Chapter 9 – Metamorphosis

Michael’s sleep was not peaceful. He spent most of the night tossing and turning. Serena looked in on him every hour or so. She too did not have a good night’s sleep. Ever since she got the call about the fire, she had been on the verge of panic. David and Mary had listed her as the first point of contact with the school in case of emergency. She had rushed to the school as soon as she hung up the phone with the police. Her relief at finding Michael safe and sound had been overwhelming. Not for the first time that night, she walked into the bedroom to check up on Michael.

On the bed, Michael was moaning in his sleep. “So cold…so cold…”

Frowning at the thick comforter already covering Michael, she walked over to the walk-in closet. She came out of the closet with a spare blanket and a small space heater. She walked to the bed and touched Michael’s head. His skin was ice cold! She quickly covered him with the spare blanket and plugged in the heater and placed it as close to the bed as possible. She watched him for a few more minutes and soon Michael began to settle down. She left the room and went back to the guest room. Hopefully she could get a couple of hours of sleep before she looked in on Michael again.

So cold! I’m so cold! What’s going on? Why am I so cold? Big Bro, where are you? I can’t seem to get warm. What happened? I remember flying. I remember the school. Fire! There was a fire at the school! Did everyone get out ok? May! She was hurt! I remember bringing her outside. Tracy said that she went to the hospital and that she’d be ok. Tracy…she looked so hot tonight! Hot…I’m feeling hotter. The sun…I feel the sun…it’s so hot! Burning…I’m burning…I’m so hot! My bones, they feel like they’re on fire. Jesus Christ! I’m burning up! I’m on fire! Arrrgghhhh!

Serena heard a scream and came running back into the master bedroom from the guest room. Sunlight was streaming in from the window. The last time she had come in was about 8:00 am in the morning. She had heard Michael moaning in his sleep, begging for sunlight. She had pulled up the blinds and left him alone. His temperature then had felt fine. Now, she didn’t need a thermometer to know that something wasn’t right. Michael had kicked off the blanket and the comforter and was writhing naked on the bed. Underneath his body, the sheets were actually smoking! Michael’s body seemed to be glowing with an abnormal light. Running up to the bed, Serena was suddenly blinded by a white light. An unbearable heat emanating from the bed forced her back. The light and the heat seemed to last for an eternity, but all of a sudden, disappeared. She opened her eyes, expecting to see a burnt and charred corpse on the bed. To her relief, she saw Michael, lying peacefully, apparently unharmed.

The bed sheets under Michael had been singed black, but Michael looked to be completely untouched by whatever had burnt them. Looking down at his face, Serena noticed something odd. It was Michael’s face, but at the same time, it was different. Michael’s normally homely face was now somehow handsome. His eyes were a little further apart, and his squat flat nose was now elegant and aristocratic in appearance. His facial outline, once thin and boney had filled out and was graceful and classical. Stringy dark brown hair had become honey brown and full. It still looked like Michael, but more mature. Looking down his body, Serena could see that the changes hadn’t just stopped with his face. His body, once thin almost to the point of skeletal had filled out. Lean corded muscles were clearly defined on his arms and legs. Pectoral muscles rose and fell in time with his breathing. All in all, it looked as if Michael had matured several years over night. Glancing at his midsection, Serena could see that yes indeed, Michael had matured all over! Instead of a young boy who had just experienced a traumatic experience the night before, Michael looked like a young man, ready to take on the world. Serena grabbed the blanket from the floor and moved to cover up his nakedness. As she covered him, his eyes suddenly opened and a hand with the grip of an iron vise gripped her hand. His eyes! They had gone from a pale indistinct colour to a deep striking blue!

“Serena? What’re you doing here?” asked Michael, clearly confused.

“I’ve been here all night, watching over you,” replied Serena.

“Watching me? Why?”

Instead of answering, Serena asked him, “What do you remember of last night?”

Thinking hard, Michael replied, “There was a fire at the school. People were screaming. There were people hurt. Mark was burned badly, and May…where is she?”

“Relax. As far as I know, nobody was seriously hurt. May, is she your girlfriend?”

Michael blushed and replied, “No, just someone I know.”

Sensing his discomfort, Serena dropped the subject. “I know you’re a little confused right now, but I have several questions that need to be answered. When you feel up to it, come downstairs and we’ll talk.” She got off the bed and left the room.

Uh-oh, questions? Does she suspect?

Michael got out of bed, looked over at the clock on the night table, and received his first shock. The display read 2:00pm. He had slept right through the morning! He shook his head and stumbled over to the ensuite bathroom. Looking into the mirror, he received his second shock of the day.

Holy shit I’m a model!

He no longer looked like a scrawny kid. Though still young looking, he looked as if he had shed his previous homely appearance. Looking back at him from the mirror was a handsome young man with deep blue eyes and a healthy set of muscles. He looked lean and well defined but not brawny.

What the hell happened to me? I bet this is what Serena wants to talk about.

<<Congratulations, young one. You have evolved into your mature form!>>

What do you mean evolve? Like puberty or something? I’ve heard of sudden growth spurts, but nothing like this!

<<Young Shiza-harans evolve into a more mature version of themselves. Do young ones of your species not do this as well?>>

Well yeah, sort of. We grow up and look older, but we don’t evolve or anything like that.

<<What an odd concept! Shiza-harans do not grow up. We evolve into our adult forms. Usually, this is a process that takes thousands of years. I have never heard of a Shiza-haran evolving quite so fast. Perhaps your foolishness last night had something to do with it.>>

Foolishness? What do you mean?

<<You forgot to recharge last night and over exerted your power reserves with your antics. You nearly got us killed!>>

Us? I thought you’re already dead!

<<As I mentioned before, I seem to be alive within you. Having tasted life once more, I have no wish to return to oblivion. Be wise and heed my warnings next time!>>

Warnings? What warnings?

<<After you left your house, I repeatedly tried to get your attention, but you ignored all my attempts. You seem to have this incredible ability to focus on one thing only. All you could think about was to get to your school.>>

Kinda like a one-track mind, eh?

<<Exactly.>>

So, what happened exactly? The details are a little hazy right now.

<<Perhaps I am being a little hard on you. I should have warned you that there are in fact two ways a Shiza-haran can die. The first, as you know, is if you absorb more energy than your body can handle. That sort of death is usually brief, but spectacular. The second way is if you use up more energy than is required to maintain your body. This sort of death is slow, painful and lingering.>>

So, I nearly died last night? I thought I was dead tired. I never realized how close to being right I was! So, why did I not die?

<<Your housekeeper, Serena, saved your life. She placed some sort of heating device by the bed. Your body managed to absorb some of the energy coming from the device.>>

Michael peeked his head out of the bathroom and saw the space heater that Serena had left behind. In doing so, he also saw what had happened to the bed.

What the hell happened to the bed? Looks like someone played with fire on it!

<<That someone was you, young one.>>

Who me?

<<Yes, you.>>

Couldn’t be!

<<Then who? The sudden influx of energy from the sun being absorbed by your starved body caused your energy levels to spike. I believe the shock of it was what caused you to evolve prematurely.>>

Michael stared into the mirror once more. His gaze traveled up and down his new body. So, this is how I’m supposed to look when I get older? Geez, this is worse than puberty! His gaze stopped at his midsection. Well, I guess there are a few perks after all!

In his mind, Michael could hear his big brother laughing. Looks like I better get this over with. Serena’s gonna know that something’s up. How much should I tell her without having her throw me into the loony bin?

<<I believe you can trust her, young one. Tell her everything. When the time comes to inform your parents of the changes you have undergone, she will prove to be a valuable ally.>>

Why? I thought she was just our housekeeper that cleaned our house once a week! Wait, this has something to do with the images you saw in her thoughts, right?

<<Correct. I believe that she and your parents have met each other prior to the interview last year. In fact, I believe now that they have been acquaintances, or perhaps even friends for quite some time.>>

But why keep it a secret?

<<That, young one, is what you need to find out.>>

Michael walked out of the bathroom, but instead of heading downstairs right away, decided to detour to his room to freshen up. In his own bathroom, he grabbed his toothbrush, and started to brush his teeth. When he needed to rinse, he reached for his cup. However, instead of grabbing it, his hand hit the cup with more force than he had intended and knocked it over. He quickly tried again and snatched the cup on the second try.

What the hell?

Finished with his teeth, he jumped into the bathtub, pulled the shower curtains and turned on the shower. Afterwards, feeling somewhat refreshed after his shower, he went over to his closet and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His shirt felt extremely tight and his jeans…

Hey, when did these jeans become capris? I can’t walk out like this. Oh hell, I’d better put on some shorts instead. It’s not like the cool weather is going to bother me!

Dressed in his too tight t-shirt and a pair of shorts, Michael went downstairs for his dreaded conversation with Serena. He found her sitting at the kitchen table. A large cup of coffee was in her hands. Behind her, on the counter, a pot of coffee was being kept warm. Serena looked up at him and got up to pour another cup of coffee.

“Lots of milk and lots of sugar right?” she asked him.

“Yes please,” replied Michael.

“Here you go. Have a seat here,” said Serena as she pulled out a chair next to hers.

Serena looked at him intently. Taking a deep breath, she looked like she was trying to gather her thoughts. “Ok, can you tell me what’s going on? First there was your broken window. No ordinary rock can totally destroy it like that. Then I see you with your weird angel costume. Then, I find two sets of tattered clothing. One in your room, yesterday morning, and again last night after I brought you home.”

Michael also took a deep breath as he thought about his answer. “Look, Serena, before I try to explain everything that’s happened, I need to know something. What’s your relationship with my parents? I thought that you’re just a housekeeper that cleaned our house, and yet here you are. I’ve heard of going above and beyond the call of duty, but even this is a little much!”

Serena sighed. She had been afraid of something like this! “I can’t give you the details, Michael. Only your parents can answer all your questions. Let’s just say that your parents and I have a history. They once did me a huge favour that I can never truly pay back.”

Michael almost asked her if it was saving her life, but decided to hold that back. Instead, he thought of everything that happened to him yesterday and as soon as he spoke, the words just started to tumble out and top speed. “Ok, where do I start? That wasn’t a rock that broke my window. I’m still not sure what it was, since it disappeared shortly after. I picked it up and it exploded in my hand. I blacked out, and in the morning I looked like the way you saw me. That wasn’t my Halloween costume. Now I’ve got this voice in my head that says he’s an ancient alien being who died trying to escape from his enemies. When I picked up that thing, somehow, he and I merged. I seem to have become some kind of alien/human hybrid. I was able to turn myself back, but I’m also able to turn myself into that other form. I’ve also picked up some of his powers that allow me to do some pretty amazing things. Oh, and I don’t need to eat anymore because I now feed off energy. The voice in my head also tells me that what happened last night shocked my body into evolving into what you see now.”

Serena’s face went through many transformations during Michael’s speech. She went from looking incredulous to amazed and finally to tentative acceptance. “That’s got to be the most crazy thing I’ve heard. Voices in your head? I’m not sure if I believe all of it, but obviously the way you look right now can’t be explained by any normal means.” She paused for a minute and her expression turned fearful. “Then there was this morning. Michael, I thought you were burning up, right in front of my eyes! For a horrifying second, I thought I had put the space heater too close to your bed!” She closed her eyes, and a couple of tears squeezed out. “I thought I’d killed you…before you could be told the truth!”

This time, Michael didn’t hold back. “Truth, what truth?”

Serena’s eyes went wide as she realized that she had spoken too much. “I…I can’t tell you…”

“What truth?” repeated Michael. “You mean how my parents saved your life?”

Serena’s jaw dropped. “How’d you know that? They never would’ve told you!”

Michael blushed, remembering his actions of the previous morning. Had it only been yesterday? “Um, let’s just say it’s among one of my new abilities.”

Serena looked conflicted. Then, as if coming to a final decision, she said, “Ok, how about this. I’ll lay my cards on the table as long as you lay yours. I can’t tell you about your parents, but I can at least tell you about me.”

Michael nodded in acceptance. Uh oh, here it comes. I guess I have to come clean about yesterday too. To Serena, he said, “Ladies first.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. “When I was ten, my parents were murdered.” At Michael’s look of horror, she touched his hand to reassure him. “Don’t worry, they weren’t very good parents. My father was a mid level distributor in a drug cartel. I won’t tell you where or who, because it’s still classified. Anyway, a rival gang kidnapped me. When my father refused to pay up, they killed him as well as my mother. Then they sold me into slavery.” She paused again. Her voice was becoming thick with emotion. “Your parents, God bless them, saved me a year later.”

Michael was shocked! He didn’t expect anything like this! “Saved you? How? Dad’s just a journalist, and Mom’s a photographer!”

Again, Serena looked conflicted. “I can’t tell you that part. I’m sorry, but I promise as soon as your parents come home, we’ll all sit down and tell you everything, ok?” Serena gripped his hand tightly and pleaded with her eyes. “I owe such a huge debt to your parents.”

Michael’s throat started to constrict with emotion. Wordlessly, he nodded to Serena to continue her story.

“I stayed in an orphanage after that. David and Mary came to visit a lot, but then you became available for adoption. They had filed the application a long time ago, and when you came, you made them so happy!” Serena’s eyes welled up again. “The case of my parents’ murder took a long time to resolve, but they were there for me all the way. When I turned sixteen, they gave me another gift. They gave me their name.”

Michael’s eyes widened in surprise and he absorbed the implications of this statement. Serena smiled at his expression. “That’s right, Michael. They adopted me.”

Michael opened his mouth, but no words came out. Nearly overcome with emotion, he finally managed to croak, “I…I have a sister? You’re my sister? Why didn’t they tell me?”

Serena opened her arms and drew Michael into a tight hug. “That’s mostly my fault. There were still people looking for me who wished to do me physical harm. They couldn’t risk endangering you that way. Besides, the government orphanage that I stayed in wouldn’t let me go. When I turned eighteen, I was moved into a safe house. And then, last year, something happened and it was finally safe for me to leave.”

Michael pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Wait, what happened? Oh, wait never mind. You can’t tell me right?”

Serena smiled. “You catch on quick!”

“So, you’re my sister?”

“Adopted sister. You may not have known me for long, but I’ve known you for like, forever! We came upon this method to get you to get to know me. We were going to tell you soon, but your parents kept getting called away on business.” She hugged Michael again, almost like she never wanted to let him go. “Oh, Michael. I’ve waited so long to be able to hold you and tell you! Do you know how hard it’s been to be this close to you, to know that I’m finally with the brother I’ve known all my life, but never met?”

“So, yesterday, when you were looking through our summer vacation photo album…” Michael shut his mouth as soon as he realized what he had blurted out.

Serena pulled back in shock. “How did you know that?”

Damn, me and my big mouth!

<<Indeed, young one. I am most curious as to how you are going to, what is the expression, ‘get out of this one’!>>

Thanks a lot!

“Ok, promise me not to freak out, alright?” Michael waited until Serena nodded. “Remember I mentioned that I have a couple of new abilities, thanks to the voice in my head? Well, this is one of them,” Michael held his breath and then drew his transparency cloak around himself.

Serena jumped up with a loud yelp. “Mierda santa!”

Michael reappeared with a sheepish grin. “I told you not to freak out!”

Chagrinned, Serena sat back down. She was silent for several minutes as she digested what she just saw. Realization dawned in her eyes as she realized what Michael’s ability meant. “So you were still here yesterday morning?”

Michael nodded.

“Were you here before I looked at the photo album?”

Michael nodded again, but more slowly this time.

“Were you here before I took my shower?”

Michael shook his head.

“During my shower?”

Another nod, but even slower, almost hesitant.

“Did you enjoy the show?”

With an expression like a deer caught in the headlights, Michael could only nod once more.

“Usted poco pervertido!” exclaimed Serena. Then she burst out laughing. She wrapped her arm around Michael’s neck and pulled him into a headlock. Using her knuckles from her other hand; she rubbed them back and forth on Michael’s head. “You little devil you!”

Michael let Serena give him his punishment for a couple of minutes. However, he suddenly realized the position that the headlock put him in. “Um, Serena? Look, I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t mean to stay and watch.”

Serena laughed again. “That’s ok, Michael. It’s good to know that you’re just an ordinary red-blooded boy after all!” She paused as another she realized something else. “I knew I had cleaned your room! And then – “

Thoroughly embarrassed now, Michael pulled out of the headlock. “Um, well, yeah, about that…can we just forget it ever happened?”

Eyes still twinkling with mischief, Serena stroked his face. “Oh, Michael. It’s nothing to be ashamed of! I just think it’s so cute, that’s all.” Her face suddenly went serious for an instant. “Believe me, I’ve had much worse happen to me.”

Michael started to apologize again, but Serena stopped him. “Look, it’s ok, alright? I’m not mad. Well, I guess turn around is fair play after all.” At Michael’s quizzical look, she grinned and continued. “I guess I can’t call you a boy anymore. Not after what I saw this morning, just before you woke up!”

Michael blushed beet red. Serena laughed again and then leaned in and kissed Michael on his cheek. “You’re really cute when you blush, you know?” Serena turned back to the table and took a sip from her coffee. “Look, I’ll make you a deal, ok? Since it’s now official that we are family, we’ll just keep this between ourselves ok? It’ll just be a little secret between me and my pequeño hermano! But no more peeking after this, agreed?”

Relieved, Michael emphatically nodded his agreement.

Serena looked thoughtful for a moment. “You mentioned that you could turn back into that ‘angel’ form I saw you in yesterday? Can you show me now?”

Michael answered slowly, feeling his way through his reply. “I’m not sure. My ‘big brother’ - that’s what I call him, by the way - says that I’ve evolved into my mature form. I’ve seen what an adult Shiza-haran looks like, so if I change now, I might look different than yesterday. In fact, I’ll probably resemble a big ball or something.”

Serena arched an eyebrow. “Big brother eh? So in the space of a day, you’ve got a big sister and a big brother. Doesn’t he have a name?”

“He says that his race didn’t use names. He keeps calling me ‘young one’, so I call him big brother. Anyway, I’m not sure of the result, so you better stand clear, ok?” Michael got up off the chair and moved several feet away. He closed his eyes and thought about his other form – the one that big brother had called his true form. He took some of the power within himself and willed himself to change.

Serena watched as Michael closed his eyes. Suddenly, his body started to blur and glow at the same time. The glow brightened to the point that she had to look away until it disappeared. She looked back and her mouth opened in amazement. What she saw before her was not the same figure she saw yesterday. At the same time, it wasn’t a big ball either. In short, he looked more like an angel than yesterday. In the place of the feathers that had covered his body, his body was now covered in a smooth silvery skin. Every inch of his body was covered, and yet his muscles were still clearly defined. From the neck down, he looked like a silver statue of Adonis - her gaze moved downward – except without the genitals of Adonis! Where his genitals should have been was just silvery skin, almost as if he were wearing briefs. On his head, he wore some kind of helmet with a full-face mask that covered his whole face. The mask jutted out from the rest of the helmet and was triangular in shape on the bottom half. The top half merged in smoothly with the rest of the helmet. A bright blue flattened V joined the top and bottom halves and was located roughly where his eyes should be. On his back, his wings looked even larger than before. As she examined them, Michael flexed them and opened them up. The wings were jointed like the wings of an angel. The tips of the wings looked extremely sharp. Serena reached out her hand to touch Michael’s chest. His skin felt warm, smooth and soft, yet at the same time, it seemed to feel hard too. On impulse, she drew back her hand, made a fist and pounded it against his chest as hard as she could.

“Ouch ese daño!” exclaimed Serena. It had felt like hitting a brick wall! “What’re you, the man of steel?”

“Sorry about that” said Michael.

“That’s ok, it’s my bad. Next time, I’ll use a big rock instead of my hand! Why don’t you take off your helmet so that I can see your face?”

“Umm, Serena? I’m not wearing a helmet.”

“What do you mean? What’s that on your…Wait a minute. I didn’t hear you speak! You spoke in my mind!”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. Shiza-harans don’t have mouths or eyes or ears or anything like that. They have different senses. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to talk to you.”

“So, you’re like psychic or something? Are you reading my mind?”

“No, not psychic. Instead of hearing me with your ears, which pass audible noise to your brain for translation into meaningful words, it seems that I can speak directly to your mind. Likewise, I can hear what you’re going to say before your mouth actually says it, but I can’t hear anything that you’re not thinking.”

“That’s good to know,” said a relieved Serena. “So, if you don’t have a mouth, how’re you going to eat?”

“Like this.”

Serena watched in amazement as Michael walked to the nearest power outlet. He held up his right hand and suddenly his index and middle fingers stretched, becoming longer and thinner. She was about to protest as Michael inserted his new fingers into the power outlet, but stopped when he started to glow again. This time, the glow was a soft blue outline that surrounded his body. He stayed like that for several minutes.

Serena looked around the kitchen and spotted something on the floor where Michael had stood. It was the remains of the clothes in which he had come down. She pointed them out to Michael and said “Well, that explains the mystery of the shredded clothes!”

At the power outlet, Michael disengaged his hand. His body shimmered and blurred. In a couple of seconds, he had returned to his human form, as naked as the day he was born. Serena looked at him in amusement and arched an eyebrow towards his midsection.

“You’d better get some more clothes, big boy! Otherwise all the girls are going to be drooling over you!” said Serena and she whistled at him.

Michael blushed and tried to cover himself up. He closed his eyes concentrated for a moment. Without any special effects, he disappeared from sight. “Just hold, on, I’ll be right back.”

This time, because Serena was watching carefully, she could see a human shaped outline as Michael ran up the stairs. A few minutes later, Michael came back down, wearing another outfit that was obviously too small for him. As he walked past her to resume his seat, she whistled at him. The shorts that he was wearing were stretched thin! He blushed and waved her off.

Serena laughed and let him off the hook for now. “Ok, you shy boy. Finish up your coffee and we’ll head out to the mall for some new clothes.”

On the way out of the kitchen, Michael left first and Serena stayed back to put the cups into the sink. Suddenly, Michael felt a pinch on his butt. Spinning around, he glared at Serena, but she was staring pointedly ahead with just a slight smirk on her face.

Serena paused at the closet by the front door to grab her jacket. However, as soon as they opened the door, several people instantly approached them with microphones and flashing lights. An angry Serena tried to shove them back. “Look, I told you guys this morning, Michael needs his rest. Don’t bother him today!”

Michael restrained her and said, “It’s ok, Serena, I’ve gotta talk to them some time, and I might as well get it over with.” He turned to the cameras and microphone and gave a quick two-minute speech about Tai Chi and inner strength and how adrenaline can give you superhuman strength in times of mortal danger. It was a load of crock but the media seemed to buy it. Satisfied that they now had a story, they left.

Michael and Serena got into her car and drove to Markville Mall. Instead of visiting the bargain stores, Serena led Michael to all the trendy clothing stores. They spent most of their time at Old Navy and The Gap. Michael had to try on several different sizes of outfits before he found his size. Suddenly growing five inches took quite some adjustment! Three hours later, they finally left the mall. Michael kept protesting at the cost of the clothes, but Serena refused to let him pay. She told him to consider them to be sixteen years worth of birthday presents from his hermana grande.”

Reaching his home, Serena helped Michael with the bags of clothes. She looked at the time and said to Michael, “Hey kiddo, are you going to be alright? I’ve got a night class I’ve got to tutor tonight. I’ll drop back in tomorrow, ok?”

“I’ll be fine, Serena. Thanks for looking after me!” said Michael.

Serena gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and left. Michael took a deep breath and sighed with relief. As much as yesterday was a day for shocks and surprises, today was a day of revelations. He needed some time alone to think and to adjust his thinking. His wish for a sibling had come true, but in a way he’d never dreamed of. To go from fantasizing about Serena, to thinking of her as a sister was going to take some getting used to. But get used to it he had to, because anything else otherwise would feel too much like incest!

End of Part 1 Fledgling