Élphame

Chapter Five

          "Naomi." She jumped at Papa's hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

          Naomi forced herself to smile and ignore the feeling that had reached her elbows already. "I'm fine," she smiled.

          "You just turned really white," Papa said. "You looked like you were about to faint. Are you sure you're okay?"

          "It's nothing," Naomi assured him. "I just thought I saw a spider. But I was wrong. It was just a shadow." She could tell by the disbelief in his eyes that Papa didn't buy her story for one moment. But she couldn't worry about that now. Right now, she had to find somewhere private to Shift.

          Naomi struggled to keep her body relaxed when every instinct within her was telling her to run for the nearest exit as the tingling passed her shoulders and spread up her neck and down her torso. Trying to appear calm and relaxed, she turned to Mrs. Jogah and asked, "May I please use the restroom? I think I've got something in my eye."

          "Of course," Mrs. Jogah said. "You know where it is, right?"

          "Yes, thank you." She quickly rose from the table and, as soon as she was out of sight from the dining room, ran as fast as her legs, now tingling, too, could carry her.

          The tingling was spreading very quickly, just as quickly as it had yesterday. Yesterday... Had it really only been twenty-four hours ago that she had hid in her own bathroom to hide? Was this really her third Shift in as many days?

          Naomi found the bathroom and quickly locked the door behind her. She was panting, though from running or panic she couldn't be sure. However, if the last two days were any indication, this Shift was going to be rough.

          The tingling made short work of her feet and soon a familiar warmth spread across her body. Here it comes, she thought as she sat on the floor, knees against her chest. The heat quickly retreated into her palms, leaving her toes feeling like ice cubes. Naomi was right. It was very rough-- rougher even than yesterday's Shift. The heat made it feel like she was holding two suns in her hands. The sudden and intense heat in her palms would have made Naomi cry out, had she not stubbornly clamped her teeth together, and it didn't hurt that she had mentally prepared herself, either. She let out a gasp of pain that turned into a sigh of relief as the heat went shooting back across her body, like someone had just fired a flamethrower at her.

          Naomi let out a relieved sigh and leaned her head against the bathroom door. She stared at her glittering hands for a moment before running them down her face. What was happening? She might have been able to convince her nothing strange was going on with her Shifting yesterday, but three Shift days in a row, each one getting more intense than the last? There was definitely something funny going on. But what could she do about it? There was no Shift doctor she could visit, no guru to give her a basketful of essential oils to rub on her chest, no wizard to concoct a special potion, and worst of all, no one to give her answers. No one could answer why she was the way she was. No one could explain to her how Shifting worked or how to stop it. No one could help her. She was on her own. The thought made her ache with a loneliness she had never known before. Sure, hiding her Shifting had always been hard and most her feel isolated, but this slew of new unanswered questions with no one to turn to made tears prickle Naomi's eyes. Her throat felt tight and she struggled to swallow.

          A knock on the door startled Naomi so much she jumped. It sounded like a gunshot or an explosion in Naomi's enhanced ears.

          "Hey, your dad asked me to check on you." It was Darcy.

          "I'm fine," was Naomi's automatic response.

          "Great. Now, hurry up in there. I need to use the bathroom."