Shut up Jed. Oh great, look, that got put down. Oh great, that did to. Delete the last sentence. Computer, delete the last sentence. Listen Jed, I figured that wouldn’t work, alright? Now shut up before the rest of the story is filled with us arguing, and be thankful it can’t pick up the both of us, or anyone reading would think I was a kook. Ok, I know that people think I’m a kook anyway. Now shut up and let me tell this story, and the next time we see Tick Tock Tom, remind me to tell him this voice-typing stuff is absolute butt.
Can you believe this guy people?
Anyway, I guess between the Wraiths screaming outside the screen door, and the obligatory baby getting eaten scene during Hallow’s eve, I found a way to sleep. That, however, did not make me feel any better about what I had seen, nor did it make the news of Mordicai’s death any easier. When I finally awoke at the table, I saw Sarah at the stovetop, making tea. I almost groaned; I had forgotten about her. The Lord only knows what she saw last night, and by what I saw in her eyes, not only did she see the baby part, but she was mad. I watched her walk over the teapot as it started to steam gently, and she poured the water into two cups. Then she added the tealeaves; four each and also several leaves of mint were added. I stared; she had unknowingly made something I call Wanderers Tea: something that is a sign of safety within a house. I personally couldn’t stand the stuff though, the mint ruined the flavor of the tealeaves, and the mint leaves always found a way to break apart and get stuck in my teeth. She walked over to the table and set both cups down, and sat on the opposite side of the table. She looked at me, and I was finally forced to take my head out of my hands. Man, my neck was sore. “So it looks like you slept well last night.” She said curtly. I could only groan; she really was angry. She took a small sip of her tea. “Well,” She started again, “I guess you’ll be in a good enough condition to answer some questions then?” I groaned again, and took a sip of the tea; the awful flavor shocked me out of the stupor unlike any coffee I had ever tasted. I guess that the one good thing about the tea. I finally looked up. “Go ahead,” I said, “But I can’t guarantee that you’ll like everything you hear.”
“I’ll take that risk.” She said. “Ok, first question: Who exactly are you? Or should I say what are you?”
I was tempted to groan a third time, but thought better. I took in a deep breath: In all my travels, I had only been asked this question one other time, and the answer had almost killed me.
“I’ll first ask this Sarah, who do you think I am?” I asked.
“Well I don’t know,” She said, “Some kind of government spy? Figment of my imagination? Sure sign I finally cracked?”
“Well,” I started, “That last part is probably the truest. No, you haven’t cracked, I am fully alive, and other people can see me. However, that does not mean that others can see the world like I see it. Or, I guess, like you saw it last night. There’s a short answer to that question, but it doesn’t really answer anything. To put it bluntly, I’m what they call a Shifter. To go into more detail, that means I’m like an inter-dimensional peacekeeper.” I took another sip of tea and cleared my throat. I saw that even though I had barely scratched the surface, Sarah had eyes the size of dishes, her tea sat untouched. “Anyway,” I continued,
“That pretty much means that I keep people safe from things that want to make your worst nightmare come true. Because if it wasn’t for us, every night would be like last night; people having to huddle in their beds, with candles as their only source as protection. I am not, however, the only Shifter. I am though, the youngest out of over a thousand. I am also the only Shifter who became such by means not under anyone’s control.
“A Shifter’s job is to go into a dimension and try to restore peace by any means possible. We are only given one rule: Minimize the amount of interference to daily life. Sure, we usually change the life of a select few, but we can’t become a King. The ones making sure that doesn’t happen are what we call the Origins. If we cause too much interference, they’ll rip us out of the dimension, and fix any damage done. Finally, what you saw last night? No regular person should’ve seen that. I imagine you’ll ask why, so I’ll wait.
“Just some quick other things about Shifters: I guess the most blatant thing is that we’re ageless. As in, regardless of how long we stay in one place, we won’t age a day. So technically, even though I look about twenty-two, I’m really about ten thousand years old. Surprisingly enough though, this still makes me the youngest Shifter. Another thing is that yes, I am legally insane, though I’m actually very sane, just bored at times. The human mind was only graphed to capture about three thousand years of memories, so I well exceeded that. Another thing about Shifters is that we heal at an incredible rate; as in I could break my leg, sleep eight hours, and walk on it like nothing happened. I guess the last thing I can say, mainly about me, is that I’m considered a wizard. Or a mage, depending on the dimension. That means that every other person besides you and other Shifters will see my right arm as a regular arm, and yes, I can shoot fireballs, but I prefer shooting lightning bolts.
“I honestly hoped that I could answer that question, Sarah; because if I didn’t, say something. The answers only get more complicated from here.”
I picked up my teacup and downed the rest of it. “You going the drink yours?” I asked, before I finally took in her face. I had to admit even shocked she looked kinda good. She was slim, but not overly, almost like she spent most of her time running. Even her face was slim, and her brown hair hung down in all directions, probably because she didn’t bother to mess with it. Her eyes, however, were what really got my attention: They seemed to range from a sea green to a dark blue, depending on the light. And her voice. Her voice was just low enough to not be a high squeaky voice, and it also seemed like she would make a killer Blues singer or Alto in general.
Her face now, however, seemed oddly calm, which worried me. She should be freaking out; I mean, only one other person knew the whole story form me who wasn’t a Shifter.
“Are you sure you didn’t break her?” Jed asked me.
“No Jed,” I thought back “I’m pretty sure we just explained something to her she had been wondering about for the longest time.”
I snapped my fingers, bringer her back. “You had other questions?” I asked.
“Yeah,” She said, almost from a dream. “I guess you can tell your story, I only have two other questions, so take your time.”
I groaned for a third time.
