Creatures

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We were finishing up breakfast when a chime went off and Urdo walked into the dining room. Everyone stopped their chatter. She hopped onto the table and walked calmly to the middle of it, her boots causing plates to slide and clatter.

“There will be an assembly to meet the lord of the house in the great hall at ten am sharp. Do not be late, children,” she said.

She hopped from the table to the floor with a single flap of her arms, which I noticed for the first time had become folded wings under her cloak. Everyone gasped, it was rare to see any adult shift in front of us.

Urdo walked out of the dining room without giving us so much as a nod. When she had gone, everyone fell to whisperings and wild speculation.

“I’ve heard he’s a bird-type too,” said one voice, I thought it was Sarah’s. “She’s showing off her wings to impress him later.”

“They’ve rounded us all up here for a reason,” said another voice. “We’re all to get awards. We’re the best crop of shifters Vater’s ever seen.”

One word kept coming up in a constant, bubbling fashion, always spoken with reverence and in a hushed tone: “ Vater. ”

Beth and I exchanged glances. Jake caught the gesture.

“What do you guys think will happen?” he asked.

“He said something about a purge,” said Beth.

“A purge? ” questioned Jake. “That doesn’t sound positive.”

We agreed. By the time lunch had ended we were all in a tight huddle, discussing what we could do about it. Really, there wasn’t much to be said. We did determine we should be among the early birds at the meeting.

When the assembly time approached, all of us were there ten minutes early. Even Danny and Thomas looked concerned and attentive, although Danny took the occasion to rub his nose with his middle finger after catching my eye. I returned the subtle gesture with one of my own.

“I taught him that one,” I said to Beth, who watched our interplay. “He’s a slow learner, but he shows promise.”

Beth grimaced at me, unimpressed. Jake gave a hoot of laughter.

All of our messing about was cut off suddenly, as Urdo entered the room followed by Waldheim, who flipped at his clothes and wrapped his hands together as if he didn’t know what to do with them. It had to be the first time I’d ever seen Waldheim look nervous about anything.

The last figure strode in behind the other two. He was tall with broad shoulders. His hair was dark and wild-looking. I’d expected an old man, but he didn’t look particularly old. There was an odd light in his eyes as he slid them over the group. Those glinting, intelligent eyes seemed unusual. They were the eyes of a nocturnal animal, the eyes of a creature you might see watching your campfire in the woods at night.

He stood while everyone else was seated. He put his hands on his hips like I’d seen Urdo do countless times. Perhaps this was part of the family heritage, a swaggering posture.

“Children,” he said a deep, resonating voice. I heard his accent from the very first word. “Your principal has told me everything about you. And I do mean, everything,” he eyed us all to let that sink in. We shifted in our seats. Somehow, he didn’t make you feel at ease. It was like watching a tiger behind glass at the zoo. He made you feel as though he might be hungry, and you might just look like dinner.

“At this moment you are to be judged. By me. I will warn you, that most fail to meet my standards. Many of you might be thinking of how to explain yourselves. Excuses for mistakes, guilty secrets and other nonsense. Strike those thoughts bubbling in your minds! Excuses are worse than nothing on this day.”

Jake looked at me and I gave him the tiniest shrug. Whatever we’d both expected, this wasn’t it.

We turned our attention back to Vater, and were shocked to see him approaching us. There was an angry hunch to his shoulders. His brows beetled and his teeth showed in a snarl.

“You boys!” he said. With two incredibly long arms that ended in strong overly-large hands, he reached out and took us each by a shoulder. He drew us forward into the center of the floor. “Exactly, just so,” he said, as if speaking to himself.

He lowered his face to look at each of us in turn. His voice and demeanor softened suddenly, becoming almost gentle, but I knew he wasn’t in a gentle mood.

“Perhaps, boys, I’ve bored you?” he asked. His breath puffed out into my face smelling faintly of coffee. “Perhaps I owe you two an apology?”

“No sir,” we both stammered out at the same moment.

“No?” he asked, almost sweetly. The large hand on my shoulder became very heavy and the fingers sunk into my flesh. He looked first into my eyes, then Jake’s. Jake winced. I stood firm, staring back at him.

He nodded at me and pushed Jake. Jake fell to his knees. I thought maybe he would cry, and reached out my hand toward him. I glared at Vater, who watched me closely. I managed to control my expression and make my anger vanish, but it was too late. He’d noted it.

“I see,” he said, releasing me. He stepped forward away from Jake and I, we were now behind him, forgotten. I helped Jake to his feet.

Vater approached the other children. He eyed them carefully. I looked at them, trying to see what he might see.

“Children,” said Vater, his voice filled with the infinite patience of a parent that has caught naughty kids for the hundredth time. “We are going to play a game today. A very serious game. The world is a harsh place for our kind. One weak link is all it takes to break a chain, you see.”

We stared at him, not knowing where this was all going. But suddenly, in the quiet, a throat was cleared. All eyes swung to Waldheim, except for Urdo, who looked at the floor.

“Milord,” said Waldheim when those slightly yellow eyes struck him. Again, I was surprised by Waldheim’s obvious state. He worked his hands in his pockets and swallowed as if his throat had filled with dust.

Vater’s brows rose as high as they would go. “Yes?”

“The children, milord,” stumbled Waldheim. “They aren’t prepared for this… for this sort of thing.”

Vater lit up at his words. With one extremely long finger upheld in front of his face, he stalked toward Waldheim. “Exactly!” he shouted. “You have hit upon the trouble, my good dean. They are not prepared. They are not well-served, there has been shirking here, and I’m glad you would be the first to admit it. Your job, I understand, has been the maintenance of discipline, am I right?”

“Yes, milord,” said Waldheim in a strangled voice.

“Then perhaps you’d like to participate in our exercise?”

Waldheim’s face changed from nervous to fearful. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think he feared anything. I found myself wanting to see him change into a lizard and give Vater a good kick in the rear. The thought shocked me, but there it was.

I wasn’t the only one with such a thought in my head, as I heard something then, something everyone heard while Vater and Waldheim stared at one another. It was a coughing sound, but a fake one, the sort of cough a kid gives when they are really saying a word.

The word sounded like “ Bully ” and it came from the kids in the line-up. It could have been a much worse word, but it was hard to be sure. I flicked my eyes that way and saw Beth’s hand coming down from her face. She’d done the fake cough, I knew it in an instant. The rest of us had been conditioned for this moment our entire lives, the moment when we met our great-great grandfather. She hadn’t. She had none of our inbred awe of this strange, scary man. Who else would have had the guts to mock him publicly?

At that single word, Vater stiffened as if someone had put a knife into his back. He loomed up, taller than I would have thought he possibly could have stood. He turned slowly and slid his eyes across the faces of the assembled children. I followed his gaze, and I picked out Beth almost as quickly as he did.

It wasn’t the other kids who gave her away, mind you, I was proud to note that they weren’t snitching on her on purpose. No, what gave her away was her expression. Everyone else had a look of sick shock on their faces, but not Beth. She was trying to look innocent and unconcerned. She was covering, but didn’t realize how everyone else was taking it.

Like a laser beam, I felt Vater’s eyes zero in on Beth. He took a single step toward her, and those long fingers rose up slowly to point at her.

“That one,” he said. He cocked his head at her. It was an animal-like gesture. “You, girl. There is something about you… Did you have something you would like to say, my dear?”

“No sir,” said Beth, still playing innocent. She had the gall to smile at Vater. No one, and I mean not anyone I’d seen so far this day, had even thought to smile while looking at Vater. I felt sure he rarely saw that expression on anyone’s face.

Vater cocked his head the other way and took another single slow step toward Beth. His hand rose up to touch his chin. “Interesting,” he said. “Unforeseen.”

He slowly pointed at Beth with a long finger. The finger turned upward and curled into a beckoning gesture. Beth played up the innocent act to the limit, I’ll give her that. She did the “What, me?” face and pointed to herself.

Vater frowned and raised his chin, beckoning again. Perhaps this time there was a bit of impatience in his gesture. Beth came forward and joined Jake and I in the center of the group.

“Yes,” said Vater, ignoring us now and speaking to the rest of the group. He eyed each in turn carefully. “Yes, I think that’s it.”

Waldheim drew in his breath, and I knew he was about to speak. So did Vater, who put up a flat hand toward Waldheim’s face. “Don’t speak,” commanded Vater. “Don’t compound your errors, Dean.”

Waldheim fell silent. Whatever words he’d thought to say died in his throat without ever having been spoken.

“Children,” Vater said, addressing our classmates. “These three amongst you have been selected as the hares. The rest of you, are the hounds. The hares will run from you today, and tonight, for a full day. You, the hounds, will try to catch them. Are there any questions?”

Danny raised his hand. There was an eagerness in his eyes I didn’t like.

“Speak!” said Vater.

“Milord,” said Danny smoothly. “What will the hounds do when they catch they hares?”

Vater smiled at Danny. He turned and regarded the three of us. “What hounds always do when they catch their prey. Nature will take its course,” he said evenly.

I blinked at him and suddenly, there was an odd pain in my pants. I felt shocking discomfort, and then something long snaked down the back of my pantsleg. It slipped out onto the floor beside my shoe. I had sprouted a long pink scaly tail. The tip of it flipped and curled like a snake around my leg.

Some of the kids in the line-up snickered.

Vater looked down at my tail and pursed his lips. “A rodent,” he said flatly. “I don’t care for rodents.”

I looked back at him, narrowing my eyes. I almost said many things, but held back with a desperate effort of will.

He noted the look in my eye with interest, and gave me a tiny nod, showing he’d read my thoughts.

Vater drew himself up. “The game begins. He pointed at the clock on the wall. It showed it was 10:15 am. “The hounds will give the hares a fifteen minute head start,” he announced.

He turned back toward the three of us and leaned forward. He put his hands on his knees. He eyed each of us intently, Beth, Jake and lastly me. His face loomed into ours.

“It’s time to run, children,” he said in a whisper.

We staggered back away from everyone. All their eyes were upon us.

We ran.