The Scroll 12

Edit: Due to some shortsightedness, I made some major errors when writing this section of "The Scroll." Thank you Zain for pointing out the flaws. I will leave this post up, but I recommend you read The Scroll 12 --Revised instead of this post. It's different--in some ways drastically--than this post.

In this episode of "The Scroll," we see Savannah's reaction to Gray shape shifting, we have a little history lesson, and we finally learn why Gray's here anyway.

Enjoy.

* * *

“Spill what?” asked Gray.

Leslie clenched her fists. A torrent of emotions—fear, anger, betrayal, confusion—boiled in her. She looked at her hands and tried to relax them. They wouldn’t. “Don’t play dumb,” she said. “I was attacked today by a mountain lion that just seconds before was a young woman. And I was saved by a big black leopard that seconds before had been you. And it all has something to do with that scroll of yours. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

Leslie looked at Gray in disbelief.

Gray touched his side gingerly and winced. “I really don’t know,” he mumbled. “I was given a mission, one that only involved my town. I don’t even know how I was found or why they are after the scroll.”

“Okay,” said Leslie, holding up her hand. “Back up. Let’s start from when I found you. Where were you before that?”

Gray fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “That’s going to be a little difficult to explain. You see, you can’t reach where I’m from with any sort of automatic locomotive vehicle.”

Leslie blinked. “Be clearer.”

Taking a deep breath, Gray tried again. “We have a saying where I’m from. ‘When sand, sea, and sky meet, watch where you put your feet.’ On my side, every child knows about this place. So many of us have accidentally slipped over. But here…well, let’s just say we get the impression that most people don’t believe in what they can’t see.”

“And what can’t we see?”

“Another world, one ruled by magic.”

That’s it, thought Leslie. He’s crazy. But was he? Leslie had, after all, seen him change into an animal in front of her eyes. And she had coaxed a half-animal half-human out of the tree. “Another world. What do you mean?”

Gray’s eyes lit with joy. “It’s like here, similar but different. The landforms are basically the same. Vegetation growth is different—there are more forests there. And there aren’t the same cities or towns. You say Half-Moon Bay is a small city? Yet it’s one of the largest I’ve ever seen. And you should see the animals where I’m from—and the wonders.”

Suddenly, Leslie’s door burst open. Savannah stumbled in, her hand clutching the doorknob. “Hey,” she said, blushing. “Look at that. Something’s wrong with your doorknob, Leslie. I barely touched it.”

“Were you eavesdropping?” Leslie demanded, standing.

Savannah shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I’m not the one hiding a shape shifter in their room. So you’re from an alternate reality?” she said, suddenly addressing Gray. She came and sat on the floor in front of him, crossing her legs underneath her.

“Uhn, what’s that?” he asked.

“It’s a place that’s almost exactly like this, but different. It’s made by people choosing different paths, and all of a sudden everything doubles. Over there I could find myself, and Leslie could find herself, and technology would either be a little better or a little worse and maybe we’d be ruled by Spaniards instead of speaking English—oh, except you speak English.”

Gray shook his head. “No, it’s not like that. It’s another world, but it’s not a copy. Well, it’s a copy to an extent. It was created by magicians.”

Savannah’s jaw dropped. “An entire universe was created by magicians? Normal people, like you and me?”

Leslie flushed. “That’s not possible. You can’t just create something out of nothing.”

“Apparently it’s possible,” said Gray, a little grin on his face, “because I’m here, and I’m from there.

“The magicians created it in the late 1600’s after the witch trials in Salem. None of those that were killed were actually witches, but people with magic could feel the world closing in on them. So they created a world that would be ruled by magic instead of science. All the powerful magic-users—magicians, witches, shape shifters, and demon raisers—were brought over—though people quickly realized that the demon raisers needed to be exterminated. Many magical creatures crossed over as well, leaving this world devoid of most its magic.”

“So there are witches and demons and magicians where you’re from?” asked Savannah. She whispered to Leslie, “This is the best story ever.”

Gray laughed softly at Savannah. “Not quite. When all the magic-users crossed over, something happened. The magic changed. So what we have now is different from what was once available. For example,” he said, gesturing to himself, “everyone from my world has a shifted form.”

“Everyone can change into an animal? So if I went to your world, would I be able to change into an animal?” asked Savannah.

Gray shook his head. “No. If you had children there, they would have a shifted form, but you would never have a shifted form.”

Savannah deflated slightly. “Bummer.” She raised an eyebrow and looked at Gray from the corner of her eye. “Show me.”

“No, Savannah,” Leslie said. “I don’t want you involved in whatever this is.”

Savannah crossed her arms. “Your story is nice and all, but I won’t believe a word of it until I see you change.”

“I can’t do that without my soul binder—or I should say I could, but I shouldn’t.”

“And what’s a soul binder?” asked Savannah.

Gray held up his broken necklace. “When I become an animal, my human self wants to slip away and let the animal instincts rule. This helps me remember who I am and that I need to turn back into a human. I need to repair the necklace. I was going to use part of my shirt, but it’s busy repairing itself.”

“So put the rock in your mouth. Just don’t swallow,” said Savannah.

Gray looked at Leslie. She shook her head. He looked at Savannah. She nodded encouragingly. “Sounds like a good idea.” He popped the carved obsidian rock into his mouth.

Leslie forced herself to watch. She could feel herself slipping into a haze, trying to ignore the fact that what Gray was saying was true. She had to see one more time what her mind refused to believe. Fur erupted over Gray’s body, and his body shifted and melted until he fell on all fours on the floor. Flat yellow eyes gazed at Savannah.

Savannah was frozen silent for one second. Then she leaped up. “That’s so cool! You really did change!” She ran her hand over his head. “You’re so soft. Aww, and look at your ears. They’re so big. You’re not a grown-up, are you?”

Gray growled slightly. Savannah laughed. “Your face is soo cute.”

Gray’s ears flattened.

“Umm, I’m not sure cute is the right word,” said Leslie. She didn’t feel like she was going to faint like she felt at the school, but she didn’t want to stand and risk it.

“Sure it is,” said Savannah. “He’s still all scrawny and stuff.”

Suddenly, the panther was replaced by Gray. He scrambled to his feet, pulling on his shirt. “That’s it, no more shifting in front of you.” He spat out the carved panther into his hand.

“For your information,” he said, straightening his shirt, “yes, I am not a grown-up. I’m sorry if my shifted form still looks too kittenish for you. But I did manage to beat a full-grown mountain lion today.”

“Which was very cool of you,” said Savannah.

Gray started to leave. Leslie grabbed his arm. “Wait,” she said. “You still haven’t explained why someone would want your scroll or why you’re here in the first place. I think we deserve to know, especially if we’re going to be attacked again.”

Gray sighed. He sat back down on the bed. “I honestly don’t know why someone would want the scroll.” He rubbed his hair. “You see, I’m here on a mission of mercy. My town…it’s dying.

“Something—some curse or disease, I don’t know which—struck Eastwood. People were dying, and we couldn’t save them. My father’s the mayor of Eastwood, and he sent me here to find a Professor Brown. Some people communicate between the worlds, and Professor Brown is one of them. My father thought that maybe where magic failed that science could succeed. I’m supposed to deliver the scroll to Professor Brown. It details what is happening in my town and how to reach our side to help save us.”

Leslie tugged at a strand of her hair. “But why would someone try to steal it?”

Gray shrugged. “Back home, we’d heard that some people from our side want nothing to do with your world. They want all communication to be cut off and for people to find a way to permanently close the path between our two worlds. Maybe the woman was one of those. But that still doesn’t explain how she found me.”

“Umm...I think I know,” said Savannah. “Your face was on the news, and they explained how you were found and what you were wearing and things like that. That Castillo lady was trying to find your family. She thought you had amnesia.”

“Perfect,” muttered Gray. “And I thought my mission was hard enough.”

All three sat in silence for a long while, digesting what they’d learned. Finally, Leslie broke the silence. “Well, at least I won’t be freaked out the next time I see you as half-panther half-human.”

Gray stiffened. He glared at her. “What did you say?”

Leslie stammered. “I—after you chased the mountain lion away, and after I came home, I found you in the orange tree. You—you weren’t human, and you weren’t a panther either. You were somewhere in-between.”

Gray pushed violently off the bed and lurched to the bathroom. He flipped on the light switch and stared in the mirror. Leslie and Savannah crowded behind him. Gray pulled down one of his eyelids. Parts of the flesh on the underside of his eyelid was discolored—blackish instead of pink. With a moan, Gray slid to the floor and put his head in his hands.

Savannah and Leslie knelt next to Gray. Leslie asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Gray peered at them over his hands. “I’ve contracted the sickness. I’m going to die, if I don’t go crazy first.”