The Shifter's Choice

19th March 2000

Underneath the dominant glow of the moon, the dark skinned man gently removed the well used piece of paper from his pocket and rechecked the address. The house he was looking at was definitely the one. Although to the human eye it looked ordinary, one with the ability to see otherworldly signs would know that this was the house.

Creasing the small piece of paper once more, the man placed it back in his pocket. Without a sound, he glided toward the front door and with a flick of his wrist, the door knob twisted, opening the door to the house.

Just as swiftly, he ascended the stairs to the little girl’s bedroom where she was sleeping peacefully in her cot. Before removing her, he stepped into the parents’ room.

One touch was all he needed. Just one touch. He found the father’s flesh and placed his index finger there, drawing on the essence of the man’s being.

The process happened quickly, and immediately he felt different. He looked down at his hands, which were now white and seemed satisfied with the results.

Making his way back to the girl’s room was his last task, as he did not want to wake anyone more than necessary.

Gently, he scooped up the baby in his arms and nearly jumped out of the open window. He reminded himself that he was not in his original form, so he was not as strong as usual. He also reminded himself that by going through the front door, he wouldn’t raise too much suspicion if he was seen. A father taking out his daughter in the dead of night wouldn’t be too unusual, but he didn’t want any encounters.

Luckily, he managed to transport the baby without any onlookers as she slept safely in her father’s arms.

13 years later

Pixie, as she was now named, danced happily in the garden, unbeknownst to the worry that plagued her guardians.

“Thirteen years of age and not yet showing a sign? Not one hint of her abilities?! Are you not concerned, Pericio?” Scarlet watched Pericio for any sign of emotion. His eyes were guarded.

“Give it time. It will show.” Pericio said more to himself than Scarlet. In the back of his mind however, was a small hope that Pixie stayed normal so she would escape her impending fate. He has grown to love her as his own, and even though she knew he was not her real dad, she loved him unconditionally too. She had asked about the difference in their skin when she was only six, as she knew they were not the same.

Pericio’s brother Miguel had been the one to take Pixie away from her original home, but as soon as Pericio had seen Pixie, he had wanted to take care of her himself. He had never agreed to the plan in the first place, the least he could do was protect her and hopefully one day escape with her. Before they took her.

Pericio was not like Miguel. Not at all. Pericio was as gentle as Miguel was selfish. There had never been two brothers so different, yet so similar looking. They both had the dark tanned skin and brown eyes, but where Pericio’s were soft, Miguel’s were fierce.

Pericio watched Pixie from the window of his house. Soon her innocence would be shattered. Soon, she would be of use and then she would be taken.

3 years later

As luck would have it, Pixie started showing signs of being a Shifter while Miguel was around. He saw it instantly and malice flashed in his unblinking his eyes.

Pericio had often wondered whether Miguel would have been different if it had worked out another way, Pericio being a Shifter and Miguel human. Maybe Pericio would have treated the gift better…

One evening while Miguel was checking up on them, Pixie sat down to read beside Pericio. As they watched her become completely engrossed, her hand flickered, changed size, and changed back. It had only lasted an instant, but they had all witnessed it, and now they knew the prophecy to be true:

She will be born in the new millennia,
A combination of human and supernatural blood,
A gift to change her essence and being,
Just unique, the only one of her kind,
And filled with a power no other will possess.

That was what the other Shifters wanted her for. Power. They were certain she would be useful to them, as the prophecy told them she could change both her essence and being, meaning she would be able to shift into other beings. Pericio was afraid she would become corrupted or hurt as a result.

Scarlet and Miguel exchanged satisfied grins, as it was only a matter of time. Pericio wondered how he could be the only one who felt this was a bad idea, not theirs to fulfil.

No, that wasn’t true. If Pixie knew about it, she would think it was a bad idea too. The heart of a pure one, she had. She could not be abused by those power hungry Shifters.

Miguel must have seen the look in Pericio’s eyes as he frowned and glared. It was then that Pericio made his final decision: he was going to escape with Pixie. Tonight.


After everyone was in bed, and hopefully sound asleep, Pericio made his move. Silently, he crept out of his bedroom with the two backpacks he had put together earlier. A few hours before he’d gone to bed, he had slung a few of his and Pixie’s things together, ready to leave Miguel and the rest of the Shifter’s behind.

Tiptoeing down the hall to Pixie’s room, Pericio’s heart beat wildly for fear of being caught by either Scarlet or Miguel. He would not think what would happen if his plan failed.

When he reached Pixie’s room, he inched the door open, stepped inside and closed it behind him. Pixie’s room was a young girl’s dream. A four poster bed with a canopy, pink dressing table in the far corner, beautiful toys to play with. Pericio looked upon this with sadness, hoping he could give her this back one day when they were safer. He wanted her to be happy.

So as not to startle her, he silently walked beside her bed, whispering her name.

“Pixie. Pixie, darling.” But there was something wrong. Pixie wasn’t answering because she wasn’t in the bed. When Pericio pulled back the covers, all that was there was several stuffed animals and a square of white paper in familiar handwriting.

You will not spoil my plans, Pericio.

Pericio’s blood went cold. They had already taken her. Miguel had got to her first and Pericio was too late. He screwed the tiny paper up in his hand and tossed it aside. Now it was his job to rescue Pixie. Rescue her before it got worse.

Pericio knew that he would not have time to waste as Pixie could be in deep trouble by now. After a quick search of her room, he found that nothing had been taken and there were no clues as to where they had gone with her. As soon as he left the room though, a thought struck him. If he was Miguel, he would waste no time in taking her to the place where there was the most power. The Queen’s castle.

As quickly as the thought had come to him, he sprinted out of the house and leaped into his car. He fumbled with his keys but when he put them into the ignition, the car wouldn’t start. Without bothering to find out what the problem was, all the while knowing that somehow Miguel was behind it, he grabbed his things and sprinted down the street.

He knew where he was going, but it was going to take him too long to run there all the way. Thinking of all the people he could trust, he stopped in front of his mother’s house. Even though he was late, he knew his mother would be there to help him. It turns out he was right, as before he even knocked on the door, she opened it in front of him.

“Take my car.” She handed him some keys. It amazed him every time his mother foresaw his actions, but he appreciated it and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. This time, when he got into his mother’s car, it started perfectly and he slammed his foot down. Miguel had not thought about interfering with their mother’s car, it seemed, and Pericio was glad. He was also glad that his mother disapproved of Miguel’s actions. She loved them both equally, but knew Miguel had made some bad choices in his life. Now it was up to Pericio to make things right. For Pixie.


As Pericio neared the castle, he slowed down and pulled into a side alley. From there, he walked to the front gate and adjusted himself. For this to work, he needed to be not recognised. He needed to become Miguel.

He slouched a little to conceal some of the height he had over Miguel, and he made his face solid and his eyes fierce. It must have worked because as soon as he reached the security at the gate, the man looked startled.

“Miguel! Nice to see you! I thought you were inside already…” He trailed off, looking puzzled but scared at the same time.

“I left. Now open the gates.” Pericio made his words extra fierce and knew it had done the trick when the security guard nodded and pressed a button. The humungous, silver gates opened and Pericio glided in as though he owned the place. He didn’t think it would have been that easy, but with their identical looks, him and Miguel were difficult to tell apart.

Once he reached the front door of the castle, there were more guards. They looked a lot fiercer than the one at the front gate, but they instantly shifted their weight when Pericio approached.

“Open the doors.” Pericio demanded.

They shifted and exchanged looks but obeyed, and Pericio glided inside the castle. As soon as he entered, he knew what the main problem was. He had managed to get inside but now he had no idea where Pixie could be. The castle was huge, and he had no knowledge of the layout of the place.

As it was still night time, there wasn’t anybody about in the main entrance, but Pericio was still wary. He sneaked to the first floor, all the while encountering nobody, but as soon as he hit the second floor, he heard voices. As quickly and deftly as he could, he slid behind the corner and listened.

“The child must sleep in this room.” Pericio heard Miguel’s fierce voice and peeked around the corner. There, standing with his arm around Pixie’s shoulders, Miguel spoke to the guard near the bedroom door.

“Goodnight, Pixie.” He said, forced warmth in his voice. She looked up at him and smiled, then walked into the bedroom. Pericio was shocked to see Pixie comply so easily, but he suspected it had something to do with Miguel and his lies.

Once Pixie was out of earshot, Miguel spoke to the guard.
“Make sure she stays here. She is too valuable. I expect you not to fail.” Without giving the guard a chance to speak, he walked the opposite way. Pericio stayed where he was for a few minutes and then walked with a swiftness only Miguel possessed.

The guard did a double take when he saw Pericio coming, but he quickly got over the shock of seeing ‘Miguel’ again.
“Sir?” He said with extra enthusiasm.

“I almost forgot. I need to speak to her, now.” Pericio reached for the door handle but the guard stopped him.

“Sir –” he started to say, but when he saw the look on Pericio’s face, he backed away. “Go ahead, sir.” He nodded and Pericio left him with a fierce glare that made his head hurt.

Once inside the room, he saw Pixie lying on her side, eyes half open.
“Miguel?” she whispered. It hurt Pericio to think that he wasn’t the one she called.

Pericio went over and sat beside her on the bed.
“No, Pixie. It’s me, Pericio.” He laid a hand on her arm but she jerked away.

“Leave me alone! Miguel told me about you! You lied to me!” She jumped out of the bed but Pericio stood up, blocking the door.

“Pixie, listen to me. Whatever he said about me, it’s not true!” Pericio felt betrayed and hurt. How could Pixie so easily believe Miguel’s lies?

“He told me, that you took me from my parents when I was a baby…” Pixie inched further away from him.

Pericio looked deep into her eyes.

“Pixie, you know how much I love you, don’t you? Miguel was the one who took you; I cared for you since he brought you back. I tried to stop him taking you tonight too…” Pericio sighed.

“Miguel says I’m going to be a princess. That I’ll get whatever I want.” Pixie twisted the sleeve of her nightdress around her finger.

“Pixie, Miguel only wants you for your power. Please believe me.” Pericio held out his hand, but when Pixie didn’t take it, he said, “Pixie, my little fairy.” His voice was so soft, and his eyes so genuine, that Pixie finally realised who was the good guy.

She ran into his arms and started to sob.
“I didn’t want to believe it! But Miguel was so convincing! I love you… Dad.” Pixie shocked him by calling him dad, but it gave him a warm feeling he only just realised he had been missing since Pixie had been taken that night.

Pericio held her at arms length and looked at her tear streaked face.
“Did he tell you that you have a great power? A power to shift into another being?” He studied her face.

“He told me I had a magical power to change into whatever I wanted. So it’s true?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Yes. Miguel wants you because you are the only one of your kind. You can do what no other Shifter can.”

“What about you?” She asked, noticing that he had not mentioned himself.

“I possess no power. I was born human, Miguel was born a Shifter.” Pericio realised he was not bothered by the fact that he did not have a gift any more.

“I still love you more, Pericio.” She smiled and his heart melted. She was his daughter, and he was her dad.

Suddenly, Miguel burst in, flanked by the security guard. Pericio immediately stood protectively in front of Pixie.

“How dare you pretend to be me?!” Miguel screamed. “Did you think you would get away with it? Surely not! There’s no way you thought you would succeed!” Miguel breathed heavily, more angry at Pericio for pretending to be him than for breaking in to take Pixie.

“How did you think you would get away with taking Pixie and using her for your own gain?” Pericio’s anger bubbled up, surprising him.

Miguel laughed. “Like this!” He pulled out a sword just as Pericio realised, too late, that he had no weapons to defend himself. Just as quickly, Pixie jumped in front of Pericio and screamed at Miguel.

“Stop! Please! If you want to hurt Pericio, you have to hurt me too!” Pixie put her hands out in a calming gesture. Miguel hesitated, considering whether to hurt the key to the overwhelming power he could possess.

“Get. Out. Of. The. Way.” Miguel growled so menacingly Pixie flinched. “I won’t hesitate to hurt you if you will not let me face my brother.” Pixie gasped, and realised her plan wasn’t going to be any use if Miguel didn’t mind hurting Pixie too.

“You are no brother of mine.” Pericio said, gently moving Pixie behind him again and facing Miguel. “Do your worst.” He said, just as Pixie screamed again.

Miguel shifted into a man twice as large as himself and thrust the sword to Pericio’s chest. Before it could make contact with his skin, Miguel suddenly stopped half way and doubled up in pain.

“What are you doing to me?!” He screamed. Pericio looked at Pixie and she shrugged, neither of them knowing how or why this was happening. Miguel kept on screaming just as Pericio’s mother appeared in the doorway out of nowhere, touched the guard’s forehead and he slumped to the ground.

“Pericio, you must come quickly. Get Pixie out of here.” She said as though her turning up out of the blue was as normal as anything.

“How?” Pericio asked, gesturing to Miguel lying on the floor in pain.

“He cannot hurt you, Pericio. He is your twin brother and part of is essence is connected to you. It will not let him hurt you.” Her eyes shone, but Pericio could not figure out what she was thinking. “Now, you must come.” And she turned around as Pericio took Pixie’s hand and gently tugged her along.

As they followed Pericio’s mother out of the castle, Pixie never spoke, too shocked at what had happened to find anything to say.

Pericio’s mother was already in the car when he and Pixie emerged through the front gate, and they hurriedly joined her. Once they were settled and his mother had started to drive, Pericio checked over Pixie.

“Are you ok, sweetheart?” He asked, worried she might have got hurt in the commotion.

“I’m fine.” She whispered, but smiled, her face filled with trust for Pericio. “Where are we going?”

Pericio looked into the front seat at his mother questioningly and she smiled.
“To a safer place than here. Somewhere I should have taken you a long time ago.”