Chapter 9 Shifters

I came down the stairs a few minutes later, dressed in an old pair of jeans and a scummy t-shirt. My parents were sitting on the couch, talking in low voices. They looked up and smiled as I sat down.

My father leaned forward. "OK, honey, we know you must be... rather upset by all this, so if it all becomes too much, just tell us you have had enough. We'll understand." His face turned serious as he continued, "We are not all that sure of what's going on ourselves, but we will tell you everything we know.

"The reason we thought you were... someone else... when you came in the door earlier, was because, well, remember those things that attacked us, just before you disappeared?" I nodded. He continued, "Well, they came back. Just after you left, we heard a knock at the door. We opened it to see... you." He shuddered. "Only it wasn't you. It was one of those... things... what should we call them?"

"Well," I said cautiously, "You said it changed shape, right? Into me? Then call them shifters. I mean, they seem pretty shifty."

My father chuckled a bit, then looked thoughtful. "Yes, that's a good idea. Now, where was I? Oh, right, well, the... Shifter tried to come in, and almost succeeded in stabbing me again." He grimaced. "But I closed the door just in time." He sighed. "It left, probably deciding we were too much trouble. We have kept a careful watch after that." He hefted the baseball bat sitting beside the couch. "So... you can turn into a dragon, huh? Or... was that a one time thing?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I could find out."

Without pausing to consider what would happen to the furniture if I went from being a five foot eight girl, to an eight foot five dragon, I walked to the center of the room, and began to concentrate. Once again, I felt a strange tingling sensation, and the ground around me erupted with a swirling cocoon of watery light. Then I stood blinking in the center of a room that seemed to have gotten a lot smaller. My parents gasped. I turned my head towards them, trying not to bump it on the ceiling , and said, "Well, how do I look?"

They seemed to be trying to find their voices. I blinked at them. Finally, my Dad blurted, "Your eyes are green!" Even my mother turned and looked at him funny.

I turned to look in the mirror, which hung on the wall in one corner, over a chest of china. "You're right!" I was startled. My eyes were normally brown. I decided to change back. Then I walked back over to the mirror, and peered at my reflection. My eyes were still green! And the irises seemed to me slightly ovular, not quite slitted, but close. That must be why I can see so well in the dark now!

"Ummm, Fiona...?"

I turned around. My parents were sitting uncomfortably, pointedly staring elsewhere. I realized I was once again without clothing. "Oh man!" I groaned, snatching up a fluffy throw from the couch. "I really have to figure out how to change into clothes!"

They gave a weak chuckle, and then my mother said, "That's all we know about what happened. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you more. It's getting late, we should probably get to bed."

I decided to try Changing some more in my room. "Okay, goodnight Mom, Dad."

We all trooped up the stairs and said goodnight. Once in my bedroom, I decided I would try Changing to some clothing first. I found some old clothes that I didn't like in my closet. After putting them on, I shifted to dragon form. It seemed to become easier every time I did it.

As a dragon, I wasn't very big. I stood about eight feet tall, nine if I stretched my neck. My shoulder was about four feet off the ground, the same as if I were human.

Then I tried changing back, this time concentrating on the clothes I had been wearing. Then I was standing in the middle of the room, human and fully clothed!

Then I had a wild idea. If I can change with those clothes on, maybe... I shifted back to dragon. Then I concentrated, very hard, on changing back wearing a beautiful long silk ball gown, with bell sleeves and a long flowing train. I opened my eyes and looked down. There it was! With shimmering white silk fabric, silver embroidery, and the slightest hint of lace at the collar and cuffs. My hair was even done up in a matching silk embroidered ribbon.

I twirled, watching my reflection in the mirror, loving the effect of the skirts as they flowed around my ankles. I wondered if I could change my appearance. Maybe my hair color? My eyes had already changed. I decided to experiment.

My second attempt met with little success. Apparently I could change my hair color to some degree, making it lighter or darker, and I could change my clothes to almost anything I wanted, but I couldn't change a whole lot else. I could even appear wearing nail polish and makeup, with my hair brushed, but for the most part, I was stuck with my regular features. I couldn't even change my eyes back.

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I woke up the next morning, wondering what exactly had been in my orange juice that had made me have such a weird dream.

Wondering what it would me like if I really could change into a dragon, I walked over to the mirror. No scales or wings or tail, but just in case, I decided to try changing again.

Just like before, there was a tingling sensation, and the watery light swirled up around me for a moment, then when it settled, there I was, a dragon again. I just stood there for a moment, then thought; well, I guess I didn't believe it was just a dream anyway. Hey, speaking of dreaming, I CAN FLY!

I had always wanted to fly, ever since I could remember, and even if I had to become some sort of creature to do it, it was worth it! Besides, as a dragon, I thought I looked pretty impressive, even beautiful, instead of scary.

I changed back to human and ran down the stairs, eager to climb into the sky. The sun had not yet risen. I ran out the front door, wondering as I did so whether this was a good idea. The last time, I had pretty much gone into a state of euphoria, and ended up in Chicago! Still, I decided to try, this time I was determined not to get carried away.

I ran across the street and down to the docks, thinking as I did so; if anyone sees me, they'll have a conniption or call the police or something! I need to find a private place to change. Our house was about forty or fifty feet from the lakefront, therefore, I decided that the best thing to do was to just dive into the lake and change. The water was murky enough that, hopefully, no one would see me. The rising sun, just peeking over the horizon, seemed to help.

I quickly dove from the shoreline, concentrating as I did so on the change. I hit the water just as I felt the tingles beginning to spread from my arms and legs. Under the water, I created a miniature tornado, and, once it cleared, found that dragons are rather good swimmers. Also, I discovered that I had a second eyelid as a dragon, making it much easier to see underneath the water.

I swam out into the middle of the lake, finally popping my head above the surface, nearly knocking it on a boat full of fishermen, who promptly dropped their lines and started running around the boat screaming.

"It's all right!" I shouted, "It's ALL RIGHT! I'm not going to hurt you! HEY!" finally they calmed down enough to realize that they were not dying, nor even being chased. One of the braver ones took a step towards me and said in a slightly squeaky voice, "Who... ahem, what are you? That is, er..."

I took pity on him. "Me? I'm a dream of course! You're all asleep, or do you think dragons exist in real life?" I let out a chuckle, hoping it didn't sound too forced.

The man who had spoken first looked confused. "But... How can we be dreaming if we were all out fishing here the entire day? Have we been sleeping all this time?"

I thought for a moment, then said, "you were probably hit by that rogue wave and got knocked unconscious. In fact, I think you're about to come to. Ta ta!" And with that, I dove under the water, then came up under the boat, swimming as fast as I could, and rammed my shoulder into the bottom. Rubbing my shoulder, I poked my head cautiously above the surface, and peeked into the boat. I was satisfied to see that all the men had been knocked flat and were shaking their heads and groaning.

I slipped back under the water and continued to the other side of the lake.