Genetics

Chapter 2

"Alright. We should be far enough away from the house and tree line to not be noticed if any of them peek outside the window." Mark said as he stretched.

I looked around, yawning, and rubbing my eyes. Mark had dragged me out of bed before five in the morning. He had even dragged Caleb out of bed and tried to rush us as we ate breakfast. He seemed eager to test his theory of whether or not my tiger form would be impacted by the spell's change to my body. Caleb had to tell him multiple times to give me time to wake up.

By now the sun was just beginning to creep up on the horizon. Birds were just waking up too. I looked over at Caleb as he shrugged his shoulders and yawned, rubbing at his eyes. With a sigh I tried to turn into my tiger form. I could feel a resistance and as I continued to try, the face of the saber tooth tiger flashed behind my eyes.

With a yell, I fell backwards, breathing heavily. Mark was at my side in a heartbeat and reached out to touch my forehead. I smacked his hand away as I sat there, regaining my breath. Caleb hung back instead of crowding me. Mark frowned at his hand being slapped away and stood, shaking his head.

"Is everything okay?" Caleb asked after I regained my breath.

"No. I was trying to turn, and I saw the saber tooth tiger in front of my eyes." I muttered as I rubbed my eyes.

"Do you think it has to do with that nightmare you had last night?" Mark asked.

I sighed and pinched my nose, closing my eyes again. I felt off still, but not sick any more thankfully. I shrugged my shoulders as a response to Mark's question and heard footsteps approaching me. I opened my eyes to see Caleb was sitting down beside me.

"When I first woke up after I had the pearl in me and had regained control of myself, I noticed I couldn't access my tiger form. I tried to push through it, and it didn't work. I was really frustrated and fed up with myself for being unable to turn forms. I searched for anything that would help, but only one thing did." Caleb said as he looked at me with a small smile.

"What does your situation have to do with April's situation, Caleb?" Mark asked with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

"Mark, let him finish. Don't be so impatient." I grumbled as I glanced at my brother.

"The one thing that helped was meditation to be truthful. I was so mentally wound up that nothing else I tried worked. My muscles were mainly a bunch of knots too. After I tried meditating, I was able to relax enough to work through the tangle of thoughts, memories, and emotions as well as help relax my muscles. I think you are mentally wound up too, especially after everything over the past eight years." Caleb said as he glanced at Mark.

I sat there staring at my lap for a few minutes. If I am mentally blocked, what could be blocking me from turning into my tiger form? Would it be even beneficial to try meditating to see? What if it didn't work? Was I back at square one? With a sigh, I opened my eyes and stared at Caleb.

"Okay. I'll try it out, but you'll have to show me how to do it. I don't think anyone else has meditated before." I said as I ran my fingers through my hair.

Caleb nodded and stood. He held his hand out to me and I grabbed it, letting him pull me up onto my feet. I brushed dirt off of my pants and hands before looked at Mark who was giving Caleb and me suspicious looks. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Mark could be a little too overprotective at times, but he meant well.

Caleb held his hands up at how Mark was looking at him and stepped away from me. Mark came up to me and walked beside me, glancing over his shoulder at Caleb. As we walked, Mark leaned down a bit to whisper into my ear.

"Does Caleb like you or something?" Mark whispered.

"Mark, Caleb and I have known each other for eight years. I think I would know if he liked me in the way you're thinking." I said as I rubbed my forehead.