Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection

by Samantha Leal

  Elizabeth could still remember the first night she had realized what the little sparks of light were in the air around her. She had been around eight years old, wandering around the forest, collecting berries so she and her mother could make a pie. She saw the familiar glint in the bushes. She had always thought them to be fireflies, but when her mother had emerged and held her finger to her lips to silence her, she realized they were nothing of the sort.

  Fairies danced around those woods. Drawn to Elizabeth and her mother’s magic. She may not have known how they had come to find them, or where they had come from, but the fairies had been her company all through her childhood and adolescence, and she always felt a familiar warmness when she arrived home and saw them again.

  The lights twinkled in the forest and the hedgerow, and Elizabeth breathed in the sweet scent of apple pie.

  “There really is nothing better than your cooking,” she laughed as she closed the curtains and turned back to face her mother, who was busying away in the kitchen.

  “Some would say I could be award-winning,” her mother joked with a wink.

  Elizabeth moved into the kitchen, away from the window, pouring herself a cup of warm cider and curling up next to the fire with the cats and dogs that were all snoozing lazily beside it.

  “What is it like down there?” her mother asked.

  Elizabeth shrugged.

  “A little overwhelming but I’m glad I went,” she admitted. “It was strange to be among it… To feel all that energy and see all those people full of fun and innocence.”

  “That’s what life is all about, dear,” her mother smiled. “It’s just that we know the other side of it too… The side most people don’t see.”

  Elizabeth nodded.

  She knew all too well what her mother meant. Being a witch meant she had seen things she wished she hadn’t, and she had felt things she wished she could un-feel. Being so in tune with the earth, with nature and with the spirit world had led her to some frightening places, but it had also given her an immense power. She could feel things before they happened, and she was able to conjure magic and help the world in truly amazing ways.

  “Did anyone recognize you?” her mother asked as she sat at the dining table and took a sip of cider herself.

  “I don’t think so,” Elizabeth said. “I mean, who would, after we have stayed so out-of-sight. I know we have been seen around town on several occasions, but we have never spoken to anyone. We have never made friends. We have always stayed away and kept to ourselves.”

  Her mother nodded.

  “I had planned to pretend I was a tourist,” Elizabeth laughed. “There are so many of them; surely, it wouldn’t be hard!”

  “Your face will linger in people’s memories,” her mother warned. “Be careful what lies you choose to spin.”

  Elizabeth slumped back and sipped her drink again. She had no idea, sometimes, whether she was coming or going. Her mother had encouraged her to go to town for the arrival of the fair, and now, she was confusing her by saying they may well be recognized or remembered by some of the town’s folk.

  “There is only so much our enchantments can hide,” her mother continued. “For years, we have stayed out of people’s way and hidden ourselves with charms when we have gone to town… But like I say, the memory of us may still remain for some. Even if it is vague and faint.”

  Elizabeth smiled weakly.

  “I’m glad I went, but I know what you’re saying… It would be foolish to pretend I wasn’t from around here…”

  “Precisely,” her mother nodded. “It would only invite more questions. And we certainly don’t want that.”

  Elizabeth shifted on the spot and chewed her bottom lip before she slowly rose to her feet. She moved toward the table where her mother was sitting, and looked around at all the dried herbs and flowers that were hanging in bundles from twine across the ceilings and the beams above their heads. She reached out and found her fingers being instantly drawn to rosemary, and she smiled as she picked the sprig and held it close to her face to breathe it in.

  “You seem dreamy tonight,” her mother said knowingly. “Did something happen while you were down there?”

  Elizabeth knew there was only so long she would be able to hide her curiosity from her mom. They were so close and having the powers that they did only made their bond even stronger. It was as if they could regularly read each other’s minds.

  “Maybe,” Elizabeth said with a wry smile. “But I don’t think you’ll like it.”

  Her mother smirked and sat back in her chair as she folded her arms across her chest, looking up at her.

  “Go on,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “How bad can it be?”

  Elizabeth bit her lip and couldn’t hide the smile from her face as she remembered the feeling in the coffee house. The excitement she had known when she had locked eyes with the mysterious man, and the way he had shaken her to her core.

  “You know how I feel about men,” Elizabeth said as she leaned on the edge of the dining table. “I have no time for them, I find them foolish.”

  Her mother raised her eyebrows and nodded.

  “But today, the strangest thing happened while I was in Bridge Hollow.”

  Her mother’s eyes seemed to widen slightly. She unfolded her arms and reached for a packet of cigarettes she had placed on the table earlier. She lit one quickly and the flame from the lighter burned as bright as the red in her hair.

  “Continue,” her mother said as she exhaled a plume of smoke.

  “I went into the coffee house and was watching the fair arrive,” she began, “but suddenly, the door opened and in walked a man… And something happened to me.”

  She couldn’t help smiling, and she could feel the wistfulness come over her.

  “He was so sharp and well dressed, he looked so out-of-place in our rough-and-ready little town… So well-groomed and domineering… It was as if he had a power about him. Something dark and menacing, but also something kind and virtuous.”

  Her mother leaned forward and took another drag on her smoke.

  “He wasn’t human, Mother,” she said. “I knew it the moment I looked at him. But he wasn’t one of the bear or wolf shifters we have around here. He was something else… I could smell smoke and fire around him, and when he disappeared, he had left scorch marks in the floor.”

  She realized she was breathing quickly, and her heart was racing. In her mind’s eye, she could see the darkness of his eyes and feel them fixed on her, as if they were looking right into the depths of her soul.

  Her mother cleared her throat, took another long drag from her cigarette before exhaling and began to grind it out in the ashtray in front of her.

  “My, my,” her mother whispered as she straightened up and looked at Elizabeth. Her eyes were still calm and open, but Elizabeth could sense there was some kind of nervousness about her too.

  “This town is full of magic,” her mom said. “And if you didn’t know what he was, and you felt as if he wasn’t human, if I were you, I would stay well away. All shifters are bad news, Elizabeth… They are all looking to mate and imprint. You are far too powerful, and he may want that power. And if he isn’t a bear or a wolf… Then he could be something much more dangerous.”

  Elizabeth felt a rush of excitement roll through her.

  “What like?” she asked as she moved closer. She felt like a child again, begging her mother to tell her a scary story on Halloween.

  “I don’t know,” her mom said as she rose to her feet and broke the mysterious tension between them. “I may be a witch but that doesn’t mean I know everything.”

  She winked and reached for the pan of warm cider that was still on the stove.

  “Come on,” she said as she motioned for Elizabeth to pass her the empty cup in her hand. “We shouldn’t be discussing nonsense anyway. This is a night to celebrate. Our lovely town is kicking off its annual festival in style, my wonderful daughter is reaching the peak
of her magical years, and she even went into town today and went completely unnoticed…”

  “But that’s what I’m saying,” Elizabeth interjected. “I didn’t go unnoticed. He saw me, Mother. He really saw me… We locked eyes, and something happened between us. Something big.”

  Elizabeth witnessed the color begin to drain from her mother’s face, but it didn’t frighten her. She may have been mixed up in a mess of the supernatural, but that didn’t mean she had to fear it.

  Her mother came a step closer and took hold of her hands, holding them tightly.

  “I love you, Elizabeth,” she said before leaning forward and kissing her softly on the forehead. “And I know that whatever you are meant to do in this world, you will do it with grace and a kind heart.”

  When her mother let go of her hands, Elizabeth felt as if something had changed between them. Almost as if she had been released, as if an invisible cord had been cut and she was suddenly out on her own.

  She felt a dip of panic in her stomach for a moment, but then, she breathed in deep and vowed to overcome it.

  She didn’t know what was happening, but she felt that it was fateful. She had to keep moving forward and see where her destiny was leading her…

  Even if it was straight into the arms of a man she didn’t yet know.

  5.

  The alarm clock blared to life on the nightstand beside her head, and she jumped and waved her arm out to the side to smack it into silence.

  Elizabeth rolled and groaned, holding her head in her hands, trying to stop the ferocious pounding that grew stronger with each second. She couldn’t open her eyes; she just wanted the darkness of the winter morning to keep her cocooned there and never let her go. She shivered and felt the ice-cold tip of her nose with her index finger.

  “Shit,” she whispered to herself as she pulled the blankets around herself tightly.

  She had gone to bed and forgotten to put the heat on again. Normally, she would set a timer for the warmth to ignite around her in the early hours of the morning… Well before her 7-am alarm.

  She squinted across her darkened bedroom. Her mouth was dry, and her head was still pounding, and it took her a few moments to figure out what day it was and how she had ended the one before.

  Her mouth had the bitter taste of cider and she crinkled her eyes and nose.

  “Urgh,” she said as she reached over to the bedside table and grasped for a bottle of water she had thankfully been smart enough to put there before she had collapsed into bed.

  She unscrewed the cap and drank from it quickly, glugging it down and letting it bring her almost back to life.

  What the hell had happened?

  She rubbed her eyes and flopped back into the warmth of the bed covers and tried to pull herself together. Her mind was swimming with vague memories and of the fact that she had been at her mother’s cottage in the forest… But everything else was rather blank.

  She yawned and stretched and braced herself to get out of bed and run to the thermostat. If she turned it on fast and then ran straight back to bed, it could be warm in the apartment in around half an hour.

  She took a deep breath, threw the covers back and ran for it, darting out of her bedroom and into the hallway, using her extra senses and knowledge of her living space to make sure she didn’t fly into any walls or doors in the dark. She laughed when her fingertips met the cupboard and she opened it quickly and flicked the switch, hearing the boiler raging to life and water started to rattle through the radiators.

  She smiled and walked quickly back to bed, closing her bedroom door behind her and curling up under the covers again, waiting for the heat to circulate the rooms.

  Her mind was still blank.

  She knew she had drunk far too much cider, but apart from that, she was having trouble remembering. She scratched the back of her neck and tried to focus.

  How had she even gotten home?

  She rolled over and slapped around in the covers looking for her cellphone, and when her hands grasped around it, she smiled as she saw she had a new text message from her mom…

  How’s the head this morning? We really went for it with the cider! What a way to welcome the festival to town…

  The festival!

  Suddenly, the pieces began to fit together.

  Elizabeth had gone into town, she had watched as the festival was set up and she had gone to the coffee house… She remembered heading to her mom’s afterward and drinking cider while they ate apple pie and conjured good vibes for the town for the remainder of the festival… And that was it.

  She found herself pouting.

  But was that it?

  Something was nagging at her, as if she was missing something.

  She had some strong memories of being in the coffee house, but then she felt as if part of it was blurred. She remembered sipping her hot chocolate, of smiling as she watched the vendors setting up their booths on Main Street, and of how she had been glad to finally be out and about instead of keeping herself locked away at home. But she knew there was something that was hiding from her… She just couldn’t reach it.

  She laid back and waited for the apartment to warm through, and when it hit seven-thirty, she peeled herself out of the covers and padded toward her door, grabbing her robe and slippers before she shuffled along the hallway to the front room.

  Since she had moved in, Elizabeth had been lucky to be able to decorate her apartment exactly how she had wanted. She had read so many stories online when she had been researching, of people in big cities who had to pay bonds and sign disclosures to state that they wouldn’t change anything about the places they were leasing, but Elizabeth had been overjoyed when she had found a very relaxed landlord.

  Anson, she had been told, was a member of the bear pack of Bridge Hollow, and he owned a lot of property and real estate in the area. Her mother knew some of the bears, even with them keeping themselves quiet and to themselves, and when Elizabeth had expressed her need for her own space, Anson had been happy to help her.

  She had never met with him, but he had told her that she could do pretty much whatever she wanted to the apartment, as long as the place looked good and she didn’t cause any damage. She had been so excited when she had opened the purple and blue paints and created a magical home full of candles and twinkling lights with ivy vines running around every room. She had hung tapestries depicting some of the major arcana of the tarot from the walls, and she had painted silver swirls and patterns in the corners of the ceiling.

  She had also made an office for herself in the corner of her front room, where she had her computer on a desk and a set of tarot cards, a crystal ball, and some spell candles and herbs. She spent so much of her time at that desk, it seemed essential that she make it a magical space too, somewhere she could speak out to the world and help them with their questions about their futures, also creating bespoke spells to help manifest their desires.

  As she turned on the twinkling lights and the apartment began to come to life for another day, Elizabeth took a moment to look around and really feel gratitude for all she had managed to achieve. She had been born in a small town and kept sheltered, and yet she had still managed to carve out a place for herself in the wider world, even if that meant reading stranger’s fortunes and casting and creating spells for people online. It had allowed her to work at home and keep her privacy, expand and learn more about her craft, and also make a very good living. She had plenty of savings stashed away around the apartment in various nooks and crannies, and her balance at the bank was also high enough for her to feel more than comfortable.

  She had done well. Even if she had spent a lot of her time alone.

  She turned on her computer, wandered through to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee, and then went back to her desk to check her emails.

  It was a morning ritual she loved, and one that always started her day off right.

  As she sipped her coffee and scrolled through the mail from her website
, she could see that she was going to have a very busy day. The stars were aligning in strange ways, and it appeared that even people with little astrological knowledge could feel it too and were reaching out for help in all aspects of their lives.

  Some were requesting personalized tarot spreads and readings, and some were asking for charms and talismans to be created just for them and mailed directly to their door. Elizabeth smiled and flexed her fingers before she began to reply to all her mail. At first glance, she could see that she had at least five readings to work through for the day, and one charm bag to cleanse and create, just in time for her to make it to the post office to send before the end of the day.

  By the time she had finished her coffee, the sun had crept up and the natural light from outside was filtering in through her windows and skylights. The noise on Main Street was getting louder, and she got to her feet and wandered across to peer out and see how the festival was doing in its second day in town.

  She couldn’t help smiling when she saw how bustling and festive the town seemed. Usually, in the summer months, they got a lot of tourists, but it was nothing compared to this. Bridge Hollow had always had a certain kind of reputation, and when the festival came to town, it brought with it people who were well-educated and full of excitement and intrigue. She recognized an old lady as one of the local traders setting up a table and handing out steaming hot paper cups of cider to people as they passed.

  Her head gave a sympathetic pound, as if to remind her not to even think about it. She had sunk enough cider the previous evening to rival a pirate ship.

  She yawned and stretched and turned back to her front room. Her computer was ready, and her tarot cards were waiting. She had an electricity in her fingertips that meant she was ready to draw and focus. She was ready to see into the future and help people on their path. She was a guiding light to them, and she was ready to shine.

  As she sat back down and turned the deck of cards over in her hands, she felt a wave of uncertainty roll over her; it stilled her for a moment.