Shifter

Chapter 5

Hello there, readers and/or really nice friends... It has, once more, been forever since I've posted. I feel awful.  I'm going to try  to make this long (I'm also going to try to start writing out new chapters ahead of when I post. This would be wise.). Okay, enjoy!

 I slogged through the rest of the day in a cloud of sleep deprivation and confusion. I was lost in my thoughts, to the point where I didn't hear the bell ringing at the end of the day, and found myself sitting in an empty classroom. Finally wrenching my focus from my situation, and noticing the time and state of the classroom, I lurched out of my seat and, grabbing my backpack, hurried out of the room, my focus shifting back to Loni. I needed answers. 

My needs would go unfulfilled for a while longer, though, because after waiting for half an hour near the front door (I would walk home), I had not caught even a glimpse of Loni, and had determined that I had missed her. And so, irritated that I hadn't found the one girl with answers for me, I hurried home, hoping at least to call her. 

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting on my bed with a mug of tea in one hand and an apple on my nightstand. I gulped down some tea, hoping the heat would keep me awake, before setting down the cup and rummaging through my bag and looking for the paper with Loni's number on it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found it, crumpled at the bottom of my bag. Disorganization combined with sleep deprivation makes for a good amount of chaos. 

I grabbed my cellphone out of my bag, punched in the phone number, and took another mouthful of tea as the phone rang. Before the second ring was over, Loni was answering. 

"Cleo," she said, and the relief in her voice was practically tangible. "I missed you after school, I take the bus, so I couldn't hang around." 

"Hi, Loni," I replied warily. "Yeah, I looked, but I guess you left before I found you." I berated myself mentally for zoning out in my last class. But, somehow, talking to Loni over the phone was easier. Her presence was less intense, and without those piercing gold eyes staring at me, it was easier to think. 

"No problem," she said tightly, like it was very much a problem, but we had other things to talk about. "We can talk now. We need to talk now." 

"Yeah," I said. "We need to talk." 

"Okay, this is kind of hard to explain..." she started. I didn't know why, but at that moment I saw an image of her twisting her fingers anxiously, her gold eyes almost brown with concern, and her eyebrows drawn stormily together, as if she were in my room. I shook my head, and my vision cleared. 

"So why don't we start at the beginning?" I asked. I needed answers, and I was going to get them. "Tell me why I'm having these dreams."

There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. I squeezed my mug of tea in anticipation. My back was ramrod straight, and my knees were tucked under me, tense, so I looked very much like I didn't belong in my own room. I was going to get answers. Finally. 

"You see..." she began, the words sounding slightly strangled. "That's really the middle of a very, very long, and very old story... It's ancient, really. It's existed since the beginning of time, and it's continued every day since then." 

"Uh-huh," I said, trying to contain my impatience. "Are you going to tell me, or is this going to be some mandatory quest for knowledge and self-discovery?"

Loni laughed a little. "No, I'm going to tell you. It's just a rather long story... So get comfortable."

"Alright," I said, easing back into the mound of pillows at the head of my bed and freeing my legs. "Let's hear it."