A True Soul

About three minutes had passed since Faux had run into the woods. I sat there staring… Nothing was making sense. If this was all true, why hadn’t my father told me?... How was this even possible? And why should I be listening to a cat named Fox? Suddenly I saw a tall figure coming out of the woods. It was a woman with long ringlet-curly blonde hair. She was wearing a gray layered dressed with a black half jacket over it and long boots. There was a large bag that she had swung around her left shoulder. Sticking out of the bag was a maroon jacket.

She made her way towards me rather promptly. When she reached the hedges that enclosed the garden, she placed one hand on the closest one and hoisted herself to the other side with ease.

“I believe this is a more comfortable form to you?” Was it really Faux? Her eyes were the same, such a brilliant blue with the organ circles around her pupils.

“Y-You… You’re a cat?” I heard myself mumble, my eyes squinted as I looked at her.

“That’s certainly one way of putting it.” Faux smiled and held out the jacket. “This is for you. It should help keep you warm.”

“Um… Thanks?” I slipped the jacket on and wrapped my arms around my legs.

“So, where to begin?” Faux tilt her head and looked thoughtfully in my direction. “I suppose the beginning’s always a good place.” She smiled and sat across from me on the stone bench.

“A few years before you were born, there was a dispute between us Natural Borns.”

I interrupted, “Wait, what’s a Natural Born?”

“That’s right, you don’t know. A Natural Born is a human who can turn into an animal. Shape shifters is the term humans use for us. Among our animal kingdom there are creatures who are born every 100 years, and they are called ‘True Souls’. Some of the Natural Born s thought True Souls should be eliminated at birth, because they feared them. It was once believed that True Souls were not meant to exist on Earth. These Natural Born s argued that True Souls did not belong to either the human race or the animal world and therefore did not deserve to live. But many of us disagreed. They had just as much of a right to live as the rest of us, so we fought for them.”

“But if there are so few of them, what’s the point in fighting and risking so many lives?”

Faux looked at me with sympathy. “I see your father has done well protecting you from our world… Maybe a little too well.” She sighed. “True Souls are part human and part animal as well, but they’re also something much more, they have a unique element to them that’s completely their own. They can change into any creature they desire.” Faux paused and noticed the utterly confused look on my face. “Forgive me; I’ve never had to explain our kind to anyone. It might make more sense to explain it like this; I don’t think of myself as a cat who turns into a human. I may have been born a human child, but my true self is my animal side.”

“But I thought you said you were a Natural Born , not a True Soul?” I buried my face in my hands… This was all so crazy, how could any of it even be real?

“Right, I am. You see both the Natural Born s and the True Souls are born in human form. Natural Born s make their first transformation at around the age of 5, True Souls change once they’ve turned 18. Natural Born s can only change into one animal, the animal that their parents were. For a Natural Born to be conceived, both parents have to be compatible animals. However, a True Soul is conceived when one parent is a Natural Born and the other a human. True Souls, being more than just an animal, can change into whatever animal they choose too. However, it is believed that there is always one animals that fits their soul better than any other. But that’s for their soul to decide...” She paused and looked at me, as if willing me to soak in all this information.

I took a deep breath and put a finger to my lips… I tried to make what she said click, but it was almost impossible. I wasn’t one for believing in fairytales or prince charming. Even at a young age I knew that true love didn’t last forever, and there was no such thing as happily-ever-after. So why was I wanting to believe her? Maybe it was all the talking animals, or the fact that I’ve never seen eyes like that on a human or cat. “Ok, so unless you got matching contacts for you and your cat, and taught it to talk, I’ll assume for the time being you’re telling me the truth. It does fit right in with everything else lately. But what I want to know is, what this has to do with me? Why have I become the animal whisperer? And how do you know my mother?”

She smiled at me. “This is not something I do every day, nor do I want to for that matter,” She put a hand on mine. “I told you I knew your mother, and I did, but I was young when she died. And I don’t know if it was my place to explain all this to you, I figured your father would… But he has shut himself in since Ember’s passing.” She looked away, her eyes glazed over like she was remembering a past that still haunted her.

“What do you mean ‘didn’t know if it was your place?’” I sighed and leaned back on the bench and rubbed my temples, my wrist began throbbed. I wasn’t getting answers, all I had were more questions. “Who else is going to? Because I am really getting freaked out.”

Faux closed her eyes and sighed. She looked so sad, and I wondered if it was my fault. “I was asked to explain this to you by a good friend of mine, who has been keeping a close watch over you for some years now. He did not feel that he could explain it to you himself for fear that the right words wouldn’t come, and he would do more damage to you than good. I agreed to tell you myself. And you should know the truth no matter how difficult it may be to tell.

“As you probably already well know, your mother designed your home, this garden, and the Green Acers Humane Society. She chose this place to raise you because she made an agreement with the old stage. The agreement was to protect you, and watch over you whenever you step forth in his forest and to make sure that none of his creatures ever hurts you, for as long as he could.” The stillness of her body, and intensity of her gaze was startling. “Angela, you are a True Soul.”

My body froze for a moment. It was like a part of me that had been kept captive was finally released. I did not want to believe her, but at the same time I knew this was the truth. It’s the first time in my life where I could feel the words that were said. “So… My mom was what you call a Natural Born ?”

“Yes, your mom was a Natural Born .”

“But why has my father kept this from me?” I stood frantically, not knowing what to do with my own body or what any of this meant.

“Angela, relax, breathe.” Faux placed a hand on my shoulder and made me sit again, while my body began to shake a little. “Your father is a good man, he knows a lot about our world. He has done a good job of protecting you so far. There are some things that are out of his control though. But I am sure that what he has told you has been as close to the truth as he felt was safe for you to know.”

“Why couldn’t he have just told me all of this from the very beginning?”

Faux’s hand was still on my shoulder. “I can only assume it was part of the agreement your mother made with the stag. You would be undetectable by anyone who didn’t know who you already were, as long as you had not started the change yet. Your father was trying to protect you, because there are creatures out there who want to kill you because of what you are. I am on your side and I will stay here to help protect you.” Her name is spelled Foe, but she’s mine friend? Is she really on my side?

“Why now?” I pleaded.

“The time that you were supposed to make the change has been accelerated. It has something to do with the severity of the car accident I was told you were in. From the scar on your forehead and the cast on your wrist, I assume the information was correctly relayed to me.”

“What? The car accident, the normal car accident, is what’s causing my body to change?” This seemed a little over the top before….

“I do not believe that was a ‘normal’ car accident. I searched the hospital’s and police records, and have not found any other person that was accounted for at the time of the accident or that was at the hospital with injuries.” Her eyes were hard, but I couldn’t read anything else in her expression.

“They could have been taken to a different hospital, but it’s unlikely.” I sighed. I was trying to make it seem less bizarre than it was turning out to be. Unluckily for me, this information had the wheels turning in my head…

“Angela? Is something wrong,” Faux’s face contorted with worry, matching my own expression.

“The ‘X’ label on the blood type. Does that have something to do with this? My father won’t talk about it. No one will tell me what special medicine that was for.”

She sighed and deeply inhaled… After a long pause she continued, “My guess is, and please don’t take this as accurate knowledge, that the blood you had to receive hasten the time it will take until your first change happens. Because you’ve started to make the change now, it allows you to hear animals talk, and why your other sense are enhancing. Your taste buds are better, you sight and hearing has increased beyond that of a normal human’s. And your since of smell has more than tripled.”

I gasped, everything she said was spot on. “But, how would the doctors know that? I mean is it common knowledge to be admitted to a hospital with the doctors knowing you need type X blood?”

Faux laughed at what I’d assumed was the audacity of the question. “Not exactly, no. Ember took care of all the special requirements that you might need, including finding a doctor and several nurses who are Natural Born s themselves. So no questions ask.”

“That makes me feel wonderful,” I stated sarcastically.

“You should. Ember went through a lot of trouble to protect you.”

I felt terrible for my choice of words; my stomach knotted. My mother should be here with me now. “Was her death my fault?” Everything else about my life had change now. Was I really told the truth about her death? Did she really die in a fire?

Faux looked at me, her cat eyes seemed to know all. “Never blame yourself for that.” She turned her head to look at the house. “We’d better go in. Your father would probably like to be informed that the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak.”