ROMANCE: Time of the Werebears (Scottish Historical Time Travel Shifter Romance) (Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance)

by Sky Winters

  She walked down the street trying to avoid the puddles. Just when she thought she was in the clear a semi-truck rolled by and splashed her blue dress with mud. “So much for my fairy tale morning,” she muttered.

  When she arrived at the massive Victorian building she carefully climbed up the slick stairs to begin her daily housecleaning. She was a pro at housecleaning, because that’s all she did back home. She wiped floors, removed cobwebs, took out the trash, cleaned furniture, and lots of other things. Life wasn’t getting any easier for her. She knew that she had to get strong enough to deal with all that or else she would have to kiss her dream of becoming a star goodbye. She was waiting for a miracle to happen, and didn’t care how cliché it sounded. She was a dreamer. There was something inside her that always made her realize that nothing was impossible.

  Finally she got to the apartment where she had to do her work, but before she could ring the doorbell, she noticed the door knob twist clock-wise, and her employer pulled the door back with an angry look on her face.

  “You’re late!” cried the bitter woman, who had just stepped out of her house.

  “Sorry, Ms. Biel,” Cindy spoke in a low and gentle voice, as she took a couple of steps back.

  There was a flicker in Ms. Biel’s eyes that confirmed her prior suspicions—this would be no ordinary day.

  Chapter 2: Cleaning House

  “You better straighten up your schedule Cindy. I have no tolerance for ones who overlook the importance of time.” said the woman, in a stiff and unforgiving voice. Ms. Biel was an older woman, with a cold exterior, yet still incredibly attractive.

  Cindy nodded with a heavy head.

  “Did I make myself clear?” she inquired bitterly.

  “Yes, Ms. Biel,” she said in defeat.

  “Good.”

  With that she threw her rusty apartment keys at her in a hurry. The old keys hit Cindy on the tip of her fingernail, as she failingly attempted to catch. Cindy gasped as part of her index finger nail broke off, and a few drops of scarlet colored blood trickled down to the floor.

  “Damn it Cindy. And now clumsiness?” Ms. Biel huffed. A strange gleam came in her eyes when she saw blood escaping her long fragile finger. “Come here,” she sounded as if she was repressing something.

  Cindy was feeling pain, but she pretended to be tough, in order to prevent a lengthy dialogue with the old mysterious lady. She bent down to pick up the keys. Ms. Biel’s eyes turned fiery-red in color, but she quickly covered them up with a pair of sunglasses, which she always kept with her. Cindy took a couple of steps forward. “Show me your hand,” Ms. Biel insisted, in a motherly tone this time.

  Cindy stretched her hand forward. Ms. Biel grabbed her hand and inspected it closely like a goldsmith measuring a golden nugget.

  “I’m sorry for that. I have been under a lot of stress lately. You mind if I tend to your wound?” She gave her an affectionate look.

  Cindy was confused by Ms. Biel’s sudden change. “Sure Ms. Biel.”

  Ms. Biel placed Cindy’s fingers in her mouth and began to suck, slowly and gently. Cindy felt a chill run down her spine, but at the same time she felt a strange kind of sensation. The feeling was a mixture of horror and romance. In that particular moment, she felt lost in some mysterious place. At first it seemed so strange what Ms. Biel was doing, but then it began to feel normal.

  “Very interesting,” purred Ms. Biel with a coy smile, “Now that is something I have not experienced in a while, quite a unique taste,” she chimed as she dropped Cindy’s hand gently to her side.

  “Well, all right now Cindy snap out of it. You better get to cleaning as I am having many houseguests this week.” Ms. Biel, adjusted her fine little off-white hat, and walked down the ornate steps. “And don’t forget to lock the door on your way out.” She turned her head a little to look at the startled girl.

  “Yes Ms. Biel,” replied Cindy. She felt better. It seemed as though she was healing quickly.

  Cindy quickly walked into the house. She locked the door on her way in, and leaned her back against it for a few minutes, till she slowly slipped down on the floor. “Focus Cindy, Focus!” she backed herself up. The house was gigantic; Ms. Biel was easily Cindy’s wealthiest client. She quickly grabbed the mop, which was lying helplessly on the floor in the store room. She remembered that she had placed it in a bucket on the previous day. It seemed as though someone did some cleaning while she left the place. But cleaning wasn’t necessary at all. She did a fine cleaning job. And besides, Ms. Biel, was the only person who lived there. It couldn’t have gotten messy, Cindy thought. Ms. Biel was a business woman, so she deemed cleaning as something that was beneath her, and that was the very reason she hired Cindy.

  “Who cares,” she said spontaneously, as she grabbed the mop from its thin long handle with one hand, and the little silver bucket with the other. She mopped the floor thoroughly. She loved drawing patterns on a dry floor with a wet mop, and at times, strange marks were left on the floor. Then she had to clean it again.

  She went to the library, her favorite room to clean so she could admire the old books, and of course her favorite painting. It was of a mysterious man with long hair standing by the ocean. His eyes were so inviting, and yet sad. Her favorite part of cleaning Ms. Biel’s house was looking at this painting, she felt so drawn to the man, in a way that filled her body with a mysterious sensation.

  While she was mopping the library, she saw something under the table. It was a stain of some sort, a red stain. She knelt down and began to examine it like a detective. She looked at her hand to see if it was bleeding again. But she was surprised to see that it was completely healed. It was impossible for her to believe.

  She pushed the wooden table a bit, and mopped the floor clean. The red stain was as good as gone. After that she had to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen appliances.

  She walked straight into the kitchen, and took a deep breath. There were very few dishes for her to clean, mostly red wine glasses, so she was relieved. While she was doing the dishes, she came across a sharp knife that had a few drops of blood on it. Her day was getting weirder and creepier, but she decided to push all the strange thoughts about the blood out of her mind.

  She felt tired already. But there was one more thing to do before leaving the house. She had to vacuum Ms. Biel’s room. It was a messy business for her in the start, but then it started to get easy. She was glad that her cleaning tasks were going to be over. But while she was vacuuming, again she witnessed a strange thing that made no sense. It was blood, on Ms. Biel’s bedroom carpet this time. She had been cleaning Ms. Biel’s house for about a month now, but she hadn’t ever seen anything so strange.

  Chapter 3: The Dream

  Cindy was running aimlessly in a dark foggy jungle. The moon was fighting to peep through the mist with its glossy yellow light. Someone was chasing her. She got a few cuts on her arms and wrists as she tried to crawl her way out of huge thorny bushes. “Help!” she cried her lungs out, “help!” she kept screaming as loud as she could, but to no avail.

  Suddenly, the whole gloomy forest literally went up in smoke, and she was caught between an eternal void. Then, two huge fiery-red burning eyes, emerged out of nowhere and began to stare at the young girl. “Who the hell are you?” she inquired out of immense fear. Her legs were uncontrollably shaking at that event, and her heart throbbed with fear.

  She started to run, but the eyes kept following her. Those eyes were on her tail, no matter how hard she tried to run. “Stop following me,” she cried once again, as she turned her neck to glance at the massive demonic eyes. But the eyes were no longer there. When she looked ahead, those eyes were right in front of her, staring her from head to toe. She felt as though someone had peeled her soft skin off with a crowbar. She couldn’t even cry. It seemed like it was the end. Then suddenly, a red tear fell from those beastly eyes. The tear enlarged, the moment it hit the void. It sucked her in. She screamed as loudly as she could, knowing th
at nobody could hear her.

  Cindy awoke, gasping for air and for a reminder that she was alive. Her whole body was covered in cold sweat. Her hair was badly tangled. Her skin had turned stiff and hard, and her face was as white as a corpse. She breathed heavily and thanked God, for restricting that nightmare from jumping into the real world.

  She dragged herself out of bed and went straight to the bathroom, where she looked at herself for a couple of minutes. She vigorously washed the sweat and fear from her face. She looked horrible. She felt so lonely, and now it was time for her to her daily schedule. She took a deep breath, and stared into her own eyes declaring, “I can do this, and my luck will soon change.”

  As she was recovering from her dream, she heard a knock at the door. She was surprised. For a second, she thought that answering the door wasn’t a good idea. Since she was new to the city, nobody knew where she lived, except for her clients. And why would her clients visit her? “Who is it?” Cindy asked.

  There was no answer.

  She walked toward the door and tried to stick her eye in the keyhole to see if it was someone she knew. But there was nobody outside. She gently turned the knob, and pulled the door back, just enough to stick her head out. Nobody was there, except a red-colored envelope that was lying at her doorstep. She knelt down and picked it up. The beautiful envelope was sealed, with a waxed stamp that had a strange icon on it. It looked like a symbol of royalty. She carefully opened the envelope in anticipation, and pulled a letter out of it that was written in a strange old English handwriting.

  The letter read:

  Ms. Cindy

  I invite you to a small party at my residence, tomorrow, at midnight. Please bless the occasion with your presence.

  Of course, you could have a day off.

  Love,

  Catherine Biel

  She was happy to receive the invitation, but felt skeptical. Why was Ms. Biel showering her with attention? Plus, with a wealthy crowd like that what would she wear? She had no proper party dress. Wasting her savings on a party dress and some make over wasn’t the best idea. So she just folded the invitation and put it back in the envelope. She shut the door and jumped right on to her bed. At least she had a day off. It was something to celebrate. But again she heard a knock at the door. This time, she was more confident. She quickly opened the door curiously to find a man, wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of jeans, along with a silly baseball cap, was standing outside, holding a big package.

  “Ms. Cindy?” he inquired.

  “Yeah,” her eyes were wide open, constantly staring at the package, and wondering whether it was for her.

  “Sign here please,” he handed her a clipboard and a pen.

  She signed it and gave it back to the man.

  “Here you go, ma’am,” he gave her the package.

  “Thanks,” she smiled.

  The man nodded and walked away. Cindy closed the door and quickly sat on the floor to open the package. The package was wrapped in shiny red paper. She tore the package open, to find an exceptionally elegant dress. She looked at the sender-tag, to discover that it was the courtesy of Ms. Biel.

  She knew that she did some hard work, but Ms. Biel was showing a little too much gratitude, she thought. Still she wasn’t sure about going to the party. She had not met very many people since she had moved to New York, but she wasn’t sure she would fit in with Ms. Biel’s guests. She decided to try on the dress anyway and went running into the bathroom to look at herself. She hung the dress high enough to see whether it looked good on her or not. But she knew that she would have to return it to Ms. Biel, because she believed that a dress as beautiful as that wasn’t meant for her.

  Chapter 4: The Party

  The clock was ticking. It was half-past eleven already. Cindy hadn’t made up her mind yet, about the party. She was lying in her cozy bed, staring at the clock. For some reason, she couldn’t sleep. Her heart was beating rapidly.

  She closed her eyes and reflected on why she first came to New York; an opportunity for a new life. An opportunity to put her hum-drum past behind her. Her foster parents had been so strict. They were very religious, and never let her go on dates. They always favored their natural born children. Cindy felt that because of this she had lived a very sheltered life, and missed out on the adventure of youth.

  With that, she spontaneously sprang out of her bed to take a quick shower. “I am not letting fear control my life anymore” she declared.

  She didn’t have much time. She put the elaborate red dress on and looked herself in a small wall-mirror in her bedroom. What she saw startled her. Her breasts looked more voluptuous, and her long hair framed her face perfectly. All of her features seemed to be brought out by the magnificence of the dress.

  Cindy had to make a run for it. She literally ran towards Ms. Biel’s house, all the way up the never ending staircase. This time, she was right on time. There was no need to knock the solid wooden door, because it was already wide open. The whole house seemed to be crowded from where she was standing.

  A tall man darted out of the room, and stood right outside the door. He was wearing a jet-black suit that matched his hair. He was tall and muscular, and immediately began moving his eyes to Cindy’s neckline.

  “Miss,” said the man in black, when he caught her staring at him for a while. “Can I help you?”

  Cindy couldn’t respond. She was confused, searching for words. “Ms. Cindy Nightingale?” he inquired, following her silence.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “Right this way,” he escorted her into the dance hall.

  The whole house was full of intellectuals, billionaires, politicians, artists, and people of high taste. She wondered if it was obvious to them how bankrupt she was. But she was more confident than she had imagined. She couldn’t help but to look here and there at people, who were standing in small groups, chatting in a gentlemanly fashion, each having a champagne glass in their hands, which they were neither drinking nor putting away.

  “Ms. Cindy,” said the man who escorted her, “Ms. Biel.”

  “Thanks,” she said after a pause. It seemed as if she had got lost in a strange realm of unconsciousness for a few seconds.

  “Hi Ms. Biel,” she said in a shaky voice, trying not to make eye-contact with Ms. Biel for some reason.

  “Hi Cindy, you look beautiful. Good to see you in this vibrant dress. It really brought out the true woman in you.” she replied in a friendly voice.

  “Thank you, Ms. Biel,” Cindy smiled, pretending as if she wasn’t scared. But she was, for some unknown reason.

  “Let me show you around. I mean, let me introduce you to a few people.” she said gently.

  “Thank you Ms. Biel, but it’s not necessary for you to focus so much attention on me” she replied.

  “Of course it’s necessary.” she eyed her bitterly. “This is Mr. Ivanovic,” she stated pleasantly, and beside him, is Ms. Lamina.”

  “We’re pleased to meet you,” both the well-dressed guests extended their hands towards Cindy for a warm handshake.

  “Pleasure to meet you my dear, are you from around here?” Ivanovic questioned, in a fine Russian accent.

  “Excuse me?” she couldn’t understand what he had just said. He seemed more focused on eyeing her breasts than anything else.

  “I asked if you’re from around here, New York that is?” he questioned once again, but this time the accent was soft and simple, to her surprise, he switched from his Russian-American accent, to simply an American accent.

  “Well, I moved here about a couple of months ago. I came from a small town in Virginia.” her voice staggered, not because she was confused, but because she was in panic-mode.

  “Interesting, while we are so glad you could join us tonight. It’s always a treat to experience some new blood in this town,” he winked.

  Cindy began to look around, just to see where she could sit comfortably, so that nobody could ask her questions. The way Ivanovic was lo
oking at her made her uncomfortable.

  Ms. Biel was highly involved in a conversation with Ivanovic and Lamina, so she allowed Cindy to sniff around a little bit, till she was done with others.

  Cindy felt as if someone was staring at her. Just like her dream. But she looked around, everybody seemed to be involved in their own personal chit-chat, until her eyes came across a tall and startlingly handsome man, with long blonde hair that was brushing his shoulders. He had piercing blue eyes. He had grown a faint French beard, and the rest of his facial hair was finely trimmed, giving him a damn sexy look. He was wearing a dark blue suit, just without the tie. The two top buttons of his shirt were deliberately open. Cindy could easily see the half of his hairless chest, a bit sweaty though, but sexy. Most importantly his eyes were intoxicating and contained a drop of sadness. Cindy immediately realized he was just like the man in her favorite painting in the library.

  There was a strange uneasiness in his attitude. He too was holding his glass of champagne, but wasn’t drinking. He seemed to be staring only at her. But why was she feeling a strange burn on her skin, while he was looking at her? She didn’t have the courage to stare right back at him, so she looked at him indirectly, trying not to catch much of his attention. She turned her attention towards Ms. Biel, in order to take a few seconds to relieve herself from the pressure which the handsome man was creating for her.

  The moment she tried to look at him with the corner of her eye, he was no longer there. He was gone, as though he had disappeared into thin air.

  Chapter 5: Night Moves

  She abandoned Ms. Biel’s company to find the mysterious stranger. He had to be the tallest man present in the room, though there were many. She looked in every nook and corner of the huge apartment hall, but there wasn’t any luck.

  “Cindy,” said Ms. Biel from behind, as if she had surveillance cameras on Cindy the whole time.