The Changeling Princess (25 page)

CHAPTER 45

I was up early the next day. I was having a bowl of cereal for breakfast when I found myself thinking about calling Sherri. I made an on-the-spot decision to drive to Detroit and visit Sherri in person. I hoped it would be a pleasant surprise.

I still had my
‘58 Plymouth and it ran like a top. It only had nine thousand miles on it and it looked brand new. I’d had offers from admirers who wanted to buy it, but I’d always turned them down. I’d had my car since my sixteenth birthday and “she” was just like a part of the family.

* * *

I arrived in Detroit and headed north on Highway 75 to Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I didn’t have to worry about the house number because I’d picked up Sherri’s scent long before I ever turned onto her street. When Sherri answered the door, we just stood there and stared at each other. Finally, Sherri shouted, “Janis!” We hugged each other like long-lost sisters and we both had tears in our eyes. Neither one of could talk we were so choked up.

Sherri closed the door and we hugged again. I cleared my throat so I could speak.
“I thought I’d stop by and surprise you.”

“
My God, Janis, this is the surprise of all surprises. How long has it been?”

“
I last saw you the summer of your senior year of college. That was 1965 and it’s 1973. It’s been eight years.” I saw the tears in Sherri’s eyes and we hugged again.

Sherri led me into the living room and we made ourselves comfortable on the sofa.
“You have a beautiful home, Sherri. I didn’t realize you had such impeccable taste when it came to decorating.”

“
I don’t. Bruce picked out the furniture and did the decorating. If it had been left to me, this place would probably look like a dancehall saloon.”

I laughed because Sherri hadn
’t lost her sense of humor. “Is Bruce still employed at Ford?”

“
Yes, he’s been there seven years now. He’s a department head in the experimental design division.”

“
What about children?”

“
I always wanted a big family, but I found out that I can’t have any children.”

I could see the disappointment in Sherri
’s eyes. “Have you ever thought about adopting?”

“
I see you can still read minds. It’s something we’re considering. It’s extremely difficult to adopt a baby because no one wants an older child.”

“
Yeah, that’s a shame.”

“
Bruce wants a little girl.”

“
I’m surprised because most men want a boy.”

“
It surprised me too. Anyways, adopting is still something we’re thinking about.”

Sherri had that same sparkle in her eyes when she was about to say something mischievous.
“So tell me, Janis, what’s the Changeling Princess been up to lately?”

I was shocked, but I shouldn
’t have been. It made sense that her parents would have eventually told her about me being an Ivarr. “I guess you could say I’ve been on a wild ride, Sherri.” The conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone entering the house.

“
That’s Bruce. He usually gets home at this time of the day.”

Bruce walked into the living room wearing a big smile.
“Hi, Janis! Long time, no see.”

I stood up and hugged Bruce.
“It’s nice to see you again.”

“
I was asking Janis about the Changeling Princess when you walked in,” said Sherri.

Bruce laughed.
“I bet that was the first question you asked when Janis walked through the front door.”

“
It was not,” Sherri said, sticking her nose in the air.

“
Sherri’s got you on that one, Bruce. We were talking about adopting children.”

“
That’s right, Bruce. You misjudged me.”

Bruce had no sooner sat down when Sherri turned to me and grinned.
“Can we see the Changeling Princess?”

Bruce and I both laughed because Sherri was still the same inquisitive little pixie she was in high school.

“No problem,” I said. I stood up and walked to the center of the living room. I morphed into the Changeling Princess and did a little curtsy. “I hope you guys aren’t disappointed?”

Sherri looked as if she
’d seen a ghost. “Oh my God, you’re still Janis, but you’re too gorgeous for words. And to top it off, you’re still a teenager.”

“
Breathtaking is a better way of expressing it,” said Bruce. “How did you manage to come up with such a magnificent creature?”

“
It was simple. I increased my height to six feet, let my hair grow down to my waist and added curls. I made my neck a tiny bit longer and I raised my cheekbones just a tad. I designed the costume to fit in with the Roman era.”

“
I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” said Sherri. “It’s too fantastic to be true.”

I turned invisible and Sherri flinched.
“I’m still here,” I said. When I turned visible, Bruce laughed because of the expression on Sherri’s face.”

“
What kind of powers do you have?” asked Bruce.

“
It’s a pretty long list. To start with, I can morph into anyone I want to and that includes animals. I can even make the person look younger or older.”

“
Can you morph into a sixteen year-old, six-foot tall brunette?” asked Sherri.

“
Piece of cake.” I morphed into the gorgeous brunette who’d appeared at Anna Milburn’s pool party in high school.

“
I knew it!” Sherri shouted. “You were that fabulous babe at the pool party. You pushed Billy Sims into the swimming pool.”

I tried to hide my embarrassment.
“You’ll figure it out soon enough, but I was also Darcy, Wade’s cousin who won the dance contest.”

Sherri was laughing so hard she had to take three deep breaths before she spoke.
“I always knew you had a devilish streak in you. Now I know it’s as wide as the Grand Canyon.”

I morphed back to Janis French and sat on the sofa next to Sherri. It was turning into an interesting afternoon.

“What other powers do you have?” asked Sherri.

“
I can’t give you a demonstration, but I can fire energy bolts from my eyes and I have an adjustable energy beam I can use like a laser. I can also talk to animals.”

“
Anything else?”

“
I can morph into a Mist and I can fly.”

“
Is there anything that you can’t do?” asked Bruce.

I remembered Wade asking me that same question and I told him I couldn
’t cook. “I can’t make time stand still, Bruce, but maybe next year.” Everyone laughed.

“
I almost forgot. My power increases with my height. I was eighty feet tall when I fought the Demons at the Portal of Darkness.”

Sherri sighed.
“Wow! You must have been a super-duper bad ass. I wish I could have seen you in action.”

“
That just might be possible. I’ve been working on a new idea with my energy beam. I think I can focus an idea in my mind and transport the thoughts through the beam. It’d be like using my mind for a movie projector. Shall we try it?”

Sherri
’s eyes were sparking. “Does the Sun shine in the summertime?”

Sherri got up and closed the blinds. All three of us sat on the sofa as I concentrated on the living room wall. I focused my energy beam to room temperature and widened the view to cover the wall. Then I concentrated on projecting a visual image by using my power of thought. The first person I visualized was Ackula, the Demon Vampire.

“Boy, is she ugly!” said Sherri. “I’d hate to meet her in the dark.”

The next creature was Albazar, the Werewolf.
“Wow! He really is a fuzzy face,” said Sherri. “He looks a lot meaner than Lon Chaney did in those old werewolf movies.”

When I got to Araknazoid, Sherri screamed and jumped to her feet.
“You had to fight giant spiders? That would have done me in. I would have quit right then and there.”

We spent a little over an hour going through the rest of the creatures I
’d captured. The last thing I showed them were the Demons I’d lined up neatly at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. “What’s that ‘W’ I see between the Demons’ eyes?” Bruce asked.

I held up Wade
’s ring. “I gave them the “W” treatment because it’s my way of paying tribute to Wade.”

Sherri was delighted.
“Now that’s cool . . . Really, really cool. You should write a book, Janis.”

“
I don’t think so. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

“
I think it’s time to eat,” said Bruce. “I’m starved. What would you two like for dinner?”

“
Do they have any good Mexican restaurants in the area?” I asked.

“
Not a one,” said Sherri. “I sure do miss the Mexican food in Charlotte.”

“
Then let’s eat in Charlotte tonight.”

“
I don’t like that look in your eyes,” said Sherri.

I took hold of Sherri
’s hand and morphed into a Mist. We floated across the room and reappeared. “See how easy that was, Sherri?”

Bruce chimed in.
“What, you’re telling us is that the three of can travel to Charlotte in Mist form?”

“
Exactly, and the three of us can be in Charlotte in less than ten minutes. Plus, the view from the air is spectacular. I really think you’ll enjoy it.”

Sherri was so thrilled she could hardly talk.
“Let’s do it, Bruce. Just think of how exciting it’ll be.”

Bruce smiled.
“I can’t argue with that. Let me change into something more comfortable before we go.”

When everyone was ready to go, we morphed into Mists and headed for Charlotte. It was going to be an experience that neither Sherri nor Bruce would ever forget.

CHAPTER 46

Time passed by quickly. The year was 1974 and I was now thirty years old. I looked a lot younger than my age, but I
’m sure it was due to my Ivarr powers.

Whenever I wanted to re-live my youth, all I had to do was stand in front of my mirror and morph into the Changeling Princess. She hadn
’t aged and she still looked seventeen years old. I thought about changing the Changeling Princess to look older, but looking young was half the fun. I told myself that it embarrassed the Demons to be captured by a teenager.

The next Demon on the list was Mestra, a snake Demon that lived in Egypt. I
’d never been to Egypt and I looked forward to seeing the pyramids.

The Great Pyramids are located on the Giza plateau, twelve miles from Cairo on the west bank of the Nile River. When I settled to the ground in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza, I was awed. I was looking at ancient history dating back thousands of years. I don
’t know why, but I didn’t expect the Pyramids to be so big. Seeing something up close and personal gives you a whole new perspective.

It was easy for me to understand why there was so much controversy surrounding the building of the pyramids. The larger stones weighed several tons and they were laid accurately in place without the use of machinery. All the construction workers had at their disposal were muscle power and simple pulleys. The arguments surrounding the laying of the huge stones still continue today.

I was surprised when I visited Cairo. I guess I’d seen too many movies of palm trees and camels walking across the desert. Cairo, and its neighbor, Gaza City, were home to millions of people. I felt like I was visiting New York, only Cairo and Gaza City weren’t nearly as modern. There was more glaring poverty, too.

I decided the best place to look for a Demon snake was in a cave. I thought I would probably be looking for a cobra or a sand viper, the two most dangerous snakes in the region.

I searched the area without finding any caves that harbored a large Demon snake. I was completely stumped. I asked myself, ‘Is Mestra a shape-shifter that could assume the form of other animals?’

I spent another six months traveling back and forth between Cairo and Gaza City. Everything was a dead end and I was completely baffled. I decided to give up on finding Mestra.

I wanted to visit the Pyramids one last time before I left Egypt. As I stood before the Great Pyramid of Giza, I tried to imagine the ancient chambers that housed the royal families and the maze of shafts leading to the burial chambers. I was tempted to morph into a Mist and check it out, but I had no right to enter the pyramid. I would have been an intruder.

I was strolling next to the pyramid when I picked up a strange scent. Unlike normal scents, this scent had the unmistakable smell of death. The scent was faint, but I could tell that it was coming from inside the pyramid. I was puzzled as to why I hadn
’t picked up this scent before.

I no longer felt like an intruder, so I morphed into a Mist and followed the scent. Once I was inside the pyramid, I adjusted my energy beam to room temperature and used it like a headlight. I found myself drifting through microscopic cracks in the walls. I drifted through several shafts and finally entered a chamber that was filled with ancient artifacts. Could this be a secret chamber that had never been discovered? The smell of death in the chamber told me that this was the source of the scent I was following.

I heard a slithering sound and flashed my beam around the chamber. Slithering toward me with its head raised in the air was a large King Cobra. I calculated that the snake was thirty feet in length with a body twice as big around as a normal King Cobra. I noticed a small bulge that looked like the snake had recently eaten something. I knew in an instant that this was the Demon Snake, Mestra. I could hear her thoughts as she slithered towards me.

It appears that dinner has wandered into my chamber. Most of my prey doesn
’t have a lot of meat on their bones, but you appear to be well fed. You have gobs of juicy flesh that will satisfy my appetite quite nicely.

I think you
’re mistaken, Mestra.

What? You can speak to me? Who are you? How did you know my name? Where did you come from?

I’m an Ivarr and I have come to end your reign of terror.

Mestra
’s eyes glistened as she flared her hood and opened her mouth. When she lunged at me, I reached out and grabbed her hood with both hands, holding her huge head in place. My first instinct was to rip her head off.
Show some control
, I told myself.
You’re not here to kill Mestra.

Suddenly, Mestra disappeared into a puff of smoke. I morphed into a Mist and followed her as she drifted through one of the walls.

Everything suddenly made sense. Mestra used the smoke form to sneak up on her victims. Then she’d materialize and devour them before coming back to the pyramid to digest her prey. Apparently, her smoke form disguised her scent when she was out of the pyramid. I was only able to pick up her scent because she’d recently returned to the pyramid and morphed back into her snake form.

I followed Mestra through the shafts and chambers until she made a break for the outside. As soon as she was in the open air, I morphed into the Changeling Princess and threw a force field around her. She materialized back into a cobra and I finished wrapping my force field tightly around her. I patted the top of her head before I smacked her between the eyes, leaving my signature
“W” in place. I felt great because I had another successful capture under my belt.

* * *

I took a week off before my next assignment. I spent some quality time with my parents and relaxed around the house. As I always did when I was home, I made a trip to the cemetery to honor my grandparents and visit Wade.

I made a special trip to see Sherri. She was still thinking about adopting, but she didn
’t want to give up teaching school. It was a dilemma she’d have to work out with Bruce.

Some might say that Sherri was impulsive, quick to judge, and couldn
’t keep a secret. My personal view was that Sherri was enthusiastic, only saw the best in people, and shared her thoughts openly. She was my best friend and I loved her like a sister.