Fallen by James Somers Page B

upon this was only giving me a
headache.
    Tom sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose
to ease his frustration. “Just watch me and do what I do,” he
said.
    Tom vaporized an instant later, becoming a
coil of multicolored smoke that coalesced a moment later on top of
the chair in the form of a small brown mouse. The mouse threw out
its hands, mimicking a magician successfully performing some great
trick. “Ta-da!” Tom proclaimed in a squeaky, mouse’s voice.
    “I can’t do that,” I hissed, trying again to
keep my voice to a whisper.
    The mouse put his paw to his forehead,
shaking it back and forth. “I’ve got it,” he said suddenly. “Open
your mind to me, Brody. Take my hand and just allow me to have
control.”
    “What?”
    “You’ll sense someone else in your head for
a moment, but many of the Descendants of the Fallen are able to do
this. I’ll make the transformation for you.”
    “I’ll try,” I said.
    The mouse held out one of its tiny paws. I
grasped it gently between my thumb and forefinger, careful not to
crush Tom’s hand. Letting go wasn’t as easy as I might have
thought. The mind wants order, wants control. Still, Tom was right.
I did sense another presence in my mind, somewhat intrusive, but
manageable.
    I tried to think about the process of
praying, sensing the Lord’s presence and surrendering to it. A
palpable tremor coursed through me. When I opened up my eyes, both
Tom and I were standing on the floor facing a much larger mouse
hole. The chair I had been standing next to was now gargantuan in
size.
    Tom the mouse stood before me, probably
smiling, though because he was a rodent it was impossible to tell.
He was now as tall as I was. Rather, I was now as miniscule as him.
I looked myself over. Pinkish skin had been replaced by soft brown
fur. Hands had been supplanted by tiny pink paws. I was now a
mouse.
    No sooner had the transformation been made
than the door to Mr. Black’s office opened. The tremor of footfalls
through the floorboards was far more noticeable now. Tom took off
ahead of me like a flash through the mouse hole. I followed right
behind, finding it easy to keep up with his pace in this form.
    The labyrinthine world behind the walls made
my head spin; such were the twists and turns of our trek. Tom
seemed to know by instinct which way to go, though I wondered at
the time if he had any idea where we were going to end up. I had
heard of rats and mice dead and decomposing within the walls of
houses before. That wasn’t the sort of fate I wanted for us
tonight.
    Bits of plaster chipping along the insides
of the walls, as well as the exposed tips of nails, made climbing
easy. Our lithe mouse bodies squirmed through tight holes and gaps
among the framing with hardly a pause. Truth be told, I was finding
the entire experience quite exhilarating. Just the thought of
having been transformed into such a creature was exciting enough
for a seventeen-year-old boy. But to also have the adrenaline rush
of running for our lives only seemed to add to the thrill of it
all.
    For a time we were vertical, but now we
moved between the floors of Mr. Black’s house, traveling
horizontally for a seemingly great distance. Copper piping wound
throughout, carrying water here and there, a luxury for the
wealthy.
    “Where are we going?” I squeaked.
    Tom the mouse paused ahead of me. “We have
to find a safe way out and then leave the grounds. I can open a
portal beyond the boundaries of Black’s estate.”
    “Well, don’t you know where you’re
going?”
    Tiny pink paws stood on Tom’s mouse hips.
“I’ve never been in this house before tonight…thanks for getting me
here by the way. I’m just trying to sniff our way out, following
the fresh air hoping for a hole out. Even an open window would be
nice.”
    I mimicked his gesture. “Hard to find a
window behind the walls and beneath the floorboards.”
    “Would you rather expose us to the Breed
dwelling within this house? They can