Shadow and Light Book 01

"Yeah...dude, your cat's weird." Michael said

"He's just playful." Alex said as he stroked the kitten

"And not allowed in here." Jeff said as he entered the room

"Sorry Mr Parker. I didn't have anywhere else to take him...uh I was actually wondering if you could watch him upstairs while we're at school."

Jake looked up at Jeff with wide eyes, "Meow."

"Ahhhh...if he wasn't a companion. Okay, but he stays upstairs and Liz disinfects the table. The last thing we need is Health and Safety to make a visit."

"Sure dad." Liz said

"I'll be upstairs when you're ready to bring him up." Jeff said as he left with a clipboard with the orders he needed to make to his suppliers that day.

"So what next?" Isabel asked

"There is something else you guys need to see." Liz said as she stood up.

She went over to the drink dispenser and activated the same switch her father did when he showed her this. Then she nodded to Max who pressed his hand into the back of his seat. There was a loud click and the trap door down to the Chronicle Chamber opened.

"What the hell..." Michael said as he looked around at the chamber

"I double that." Isabel said

"That Chronicle we found in your basement Isabel, that was only one and that belonged to the Chimera. All of this is the Rakas history. The other tribes have similar rooms." Liz said proudly

"So why show us this?" Michael asked

"Because if Liz is to take us all back to Sanctuary then the answer to where it is, is in here." Max said

"That and one day we will be at our own gathering and we'll all be written in the next Chronicle." Liz said

"Hey Liz, is this the prophecy?" Maria asked as she looked over a stone tablet.

"That's it." Liz said

"It looks so...simple." Maria said

"But its not." Someone said from behind them.

"Grandma." Liz said happily as she turned to see Claudia

The two moved closer and they wrapped their arms around each other in a tight hug. "So how's my beautiful granddaughter?"

"I'm good." Liz said, "But what are you doing here?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't show up for you knowing what you are?" Claudia asked

"But I changed over a month ago."

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't come then but my duties didn't let me get away until now."

"Your duties? I thought you studied other cultures?" Alex asked

"Oh that's just my day job...so to speak. With the Rakas I have more of a spiritual role." Claudia said as Jake jumped out of Alex's arms and ran over to her. The elderly woman saw the kitten and smiled as she picked him up. "Well, I see you got my gift. Which of you did he seek out?"

"Uh...me. But gift...you sent him?" Alex asked

"Well he was born to my companion. I instantly knew he was meant to be here so a friend brought him to town to find where he belonged." Claudia said as she scratched behind Jake's ears before handing him back to Alex and then looked at Max

"So this must be the Romeo I've been hearing about?" Claudia asked

"Grandma, this is Max. Max this is my grandmother." Liz said

"Mrs Parker." Max said

"Max, call me Claudia...or at the very least Grandma since you are part of the family. Now I know what all the fuss is about." Claudia said as she looked at her granddaughter, Liz looked away and blushed.

"Grandma, this is also Isabel and Michael." Liz said

"Isabel, Michael. It's good to meet you all." Claudia said, "Now, don't you all have school or something?"

Everyone's eyes went wide as they looked at their watches. They still had a little time but not much so they had to run. Maria said hi and bye right after each other as she kissed Claudia's cheek. The three aliens followed the girls and Alex took Jake upstairs to his kitten-sitter.

Claudia smiled as she watched them move as fast as they could. "Teenagers." She said as she shook her head.

As the chamber cleared out, Claudia looked around and then closed the carved doors. She moved over to the pedestal that held the prophecy tablet and turned its base 180 degrees clockwise. The stone brickwork parted, opening up an alcove in the wall. Claudia approached the alcove and pulled out a book that she kept in there. On the cover of the book was an etching of the statue in Isabel's basement.

"Still here." She said.

"Of course it is." A voice whispered behind her.

"How did you get in here?" Claudia said

"Same way I always do."

Claudia turned around and saw Philip right behind her. She smiled as she saw him sitting on the table. "But you know you can't be here. If Jeff came down right now..."

"He wont." Philip said

"So, your son and my granddaughter?" Claudia said

"Yeah." Philip said, "And I have to admit it, they look very good together...and their destinies are equally powerful."

"I know. So tell me, how are the others these days?" Claudia asked

"Pissed. The kids found the first chronicle in the Davidson's basement." Philip said

"Oh dear." Claudia said, "They must love you right now."

"You have no idea. And they were already having issues since I married Diane."

"Well, she is human. At least I married a Rakas." Claudia said.

"Hell we'd both be outcasts if it wasn't for who we're connected to." Philip said

"So I was a little vocal about coming clean with the other tribes. Is that a crime?" Claudia said

"For us, yeah it is. Big time. Mom always did think I took after you. The others even went so far as to call you a trouble maker." Philip said

"Yeah I know. I was her best friend after all. Does Diane know...you know?" Claudia said

"No. And that's the hardest part of all this. I know she'd be fine with it...at least after the heart attack...and the screaming...and objects heading through the air to my face." Philip said

"My husband was the only one who ever knew that I wasn't a Rakas. Not even Jeff knows."

"I know, but you were the one who made it possible for Liz to be born. Because you are Chimera you were able to put whatever was missing back into that family and made it possible for a girl to be born."

"Hmm...Still the others would never have agreed to it, they probably think that it negates the prophecy because of my `outside' tampering. Okay, I'm yabbering on now...so what do I owe the pleasure?" Claudia asked

"I had an encounter yesterday. A visit from someone...well someone. I need to tell you about it."

"Talk away." Claudia said

Philip then proceeded to tell the woman of his encounter with Larallen.

"Oh." She said, "The others don't know about this?"

"No. And I don't plan on telling them. Larallen trusted me with this and I think he would trust you."

"You're right. I would have." Larallen's voice spoke from nowhere.

Both looked around and saw nothing. Philip smiled but Claudia had a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I told you I would be nearby when you needed me, I always will be." Larallen said before fading away.

"So what do we do?" Claudia asked

"Neither of our families knows what we are. That is going to change soon...we both need to be ready. This time of darkness is coming."

"I've tried to chart our emigration course through the years, hoping to get even close to Sanctuary but I can't. How is Liz meant to do it?" Claudia said

"We'll find out." Philip said as they heard someone clambering around upstairs, "I better go." He changed into a housefly and promptly buzzed off.

Claudia closed the alcove and then reopened the doors before she headed off upstairs. There was a lot she needed to catch up on with her son and daughter in-law.

Library, West Roswell High, 09:40

Tess walked into the library to find some books that she needed for class. She walked through the stacks of books and shelves, not paying attention to anything except the titles. As she walked, she bumped into Kyle. Almost immediately after the touching of their bodies, her body temperature went up a few degrees as did his.

"Hey." Kyle said

"Hey." Tess said

Kyle couldn't help but notice her exposed cleavage from the tight green top she wore and did his best not to look, despite the fact that Tess wanted him to look. The two looked at each other, both smiled as Tess batted her eyelids at him and his hands went to his belt.

"So how you liking school?" Kyle asked

"It has its ups and downs." Tess said

"Couldn't agree more but I have to say today is certainly *up* so far."

Tess smiled seductively, moving closer to him slightly. Her eyes dipped down slightly to his pants and then back up to his eyes, "I'll bet."

"Hey, you're in Mrs Flick's Social Studies class right? How are you finding it?"" Kyle asked

"Yeah I am. It's hard, very, very hard." Tess said

"Yes, yes it is." Kyle said with a smile

At the other end of the room the school librarian saw the two and cleared her throat. The two looked to each other and then back at the librarian as they moved away from each other. The last thing she wanted was students dipping behind the stacks for some fun.

"I better..." Kyle said as he pointed to the exit

"Yeah." Tess said

Kyle left, just before he passed through the doors he looked back at Tess. Tess caught his stare and felt Goosebumps over her skin. In one of the other stacks, Liz had watched the two flirt with each other and when Kyle left she came out.

"I think he likes you. Too bad." Liz said

"Oh, jeez...Liz you scared me. What do you mean?" Tess said

"When it comes to sex for lycanthropes, only one of us can do...humans can't keep up." Liz said

"Pity." Tess said but then smiled, "But I'm not a lycanthrope here."

Liz smiled and started to walk away, as she did so her hand brushed across Tess's butt. It surprised the blonde but was as enthralled by it as much as she was by the dream she had last night.

"What?" Tess said, "What's with the smile?"

"Shhhhh..." the librarian said as Liz got to the door

Before Liz left the room she winked at Tess.

"What?" she asked with more strain but a lot more quietly but Liz never gave her an answer.

Harding Residence, Lunch Time

As the lunch bell rang out, everyone made their way from their classes to the school parking lot. They had arranged to meet and go and check out Tess's place, they hadn't heard anything from Nacedo and they half expected some sort of retaliation. Besides with Isabel not letting her parent's old room being used and with the other two taken, the couch was Tess's only option if she stayed there.

They drove to the house and Max and Michael entered first while Alex and Isabel entered through the back door. The three remaining girls entered last and started searching upstairs. They covered every room but found it exactly as it had been left the other night, right down to the smashed window.

Isabel started to pick up the larger glass fragments and then her hands started to glow. The fragments floated over to fit into the window frame and as she did so Tess waved her hand over the panel. The remaining gaps filled in and all the cracks vanished. That only left the smaller pieces, a look and a smile from Isabel to Liz told the brunette that it was the perfect opportunity to test her abilities.

Liz focused, Maria and Alex watched on curiously. They knew the possibility existed that they could have the same power bubbling away inside them. At any rate, Liz concentrated and all the little fragments glowed on the carpet. They started to lift up off the ground and spin around.

"Easy Liz. Keep control of it." Max said as the fragments picked up speed.

"I got it." Liz said as her eyes changed. They were her cat eyes but there was a fiery glow to them. All of a sudden the shards caught fire and they smashed together, they melted and mixed together. Then Liz reached out and took hold of the scolding mass.

"LIZ!" Everyone said together.

"It's not hot." Liz said as she turned her hand and opened her palm. Everyone looked on as the red glow stopped and the glass had become a 3 inch long sculpture of a pouncing cat.

"Typical." Michael said

"Huh?" Maria asked

"She's got more control in a couple of days than I got after 10 years." Michael said

"It's not control." Liz said

"What do you mean?" Max asked

"I...don't know how to explain...it's more like I believed in what I was doing and not controlling what I wanted to happen." Liz said as she looked at the sculpture and then looked at Tess, "It was your window, and I think this belongs here." Liz handed Tess the cat who promptly moved to put it on her mantelpiece.

"Believe in it...well...I've tried everything else." Michaels said

"Well, Nacedo obviously hasn't been here since last night. I guess it's safe for me to stay here." Tess said

"I guess so. It's actually not to far from my place." Isabel said, "So if you ever need to run anywhere..."

"I know the way." Tess smiled

"What are the odds Nacedo will show back up?" Max asked Tess

"Nacedo made a deal, one that he can't honour, not anymore. He never went into much detail about the enemies here except to say they were called Skins but I'd imaging they won't be to please with him." Tess said

"So he'll be on the run from them?" Alex said

"That's the most likely but he might try to buy his life again. This time using their support." Tess said

"What do you mean?" Liz asked

"The enemy wants the child of Zan. Back on Antar, Max, Me, Isabel and Michael...we were all lovers but Max was my mate as Isabel was Michael's. While that has changed here he could try to force us to have sex at the right time and..."

"And take the child." Max said

"Not going to happen." Liz said

"Wait, I thought a person could only have a kid with their mate?" Michael asked

"That's what we were told." Liz said

"Yeah...normally true for us as well but slight alien quirk. Dose us both up with...well let's just say it's an alien drug that affects lycanthropes. It makes us do anything we're told to with the side effect of making us biologically open to others. I don't think they have any on Earth, they wouldn't have anticipated Liz." Tess said

"Well that's a plus." Alex said as he looked at his watch, "Well, it's almost time."

"Yeah we better start back now."

All nodded and headed back out to the cars. They drove off and headed back to school, arriving just in time for the bell at the end of lunch.

Living Room, Parker Residence, 15:00

Claudia and spent most of the day talking about the things she'd missed since she was last in town. Jeff had made them all a coffee as they sat in the chairs. Jake had also spent most of his time in Claudia's lap, sleeping away contently as she stroked his fur.

"So young Mr Evans seems to be quite a catch." Claudia said

"Liz does seem very happy with that choice." Nancy said

"Do you mind if I ask...has she had any unusual symptoms because of what Max is?" Claudia asked

"Well, apparently, she can now use his powers and last night..." Jeff trailed off

"Last night?"

"She had a really bad headache." Nancy said and Claudia looked up.

"A headache?"

"That's putting it mildly." Jeff said, "Everything in the room that wasn't nailed down started to levitate and then Liz saw symbols in the Chimera chronicle that we couldn't see. Then there is the weird thing..."

"What?"

"While their language is identical to ours, at least the written version, Liz was able to translate the entire text."

"What's unusual about that?" Claudia asked

"I know we were supposed to give her rudimentary lessons before she and the others got to Moon Peak but...well...we never actually got around to them. Liz understands a language she hasn't even been taught, its impossible." Jeff said

Claudia smiled, but only to herself as she remembered things she had been taught, signs of the prophecy known only to Chimera so that they would know the true First Born Daughter and not a pretender to the title. {She will be born with the words of the tribes, sealed until the time she takes the Star King as her mate.}She thought to herself.

Then there were the headaches that she was just told of, they always happened to Chimera in the first months after their changes began. There was more of herself in her granddaughter than she suspected but Liz was still Rakas. Her blood may be part Chimera but the cat spirit ruled over her body.

"I see." Claudia said, "I guess it's possible that her body adapting to these powers may cause a little strain on her body. I doubt it will be anything to worry about, not with the others around to help her."

"We know. Especially if her destiny is as the prophecy said it is." Nancy said

"It is." Claudia said, "But Liz shouldn't be concerned with all this yet. Even if it is close, many of the signs of the prophecy will happen either when she's at or just left Moon Peak. There is time, even if it isn't as much as we'd like."

"We know." Nancy said

"I wonder if we'll actually get to Sanctuary. I've uncovered so many legends of it through the years. The true Eden...one account of it in our earliest Chronicles seemed to indicate that our Sanctuary is only a part of a much greater home. Another claimed that it was apart of the Blue Star itself...ah well...legends. It's nice to fantasise about." Claudia said

The three continued to talk away until the students arrived home. When Alex stepped through the door, Jake looked up before he shot off Claudia and jumped up into his arms. Everyone scratched behind the kitten's ears as they sat down. Claudia, the culture buff, wanted to get to know all the aliens and what they knew about their people, most of which was left to Tess to fill them in on since she had been raised with it. They spent hours together but eventually Liz and Max had to leave, they had another appointment that Liz dressed for.

Dinning Room, Evans Residence, 18:00

Max and Liz arrived at his house and he let her in. They went to the living room where Mr Evans was sitting with Diane and both stood up as their son and his girlfriend entered. Liz wore a light white summer dress, nice and respectable on the outside but Max knew that beneath it she dresses to tease him and that she was wearing white silk panties with a garter belt that held up thigh high stockings.

"Max...Liz, glad you could make it." Philip greeted

"I'm glad you invited me." Liz said as she smelled the air, "Saffron Chicken...smells good."

Diane smiled, "You've got a good nose."

"Thank you." Liz said with a smile

"So...shall we..." Philip said as he guided them into the dinning room

Diane went to the kitchen as Liz sat down. Max pushed her chair further against the table; Philip smiled as his son played the perfect gentlemen before he went to bring out the plates with his wife. Max sat close to Liz as his parents took their seats opposite them.

"So Liz, it's finally nice to meet you. Max has told us...well not much to be honest." Diane said

"Well there really isn't much to tell." Liz said, "I'm just a small town girl."

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Philip said, "From what I've heard you're the smartest at school, even higher grades than Max here."

"Yes...eh...well..." Liz blushed

Diane smiled, "Well, what about pets...although living above the café that would put a dampener on that."

"Yes it does. I wanted a pet when I was younger but that never happened."

"You seem like a cat person." Philip said earning him a look from both Max and Liz, "What I mean is you seem like the kind of person who'd choose a cat as a pet."

"Oh." Liz said

"Is there any other way of taking that?" Diane asked

"Well I heard that there are people who get their kicks from dressing up as animals." Max said

"Uh, yeah Max was actually telling me about it on the way over." Liz quickly said

"Oh...strange but then it's a strange world." Diane said

"I'll say." Philip said

"So Liz, was he right? Cats? They were always my favourite animals. They seemed regal." Diane asked