A Dead-Risers Soulmate

Chapter 1

My POV

Do you know why people are born special?

Ever since I could remember, I could see people's emotions. I was dropped off on the steps of the church of a small rural town when I was a baby. The first day I realized what I could do, I was shunned. 'Don't do that Elizabeth! The Devil's work!' or 'No wonder her parents didn't want her'. So I kept quiet, did what I was supposed to do, and never got into trouble. Until Mrs. Woodpecker came to bring me home.

I had just turned sixteen at the time and was upstairs, staring out of the window, when the priest called down for me. As I hurried on down, I saw him talking to a young lady in her early thirties asking about me.

She turned and nodded, looking at me and smiling, "Ah! Mrs. Elizabeth, I'm so glad you're here. I was just telling the priest here that I specialize in nannying children just like yourself and would love to bring you home. My name is Mrs. Woodpecker, Mrs. W for short." All that could come out of my mouth were slightly confused noises. I looked between the two, thinking of what to do before agreeing, and ran upstairs to pack everything I owned before returning to them. She nodded, and we started walking to the edge of town until we had gotten to a little forest right before the lake.

"If you don't mind me asking Mrs. W, where exactly are we going?" I heard a loud clock ticking as we entered the forest.

"My dear, the question isn't where, but when" She smiled as we waited for the noise to stop before exiting out where we came in from. I was about to laugh, but then I saw the change. It wasn't the large town I grew up in, it was a small dusty town torn right out of the history books from school. Where the big name stores were small mom and pop stores. Where the empty lot away from town was a giant manor.

"My dear, we are back on October 1, 1941." Mrs. Woodpecker said. Grabbing my luggage, we started walking the opposite way from town to the large manor up ahead. I had so many questions that I didn't even know where to start. Once we entered the gates, a Young boy came outside and waved hello.

"Elizabeth, this will be one of your new siblings, Alexander. Alex, would you be a dear and take Elizabeth's things up to her room while I take her on the tour?" Mrs. Woodpecker waved the little boy over here before handing him my suitcase.

"Yes, Ma'am. Welcome Elizabeth, so glad to see a new face!" Alex gleamed, and I nodded and gave him a little wave before he left.

"Now then, dear, would you like a tour?" Mrs. Woodpecker grabbed my arm as we set off. "Let's start at the beginning, children like you are what we like to call peculiar. Each has a special gift. My peculiarity is that I'm a ymbryne, I can shape-shift into a bird, which is why my last name is woodpecker and I can manipulate time. I create a time-loop and can safely watch my children without danger." She was talking fast yet slow to make sure I was keeping up.

"Is there a lot of ymbryne?" I asked, and she shook her head. "There are a lot, but not the amount you're thinking of. I only know of a few closes Ymbryne friends myself; only female as well. No men either." I nodded as we exited the house into a beautiful and spacious backyard.

"You've met Alex of course, and that little girl over there is Gracie," She pointed to Gracie in the garden tending to the fruits and vegetables waving at me with Alex running back outside from the house before helping feed a small group of animals. "Then of course we have the Twins, Ruth and Racheal, who have the abilities to talk to animals and heal almost any wound," She pointed to two younger sisters; not much older than twelve or thirteen, helping some baby birds back in the nest. They looked over, smiling, and waved a quick hello before going back to what they were doing. I smiled and waved back, more excited and curious than ever.

"I am impressed, Mrs. Woodpecker. But why am I here? I can only do a parlor trick. I can look at you or Gracie or Ruth, and I see what you're feeling. Doesn't seem as special as the other kids. On a second note, how can none of you age? Is it because of the time loop?" I spouted question after question, my curiosity getting the better of me making her laugh.

"My Dear you are just as special as everyone else here. I have a feeling that with a little of work and learning, you can do more than mere 'parlor' tricks, as you call it. Yes, because I reset the time loop. Everyone here stays physically the same age. Mentally we all grow up, but if you choose to stay here, you will forever be in the body of a young adult, just like some of our older children closer to your age; Agatha, and the other set of twins, Ryan and William. All whom you will meet later." Mrs. Woodpecker and I entered the house and went into the massive library they had. Shelves of books you could get lost in, chairs circling a few steps that lead into a center. Wonder if Anyone performs? Over to my left was a girl around my age who sat at a desk, tapping away at a notepad.

"Agatha darling, this is Elizabeth, our newest member of the family. Would you be so dear as before dinner to help her pick out clothes that would fit? And if it wouldn't be awful to finish the house tour with her before dinner in two hours?" Mrs. Woodpecker looked down at a pocket watch.

"Yes, Mrs. W." Agatha sat up and walked over after putting her notes away.

"Any questions or worries come to find me, and welcome to the family." Mrs. Woodpecker patted my head before walking off to do something else. I turned and looked at Agatha, unsure.

"Uh hi I'm Elizabeth and I can see emotions?" I grabbed my arm, unsure.

"Oh Wow! That probably comes in handy, especially when talking to boys! I'm Agatha. I can Dream walk," Agatha winked at me. We started walking upstairs to the boy twins' room to meet Ryan. Ryan was the fashionable guy around here and could help me get comfortable in 'today's' clothing. She knocked on the door and opened it to find another older teenager working on a dress, who nodded and waved us in.

"Ryan this is-" Agatha had started to speak before being hushed and Ryan had stood up coming over to us.

"Yes, I know who this is. Hello, I'm Ryan. I can see the Future and you, my dear, have been the talk of the house for some time now. I already prepared some starter outfits, so let's see what we're working with and we can go from there."

"Thank you, Ryan," He grinned, shaking my hand. Just a second later, he stopped and looked right at me, wide-eyed.

Agatha saw he was freaking me out, "He's having a vision, don't worry, he'll be fine in a minute." She called for his brother William, who came running in and helped Ryan sit down.

"That's Will, in case you couldn't connect the two. He doesn't see Ryans' visions but his peculiarity is sound and Audio Manipulation. He can make you see and hear anything you'd want, Helps show everyone Ryan's visions." She said. Will looked over and quickly waved before going back to help Ryan.

I nodded my head in amazement as Agatha finished up the house tour, leading me to my bedroom. And I stopped and turned quizzically.

"What happened to this place since it's not where I was in the current time. Or the future? Uh.." I'll eventually get this time traveling down, I'm sure.

"In about a day, that major flood comes sweeping through here. We reset it right before it hits." I nodded, remembering being taught that in school. As I was looking around the room and thanking Agatha for what seemed the millionth time, I stopped.

"Well, if you need anything, ask. Dinner is at 5:30 pm sharp, and then the evening entertainment is right before Mrs. Woodpecker resets the loop. She'll probably let you settle in your first few days before assigning you chores and help you hone in on your peculiarity." Agatha closed the door and walk away. As she walked away, I lay in bed, wrapping my mind around everything. I felt like for the first time at home.