The Master of Me

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

                Sterling heard a knock on the front door as and retreated from putting away that mornings breakfast dishes, to go answer it. Alue took in a deep breath, calming her nerves. It was only the lawyer that Sterling that told her about three days prior over lunch. She heard the foot falls of the two men as they walked from the hardwood floor entrance way to the carpeted sitting room adjacent to the kitchen area where she still stood. Forcing herself to stay in her bipedal form she placed the last dish in the drainer and unplugged the sink then proceeded to walk over and greet this lawyer.

                The man had inch and a half ‘off the collar’ brown, curly, hair, Caucasian complexion, brown eyes, a round button nose that looked almost out of proportion to his face, medium framed stature, blue paisley tie and black pin stripped suit, appeared to be late 30’s in age. Charles took a seat in the chair while Sterling sat upon the couch and waited for Alue to join him. Alue silently took a seat next to Sterling, daring a glancing at the lawyer.

“Hello, my name is Charles Barnes, please call me Charlie.” He offered extending his hand out in greeting handshake to Sterling first and then Alue. Sterling nodded then said, “Welcome Charlie. I’m Sterling and this is Alue. I understood from our conversations over the phone that you have filed the two cases I asked.”

Charlie nodded his head and spoke, opening his fingerprint locked briefcase, “I have filed the two cases you asked. For the first one, Vincent Gregory verses Sterling Winchester on behalf of inhumane conduct of personal property. I regret to say, because you did not witness any of the conduct and the whereabouts of the creature the inhumane conduct was directed is . . .” he glanced over at Alue and coughed softly in a sly manner, “unknown, the case won’t hold if submitted.”

Sterling nodded his head, disappointment showed in his features. “I was apprehensive of such. Mostly it was just going to serve as a deterrent for Mr. Gregory to keep busy and therefore away from my property. He seems to have done so for the past ten days without the need for outside encouragement. And the other?” Sterling asked, wondering if the chances of that one were any better.

Charlie smiled and nodded his head with more confidence, “Cases such as this have been posed before by shifter rights activists who seek equality for shifters as humans. Shifters are a minority and as such cases in the past have been essentially dusted under the rug, so to speak, and therefore they have yet to gain rights as a human or animal. This will definitely go through, because Alue’s statement as an eye witness to the mayor being the culprit that broke into your home has been taken as substantial, legitimate, evidence from your city police. I will submit it right after this and you will be notified when to expect a court hearing date. Count on enjoying your holiday and new years. Things of this manner take time before the real fun can begin.” Charlie explained as he and Sterling looked over the file and make sure everything looked to be in order.

Alue had sat quietly the entire time and finally spoke a single sentence looking directly at Charles Barnes, “Why are you representing this? Others Sterling spoke to simply told him propose a bill of sale.” Charlie looked back at Alue, his eyes softening in a reminiscing manner, “My biological parents were shifters…” Sterling’s head shot up from looking over the case and look to the lawyer with confusion. “But you are human,” he noted seeing the man’s normal human ears and clearly did not have a tail, “otherwise you would have canid ears and a tail right?”

Charlie nodded, “There are two ways that shifters are born today. One, two shifters breed and have a two shifter to one human offspring ratio. With each breeding, sixty-six point six percent chances the offspring can be shifters, while thirty three point three percent chances can be human. It all depends on how the genes pair up. I was the human offspring from a shifter breeding pair and as such was adopted by an all human family. While I love my family, I have never agreed with the fact of my human parents have rights and my biological parents did not.” Charlie looked back to Alue, “This is why I am representing you and Sterling.”

Sterling nodded in understanding then asked, “And the second way?” Alue took over the explaining, “A ‘shifter’” she said the word with mock quotation marks of her own finger gestures, “mating with a human that is either a recessive carrier of the shifter trait or not. Those who carry the recessive trait produce one shifter, one human non-carrier, and a human with a recessive shifter gene. Those who do not possess a carrier trait and are as they say ‘totally human’ produce a two shifter to two non carrier human ratios.”

Sterling took a moment to absorb this information, his analytical mind going further, “What about two recessive ‘carrier’ humans, will they produce a shifter?” Alue shook her head, “One of the parents as to be a shifter in order to produce a shifter. Why that is, I don’t know.”

Charlie spoke up, “I read science article that shed some light on that. Supposedly the parents of the first shifters to ever have been created were a canid and a human with an extremely, and I mean extremely rare genetic anomaly, that allowed the cross-species chromosomes to line up and create viable, exactly fifty percent human and fifty percent canid, ‘shifter’ offspring. To avoid inbreeding and since there was no way to duplicate ‘first generation’ shifters with other human and canid genes, the first generation shifters reproduced with full human genes, making their offspring’s shifter gene arrangement twenty five percent canid to seventy five percent human. Two humans who are carriers of the shifter gene do not have enough canid genetic coding needed to produce a shifter.”

Sterling brought the conversation to a close, handing Charlie back the case file. “I see. After three or four generation of the shifter gene was passed through the human gene pool, two shifters could breed and not worry about possible ill effects that can occur from inbreeding.”

Charlie gave an affirmative nod and put the file away, locking it away securely in his briefcase. “I will take my leave since we are finished. I thank both of you, for this opportunity.” He said standing and shaking each of their hands before departing.

                Sterling escorted the lawyer out then returns to the living room couch where Alue sat. “Alue, are you okay with all of this? I realize that once court begins you’ll have to face the demon of your past in a very different way then you have done before. It is a lot to ask of you and I do not expect you to take the stand without knowing I will do whatever is necessary to make sure you are safe then and after.”

                Alue took a hold of his hand and smiled, “You are a good man Sterling. I believe I can face my fears if you are there. I thought I had come back to stay goodbye, but I see now I came back to stop running and truly move forward with you.”

                 “I’m glad you came . . .” he replied, lifting up her hand and giving it a affectionate kiss, his eyes meeting hers for a moment before standing up and retreating to the computer den to resume work. Alue couldn’t help but wonder had Sterling meant he was glad she returned or glad that she came into his life? She smirked and decided it didn’t matter which one, for now it was clear that he had her upmost trust and her heart.