Infiltration
By Solo Ion

Nestled between two mountain peaks is Haven. Haven is a sanctuary for blood mutants, who have been cast from their towns, and then forced to live their lives in exiles. Monsters roam the forests below Haven, but sharp claws and teeth aren't the only things that people are afraid of. The blood from any monster can partially change a person into the form of the monster. These blood mutants are either cast from their town, or killed.

Haven was founded by Aimee and Tara. In the relatively short time that Haven had been a sanctuary, it had come to house no less than six blood mutants: Aimee, Tara, Daniel, Lisa, Mitch and Tim.

In one room of haven, Mitch, Tim and Daniel had been cleaning, when they found a large cardboard box of odd bits and pieces.

"Hey, check this out," Daniel, the youngest of the three, said.

Daniel had been found, already dragon-blooded, in Haven by Aimee and Tara. Daniels left leg, from the knee down was covered in scales, and his foot ended in a dragon's foot, complete with sharp claws. The right half of Daniel's face was also covered in scales. Even his eye had a dragon appearance to it.

"What is it?" Mitch asked. "A drawing in a frame? Is that all?"

Mitch's changes where much more severe. He had been badly blooded by a griffin. His entire body from the waist down was completely changed. His upper face and back where covered by feathers. Mitch also sported a pair of wings.

"No," Daniel said. "Look how detailed it is. It looks so real. Look at this guy's face, it's half an inch big, yet you can almost see his pupils, and it's coloured."

"Looks a little pale to me," Tim said. "What else is in that box?"

Tim's only noticeable change was his right arm and hand. When he was blooded by a Hippogriff, his right arm became a talon, complete with sharp claws.

Mitch had another look. "Mostly a lot of paper… hey, what's this?" He said, pulling out some material from the bottom of the box… It was some sort of folded clothing, bluish silver with narrow vertical red stripes. As he held it up, it unfolded.

"Nice. Clothing," Tim said dryly.

"Some sort of robe, I'd say," Mitch said.

"You mean a bath robe?" Daniel asked.

Mitch stoped himself from grinning. "No, Daniel. It's just a fancy type of clothing." He held it against his chest. It stopped about eight or so centimetres above the floor.

"It suits you," Tim said. "Try it on."

Mitch slipped it on. Down the back of the robe was a gap that allowed Mitch to fit his wings and tail, while hiding his legs.

"It looks good on you," Tim said.

"Is there any other clothing in there?" Mitch asked.

Tim had a quick rummage. "Nope, but there's this round, flat piece of glass with a handle."

"Look through it," Daniel said.

"Everything's blurry… no, wait, it sharpens when it's close to something, sharper and larger," Tim said. "I've heard of these before. I think it's a magnifying glass."

"Can I see?" Daniel asked, and Tim gave it to him. Daniel looked at the 'drawing' through the magnifying glass.

Tim had another look in the box. "Hey, look at this," he said, holding up a short, metallic cylinder about the thickness of Daniels wrist. Each end had a circular piece of glass that bulged out, one of the pieces being smaller than the other. The smaller end tapered slightly.

"Looks a bit like that 'magnifying glass' of yours," Mitch said. "It probably does something similar."

"It's not my magnifying glass." Tim said, first looking into the large end, and then the smaller end of the cylinder. "Must be broken, everything looks fuzzy."

"I bet you I can fix it," Mitch said, taking the cylinder from Tim.

"Yeah? What do you bet me?"

"I wasn't being literal…" Mitch said, pulling at the smaller. As he did so, it begun to slide out in segments, each one larger than the one before, until it wouldn't slide any further.

"Well, would you look at that?" Tim said. "You fixed it after all."

Mitch held the large end to his eye, and pointed the smaller one at Tim. "Hey, Tim, you look tiny through this," he said.

"Really? Let's see about that," he said, taking the cylinder from Mitch, and looked into the small end. "Well, you're just a little blur. So are you, Daniel, in fact so is everything… the wall… the window… Woah! Far! Out! FarOut FarOut FarOut!"

"What is it?" Mitch asked.

"Let me see. Let me see!" Daniel said.

"I can see those trees down there, but they look so close. I can make out individual branches. I've heard of these before, I think it is called an… a… something… scope," Tim said, handing it to Mitch, despite Daniels protests.

"No kidding? A something scope?" Mitch said, and then looked into it, this time using the proper end. "Your right, it does look close, so close that I can make out some ants on the leaves."

"What? No way!"

"Let me see!" Daniel said, and Mitch handed it to him. Daniel barely had a chance to say "Wow" before Tara came into the room.

Of all of the blood mutants in haven, Tara's changes had been the most drastic. Being chimaera-blooded, she had two heads, the left one's lion-like and the other one goat-like, one arm that was essentially a lion's foreleg with a paw with an opposable thumb; the other, a goat's foreleg with a hoof for a hand. The left half of her upper body was covered with a coat of tawny fur, while the other half was covered with black fur. From her waist to her thighs, was covered with green scales, and finally, she had a snake tail with the head of a snake on the end.

"Mitch, where did you find that robe?" she asked with her goat head.

"See, some people know the proper name," Mitch muttered to Tim, and then to Tara: "I found it in this box that we've been looking through."

"It suits you."

"Thanks."

"But that's not why I'm here," she said, using her lion head. "Aimee heard something in the supply room, but when she went in there, she found that some of the food was missing, but she couldn't find where it went."

"And?" Mitch asked.

"I have an idea, but I'll need the three of you."

They left, leaving the 'something-scope' forgotten.

Tara led them through the corridors of haven to the room that they had set aside for storage of food, first-aid and other such things that would come in handy. The room wasn't very full, but a sizable portion was stacked with boxes.

Aimee and Lisa were already waiting a short distance down the hall from the door of the supply room.

After being blooded by a naga, Aimee's entire lower body had become snake-like. Green scales covered her body up to just below her neck, and her entire left was also covered in them, leaving her fingers fused together. Yellow belly scales begun below her neck, and finished at the end of her tail. Her head and right arm remained unaffected.

She had her bow and quiver of arrows strapped to her back.

Lisa, on the other hand, clothed herself warmly, leaving not a bare patch of skin anywhere save her face. Before coming to Haven, she had been blooded by a basilisk. If anyone where to tough her skin, blood or even her hair, they would be instantly petrified.

Mitch hadn't yet plucked up the nerve to ask how she had managed to become blooded without being petrified.

"So," Tim asked. "What's this plan?"

"Did Tara tell you what I heard?" Aimee asked.

"Yes."

"Well then," Aimee said, "we need to find out what was in that room, and how it got in and out. We can't leave it in there, depleting our supplies. Besides, if it's human, then it doesn't need to hide, but if it's an animal or a monster, than we need to get it out."

"How so?" Mitch asked.

"Ask Tara, she's the one with the plan."

"Whatever it was, it'll probably be back," Tara said. "So, I figured that if two of us hide in there than they can find out what it is and possibly get it out of hiding."

"Hide? Where?" Daniel asked.

"There's a gap between some of the boxes and the wall, where two of us could hide," Aimee said.

"I don't know about you Tara," Tim said, "but it's not exactly a good idea to be shut in there with a monster."

"I doubt that it's a monster," Aimee said. "You know those little neat packets of food that Daniel found? Some of those had been emptied, licked clean and put back folded. I doubt that a monster would do that. Besides, I'll be waiting outside with my arrows ready in case it is hostile."

"So, who's volunteering?"

Mitch sighed. "I guess I will."

"I'll go with him," Tim said.

Together, they sneaked into the dark storeroom, leaving the door ajar so that Aimee could enter quickly if need be. They hid behind a stack if boxes, and waited.

There was little room behind the boxes. They both had to crouch sideways. Mitch folded his wings tightly against his back and curled his tail beneath himself.

After about half a minute of waiting, Mitch nudged Tim, and then whispered, "Tim? Out of interest, is Tim your full name or is it short for something?"

For a moment Mitch thought that Tim hadn't heard him, but then Tim said, "I never knew why, but my mother named me Timothy. Honestly. Who wants to be called 'Timothy?' My dad just called me Tim, so did every body else." Tim paused, listening, but couldn't hear anything. "Mitch? Is your name short for anything?"

"No, at least if it is, nobody told me. I've always been called Mitch, but I don't know if that's what my parents… shh… hear that?"

They both listened, and heard the sound of a box being moved aside, followed closely by someone's weight being carefully placed onto a table.

There's something there, Mitch mouthed, not daring to make a sound.

What? Tim mouthed back.

I'll have a quick look.

What?

Mitch peeked out of their hiding place. On a table against the far wall, a boy of about eleven or twelve years old crouched, with his back to Mitch. He was quietly picking some dried food out of one of the many boxes and stashing it into a small bag. Above him, Mitch could see a hole in the ceiling, large enough for someone of about Tim's size to fit through, but not big enough for Mitch to get his wings through. How could we have missed that? he thought.

Mitch slipped back down to Tim's level.

What's there? Tim asked.

It's just a boy.

A what?

What?

What. Is. There?

A. Boy. Look for yourself.

Tim peeked above the box. The boy spun around, somehow alerted by Tim. For a moment he stared at Tim, before he dropped the bag and quickly hoisted himself into the hole in the roof.

"Wait," Tim said, as the boy's shoes disappeared. Tim squeezed out from behind the row of boxes, scrambled up to the hole, and stuck his head into it.

"Hey, it's a vent. It must be as long as the building itself."

"Which way did he go?" Mitch asked.

"That way," Tim said, pointing at the nearest wall.

"Follow him, Tim. I'll see if I can find where he'll come out."

Tim hoisted himself into the vent, and Mitch went to Aimee and the others. They where waiting a few steps down the hall from the door.

"What happened?" Aimee asked.

"It's a boy who found a way in there through a vent in the roof," Mitch replied. "It goes above all of the rooms. Tim's following him. If we can find where the vent ends, then we can cut him off."

"Which way did he go?" Aimee asked.

"Down that way," Mitch said, pointing down the hall.

While Aimee, Daniel and Tara checked the doors further down the hall and Lisa hung back in case he found another way out, Mitch went to the next door down the hall and checked inside. Empty. Mitch saw a vent in the roof, this one with a grate covering it. Mitch went to the next room. Empty. Another grate. The room after that. Empty. Grate!

"He could be anywhere," Mitch said in frustration. "We'll never find him. Hey, quiet everyone, what was that?"

"What do you hear?" Aimee asked.

"I think I hear, wait, I can definitely hear something. It's the boy in the vent, he's quite noisy. He's still going this way." Mitch went further down the hall, and stopped, listening. "He must have found a cross shaft, because he's above us now."

"You must have very good hearing," Daniel said.

"I can hear him too," Tara said.

"He's above this room now," Mitch said, going a nearby door.

Clunk… thump, thump…

"Hear that?" Mitch asked.

"I heard something…" Daniel murmured.

Tara edged up to the door and listened. "He's definitely in here, and, oh my, he must have hurt himself when he fell, poor boy."

"We're not going to help him by standing out here," Aimee remarked.

"But he's scared of us. We don't want to terrify him," Mitch said.

"Tara, you'd probably be able to calm him down," Aimee suggested.

"Fine."

Tara opened the door a crack, and looked inside. The boy was lying in a heap below the vent, cradling his left wrist. Tim was still in the vent, looking apprehensively at the boy.

The boy looked up and groaned. "Stay away."

Tara used her goat-like head to say, "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Tara, what's yours?"

The boy, unsure which head to address, picked one, and replied timidly "Nigel."

"Hi, Nigel," Tara said, stepping into the room. "You don't need to hide. This place is a sanctuary for Blood Mutants. You are welcome to stay here."

Nigel looked at the door, and then back at Tara. Seeing no way out, he said, "My hand hurts."

"You must have sprained it. We can help it to heal, but it won't get any better if you're going to stay in here." Tara took a careful step towards Nigel.

"NO! Keep away from me!" he shouted, scuttling to the back of the room.

"Listen, none of us are going to hurt you," Tara said in a firmer tone, with her lion-like head. "You can accept our help or you can stay in here. It's your choice."

Nigel paused, considering his options. "Y… you won't hurt me?" he stammered.

"No. Nobody here will. We want to help you." Tara offered her left hand to Nigel, who took it cautiously.

"There, come on. Your wrist needs to be bandaged." She helped Nigel to stand. Evidently, he had not only sprained his left wrist but also bruised his elbows and knees.

"But what about the others?" Nigel asked.

"They're not going to harm you in any way."

Tara led Nigel to the hallway. On seeing the other inhabitants of Haven, Nigel looked like he was ready to break free at any moment.

"Hi there, you okay?" Aimee asked Nigel.

"Uh, yes… I'm a little thirsty…"

"I'll get you some water then," Aimee said.

Aimee led the thirsty boy away.

Mitch sighed. "All of that effort, and all it was, was a terrified boy."

"It's sad what they say about Blood Mutants," Tara said. "It's just not true."

"That poor kid was almost scared to death by us," Mitch said.

"I think that something must've happened to him outside of Haven that terrified him, and now he's in hiding," Lisa said.

"I wonder what he was doing here to begin with?" Daniel asked.

"He seemed very troubled," Tara said. "Something may have happened to his family, or perhaps his entire village, though I can't imagine what."

The four blood mutants stood in silence for a moment.

"Um, could someone help me down, please?" Tim called.

Three days later, Mitch met Aimee in one of the many halls of Haven.

"How's Nigel going?" Mitch asked.

"His wrist is more or less better. It was only a sprain after all, and he's been resting it well, but he still won't say why he was hiding," Aimee replied.

"Did he say anything about how he made it here from wherever he was without being blooded?"

"Nope, only that he was nearly attacked by the family of chimeras that live at the base of this mountain."

"We've given him food and shelter for three days, and that's all he's told you?"

"He said that he wanted to get far away from here as soon as possible."

Mitch shook his head. "His family must have told him some really scary tales about blood mutants. No wonder he doesn't want to be anywhere near here. I don't get why they say such things about us."

Aimee nodded. "I've heard that some blood mutants go insane and then attack people."

"But it rarely happens."

"It only has to happen once…" she said rhetorically.

"Anyway, I caught up with Tim just a minute ago."

"Did he find out how Nigel got in?"

"Yeah, he spent half an hour crawling through those vents, and eventually found a way in. One of the vents had a grate on the outside of the building that was knocked out. Right now, he's blocking it, so that this doesn't happen again."

"Well, I'm off to see what Daniel's up to."

"Probably playing with that 'something scope' of his. Bye."

A week after the event with Nigel, Mitch caught him sneaking off from his room.

"And where are you off to?" Mitch said, and then shuddered: he reminded himself of Ms. Rosenboom.

"I… I was leaving…"

Mitch sighed. "Why? It's dangerous out there. Why'd you want to risk death out there instead of safety here?"

"It's not safe here. I can't stay here."

"And there's nothing that I say or do could convince you otherwise?"

Nigel shook his head.

"You don't even want to take some supplies with you?"

Nigel hesitated.

"Come on, let's see if Aimee and I can find some decent food for you. Hurry up. She won't bite."

Nigel looked a bit doubtful.

A quarter of an hour later, Mitch, Aimee and Tara watched as Nigel disappeared down the path leading to Haven.

"He probably won't last long on his own, poor kid," Tara said. "He seemed terrified of us. He'd been hinting for a while now that he was going to leave on his own."

"By 'hinting' you mean sneaking off in the middle of the night?" Aimee asked.

"That's exactly what I mean."

"It's strange…" Mitch began.

"What is?"

"I have a feeling that he'll be back one day."

"Really?" both of Tara's heads said together.

"Who knows? It's not like you can predict the future, or anything," Mitch said.

Tara said nothing.

"Besides, we're not making the future any better by idling out here," Mitch said.

"Agreed," Aimee said.