“And your wife, what happened,” I sat up in bed quickly realizing that he had not yet explained that to me fully.
“I will tell you this whole truth. My wife, a very smart woman knew of many things. When I came down with this syndrome she wanted to help of course. She tried many potions and magic. Every time it failed. Then one night she insisted that she try it while I was the wolf. I said no of course, but she disobeyed me. She came into the dungeon where I was locked up and released me so that she could do the magic and then the wolf….” he could not finish his words as he began to cry.
“No…” I said as I understood what had happened. “The wolf killed her…” I whispered and threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly in condolence. “Oh that is so awful Ehren. How you must have suffered because of it. I am so very sorry.”
“Yes, I have suffered for centuries. You will never know that kind of pain and how it can tear you apart.”
“You must let me help you. There must be a cure,” I said suddenly feeling the need to help him. I wanted to cure him. I wanted to save this man if I could. Perhaps that is why I had come into his life, so that I could help him.
“No!” he yelled so loudly that it startled me with his abrupt tone.
Honk! Honk! There was a car horn that pierced the air and I remembered what he had said, that he had the car come to get me at a certain time so that I would not be here when he turned.
“The car is here. You must go. It is not safe for you here. I will call on you tomorrow.
“Promise me Angela that you will not come here,” he said in a rush as he got up from the bed.
“I promise,” I said as he helped me to my feet and helped me get dressed. It was obvious that he was anxious to get me out of his home. I could understand why, he did not trust the monster inside of him and I guess I did not either. I let him walk me to the car and I gave him a last kiss on the lips. Then I was on my way back into the village and into my hotel. I was so incredibly stunned by his words that I could not sleep that night. I sat at the window looking at the full moon exactly at midnight. I fully expected to see a wolf roaming the village streets. Midnight had strange magical powers and I suddenly remembered that it was midnight the first time I saw Amelia in the mirror. I rushed over to it and picked it up. At first it was just my reflection. Then it happened again. Amelia appeared. Only this time it was the painting that I saw. It looked so much like me. Then the painting turned over and I saw writing on the back of it. She was trying to tell me something but I did not know what it could be. Then it disappeared. I sat there feeling so dumbfounded by everything that had happened. I had never in a million years thought that when I booked this vacation that this sort of thing would happen to me. I paced the room feeling very anxious about Ehren going through this all alone. Then I could not let what I saw in the mirror out of my mind. It was driving me nuts.
I had to get to that painting and turn it over to see if there was actually anything there, but I had promised Ehren that I would stay away. But I could not help myself. Minutes later I was in a cab going back into the woods and to his estate. I paid the cab and said, “Come back in an hour.” He agreed and then I watched as the red tail lights faded into the darkness. I was now alone. Then… HOWL!! I jumped out of my skin. I heard the howl come from deep within the house. I was terrified. What if it was loose? It would kill me. It would not know me. I had come this far though. There was no turning back. I tried the door. It was locked. Of course it would be. I walked around the outside of the house. Every sound I heard outside in the trees behind me startled me. I thought at any second the wolf would pounce on me and it would be the end. I spent the next twenty minutes trying every single window until finally one budged just a little. It was unlocked. I had to drag a tree stump over and step on it in order to continue to push the window up. It was heavy glass, antique. I finally climbed in. The house was eerily dark and silent. I pulled out my mobile phone and used the light on it to guide me through the dark. Then I heard a loud thud! Bang! Thud! Bang! My heart pounded as I realized that the noise was coming from deep within the house, in the dungeon. I was glad that it was and not anywhere closer. My heart pounded with fright as I listened to the terrifying sound. I had to do this quickly. I decided to do it as quickly as I could, no hesitations. I moved through the grand house quickly but quietly. I didn’t want to make any sound on the floor so I tiptoed lightly. Then I finally found the painting. I looked at it as though I was looking in the mirror. I felt like I was in a daze as it hypnotized me. Then I snapped out of it. I carefully grabbed a chair and stood on it. Then I turned the painting over. There in a light charcoal pencil was some writing. I would not be able to stay and read it. So I snapped several photos of it. Then I lost my balance! I fell off the chair with a loud bang and the chair crashed over on its side. It was quiet for a split second then I heard the loudest howl that I had ever heard. I scrambled to my feet and got up and ran. The house was so dark that I felt like I was getting lost. Then I felt a breeze. It must be coming from the open window. I followed it! Finally the full moon light filled the room and I found the open window. I jumped onto the windowsill and tumble out of it, hitting my head on the tree trunk. I felt dizzy. I heard the horn of the cab in an echoing sound. Shit! The cab was here. My one chance to get away! I forced myself to shake off the dizziness. “I’m coming!” I yelled. “Wait! I’m coming!” I yelled as I got up and ran to the front of the house stumbling the whole way. I felt a bit of blood oozing down my temple where I had cut myself open on the trunk. When I got to the front door the cab was slowly moving past the door. I hit the trunk with my hand and it stopped. I jumped in the back and said, “So sorry. I tripped and fell down and couldn’t get to you fast enough. We can go now. I’m late so feel free to drive fast,” I said trying to act casual even though I was filled with fear and had blood on me that I hope he could not see in the darkness. I leaned my elbow on the window and leaned my head into it to stop the bleeding. It made me look casual. The driver drove away fast and I was thankful for it. Though as I looked out the window I expected to see a wolf running along side the car at any second.
When I finally made it up to my room I bolted the door with a chair under the handle. Then I sat down in the bathroom and washed the blood off my face. Ehren would be pissed if he knew I had put myself in danger like that. But I got what I went for. I was right. There was writing on the back of the painting. After I bandaged myself up I went to look at the photos. I transferred them to my computer and used my historical degree skills to translate the old English and decipher. When I was done I realized what I had here. It was a recipe for a potion. It was the wolf cure that she had tried on Ehren. But why was she pointing me toward it when she knew that it had failed? That’s when I realized. Maybe it had not failed! Perhaps she didn’t even get a chance to give it to him because he got to her first. That was then, and this is now. We had better ways of administering drugs to animals then getting them to drink it. She got too close. I however could do it with a tranquilizer gun. I got really excited thinking about how I could help Ehren. I could do this. Perhaps this was why I came into his life? I studied all night. I studied the potion and tranquilizer guns and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep hunched over my laptop.
“You came to the house didn’t you?” I heard a deep voice reverberate through my very bones. I hazily woke up and adjusted my eyes to the morning light. Ehren was standing before me and he was angry. His chest heaved up and down as he looked over me. There was a long scratch down the side of his face.
“Ehren? What happened?” I said as I fully woke up and jumped to his side. My hand went to his face and he instinctively grabbed it. He held my arm tightly.
“Ouch, you are hurting me,” I whispered.
“Did you go to the house? Is that how you have that,” he said as he looked at my forehead. I didn’t answer. I stared him down.
“I told you not to go there. You promised me! Do you know what could have happened?! What I
could have done to you? You could be dead right now!” his eyes flashed angrily at me. He was so angry at me right then and there that it sent chills down my body.
“I…I was just trying to help. But Ehren you have to hear what I found…”
“No! You hear me! You will not disobey me! It is for your own good!” he yelled as he pulled me close to him. He was in an enraged passion. I felt my knees go week at his power. He was a powerful creature that I did not understand. It was magical and enchanting. This was unlike anything I would ever experience in my entire life. My body became aroused as he crushed my chest against his. I sighed. I wanted to tell him what I had discovered, but he was so angry that now was not the time.
“I’m sorry. You’re right I should not have gone. I was so terrified, but I am glad that I did. I needed to know…”
“Did you see me? Did you go down to the dungeon of the house and did you see me as the monster?” he asked as his voice began to crack. Then I realized that he was more angry at the fact that I would change my view of him if I saw him as a monster. I looked at his eyes, beautiful and sad.
“No, I did not. I only went to look at the painting.”
“The painting? Why would you…” he said in shock.
“I thought surely you went to catch a glimpse of the monster like some freak show,” he said as a tear fell down his cheek. I wiped it with my hand and then moved my fingers over his trembling full lips. “Of course not my love. That’s not what I want. I am sorry I broke my promise…” but I could not finish my sentence. He covered my mouth with his and then kissed me deeply and passionately. We were embraced in anger and fear in this moment, and it had us both aroused. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around him. He carried me to the bed and threw me on it. I bounced off the soft mattresses. He stood in front of me and said, “You will stay here. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I will but please here me out.”
“Fine,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I went to the house because Amelia showed me in the mirror that there was writing on the back of her painting. I think it is a potion,” I said.
His eyes grew wide and then he said, “I know, it is.”
“What? Does it work? Have you tried it?”
“I do not know if it works. She never got to use it on me. Don’t you see? I have to take it while I am in wolf form and I would never put anyone in danger ever again just to help myself. Now stay here!” he said as he angrily walked out the door.
I was upset. He would not even hear out my tranquilizer idea.
Later, I went into the local pharmacies, nurseries, and produce section of the market to gather all the ingredients. Then I went to the hunting store and bought a small tranquilizer gun. The man at the counter showed me how to use it. It seemed easy enough, but I knew that once I was staring down the wolf, I would be shaking and frightened but I had to try. I went back to my room and spent a few hours perfecting the potion. I think I had it right. I hoped that I had it right. What if it damaged him instead of helping him? I needed some guidance. I picked up the mirror. “Dear Amelia. Please help me help Ehren. If I have made the potion correctly, give me a sign and I will proceed…”
I felt very crazy talking to the mirror but so many crazy things had happened so far that it was not out of the ordinary. I looked at the mirror and nothing happened. I set it down. What should I do? Ehren would not want me to do this. After what we had shared and how he told me that he did not want me to see him as a monster, but I could not sit back and do nothing. It was not my way. Then I saw the mirror glowing. I ran to it and picked it up. It was the painting again. I stared at it for any sign and then Amelia nodded her head, “yes.” That was it. That was all that I needed to see. I quickly loaded the potion into the darts and loaded the gun. I pushed it into my bag. Minutes later I was in a cab on my way to Ehren’s house. “Thank you. No need to do a return pick up,” I said to the driver because I knew that this was going to work. It had too. I tried the door it was not locked, because it was very early. It was only nine o’clock. This was part of my plan. I knew that he waited until ten to lock up the house and to lock himself in. I slowly and quietly snuck in and found a closet in the library to hide in and waited. I could hear the bells of the clock in the library go off every half hour. It helped me keep time. Finally midnight rolled around. The clock struck twelve time and minutes later I heard the howl of the wolf. I took a deep breath. This was it. I had to do this now or never. I pushed open the door and made my way down the stairs into the dark dungeon. I could hear the clanking of chains. It was tied up. There were a few candles burning that helped me see in the dark. Then I came to a very heavy door. It was locked from the inside. There was no use. I could not open it. How could I get in? Then I saw it. Up high on the door was a very small panel, a sliding window. I slowly pulled a chair to it and climbed up to it. I prepared the gun steady in my hand and another dart in held tight in my teeth just in case. I slid the small window open and could not believe what I saw. There in the dark was the monster, the beast of a wolf feasting on a deer carcass. It was a bloody mess, and as soon as I saw it. It saw me. It snarled at me and then darted toward the door. I froze. He would kicked down the door with one blow. Then, clank! The chains pulled him back. I took aim, then let the dart loose. It hit him square in the belly. He howled out in pain. But it landed and injected quickly. He bounced off the walls, and then he stopped. I watched. Suddenly the wolf was on the floor as if it was going to sleep. Its eyes closed.
“Oh god! I hope that he is asleep and not dead I thought to myself.”
I could not go in and check. The door was impossible to open except from the inside. I slumped down against the wall and waited. Hours later I heard, “Angie?”
“Yes! Ehren! It’s me!” I said as I peeked in the window.
“What happened?” he said as he looked at his hands. He looked at the clock on the wall.
“I am sorry but I had to try. I made the potion that Amelia made and I shot it at you with a tranquilizer gun from this window. Please forgive me. I know you did not want me to see the monster but I had to try,” I said.
“Angie…I think it worked. I feel different,” he said with a smile.
“Let me in,” I said.
“No, let’s wait until morning just in case,” he said.
“Okay. I will sit here on the other side with you.”
“Angie, I love you. If it worked, will you marry me?”
Tears came down my face, “Yes! I will marry you my sweet prince.”
We waited together until sunrise. He did not turn back to the wolf that night, or ever again. It had worked. He was now a human again and he was mine. We married the next week and I moved into the grand house with him in the country. I was fascinated by history, studying it and now I was part of it. I transferred to a nearby college and continued with my work. I was happy, in love, and had experienced the most magical and dangerous experience of my life.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Alexandra Stone and I love writing fiction so much I became a full time author this year. When I don't read or write fiction, I mostly think of men and I fantasize about them. My work is my life as many of these adventure I lived or pictured so clearly in my mind, I could call them real. Enjoy!
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Breaking Promises
Chapter One
The sun sinks low over the western horizon, signifying
the end of another day in Daviess County, Indiana. Sarah Fisher puts aside the bowl of green beans that she is breaking, and takes a moment to bask in the last vestiges of warm sunlight as it sinks ever lower.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” her mother, Annie, says as she steps up onto the porch.
“Yes. It is, mother.”
“It is often wise to sit and reflect on the beauty of creation, Sarah. It reminds us of the beauty that God has instilled in all of his works,” Annie says, “but not to the point where it prevents us from accomplishing that which our parents have instructed us to do.”
Sarah picks up the bowl once more, and quickly begins to break more of the green beans. At seventeen, the beautiful young woman still lives with her mother and father. Sarah is the youngest of eleven children, and the last to remain at home, as each of her older siblings have married.
“Next week, you will be eighteen,” Annie says, “have you decided if you will be joining the church?”
“No, mother. I want to join the church, and I want to marry, but…”
“Yes?”
“It’s Joshua…when we were children, I made him a promise.”
“I know that you feel bound to keep your promise, my dear, but Joshua is gone.”
Joshua Stoltzfus was one year Sarah’s elder, and had once been her closest friend in the world. He was the youngest son of the widowed Mr. Joseph Stoltzfus, the Bishop of the local church, and the closest neighbor the Fishers have. The Stolzfus family was large, and two of Sarah’s older sisters were married to the eldest two Stolzfus sons.
Joshua was tall, thin, and a hard worker, while he remained in their community. In addition being a Bishop, Joseph was also a carpenter, and was teaching Joshua his trade. But then, nearly three years previously, Joshua had left the community for his Rumspringa, and had never returned. This, of course, had broken his mother’s heart, and she died within the year.
The Time Turner Page 3