Home Alone: Kaylid Novellas, #2

By Mel Todd

This is the Second Novella but the Fourth story in the Kaylid Chronicles. They follow and weave in between the novels.

When his foster mom is captured, along with the mom of his best friends, Charley Davis finds himself responsible to keep them safe. Trusting adults is hard, but he makes the choice to do just that and calls McKenna's police officer friends. When Child Protective Services gets involved, Charley knows adults can't be trusted.

The twins, Jessi and Jamie, won't let him run away by himself, which means they all go on the lam together. Living on your own, hiding from adults - both the good and bad ones - is harder than he thought. When everything goes wrong, they run again, leaving Jamie behind.

Scared, wanting their parents back, Jessi and Charley try to be strong. But even when you can shift into an animal, being the responsible one might be more than he can take.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bad Ash Publishing
• Release date: Jan 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386801320

Mel Todd

Chasing her dream of being a full-time writer, Mel Todd has 17 stories out, her Kaylid Chronicles, the Blood War series, and more to come.  Owner of Bad Ash Publishing she is creating a book empire full of good stories and good authors.   With over a million words published, she is aiming for another million in the next two years.  All stories that will grab you and make you hunger for more.  With one co-author and more books in the work, her stories can be found on Amazon and other retailers.  You can follow her on Facebook at - https://www.facebook.com/badashbooks/

Book preview

1

DAY IN THE SUN

ABritish mother has donated her children to the zoo. British mom Laura Smythe says she can’t handle her two kids, an eight and ten-year-old boy who can change into grey wolves. They refuse to change back to human, all they do is run around, howl, and mark everything with their pee. I’m done. They want to be animals, they can live in the zoo. Outrage and oddly support, has risen for this woman. The zoo in question has not answered our requests for interview. ~ TNN World Affairs

You’re here, finally. Charley said, bouncing to his feet from the video game. Playing by yourself equaled boring. The twins might only be seven to his nine, well nine and a half, but they were fun to play with.

We can’t drive. Mom took forever, Jessi protested even as Jaime bumped shoulders as he went by.

Still… he trailed off, walking in with her as Jaime beelined for the bookcase. McKenna had bought some more books. Charley liked to read, Jaime loved to read. Even shifting and playing occasionally took a second seat. Apparently, this time none of the books were that exciting, because he turned and looked outside where the grill and table were set up, waiting for JD to work his magic.

Hunter and prey? Jessi asked, bouncing a bit on her toes.

Charley narrowed his eyes at her. Jessi cheated. Not in a bad way, but she firmly believed in using every advantage to make sure she won.

Fine. But no mind speech. And you get to be prey first.

~No fair. Mind speech is the only way to talk in animal.~ She protested crossing her arms.

Charley glanced around to make sure no adults were paying attention. Their parents knew they could talk without them being able hearing them. A separate room in their mind that only had the three of them and maybe room for one more, instead of the big room with everyone. It was theirs and something they didn’t want to risk.

~True but talking to Jaime and making him not find you is misusing it. If we play, we play like we are animals and we can’t talk.~

Fine, Jessi said and wrenched open the door stalking out. I’m still going to beat you.

Ha. Go for it.

He could feel Jamie’s humor as he followed his sister out, though his face stayed like they were forcing him to play.

The adults never seemed to notice anything odd, well McKenna did sometimes, but she and Toni were talking so they headed out. Jessi got to change first and as she streaked out of the changing room in her cat form, Charley started to count.

1,2,3... He kept counting and Jaime hopped up and down with a grin spreading across his face.

29,30. Go Jamie. Jamie dove into the little curtained area, and before Charley could begin to get antsy he bounced out, tail lashing back and forth as he lifted his head and scented.

Jessi’s excitement and joy of the hunt rippled down the link and he smiled in response, feeling his own excitement rise.

Charley scrambled into the area, stripping off his shorts and shoes and socks, even as he started to change. The last sock he had to pull off with his teeth. Springing out of the enclosure he inhaled sharply, drawing air into his nose.

Jessi’s familiar scent wrapped around him and he grinned, jumping off the deck. He began to hunt his best friend, Jamie right on his tail, literally.

The next thirty minutes were spent chasing each other. Jamie hid the best, rolling in a strong-smelling bush to hide his scent. It took Jessi and Charley fifteen minutes to find him, as opposed to the eight it took them to find Jessi. She always went up the tree, then denied she always hid here. He knew she loved being able to see the area and feel like she could see forever.

Panting, they laid in the shade under a tree with the deck and the promise of grilled meats in their sight. Animal forms didn’t sweat the same and after the first time they had heat stroke, they’d learned to take breaks.

The sound of cars, more than the familiar sounds he knew, grabbed his attention. He heard so much in wolf form that he had learned to ignore a lot of it. But laying in the shade felt good and he let his mind wander.

~Cars pulled up. One is JD’s big thing. Who else was coming over?~ Jessi asked even as she rolled in the dry California grass.

~No idea. Wanna go see?~ Jessi’s ability to be bored was a running joke between the boys. Anything more than a few minutes of quiet and she was ready to get into mischief.

~In a bit.~ Charley smirked as he watched her stretch. Making her wait would drive her crazy. He got a perverse pleasure out of driving her crazy.

They lay there a bit more, her tail lashing back and forth between the two boys as she practiced patience, poorly.

Figuring he’d tortured her enough, she got mean if she got too bored he yawned, his ears catching more cars.

~Huh, more cars. Come on, lets head up. I’m hungry.~ Charley rose, and Jamie followed.

~Think they’re going to start cooking soon?~ Jessi had quit her rolling on the ground and stretched, then followed them.

~Probably, you know none of us want to go hungry.~ Charley didn’t look back, he could feel her coming behind him. The link between the three of them had deepened to a point where they almost felt each other’s feelings but it didn’t scare any of them. They also didn’t spend any time poking at it, it just was.

A weird sound grabbed his attention, his ears perking up. He picked up the pace a bit, breaking into a slow lope as smells that were just wrong assaulted his nose.

~Something wrong?~ Jamie’s asked in his head.

~Don’t know.~ And he didn’t know, but the scream in his head from Wefor took every other thought away and he broke into a flat out run. He turned the corner at the same time he saw adults in all black gear and funny guns coming around the corner of the house. Their weapons aimed at his foster mom.

2

RUN

Renowned child psychologist speaks out against allowing shifter children to spend time as animals. Per Dr. Suzanna Kort, Children need to develop on the schedule of a human body. We have always known animals develop faster and in different ways than humans. This disturbing rise of allowing children to spend significant time as an animal could cause uneven maturity, issues with emotional control, and even changes in their physical structure. I implore all parents to prevent their children from shifting until after the end of puberty. This opinion seems to be held strongly by the medical community but parents en mass are laughing at the very idea of being able to do this. ~TNN Anchor

~Charley, run!~

McKenna's command echoed in his mind even as his body responded, unable to disobey, to the point he almost fell over as his body jerked to a halt. Struggling to stay upwards and wanting to fight the order, Charley spun and raced away from the prone form of his foster mother, of his McKenna laying on the ground with men in black tactical gear and guns headed towards her.

~Jamie, Jessi, run! ~His scream mimicked the one he heard echoing in their minds from their mom, Toni.

~But Mom!~ Their screams echoed in his mind even as they sprang away from the house, their black tails whipping as they streaked across the field.

Charley chased after them as fast as his four paws could carry him. Hide she'd said, away from the men. He wanted to go protect her but he couldn't do much. Even as a wolf with sharp teeth that could shred a man's leg, there were too many with guns.

So he ran.

He heard the shouts and yelling. A frisson of awareness made him jerk to the right and a burning streak went across his shoulder.

Yip!

The yelp of pain and surprise underscored the burst of speed he and the twins put on.

~Where are we going? We can't run forever.~

Jessi's tart voice didn't hide her stress or fear. But