Alan's POV

The day was sunny and the warm rays of light made me want to fall asleep in this hammock. The woven threads pressed against my back as I rocked slowly back in forth. A cool breezed aided me and pushed back and forth. Maybe a nap would help me forget what today was.

Inside, I could hear my mom bustling around the house, cleaning up or otherwise doing the laundry. Only a few hours ago, I completed my chores. I was free for the rest of the day. Wyland should be home in a couple of hours, and I would have to face him. Sure, I was twenty two years old and yeah, I had a job, but today was my day off and I deserved to relax!

Wyland, ever since had had joined the Guardians six years ago, was rarely home during the afternoon. He left for the Barrier at eight in the morning and came home at four. He was lucky, being able to get one of the afternoon shifts instead of a late night Guardian shift.

Six years ago, my little sister Ann died. She was only twelve at the time, but a Shifter slaughtered her in our own driveway. The image of his blood red eyes as he locked onto her, playing out in the front. Wyland tried to run out to stop the pit bull Shapeshifter, but it was to late. He ripped open her throat then ran. Wyland shot him twice in the leg, but the damage had been done.

That's why he joined the Guardians, to make sure that never happened again.

Wyland was twenty four, two years older than me. He was everything that I'd ever want to be, if I thought to myself honesty. The older brother had the strength, the looks, the brains, and even had a girlfriend. All I had was the ginger hair.

But now wasn't the time to think of the older brother, but time to relax! So there I sat, swinging in the hammock, lazily admiring the clouds that danced above me. The rumbling torrent to the west, in the direction of the mountains, showed a possibility of rain, but that would be in a few hours.

"Alan! Can you help me for a moment?" My mom called out the back window. I got up, sighing at the fact I would be taken from my soothing nap and started inside.

"What do you need?" I asked her. She was sitting at the computer, staring at the screen. A hamburger was cooking on the stove. The women at the desk pointed at the little pixels.

"Do you think we should paint the house this shade of grey blue, or this tan?" She asked me. Honestly, I couldn't care less what color our house was, but I decided to throw in my opinion.

"The grey blue." I suggested. With a few more clicks of the house, she closed the tab and stood up, giving me the classic, I-know-you-don't-care-but-thanks-anyways smile.

"Thank you Alley Cat." She ruffled my ginger mop of hair. I laughed a little at the childhood nickname. When I was little, before all of this war and nonsense, my mom used to call me Alley Cat. Now that I had grown up, the name had gotten little use, but my mom was still fond of it.

"Anytime, momma." I grinned. She handed me a plate of delicious food. My mouth watered at the smell. I scarfed down the burger, being hungrier than I thought before washing it down with a glass of water.

I went up to my room, instantly going to my phone to check for messages. A single notification flashed, alerting me to a message from my best friend, Austin Carlile. He was asking to meet out at the park near where we both lived. Our houses were located by an old field at the outskirts of the Range, where few houses were built and many were abandoned.

"Mom! I'm going out to meet with Austin!" I yelled to her as I threw on good shoes and headed to the doors. I was anxious to get out of the house, leave the memories and Wyland behind. I wanted to forget this day.

"Okay, Alan! Be back in a few hours! Call if you need anything!" She yelled. I took off outside, running down the street.

By the time I got to the park, Austin was already sitting on the swings. I came up and took a seat next to him, panting from the sprinting I did to get here.

"Hey! You came here pretty quick!" He exclaimed. I nodded and threw him my best smile. He was tall and lanky, with brown, gelled up hair that added to his height. The color of his eyes was just a shade lighter than his hair. He had a mischievous gleam to his smirk.

"You wanna go out to the field?" He asked me. I nodded. Austin and I had been friends since we were about ten years old and his family moved around our area. I had met him at this same park, and it quickly became the casual meeting spot. The field was our area where we used to run around in.

We came to the field. Around on the rolling hills were different houses, each about fifty yards away from each other. As we walked along the cement road, it switched to gravel and the houses became fewer and fewer until most of them were abandoned from thirty, thirty five years ago or so.

We got out to the middle of part of the field and sat down on a small outcropping of rocks. We often sat here to watch the deer further out on the meadow, the occasional coyote, and on the rare chance, a wolf. About half a mile away, a large forest was home to many of these animals, so we always waited to see if they would visit this meadow.

The green grass swayed around our feet, moving with the gentle breeze. Austin silently pointed, in the direction of the forest, to where a small herd of deer nibbled at the grass. We watched them for a moment until a harsh caw above our head made us look up.

"I swear, I've seen that raven before." I murmured. Austin nodded.

"Does he hang around you house?" Austin asked. I nodded. More than once, I had seen the same bird move around in the trees, gliding silently on jet black wings.

"Do you think he's a Shapeshifter?" Austin asked after a moment of watching the bird circle low overhead. I shrugged. Austin came from a family of all Usuals. None of his parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles were Shifters. A few years ago, he told me always wanted to meet a Shifter.

"Do you still want to meet a Shapeshifter?" I asked him once again, eyes still focused on the bird. It disappeared behind us over a low hill.

"Of course! I've always wanted to know what happens when they Shift, and I think it would be cool to talk to a person who had the Gift." He closed his eyes and nodded happily. I had told Austin about my sister and the Shifter accident. In fact, as soon as it happened, I had run straight to his house, tears in my eyes. He just held me in a tight hug as I explained what happened.

"To be honest, I'm still a little scared of Shifters." I admitted weakly. Austin punched me lightly in the shoulder, a far away look in his eyes.

"I don't think all people with the Gift are evil. I think some of them just go crazy, but I'm sure there are good Shifters out there to." He tried to reassure me. Austin could say anything he wanted to, but that didn't quell my fear.

"It's to bad that Shapeshifters have to hide now. I mean, they could be anywhere! Anyone could have the Gift, but it's not like they're parading around, yelling, 'look at me! I'm a Shifter!'" Austin threw his hands up, and it made me laugh. Austin could always make me feel better, even on days like today.

"No, not all of them. Some of them are a little suicidal, though." A voice caused us to jump. A man was walking behind us. His jet black hair framed the long jaw of his face. Dark circles were under his eyes. Tattoos lined up and down his arms.

"Oh sorry, we didn't see you there." I murmured an apology. The man came to stand next to where we were sitting, looking out of the landscape.

"No worries. I'm guessing you didn't hear me either." He laughed a hoarse chuckle. Austin was just staring at the guy in amazement.

"Uh, no. We didn't see you out here in the field when we came out." Austin commented. The guy just smiled.

"Oh, I was out and about here. You might have seen me, you just didn't pay enough attention to find me." His eyes twinkled with the thought. This strange man was really starting to freak me out.

"Going back to your original thought, not all Shifters are evil, and yes, some are suicidal. Others are just addicted to danger and live with the fact that dying is just a side effect of being an extremist." The man scratched his chin while explaining the thought. The way he talked reminded me of Captain Jack Sparrow from the movies I used to watch as a small child. He used his arms a lot when talking and spoke just like the pirate. It was a spiting image.

"So you've met some Shifters?" Austin asked excitedly. My friend may have been twenty four, but was as excited as a ten year old in the candy shop. The man laughed.

"Well, you could say that." He chuckled his rough laugh again. Austin looked as confused as I was.

"Well then, are you a...a Shapeshifter?" Austin choked out. The man stared down at Austin in bewilderment, but something beneath his eyes revealed another thought.

"Well I never said that, did I!" He exclaimed before starting to walk off.

"It's been a good talk, now ta-ta, goodbye, see you soon!" He called to us over his shoulder. The man disappeared down the gravel road.

"Was that man drunk or...?" Austin trailed off. I could only put my head in my hands and sigh. We both were left to unlock the puzzle the man was talking about. The grey clouds reflect our confused minds.

Off in the distance, a raven cawed out a hoarse laugh.

Notes

Intro to Alan! I hope you guys like the story so far! Ronnie does like to have a bit of fun, doesn't he?

Rate/Comment/Subscribe!