A second later she about squeezed the life out of me. “Okay. I’m starving. Get changed and I’ll make us breakfast.”
She disappeared out of the room in a blink of an eye. That would take some getting used to. I grabbed the change of clothes I’d nabbed last night after telling my mom I was staying over at Dee’s house. I quickly changed, then headed downstairs.
Dee was already making breakfast and chatting on her cell phone. The clang of pots and the soft lure of running water muted most of what she was saying. Snapping the phone closed, she spun around.
Then she was in front of me, pulling me to the kitchen table. “When everything happened last night, all I could think is that you must believe we’re a bunch of freaks.”
“Well…” I started. “You sure aren’t normal.”
She giggled. “Yes, but normal is so boring sometimes.”
I cringed at her choice of words and went to pull out the chair. It moved before I could touch it, sliding back several inches. Startled, I glanced up. “You?”
Dee grinned.
“Well, that was handy.” I sat slowly, hoping it didn’t get moving again. “So you’re as fast as light?”
“I think we might be a little faster.” She popped over to the stove. She placed her hand over the skillet. It immediately started crackling under her palm. Over her shoulder, she grinned.
The stove wasn’t turned on, but the scent of cooked bacon filled the air.
I leaned forward. “How are you doing that?”
“Heat,” she said. “It’s faster this way. Takes me seconds to fry up pig.”
And it really was only minutes when she handed me a plate of eggs and bacon. Between the moving super-fast and the microwave hand, I was starting to get a bad case of alien envy.
“So what did Daemon tell you last night?” She sat down, a mountain of eggs on her plate.
“He showed me some of your cool alien tricks.” The food smelled delicious and I was starving. “Thank you for the breakfast, by the way.”
“You’re welcome.” She pulled her hair up into a messy knot. “You have no idea how hard it’s been pretending to be something we’re not. It’s one of the reasons why we don’t have a lot of close friends that are…human. That’s why Daemon’s all ‘Human equals no friend’ or whatever.” I toyed with my fork while she devoured half her plate in seconds. “Well, now you don’t have to pretend anymore.”
Her eyes lifted, sparkling. “Want to know something cool?”
Coming from her, I could only imagine what it was going to be. “Yeah.”
“We can see things that humans can’t. Like the energy you all put off around you. I think new age people call them auras or whatever. It represents their energy, or some could call it life force. It changes when their emotions change, if they are feeling sick.” My fork stopped halfway to my mouth. “Can you see mine now?”
She shook her head. “You have a trace around you right now. I can’t see your energy, but it was a pale pink when I met you, which seems normal. It used to get really red when you’d talk to Daemon.” Red probably represented anger. Or lust.
“I’m not good at reading it though. Some powers come more easily to others, but Matthew rocks at reading energies.”
“What?” I set my fork back down. “Our biology teacher is an alien? Holy crap…all I can think of is that movie The Faculty.” But it made sense, the way he’d acted when he saw Daemon and me together, the strange looks in class.
Dee choked on her orange juice. “We don’t snatch bodies.”
I hoped not. “Wow. So you guys have like normal jobs.”
“Yep.” Jumping from her chair, she glanced at the door. “Want to see what I’m good at?”
When I nodded, she moved back from the table and closed her eyes. The air around her seemed to hum softly. A second later she went from teenage girl to a form made out of light, and then a wolf.
“Um,” I cleared my throat. “I think I’ve discovered how the legend of werewolves got started.”
She padded over to me and nudged my hand with her warm nose. Unsure of what I should do, I patted her on the top of her furry head. The wolf let out a bark that sounded more like a giggle and then backed off. A few seconds later, it was Dee again.
“And that’s not all. Look.” She shook her arms. “Don’t freak out.”
“Okay.” I clenched my glass of OJ.
Closing her eyes, her body faded into the light and then she became someone totally different. Light brown hair fell past her shoulders and her face was a bit paler. Eyebrows arched over large, doe eyes, and her rosy-colored lips formed a half smile. She was shorter, a little more normal looking.
“Me?” I squeaked. I was staring at me.
“Hey,” Dee-as-me said. “Can you tell us apart?”
Heart pounding, I started to stand but didn’t make it. My mouth moved but no words came out. “This is…weird.” I squinted. “Does my nose really look like that? Turn around.” She did. I shrugged. “My butt doesn’t look bad.” The exact replica of me laughed and then faded out. For a moment I could see the outline of a body, but I could see the fridge through the center. A second later she was Dee. She sat down again. “I can look like anyone except for my brother. I mean, I can look like him, but that would be gross.” She shuddered. “All of us can shift, but I can hold the form for like forever. Most of us can only mimic for a few minutes tops.” Her chest swelled with pride.