The Shifters: Katrina

Standing in the middle of Greenhill, my face hidden yet still plastered on multiple posters, made me uneasy in seconds. I had a group of strong allies around me, yet I felt alone when I stared back at myself. I brushed past the notice for my missing self with less shock than when I had come back the first time, walking gracefully into the library. My practice with my physical abilities as a shapeshifter had improved my confidence, my footsteps soft and feline as I walked toward the counter. The others fanned out, searching through the shelves as I rang the bell for service. Koren stood at my side, the only one who kept close according to plan.

"Coming," someone called. It was a new worker I'd never met. "Hi! I'm Sarah, how can I help you?"

"We're looking for a certain document," I told her slowly. "About shapeshifters?"

Sarah's face was carefully molded into a curious look. "Document? When only have fiction books, miss."

"No, I'm sure it's a document."

"Was this recommended to you by someone?"

Koren tensed at my side. I forced myself to smile at her, even if the mask obscured the expression. "Yes, it was actually!"

Sarah eyed me, leaning on the counter. "And who recommended it to you?"

I stopped myself before replying. Leaning to one side, I allowed my hand to slip behind my back, creating a zero with my fingers. It meant that I wasn't going to follow through with this lead just yet. Koren got the message, tapping my shoulder.

"Maybe it is a book. Let's go look for it," he told me, glancing at Sarah, "where's your fiction?"

Her jaw tightened before a fake smile plastered itself onto her face. "Just three aisles down. I'll be here if you need anything else!"

We turned away, following her directions. Once we were out of sight, we rushed back to the others and stood in the farthest corner of the room.

"It's here, but she's hiding it," Koren began, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm certain."

"So what do we do?"

"We search for it," I said firmly. "Try to look everywhere. There could be some extra section we don't know about."

"What if it's in the staff-only area?"

We all paused before Willa snapped her fingers.

"Alisa is a cobra. If she's quick, she could pass by undetected. After all, she's the smallest out of us."

The blonde girl nodded. "On it."

We watched as the girl shifted into a snake, the slithering being flicking its tongue at us before it curled around and disappearing behind the shelf. I exhaled softly before eyeing the others, forcing a smile.

"Alright. Spread out. Come on, Koren."

The wolf nodded and our group dispersed. He followed me through the aisles, and I picked a random one.

It was all history books.

The next aisle was cook books and children's stories.

After that was popular romance, and while some of the covers caught my eye, it was for the wrong reason.

We kept wandering until we bumped into Tyree, Gene and Willa. By then we were all backtracking, and it was getting to be frustrated.

Then, I felt something cold slithering up my leg and I nearly screamed. It was Alisa, the snake holding a paper in her mouth.

Hope soared within me as I plucked it from her, reading the page. On it was a certain book marked on one aisle. My eyebrows shot up. It was in the kid's aisle.

Children should know their history, I thought. It was something Abigail, my other mother, once told me when I was younger. I hated my history class and the project I'd been doing, and it was the best thing she could come up with.

Alisa had shifted back by the time I was paying attention again.

"I don't know what it is, but it's the only thing that stood out," she explained. "It could be nothing."

I bit down on my lip.

"Katrina?"

"It's a clue," I sighed. "My huntress mother left me a goddamn clue."

"You don't have to look for it," Koren pointed out, "it could be a trap."

I dropped the paper, turning away from them. They called after me, getting the attention of our friends as I stormed toward the children's section. The code taped onto the book was burned into my mind as I went along the shelf, eventually stopping on the right book.

Monsters Under the Bed by Zei Droves.

I yanked it off the shelf, and immediately my breath caught. Like in the movies, a section of the pages were missing. Inside the book was another one, the smaller one bound with leather and dusty. I dropped the fake children's story, flipping open the cover.

Zei Droves was written on the first page, followed by scrawling, perfect cursive. I picked out the words elegance, ferocity, element and shift. Overwhelmed by the fact that it was, in fact, the right book, I slammed it shut and put one hand over my mouth.

She left me a clue, but doesn't want me to read it.

She lead me to it, but warns me not to let it get to me.

What could be in this book?

Who's Zei?

"Katrina?"

I whirled around, clutching the journal to my chest.

"What's that?" Willa asked, carefully scanning the aisle.

"It's..," I trailed off. "It's the book we're looking for. Does the name Zei Droves mean anything to you?"

The two adults went pale while my friends strode forward. They didn't try to take the book from me, but Gene had the decency to pick up the fake children's story and put it back.

"Who is Zei?" I asked when Gene was finished, focusing on Koren. He swallowed, looking away from me.

"Have you heard the story about the original four, Katrina?"

I nodded. They were the original shapeshifters who helped some kid. They were all named after physical and personality traits, too.

"Rachel started to tell her the story, but stopped midway," Koren croaked.

"The fairytale our parents tell us growing up?" Alisa scoffed. "What does that have to do with this?"

He gritted his teeth. "It's the truth. And... Zei Droves is the boy who found them."

My throat closed from anxiety. "But this is supposed to be written by a hunter."

Koren shrugged. "But there's supposed to be multiple, aren't there? Your mom left you a clue for that one... But what if that is just a second clue."

My hands began to shake, my mouth drooping as I tried not to scream from frustration. I flipped through the pages rapidly, trying to find a single lead.

Then, one page came loose.

Tyree grabbed it first, reading it at the speed of light. "You're right, Koren. This is a clue to find the documents, but we're going to need the librarian on our side."

She frowned. "For the moment, that may not be important though," she murmured.

"What is it?"

A sad look crossed her features. "The other documents are just day by day missions for the hunters. This journal, though..."

She gulped before finishing. "Zei supposedly talks about the originals, shifters in depth and... something called a Guardian."

Everyone was still, puzzling over what she could possibly mean.

"Let's just get it back to Coraline," I said gruffly. "She'll explain. Come on."

I held the book tightly, turning away from them all. Tyree glanced at her single page before sighing, falling in step beside me. The others followed suit, all of us uncomfortably quiet.

Guardians, eh?

Wonder what those are going to screw up for me.

Last chapter of Part Two out tomorrow.