Old Emergence 12. Past's Gift (tf)

“Just go talk to her.”

A deep hard voice woke the gryphon, and she shifted slightly on the nest of duvets. Her mind felt fuzzy and tired, she had been having a dream of some kind… Caleb again, that was it, she’d gotten him to the ambulance in time, before he bled out. The medics had said he would recover, that he’d be better and she’d been fast enough. But that was just a stupid dream, she remembered bitterly, a lie in her head.

“She’s asleep, let’s not wake her.” Another voice said just outside her door, a woman’s, her mothers. It felt like she hadn’t heard it in ages, she never came in here now. Dad kept saying she was too busy.

“Sheila, she’d love you going to talk to her, I’ve woken her up plenty of times.”

“I can’t, I just need time.” Her mother muttered, “You’re good with her, you keep talking, I can’t.”

“You can. Even if you wait, you’ll have to do this sooner or later, it’s better if yo-“

“No, no. I can’t! What am I supposed to say to that? She was my little girl…” Her mother’s voice trailed off and Karen winced. It wasn’t fair, she hadn’t known she’d become this, she’d just wanted to fly once…

“She’s still our little girl dear.” Dad said gently, “At least she knows people who can help now. If this had happened a few months ago, we’d have no idea what was happening…”

“You sound like it was inevitable.” She said bitterly, her voice croaking as though she was sobbing, “How can you be so calm? How can you take this in, Eugene? I don’t understand.”

Karen shifted uncomfortably, and she heard an intake of breath from them. “Let’s get off to bed if you’re not going to talk to our daughter then. We don’t need to understand, we just have to take care of them. I still haven’t gotten a word out of Oliver; Jean’s agreed to take care of him if he doesn’t want to go to school. He’ll be down here by morning again…”

A creak and a hiss came as the door closed, and then she heard footsteps climbing back up the stairs. The gryphon whined and scrambled around on the blankets, hugging her wings close and tail around her. Couldn’t her mum have just taken those few steps? It had been over a week now and yet she had hardly spoken to her, even when she was in human form. Karen didn’t bite, she behaved, and yet… that woman didn’t even give her a chance.

After a while a hand brushed over wing and she lifted it for the small boy to climb under, keeping her eyes closed. Ollie hugged a blanket up over his legs and sat down against her flank, one hand stroking the feathers just beneath her eye where she liked it. She brought her wing down over him in exchange, unsure who comforted whom more.

*  *  *  *  *

“… a large forest fire occurred near one of the camps in the Ranelk forest in the northern regions on Thursday night. While details are sketchy, interviews conducted with the police force appear to be blaming some unidentified form of class two mystical being for manipulating and attacking a number of teenagers in the woods. The blaze was already out of control by the time the fire department arrived, causing numerous injuries and one-“

“Karen, it’s a bit early in the morning for coffee.” Her Dad interrupted, and she peered back and up at his face, smiling nervously. This face was alright for that, her veiled form was practically bald, and slightly shorter and broader than her birth one. But without it, without the veil potion, she couldn’t talk or wear clothes or go to school, so it was necessary.

“I wanted to be awake for school?” She suggested, holding the mug up. “I didn’t sleep too well, and then Ollie came down…”

“Yes… don’t make a habit of it, it’s not healthy, and we both know you can wake up just fine on your own when you want to.” He and ran a hand through his receding brown hair.

“Well, it’s school, not flying.” She murmured, “Ollie’s not going is he?”

“You could be more enthusiastic about your education. Your brother’ll stay with Jean, next door for the day, see if he improves at all.” He bit his lip, “I doubt he’ll enjoy it, but it should be less trying than school.”

She nodded and sipped her coffee, turning back to the TV, although the report on the fire was done already. Other incidents took over, still news of plenty of unrest in cities, and more mystic camps being set up, second waves being sent to existing ones. Trying to make smaller concentrated communities to merge with other small communities, or ghettos within cities, an expert claimed. They flicked through half a dozen random people on the streets too, most scared and worried. Not that they ended, she had to grab her bag and run out the door halfway through them.

The whispers began almost as soon as she reached the school, and again she felt annoyed at her veiled form. Never mind that it didn’t look like her, she was getting used to that, but her hair was still incredibly short so she stuck out like a sore thumb. Not that that would be a bad thing on a normal day, but clearly rumour had spread that the bald girl was a mystic, some kind of freak or monster, and she was the only bald girl.

“There, she’s the gryphon, a bird monster.” She heard one kid say as she passed.

“Hey! Hey baldy, is that right?” A girl called curiously. Karen kept walking, she was nearly at the English classrooms, and she couldn’t be bothered explaining everything. “Why are you at school if you’re a beast?! Aren’t you meant to be hunting?”

She brushed the remarks off and entered the near empty classroom, moving to the back quickly before a voice came behind her, “Hey, Karen!”

She turned, looking at the broad black haired boy on crutches with some amusement. “Hi Mark! How’s your foot doing?”

He half jumped in surprise and blinked, “You’re… you’re actually the gryphon?”

“Yeah. Thanks for asking nicely.” She said, “I’m sorry about your ankle.”

He glanced around as other people started to come in, and hobbled closer warily, “So, you were the little chick too, and the big one, and you’re you?”

“Uh, yeah, I really don’t want to think about being tiny though, that was horrible.” Karen said, blushing slightly. It was an embarrassing thought, she had been small enough and scared enough to cling on his shoulder?  “Well done getting my name too, that was smart.”

He smiled slightly and then frowned and swallowed, “Are you... are you the same Karen? You’ve got the same name as the girl that disappeared…”

“No, that’s me. Honestly, does no one just have the foresight to go knock on my door and ask?” She said, shaking her head.

“You’re… why do you look different then? I thought she was…uh, you, were human?”

“I was. I had some… I don’t know somehow I had a gryphon form, and it woke up, and I can’t figure out how to change back. To look human I have to make do with this.” She murmured and gestured at her short blond hair as more pupils came in. “I’m not even being sarcastic.”

“So you’re, you’re… right.” Mark breathed deeply, rubbing his head, and then leaned back in his chair to look at her back, as though expecting wings there.

“Uh?”

“Sorry… I was on your back? And you were… you were the little-“

“Just don’t think about it. Different forms have different rules. You wouldn’t have said no to an adult piggy backing you? No, so nothing wrong with something strong enough carrying you.” She pointed out, and looked up as Lorcan and Maddie came into the class and walked up to sit with her, looking at Mark curiously. “Hey guys, uh don’t worry, he knows about everything.”

“Wow, I never had you figured for omniscient.” Lorcan said dryly, and Karen looked at him.

“That wasn’t even funny.”

“Sorry, just seizing the opportunity.” He chuckled, “How are you doing after Thursday?”

Mark shook his head, “Really, really, really confused. I’m gonna need a lot longer to take this all in.”

“How do you think I feel?” Karen pointed out.

“Lucky to have such a good perch?” He suggested quietly and she laughed, and then froze as the door opened another time, and a slight blond teenager entered in. Karen widened her eyes at the sight, he was pretty scrawny looking, but definitely the same boy from the forest, one of the ones who had started the fire. Mark seemed to turn furious in an instant, “Jamie?! What are you doing in here?!”

“Uh, I come to this class, genius.” The kid snapped. “Are you hanging out with the freaks now?”

“And you just come in to school after burning down half a forest?!” Mark yelled and stood up, slamming his hands on the desk furiously. The entire class was watching all of a sudden, and Karen felt anger rise. He’d been one of the idiots trying to start the fire, like Mark said, all of that fire, the smoke, the burning hell, it was his fault…

“Me? I got lost in the woods with bloody pigeons after me, and then a fire nearly killed me too.” Jamie replied, “Is that my fault!?”

“We saw you and Dan.” A girl, Emma said from near the front, sitting by Tony. “You tried to kill us!”

The youth flushed and ground his teeth, “Saw? Were you paying attention, there was a monster making mist, pigeons attacking, I heard voices from people that are dead! I’m sure I even saw my granny, like she looked in pictures! Seeing doesn’t mean it was me.”

“Aren’t there those evil dragons in the woods?” Dark skinned Francine asked, looking up, “Maybe they started it, since they, you know, breath fire?”

“Nope, they’re smarter than some people.” Lorcan said quietly, although his eyes seemed like daggers. “Not that they’re that smart, it’s relative really.”

“Oh, aren’t you smart?” Francine snapped, “How about this, wiseguy, what was that? The thing with the pigeons, the travesty!?”

“Siren.” Maddie muttered and grimaced, looking down as all eyes turned to her. “It… it was there when we lost our homes, when the guardian was killed.”

“So it’s after you then? It came here because you freaks are here, dragging the rest of us in?” Jamie accused them, “Do you want us all to get in the way? End up like Cale-“

“Shut up!” Tony’s fist hit him with a solid smack and he was sent sprawling on the floor, cheek bleeding. Tony himself stood over him, breathing hard, face furious, and Karen found herself halfway down the aisle, her own fists clenched and trembling. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Tony, report to the principal please.” Mrs Morris said calmly as she hobbled into the room, as frail as tissue paper. “The rest of you, sit down please, or you will be explaining your differences to the principal.”

“Miss, he-“ Tony started to shout.

“You’ve got blood on your hands Tony, no excuses. Actually, Jamie, go see the nurse about that.” She instructed swiftly, and the class breathed out and sat back down in their seats.  Karen paced back breathing deeply, somehow thankful and disappointed that Tony had hit Jamie before she reached him. What’d she have done, she wondered. Punch him? Let her instincts take over?

Her gaze shifted over to Francine as the teacher began to drone. She had helped her little brother, but she was still… she still seemed to hate the mystics. Or feared them, Karen supposed. The teenager had got surrounded by the pigeons, separated she guessed, it was only natural to be terrified in that situation.

Classes seemed to move grindingly throughout that day, blocks of information broken up by the movements through the corridors, rumours spreading in her wake. Gryphon. Feathered freak. Bird monster. Baldy gal, that one actually made her laugh when Mark suggested it in the final class, politics.

“That’s not even clever.” She muttered once the giggles subsided and she could manage a straight face.

“Slapstick isn’t either, but it’s still funny.” He said over his shoulder, and turned back as the teacher, Ms Redding managed to turn the projector on and started to lecture about the various responses to mystics. In one Africa country they were being hunted down. In Scandinavia tribes of trolls had come together an established their own state in the mountains, drawing tons of mystics in that direction from Europe. Rural parts of Asia were honouring dragons and other beings, although they had a bounty in south America. Dubai and other states were trying to attract mages and powerful creatures in an effort to become an even greater power.

“And what about here? Does anyone have a good idea of our policies?” Mrs Redding asked eventually with her young happy enthusiasm.

“They get registered?” One girl, Chelsea asked.

“Yes, that’s correct. They’re registered to include their species, any different appearances they might have and so on.” The teacher nodded, beaming with white teeth, “I was thinking on a more local level?”

“If the government thinks creatures aren’t appropriate for urban life, they get sent to smaller camps near isolated towns. The towns become odder, but they’re not passed through by anyone, and they’re near wilderness for wilder mystics.” Maddie mumbled, looking down at her hands. “Like here.”

“An interesting way of putting it, but yes. There are actually plans to expand the village by us when a second wave moves here, they believe that two small communities integrating with one another is easier than in a large city. Also this is going to be an excellent boost to our economy and housing market, and something notable to attract visitors.” She went on and on until the bell rang, and the pupils were allowed to pack up without listening to her enthusiastic lesson.

“Is that true Lorcan?” Karen asked curiously.

“Yeah, second wave’s coming.” He said and looked at his watch, “I should go to the shops, big day tomorrow.”

“New mystics arrive tomorrow?” She asked, taken aback.

“Nah, it’s Hex’s birthday, he’s ten.” He caught her confused expression, “Hey, the dragons still have birthdays, even if they’re pretty wild.”

“Yeah… what do you get a dragon for his birthday?” She pondered.

“I’m falling back on meat, a steak or something they haven’t eaten before.” Lorcan admitted as they left the classroom and made their way through the emptying school. “To be honest, I couldn’t really think of something different either.”

“It’s nice, you’re like their big brother.” Maddie said softly, and Lorcan barked with laughter.

“Hope not, Hex ate his eye.”

Karen felt a shiver run up her spine, “You’re not reassuring me about them being friendly.”

“Eh, he wasn’t a very nice dragon. He was pals with the Siren.” Lorcan said, “I think I can finish the Stone for you the day after though, and we can start trying to find your birth form.”

Karen paused and took the information in, “Alright, finally getting hair back. That’ll be nice.”

“And you can stop drinking veil” Maddie added. “You’re so lucky, wish I could turn human without drinking it.”

“Is there no other way? You have to drink veil all the time if you want to blend in?” Karen asked.

“I’ve heard of mystics getting permanently changed into humans by mages. They get called changelings, but that’s dangerous.” The blond girl said in almost a whisper, “There’s only one spell to make standard veil, but every changeling is different, with different enchantments and curses so it’s risky. Sometimes they lose everything that makes them, them; their personality, their memories, all of it. I heard stories that when people started hiding, they changed baby mystics and put them in the place of human ones, so they’d have good lives.”

“Were you chatting to Matt? He loves stories like that.” Lorcan muttered and Maddie smiled and nodded slightly. “Don’t believe everything he says, he thinks Frankenstein was real.”

“So are changelings made up?” Maddie asked.

“Very little is impossible, my dad always said. But it’s like perfect con material too; one big payment, disappear into the human world, make it big. A guy could just take the money and get rid of them.” He replied darkly. “As if the idea wasn’t dangerous enough.”

“Would it work the other way too? Is that how people got turned into frogs?” A girl asked, and they looked at Emma in surprise.

“When did you start listening?!”

“I was walking with yous, I was just being quiet.” She admitted, and then saw their sceptical faces, “I am actually capable of that! I don’t talk non-stop.”

“You hid that well.” Karen said.

“You’re one to talk Karen.” Emma said pointedly, and Lorcan started to laugh.

“No she’s not, you figured it out as well? She’s just given out hints for ages. It’s a good thing people know mystics exist or Karen’d ruin all the hiding!” He gasped, and jumped out of the way as she swung at him, “Temper, temper! We don’t want another accident.”

“I’m regretting that less and less.” She breathed, and stretched as they emerged out into the fading sunlight, then looked at Emma. “I suppose I owe you an apology for not telling you.”

“I’ve got a bad reputation for talking, it’s understandable.” The tall blond girl said amicably, and Karen paused for a moment as she realised she was shorter than her now. They had been the same height before… “But, are you going to go fly?”

“Yeah.” Karen admitted and glanced at her watch. “About forty minutes.”

“We’re going to the shop, seeya later.” Lorcan said and turned with Maddie, walking off down the street.

“Can I come talk Karen? I kinda want to see.” Emma asked.

“Alright then.” She said, “It’s nice when people aren’t freaked out.”

“I bet.” Emma said, “Don’t worry about Jamie and that, they’re just idiots about all this.”

“Hmmph, yeah. Half of me wants to give them a scare if I see in my other form.” She smirked a little. “I still can’t believe they’re just getting away with starting the fire.”

“Yeah, it’s ridiculous.” Emma agreed, “But, stuff happens like that, just unfair. What’s it like for you? Being part gryphon?”

“What do you think? Weird. I’ve turned into a huge bird monster. Flying’s fun though, that’s the best bit easily, it’s better than everything. The other instincts are a pain, make me think stupid things.” She said, “And I’m not part gryphon.”

“What are you then?” Emma said cheerfully, “Did you just get randomly turned into a gryphon by a curse or magic?”

“No, it was sealed in me… since birth…” Karen faltered and halted, breathing in. No, was that possible? Her parents didn’t drink anything regularly enough, but… if a gryphon became a changeling, what were the children? Were they human, or… or half and half?

“Karen? Karen!? Hello?” Emma asked and waved a hand in front of her eyes. “You okay?”

The girl blinked and felt something wet on her face, her breathing felt wrong. “No, no… they’re human, they’ve got to be, they’d have told me. He’d have said something! He would have, he would have… He can’t have been one, I’ve seen pictures, he’s human!”

“Karen calm down!” Emma yelped and grabbed her shoulder, “Karen, breathe in, breathe out, okay? Come on, sit down here… keep breathing.”

She slumped down on a wall and grabbed her head. If one of them, if one of them wasn’t human, was a changeling… couldn’t they have told her? If not when they were young, then when they found out about mystics? Or if not then, then what about when she changed? Why wouldn’t they tell her?! Why would they keep lying!?

“Karen, look, it was a joke, don’t jump to assumptions. Maybe one of them’s a changeling, but they’re still your family. I mean, what if the other doesn’t know? If they chose to become a human they have thought they were getting rid of that life right?” Emma said quickly, hanging onto her shoulder.

Karen ground her teeth and nodded. If he… if Dad had been a gryphon, and he had hidden it, lied, all this time… what’d mum think? If she couldn’t deal with Karen as one, how would she react to her husband having been one? Karen groaned and lowered her hands, she felt too confused. Who were her grandparents then? It was all, it was all… it didn’t make sense…

“I don’t get it.” She murmured, “I don’t understand…”

She stood up immediately and turned, shrugging off Emma’s hand as she broke into a run. Her legs pounded off the pavement and her vision was blurred by tears. The streets seemed to fly past and she heard a cry from Emma before she was out of distance. Her breathing was funny and wrong, lungs aching by the time she collided with the front door, and fumbled with the handle to open it. Then she stumbled in, moving through to the living room, sight horrible and blurry.

“Karen?” Her dad asked, “Karen!? What’s wrong, was school alright?”

“Dad!” She cried and felt him grab her, an arm stroking her back. She grimaced, trying to summon up her courage. Could she ask that? “Dad! I… I’ve … Have you lied to us?”

He sighed suddenly and deeply, entire chest lowering and get smaller as he bent down, his mouth level with her ear. “I’m sorry, but Santa’s not real.”

“DAD!” She yelled and whacked him furiously in the ribs, “I’m being serious! I’ve got to know!”

“Of course I’ve lied Karen. The world is complicated, and when you’re young and you don’t understand everything, adults have got to make things simple for kids to understand. For them to be happy. Everyone lies sometimes, threats, jokes, white lies, shame, censoring, you understand?” He said softly, squeezing her back. “I’ve lied, yes.”

“But… but…” She breathed in and pushed away so she could look in his face, “Tell the truth. Were you a gryphon once?”

“No, course not Karen.” He said, and smiled, “Next question.”

“Uh… that was it.” She admitted.

“That was all? Well, that was a very dramatic question.” He smiled and frowned, “And a weird one, am I a gryphon? Hmm, were you thinking maybe you inherited this?”

Karen swallowed and rubbed her face, “Yeah… I thought if someone had been a gryphon and turned into a human, then it’d explain why I had this…”

“Oh, you got yourself very worked up.” He said kindly, “I guess maybe that’s possible… would it need to be in the last generation… hmm, any clues?”

“Uh… they might not have their memories, or they wouldn’t have much from their past, I don’t know.” She breathed.

“There was one amnesiac in our family, your great grandma. Of course, she might not have been a gryphon, but it might fit. She was found in a field one day with no memory, utterly confused seeming, didn’t even have a name. If there was magic, then that could’ve been passed down I suppose, run it past Lorcan.”

Karen frowned, trying to remember that story. She’d heard it before, in anecdotes from her granny, but… “You mean mum’s mum’s mum?”

“Yeah. She was a lovely old lady when I met her, came to our wedding. She had strong genes too apparently, your granny and your mum take after her with the black hair and so on. I think if we lined up pictures of your three generations you’d look ridiculously similar.” He ran a hand over her bare head, “Well, your birth form, you know.”

“You think that might be it?” She said, smiling a bit, “I just… it was just hidden in the blood all this time, and mine woke up? Four generations?”

“I don’t know dear. Have to run it past that wizard friend. Everything sounds just strange to me these days, so this fits in just fine.” Her dad said, “Here, you sit down, okay? How was the rest of your day?”

“Kinda annoying. The guys that started the fire didn’t get in any trouble.” She said as she fell back on the couch, wiping her face clean of tears.

“Hmm, I doubt they had a nice time in the forest either, with what you were saying.” He said and moved through to the kitchen, starting to turn on appliances. “Could be they had a worse experience than you did.”

They didn’t get turned into hatchlings, Karen thought privately, she hadn’t been bold enough to tell her parents about that little incident. A spike of pain stabbed into her out of nowhere and she grabbed her stomach, curling over. No, no, she’d lost track of time, she couldn’t change here! Her face ached and shifted, eyes stung, and her scalp prickled suddenly with hundreds of pins and needles. Her shoulders and back burned with pain and changed, her arms feeling slimmer, body stretching slightly, all of her skin burning in a wave.

Then she squealed and grabbed the black hair hanging in front of her face gleefully. Black hair, so she was her, her birth form again! She sprung upright and brushed her fringe out of her eyes, turning to look at her father’s confused expression.

“Right… well, at least you didn’t turn into a gryphon on the couch.”

“Yeah! I changed back again!” Karen said gleefully, looking at her fingers and hands, they were just as she remembered. “Don’t know why though. When Lorcan’s done on the stone I can keep being me, forget about veil!”

He smiled and hugged her again, “Well done, I’m glad you’re getting control of this.”

It was strange being herself in a way. Nice and familiar, but she tripped a few times as she got the hang of her old legs and it was weird to recognize a third reflection in windows and mirrors. Emma came over soon after, worried and confused to see the old Karen answering the door, but she took it in and seemed positive, chattering for hours afterwards. Ollie was positive, in his silent way too, he wandered up and hugged her and then went off somewhere again. She wondered if he preferred her as a huge feathery blanket and laughed with Emma at the thought

*  *  *  *  *

Lying on her front was not comfortable. Karen folded her arms and kicked her legs impatiently, lying down on her nest in the darkness. She rolled over onto her back, passing over some old feathers, but this was more comfortable at least. If she shifted over there, then her head was almost on a pillow, much nicer. But then she’d wake up on her back, crushing her wings in the morning.

She groaned and sat up, reaching over to peer at a clock. Eleven seventeen pm. Time to be asleep, dead beat with weary shoulders. Drinking coffee before bed hadn’t helped either. Karen rose and climbed off the duvets, bare feet padding off the hard garage floor. She’d change in the end after all, during her sleep sometime according to the last time, so why not change before sleep? Could she even do that?

“Worth a try.” She muttered and bent down, hands touching the concrete. Be a gryphon, come on, think about it. The big broad wings she’d have to fold up to fit in here, dark grey with stormy lighter patterns. The huge strong body, covered in muscle and feathers, fur at the back. Her forelegs, bird like, ending in sharp black talons, and the hind feline ones, graceful and powerful. Her sharp powerful eyes and hooked black beak, and the long sinuous tail…

A gasp came as the pain arrived, and she began to grow quickly. Her top grew tight and split as the massive wings emerged, and her skull, all of the bones shifted and elongated. The organs within grew, surged and swelled, and she felt her eyes change, sharpening the world once more. The spine stretched out, covered in muscle and fur, as her limbs changed into claw and paw. Teeth stretched and fused, a black beak yawning wide open, and then Karen exhaled, standing on the floor as a gryphon.

She bent and stretched her back out, bending her tail as she did so. It was strange, but she felt little different, there was no switch in her mind, no pressure from veil, keeping her constricted. No, this was just another bit of her, passed down in her blood, in her very being.

“Karen, are you awa-“ A woman’s voice came, and the door opened, throwing bright orange light from the hallway over her. Karen turned guiltily and looked at her mother, taking in the slender build, the black wavy hair, and then her fearful expression. Couldn’t she have come five minutes ago, before she changed!? The gryphons wings drooped and she looked down, noticing she had went and tore apart her clothes again…

“Oh… I thought you had… uh… got back to normal…” Mum said in a small voice, “Did you just… change?”

Karen nodded hesitantly, and folded her wings onto her flanks, trying to at least look prim… no that wouldn’t help…

“I suppose it’s good that you changed to your real self though… are… are you alright?” She asked nervously, and Karen nodded in response, shifting on the spot. “Well… uh, good night. You should get to sleep…”

She looked up and cocked her head at the woman quietly, half hoping that her mother would step forward, or say something more. If Dad was right, then her blood came from this woman, she was a part gryphon, even if she didn’t know it. The door closed and shut out the light instead though, and Karen sighed and climbed onto her nest to sleep. If she could keep turning into her birth form, maybe mum would talk to her more… just one more reason to learn how to change.