Chapter 16: Something Strange

I was walking through the hallway when I stumbled into Jayden interrogating Trisha.

"So what were you doing then?"

"Look Jayden, Cindy and I were out on a joyride, just like you!"

"Cindy? So she's in this too? But of course, you're in a group. Don't tell me Dylan was also there?"

"I don't owe you an answer."

"Ouch, what attitude," Jayden returned. The two then indulged in vicious eye contact, neither willing to look away.

"What does Dylan have to do with this?" I demanded, interrupting them. Two pairs of brown eyes sliced my way.

"Cindy," they greeted me.

"What is happening here? You're arguing like an old couple," I said.

They grinned sheepishly. "Uh," said Trisha, "A... battle of egos, I guess?"

Both Jayden and I raised our eyebrows.

"Well, no need to drag Dylan into it," I said, and walked away.

Later, I made my way to my room. As soon as I got there, with an "oof" I was tackled to the floor by two bodies.

My consciousness was immediately heightened to an unprecedented degree as I felt my eyes change and become more alert. On instinct, I buckled my hips, throwing the first off, then lurched my body on top of his and threw a punch into the masked face. Two arms grabbed me from behind and hauled me up, but I stamped on his foot and broke from his clutches. Not giving him any time to get his bearings, with a superior fighting prowess I never knew I had, I launched myself up into the air. I twisted my body as it flew and aimed my foot at my assailant's head. He dodged at the last possible moment, them picked me out of the air before I could land. He and his accomplice then pinned me to the wall by my arms. The two looked at me expectantly, while my body continued to thrash in vain. I willed myself to stop kicking, but my legs didn't stop. Only when they were spent did they stay in place.

My two assailants pulled off their cloth masks to reveal two shocked, wary faces. The faces of my friends, Trish and Lexi.

My muscles were still completely taut, straining against their grip. I growled fiercely.

I felt... suppressed, like I was being shoved into the back of my own mind.

No, I thought. No, stop!

I continued watching them. Lexi's lips moved, but I heard nothing. In fact, I had heard nothing at all during our fray.

I snarled.

My eyes trailed down their bodies, calculating, watching for an opening.

Slowly, the hands on my forearms loosed their holds. Trisha and Lexi backed away from me, watching me carefully.

I felt my body loosen slowly, relaxing muscle by muscle. I blinked several times, then spoke.

"Lexi?"

The girls seemed to ease up.

"Cindy?" Trish panted. "Are... are you alright?"

Slowly, I nodded, not trusting myself with speech.

Trish came towards me cautiously. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back, and she calmed down significantly. Meanwhile Lexi stood rooted to her spot.

Her downcast eyes held turmoil, a whirlpool of different emotions clashing. There was fear. Horror. Pain. Pity. And at the same time, a strange type of happiness.

It was the type that I had seen in so many people, when they received news that they were going to be adopted. It was a type I had never felt before, and of which I was fiercely envious.

Lexi closed her eyes and heaved a deep breath.

"I gotta go," she said. She exited quickly enough to avoid questioning.

Trish and I sat on my bed.

"Uh, so," Trish began. "We had come to try to pin you down and demand an answer, but since that failed, I guess we just have to ask the nice way. Uh, what's your birthday?"

I looked away.

I don't have a birthday. Of course not. The day regarded as my birthday was the day I was brought to the orphanage, June 28. They guessed my age at three years, and named me Isabel, and that was it.

"Third," I said.

"July!?" she gasped.

"Yyyeeaa," I said.

"OMG, Cindy! That's this week! How old are you getting?"

"Eighteen," I grit unwillingly.

She grinned. "We have to celebrate," she stated.

I sighed.

She bubbled excitedly. "What will we do first?"

I sliced my eyes at her. She was too excited. Too happy about this, especially considering that she was practically shaking in fear after our encounter. It was not natural, but a farce.

I said nothing.

"Should we call some of the people? Shall we bake a cake? Shall we dunk you in the river? Shall we make ice cream? Shall we order pizza?"

I tuned her out and closed my eyes.

The door opened. Dylan looked extremely nervous. "Trish," she said, "Alpha wants you in his office."

Trish tensed. The grinning, excited demeanor flew out the window, leaving a strange and scared void behind. "Why? Do you know why?" she asked.

Dylan timidly nodded. She was scared. "Trish... Bianca..."

Trisha's face blanched white as paper. "No," she whispered. "Please no."

"What's going on?" I hate it when I'm clueless. All I know is that Bianca is Trisha's toddler sister, who Trisha adores.

"She's been kidnapped," Trisha guessed, her eyes begging Dylan to contradict. What?

Dylan nodded.

Trisha's hands went to her bright orange hair and gripped it. Her face twisted in a grimace of weeping, and the first tear fell with the first sob. She immediately stood up and left, heading for Alpha's office.

"What was that?" I demanded of Dylan.

"Bianca has disappeared. Trish will be devastated."

"But how did she predict it?" I pressed.

The question caught her off guard. She shrugged, but she wasn't as good a pretender as Trisha, and I saw through even that.

I rose, my anger rising. I could feel the violent side of me getting irritated with the prospect of something being hidden from me.

"Tell me everything you know about this," I commanded.

She told me. "We've been having strange kidnappings over the past two months. Toddlers disappear, then are found in unlikely places, having been drained of their life force."

My eyes narrowed. "Drained of their life force?"

"Yes. Only the shifters can do that, which means we may be at war with the shifters. They catch the young ones who haven't shifted yet, who can't defend themselves yet."

My mind clouded. Why did I feel this to be something terribly ominous? Like this news had stirred up a dark cloud over my head.

Lexi

I stopped in front of my dad. He took one look at me and was thrown on edge.

"What have you found out?" He questioned, getting straight to the point.

I began pacing up and down his office, trying to calm down as I answered.

"There's something strange about her," I said, eyes narrow. "It was almost like... some sort of half-shift?" I struggled to believe what I was saying. "She couldn't control her own body. She suddenly became very strong, and attacked us in what must have been an attempt at self defense. And her eyes! They had this golden glow that was strikingly similar to eyeshine. She was feral, Dad, I was almost afraid there." I stopped and stared at him. He sat rigid in his chair, his fingers steepled before him and his eyes ice- cold.

"What happened after that?" he demanded.

Lattis was indignant at his harsh tone, but since I never let my father see my other side, I turned to resume pacing. "When we backed away, she returned to normal. I assume she didn't feel threatened anymore. But she was bewildered when she came back."

He huffed. "Witch," he concluded.

"No. I would have sensed her by now. Besides, witches don't give you such prowess; I should know."

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you contradicting me?" He growled.

I fought the urge to let my lips curl in scorn.

"Be nice. Pretend to help her find out what's supposedly wrong with her, meanwhile find out as much as you can about her. But be wary. She probably has it under total control, and is only faking to be confused." His brow furrowed in annoyance, maybe frustration. "This might be a tiny slip up in her plans. They trained her well."

"If she is a spy," I reminded him. "Which she might not be, in which case you are judging her hastily, and accusing an innocent of espionage."

"Out, girl," he said, snarling. "I will not have you before me only to contradict me."

"Not even if you're wrong," I hissed as I stormed to the door and let myself out, slamming it behind me. I stomped to my room and locked the door. Then, I screamed in frustration and anger.

When did the relationship between my father and I get so complicated?