Chapter 1: Changeling
“Miss Shadow Smyth, will you please come with me?” The officer reaches over and grabs my hands. I look straight at him, not blinking. I don’t look down as he clicks on handcuffs. “You are under arrest for the possession and use of magic in the city of New York.” He looks up at me. “I will need to transport you to the city police station to hold you overnight.” He has more chiseled features than I’ve seen on most NYC police over the years. I copy his face shape, leaving the red haired, freckled face I have adopted over the top. He glares. I read his name tag, ‘Peterson’. “Do you like tall girls?” I grow taller and darken my hair color. “Or shorter?” I say slyly. I shrink so I stand 3’8”, my hands shrink with me. I slip out of the handcuffs. He doesn’t seem to notice that I am no longer cuffed and turns around to open the car door.
I turn into a dark skinned humanoid with short black hair and slip away before he turns around and notices I’m gone. Blowing out a breath at the close encounter, I teleport to a block away from my house. I lean up against a wall and feel a humming in the back of my head. Yes? I think. What just happened, Shadow? The calming feeling of my familiar, Ashex, floods my mind. Nothing. Come on, fess up. Sighing I think, I’ll tell you when I get there.
