he was so happy. They were so happy..." He cleared his throat and stopped talking.
Paul and I glanced at each other, both wondering what to do.
I got up first, going to put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jo- Granddad? It's okay. You don't have to say anymore." He turned to me with a watery smile.
"I thought that your birth would be enough to push him over the edge, but he didn't. For four years, he was fine." He shook his head, his expression suddenly turning hostile as he turned back to the pictures. "It was some stupid little argument over a new fridge with your mom that finally made him snap. He changed, running out the door. And your mother went after him, leaving a four year old child on her own." He looked back at me apologetically.
"What happened next?" I whispered.
"We didn't know what had happened until we got a call a few days later. It was your mother, she had come back for you to find that you had disappeared. We searched for you, but all we found were little paw prints. And even those disappeared eventually too." I swallowed. Paw prints.
"I think we know the rest." We both turned to look at Paul, he watched me with hard eyes. "But she's not a shape shifter."
John seemed shocked. "I didn't say she was." Paul sighed in frustration.
"Then what are you trying to say?"
John looked at me, studying me.
"She isn't now. But I think she used to be. And I think that's the trail my son has been following for the last twenty years."
Clarinetgoddess62: Nope! Kelly is not a shape shifter. But her dad is... Was? Who knows... And thank you! It's not so bad... I have a psychology project due next week... And a history one in two weeks. I'll be fine...
PiperMcLean351:They might be...
1h2a34: Confusion is good, right? Hope you liked it!
JustcallmeRiley: Ha, I see what you did there...
Stargazer1364: Didn't mean to scare you! I promise that next time you read done at the end of a chapter, it'll be the last chapter~ I've never read Shiver, but it sounds interesting... And I don't think so... Though the concept is compelling...
Mythical Words: But at least you're waiting for more, right?
purpleVampire22: That is a very good question...
glowgreen4me: Not quite...
Guest: I know this is for chapter 20, but I'm sorry I made you cry! I hope that meant I got the emotions right! I hope you keep reading~
zaymiller17: Haha, yes! And I am building, there may be a reunion in the next couple chapters before the end. You never know...
I know this is super late, and I'm not even going to bother making excuses... I'm sorry for the lateness! I'll try my best to get the chapters up weekly!
Review ?(:
