Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Inside the Mind of the Beast
Despite all the new crazy twists and turns my life had taken, I was thrilled to be flying with him again.
It helped that we were closer in size, and this time I had a chance to keep up with him.
Unsure where he was going, I studied his body for signals.
He flew with purpose, steadily climbing higher.
Now that I knew I wasn’t dreaming, I marveled at the fact I could fly again, whenever I wanted.
He dove toward the top of a mature magnolia tree, and I followed in his draft, the wind surrounding me from all sides, pressing in on me, keeping me in the sky.
I mimicked his actions as he landed, pushing my wings up and out, flapping higher, feet out, ready to grip the branch as we approached.
A few hops to a lower branch, and we settled, just over the heads of Darryl and the two sheriff’s deputies.
“Something strange is going on in there,” Darryl said, arms waving and pointing as he tried to persuade the officers, as if they didn’t know where he was talking about.
“Maybe, but as long as it’s nothing illegal, they can do whatever freaky thing they want,” said Deputy Thompson.
“Don’t tell me you don’t want to get inside that building?”
Deputy Thompson crossed his arms. “How long have you lived up here, son?”
“All my life.”
“I know. Which is why you should know every single person living on any of these remote mountaintops has their own brand of crazy going on. In this case, unless we hear of something else giving us a good reason to come back here, we’ll just leave them alone.
That’s why he lives up here. To be left alone. I expect you to remember that.”
Darryl glanced back in the direction of the house, his brain clearly working on overdrive. “Didn’t a hiker get lost up here a few months ago? And now this Freya Rook?”
“Were you listening to me just now? Or do you need me to repeat myself?”
“Yes, sir. I heard you. I’ll leave them alone.”
We all knew he was lying, but the words he offered were enough to appease the officers, who had more important business to attend to. The three men turned to head down the steep driveway.
He’s coming back, I said.
Agreed.
Camazotz flapped his wings and took off. This time he headed in the opposite direction of the house. He didn’t tell me not to join him, so I did.
We need to hide my I.D. somewhere he can’t find it. I thought it mostly to myself and was surprised when he answered.
In the caves.
No, if they ever got inside, they would probably look down there. I think it needs to be somewhere else. Maybe we can fly them up somewhere they can’t reach.
Fine. But now you need a new identity. He paused, And clothing, since you hadn’t planned to stay so long.
I didn’t know what to make of that, but it was a beautiful day, and I was flying again, so I chose to follow without further questions.
He flew us to the northern side of the mountain.
We climbed high, thrown around a bit by heavy winds, but for the first time, it didn’t scare me.
I was no longer afraid of falling. I loved the feeling of playing in the air currents.
He circled downward, and I stayed close behind him, gliding for extended periods.
So, I could have changed myself back to human from the beginning? I asked, thinking about our agreement. Had he taken advantage of my ignorance to get me to agree to help him?
No. You thought it was impossible.
But was it? Did I have the ability to change?
You did. But no man has ever accomplished something he believed to be impossible. You couldn’t have changed yourself back into a human any more than you could have transformed me into a crow.
Oh. By turning me into a crow when we first met, he had essentially changed me into a shapeshifter, or whatever he was. This was what he meant when he said we were alike. Or was it?
A roof appeared amidst the trees, revealing a rustic cabin as we headed toward it.
So, it was a sucker’s bet?
You wanted me to change your features. I wanted your help with the gathering. I have shown you it is possible to do what you wanted. Do you plan to abandon me now that you don’t need me any longer?
No, of course not. I want to help. I keep my word.
We landed on the ground in front of the cabin, and a soft cloud of dust hung around us for a moment before dissipating. He looked at me, but I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. Without warning, he turned back to his human form, flannel shirt, pants, and all.
I hopped back and forth. If he had the ability to change and create clothes out of thin air, then we weren’t as alike as I had thought.
Change form, Corvus. Unless you want me to buy clothing for a crow.
I looked around. The place was empty. Camazotz, or Benjamin (I had an easier time calling him that in his human form), stepped up onto the porch of the log cabin.
There is clothing upstairs you can wear for now. And then he disappeared inside.
Okay, I could do this. Human. I needed to want to transform back into myself.
My new self. I wanted to be good at this shapeshifting thing, no, not good, great at it, so I could transform as easily as he did.
Whenever I wanted. The trickle started at the top of my head, pulling me up and away from the ground, shrinking my surroundings to their proper proportions.
My feathers disappeared, my limbs grew, and human skin covered my body, all in the blink of an eye.
And I was naked.
I ran up the porch steps and didn’t hesitate at the open front door.
He was already talking to someone on the phone, ignoring me.
I ran by him, up the wooden steps, noting only that every surface was wood, and into the small bedroom.
There were no mirrors, except in the closet.
It hit me where we were. This was the log cabin the Wolf had told me about, the Stag’s house, another person transformed.
He and my Monster had been friends. And now I was about to wear a dead man’s clothes.
Shirts, pants, and overalls, worn but in decent condition, all hung neatly in the small closet.
A mirror hung on the back of the door, and I stared at my body.
The first time I knowingly changed my body to human, I reverted to the shape he had made for me, not my original form, except for the freckles.
What did that say about me? That other time didn’t count because I thought I was dreaming.
Then again, maybe that spoke even louder.
A door opened somewhere in the house, sending a cool gust of air throughout the room.
Clothes first, introspection later. I pulled on a light blue shirt, which hung off me, way too big.
Good thing we were going to buy clothes, except my wallet was up at the big house.
He hadn’t consulted me before bringing me on this trip.
I would have to see how it went. I held up a few pairs of pants, but they were all too wide and long.
At least the overalls could be adjusted.
Feeling ridiculous, I found some work boots that flopped loosely on my feet. The early summer day felt too warm for the heavy wool socks that would have improved the fit. Hopefully, we weren’t hiking down the mountain.
I clomped down the stairs, making a lot of noise, but it had been wasted on an empty house. Would it kill him to explain himself, even a little? But then the sound of an engine drew my attention outside. I ran to the window and saw my Monster waiting for me in the driver’s seat of an old Jeep.
He knew how to drive? And why was I surprised?
He had been around long enough to know how to survive, and the invention of the automobile was hardly recent.
But he had used his need to understand new technology to get me to stay.
Had that been a ruse? If so, then why did he want me to help him?
I couldn’t trust him, no matter how much I wanted to.
I climbed in next to him and buckled my seatbelt, weirded out by just how normal it was to be driving down the mountain to go into town to buy things.
Because I had just transformed myself from a crow into a human.
This was going to take some getting used to.
But once I was used to it, I was going to like it.
He glanced over at me, one eyebrow arched.
Stop reading my mind.
You think loudly, Corvus.
I sighed… loudly. He chuckled.
His friend’s house had a much more reasonable driveway than his medieval castle’s, but it was still steep. And rutted. We bounced our way down the mountain.
Is that how you order groceries? By calling from his house?
Yes.
I hope you’re still paying his phone bill, otherwise it will get cut off.
He was silent. Had I offended him, or was he just this unused to someone giving him advice? And he probably heard me think that. Crap.
“So, where are we going?”
“Don’t worry, Corvus. Soon you will know all my secrets.”
Was that a joke? “I can’t wait.”
About half an hour later, we pulled into a picturesque mountain town, complete with old Americana Main Street.
An art gallery sat next to an outdoor clothing store, which was sandwiched in by a coffee shop.
Pots hung from the eaves, overflowing with red flowers I’d seen in pictures of European balconies.
What were they called again? Geraniums. The same flowers bloomed all over the town.
People filled the sidewalks, busy living their everyday lives. We pulled into an empty parking spot and climbed out of the Jeep. Just like all the normal people around us everywhere. Only I struggled with acting normal. This excursion was seriously messing with my head.
“Are you hungry?” Camazotz asked me.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Let me take you to lunch.” He held his arm out to help me out of the Jeep, and I gaped at him. This day grew stranger by the minute. He nodded toward a small restaurant with tables out on the sidewalk. “This is my favorite place. They have great hamburgers and banana splits.”