Chapter 4: Commitment

"Let's try another approach. You say you do not know how many guards, how many 'policemen' as you call them, protect this city." A thickset man paced slowly in front of a woman. "Tell me," he said "are there any races in your world capable of changing their appearance at will? Would someone displaying aberrant behavior be suspected of being an imposter, or would it be attributed to other causes?" The room was dim, lit only by the glow of streetlights outside the window.

"No. That sort of thing isn't possible." the woman replied after a moment, her eyes flashing green for the briefest of instants. "There are stories about people or creatures that have that ability, but they're all make-believe. If someone was acting strange no one would think they were really a monster pretending to be a human." The woman's voice was flat, devoid of inflection or emotion of any sort.

The man sighed as he circled behind the woman. "We prefer the term 'changeling' ourselves. Regardless, that is a good piece of news. The first I've heard since coming here in fact. I take it that since there are no shapeshifters in this world your policemen have no charms for revealing the true form of a suspect?"

A look of confusion flickered across the woman's face. "Charms? You mean like magic? That stuff isn't real. Everybody knows that."

The man arched an eyebrow. "Surely you jest. Magic is the lifeblood of the universe, how could you possibly exist in a world devoid of it? How would the seasons turn, who would raise the sun each day? Your weather would be chaotic and unpredictable with no way to manage it. You recognized the term readily enough. How do you know of it if there is no such thing here?"

"The weather and seasons take care of themselves. So does the sun. Magic is just another story for us. It's a fantasy, something that's impossible." The woman shrugged before adding "We seem to get along well enough without it."

"How very... peculiar. This wasn't part of the plan you know. But then, neither was losing control of the transportation spell and waking up to find that all four of my legs had become live snakes." The man shuddered visibly. "The effects of a backfiring spell can be unpredictable indeed, particularly for one of such magnitude. I told Chrysalis we didn't have enough power to cast the spell successfully, but she ignored my counsel." The man snorted softly and stared at the floor. "I don't blame her. It's not like we had very many options at the time.”

Several moments passed in silence before the man shook himself and turned back to face the woman. “This may play to our advantage. Our own ability to use magic is unimpaired, and if you are correct in your belief that there is no magical ability among your kind- something I still find most difficult to believe- then we may act with far more boldness than we are wont. Still, until we are certain we must continue to exercise caution. Twice over now have rash actions snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It would be folly of the highest order to let it prove our downfall a third time. I have so many questions for you my dear, and so little time.”

Frowning, the man bent over to caress her auburn hair. “A pity you have so little love for the man whose form I wear. Because of that it will be far too much trouble to keep you enthralled for long, and I lack the magical reserves to simply repeat the process on a more suitable target so soon."

A low groan came from somewhere in the darkness. The doppelganger spared a look behind him to make sure the original hadn't regained consciousness yet.

Little enough chance of that- He would be surprised if the original awoke before daybreak. If he still remembered anything of their encounter after having his short-term memory erased, he'd be astonished at the human's mental tenacity. Once he was done here, the woman would share the same treatment and the two would be moved to a more believable sleeping location. If everything went according to plan, no one would suspect a thing.

A green aura surrounded the man's fingers as he made a brief gesture. From somewhere near the door, a chair glowed in response, revealing the crumpled form it had lain next to. The chair floated across the darkened room, the light of its passage casting erratic shadows on the walls. Sitting down on it once it had come to rest, the man smiled lazily and spoke. "Now then my dear, where were we?"

I frowned as I made the final adjustments to my bowtie. Devilish things I tell you, impossible to tie correctly. My eternal ire to the French madman who first thought them up. A madman with an eye for style admittedly, but undoubtedly a madman. Okay, perhaps I was being unkind, but after half a dozen unsuccessful previous attempts I was getting frustrated.

While I critically eyed my handiwork in the mirror, I was greeted to an amused chirp from the bedside. The little creature was out and roaming the small hotel room spiritedly. I'd already seen to her needs earlier, and tried showing her the other food options along the way. She hadn't shown any interest in anything but formula yet, but I'd still give her the chance to try them every few days until she developed an appetite for solid foods.

Her steps were much more confident now, only tripping or stumbling occasionally. Everything around her seemed to attract her curiosity, though she could only investigate what was closest to the ground. Right now she was standing upright and peering into my duffel bag, both forelimbs hooked over the edge to keep her balanced. Chirping again, she pedaled her rear legs against the bag in an attempt to climb into it. She made it almost halfway, then slowly began sliding back onto the floor. With a squeak of displeasure, she made a spasmodic lunge forward and bit onto a piece of clothing.

Fabric anchored firmly between her teeth, she scrabbled over the side and ended up somersaulting onto her back as she fell into the duffel bag. I leaned over to get a better look and heard her giggle as she stared up at me. Smiling back at her, I knelt down and tickled her exposed belly, eliciting a shriek of laughter as she squirmed to get away.

Having performed my dastardly deed for the day, I slipped on my suit jacket and buttoned it. This day was going to be perfect. I had planned everything out for the wedding and now it was time to put those plans in motion. Timing was critical. I finished packing the supplies I’d need, everything from baby toys to formula to the wedding gift.

Consulting a map and making some quick mental estimates, I glanced at my watch. Just ten to fifteen minutes left before I had to leave. The plan was simple enough in theory- show up a few minutes before the guests were to be seated for the ceremony, taking advantage of the fact that the parking lot should be mostly deserted when I arrived. If possible, park in a corner where there would be even less chance of a random guest noticing an alien through the windows of my car. Slip away during the opening dance at the reception and check on her, then head back for the speech, toast, and cake-cutting. Slip away again during the second dance session to check on the alien and take care of her needs before returning for the final segment of the wedding reception, then leave a little early to avoid the crowds.

It was something of a calculated risk to leave her out in the open like that, but I couldn't keep her trapped away from view in my backpack the whole time, and of course bringing her out to the wedding itself was out of the question, backpack or no. With luck, any passerby that happened to see her from a distance would just think she was a small dog and not pay any further notice. If everything went according to schedule there shouldn't be many people in the parking lot while we were there, if any at all.

I figured the odds of someone seeing her were negligible at best. So long as I didn’t make a habit of this it seemed like a fairly safe endeavor.

Picking the little alien up and placing her in my backpack, I turned to head out the door. It’d take a little over two hours to drive from my hotel in Bishop to Ridgecrest, and wanted to get started a little early. I didn’t need traffic problems or trouble with unfamiliar directions getting in the way of my timetable. Once I was actually in Ridgecrest I’d just drive in loops around Freedom Park to burn away any excess time before going to the adjacent community center the wedding was being held at.

We left the hotel and got in the car. I let the little alien out of the backpack to do as she pleased, then started to drive. Before long we had left the city limits and were on the endless stretch of road leading south to Ridgecrest.

During the long drive my attention was frequently attracted to the alien's antics. At first she stood upright with both legs against the window, watching the desert landscape pass by in rapt fascination. Eventually she tired of that and curled up on my lap to take a nap. Over an hour passed in silence before she woke up again.

This time she took the opportunity to explore the car itself, wandering to the back and climbing all over the seats. It wasn't long before she realized that she could squeeze underneath them as well, and began crawling along the floor. I lost track of her for a bit since I still needed to pay a modicum of attention to the monotonously straight and empty road stretching off into the horizon, but soon caught sight of her again when a black foreleg unexpectedly shot out from underneath my seat. It tried to bop my foot before jerking back into the darkness, waiting a beat before striking again. And again. And again.

Without warning the alien lunged forward on her belly, mouth agape as she tried gnawing on my heel. Her forelegs clasped my foot as she dragged herself closer, hindlegs kicking like mad as she curled around it. I reached down to pick her up, only to have her turn her attention to my hand as she rolled onto her back. There was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she chomped down on my hand playfully, refusing to let go as I lifted her up onto my lap. For the next few minutes I absently tussled with her, keeping an eye on the road. It wouldn't be much longer before I reached the city limits and would have to start paying attention to where I was going again.

Signs of civilization started becoming more and more frequent. I passed a small town before reaching Ridgecrest itself. Finding the park wasn't hard and I made a discreet pit stop to change the alien's diaper and feed her before starting my loops around the block. The minutes ticked down in nervous anticipation. I could see the last few stragglers pulling into the community center’s parking lot.

Showtime. I chose a free spot bordering the park, near the middle of the lot. I was about to grab the wedding gift and leave, but hesitated as the little alien darted over to the window and started making odd sounds. I followed her gaze to the next car over, where a terrier had begun barking excitedly at her. It took me a moment to realize that she was trying to imitate it, and my eyebrow rose as the sounds she made quickly went from a raspy coughing noise to a passable rendition of the small dog's sharp yipping. Soon she was tilting her head to match the terrier's and synchronizing her barking with its own, putting one foreleg to the glass in a mirror image of the dog.

At any other time I would have loved to stay behind and see how this new development played out, but I really had to go now. Interesting as this was, it could wait for later. I headed out to the community center, gift and invitation in hand. Just as planned, there wasn’t anyone in sight as I crossed the parking lot.

I was able to be seated just a few minutes before the wedding ceremony started. I hadn't seen Kim or Andrew in years, and it was nice to get a chance to see them again. Ever since they moved to California we'd been in contact less and less frequently. I recognized a few other familiar faces in the congregation as well, including my best friend Nicole Salvan.

After the couple had finished exchanging vows the first dance began. I waited a couple minutes for things to gain momentum, then surreptitiously slipped out the back. When I got back to the car the little black alien was still engaged in barking at the terrier, but stopped when she noticed me coming and started pawing at the window. I only stayed long enough to make sure that she wasn't hungry or needed to have her diaper changed before slipping back inside the building. She didn't like the fact that I was leaving her alone again, but it couldn't be helped.

Once I was back inside I bumped into Nicole. "There you are Shaun, I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been this whole time?"

"I uh, got lost looking for the restroom." I lied clumsily.

Nicole arched a dark eyebrow. "Uh huh... Well anyway, how have you been? Hope the drive over wasn't too hard on your old clunker or anything."

"I may have had one or two complications on the way over, but none to do with the car thankfully." I replied truthfully. "Kim and Andrew look good together. I can't believe they've put this off for so long."

Nicole's chocolate face broke into a smirk. "It might not have taken so long if they'd taken my advice before moving up here. I do cost estimation for big companies as a living, you'd think they might have listened when I told them they were going to overextend their finances."

"Yeah, but the job offer Andrew got was hard to pass up." I said. "They might have had a rockier start with things here, but I think that they'll do better in the long run this way." In the middle of the room, the dance was slowing, coming to an end. "Come on, let's grab a seat."

The two of us sat down at one of the tables near the wall and chatted for a bit before the speech and cake cutting began. I was listening to the father of the bride speak when I heard a faint giggle from overhead. My blood turned to ice as I glanced up and saw the alien hanging upside-down from the ceiling in defiance of gravity. How- the car was locked, I was sure of it! How did she get loose? How was she suddenly able to cling to walls like Spider-Man? I-

Okay, don't panic. I forced my gaze back onto the father of the bride. There were a number of panels coming out of the ceiling in a rectangular grid pattern, creating a checkerboard of recessed boxes. No one could see her unless they were almost directly beneath her. Maybe if she just stayed quietly out of sight nobody would notice and I could wait until everyone left, then stand a chair on the table and grab her, right?

"Shaun, are you okay?" Nicole whispered.

I flashed her a slightly frantic grin in return. "Me? Just fine, never better!" Don't look up, don't look up. "I ah, just remembered something really important I need to do after this is over." I whispered back.

Nicole looked unconvinced, but soon turned her attention back to the speakers. The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness as I snuck a glance up at the ceiling. The little alien was on the move again, circling the area above our table slowly. With the speech over, the wedding toast was about to begin. I could see her stop suddenly and look down at me before inhaling deeply and opening her mouth wide. In a moment of horrified realization I knew what she was about to do, but was powerless to stop her.

Several loud barks rang out across the room just as everyone raised their glasses. Heads turned to look for the source of the unexpected noise, but from where she was still hiding nobody could see her yet. Nobody except the two people directly beneath her that is. Nicole's gaze turned upward, and I could see her chocolate-brown skin pale slightly as she stared right into the alien's enormous blue eyes.

"Shaun-" She started pointing at the alien but I stopped her mid-motion.

"Don't make a sound, it's okay." I tried reassuring her quietly, but then without warning the alien caught fire. With a faint 'whoosh' she was suddenly enveloped in emerald flames which then vanished almost as quickly as they had formed. Now it was my turn to be shocked. The familiar buglike alien I'd taken care of these past two days was gone, and in its place was a black-furred terrier. I had only an instant to gawk at her transformation before gravity belatedly reasserted its influence on her and she fell from the ceiling.

I managed to catch her, but only barely. Panicked by her sudden fall, the alien began barking frantically as she slipped out of my grasp and tumbled to the floor. Nicole screamed, and the alien darted around her legs to escape into the crowd. A couple of people got up to see what the commotion was about as I gave chase.

Weaving around tables and briefly apologizing to people as I shouldered past them, I tried to keep the alien in sight. She raced right into the thick of the congregation and more than one person had to step out of the way hastily to avoid colliding with either her or myself. As she neared the bride and groom Kim made a grab for her and managed to halt her in her tracks. Not by catching her though- the grab missed and ended up sending Andrew off-balance. He reached out to grab something to keep himself from falling, but only succeeded in yanking the tablecloth off of the table and sending the uncut cake tumbling down onto his face. The alien hid herself under the cake table, and then began cautiously licking the icing off of Andrew's face.

I skidded to a halt in front of them as Andrew picked himself up. "Would this happen to be your dog?" He asked calmly, holding the disguised alien at arms length. She was still licking frosting off his hands and sleeve, getting her black fur all messy while her tail wagged furiously.

"I'm so sorry about this Andrew, I thought I'd left her in the car. I have no idea how she got out." I said, taking the alien from him.

Andrew took a long look at the audience, his wife who was visibly trying to keep from laughing, the cake on the floor, and finally himself, then with a twinkle in his eye and a completely deadpan voice loudly announced: "Let us never speak of this again."

I spent the rest of the wedding apologizing profusely and hoping against hope that the little alien didn't pull her transformation trick again until I could get her safely out of sight. Kim and Andrew seemed to be taking it rather well all things considered, though their parents and several of the guests were understandably upset about what had happened.

Jittery from the after effects of my adrenaline rush and feeling acutely embarrassed over wrecking my friend's wedding, I excused myself for a moment to put my 'dog' back in the car where she belonged. As I reached the parking lot, I found myself confronted by Nicole.

"Shaun, what is that... that thing?" she demanded in low tones. Her lips were pressed in a tight line and despite her confident posture, I could see the worry in her eyes as she looked at the creature I was holding in my arms. "I saw what it was before it fell from the ceiling. Last I checked, dogs don't have giant blue bug eyes, hang from walls or burst into green flame. You want to tell me what's going on?"

I glanced around quickly to make sure no one else was nearby. "Short version? I found an egg on the drive over here, not twenty miles from where Area 51 is. It just hatched yesterday evening and I've been trying to take care of it ever since. I think it might be an alien."

Nicole looked like she was about to say something, but I cut her off. "I know you must have a lot of questions right now, but this isn't the time or place for long discussions. I promise I'll tell you everything once we get back home, okay?"

There was a long moment of silence as Nicole's gaze shifted from the alien to myself and then back again. "I hope you know what you're doing." She said with a sigh. "Are you sure that thing's safe?"

"As sure as I can be under the circumstances." I replied. As if to accentuate my point, the alien yawned and tucked her head into my arms. Of course, it might have had more impact if she didn't burst into flame again as she fell asleep, returning to her original form. I almost dropped her in shock, but managed to keep my grip on her. The alien looked up in alarm, but then settled back down when she didn't notice anything unusual. A wisp of smoke curled up from my suit jacket, now mildly singed. "Um, make that moderately sure." I amended with a wince. "Hang on, I need to put her in the car. Would you mind watching her for a bit to make sure she doesn't get loose again while I go back inside to run some cold water over my hands and help clean up the mess she made in there?"

Nicole reluctantly agreed and soon I was back inside, letting cool water wash over my hands. I hadn't really been burned that badly. The fire only lasted a couple moments and hadn't seemed as hot as regular flame either. My palms would certainly be a little tender for the next day or so, but that was all. As I left the restroom to go help with the cleanup, my brain was working a million miles an hour trying to process the string of new developments. So, the alien was a potential fire hazard. Would the flames get hotter or last longer as she got older? How much control did she have over the process? On a related note, she was most definitely a shapeshifter and not just some sort of psychic illusionist. I had felt her body change shape under the fire. Nicole knew about the alien now. This could either make things easier or much, much harder.

I was distracted throughout most of the cleanup process. I’d removed my black suit jacket, partly to keep cake from getting on it while I worked, but mostly to conceal the scorch marks. I hoped I’d be able to salvage the suit jacket later on- they weren’t cheap to replace after all.

Kim and a few of the guests helped with the cleaning, while Andrew got himself washed up elsewhere. I offered my apologies again, but Kim told me not to worry about it. According to her I’d helped make their wedding ‘memorable’. That certainly wouldn’t be the word I’d use to describe it, but then Kim and Andrew’s personalities were very different from my own. If I were in their place I’d probably be highly displeased with what happened, a sentiment most of the other guests around me seemed to share judging by the many harsh looks I was receiving.

Eventually we finished cleaning the cake off of the floor and we said our farewells. When I got outside I could see Nicole making faces at my car’s window while the alien tried to copy them. Apparently she’d lost some of her initial trepidation about the alien.

“There’s going to be a lot of people coming through here soon, so I’ve got to leave before this place gets too crowded.” I told her. “I’ll fill you in on all the details once we’re home, just like I said I would. Until then, don’t tell anyone about this or anything, okay?”

“I guess I can live with that. Just be careful until then, you hear me? Don’t go burning to death in your sleep or anything like that.” Nicole replied.

“Don’t worry, I think I know how to deal with that.” I said as I got in the car. “It’s more like an alcohol flame than anything else- I don’t think it’d ignite anything very easily without prolonged contact, and you saw how quickly the flames disappeared both times. If I just keep her away from anything really flammable I should be fine.”

“Take care of yourself Shaun.”

“You too Nicole. See you tomorrow.”

The drive back to the hotel was very quiet. The alien fell asleep again soon after I started driving and didn’t wake up until we reached the hotel and I softly picked her up. The sun had started to set, casting long shadows as I ferried her to our hotel room in my backpack. Letting her out, I began to assess the room for danger spots. The curtains would need to be rolled up out of her reach and I'd have to keep my clothing away from where she could get at it, but otherwise the sparse room looked safe enough. There wasn't anything I could do about the carpet, but it had short thick fibers that seemed unlikely to combust easily. I made sure that the smoke alarm was working properly, and placed the room's fire extinguisher on the nightstand where it'd be ready at a moment's notice. After a moment of thought, I filled the tub too for quick access to water in case of an emergency.

With my preparations complete, I settled down to feed and change her. As she sat in my lap suckling on her bottle contentedly I sighed and said in a mock-serious tone; "Young lady, what am I going to do with you?" Her face was the picture of innocence as she looked up at me. I touched her nose with the tip of my finger and flopped backwards onto the bed, still holding the bottle in place for her. "I wonder what other surprises you have in store."

A dainty burp let me know that she was done eating. I got up and set her down on the dog bed on floor. With a frown, I realized I couldn't use the fluffy baby blanket I'd bought for her anymore. I'd need something to keep her warm at night, but what could I use that wouldn't catch fire readily if she burst into flames again? The solution came in the form of the jacket I had first picked her up with. It was dry now, and the heavy flame-resistant fabric should prevent any midnight conflagrations.

The alien seemed content at first, until she realized I had put the laundry bin over the dog bed and was going to leave her alone for the night. I caught a glimpse of her giant eyes pleading with me through the holes of the bin before she started whining softly.

Hopefully she'd become accustomed to being left on her own at night soon. I put my bag on top of the bin to hold it down and got into bed. After a few minutes the quiet whining subsided. I was about to drift off to sleep when a vivid green light illuminated the room. I leaned up to see what was going on and saw a ring of green flames outline itself against the laundry bin. To my astonishment, the alien then walked through the bin and out onto the carpet. There was no hole to mark her escape. It was like she had somehow become temporarily incorporeal and passed through the solid barrier like it was made of air. The ring of green flame died out without leaving a single mark on the bin.

The alien gave a happy chirp and began to walk up the vertical surface of the bedside like a spider or fly before reaching the top and crawling over to snuggle up to sleep against me. I was stunned speechless. Flames, wall-crawling, and shapeshifting were one thing, but this was something else entirely. At least I now knew how she had managed to escape from a locked car on her own.

Suddenly, the task of caring for her seemed like it was going to be much more complicated in the future.

Author's Note

Changelings and weddings do not mix. Ever.

I know I promised last time that the ~~alien~~ changeling would get her name this chapter, but the relevant scene got pushed back to the next chapter. Sorry about that.

For anyone that's having trouble visualizing the ceiling at the community center, here's a photo I was able to find of it online. Google can be so helpful when researching places you've never been.