Shifting Moon Ch 21
The next morning, I took my backpack and put it in Charlie's car as usual and then ran off to the spot Jasper and I usually sparred. After looking around to make sure I was alone I got undressed and shifted into my Tiger form. Then for the next hour I just ran around the woods experimenting with my speed and strength.
I thought it best to get a handle on it before the vampire vs Tiger match Emmett was so desperate for. Learning to strike at a tree without extending my claws was a bit challenging at first, but I got the hang of it after a while. I took a bit more time than normal as I wouldn't be able to do any lifting at the gym.
But when I figured it was close enough to time, I got changed and ran to the police station for my shower and waited for Bella to arrive. The skies were clear so after giving my goodbyes to Charlie and Jerry I waited for Bella outside in the sun. Bella arrived and we made a beeline for school and decided to waste some time at the outside lunch tables that had most everyone there basking in the morning sun.
Mike had come over with a puppy dog look on his face and started to talk to Bella about the weather. Finally, he got to the point and told Bella, "So Jessica asked me out to the dance this Saturday."
He ended the sentence like it was a question toward Bella, as if asking if she was ok with it.
Bella smiled and happily said, "That's great, you guys will have a wonderful time together."
Mike looked a bit sad, "Well, I didn't tell her yes. I said I had to think about it... I was hoping you were going to ask me."
He must have finally hit the end of Bella's patience with him because her tone took on a firmness she rarely used, "I am not going to be in town. Besides, it's obvious that Jessica has feelings for you, and I won't be stepping between you two. You should tell her yes if you want to go, and do it soon, so she isn't kept waiting."
All Mike got out of her speech was a confused look on his face, and "Jessica likes me? You really mean it?" Then he stated to smile like a fool. "Cool!"
He wandered off as I held my laughter in. "That idiot doesn't deserve Jessica, or Lauren for that matter. Girls are just interchangeable fantasies for him. Only looking at what he can get from them, not what they can share."
Bella sighed, "I agree, but Jessica really likes him. I hope she doesn't get burned by him. All it would take is one mistake, and her college life would be over before it begins, and Mike doesn't strike me as the supportive baby daddy. He is a nice guy, just a bit too popular in town for his own good. College would get him out of town and settle him down, I bet."
Shortly after that, Angela and Ben came walking over to our table hand in hand. It looked like they had finally gotten together.
Angela looked at both Bella and me, "Would you guys be interested in going to Port Angeles tonight to go dress shopping with me? My Mom doesn't want me to go alone, and Ben has to work. Thomas coming along will keep the creeps away also."
Bella looked at me, and seeing my nod, "Sure, we can go. I will just let Charlie know, and we can head out right after school. Mind if I ask Jessica to come with? She will be needing a dress too, I bet."
Angela smiled, "I am fine with that. Maybe she will drive so there will be more room, and maybe we can get out of there before dark."
Bella took the verbal hit to her truck's space and speed with a smile, I will talk to her in class later, we should know by the end of lunch."
Just then, the first bell rang out and everyone started gathering their stuff to head to class. It appeared that the teachers were itching to get out into the sun as well. Ms. Ross had us all go outside to the edge of the forest and pick something to draw. After that class though, it was back to being stuck indoors. At least all the window blinds were open, allowing all the sunlight possible inside. I missed Edythe in math class, and by the time lunch rolled around, I was ready for the day to end.
When Bella and I sat at the table with the group, the first thing I heard was "What, no Cullen's to sit with today?" from Lauren.
I wasn't sure who that was a jab at, me or Bella, but I didn't take it very well. However, before I could respond, Mike spoke up. "They are our friends and welcome to sit with us when they want. If you don't like it, you are welcome to sit somewhere else."
While this earned a bit of my respect, both Lauren and Tyler gave him some dirty looks that he didn't react to. Just before lunch was over, Bella turned to me and Angela, "Oh, about going to look for dresses, can we do it tomorrow after school instead? Jessica and Mike have a last-minute date planned for tonight."
Angela looked happy, "Actually, that would be perfect, my mom would be able to look after my brothers, so no need for a sitter."
I smiled and shook my head, "Looks like it will have to turn into a girl's night then, I have plans with Edythe after school tomorrow. They will get back from their camping trip in the afternoon, so we already made plans. She is planning an evening picnic in a place she says is special to her."
This comment got me a few dirty looks, a few envious ones, and a catcall. I just shrugged them off.
Gym and Spanish passed in a long, very slow, blur, and once it was finally over, Bella and I went food shopping. After putting the groceries away, I went up to my room and stared at another blank canvas I set up for my art project. Still not coming up with any ideas, I walked away from it and sat on my bed with my sketchpad and just started to draw randomly.
I heard the house phone line ring a couple of times until Bella answered it. Moments later, Bella yelled up the stairs, "Thomas, Phone."
It struck me as odd, everyone I know has my cell number. Why would someone call the house line for me? I hurriedly got up and went down the stairs two at a time, then saw Bella holding the phone towards me as she stood in the kitchen entryway.
I took the phone, "This is Thomas."
"Hello, just to confirm. I am speaking to Thomas Naresh Raizel?"
"Yes, that is my full name. Can I ask what this is about?"
"I represent the Specter & Ross Law firm from Denver, Colorado, and need to confirm your residential City so we can bring you the paperwork to finalize the execution of the Will for one Nancy B. Raizel. This will have to take place after your 18th birthday, which we have on file as March 31st. Can you confirm this is correct?"
"Yes, my birthday will be the 31st of this month." I responded dully.
"In cases like this, we prefer to set up a time at the local police station so that all parties can be accommodated, and any certifications can be made immediately if they prove necessary. You will need to be present and have your social security card as well as photo I.D. and, if possible, your birth certificate. Will that work for you?"
"For photo I.D. I have a non-local driver's license. It's an Arizona-registered license. Oh, I also have a passport, that's a picture I.D. also… I forgot about it." My mind was racing, and I was stumbling over my words. Random thoughts were hitting me as I tried to focus.
"As long as they aren't expired, either would work, Hun. Will the first of April work for you? What am I thinking? It's your 18th birthday, so I'd better give you a day to recover. How about the 2nd and I will call you with a time once we set it up with the Sheriff's office."
"That… That will be fine. Hope to see you there…" As I took the phone from my ear and began to hang it up, I caught, "Are you ok, dear? You don't sou.." Click. I barely registered that I had hung up on her and just stood there.
My ribs felt like they were on fire, my left leg and right arm were numb and not responding very well. Someone pushed me aside as they got up and ran away. People were crying all around me, my mind couldn't make sense of what was happening. My eyes focused on the strangest things, like a little girl lying in a pool of red liquid had mismatched socks on. {My mother would never let me outside without matching socks.}
A man ran past me with a purse in his hands, I wondered if he stole it and that why he was running. {Men don't carry purses.} Johnny made fun of me for carrying a bag, he said men only carried a briefcase or backpack. My ears started ringing, like I was too close to a bell. "MOM?" I looked around, I tried to slide away from the people on the ground.
{Johnny was going to make fun of me for sliding on my but like this, but my leg won't work. I wish mom would stop seeing him or at least stop bringing him around me.} I felt someone touch my shoulder and turned to look. "Mom!" She hugged me and cried at the same time.
"Come on sweetheart, we need to get out of here."
"My leg won't work. I really hate Johnny. Can you stop seeing him? He kicked my leg and made me fall."
"Yes, I promise he will never be around us again."
"Good, that's what I wished when I blew out my cake candles this year."
"Okay. Honey, let's try to hide. The bad people could see us any minute." She tried to pull me, but she didn't have the strength. I wasn't going any faster than I had been by sliding on my butt alone. I still tried to help her as much as I could. I looked down and tried to slide my butt the way she was pulling but then something wet splattered on my head and I heard three bangs really close together. {Or did I hear the bangs first?}
The next thing I knew, mom fell over the top of me and lay down. Her eyes were open, but they didn't see me. I managed to get my knee under me and lean towards her. My working arm tried to shake her. "Mommy?" {Only babies cry for their mommy Thomas.} {Shut up Johnny, mom said you won't be around anymore. So go away!}
I looked at the red pool forming around my mother, {Blood isn't supposed to look like this. In the games, it's a much brighter color. Isn't it?} I heard footsteps coming towards me. Time seemed to skip, and I found myself looking up at the barrel of a rifle and then I heard another bang. The man with the rifle dropped straight down, falling on my mother's body.
I started to hit him with my good arm, but he wouldn't move, so I used the one I couldn't feel very well. "GET OFF MY MOMMY. GET OFF OF HER." A fire seemed to erupt in my head as this man wouldn't get off my mother. I kept hitting him and screaming in anger, until my right arm looked weird. It was still numb, but now I saw something white sticking out of my skin. Even as I looked at the bone sticking out of my right forearm, I kept screaming for the man to get off my mother and hitting him with my left fist.
I didn't hear anyone approach over the sounds of my screaming in rage, but I felt someone putting their hand on my shoulder.
"Your safe now son. My name is Officer Randal."
The man in a police uniform looked at me, asking me something or telling me something, but I didn't understand him. "Get him off my mom. PLEASE!"
The officer realized what I was doing and helped me push the man off my mother. Then he turned his head and started to puke next to us. I watched as he vomited twice more and then started to dry heave with tears running down his face. He quickly wiped his mouth on his sleeve and turned to me, "You stay here, I have to see if there are more of them. Someone will be here to help you very soon." He then started to move deeper into the mall, and I was alone with my mother.
My eyes popped open, and my breath came in fast pants. I tried to settle down and take deep breaths to regulate my thundering pulse. Then a thought broke into my head, {Why am I staring at a wall instead of the ceiling?}
I started to swing my head around and again felt something was just slightly off. Then it hit me, I shifted. There was now a 3-meter tall, 6-meter-long, Bengal Tiger lying in my bed, and I was down another pair of sweats. A deep exhale came out as a growl that I quickly tried to stop midway. The last thing I needed was for Bella to hear me and come in to comfort me, only to see me like this.
It took me about 5 minutes before I had calmed down enough to change myself back to human form. {That could have been very bad.} I looked at the time and saw it was less than 3 minutes before my alarm went off. I hit it early and gathered some clothes before heading to the bathroom. Washing my face, I pushed away the thoughts about what could have happened.
I knew my dreams would come back heavy around this time of year, but before I didn't have the potential of turning into an oversized cat. I relaxed my mind and went about my morning routine to further calm myself down. Once I had eaten, I put my bag in Charlie's cruiser and ran into the woods behind the house. Taking a page from Sam, I had brought a band to tie my shorts around my leg before shifting and blasted through the woods.
As I ran, I felt a pressure against my mind that signaled Sam was out this morning as well, I reached out to him and he accepted me into his mind, {"Morning Sam. How's your morning going?"}
{"Morning? What time is it?"}
{"Almost 6 in the morning, what did you do, lose track of time?"}
{"Yeah, Emily is still being difficult. So, I needed to run some energy off last night. Must have lost track of the time. Some of what she says is pretty hurtful, even though I can tell she doesn't really mean it. She just loves Leah so much and feels like returning my feelings would be a betrayal. At least that's what I think."}
{I pray to God that imprinting is only a wolf thing, no way I want to have that happen to me.} I kept that thought away from Sam. The idea that my own nature could dictate who I devote myself to was a scary thought.
{"What are you doing so early in the morning?"} Sam broke into my thoughts.
{"I usually exercise in the morning, but my partner isn't here today, so I'm just spending time shifted to get used to it more."} I went on to explain how Jasper has been helping me work out and some of the training we did. Sam just went quiet as he listened.
{"How can you stand to be so close to a Leach like that? Aren't you afraid he could lose control and attack you, drink your blood?"}
I tried not to take offence at the term used against my friend, {"Not really. To be honest, when Jasper struggles with his thirst, it makes me appreciate him that much more. Just think of how hard they must fight to swear off their natural food source for something less appetizing. Just imagine, with our increased hunger as shifters and someone made your absolute favorite dish and placed it in front of you. But you made yourself fight the urge to eat it and reach over it to eat something you can barely stomach. Then throw in the idea that you are starving all the time."}
I let that sink in for a moment, {"The fact that they fight so hard against their nature just shows how strong their commitment to not being a monster is."}
To Sam's credit, he thought a while before replying, {"The fact that it's their nature to feed on humans is what gets me, Thomas. It isn't natural to my way of thinking, one slip on their part and it means a life has ended. No matter the remorse they may feel later. They are still dangerous."}
{"That will just have to be something we disagree on, Sam. I hate to put it out there… But I think if I was able to imprint, I would have imprinted on Edythe already. I just can't see a life without her anymore."}
Sam's reply stunned me to the core and caused me to stumble as I walked through the forest, {"I felt that way about Leah once too, Thomas."} Then I felt him break our connection.
An hour later and Sam's words still haunted me as I trotted through the woods, the only thing keeping me from a full-blown panic was the knowledge that Wolves in nature, mated for life and Tigers were… More open with their relationships. Not having Pride's like Lions but having multiple partners that they returned to during mating seasons so long as the female stayed in the male's territory. {Wow, this could get complicated. Let's hope my more human nature overrides my need to mate with every strong female I come across. Still, it is something I need to talk to Edythe about.}
On a less emotionally explosive subject, I had found that while I could move exceptionally fast, it was only for a short time. My body was definitely not built for long distance running, only able to keep top speed for about 10 minutes. That may not sound like long, but it only took me 4 minutes to get to the other side of the Quileute reservation, and that was not starting from the border but much deeper in the woods. I also had a comfortable trot that I could move at when I wanted to cover distance, but my natural speed was a sort of lazy walk that challenged anything near to get in my way.
Tigers it seemed were not in a hurry unless it came to hunting or fighting. Having my shorts tied to my leg was a bit hard to get used to and would not be something I did on the regular. I think I may put a few cashes of clothes out in backpacks like I had thought about before. Get some waterproof ones and find good spots to get them when I need to. One near the house and one near the school would be a must.
I dropped this line of thinking when I came near the edge of the forest closest to the Police Station. Shifting back and putting my shorts on I realized it would be hard to explain my lack of shoes if anyone noticed. {Yup, simply carrying shorts around on my leg was just not going to cut it.} I walked in and was in luck, Charlie was in his office doing paperwork.
"Morning Charlie." I called out and moved straight to the locker room to shower and get dressed.
When I came out, I saw Jerry putting her purse in her desk drawer and greeted her. Then went to Charlie's office. When I walked in, he looked up from a file on his desk, "Hey kid, still enjoying the sunshine?"
"Haven't seen much of it yet today. I ran in the woods for my morning workout. Don't worry, I didn't go too deep, just wanted to change up my run this morning."
Charlie just gave me a rye smile, "I just ask that you stay safe kid. Way too many people get lost in the woods. Best to keep to the trails. Damn fool part time hikers get lost all the time and we have to hunt them down and save their lost as… Selves. Don't want you disappearing on me."
"No worries, umm, Did Bella tell you about the phone call yesterday? About my mom's Will reading?"
"Yeah, we talked about it some. I will keep an ear out for their call. I didn't know something like this would need to take place at a police station. Weird to me, but its big city rules I guess." He just shook his head.
"I am not sure what the deal is either. Not like mom was some big time CEO or rich woman with huge money. Only thing I have seen about her insurance was the monthly care money Renee got and well now you are getting since I moved here."
Charlie looked uncomfortable for a moment, "Well, about that. Renee and I were planning to wait but… I guess it wont hurt to tell you early. The money sent for your care has all been put in a savings account for you. We thought it best to help you prepare for college or whatever you wanted after school. I know Renee had to dip into it a couple of time when things got tight in Phoenix, but we wanted to give you the best start possible. Also, Renee and Nancy's childhood home is still here in town and I figure that may be what the lawyers are coming here for. Your mom bought Renee's share of the house and land when Renee made it clear she wanted to move somewhere warmer. I am assuming that will come to you after your birthday, but I hope you will consider staying at my place until summer or you are out of school. A big change like that could mess with your schooling."
I had never really thought about that. Technically, with this birthday, I could live on my own. I would be a legal adult. I took a deep breath, "I haven't ever thought about it to be honest, I have never thought about being on my own. I have been so dependent on Bella and Renee and now you. Its strange…" I shook my head
Seeing me struggle with my thoughts, Charlie spoke, "No rush kid. You are welcome to stay like I said. Bella would probably have an opinion to share on the idea herself. You're the brother she never had. Speaking of Bella, she just pulled up."
"Thanks, I guess I have a lot to think about. See you at home."
"Not today, I will be doing a double. You will be home alone with Bella going to Port Angeles to shop. Call me if you need anything."
"Will do, but I will be spending time with Edythe so I should be ok."
He smiled and shook his head, "Don't do what I did. Be safe and take it slow."
Bella double tapped Red's horn, and I raised my hand to Charlie, "Later, don't work too hard."
The ride to school was quiet, Bella seemed like she had something on her mind. Something she was working through. I left her in piece and tried not to think about seeing Edythe later today. That would just make the day drag on longer.
As we started to walk away from Bella's truck, she handed me her keys. "Jessica, Angela and I are going shopping right after school, so I will need you to drive my truck home. I think I will go to a bookstore while I'm there, I found one that has a book about local legends that I think would be interesting. Want me to look for anything for you?"
"No thanks sis. Just have fun and be careful."
The day went by fairly quick, the girls were all discussing dress and skin tone color matching along with hair salons in the area. I just relied on my old head nod and halfhearted answers that seemed to go along with what they wanted to her.
Before I knew it, I was driving Old Red back to the house by myself. The sun was out, and everyone had their vehicle windows down and their music as loud as it would go as they drove. {Maybe I should get Bella that new stereo, there is lots of room behind these seats for good speakers as well.}
Lost in my thoughts as I pulled in front of the house, grabbing my school bag and slamming the truck door closed then made my way inside. I was debating calling Edythe to let her know I was home and see what she had planned but resisted doing that right away. I instead went to the kitchen and made a few sandwiches that I took to my room and ate as I prepared for my date.
About 30 minuets after I got home Edythe called. After talking we decided she would swing by in her brother's Jeep, and we would drive part way to where she wanted to take me. Because the sun was still out, she would have to stay inside the vehicle in town. She explained that only direct sunlight made her stand out, so she didn't stand out behind the windows when driving even with minimal tint. Not long after hanging up with her, I was holding my backpack and standing on the from porch waiting for the modified red Jeep Wrangler she described to me. My excitement for the evenings revelations made it hard to stand still, so I was pacing a bit as I heard a loud engine approaching.
