Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes

“Don’t take this wrong, but now that you know everything about us and the vacation is obviously over, would you mind if Devin and I go to see if Gramps and Pops might be ready to leave early?  We were going to be with them in a few days anyway, so would you mind if we go now. If they’re willing and ready to leave early, then we might get back early as well.”

“What if they’re not ready to leave yet?” Mom countered. 

“In that case we’ll just hang out at the cabin until they’re ready to leave.”

“Yes, I guess I did panic and ruined the vacation for all of us.  I should have talked to you about what I saw and not rushed to judgment like I did, so go ahead.  We’ll try to make up for what you missed out on by planning something special for August.” 

“You didn’t ruin the vacation,” I said.  “We really enjoyed everything we did while we were with you.” 

“But we had other things planned as well,” Dad added, “and we never got to explore any of those places.” 

“Maybe we can do those things some other time then, but we still enjoyed the vacation while it lasted.  Besides, it was really my fault that the vacation ended early.  If I’d been honest with you from the beginning, then things wouldn’t have gotten out of control like they did.  We probably would have transitioned anyway and confronted the evil skinwalker, but you would have been ready for what we did and wouldn’t have ended our vacation early.”

“I believe there’s enough blame to go around,” Dad concurred, “but I think it’s worked out pretty well, if you don’t count your mother’s and my initial reaction to everything.  I believe having all of that time afterward to think about what had happened gave your mother and me a chance to realize you were still the same boys we loved and it wasn’t so terrible after all.  It may have still been unusual and shocking, but we should have realized sooner that it never changed who you boys are, so we’ll learn to accept this as well.”

“You just can’t tell anyone else about this!  Ok?” 

“Trust me, we don’t plan on telling anyone else.  We may talk to Aaron and Doris about it when they’re here for the Fourth of July celebration, but that’s it.  I don’t think anyone else would even believe us if we told them what you could do.”

“Some might and we don’t want anyone to put us in a cage or a hospital so they can investigate our abilities.”

“Does that mean Devin’s ability might have something to do with his healing so quickly after he got injured.” 

“It does, because he used his ability to speed the process up.  The doctors also became concerned after they found traces of animal DNA in his blood, and we thought they were going to investigate how the animal DNA got there.   Fortunately, Devin came up with a good enough reason for how it might have happened, but we were still worried that they might wonder if it was why he had healed so quickly as well.  I mean, some animals have abilities humans don’t have, so we were worried that the doctors might want to explore that possibility further.” 

“Yes, I can see why that might have worried you,” Dad concurred.

“And if they thought they might be able to figure out how he did it, then they might assume they’d be able to apply it to other patients as well.”

“And I didn’t want to be a guinea pig for them to cage so they could investigate it further,” Devin added. 

“Nothing like that has come up yet,” I continued, “but it means that Devin has to be more careful and he can’t have another accident while we’re living in Fort Collins, or even in Colorado.  He may have gotten away with it this time, but next time he might not be so lucky.”

“Yes, I can see where that would be a problem.”

“Are you boys planning on leaving before or after lunch,” Mom asked totally changing the discussion.  “I’m asking because I want to know if I’ll have to fix something for you and Devin to eat after your father and I go shopping.”

“We’ll leave that up to you, seeing you’re letting us leave early.”

“What if we pick up subs or two medium pizzas on the way back from shopping?”

“Either would be fine,” Devin and I agreed in tandem.  “But if you get subs, I want a cheese steak or a chicken parmesan sub,” I added.

“Yeah, either of those subs sound great,” Devin concurred, “and you already know what we like on our pizzas.”

“Yes, we certainly do, so we’ll bring back something to eat and we’ll all sit down and talk more while we’re chowing down.”

“Ok, we’ll just do some laundry while you’re gone and pack up a few things to take with us.”  

“And we’ll do our grocery shopping first, since we have insulated bags to put the frozen and cold things in, and then we’ll decide where to go to pick up the subs or pizza.” 

“Ok, we’ll see you when you get back,” I concurred, and then Devin and I each gave Mom a hug before they left. 

We actually got two loads of laundry done before they returned and the first load was almost dry as well.  When Mom and Dad returned from shopping, we helped them bring the groceries inside, and then we took the first load of laundry out of the dryer.  We took them up to my room and folded them while Mom and Dad were putting the groceries away, and when we went back downstairs, we put the next load in the dryer before we sat down to eat. 

“I put the subs in the oven to keep them warm until we were ready to eat them,” Mom advised us.  “I got you boys and your father chicken parmesan subs, and I got myself an eggplant parmesan sub.”  

Shortly after we began devouring the subs, Mom had some questions she wanted to ask Devin and me. 

“Will you be transitioning while you’re with Devin’s grandfathers?”

“Probably.  They make a lot of money from states governments and the federal government doing counts on wildlife for hunting purposes or to justify the animals being on the “endangered species” list.  It’s a lot easier if you can to do those things while you’re roaming about as an animal, because you don’t scare off the other animals as easily.” 

“That makes perfect sense,” Dad agreed, “unless you transition into a predator.  If you do that, then you might scare off the animals it preys upon.”  

“Yeah, I suppose that could happen, but Gramps and Pops usually do it as whatever animal is indigenous to the area so it will be less likely to alarm the other animals.  That’s why they often do it as a small bird, a squirrel or a chipmunk, or something like that.”

“You mean you can all fly too?” Mom asked surprised. 

“Yes, we’ve learned how to fly whenever we transition into different birds.  It’s often the best way to move about undetected, but it’s only effective if you’ll have time to get dressed once you’ve transitioned into yourself again.  That means it’s good for stakeouts, because you’d have time to get dressed before reporting what you observed to the police or other authorities.”

“Just be careful when you’re doing those things,” Mom urged. 

“We always are, and we all watch each other’s backs too.”

“How do you protect yourself if you get attacked by a animal when you’re doing those things?” Dad wondered. 

“If that happens then we can quickly transition into an even larger animal that will scare off any attacker.”

“Yes, I guess that ability would come in handy.”

As soon as we finished eating and answering their questions, Devin and I took the last load of laundry out of the dryer and up to our room to fold and pack into our duffle bags.  When we came downstairs after we finished, we said goodbye to my parents and gave them both a hug. 

“Thanks for letting us do this early,” I stated. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Devin added.

“Just consider it our way of making up for reacting so badly before we had all the facts,” Dad replied. 

“Yes, I reacted very emotionally when I saw what I thought was a disgusting scene of you boys changing, I mean transitioning into those animals,” Mom stated.  “But now I know that having the ability gives you many advantages, including really long lives, and even though I might still be repulsed when I see you transition, I can understand why you wanted to be able do it.”

“Thank you for being so understanding,” I added.  “It means a lot to me to know that you’re both ok with this now.”

We then hugged my parents one more time before we went outside, got in Devin’s SUV, and started to drive away.  My parents waved at us as we disappeared down the road.

“Wow!  That worked out a lot better than I thought it was going to,” Devin stated as we were leaving Jamesville.    

“Yes, and I’m not exactly sure why,” I responded.  “Maybe it’s because we told them that we’d live really long lives now, so Mom feels she doesn’t have to worry about losing me, like she did Robert and Melanie.”

“Yeah, you might be right about that,” Devin agreed as we continued the trip to the cabin.  We were planning on checking in with Devin’s parents first, before we left to be with Gramps and Pops.

When we reached the cabin, Ma and Pa were both there.  After all, it was late afternoon on a Friday, so they were home from work.  “It’s great to see you boys again, but we didn’t expect you back until Sunday,” Ma said as we entered the cabin. 

“There was a slight problem on the trip and I’m glad you’re both here so I can tell you about it at the same time.”

“Why?  What happened?” Ma asked slightly panicked.  “Are your parents all right?”

“They are now, but they weren’t yesterday, or even earlier today.”

“What happened?” Pa demanded. 

“We had an evil skinwalker trailing us around while we were visiting the two Ute reservations in southwest Colorado, and also when we visited the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.  Devin and I finally agreed to confront it when we were basically alone with it while we were at the cliff dwellings on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, because we thought it might eventually attack.  The problem was, we ended up transitioning in front of my parents.”

“Oh, dear,” Ma sighed.  “How did they react?”

“Not well at first.  They wouldn’t talk about it afterward either, or even the next day.  They merely decided to end the trip early and didn’t want to discuss it until we got back home.  By that time, they were actually a little more open minded and reasonable about it.”

“What do you mean?” Pa asked. 

“When we got back to the house, I explained to them that I’d lied about going on the camping and canoeing trip and had gone to the Navajo reservation in New Mexico to become a good skinwalker.”

“And how did they respond to that?”

“They asked a lot of questions about what it meant and the types of things we could do.  Mom even admitted that she found the sight of us transitioning as gross and she compared it to having been able to watch Dr. Jekyll transform into Mr. Hyde.”

“A fairly apt analogy, depending on what she saw you transition into,” Pa concurred. 

“Devin transitioned into Bigfoot and I transitioned into a polar bear.” 

“Weren’t you in the middle of a desert area?” Ma asked. 

“Yes, and I know that’s not polar bear country, but I felt a polar bear might be the best animal to fight off an evil skinwalker.  It would be taller and heavier than the evil skinwalker, and it would also have sharp claws, a large mouth, and sharp teeth to fend off the evil skinwalker.  I also infused the polar bear with some characteristics from a cheetah as well, like speed and a better reaction time.”

“That’s very interesting,” Pa stated, “and probably very helpful as well.” 

“Didn’t you two end up naked afterward, after you transitioned into yourselves again?” Ma asked.  “You had to have destroyed the clothes you were wearing when you transitioned into those animals.” 

“We only destroyed our shorts and underwear, since we’d taken off our t-shirts and Skechers before we transitioned, and we had extra shorts and underwear in the backpacks we were carrying.”

“That must have been quite a scene,” Pa stated.

“It was, but we basically kept our backs to my parents while we transitioned and got dressed again afterward.”

“I can empathize with Cindy, though.  I mean your mom was thinking it looked disgusting when you transitioned, and I used to feel the same way, but not any longer.  I had a very special friend explain to me how it was a huge advantage in keeping us all safe.”  She winked at me after saying this. 

“I’m sure Devin and Pa must have told you the same thing,” I countered

“Yes, but it was more convincing coming from someone who knew what it was like to not be able to transition with the others at the time.”

 “I’m just glad my parents are taking this as well as you are now.”

“And since they saw me transition as well,” Devin continued, “I ended up telling them about you, Gramps, and Pops too.”

“And Mike and Cindy don’t have a problem keeping that information secret?”

“No, not at all,” I confirmed.  “In fact, I think it was after they knew that you’d always been able to do the same things during all of the time they’ve known you that made them more accepting of me.” 

“And I explained it’s why we suddenly moved away too, because you had to train me, not because you got a new job.”

“That’s fine, as long as they know they won’t be able to discuss this with anyone else.”

“No, they’ve already agreed that the only ones they’ll talk about this with will be you and Ma.”

“And it will give me someone I can talk to about this as well,” Ma stated, “since the three of us won’t be able to transition like the rest of you.”

“Then I guess this will work out all the way around,” Pa confirmed.  “Oh, and before I forget, my dad asked about when you boys would be getting back from your vacation.  I told him it probably wouldn’t be until late Sunday, so he’ll probably be glad you’re back early.  It seems he has something he wants to discuss with you.”

“Do you think there’s time for me to drive there and back before it gets dark?”

“You probably only have time to drive there, but it shouldn’t be a problem.  I believe my dad will want you to stay there tonight, because I think it has something to do with the trip you’ll be taking with him and my granddad.” 

“Ok, then I’ll see both of you when we get back from our trip.  I’ll call tomorrow while you’re at work, Dad, because I’m sure you’ll probably be going to the office, and then I’ll let you know what’s going on.  I love both of you and we’ll spend a couple of weeks here after the July 4th celebration.”

We then both gave Ma a hug and a kiss and Pa a fist bump before we took off.  

“You’ve never been to Gramp’s house before, have you?” Devin asked. 

“No, you’ve never taken me there.  He and Faith have always come to the cabin when we’ve done things with them.”

“Then it’s time to make up for that oversight.  We’ll probably be staying in the same bedroom that I used when I lived with them when I was in high school.”

“Neat, as long as it has a large bed.”

“It’s an old fashion double-bed, but Gramps bought a new mattress for it when I lived there.”

“Ok, that sounds decent.  I was just afraid that we might have to sleep in separate rooms.”

“Nope, we’ll be sleeping together, as always.”

When we got to Gramps house, I saw that it was an older home, but it appeared to be well taken care of, including the lawn, hedges, and trees on the property.  Gramps met us at the door, so I assume he must have heard us drive in. 

“Dad said you wanted to talk to us.”

“Yes, I do, so come in.  We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

After we went inside and had a chance to say “hello” to Faith, she asked a question.  “Have you boys eaten supper yet?”

“No, I’m afraid we haven’t,” Devin replied.  

“Then it’s a good thing I was just starting to fix our supper, so I’ll prepare triple of what I’d usually make, since I know you can eat a lot more than Jacob and me.”

“You don’t have to fix that much.  We can eat the same things you and Gramps do.”

“Don’t worry.  It’s not a problem and we can definitely afford to do it.”

While she was working in the kitchen, Gramps began to tell us what he wanted to speak to us about.  “My dad received a call from the shaman.  It seems there’s been reports of an evil skinwalker on the reservation, but it’s on the part of the reservation where his son lives.”

“Damn, I wonder if it’s the same evil skinwalker we saw on our trip.”

“You saw an evil skinwalker on your trip?  When and where was that?” Gramps asked. 

“We were gone for a week, but the first time we saw the evil skinwalker was last Tuesday.  We saw it as my dad was driving onto the Southern Ute Reservation on our way to Ignacio and it even ran along beside the SUV for a while.  The last time we saw it was when we were at the cliff dwellings on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.  That’s in the four corners area, so I’m not sure if we were still in Colorado or if we were in Utah or New Mexico at the time.”

“In that case I doubt it was the same one.  The shaman called my dad last Saturday and told him about the evil skinwalker being on the reservation, and I don’t think it was running back and forth during that time.  So, tell me about the one you saw.”

“As he said,” Devin continued, “the first time we saw it was as we were just entering the Southern Ute Reservation. “It ran beside the SUV for a while first, and then Mac saw it again and pointed it out to me as we were leaving the Southern Ute Museum.  The next time we saw it was when we were at Mesa Verdi, and then we saw it once again when we were at the cliff dwellings on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.  While we were there, it kept getting closer than any of the other times we saw it and we were afraid it was going to attack.  That’s why we ran out on either side of it and transitioned.  We were hoping to scare it off, but we were ready to fight it as well.” 

“Yeah, I was afraid it might attack my parents while we were checking out some of the other cliff dwellings, but it ran off when we challenged it.  I don’t blame it for running away, since there were two of us and only one of it, but the thing was that we kind of exposed the fact that we were skinwalkers too, both to the evil skinwalker and my parents.  That didn’t go over very well with my parents at first, but everything is ok now.”

“Yeah, and I ended up telling them about our family as well,” Devin added, “including why we moved from next door to Mac and went to the cabin, and about you and Pops as well.” 

“And do you trust that they won’t tell anyone else?”

“Absolutely.  We told them it was important that they keep our secret, so we’re fine.”

“Ok, I just hope you’re right about this,” Gramps stated. 

“We’re positive,” I confirmed, “so was the shaman or his son able to kill the evil skinwalker?”

“No, not yet, and that’s why they want our help.  Let me call my dad so I can let him know that you‘re here and we can leave for the reservation first thing in the morning.  I just hope the shaman will be in one of his two hogans so we don’t have to go looking for him, because I don’t think he told my dad where they’d be.”

We ate supper with Gramps and Faith and they asked us all sorts of questions about what we did on vacation.  Once we told them about how much we did at the cliff dwellings, they wanted to know how my parents held up with that much strenuous activity. 

“Actually, they held up a lot better than I expected them to, but that’s because they were trying to prove something to each other.  Mom has been trying to prove to Dad that he needs to exercise, go on a diet, and eat healthier, like she does, and Dad was trying to prove that he was doing fine just the way he was.”

After that, I was surprised by how many questions Faith asked and how she seemed really interested in what we’d done.  At first, I thought she was just being polite, but then I realized she was actually interested in the details of our trip and asked a great many questions.  It was incredible!

After we finished eating, Devin and I helped Faith clear the table and do the dishes, even though she kept insisting she could handle everything.  And while we were doing that, Gramps got out two decks of regular cards and made a comment.  “I believe you both know how to play Gin Rummy,” he stated.

“Yeah, we know how to play Gin Rummy,” I agreed.

“Good, then you can play against Faith and I’ll play against Devin, and then the winners and losers will play against each other, but first I’ve got to call my dad.  I’ve already pulled up his contact information on my phone.”

We waited patiently while he called, but then he suddenly hung up.  “Damn, they must have gone out somewhere, because his phone went to voicemail.  Remind me to call him later, like after we decide the first winners or are done playing.” 

“Ok, we will,” we both agreed.  “Now, let’s play cards, because it sounds like fun,” I added, and we started our games. 

I ended up beating Faith and Gramps defeated Devin, so Devin played Faith next and I played against Gramps.  There was a lot of yelling and cursing during these games, since everyone was so competitive and wanted to win, and this time Faith ended up beating Devin and I lost to Gramps. 

“I bet you and Faith play this a lot,” Devin shouted at Gramps.  “So, the games weren’t fair.”

“Yes, Faith and I play quite often after supper, but the games were fair.  Mac beat Faith and then lost to me, and you’re just mad that you lost both games,” Gramps pointed out. 

“Yeah, that’s only because I haven’t played in a long time.  In fact, I’ve only played Gin a few times since I lived here with you guys while I was in high school.”

“I haven’t played it much either, but you don’t hear me complaining,” I chimed in. 

“Yeah, but you at least won one game.” 

“And maybe next time you’ll win both games.”

“Fat chance.  Gramps is a card shark.  I think he might even cheat.”

“I do not cheat,” Gramps objected, “but I pay attention to what’s been played.  You only pay attention to what’s in your hand, not what’s been discarded.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that, so maybe I’ll have to start paying more attention to what’s going on.”

“That will certainly give you a better chance of winning,” Gramps agreed.

“Don’t forget to call Pops,” I chimed in. 

“Right,” Gramps agreed, and he got out his phone again.  After he pulled up his dad’s name on his contact list, he placed the call, and he also turned on the speaker so we could hear what was being said. 

“Hey, son, what’s up,” Pops asked as he answered his phone. 

“I called earlier, but you must have had your phone turned off,” Gramps responded.

“Yes, Hope and I went out to eat, so I turned off my phone before we entered the restaurant.”

“Was there a special reason for this private dinner?”

“Yes, it was the anniversary of when we first met, which is longer than we’ve been married.”

“Congratulations!” Gramps responded.  “The reason I called was to let you know that the boys are back and they’re staying here with us tonight.  I thought we could leave in the morning for the reservation, if you’re ready.”

“Yeah, sure.  That sounds fine.” 

“Ok, I’ll pick you up at 5:00.”

“I’ll be ready then,” Pops said before ending the call.

“That’s really early,” Devin whined to Gramps. 

“You can sleep in the car while I’m driving to the reservation.”

“Yeah, ok,” he reluctantly agreed.  

“What about breakfast?” I asked. 

“We’ll stop about halfway there to eat,” he replied.  “Like the last time we all went to the reservation together.”

“Ok, then we’ll be ready,” I agreed.

“Dad, did the shaman tell you where he’d be?”

“No, because he didn’t know when we’d be coming.  I understand the problem they told us about is in another part of the reservation where his son lives, but the shaman never told me exactly where that is.” 

“Ok, then I hope he’ll be at one of his hogans so he can guide us there after we arrive.  We’re taking a big chance, though, since we can’t reach him by phone to find out where they are.”

“Maybe he’ll leave the reservation and call us while we’re on the way there, otherwise I also hope he’s at one of his hogans.”

“It sounds like a lot of ifs to me,” I said, “so I hope this works out.”

“Yes, me too.  We’re doing this before we leave to look for treasure, so I hope this doesn’t hold us up too long, since we promised your parents that we will have you back in time to celebrate the Fourth of July with them.”

“Yeah, that could put us in a really tight box without any windows to crawl out of,” Gramps agreed.

“Don’t worry!  We’ll pull this off one way or another.”

“I certainly hope so,” Gramps said, and then they ended the call.

“Ok, you can use your old bedroom,” Gramps advised Devin.  “I believe Faith went up there to make the bed while we were talking with my dad.” 

“She didn’t have to do that.  I could have made the bed.”

“We asked you to do that while you were living here, but tonight you boys are guests, so she’s making the bed for you.  You can use the bathroom in the hallway, since Faith and I have our own bathroom, and then get a good night’s sleep.”

“I’ll set my alarm for 4:45,” I added, “so you won’t have to wake us up.  We’ll just head downstairs as soon as we’re dressed.  I hope you don’t mind if we just wear these same clothes again, because we just put them on before we came here.” 

“No, that will be fine, and pleasant dreams.”

“Thanks, and tell Faith we said goodnight as well, in case we don’t see her when we head up to the room we’ll be using.”

“Ok, I will.  See you boys in a few hours then.”