Shifters (Feline english version)

Chapter 17

I felt like my heart was beating in my throat as we made our way through the coppice and undergrowth with a careful and controlled pace. I don't know if it was due to the adrenaline running through my veins, but all my perceptions seemed amplified. I felt like I could sense everything that was going on from several meters away, starting with the heartbeats of the two men who were framing me. Almost as if three hearts were beating in me. It was strange and almost disturbing, because to this was added a kind of nauseous feeling that I could not describe or define exactly. I didn't know if it came from me or if it was just an external sensation... but it wasn't reassuring, especially since it was the first time that my perceptions had increased without me voluntarily triggering the phenomenon.

Jude was walking a few meters ahead of us. A supernatural wind, which he no longer even bothered to hide, emanated from him and seemed to surround us like a protective cocoon. He was moving forward in a fluid and natural, almost animal way: cautiously but with all his senses on alert. His way of moving reminded me a little of a cat or rather a feline, a very big feline. It was both intimidating and strangely reassuring, at least for me, because Inspector Worth seemed to be getting a little closer to me every second and having more and more trouble stopping himself from taking his gun and pointing it at Jude's back.

- 'Wha... what the hell is he doing?' he stammered in my ear, apparently unable to formulate his question any better.

- 'He is finally himself,' I replied, repressing the smile I felt blossoming on my face.

I was so amazed to see him so naturally at ease with his powers, that it gave me a little hope for the future. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all to have him as a teacher?

- 'We are not on a bucolic hike... Move it!' the latter scolded before we even realized that we had stopped walking.

I started again with an ironic grin, "not so bad", yeah! I'd better stop daydreaming and make up my mind. His wild dog attitude was not about to change, apparently. After that, we trudged for about an hour in the woods, without seeing anything more exciting than squirrels. We finally ended up on a road where a car was waiting, parked on the side of the road. Jude's, obviously, since he walked towards it without hesitation and unlocked it from a distance. He put his bow in the trunk, and ordered us, more than he invited us, to come aboard. I rode shotgun, and sat in obvious relief. Inspector Worth, on the other hand, climbed into the back and we barely had time to fasten our seatbelts when Jude started off.

He drove quickly until the forest was behind us, then made so many turns and detours that I started to get carsick. The inspector took the opportunity to call his men and tell them to withdraw, on the advice of a laconic Jude.

Worth's more than annoyed mask in the rear view mirror suggested an imminent explosion if the explanations he expected did not come quickly. After a few more minutes, Jude finally stopped in front of a kind of decayed house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded, wherever you look, by a gloomy and dreary landscape under the autumnal light.

- 'Stay in the car!' he ordered in a commanding voice before slamming the door and walking away fast.

- 'He thinks I'm just gonna sit here and wait for him nicely? He's dreaming!' the inspector blurted out, about to follow him.

I thought no less of Jude's more than rude behaviour but, unlike the inspector, I knew he was trustworthy. If he had told us to stay in the car, it was because there was a good reason and I assumed he wanted to call Charles, without prying ears around.

- 'Wait! Give him a few minutes,' I said to stop his movement as I turned around to face him. 'I know he's acting like a pretentious jerk, but he can be trusted.'