I seemed to hang suspended in mid-air for a split-second. Like I existed briefly outside time and space. I heard Kerry shout in rage. I heard the tranquilizer gun go off. I saw my feet dangling over the street and the cars far below....
Then the moment ended and I was plummeting like a rocket towards the ground. My stomach shot straight up into the back of my throat. The air roared in my ears. The street rushed up to meet me, growing larger in my field of view much faster than I had anticipated.
Panic seared through me. I didn't have enough time! I couldn't change into another form as quickly as I shifted into the wildcat. And, worse, nothing was happening. I didn't feel any changes. I wasn't sprouting wings... feathers... flaps of skin... nothing!
I heard people screaming below me, the high-pitched noise cutting through the roar of the wind. Maybe I was screaming too. I couldn't even tell.
This isn't working! I'm so stupid! I'm going to die! I'm going to splatter on the road like a-
No, wait! Yes, something was happening now! But, why the heck was I getting bigger? Wouldn't it make more sense for me to be shrinking?
My arms were the first thing to change. They stretched and extended outward. They flattened and expanded before my eyes. My legs did the opposite, retreating and shriveling up, becoming thin and clawed. My bones grew hollow and light. My head was being squeezed like play dough, going from big and round to flat, narrow and streamlined. My lips hardened into a hooked, dangerously sharp beak.
And finally—finally!—the feathers came. My skin tingled as they erupted down my back, across my chest and along both arms—which were a lot more like wings at this point.
Yes! I practically screamed the word inside my head. I didn't even bother trying to keep my thoughts separate from everyone around me. Yes!
The ground was still coming at me pretty fast. My body was angled downward, slicing through the air like a knife. My shadow was getting bigger and bigger on the pavement below. It expanded almost across the entire street. Whatever I was, I was feathered and huge!
I flared my wings just as I was about to hit the ground, using muscles I had never used before. Muscles that had never existed on me until about ten seconds ago. I felt a sharp jerk as my fall was cut short. I found myself shooting forward down the middle of the street. My feathers skimmed the tops of vans and trucks. Wind swirled around me. Newspapers and pamphlets went flying out of their neatly organized stacks. Random bits of garbage leaped and spiraled through the air.
People shouted and pointed at me, or just stared with their mouths hanging open. Phones and cameras appeared as if out of nowhere. Flashes of bright light assaulted my eyes.
Well, so much for being discreet. I would have a lot of explaining to do after this. But, for now, I just wanted to get the heck out of here.
I pumped my huge wings, causing heavier items like hats and decorative scarves to join the array of flying debris. My speed picked up. I whipped past buildings and cars at what felt like a hundred miles an hour. But, I wasn't gaining much altitude. Was I too heavy? Was there a flaw in this new form?
Then, a warm draft rose up from beneath me. Before I knew it, I found myself being lifted higher into the air. The people on the street quickly shrank down to the size of scurrying ants. Gleaming sheets of glass and steel continued to flash by on the edges of my vision. The wind raked through my feathers. A powerful feeling rose up inside of me and released itself—almost against my will—into the air.
Waahoo!!
I had thought running in cat-form was exciting. I had thought controlling the muscle and power of a saber-toothed tiger over an overgrown grizzly bear was exhilarating. I had thought flying on the back of a phoenix or a dragon was completely amazing, but this! Absolutely nothing compared to this!
I folded my wings and turned my body sideways, cutting between a pair of sky-scrappers. I barely fit. My feathers almost touched the glass on either side. I saw a blur of faces, staring at my through the windows. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror-liked surface. An eagle with the wingspan of a pick-up truck. Big enough to carry a full-grown man on my back. My beak curved and sharp. Eyes fierce. Feathers pitch black with a dusting of gold that sparked in the sun like crushed diamonds.
My body leveled out as I emerged from between the two buildings. I pumped my wings a few times, climbing higher, then twisted my body the other way and shot between another pair of skyscrapers, going so fast that the air around me seemed to ripple in sonic waves. I folded my wings tight against my body and did a barrel roll, whirling around and around like a top. Then I flared my wings out and soared straight up into the sky, climbing higher and higher above the jungle of steel and concrete, until I could see all of downtown L.A. sprawled out beneath me.
I leveled out again, my pace slowing, but the heart-stopping excitement still surging through me. I coasted on warm thermals of air, feeling so alive and free that I thought I might burst. My eyesight in this form was absolutely brilliant. I could see everything in microscopic detail. The cracks in the sidewalk far below. The amazed expression of every person staring up at me. The fly buzzing around at least a hundred yards away.
I spotted Kerry and Lucas standing on the same building I had jumped from, their jaws hanging slack, their eyes wide and round. Kerry's tranquilizer gun lay forgotten at her feet.
Grinning inwardly, I angled myself like an arrow and dove straight towards them.
Lucas reacted first. When he saw me coming, the jerk spun on his heels and made a run for the concrete door behind him. A second later, Kerry was fumbling around for her tranquilizer gun.
I was too fast for them. I swept in like a feathered bullet and sank my talons into the back of Lucas's shirt. He thrashed and shouted in alarm, his feet skating across the tiled concrete as I dragged him along behind me. There was a drop-off straight ahead, a wide gap between buildings. There was also a pool deck right below. I had spotted it on my way in.
But, Lucas didn't know that.
He screamed in terror as I dumped him over the edge of the building, his good arm flailing wildly. There was a big SPLASH! as he struck the water. An angry, male voice shouted out, "what the hell?"
I laughed and circled back around for Kerry, who was fumbling to reload her gun.
Oh, I don't think so!
I wrapped my talons around her arms, lifting her straight into the air. Kerry shrieked in rage and kicked her legs like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "How dare you! You insolent brat! I demand that you put me down! Put me down this instant!"
Whatever you say.
I released my grip on her arms. SPLASH! She dropped into the pool next to Lucas.
"Another one?" the angry voice shouted. "Are you people drunk or something?"
I cackled wickedly. Puny horses.
Angling my wings, I glided past the building, catching a brief glimpse of Kerry and Lucas flailing around in the water. Reza was on the next roof over, at the very top of the big parking garage, whooping and shouting and pumping the air with his fists.
I shifted back into human form and hit the ground running. By the time Reza had reached me, the feathers and talons were completely gone and my bare feet were stinging on the sunbaked pavement.
And... I'm not sure who made the first move. I think it might have been me because Reza had to take a step back, like I had thrown myself at him. All I knew was that we were suddenly hugging and laughing and spinning in circles like a couple of kids that had eaten too much sugar.
"Eve, that was so awesome!"
"I know!"
"You kicked ass!"
"So did you, Rez!"
He pushed me back a little, holding me at arms length. He was giving me a strange look. One that made it feel like birds were doing swoops and spirals in my stomach—kinda like I had just being doing all over the city.
"You're officially the coolest girl I've ever met."
A blush crept onto my face. "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself."
Reza stared at me for another second or two. "Come on." He grasped my hand, interlacing my fingers with his. "Let's go see if we can flag down Julian and Isaac."
---------------------------------------
It turned out that Julian and Isaac had seen my entire performance from a distance and used it to pinpoint our location. They met us in human form at the bottom of the parking garage, accompanied by Shane, Deanna, Jewel and Danielle.
There was no hesitation when they finally saw us. I found myself in the middle of a mob, people hugging and clapping me on the shoulders and everyone talking all at once.
"Are you guys okay?" Danielle said. "You really scared us, you know that?"
"Next time, you should really tell someone where you're going," Deanna's words were slightly admonishing. However, her tone held nothing but relief.
"Yeah, let's not repeat this," Shane said.
"Eve, I hear you turned into a huge bird!" Jewel said, her voice carrying over the rest of the group.
"You should have seen it, Jewel!" Reza said. "It was so cool! She jumped right off the edge of a building!"
"She did what?" Deanna said.
"Seriously?" Danielle asked.
Neither of them sounded particularly impressed.
"I didn't really have much choice, guys," I said, attempting to defend myself. "Kerry and jerk-face were chasing me."
Jewel smacked me on the back of the head.
"Hey!"
"Eve, you numbskull!"
"I was just-"
"That was pretty reckless of you, Eve," Deanna said.
"But-"
"Did I not advise you against doing that very thing?" Isaac asked me, somewhat sternly.
"Oh, come on, you guys! It worked, didn't it?"
Jewel smacked me again. I leaped across Danielle and smacked her back.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You started it."
"Well, I'm not the one who jumped off a building, you nutcase!"
A door slammed, cutting our conversation short. I looked up to find a middle-aged man in a neatly pressed business suit walk briskly into the parking garage, his teeth clenched and his face bright red.
"You!" he pointed fiercely in my direction. "Curly hair! Blue shirt! You have exactly five minutes to explain yourself before I call the police!
Everyone went quiet almost instantaneously. Deanna frowned. Jewel stiffened and released a very low growl.
I studied the man as he came closer, extremely confused. He did not look the least big familiar. I didn't recall ever seeing him before in my life.
Isaac stepped in front of me, staring the man down. His silver eyes were calm, steady and stern. "What's the problem, here?"
The man's steps faltered for a moment. I saw doubt flash across his face, but he kept coming. He stopped about a foot away from Isaac. "I will tell you what the problem is, sir! This young lady," he jabbed a finger at me, "just caused thousands of dollars in damage to my company!"
Oh right. That.
"She vandalized my property!" the man raved. "She destroyed highly sophisticated equipment! She injured a senior employee! He threw out his back! That employee is one of my top producers and he'll be out of work for at least a week, if not more!"
He sounded far more concerned about the lost productivity than the man who had been injured.
"Err... yeah that was an accident," I said.
"I don't care what it was! And I don't have time to stand around here listening to excuses! I have to get back upstairs and deal with the two comedians who just dropped uninvited into my private pool!"
"Sir," Isaac's voice had grown cold. "Kindly calm down and stop shouting."
"Who's going to pay for all that damage? I should sue you people!"
"I would be happy to reimburse you."
"You're damn right you will!"
"But I have a few conditions."
"Conditions?" the man sputtered. "Conditions? You are not in any position to be negotiating right now, sir!"
"Actually, I believe I am," Isaac said calmly. "I'm quite familiar with your firm, Mr. Connelly."
The man froze with his finger in mid-air.
"You've been in business since the nineteen-forties correct?" Isaac went on. "One of the largest companies in North America. Also one of the most profitable. Which is mainly due to your habit of defying labor laws."
The colour slowly began to drain out of the man's face.
"Unpaid overtime," Isaac stated, calmly and clearly. "Denying vacation pay. Paying below minimum wage wherever you can get away with it. I believe you currently have approximately fifty unpaid interns who are being overworked and are additionally not being taught any useful skills but are rather being treated like indentured servants."
The man was now backing away slowly. His mouth was moving, but no words came out. He turned around and ran, bursting through the closest exit. The tail of his business suit was the last thing to vanish from sight.
"Well," Isaac said, facing the rest of us. "That takes care of him."
"Was all that true, Isaac?" Deanna asked. She looked angry.
"Do you think he would have reacted the same if it weren't? I'll deal with him one way or the other, but we have slightly more pressing matters to worry about at the moment."
"Like what?" I said.
"Evelyn, you do realize, don't you, that thousands of people just watched you shift forms?"
I swear my heart stopped beating for just a second. In all the craziness and excitement, that particular fact had completely slipped my mind.
But, he was right. Countless people had watched my transformation just now, and thousands more would know about it by the end of the day. Not to mention the attention I had drawn to myself running through an office building like a maniac, throwing a full-grown man over my shoulder like he weighed no more than a toothpick and shifting out of wildcat form in the middle of a parking garage.
"What?..." I looked at Isaac. If anyone could bring some control and sanity to the situation, it was him. I found myself childishly hoping that he could smooth things over while I hid in the background. Kind of like he had done just now. "What should I do?"
"Well, the media will no doubt have arrived by now."
Media?
"I think you should go out and talk to them."
I almost choked. "Me? You want me to talk to them?"
"I think that would be best."
Okay, he wasn't serious right now, was he?
"They will not want to hear from anyone else, Evelyn. The will not be satisfied until they have spoken directly with you."
Oh crap, he was serious.
"But... but I can't!" I sputtered. "I don't know how... what do I... I can't do this, Isaac!"
"Did you not just jump off a building?" Julian said. "Now you're afraid of a little public speaking?"
"I think I'd rather jump off another building."
"Evelyn," Isaac said. "You need to take some responsibility for your own actions, here. If you don't help people to understand what just happened they will draw their own conclusions. And that could easily end in disaster."
I swallowed hard. I didn't know why, but his terrifyingly blunt way of explaining things was somehow giving me more confidence. Or at least strengthening my resolve.
"What...umm.... what should I tell them?"
"Well, that's quite simple," Isaac said, raising his dark blue eyebrows. How could he look so calm when I suddenly felt like throwing up? "Tell them the truth."