Mysteries, Lies, and the Truth

[RacingBelle]

Footsteps pounded behind Ashleigh. The girl was running as fast as she could, her legs and arms pumping. People called the Elite Forces or the EF were after her. Why these people were chasing her or who these people are evaded the girl's mind. All Ashleigh could think about was escaping from these people who were trying to capture her. Ashleigh made a sharp turn and kept running. She looked back, nearly tripping over a tree root before catching herself. I lost them! Ashleigh thought hopefully. Now was the time to think, think of every thing that she could. What did I do? Well, I did runaway from home but was that enough for a group of EFs to be after me?! Besides who are these people? Some group of snobby police officers, who call themselves the Elite Forces? Ashleigh's breathes came in short, quick gasps. She tired to stifle them but it seemed to her they only got louder. Ashleigh noticed a mixture of brown and grey hair fell into her face. Grey? But how? I'm not that old! Ashleigh almost blurted but thought fiercely in her mind. The girl bit her lip. Short grey hair started to creep up her arms. What's happening?! Anger and confusion washed away into fear as the girl began to shift. A twig snapped and Ashleigh ran away blindly, hardly noticing that she was now a horse. Not knowing where she was going, except for deeper into the forest, was the only thing that Ashleigh was concerned with.

[{J I S A}]

Hmmm, the forest. So green and vibrant and- abandoned. The smells of the damp undergrowth disperse all around me. The dull pain in my head fades. I inhale the scents of not-so-familiarity. This place has changed. I realized that I had no idea where I was when the EF had dumped me near that river. One thing's for sure- I'm a long way from home. Unless this is home and it had changed all around me the time that I had been gone. As I say, the world doesn't stop, time doesn't falter; it all goes on whether you're there for it or not. Makes you feel sort of unimportant right? All we're here for is to serve a purpose unknown- until we're in the midst of it. My black turtleneck and dark jeans hang off of my slender frame, no longer properly fitting me anymore. Eyes like the Carribean sea are stormy and haunted, grey ice splintering the waves. Brittle black hair hangs around my face, just barely reaching my shoulders. Once glorious and now destroyed. I fail to remember the last time I has been like this. Scars marr my pretty face, one of them dragging one corner of my mouth down in a permanent frown. My arms are wrapped around my body as I stride deeper into the forest, one step at a time. Birds twitter and sing around me, the sun's still up. My eyelids are weighed down by the heavy lashes that border them, and momentarily I am lost in my own world.

Rustling. A twig snapping. The forest goes silent. The thrum of something that sounded like helicopter blades chopping the air jerks me out of my zen moment; it comes ever closer. Memories sting at my mind. A flash of grey is caught in my sight, barely there for a second. A horse? But no, that musty smell so filled with fresh life is not animal. Shifter; a panicked one at that. What can I do? I'll have to see. I bolt in the general direction of where the Shifter's heading. My strides first come choppy and fast, then they lengthen and carry me farther. It seems like ice and fire assault my lungs; it burns either way. I leap over tree roots and fight through overhanging branches and vines. I can see the Shifter now. The question is: what can I do?

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[RacingBelle]

Panic. That was one word to describe Ashleigh's state. Pure and utter panic. I have to loose them. I have to loose them! Were the thoughts that flew briefly the girls mind. Ashleigh's newly enhanced senses guided her. New smells and sights came into view but was hardly noticed. What she heard was more bothersome. Helicopter blades. Ashleigh hadn't noticed them until now. Why though? Her strides seemed longer, quicker, more efficient. Not one little movement was wasted. Ashleigh turned to look at the people that were following her. Black, shadowy shapes were still hot on her heals. More panic seized the girl. What Ashleigh saw was churning hindquarters, instead of just forest floor. I'm a horse! I'm a horse? But how? Ashleigh wanted to stop and think but that could be deadly at the moment. Gunpowder. Her nose smelled gun powder. Of course all police, even snobby ones, carry guns. Ashleigh reminded herself. But her nagging mind told her that this was more than a squadron of snobby police officers. Faster and longer her strides became trying desperately to outrun the EF. But failing.

[{J I S A}]

If there was anyway to calm this whole running situation down, believe me I would do it. That is until the familiar smell of metal and gunpowder in the area came to my nose. Everything seems to slow down as I whip my head around to see at least three figures in black, nimbly moving through the forest. The Elite Forces. Time speeds up. So much for being inconspicuous. The muscles in my legs and arms scream for oxygen and rest, the familiar fog of exhaustion and anxiety falls over my brain. I push it away as well as I can and skid to a halt. Yet again everything seems to slow down and I see one figure barreling toward me, time snaps back into place and we both go down. I kick upwards- hard. I hear a dull thump and then the Hunter is off of me. I scramble to my feet, brambles clawing and catching the fibres of my jeans and sweater. My hair falls in my eyes and as I brush it away, I see the Hunter pulling a gun on me. Just call me Crazy. Taking a deep breath I throw my foot toward the gun, aiming to knock it out of his hand. He sees it coming and moves the gun wildly in the air. One shot. It blasts and I can hear it ringing in my ears. The Hunter didn't even come close to me. I reached out and grabbed the gun, bending the Hunters wrist backward. He tries to kick me in my side and get the advantage, I don't let him. Without letting go of the gun I shove it backwards into his temple, hard. A sickening crack reverberates through my own bones as he slumps to the floor. The adrenaline of a fight runs through my veins. Jisa's back. I smile. Of course, as always- I'm put back into my place.

The wind is knocked out of me as another black figure throws herself at me and sends me into a tree. For a moment I see stars, and a shooting pain runs up my spine. For goodness sake I can't catch a break.

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[RacingBelle]

I skidded to a stop as soon as I heard that gunshot. Gun. My horse instincts told me to flee not fight but human instincts told me to fight not flee. I battled it out, my human side winning. There was another person, not and elite and different like me I guess. Different smelling anyway, kinda like there was another living thing inside her. My flanks heaved and I charged into the fray. I supposed it was the right thing to do wasn't it? A few people in black lay on the forest floor, dead, alive, or knocked out I didn't care. I reared, my form towering above everyone. I didn't know how to fight as a human, right now I didn't even know how to get back to my human form, but I sure did know how to fight as a horse. My teeth snapped at anything I could reach and my hooves flew out. I didn't know if I was hitting anything or not, I wasn't really aiming, but I guess I got a few good ones by the ways there were the occasional snap or crack followed by the thump of a being hitting the ground. Sweat poured off my grey body. Was it done? Were they gone? I stopped bucking and biting for a moment and saw that there were a few people left. All of them had ropes. Ropes, my eyes grew wide and rolled in terror. They were also walking toward me like I was an ordinary every day horse! I screamed and lunged at one, teeth snapping on air. One threw a rope and it landed on my withers. So much for their aim with a rope. I reared, legs pawing the air. I was trying to stay out of reach of their rope but wasn't it always in the movies that when a horse reared they get caught? I landed before going up in the air once more. I was tired and unsure of what to do. Help! I yelled, the words coming out of my mouth as a chilling scream of terror. I didn't need help right? I cold do this on my own right? I tried to encourage myself but that was futile. Once more I landed, then lashed out with my hind legs. Soon I was a tornado of teeth and hooves, eyes rolling white and ears pinned back. Scared out of my wits but fighting for my life. Who would have thought?

[{J I S A}]

A blur of Grey joined the fray of inky blackness and green foliage. Screaming and crashing came to my ears but I concentrated on fighting the dingy darkness at the corner of my eyes. Right now was so not the time to black out. The woman fighting me kept her attention on me as well; just as I was with her. All of a sudden I feel exhausted and my muscles start to feel weak, the blackness on the edges of my vision aren't what I had originally thought. The bottom line is, I have to end this now. Her arm is pushed cruelly into my throat, closing my airways. I throw a punch toward her face and it connects quite nicely, sending her stumbling back. I get to my feet and advance on her, but she's off. Obviously she didn't want to risk her life today.

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[RacingBelle]

I stopped bucking for a few moments. The Elites were gone, dying, or already dead. I flattened my ears as I saw a person in black but soon relized that was the girl who smelt different than all the others. I relaxed quickly then took a step toward the girl. My eyes rolled backwards, where I could no longer see the girl, my ears went straight back, and I clacked my teeth together. In horse language it meant "I'm small and weak, I'm no threat to you." or "Your my higher, I'm you lower so please don't hurt me!" Once I did that I stared past the girl, thinking. How could I be human again? The whites of my eyes flashed in fear and I pawed the ground in frustration. I looked over at the girl in black, eyes pleading for help. I knew, though, that she couldn't help me. I started to pace thinking, wondering. Soon I had thought back to eighth grade. I had read a book called Wild Magic, where this girl called Daine could turn into animals and speak to them. When she wanted to turn back into a human she thought about what her human form looked and felt like. Maybe that would work for me too! So I started to imagine myself, how I looked like; how I spoke and acted. Slowly I felt myself shrink and grow back into human form. I sighed and sank to the ground. Who the heck were those guys? I wanted to ask but couldn't seem to find the breath. My breathes came in ragged gasps now as I tired to take in enough air to speak. I felt exhasted, as anyone would, and aching from head to toe. Finally, I had enough courage, and breath to address the girl in black.
"Who-who were those people?" I asked tentatively. I was truly confused and just wanted to know what was going on. "Sorry for pulling you into that mess...I didn't know what to do. I thought they were after me for running away. I thought they would drag me back to my...erm...parents." I hated calling those two people who raised me my parents. I hated them and never wanted to see them again.

[{J I S A}]

Wonderful. Though clearly I haven't done much of the killing here, the blood is still on my hands. Another life to add to my mental tally; I am so going to hell. Brushing the odd leaf and twig that sticks to my jeans, I turn to face the frightened animal in front of me. Sweat covers the flank of the grey pelted Shifter. All of a sudden the Horse seemed to give in to me and say that it meant no harm. My arms take their place across my chest as I lean back and stare at it. A question mark is clearly placed on my face. Soon the glorious mare melted into the form of a very perplexed young girl, seeming to be around sixteen. My own chest heaves with breath, but less than the blonde haired girl. The world may be spinning slightly but the other affects have worn off; for that I am glad. Straight to the questions went the sixteen year old, as only expected. It's not all that a big deal for me, I pick stray hairs and lint off of my sweater and brush my hair back. Once so nice to have and now such a pain. Soon my eyes rise to hers and I break in between her sentences.

"Those, Shifter, were the Elite Forces. They are also known as Hunters or simply the EF, they're a pain to get rid of."

I state so very simply, as if it makes no difference to me. Young Girl apologizes and I shrug, still she seems not to know just what's going on. I don't blame her, it's still confusing now to me.

"Eh, not as if I don't deal with those jerks every day anyway."

My eyebrows clearly raise at the part where she said she ran away. 'The EF a normal police force dealing with run away kids?' I snort,'hardly.' I shake my head at the confused girl and start to walk into the forest, she could follow if she wanted to listen to my rants of information.

"They are no joke, maybe a lot of the people they look for happen to be illegally alone or on the run, but they are not runaway coppers without lives."

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[RacingBelle]

"What?! What did you call me? A shifter? What's that? Not police? Then what are they and why were they chasing me?" I asked. I scrambled up, a mental picture of a newborn foal doing the same thing. I smiled, just briefly at the thought of a cute little foal. Then a wave of dizziness overcame my head. A hand instinctively went up to my head, with the other searched for something to grip. When nothing met that groping hand after a few seconds I stumbled, but luckily fell against a tree. I blinked as my head cleared and the sight of dead bodies met my eyes. We did that? I thought. Though I was sure that I was the one who did most of the killing, or almost sure anyway. But me...kill? Soon after a few seconds I was able to trot over to the older girl in black, more like teeter over anyway, who was fast disappearing into the forest. I repeated my questions, just as clueless as when she first addressed me. Shifter? What the heck was a shifter? Who in the world really were these EF guys?

[{J I S A}]

Apparently my nicknaming and explaining hadn't done much to give the girl her direction. Her questions shot at the back of my head like bullets. Typical teenage girl- I still need to figure out what month it is... or at least a season. The girl spins as if the world is dizzying her as it is me, but she gathers herself and stumbles after me. I take it she hasn't killed people before, I'd love it if I could actually say that about myself without lying. Addressing the girl again, I decide to clear things up completely with her.

"You can morph into a horse can't you? Therefore you are a Shape Shifter, like me. Those EF guys? They're recruited to murder me and you and about half the world's population along with us."

I answer her first questions bluntly, heck the less emotion I put into these sentences, the more they'll make sense hopefully. I shove my hands into my dark jeans pockets and then I halt abruptly. Might as well hit the ball all the way home. Hopefully she'll understand it more this time. I intake breath and then rest my haunted and dark eyes on her.

"You are now part of the world I like to call Hell. That could just be me, but there we go."

I smile at her slightly malisciously, but only because she made a huge mistake by trading her parents for this. Oh to have a family, a joy I shall never have again. I envy her, the ability to leave her family. It's just absurd.

"Shoulda stayed home little Shifter."

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[RacingBelle]

"Yeah...but...why? I mean we haven't done anything to them...I mean besides kill the lot of them over there but they attacked us first! They were asking for it!" I stammered. The girl stopped and I stopped too. She turned those dark, haunted eyes to me. I wondered what had made her eyes like that. I meet the gaze with rebellion in my eyes, I was not one to back down just because of a creepy stare. I took in every word carefully, now starting to see the full picture. A shifter. Me. Her.

"I don't care about my parents and they don't care about me!" Anger flared in my eyes and my tone turned harsh, she had just touched a very touchy subject. "Running from these EF people are a heck of a lot better than living under their roof! I don't care if I've just become a part of Hell because I was already in it, living there in that town; in that house! Those people don't get me and nobody in that stupid town! No way would I ever go back!" I finished, the bright flame of anger dying. I my voice the whole time was calm yet spitting with anger. I set my jaw and stared stubbornly at the dark clothed girl. If she was going to send me back to my parents I would turn back into a horse, however I could do that, and run. Or fight, whichever came to me first.

[{J I S A}]

Ah. So this one's a that's-not-fair type person hey? Jisa shook her head. This sixteen year old had a lot to learn before the tall Shifter could leave her on her own. Just because Jisa was almost literally heartless once again, it didn't mean she wanted to have another death on her watch. It was hard enough to kill people in defense. Dark hair hung around her shoulders and Jisa wished it would just hurry up and grow out already.

"Humans are very... violent toward people who aren't exactly like them. It's a difficult thing to explain, but there's never really been peace between Supernaturals and Humans. Now, it's a fact of your life that you either accept or you don't. I highly advise accepting it."

Yes, after countless years Jisa should know the ins and outs of being a Shifter or any Supernatural. The other girl stares straight back into the dark eyes of the black haired Shifter. That was her choice but it was not a good idea to make an enemy out of Jisa. Shrugging she just looked back at the runaway teen. Again another choice made, that could be very good or very bad. Things sometimes just happened like that, you make a choice and it can make or break your life. Jisa, had made the wrong choice.

"That's fine by me, little Shifter, all I was saying is that you're lucky you had a chance to have parents. Whether you stick with them or not is hardly my concern. All I'm saying is the EF have killed more than a few pretty faces."

After a moments thought, Jisa added something else to her little speech.

"Your choices are all very important, 'cause if one Shifter messes up it could be just enough to tip the balance."

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[RacingBelle]

I relaxed. She didn't care. She wasn't going to make me go back to that town and live with 'those people'. I wish she would stop calling me 'little shifter'. It was getting on my nerves. Oh well, I'd rather have someone call me that and just be here than be all alone in this creepy forest, with all those EF after us. Me. Her. Whatever.

"Sorry." I mumbled. I shouldn't have gone off like that. Sometimes I overreacted a bit. The words 'parents' and 'home' weren't the best thing to say around me right now. "I'm not lucky. I wish running had been my life. That would have been better than living with humans. Yeah I think I'll accept it. Life will be easier, now that I know why I'm different then them."

Funny. Just a few minutes ago I had thought I was a human. Humph. Turns out I'm a shifter. Better not upset this girl, I want her on my side. I thought as if I was picking kids for a soccer team. I know she can kill. My eyes widened slightly. I can kill. I pushed away that feeling that I should run. Clearly that was the horse side of me. Always run not fight unless necessary. Horse sense. I literally have horse sense. I bit my lip as a smile teased at my lips. This girl wouldn't understand why I was smiling after something like we just did. Soon the feeling past and listened carefully to the last words the girl spoke. 'Your choices are all very important, 'cause if one Shifter messes up it could be just enough to tip the balance.' I blinked. My choices could tip the balance. Joy of joys. I wouldn't be reckless that's for sure.

"So...my name's Ashleigh or Ash. Whichever one. Yours is?" I said hoping to at least to get on a first names basis. This girl didn't look as if she kept friends around too long but I didn't want to be alone, not yet; not so soon. I hadn't had anyone be this friendly to me since...ever.

"So any others...like are there more Supernaturals than just shifters? Is there anything else besides the EF that will come and kill me?'' I asked. Were all myths true? Like Pegasus and giants and all that sort of stuff.

[{J I S A}]

Okay, so maybe this blonde sixteen year old wasn't the smartest person- or shifter- on Earth. Who would have thought running from death for the rest of your life would be better than living with a family? This world continued to astound and stun the dark haired Shifter. Whatever, it was the girls own choice. The sixteen year old ranted about wishing she could have run all her life and that now that she knew why she was different, she felt better. What to do now? The checklist: Told the girl what she is- check, scared her into being careful- probably, explained everything as best as possible- eh maybe. Ash, as she named herself introduced her name and then expected Jisa to give her own. Dark eyes narrowed, the dark haired Shifter contemplated this for a little while, before deciding that it didn't matter anymore.

"In short, my name is Jisa- though if you ever meet anyone that 'knows' me, they might say Jisanna or Taylor... and maybe something else I honestly can't remember anymore."

Her smooth voice told Ash, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember anything else that she could be called... nothing came to her mind so she left it alone. Her long limbs stretched, and Jisa looked up into the canopy of green leaves above them both. It didn't seem like any danger would be coming after them any time soon. Time to relax... at least a little bit.

"Well so far... I still don't know. Species pop up and die away all the time. I know that there are obviously Shifters. Also there are Vampires, Elves and Witches. But who knows? There could be more. None of them will really come to kill you unless you piss them off or something."

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[RacingBelle]

Ah great. So now we know each others names and she tells me that vampires, witches, and elves all exist! Note to self: Never piss one off...just perfect. Jisanna or Jisa. Both were pretty names. I wonder where Jisa was from and what was her story but I didn't want to pry. I went over a mental list of what had just happened to me. 1) Get chased by EF people. 2)Turn into a horse while still running from EF 3) Kill a bunch of them while still a horse. 4) Turn back into a human and meet creepy black haired girl. 5) Learn that I'm a shifter by creepy black haired girl. 6) Give my name to creepy black haired girl and get one back: Jisa.

Yup. My life has officially gotten weirder and more dangerous. Just great. So now what? Blurt out my story to Jisa or leave it. Safer decision: Leave it so as not to annoy Jisa. Yeah that would work. Now what? I blinked and rubbed my eyes. I was getting a bit sleepy but I don't take naps. I leaned against a tree and stared up at the tops of the trees. Jisa was doing the same. Finally I had one more question to ask or maybe there were more, oh well.

"You said your a shifter...so what can you shift into?" I asked. I looked Jisa up and down. I really hadn't notice but she was older then me, so not a girl but a woman. Hum. Scars marred her otherwise pretty face. I wondered how she had gotten those but I kept my mouth shut. Her dark black hair was ragged, almost like it had been cut by a knife. She was tall. Taller than me anyway. I sighed softly and leaned against the tree some more, closing my eyes. Yeah this was the life, I guess.