The Change of Time

CHAPTER 7

Elizabeth P.O.V

Upon entering my parents’ bedroom, the memory of the day that shape my whole life, the day I lost everything, the day my life as I knew it ended came like a flood of water. “Mamma, Papa, why are you still sleeping?” I went to stand at my mother's side and shook her. “Mamma, wake up. Why are you so cold and why are your lips blue? Mamma!” I shook and shook her, but nothing happened. I ran to my father's side. “Papa, mamma doesn’t want to wake up. Papa!!! Why so cold? I’ll bring another blanket.” I went to the cupboard and fetched another blanket and thru it over them. “Here you go. Now you will be warm. Please wake up. Mamma please... I’m hungry.” Yet there were no movement. I screamed. I didn’t know what was going on. “Mamma, Papa!!! Why are you forgetting me?” I went to either of their sides and bit their hands, expecting it will make them react to me, but still no movements. I climbed into bed with them lying between them and sobbing. “Mamma, Papa, I promise I’ll be good. I won’t run in the house anymore. I will listen when you speak. I won’t go down to the cellar again. Please, please just wake up. Please...” I laid there and cried myself to sleep...

As the memory passed, I was on the ground crying like the day my parents left me. For many years I carried the guilt with me of their deaths, believing that it was my fault until I saw my parents again in that world that is between the living and the dead, the mist. It took a mountain of my shoulders when I saw them again and now I knew it was never me; it was an evil that came to my house that midnight and took them from me. I will not rest until I have my answers and I will find him. I cleaned the room and left everything where it was. I cannot get myself to empty their things out. This was there’s and for now that is the why it will stay.

I went to my childhood room and cleaned it out, ordered some new furniture and made it into the master bedroom. I will once again stay in the room. Hopefully, the nightmares will not return as I have some answers now. I only need my pendant, then I will put all the pieces together and start my investigation, and maybe then I will be ready to go back into town.

Eric was very helpful these past two days, always coming around and seeing if I needed anything. The Hunters in town still did not make a move and they are still just sitting on the porch of the Inn, as if waiting for me. I did not think about it a lot. As long as they don’t make trouble, they can sit and wait their whole lives. Erick and I got a lot closer to each other and I think I’m getting feelings for him. My mind keeps warning me, it could never be. We are on opposite sides of the table, but my heart is telling me to explore, and that it is the right thing to do. I wish I could contact my parents again and find out what they think... The gate bell buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. I went down to the intercom and looked at the screen. I don’t know the person. “Hallo, can I help you?” I said over the speaker. “Elizabeth, I’m Prue and I have a parcel for you from your aunt Marie.” O... It must be my pedant, so I opened the gate and let her in. I walked out to greet her, but the feeling of darkness came rising and I felt it pushing me. “Who are you or what are you?” “I’m a friend. Put this on. It will help.” She handed me the box that had my pendant in and I put it on. It was like magic. The pendant glowed a little, and the feeling went away. As soon as it was gone, the pendant went back to normal. “Feeling better now?” She asked. “Not really... Who are you?” “I’m Prue, an old Witch friend of your mother.” “How did you...” “O Darling, lets go inside and drink a nice cup of tea and I will tell you everything.” I felt a little skeptical of her, but I needed to know what she knows. So I brought her into the kitchen and made us some tea. As we sat at the table, she started with her story.

“Your mother and I got befriended in a little town called Seven Bridges. She and your father were there hunting a Dragon that was taking virgin woman. He was using them as slaves and torment them. They had a hard time locating the Shifter as they can conceal themselves from Hunters. So your mother came to me and I made an elixir that will enhance her senses and that is how they captured the Dragon shifter. From then on, your mother would have come to me every time they needed help. Sometimes it was locations they needed, sometimes I needed to consult the cards for her, but we worked well together and became excellent friends. That was when you mother consulted me about the necklace that will help all Hunters. At first I thought it wouldn’t work, but when your mother put the necklace on, she could give me a hug without wanting to kill me. You need to know one thing, Elizabeth. As soon as you come near someone living in the shadows that is doing wrong, the necklace won’t work. I spelled it to do so.” “Okay... wow... hmm... How about you to tell me how you knew my aunt is sending me the necklace?” “So as your mother and I grew tighter than friends, our bond became stronger and she had a dream something was coming and it wasn’t good. So she contacted me, and we consulted the cards. Your mother maid me promise to look after you when she no longer couldn’t. We did not know that it will happen so soon. We were sure that if anything happens to them, you would have been old enough to look after yourself, but something changed and we did not see it coming. I’m so so sorry Elizabeth, I should have seen it coming.” “See what coming… and how are you looking after me? I have never seen you before.” “I clocked myself and you couldn’t have sense me because you were oblivious to this world. For an instant, my clocking won’t help at all. Now that you know about our world, your senses have become too strong. The cards gave us the heads up that your parents’ lives were in danger and that something was coming for them. We thought we will have at least a few years before it happened, but it was nearly two days after that, that they killed your parents.” “So you gave them the wrong information!?” I said as my anger rose. “There was no why we could have prevented it, Elizabeth. Who ever did this had a witch of their own, one that was more powerful than me. I have been trying to track her, but she is too strong.”

Suddenly my Kitchen door came flying off and in its placed stood a gigantic Black Panther. The last time I saw Phantom I was in too big of a shock to have looked at him properly. He is something… much bigger than your average panthers. His black fur looked like silk, it looked so soft that I just wanted to pull my fingers thru them. His eyes almost black as the night. He came closer to me, all the wails growling at Prue. Prue just sat there calmly as if nothing was happening and drinking her tea. “Hallo, Eric, you can settle down. I’m not here to hurt her.” She said Phantom looked at her and then at me as he was standing right next to me at this point. “She speaks the truth. See, she even brought me my necklace.” He looked down at my chain and left the kitchen. Seconds later, Eric walked in. “Who are you?” He asked. “You remember the story of the Witch my mother became friends with, the one who made the necklaces.” “That’s her...?” “Yes, it is me. Don’t worry, I’m much older than I look.” “I’m... sorry I just felt your presence when I came near and I...” “It’s fine Eric, I’m glad she has someone to protect and help her.” “You still didn’t answer my question. How did you know I needed my necklace?” “Your mother informed me when she came to me for help to contact you in the mist.” “That was you?” “Yes, and a few other witches on the other side, and of course your parents had to promise to never try to contact you again.” “But why? Why can’t they contact me.” “It is against the laws of nature Elizabeth.” “What is dead must stay dead and leave this world to the living.” Eric said. “You are correct Eric, that is the rules.” “They suck... One more thing I need to know?” “What will that be, Darling?” “How did my parents become so powerful? Making the rules and everyone has to follow them.” “You, Elizabeth, comes from a long and strong lineage. The first bloodline of the Hunters. About 3000 years ago, you, I don’t know how many greats, but your grandpa was the first of the Hunters on your father’s side. As time went on and they branched out, your mother’s family inherited the gene, and they were a powerful family, always tried to protect everyone that did no harm, even people living in the shadows. Believe me, your father had a hard time understanding this as he was raised to hate us all, but your mother helped him see the better side of this world. That is why your parent were the King and Queen of the Hunters. The first Bloodline has always sat at the head of the table, and you, Elizabeth, are the first child born from these two families. There has never been an alliance between the two families, because of their differences in believe. You are the light and darkness, the strongest Hunter ever born and only you will control the table and bring peace to the two worlds in the shadows.” “Okay... wow... no pressure then.” “Don’t be so worried you will be fine, but first you need to learn everything there is in the shadow world. So shell we head down to the cellar.” “How do you...” “It is not the first time I’m in your house, although it is the first time after your birth that I’m here.” “Why didn’t you come here when she was a child?” Eric asked. “The same reason your father never brought you here. Her inner Hunter may have awakened earlier if she was between us.” “I never knew...” “I know love, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

After that we went down to the cellar and I got nervous, as the last time I was down here my father scolded me, but I guess now I have their consent. Once down in the cellar, I saw only wine bottles, lots of wine bottles. “I do not know what I’m looking for.” “Look behind that crate over there, there is a small white stone. Push it in.” I did as Pure said and pushed the stone and out came a sort of lock. It looked like a magical rock with a hole that looks like my pendant. I took off my chain and placed it in there as the darkness surfaced and both of them stepped away, giving me some space. As I pushed the pedant in more, the moon glowed and the wall with all the bottles on moved and a entered appeared. It was quite fascinating to see it. I took my pendant, put it back on, and went to the entrance, but there was no light switch. “There is also no light down there Darling, they built it to keep anything that did not belong there out. So they couldn’t have installed any mordent things.” “So how do we see where we are going.” “I can help with that.” She said as she passed me and stood in front of the entrance. She said something in Lathan and all the fire torches on the sides of the wall lit up and revealed a flight of stairs going down. “Now this is a little creepy.” I said “You can say that again.” Eric said.

We went down the stairs with Eric leading the why a little protectively, like always. As we came to the bottom of the stairs, there was an enormous room with bookshelves and books covering three of the walls and two tables in the center of the room full of books, and next to the doorway, there was a massive cupboard. I went to the nearest table and looked at the books laying there and it looked like the journal my father kept only with my mother’s initials on them. “These are journals of my mother.” Erick came up behind me and looked at them. “Ya, it looks like it.” I looked at the second table and there were more of my father’s journals. “What is this place?” “Well, Darling it is your family’s history. They handed all the journals down from generation to generation. You will find journals here from the very first hunters, saying what shadow people they have killed, how they look and how they did it. This is your family’s legacy.” “Wow... what is in that cupboard, thou?” I went to the cupboard and opened the doors. There were bottles filled with liquids and knifes a crossbow and guns lots of guns. “What are these?” I asked as I picked a bottle up. “O careful with that Darling, it makes a big bang if you drop it. Those bottles are potions I made for your parents to help them out, and that silver bottle is liquid silver. Your father made his bullets with it as no one not human can stand silver. You will see on all the bottles there are labels stating what it is and what it does. Be careful with them in the wrong hands… They can be of great harm.” I looked at one bottle that had red think fluid in and read the label. “Dead Mans Blood for Vampires. What the hell.” “That is something you use if you integrate a vampire. It is like a burning knife for a human.” “Okay... so you are telling me not only are there shifters of all shapes and sizes in this world, but vampires too.” “Yes Darling. You have much to learn so I will let you be.” she said and just disappeared into thin air. “What the hell was that!?” “Witches, they can do strange things.” “Ya, I caught that. You don’t have to leave as well, do you? It’s a little scary down here.” Erick smiled at me and shook his head. “No, beautiful, I can stay if you want me two.” “Thank you. So... where do we start. I’m guessing we start with your mother’s journals, maybe?”

So we went to the table, picking up the first journal on the table. I started reading it out load as Eric came to sit next to me.

05 June 1854,

We are in a small town called Mandré. We have been after the bear shifter for almost two weeks now, and I’m getting frustrated. My daughter is at home waiting for us to come back and we told her we will only be a week at the Meeting. Every time we get a letter from her, I can almost hear the sadness in her as she wrote it. We needed to find this thing and put an end to it all.

He has been terrorizing town’s people all over and taking woman and abusing them until his done. Three woman has already taken their own lives due to what this asshole has done to them.

“So it was all a lie every time they said they were going for meetings they went hunting.” “They never told you, because they were trying to protect you.” “Ya, what a marvelous job they did there. Now I’m here and I know nothing.” Eric said nothing, he just pulled me near him and hold me. I loved it when he did that. It made me feel wanted and loved.

06 June 1854,

Henry came to the Inn. He got a lead, and we went to a mountain just outside of town and it was massive. We had to climb for 800 m to reach the cave that the animal was living in. It was not an easy defeat as there was a storm breaking out over the mountain and I lost my footing more than once, but Henry was always there to catch me when I fell. Luckily, we made it, but a horrifying scream came from inside. It sounded like a woman or more a girl. We rushed in just as the man was trying to bind her to the bed. As soon as he saw us, he changed into a gigantic black bear. He was bigger than anything I have ever seen, even bigger that the Alpha Wolfs. He had massive paws and his nails were sharpened; his eyes were enormous and black and I could see the evil behind them. Henry shot his silver bullets at him, but it just bounced off like he had a bullet proof armor around him. But there is always one place that will be venerable. As the bear charged towards us, I ran towards him and at the last second I went down to my knees and slide underneath him as I shoot the arrow right thru his chin to his brain. He collapses and as the life went from his eyes; he changed back to his human form. This was the second time we found a shifter that shifted back after we killed him. Henry and I knew immediately why this happened as we search for answer the last time. Normally a shifter stays in the form that they killed it in. This means that this was a normal human that was made a shifter, not born a shifter.

We have been investigating this, but every time we thought we have something we would reach a dead end. Someone somewhere was doing this, and we needed to find them before this gets out of hand. But for now, we could go home and I could hold my loving daughter once again.

“I’m sorry… I don’t mean to cry. I just miss her so much right now.” “It’s okay, beautiful, it’s okay.”

30 June 1854,

I had the strangest dream last night. It frightened me. It was about Henry and me, but it was our death. Someone came into our house and injected us with something and in mere minutes we were no longer there. That was not so bad, but my little girl's reaction was the worst part. The way she cried and tried to wake us, it was heartbreaking. I needed to contact Prue. I need to know if this is just a fear or if it is an actual premonition.

So I did contact Prue, and I feel a lot better than I did before. She consulted the cards. And it was apparently our death, but not for a very long time, and that means it can still change. According to the cards, Elizabeth will be in her twenties when this will happen. So I will not tell Henry. He doesn’t need to know for now.

“So my mother knew, she knew she was going to die." “But like she said, it wasn’t until you were older so she did not think too much of it.” “It’s weird.” “What is?” “That she had a dream exactly the way it happened.” “You don’t think that the Witch that Prue told us about had something to do with this due you?” “I think she does, but we need to get a hold of Prue.”

Suddenly a wind came rushing in and in its place Prue stood there. “How, what... What just happened?” “I told you Darling, your mother asked me to watch over you so if you need me I’ll know.” “Ya, I got that. Prue, did my mother always get premonitions or was that the first time?” “As far as I know, that was the first. Why do you ask?” “How would my mother get that, has it maybe got something to with the other Witch?” “Darling..., your mother was a mysterious woman and could get things right that no Hunter ever could and besides, the other Witch would have had to come inside the house or yard to do that and your mother would have defiantly felt her presence.” “What if she had help… someone on the inside?” “Go on.” “Someone that can come into the yard basically undetected.” I went into my thoughts, r****g my brain, trying to find something. Maybe I saw something, and I never thought it to be imported. I was only nine. Maybe the answer has always been in my head. “Elizabeth, are you okay Darling?” I hear her say, but was too busy in my head to respond. Remembering the man with the scar come to our house and my father met him outside. I was looking at them from my bedroom window and no matter how hard that guy tried to get inside our house, my father never allowed him to. I remember my father chasing him from our yard and came back into the house, but before the man was out the gate he quickly ran to the Olive tree, my mother planted the day I was born and it looks like he was putting something in the ground by it.

That is when I snapped out of it and ran towards the Olive tree. “Elizabeth, what is it? Elizabeth!!!” Eric called to me, but I ignored him and just ran. They followed me and as I reach the tree, I started digging and no sooner did I find it. As I pulled it from the ground Prue gasp and grabbed it from my hands, chanting something in Lathan that I did not understand. Once she’s done, she looked at me, shocked. “Never ever pick something up like this again. You hear me Elizabeth, never!” “I understand, but what is it thou?” It looked like something out of a horror movie. It looked like animal bones and twigs and something else. “Is that... is that a human jaw?” “It’s a baby’s... this is very dark magic." Right there and then I threw up. Eric just held my hair and rubbed my back as he was not even looking at the object, too disgusted by it. “Don’t worry Darling I’ll take care of this, but first I need to go thru your house and garden to make sure this was the only one.” I just nodded as she walked away.

“Who would do something like that and use baby parts? I want this witch and I want her dead.” “We’ll find her and she will pay.” Prue came back, still holding the object in hand, and as soon as I saw it I felt sick again. “There is nothing ells here. I will destroy this one. You are safe now Darling.” “No wait! You said you couldn’t track that Witch, but with...” “With this I would be able to, but as long as this is here she will get into your head.” “I’ll be fine, my head is strong enough to keep her out. Track her please.” “It will take a wail, Elizabeth. It is not something I can do in a week.” “I know... just try please.” “You are a very brave young lady and you will become the best. Keep a close eye on her, Eric, and let me know if something is not right.” “I will.” Eric said, as he was holding onto me with all his might.