Bloodling

Chapter 1

The sun is beautiful as it shines through our sliding glass doors. It almost looks like reflective fragments that have been split apart creating pretty shadows on the tiled floor. My mom loves this house. It used to be her dads when he was a kid. Thankfully great grandma Clove loved my mother so much she gave it to her in the will.

From the street you wouldn’t know that up the winding drive way there sits a modest 4 bedroom house with a wrap around porch. My mom has sat many nights on our porch, telling Bram, Wren and I stories of her coming to visit grandma Clove as a child. How Grandma Clove would turn into a Mastiff with a droopy face and paws as big as a small dinner plate. She would let mom ride on her back as her dad would help papa Clive with making a huge bon fire. Then they would sit around the fire. Papa loved to be in his Border Collie form, while mom would curl up next to him. Papa Clive would sit next to Grandma Clove and they would tell mom about all the adventures that they took.

But my moms favorite story was one that wasn’t about Papa Clive and grandma Clove. It was always the story of the land that our ancestors bought so long ago. “Dove, before you were born, before me or your grandpa Clive even breathed our first breaths on this earth. There was a terrible war. A war that is even older than the animals we shift into. From the beginning of time when humans and animals were separated. The human race would kill each other for status, power and money. Animals were suffering because of the pollution our wars were causing.” My grandma Clove loved telling the stories of the old times. The dark times. The times before.

“One day a witch was walking past a battlefield. There were burnt trees, mud piles, and people from both sides dead or injured scattered around the floor. But what the witch saw that she didn’t expect was a fox coming to take a look at one of the injured soldiers. Just as the fox went to sniff the soldier, a shout could be heard from far away. ‘Get away from him.’ And then a loud ringing sound came piercing through the air.” My papa Clive would change the animal every night, my mom said. But the message still remained. “Before the bullet could penetrate the fox the soldier sat up, not wanting the creature to be killed on his behalf. Seeing this act of selflessness. The witch cast a spell. One that bonded the soul of the

Soldier to the fox.”

Grandma Clove would nod her head egging papa Clive to go on. My mom would sit with her fist in my papas fur as she heard the story. Always fascinated with this part. “The witch had created the first shifter in the world. Right here on this very land.’ My papa Clive would point to the very spot he stood. ‘Soon she called on all of her sisters. ‘This war the humans have inflicted on the earth is much too vast for any species to survive. We must save who we can save.’ The witch was none other than Coliape Stillwater, the queen of the south water tribe. With her influence she was able to convince those who doubted that humans could change, and was able to to create a new birth for the planet. One where animals and humans could co-exist in the same body. Creating the balance that they bring to humans.” My mom would fall asleep in her dads fur coat thinking about the witch that saved humankind.

As I walked down the hall to the kitchen, I passed the pictures of my family through the generations.

“Good morning papa.” I said to one of the last pictures on the wall just before opening up to our kitchen. It was a beautiful picture of my moms dad. He must have been in his twenties, tall, his dark almost black hair had natural highlights around his face, his brown eyes showing some sort of mystery. If you asked my mom he always had a project in his head. People say I have his features. But I think they look better on him than me. My paler skin doesn’t bring out the highlights in my hair like him. And my brown eyes don’t hold any secrets. Well at least I hoped not. For the twins sake.

Our kitchen was kinda modern for a house that has been built over 100 years ago. Grandma Clove wanted everything to be perfect for us before we moved in. The once dark painted cabinets were now a shade of sage green. Lighter than when we moved in here 6 years ago. The back splash tile still being that pretty white that grandma loved so much. The only things that were from this decade was the appliances. And even then, they were at least 6 years old.

The one thing my grandma insisted on was having an island put in. She loved watching all those decoration shows on tv. And after she saw someone’s lion

form get trapped in the kitchen with no way out, she had papa Clive replace their peninsula with a massive island that housed the new stove.