Shifters

Chapter 15

"Why does Gabriel always come with if you are the leader?" I asked as we shut the door, "Well I just have to look after my little brother." Max's voice held some amusement as Gabriel sneered at him, I stopped walking, "You two are brothers?" They turned and looked at me. The same expression on their faces, "Yes we are." Max replied evenly, "And, we are co-leaders to this gang." Gabriel added. Max glared at him, "Remember your place." His voice was dark and threatening, "Oo, so scary big brother." I cringed, "let's not fight." I didn't want to know what a shifter fight would look like, especially in the streets of New York. They both glared at me and Max turned to walk away. Gabriel came up beside me and took my hand, "Just ignore Max, he is kind of temperamental." "Why didn't you tell me you were brothers?" I asked, my voice anxious, "I didn't think it really mattered. I mean you would have found out eventually." He didn't seem to get it. I didn't want to turn two brothers against each other. I couldn't do that, "But I wanted to find out from you." he stopped me and turned to look down at me. His green eyes blazed, "Relax, ok. It doesn't matter. He has always been kind of bully. We were never really close at all. He and I just shifted at the same time, so we ran away from home together, even though he wanted to go alone." 

            Before I could reply he turned and pulled me along with him. We walked in silence; Max kept glancing back at us and glaring at Gabriel. Gabriel seemed to enjoy the attention, whereas I just felt uncomfortable. Max turned down an alley way. I hesitated and looked up at Gabriel. He smiled encouragingly at me. As I took a deep breath he pulled me into the alley. Max was knocking on a door that I would have never noticed if I had come here alone. It creaked open and an eye peered out at us, "Natalia, it's Max, Gabriel, and Evelyn, you can let us in." Max's voice showed no sign of fear even though I was terrified. There was a clanking sound on the other end of the door, then it was wrenched open. A woman stood there eyeing Max, "Welcome home Maxxy." Her voice held a certain wild edge to it that I had never heard before. Gabriel sensed my distress and took a step in front of me. His movement caused Natalia to look over in our direction, "And my dear Gabriel, how have you been?" "The same as always." He replied evenly. She nodded then looked at me, "Welcome Evelyn. No need to be afraid of us. And there is no need to deny that you are either, I can tell." She grinned then started laughing to herself.

            She gestured for us to come inside. I felt like I was entering a den of lions. Something about this place set me on edge. I was generally a pretty brave girl. I wasn't afraid to take walks by myself, or run around in the woods alone, but this place was screaming danger to me. Something told me that Shifters were a lot more dangerous than I knew about. I shuddered. Now that I thought about it, a shifter could be the perfect criminal. They could always change appearances, no one would ever know. I gagged, what was that awful smell? Gabriel stopped me for a moment, "Just so you know, not all shifters are like these ones." I wanted to ask what he meant, but before I could he pulled me into a dimly lit room. Now I could see what the horrible stench was coming from. There were remains from some sort of animal, I couldn't tell what kind. But the most frightening thing in this room was the savage looking creatures that prowled around the remains, blood staining their grotesque jaws. I looked up at Gabriel, an unspeakable horror in my eyes. Max cleared his throat. Immediately all eyes turned on us. I thought the strange creatures were going to attack, but instead, they started to shift, "But I thought-" Gabriel cut me off with a glance. However the creatures shifted into something different from humans. While they had the same basic form, there was something animal about each one. One woman had the jaws of a fierce jungle cat. While they were a less extreme version, it was still noticeable. Another man had wings stretching out from behind him as he settled back into his hybrid form, "This is what happens when shifters do not follow the rules." Max stated.

            One of the shifters let out an animalistic growl, "What rules?" my voice shook, "don't you remember?" Max asked, when I didn't reply he said, "Shifters can shift into anything they want, as long as it has the same general outline of a human. This is what happens when shifters test that rule." As soon as he said it I remembered, "So would you be shape shifters then?" the man with the wings smiled, "of course we are, why would you want to be bound by shifting into only human form?" I could tell Max was thinking because you look like a freak, "Its only a minor setback." The man said as if he had read Max's thoughts, "But you can't go outside without people noticing your differences." Max shot back. The man smiled, "Some of us can, we just have to have ample coverings." Max rolled his eyes, "You must be Evelyn." The man said before Max could come up with a retort to him. He look a couple steps towards me and extended his hand. Gabriel moved aside. Nervously, I took a few steps forward, then after a moment of debating I took his hand. I felt a world of pain and betrayal coming from him, all in the touch of a hand, "Did I forget to mention that we have even more enhanced abilities when we shift into animals?" His voice was cruel. I wanted to wrench my hand away to stop the flow of memories, but I knew Max wanted me to be strong so I stood up straight and looked the man in the eyes, "You're a brave little thing, you could be useful in my gang." He chuckled. I pulled my hand away in disgust.  

            All the other shifters laughed and started mumbling to each other, "You know, the reason you are here is to make a choice, Max and Gabriel or Me." his voice held a tempting power, but I was not fooled, "Why would I choose you over them?" I questioned, "Well because I am better, stronger, older, more alluring." He flashed a glimmering smile at me, "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself, I'm Xavier, and I'm your so called gang leaders older brother."

**Sorry it took me so long to upload, :/ I have been super busy with school and I will hopefully upload soon, cross your fingers, :)