Days in the Sun
The house was big, but not big enough for her siblings to hide successfully for long. It was quiet too, with their Mom out running errands, and their Dad behind the half-closed door of his office. He had come out earlier, made sure they were alright, told them he was right here if they needed anything. Lisa had heard bits of conversations in the last couple of weeks, between him and her Mom or him on the phone, and she knew he had something very important to finish for his work. So, she had made it part of the rules for their hide and seek game. Anywhere in the house as long as they didn’t bother their father. Not that any of them would have intruded in his office without an invitation anyway.
Tiptoeing on bare feet, she prowled, following instincts she couldn’t explain, focusing on the faint sound of a too fast heartbeat and the even fainter scent that in her mind was forever associated with her brother. As she reached the basement’s door, another sound distracted her. A muffled giggle. Abandoning her first prey – he was stuck in the basement anyway and was as good as caught – she realized that the heartbeat she could hear wasn’t Will’s, but Joy’s. As silent as before, she stalked into the living room and dared a quick glance toward her father’s office where she could see him pacing in the small room. Another chuckle and she pounced to discover her little sister crouching between the armchair and the wall.
“Got you!” she exclaimed, triumphal, as Joyce Anne squealed and tried to run away. She caught her easily, tickled her for a little while, before realizing that the excited cries probably weren’t helping her Dad work at all.
Placing a finger to her lips, she made a shushing noise.
“You want to help me get Will?” she asked perfunctorily. Joy nodded eagerly, and hand in hand, they directed their steps toward the basement door.
The hinges had a tendency to creak when the door opened, but Lisa knew by pushing the door up while pulling it toward her she could keep them silent. The light was off, down there. She caught herself just before flicking the switch on – it might be even more fun in the dark. Provided than Joy could follow her…
Catching her sister’s attention, she pulled forth the mask, struggling a little until it settled on her face and she could feel her extended fangs on each side of her mouth.
“Can you do that?” she whispered, slurring the words a little.
Under her surprised gaze, Joy shifted immediately, seemingly without the struggle Lisa had known. It was eerie to see the almost six years old like this; her still babyish features distorted, her grin showing off her missing front tooth and the two extra, pointy ones, her hazel eyes now golden.
“He doesn’t know you’re with me,” she murmured as low as she could, knowing Joy would have no problem hearing. “Stay quiet and we can catch him from both sides. Alright?”
The younger child nodded, and together they started walking down the concrete steps, Lisa closing the door behind them. The basement didn’t have any windows, so it was extremely dark. With their bumpy faces on, however, it was absolutely no challenge to move amidst the darkness without tripping on the training mats or the rest of the equipment. It wasn’t hard to localize William either, even hidden as he was behind a box next to the wall. Lisa gestured to Joy, telling her without words to get him on the right while she took his left. They were making some noise, of course, and Will had to know they were close. Maybe he could even see them too if he had shifted himself. Yet, he didn’t move at all until they jumped on him and tickled him mercilessly. They only stopped when his pleading became breathless sobs, and by then, they were laughing so much they could barely keep on with the torture.
Still giggling softly, Lisa went to the extra switch and flicked the lights on. When she turned back to her siblings, William was staring at Joy, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Blinking, he looked toward Lisa and seemed even more startled.
“You’re not supposed to do that!” he hissed in a frantic whisper. “Mom and dad are going to be upset!”
Shaking her head lightly, Lisa got rid of the fangs and bumps and noticed that Joy was taking her cue from her and doing the same.
“They don’t need to know,” she replied with a shrug. “And didn’t you do the same thing to hide yourself in the dark?”
A look of pure horror passed through William’s face.
“Of course not!” he denied, indignant. “That’s what flashlights are for!”
Demonstrating, he pulled a small flashlight from his jeans back pocket and showed it to them. Joyce Anne laughed.
“You’re silly! You don’t need a light with the funny face!”
As Will stared darkly at his youngest sister, a suspicion wormed its way in Lisa’s mind.
“Can you do it?” she asked as she came closer to her siblings. “Can you make your face change?”
If possibly, his expression became even more sullen. “We’re not supposed to,” he repeated his earlier statement.
“Will can’t change,” Joy said in a singsong voice, and received a hard glare for her trouble.
“Will doesn’t want to change,” he corrected her icily. “I like my face the way it is, thank you very much.”
With that, head high and stomping feet, he left them there and walked back upstairs. Lisa watched him go, wondering if, in truth, he didn’t want to or simply couldn’t. He had changed a couple of years back, but that had been when he hurt himself. Maybe, he hadn’t done it on purpose. Then again, he was certainly the one who respected all the rules, more so than Lisa or Joy; and maybe he just didn’t want to get in trouble. Because she was quite sure he had been right when he had said their parents would be upset if they saw them like this.
“Joy, listen very carefully,” she said, taking her kid sister hand and looking at her very seriously. “You mustn’t change where Mom or Dad can see you, alright? They wouldn’t like it at all.”
“Why?” Joy asked, clearly puzzled.
“Just believe me, they don’t like it.”
Joyce Anne nodded, and they returned upstairs together, Lisa wondering, as she turned off the lights, whether she ought to go talk to Will and see if he wanted her to teach him how to change. Another time, maybe, she would.
The characters and names used in these stories do not belong to me. All copyrights remain with Fox and Mutant Enemy. No profit is made from this fanfiction.