The Power Within

Chapter Four

I stopped for gas and breakfast before I left Chicago. Breakfast consisted of an enormous coffee with a lot of cream and sugar, and a delicious, hot ham, egg, and cheese biscuit. My stomach was full, and Jake's gas-tank was full. Now, I'm headed north towards Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When I mapped my route out last night, the GPS suggested driving north all the way through the large, cheese state until I hit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Then the drive would take me close to the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan, all the way to the northern tip of the Upper Peninsula where Copper Harbor sat. 

My excitement for this trip was extreme. Cruising on the highway, singing along with the songs on the radio, and watching the miles go by, are a few of my favorite pastimes. I can actually feel my stress level decreasing as I sat in the driver's seat inside Jake's cab. I know I still have to remain extremely cautious during this trip. Even though Malcom and his minions haven't bothered me in months, my vigilance cannot waiver. Maybe the reason he hasn't found me is because I have been extremely careful. Every day, I wash in my witch-made body wash; I make sure to wear my colored-contacts, and dye my hair. I cannot get too close to anyone. I cannot let anyone find out the truth about who and what I am. I cannot let anyone know I am the three-form shifter.

After my first shift, at the age of ten, Mom-ra and Daddy-en sat me down, and told me how I was an extremely, special shifter who would be able to shift into three different animals instead of just one, like all of the other shifters. Because of this very rare and unique ability, there were bad people after me, and had been after ever since the day I was born. The leader of those bad people was an evil man named Malcom. 

My hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as I thought of Malcom. Malcom is a lion-shifter, meaning he can turn into a lion any time he wants. The thing about Malcom is, he is a greedy, arrogant, and evil son-of-a-b***h. Malcom and his followers want to rule over all of the races. Malcom thinks shifters are the supreme race and he should be the king over everyone. He has spent his entire life gathering like-minded shifters and using them as an army to take over anyone and everyone. Right now, Malcom dominates the entire continent of Europe, and most of Asia. 

My old shifter pack, the Brooksfall Pack, was thriving in India before I was born. Once Malcom learned that a three-form shifter had been born, that's me, he brought most of his army and wiped out my old pack. I still feel responsible for their deaths. Only a handful of my old pack members made it out alive, including my real mom and dad, and Chrissy's family. 

Maria and Darrel, my tiger-shifter parents, sacrificed their lives for me when I was only two years old. My mom and dad fled to the United States, hoping the distance from Malcom would help hide me. But Malcom had followers everywhere. He found us, and my parents died trying to get me to safety. My parents had a plan, though. With their sacrifice, they were able to hid me until Ben was able to locate me with the witch tracker. Darrel and Maria had thought of everything. 

They planned for Ben and Nora to adopt me in case of their death. They had written Ben, Nora, and me many letters containing information about my unique abilities. I still re-read those letters my mother wrote to me. In the letters, she gave me a glimpse of what my old pack was like. She told me all about my baby years, like when I took my first step, and what my first word was. In one letter, she only talked about how much she loved me, and how blessed she felt to be my mother. I re-read that particular letter a lot. I have a single photograph of my parents. It was taken the day I was born. My mom is sitting up on a small cot, holding me, asleep, in her arms. My dad is standing next to the cot, with his arm around my mom's shoulders. My parents have huge smiles on their faces. I carry this photo with me everywhere I go. 

I stopped at a gas station, right across the state line. I am now in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The U.P. is beautiful, with trees, flowers, and bodies of water everywhere, and the best part, hardly any people. Only small towns, and one or two big cities are in the U.P.  All of the uninhabited forests, and woods make for a great place for me to be able to shift into any one of my animals. 

In my owl form, I love to fly and land on the tallest tree. Darting through the underbrush of the forest is my favorite thing to do in my wolf form, and laying down by a calm stream, watching the fish go by is the best thing to do in my tiger form. I may hate having to wear stupid colored-contact lenses, and dye my hair. And I hate having to remember to contact Chrissy for my witch-made body wash. But having the ability to change into three different animals is really freaking cool. 

Getting back into Jake after the pitstop, I laugh and shake my head at my inner thoughts. I love being able to fly, and run, and be sleek, killing machines in my animal forms. All of my animal forms are beautiful, my owl is a giant barn owl with gray and silver wings, to match my silver eyes and hair of my human body. My wolf is a great, massive gray wolf with large, sharp canines that can injure and kill anything. And my tiger is an enormous Siberian white tiger. My claws and teeth are razor sharp, and my immense size makes it easy to stalk and kill my prey. 

I heard my cell phone ringing a few miles after my pitstop. 

"Hey, Daddy-en, what's up?" I asked my dad after glancing at the caller ID. Just like my adopted mom has a special name, so does my adopted father. His name is Ben, so I just smooshed Daddy and Ben together after they had told me about my real parents.

His soft, deep chuckle made me smile. "Hello, Kiley-Ann, how is the road trip going?" Even though my name is Kiley, my dad has been calling me Kiley-Ann for as long as I can remember. My middle name is Maria, not Ann. So I have no idea where he came up with the name Kiley-Ann. I asked him about it when I was little, and he just told me that I looked like a Kiley-Ann, not a Kiley.

"It's going good. I just crossed into the Upper Peninsula about 30 minutes ago. I'll be at my hotel in just a few hours.  

"Good, that is good to hear." I heard him shut and lock his car doors. "I just got home from the store, your mother sent me to pick up her medication."

"I thought the doctor said she could stop taking her blood pressure medicine?" I asked him.

He sighed, "He decided to keep her on it, although it is a smaller dosage."

I nodded, "That's heading in the right direction then."

"Anyway, the reason I am calling, is to give you some good news. Your mother and I are going to join you on your vacation. We have never to been to Copper Harbor, and we want to spend time with you as well."

I bounced in my driver's seat. "Daddy-en, I am so excited!" I practically screamed into the phone. "I thought you had that thing to do for the Redwood Pack." Ben and Nora lived near Santa Cruz in California. My dad has been helping the Redwood shifter pack with their security measures for the past six months. The Redwood Pack is a small pack with a variety of different shifters.

"I completed the project sooner than I thought I would." He replied. "So, your mother and I bought plane tickets and packed our bags. We fly out tomorrow morning to the Sawyer International Airport, and then we can rent a car and drive up to Copper Harbor. We should be there sometime late tomorrow night. We were even able to get a room in the same hotel you're staying in."

"That is a great surprise." I squealed. "You guys are awesome! I cannot wait to see you two. I have missed you so much."

I heard my mom's voice in the background, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Tell Mom-ra that I am impressed she didn't give away the secret this morning when she called me," I told my dad.

He laughed. "I wanted to be the one to tell you, so I bribed her with first class tickets. And your mother said to be prepared to be in the pictures, not just taking them."

I gave a short laugh at my dad bribing my mother. "You are one clever man. And tell Mom-ra, that I will be in ten pictures."

My dad relayed the message. I heard my mom yell, "20!"

I shook my head, smiling, "15, and that is my final offer."

Dad repeated my offer, after he chuckled. I heard my mom yell, "18," in the background.

I laughed, "Tell her she has a deal."

"You two are giving me gray hairs," My dad said, but I could hear him smiling. "Anyway, I better let you go, so you can concentrate on driving," he said in a more serious tone.

"Yeah, I will call you guys as soon as I make it to the hotel."

"Alright, if we don't hear from you in four hours, we will start to worry."

"Daddy-en, I am a grown woman who can shift into three predatory animals, I can take care of myself, so you guys don't have to keep worrying about me."

"Kiley-Ann, you should know by now that your mother and I will always worry about you." 

I shook my head, "yeah yeah, I'm getting off the phone now, like you told me to, so I can concentrate on driving." I replied with a bit of sass in my voice.

My dad chuckled again at me. "We love you, Kiley-Ann. We will talk to you soon." He said and hung up.

I clicked the 'end' button on my phone, and put it back inside the pocket of my purse. I turned the radio back up, and watched the sun sink down below the horizon. The nights were getting longer. I was really happy about taking my vacation in April, the flowers will be blooming, the trees will be growing their spring leaves, and many of the animals will have young ones to look after. Springtime is my favorite time of the year. 

Another hour goes by quickly. I glanced down at the fuel gage, Jake still had half a tank. I looked back up to the road just in time to see three dear right in front of me on the highway. "s**t!" I yelled. I slammed on the brakes and swerved hard towards the shoulder, but with as fast as I was going on the highway, the speed and the sudden turn made the truck flip over. The steep embankment next to the highway caused another few flips. All I could hear was the sound of glass breaking, and the groan of medal crumpling. My last thoughts were about my poor Jake being hurt before I lost consciousness.