Shifter Magick

Kera’s new sandal snagged on another jagged root littering the forest floor. The state park surrounded the lake. Her friends would already be there waiting.
She had never done anything like this before. Her heart still pounded from the initial shock
that she actually went through with it
.

She snuck out of the house.

Her parents would probably know by now. Her mom, Laura, liked to exaggerate
and since her exaggerations came true sometimes, she always used it as an excuse
. “I don’t have a good feeling about it Kera, you’re not going.”

Kera rolled her eyes just remembering it. “I have gone to the lake every summer by myself for the past three years.” She had practically yelled at her mother. “I’m sixteen now. I can go where I want.”

“Really?” Her mother closed up and Kera could tell she was done arguing. “Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you don’t have to be careful. Anything could happen, you…”

“Could die!” Kera cut her mother off with a dramatic shout. “Hi I’m Laura Conway and I think everyone is going to die because I can psychically predict the future
with my
strange feelings.”
She felt only a twinge of guilt for mocking her mother now that she looked back on
it. Her
mother had looked
hurt
.

That’s when her father intervened. “Go to y
our room young lady.”
Dad
was a military brat that never dropped the act. His strong athletic build was paired with cropped sandy blond hair and rich brown eyes to complete a down to earth look. Really, everyone loved her father.

So did Kera. She was a daddy’s girl.

She didn’t like being on the wrong side of
her dad’s
favor so she had huffed to her room. In the middle of her bed
she saw
her stupid birthd
ay present and that’s when she had decided to do it
.

Kera stumbled out of her musings and fell to one knee. Jagged rocks cut into her knee and palms of her hands. “Great.” She hissed. This had to be the worst birthday ever. Her foot snagged on something and when she stood up the strap to her new sandal snapped.

Her anger surged.

Then, i
t was like a dam inside of her broke and released a tidal wave of confusion into her mind.
The muscles in her body tensed. Her chest tightened and her breath came out in short pants. Kera tried to see but hot tears flooded her eyes. The loud pounding of her heart beat in her ears like a war drum.
Her veins ran hot and panic began to creep into her thoughts.
She could die.
Wait, could she die from this?
What was this?

Had she been poisoned with some weird plant? Was she allergic to something she stepped on?

She closed her unfocused eyes and tried to feel her way down the path she had taken a million times. She felt trapped. It felt like someone was watching her, laughing maybe. It was just her self-conscious thoughts, she knew that, but on top of the fear was embarrassment.

What was happening to her?

A sob broke free from her chest and Kera wanted to get angry. She hated to cry
.
But here in the forest Kera lost control over her body and
her emotions.

The loss of control resulted in a full body pain that had her screaming in agony. She saw things she didn’t understand. The smells around her made her sick and everything was loud. Too loud.

Amidst the chaos, Kera hallucinated. She saw her hands distort and her nails grow into claws. She felt something awaken inside of her that was stronger than herself.

Kera ran. She ran from the thing inside of her. She ran until she saw her mother’
s car pass
on
the street a
head of her.
Everything calmed inside of her like nothing had happened.

Only then did
Kera remember where she was
.

It was her birthday and this was her forest. She played in this forest when she was a kid and nothing had ever happened to her before. Her mother would make her go home if she saw her and Kera needed to go out with her friends now more than ever.

It happened suddenly, t
he unexpected boom of metal crumpling on impact with something stronger than itself
. Dread
propelled Kera forward. She ran toward the sound as bird’s fled from it. The silence after the crash was deafening.

The underside of her mother’s Explorer was the first thing she saw. Shock confused the scene in her mind. Surely her mother wasn’t the only person to own a cherry red Explorer.

“Mom?” Kera yelled.

She didn’t know what happened next or how she got to her mother
,
but what she saw inside the car would never fade away. It sizzled as it imprinted in her memory. She fell from the car and wondered momentarily how the driver’s side door
had come clean off the car.

Next, she blinked, and the gruesome image of her mother’s mutilated and broken body came into view full force. Kera’s stomach revolted and she retched. Even as she purged the contents of her stomach, Kera couldn’t purge the image from her mind. Her mother
was dead.
The last thing she would
ever remember of her mother was the blank stare of a woman whose head was detached from her body.

With final goodbye’s to her father, Kera hung up the phone and stared at the dorm room
until the sun completely set. Cloaked in the night she pulled her bags from her jeep started for her dorm room. She had the key in her purse and her scan ID card that would allow her in the lobby. She was on level D, the fourth floor and room 15. It was a shared room. Even though she enrolled as a junior, the college didn’t have any single rooms available at the time.

She procrastinated too long.

As she walked, she diverted her eyes from the other college students in the parking lot. Once inside the lobby she noticed everyone looking at her. After dragging her luggage up three flights of stairs, the stairwell was empty and Kera picked up her bags with ease and ran the last flight.
When no one was around, she didn’t have to pretend to be normal.
She found 15 D a few doors down and listened at the door and found nothing.

Relieved, she unlocked the door and flipped on the light. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. Her roommate wasn’t there but her stuff was. “Cute.” She thought sarcastically. The first thing she would see all year was pink. The brightly colored bedspread and throw pillows
matched the rubber tubs and fabric wall peg board with a collage of pictures.
Kera was far removed from wearing dresses and she didn’t own anything pink. The color was too perky.

Kera really didn’t do perky well.

Kera put her things down on the empty bed. It was the smallest room she had ever seen. There were two of everything; closets, beds and desks. There was one sink and one microwave in a little kitchen corner.

It didn’t take her long to unpack. She fitted the bed with her new green sheets. She had to say that the colors were complementing each other. Maybe the pink wasn’t as bad as she first thought.

“I can’t believe they are having another party tonight.” Someone said right outside the door.

Kera listened for their footsteps to continue but the door knob jiggled as a key was inserted.

Another girl laughed. “I know, they’re so cool.”

Kera realized by this small event that there would be more for her to get used to than she originally imagined. She would live the rest of the year with the nagging feeling that at any moment someone could walk into her room and bring anyone they wanted.

Because it wasn’t just her room anymore.

Great.

Two girls made a sudden halt in the doorway when they saw her. One was about five foot two and Asian. Her hair was short and shiny black. She wore brightly colored clothing that matched the bedspread.

Hello roommate.

T
he other was covered in freckles
and had fiery red hair. She was probably Kera’s height
but her body was
curvy where Kera sported an athletic build.
They were gawking at her with open curiosity.

“I didn’t mean to surprise you.” Kera moved forward to shake their hands. “I’m Kera Conway.”

The red head looked at her hand for a moment before she took it. “Tori Burr.” She said. Her pale freckled hand was cold and limp. Kera shook it and retreated as quickly as she could. Tori was dressed up like a Barbie. She even looked plastic with the amount of makeup she had on.

“Who’s my roommate?” Kera asked.

“Me!” The Asian exclaimed and then introduced herself. “Rebecca Whitney.”

“Nice to meet you.”