Chapter 20

His face was set into concentration. Josh bit the tip of his tongue. Jenna had wondered onto the property of the queen. It was impossible the house had been covered by an enchantment. The less anyone knew about the queen the safer the world would be.
The queen ruled before Josh was born. His parents were alive during the queen's mission to exterminate all humans. When a man approached them, Josh's mother was dying of influenza, and the man offered them a gift. He could save her if they became guardians. Josh's parents readily agreed. As time passed, more and more guardians were born. But there was a catch. If the shifter gave the animal complete control, even for a fraction of a second, their soul would be lost.
Each pack of shifters became stronger with each new member, if one member fell then the pack became weaker, if a few of the pack members died or became befallen then the pack would gradually lose their gift, becoming just humans once more.
When Donna’s car bounced down the uneven path Josh’s heart began to pound. There was something not right. He shifted and ran through the forest. His inner animal wanted to play and hunt. Its energy was pumping through Josh. He ignored the animal’s plea.
Once he was in the backyard of the house his parents were renting, he shifted back into human form, and barged into the house.
Inside he skidded to a halt. His family was accompanied by strangers. Men with grey long hair and beards.
He almost laughed at the sight of them if it wasn’t for the casual clothing, he would have thought his parents were holding an audition for Santa Clause.
“Dad, I need to speak with you,” Josh blurted out.
“It is ok Josh, the Sherman’s have brought us news,” Sherman’s, Josh had never had the pleasure of meeting one himself. Suddenly he was awe struck.
“Please sit,” one of the men pointed to a space on the floor and Josh compiled.
“Please tell us what your news is?” he asked once Josh was seated.
“The queen’s home, well I saw Jenna she went inside then Donna showed up,” the Sherman nodded and before Josh could say more, he held up his hand to silence him.
“We have known for a while that Cassidy De’Mar was in town. However, she is not a threat, just naive. She holds more power than she realizes, she enchanted the whole town, even the shifters to believe she has always been here,” Josh’s mother and father gasped, the news had shocked them greatly.
“Who is Cassidy?” Josh asked. He wasn’t following the old man.
“Cassidy is the daughter of the queen, I believe you know her as Donna,” Josh’s blood ran cold. He had no idea. He couldn’t sense anything different about her.
“When Cassidy did her spell, it served as a beacon. It altered all the banished, who have all made their way here.
When we felt the pull, we knew we had to come. Jenna, she had not yet received the call, she hadn’t changed or possessed the skills she was born with,” The mention of Jenna made Josh sit up. She was human. She didn’t have anything to do with the queen.
“We had to intervene, push her to open her eyes to the world, see what others cannot see, feel the danger lurking. So, we used a man, a criminal. But things did not go to plan. As you may know, the G.G.M has been trying to create shifters. Jenna’s blood is infused with our magic. She is now a shifter, the chemicals that she spilt entered her blood stream. We fear her powers as a protector have been diminished,” All the Sherman’s bowed their heads.
“It is up to you, as guardians to protect the cave. The banished will use any means necessary to wake the queen. If that happens then, we will all face death. They are fed up with hiding,”
“Why can’t you create another, protector?” Paige asked.
“We no longer hold that power,”

***
Surrounded by four white walls, there was nothing else to do but stare at them. To look at the paint that had started to chip off as time passed or gouged by other prisoners - anything to pass time, slowly going mad, theorizing absurd meanings from the wall's blank stare. Marcel had given up. He was losing the battle with his own mind.
No longer did he howl to call his family. They wouldn’t come. He should have listened and never left the forest. He wanted to walk among the humans. He had always been fascinated by them. Now he wondered why his parents protected the doorway to the queen. She was right, the humans should die, and the world would be a better place.
What do humans do? They pollute the land; it wraps around our bodies like a second skin. The fumes from vehicles and other chemicals are nothing but poison. They didn’t deserve the nature around them.
He heard footsteps. He didn’t move or acknowledge the man when he opened his cell. He kept his head low. Whatever they were trying to archive it wasn’t working. With each failure more and more chemicals were pumped into the prisoners.
If hatred was visible, then the air would have been scarlet. The man Marcel had come to know as Mason stared at him with eyes, cold as ice.
Mason injected Marcel; the liquid was one they all knew well. It made them sleep, easier for them to be carted to the lab. Marcel was ready. He had a few minutes before the drug took complete control.
He threw his body weight into his fist that smacked Mason in the nose. Blood squirted out as Mason staggered back. The chain holding Marcel’s hand above his head had broken. He could just reach Mason. With his claws extended he tore into Masons flesh while he screamed and tried to crawl away.
The corridor filled with men, all looking pale. One of them pulled the trigger to a sleeping dart. The adrenaline in Marcel’s body overrode the drug. There was blood on his knuckles and the men said there would be hell to pay. Marcel had got what he wanted. The victory was his. He had taken down the leader. The next time, the rest wouldn’t be so lucky, he would be free.
***
Donna’s words had rocked her mind. Jenna was conflicted. Did she believe her? A part of her did. But how could she believe something so farfetched? She couldn’t deny what she had seen with her own eyes.
Jenna’s phone chimed in her pocket. She looked back at the mansion. Now it looked different, like it had only just been built. Vines grew up the walls, just like her dream.
“Jenna, it’s dad, he has been rushed to hospital,” Claire said through tears.
“I am on my way,” Jenna shouted down the phone.
She'd get there quicker if she could turn. The panic and fear in her chest made it difficult for her to concentrate. She exhaled deeply and chanted, "I believe." Jenna reflected on the colour of her fur as a kitten and how she felt at the time. Then she felt it, but this time it was gentle. She didn't fight the tingle that ran through her body; instead, she embraced it.
With one last look at the house, Jenna pounced through the forest to the main road. The uneven and damp earth under her paws she covered more ground quicker than in human form. The hospital was situated in the center of town.
Arriving at the hospital, which was little more than an old house, or at least that was how it was before the war. Jenna made her way through the automatic doors. The corridor was stuffy, with a bleachy undertone. Jenna needed to find a quiet place where she could force her body to shift. The walls were magnolia, and they were scraped in places where hundreds of trolleys had collided with them.