The Gift

SIX MONTHS LATER

Winter had come and gone and Addie, Bea and Helena had spent the season in the cave.  Helena had turned even more disagreeable, if that was possible, but she was still bound by the Alpha command.  Alpha James was so powerful that his command followed his pack members even when they left the land.

Bea had taken private time to instruct her little sister in the things she was learning about the gift.  Both girls tried to continue the warrior training, finding a little spot in the back of the cave that was covered in sand that they could spar with each other.  Addie didn’t have a wolf yet, she had just turned eleven in December.  Bea shifted a few times, practicing and trying to keep strong.  Helena mostly sat by the fire sulking, doing the bare minimum to take care of the girls.  She would occasionally bundle up and go into town to purchase more supplies.  The money was dwindling low but Bea had a plan to go into town and start working when the snow melted.

One deliciously warm day in March, Helena curtly stated she was going to town.  Bea looked at her curiously.  Something had changed and both girls could feel it but neither knew what it was. 

“Let’s go wash our clothes,” Bea suggested to Addie.  “They’ll dry really fast in the sun.”

Addie nodded, happy to leave the cave.  They trekked down to a fast-flowing creek next to a meadow, carrying their dirty clothing.  Addie skipped about, happy to be in the sunshine and happy to stretch her legs.  Bea laughed at her energy and reached over and took Addie’s bundle. 

“Run ahead, little pup,” she laughed.  “Go enjoy the sunshine!”

Addie ran ahead, reaching the river.  A large tree that had already begun sprouting leaves beckoned her.  The branches were wide and thick and the top of the tree seemed so high.  Addie ran over and began climbing the tree, not stopping until she was almost at the top.  She sat still, waiting for her sister to arrive so she could jump down and scare her.

Her sister arrived and looked up, finding her immediately.  She laughed and then, startled, looked over her shoulder.  She looked back up at Addie, frightened.  “Be quiet and don’t move,” she said.  Addie could tell she was using her gift because she wanted to comply immediately.

Three large men came walking across the clearing.  Addie could smell their wolves on them.

“Where is your sister?” the largest man barked at Bea. 

“I don’t have a sister.”  She looked him straight in the eye and didn’t back down.  Addie knew she was using her gift on him. 

“Helena said there were two of you.”  The big guy looked around, confused.

Addie knew what had happened.  Her father was dead.  That was the only way the Alpha command would have been lifted.  She knew that Helena hated them and the job she was given but she didn’t realize Helena would have betrayed them.  Addie chewed on her knuckle and prayed for her sister.

“It’s just me.  I don’t have a sister.”  Bea was firm, looking them in the eyes.

It happened so fast that Addie couldn’t react.  Bea stood tall, proud.  The three men shifted at the same time Bea did.  She leaped but it was three against one.  Bea lay lifeless on the ground after just a minute.  She didn’t have a chance.

Addie had no time to react to Bea’s death.  She clung to the tree, stifling a gasp as forceful waves hit her from all directions.  She had an immediate, intense headache and the world spun.  She struggled to keep the contents of her stomach down.  She could hear the men down below talking about Helena being crazy.  Bea had protected her.  It was the last thing she had done.  And the gift had found a new host.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Ten years later

Addie pushed her long golden hair back behind her shoulders and smiled at the man on the street.  “Will you please give me $20?  I am hungry.”  The man’s pupils swelled slightly, an effect on those who Addie used her gift on.  He reached into his billfold and handed her $20.  Addie thanked him and went into the diner to get something hot to eat.

She sat at a booth and looked at the placemat.  Looked like she was in Joshton, Idaho.  According to the cartoon map on the placemat, she was about forty miles south of Coeur D'Alene, near the Washington border.  Good enough spot as any to hang out for awhile, get a job and find a place to stay for a few months.  The weather was turning cold and sleeping in trees was getting old.

She ordered a coffee and a plate of pancakes.  The coffee was served and she held the mug in her hand, cradling it to warm the chill.  She leaned back in the booth, relaxed and let her mind wander. 

The past ten years had some rough patches.  The first few years after losing her sister were the worst.  The hardest thing she had done was pull herself out of the tree and walk past her sister’s wolf.  She knew if she buried her they would know that there was another and keep hunting.  She took her sister’s coat out of the bag of laundry, put it on and kicked the rest of the bag into the river.  She watched it swirl on the water, being carried away by the current before she turned and walked in the opposite direction.

She survived.  Some days she wished she hadn’t.  She had to learn how to use her gift with just the little bit of information she had gotten from her sister.  She tried many times and was pelted with stones by little boys and shunned by women.  The first time she successfully used her gift she was asking for bread at a home.  She was surprised when the woman’s pupils flared slightly, and then she handed over the sandwich she had obviously just made for herself.  Addie tried to remember what she had done differently and then she tried to replicate it.  Initially, using the gift would give her a migraine.  Now it barely fazed her when she used it for little things, like asking someone for money.  Larger things still caused her a headache. 

She was pretty sure she was still being hunted.  She had made the mistake of stopping in a large city, thinking she could be anonymous there.  She had forgotten that it was harder to disappear in a place that had more people looking for you.  She had to leave her job at a gym and the studio apartment she had procured after only a few weeks there, stealing out in the dead of night.   

Her first shift happened the day she turned eighteen.  It was also the night of a full moon and it happened near the top of a mountain in Utah somewhere.  It was agonizing.  No one was there to help her through it and the breaking and rebreaking of her bones caused her screams to bounce off the valley floor.  After hours of excruciating pain, she finally shifted.  Exhausted by the effort and saddened by the lack of family to celebrate her first shift, she lay down beside a mountain lake and cried herself to sleep. 

The pancakes arrive and Addie smiled and thanked the waitress.  She drowned her pancakes in maple syrup and dug into them.  They were amazingly good.  Addie had discovered that small town diners had the best food.  It wasn’t often that she frequented large, upscale restaurants, but the few times that she had she was disappointed in the food.   Small town diners were the best.