8 - A Hail Mara Pass

     “So what's the game plan with the shape shifter?”

     I stared up at the ceiling, trying to think. Eva, who had asked the question, had reclined upside down against the wall on her own bed, thinking to herself and watching me think.

     Her question annoyed me. Not because I didn’t appreciate it, but because I had no idea what our next step was. The monster– Mara, she called herself, was asleep on one of the other beds here with us at Spotter’s Landing.

     Mara’s presence here was my idea. Now that the overwhelming level of fear was gone, and Mara showed she really did mean no harm, Armani and Avena had delegated the task of what to do with the freaky albino reptile-octopus thing over to me.

     It didn’t feel right to kill her. Especially when she went out of her way to incapacitate Eva’s father and the rest of the security detail. Mara even offered a sort of apology for her earlier behavior when it was just Eva and me the first time by explaining that her stasis sac emits spirit magyk that spikes the part of the brain that enables fear, as well as disorients our sense of direction and sleep cycles. What was that, the hippocampus; Whoever decided to name a part of our brain after that water monster must have been on something if they named the part of the brain that houses fear after the animal that causes nothing but fear.

     “I don’t know,” I answered back. “She looked so lonely and sad. It felt wrong to leave her in the cave.” And she used to be human.

     To my surprise, Avena and Armani didn’t object to my decision. They said they trusted me. That felt strange to hear, since I’m the youngest. Eva had initially resisted the idea, but came around when all of us pointed out that no real harm had come to her dad. Alan had been just as apprehensive as Eva, but managed to convince Avan a chance when the twins vouched for my decision once we hit groundside. While Eva and I decided to relocate our new shape shifting friend to Spotter’s Landing, they all went to find Ada, no doubt to break the news to her of our unexpected discovery beneath Havenwood. Leaving us alone with a shape changing new friend.

     “What are we going to tell my dad?” my best friend wondered aloud.

     Crap.

     The security team opened up another can of worms. Armani had suggested that they inhaled some fumes that made them hallucinate, but I wasn’t so sure they’d buy it. They saw Mara, or at least something while exploring the caves. The team had been incapacitated, bruised, battered. Fumes don’t do that. No one else had any better ideas, though, aside from Alan locating them all with his seismic sense and bringing them back to the surface. Leaving them underground would have been insensitive after going to all that effort to find them in the first place.

     A lot of questions are going to be asked, and I wasn’t ready for any of them.

     At least Mara was willing to share more about herself. I had the distinct impression that she hasn’t had a lot of friends since losing her humanity and becoming a shape-shifting thing that looked like it crawled out of my nightmares. From what limited interactions she’s had with others over the millennia, the most common thing she’s been called has been skinwalker. Which made sense with the aforementioned first appearing as Edgar and then becoming whatever she is supposed to be now. Skinwalker sounded right, as creepy as it felt.

     And why did I find her hot? Was this a puberty thing? It had to be a puberty thing. I’m so glad I was positioned in a way that it wouldn’t be awkward.

     I didn’t want to find her hot, I had the hots for Eva! So why did I find both to be attractive? It didn’t feel right, it made me feel icky.

     All in all, today has been a day of discovery, both good and bad about the monster and about myself. And I really didn’t want to acknowledge the parts that were about myself.

     Why did I even give her a chance? Avena and Armani were ready to blow her to kingdom come. Oh, there you are conscious. Good to know you can’t hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it.

     Mara has spent her life hiding who she was. Maybe I just empathized with her?

     “Is her helmet stuck to her head?” Eva whispered, watching our new friend as she slept. I wish I could sleep that easily. “Or is it her head?”

     “I think it’s part of her head,” I suggested. Everything about Mara mystified us.

     “How does she see? She has eyes painted where they normally would be, but I don’t think that helps her at all.”

     “Maybe it's to help whoever she talks to focus on something so they don’t get distracted by everything else?”

     Eva grunted, still perplexed. “But can she see? Did she paint them on herself, or did someone else do it for her?”

     I wish I knew. But Mara was tired, and I didn’t want to overwhelm her with questions. So for now I was fine letting sleeping dogs lie, I guess. Even though I really wanted those answers too.

     Were there others like Mara? Were they friendly, or was Mara the exception rather than the norm? And was Mara being honest with us, or is this just a trick to get us to lower our guard before she strikes?

     And what was arguably worse, there was no way I was going to hide this from Baddo. He told me not to go back, and I did. I was going to be in so much trouble. Not unless I could spin this as something else…

     I glanced over at Mara, remembering her ability to shape shift. Was that exclusive to people she’s already seen before, or could she get creative? After what happened today, I definitely don’t want to get in trouble. And Edgar’s impending report to Baddo definitely could make that happen.

     For a moment, I actually entertained the idea that I’d be able to hide this from Baddo. A convoluted scheme of soliciting Mara’s aid to distract my father, eventually growing in perplexity by requesting the help of my siblings to distract Edgar from making his report came into my mind before it’s complexity ran away from me, leaving my mind spinning.

     There was only one thing I could do, I guess…

     “You want me to do what!”

     Mara’s skinwalking was acting out of her control. Her tentacles writhed in agitation, slapping the bed she stood up from. Her face was rippling between dozens of faces I had never even seen before, all expressing the same disbelief and outrage in different ways I never considered possible. Bubbles disturbed the water of her skin, popping as her mass shifted from slight, heavy set, curvaceous and every configuration in between.

     Eva shifted uncomfortably. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I have to agree with Mara,” She admitted.

     All I had asked was that she showed herself to Baddo.

     “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” I reasoned, trying not to get distracted by the visual spectacle of her transformations. It was equal parts captivating and horrifying, to be honest. “Eva’s dad already saw you. He’s going to report what he saw in the cave, even if he wasn’t privy to what happened between us afterwards.”

     “I don’t like it,” Mara crossed her arms, reticent. The transformations were starting to slow down, thankfully. “You’re asking me to reveal my existence to someone who by all accounts is willing to drive me out of town or kill me.”

     “Has that happened very often?” Eva asked.

     Getting a handle on her transformations, Mara now took the form of a desert woman with short brown hair, blue eyes, a small sleeveless shirt with an unbuttoned vest and long semi-transparent baggy pants that exposed her legs. Was this her original form? I thought. “Every time.” the skinwalker answered darkly. She lifted a well manicured hand to inspect it. “I can’t control this. Not without effort.”

     “Well, that’s not so bad,” I said offhandedly. “Everyone else has issues with magyk in some way or another.”

     “Does your magyk cause indescribable pain when you aren’t using it constantly, day in and day out?” Mara asked, almost spitting out the venom in her tone, surprising us. “There is always someone to fear and hate. My problem makes me a reliable target.”

     “People were like that… even back then?” Eva asked tentatively. “That must be horrifying. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same.”

     “Then why even reveal yourself to us, talk to us?” I asked. Something about what she said, while powerful and depressing, felt off. “You could have turned into anything to slip away, even before Alan and I sealed the hole. But you didn’t.”

     “What’s your point?”

     “You trusted us.” I continued, arching an eyebrow. “Why?”

     After a moment of introspection, Mara sighed. “To be honest, I almost did,” she admitted. “I’ve never stayed anywhere long. I usually get found out, run out of towns, hunted, sometimes all three.” She made an attempt at a smile, halfhearted as it was. “But you’re different.” Mara gestured to Eva and I. “The both of you are different. I’ve been watching you, disguised as animals. And your souls are kind.” Her eyes grew watery for a moment as if she was reflecting on something dear to her, but also precious. “You reminded me of someone I once considered a sister, long ago. So I took a chance.”

     Her confession astounded us. I knew someone had been watching me. But the idea that it had been Mara the entire time wasn’t something I had considered. Well, I guess I had thought it was some monster, not… well, whatever a skinwalker is supposed to be.

     “Thank you,” was all I managed to say. “Really.”

     Mara brushed it aside. “That said, I do not know your father. How do we know he will react as those who hurt me before?”

     I glanced at Eva, unsure how to answer. “Mara, I can promise you this,” I finally told her. “Baddo won’t hurt or expose you. He’s not like that.”

     “How can I trust your word?” Mara countered, a defiant fire in her eyes. “You may have known him all your life, but you have not known him for all of his.”

     “Please, what can I do to convince you?” I pleaded. There was only so much I could say with Eva present.

     The skinwalker reverted back to her monstrous form, and adopted a pensive mood. Her tentacle skirt flared again, almost like it had a mind of its own. After a few moments, Mara folded her arms and sighed. “Well, there is one thing,” She said slowly. “I don’t know how difficult it would be, but I want your help getting to the Needle.”

     I blinked in surprise. “The Needle? Why would you want to go to that death trap?” Even as I asked her, I couldn’t help but glance over in the direction the Needle loomed outside. The Needle was… well if the rumors were true, the Needle was the last place anyone ever wanted to be.

     “We’ve been learning about that place in school,” Eva agreed, eyes wide in alarm. “The only people who go there are disturbed!”

     “Well, to be honest, I feel drawn to it.” Mara elaborated. “Something tells me I’ll be able to find answers for why I’ve been turned into a monster.” She returned to her preferred human form, her blue eyes pleading. “Help me get there, and I’ll show myself to your father.”

     Eva glanced over at me as I bit my lip. While I wanted to agree to her request, I had no idea what Baddo would have in mind upon learning about my new shapeshifting friend. All I had to go on really was faith.

     “Done.”

     “Are you crazy?” Eva demanded, standing up from her bed. “The Needle is suicide! And you’re willing to go there to help someone you just barely met based on a feeling?”

     Her reaction surprised me. But maybe it was because Mara was asking me to help, when all this happened because Eva had explored the cave Mara had been sleeping in. I had to fix this somehow. “You’re free to come too,” I replied nervously. “I mean, we wouldn’t be in this situation if not for you finding out about the cave, so it’s only–”

     “Absolutely not!” Eva exclaimed, anger flaring. “I brought you to the cave for fun! Not to end up on a suicide mission!”

     I wasn’t expecting her to get so angry. “Well maybe I didn’t want to go on all those adventures!” I argued back, fully on the defensive. “It’s always another cave, staying out one more hour later before going home – Some of us don’t want wild adventure; some of us just want a normal life in a normal town!”

     Her eyes widened, not in alarm or anger, but in sadness. Almost immediately I realized what I said, and regretted it. Before I could try and fix it, she grounded her fists and with a tremble in her voice shouted, “I took you on those adventures to get you to kiss me!”

     My mouth fell open in surprise. “How could I be any more obvious?” She continued, tears threatening to fall. “All the flirting, the hand holding, the adventures? What do I have to do to get it in your thick skull?”

     Eva left, running out of the shack, leaving me with Mara, who shrank into a mouse and hid under the covers.

     What just happened? Was all I could think.