Shifters & Alterers: Prologue

​​​Tittle: Shifters&Alterers (working title)
​​​By: Madeline Eaton
Prologue
​At midnight in the Redwoods of California a group of fifteen men stood waiting. There wasn’t any of the panic one would see from people when they are lost. On the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying being in the woods. Had a person stumbled upon these men they would be paralyzed from fear and shock. These men had eyes like a brilliantly burning fire, hair as dark as a black hole that stood out in sharp contrast to their cream colored skin.
​“Shifters,” said a man whom appeared to be in charge, “the Alterers will be here soon. In the interim, I urge you to be on the lookout for any sighs of humans or beasts.” The man began to step down from the rock from which he had spoken when an angry voice from the crowd rang out.
​“Ryan, why do we all have to be here…again?!This is the second meeting we have had with the Alterers in a week! I can safely speak for every shifter here when I say that this one should be between Catherine and yourself only! Alterers are not to be trusted and unsafe to be around, we all know that! Why are you risking all our lives and our powers?”
​Ryan looked out into the crowd, already knowing who had spoken. He had been Head of the Shifters for decades and he took his position of leadership seriously. It was not about power and prestige for him but about taking care of the people of whom he was in charge. And Ryan believed you could not take care of someone unless you knew them. He prided himself on knowing each and every Shifter and what was going on in their lives.
​“Brent, this event affects all of us, every Shifter and every Alterer alike. That means that we all have to be here. As long as you are a Shifter, then that means you too. Unless you would like to give up your power.” Ryan said in a voice full of authority.
Brent did not answer but simply walked away to the edge of the clearing, and stared at Ryan, his eyes full of anger.
Ryan looked in Brent’s direction and thought inside his head:
We need to talk Brent. It was unacceptable for you to challenge your leader in public.
A few seconds later, a new thought arrived inside Ryan’s head like an email arriving in an inbox:
Of course sir.
​Ryan looked in Brent’s direction and caught his eye. Brent gave a head bow, a sign of respect. Yet Ryan detected a subtle undercurrent of anger and sarcasm in both the nod and Brent’s reply to Ryan’s mental message. Before he could think further of it, a young man stepped in front of him.
​“Ryan! Nice to see you again, it has been such a long time since I last you!” the young man said with a boyish grin.
​“Lucas Dublin, isn’t it? Last time I saw you was at your Shifter Ceremony. You sure have changed since then.”
​“Yes sir, I have. I have changed my appearance many times since then. I can now change any aspect of my person, and I have expanded my powers to be able to make changes which are not standard human appearances.”
​“Very good Lucas! I am sure that you will be a powerful Shifter of the Person. Have you told your parents yet?”
​Lucas’s boyish grin immediately dropped and a gloom seemed to settle over the boy. “Yes sir, I did. I told them before I left Dublin to come here, actually. They…” tears filled his eyes as he spoke… “They told me never to come back again sir. They said that they did not want a freak for a son.”
​Ryan, though shocked and full of sympathy for Lucas, was not surprised. It was not uncommon for Shifters, or Alterers, to be disowned by their families once they revealed their powers. The race of humans was not one which tolerated anything different, unusual, or hard to understand. He put his arm around Lucas and said in a gentle voice:
​“It’s okay, Lucas. A lot of Shifters have been disowned by their families upon revealing their powers and ended up reconciling in the end. Sometimes all the family needs is time to get used to the shock. If not, you will always have us. We are a family and we take care of each other. Why don’t you move in with me for a bit? You can get settled, find a job, a place to live?”
​Lucas swallowed down his tears and agreed. Yet as Ryan walked away, Lucas thought of how his powers had cost him his family. As much as he loved his powers, Lucas was not sure if they were worth the price of his family.
​At that moment, the Moon went from a Crescent to a Harvest Moon. The wind picked up in pace, racing through the woods and creating a howl-like sound. The Shifters stopped talking and started looking around, knowing what this meant.
​At the South end of the clearing, they saw fifteen women walking towards them. They were dressed in hoods of various colors, unlike the Shifters who were all wearing matching blue hoods. The women’s dark eyes stood out from the bright colors of the hoods. Their red hair shone in the moonlight like fire and their olive toned skin added to their beauty.
​The Shifters had, upon seeing the women, formed a semi-circle and the women walked into the cleaning and formed a second semi-circle and completed the circle of the two groups. Ryan and a woman from the newly arrived group stepped forward into the center of the circle.
​ The two faced each other in the middle of the circle, extended their left hand towards the other and a jet of blue light shone out of their hands. It formed a circle among the group, which meant, to the Alterers and Shifters, the unification of the two groups within the circle.
​“Catherine, a pleasure to see you again.” Ryan said with a smile.
​Catherine walked right up to Ryan and kissed both his cheeks, saying “Ryan, still as beautiful as ever.”
​Ryan, not used to intimacy with women, blushed. Upon seeing his blush, Catherine smiled flirtatiously and stepped back a few paces. While this had been going on, the rest of the circle had been eyeing each other with the same look in all their eyes: distrust and unfamiliarity.
​Ryan and Catherine then turned around so they were back to back, switched sides, and walked forwards a few steps. They began walking around the circle, greeting each member of the opposite group. They then walked to the center of the circle again, the rest forming a single line facing them.
​“Shifters and Alterers,” said Ryan at a nod from Catherine, “we are glad that you are here. I know you all have heard what has occurred and, as with any news, rumors are sure to have sprung up concerning it. We are here to not only settle these rumors but also to inform you on where we go from here.
​“In order to settle any and all rumors we will relate the events which have occurred,” Catherine paused, gathering her thoughts, “we informed you last week of our knowledge of Veronica Rivers, a child with the Shifting of Voice power. As we all know, there has never been a female Shifter in our entire history and neither has there been a Male Alterer. This has lead us to conclude that Veronica Rivers is the Female of The Prophecy.”
​While no Alterer or Shifter spoke, it was obvious from their expressions that emotions were mixed: some looked angry, others looked scared, yet some looked happy and overjoyed.
​“However,” continued Ryan, “last night the Rivers home was attacked. It seems that intruders broke in and attempted to kidnap the child. The Rivers died defending their daughter.”
​At this Ryan stopped speaking and looked to Catherine, who asked if there were any questions. The questions were fired one after the other:
​“Why did they want to kidnap the child?”
​“How did you learn of this event?”
​“Were they Magical and how did they learn about the child in the first place?”
​Catherine and Ryan looked at one another and Ryan began speaking once more.
​“Ever since word of the Child reached us through a Shifter neighbor of the Rivers, we have had this Shifter keep an eye on the Rivers and the child. When he arrived home last night he noticed their front door open, went in to investigate. He went in, saw the two bodies, and went upstairs, where he discovered a pair of hooded figures with the child. They struggled, and while he managed to stop the kidnapping, the figures escaped. From his testimony, they were Shifters and Alterers, which means that…”Ryan trailed off, unable to say the words.
​“…that these hooded figures are in our midst at this moment.” Catherine finished for Ryan.
​At these words, murmurs, as soft as the cooing of a dove, filled the night. Eyes became filled even more fear and mistrust. It was only their respect for their leaders which kept accusations from filling the night air.
​“The child is safe,” continued Catherine, “but needs to be protected. She cannot fall into the wrong hands. She must be kept safe, away from people who would seek to destroy her or her powers.”
​“I say, let’s destroy her!” Brent’s angry voice rang out suddenly, piercing the night, “The Prophecy is our doom, and it would be the end of the Shifter and Alterer power as we know it! She cannot be allowed to live and develop her full powers!”
​At these words, there were various reactions within the group. There were nods of agreement, the widening of eyes in shock, and still others were silent. Ryan and Catherine, while shocked at these blunt and cruel words, knew that it was not the place to investigate their speaker.
​“Brent, this is the second time you have spoken out in disrespect! This time not only against your leader but the Alterer leader as well! Please leave this meeting and we will talk about this at Shifter Headquarters tomorrow morning.” said Ryan, anger in his voice.
​“Oh, I’ll leave all right.” Brent spoke in a chilling tone. He turned his back to the group and walked once more towards the edge of the forest. This time, however, he kept going, disappearing into the darkness.
​Ryan, despite having a bad feeling about Brent, knew the meeting must continue. “Now, we have decided that the child will be cared for by an Alterer and a Shifter, whom will marry and adopt the child as their daughter. We need one Alterer and one Shifter to volunteer for this assignment” Ryan asked the group, not expecting any takers.
​He was wrong.
​“I’ll volunteer,” said Lucas Dublin in a strong confident voice, “I lost my family on the same day this child lost hers. It would be my honor to care for her and to give her a family.”
​Ryan and Catherine spoke in hushed tones to one other, Ryan filling Catherine in on Lucas’s family situation. After a few moments, they faced Lucas and as one, they nodded.
​Catherine then spoke, asking for an Alterer to volunteer for the assignment of being the child’s mother.
​Tense moments followed. Finally, one Alterer stepped forward.
​“I’ll do it.”
​Catherine gasped. The voice was of her younger sister, Anne. As a sister she did not want Anne to be the doing this assignment, yet as Head of the Alterers she knew her sister was one of their most powerful Alterers and would dedicate herself to the protection of the child. Again, she and Ryan spoke in hushed tones, turned to Anne and nodded as one; Catherine with tears in her eyes.
​“Lucas and Anne will be married and adopt the child. A new last name will be assigned to them, as well as where to live. None but myself and Catherine will know what name and what location, and they must never contact family or friends. They are not allowed to reveal their powers to the child nor explain her powers to her, though they are not to conceal her powers from her,” Ryan said, addressing the entire group instead of Lucas and Anne, “agreed?”
​At this point, Alterers and Shifters nodded, with only Lucas and Anne saying “yes” out loud.
​“Very well then,” said Catherine, her voice trembling, “it is agreed. Shifters and Alterers, you are dismissed. Lucas, Anne, come with us. We have a lot to do.” Upon these words the blue light surrounding the group slowly dimmed until it was gone. The Shifters and Alterers dispersed in a Southerly direction, in their two separate groups.
​Lucas and Anne watched them disperse, looked at one another, and turned and followed Catherine and Ryan in the opposite direction.
As the night continued its journey towards morning, the group of four continued walking. They walked in pairs, with Catherine and Ryan a few steps ahead of Anne and Lucas. Anne and Lucas spoke not a word and not one look passed between the two of them. Catherine and Ryan, however, spoke in hushed tones to each other, occasionally stopping to look around.
After about an hour of walking deeper into the woods, the leaders stopped in a clearing similar to the one which they had just come from. Ryan spoke first.
“Anne, Lucas, we want to thank you for volunteering for this assignment. Catherine and I appreciate the commitment to the child which you have demonstrated with this act. However, we want to make sure you fully understand the sacrifices and challenge which this…assignment, for lack of a better term…will require of each of you.”
“Ryan, sweetie, we should probably sit down. We have a lot to explain to them and I don’t want them standing for the next hour or so.” Catherine spoke up.
Ryan smiled, as he always did when Catherine showed her caring, motherly side. It was a side which he did not see often while the others never saw at all. He waved his hand and there appeared four chairs.
“Please, take a seat.” As they all took a seat, Catherine took up where Ryan had left off.
“The first aspect of this assignment which we wish to address with the two of you is the marriage aspect. As mentioned in the meeting, the two of you will marry. You will be husband and wife and will not be allowed to determinate that marriage. No exceptions. Are you both truly willing to marry a stranger? A stranger that you will be married to for the rest of your lives?” Even though she addressed Lucas and Anne, it was her sister which Catherine looked at as she spoke these words.
“Yes, I am,” Lucas replied, “I want to give this child a family, a home. I want her to be raised by people who will protect her and always be there for her, no matter what happens in her life or who she grows up to be. My own parents did not do that for me. Their love turned out to have a clause of normalcy in its requirement. I won’t let this child experience that. I am fully ready to commit my life and my love to this child, and will do whatever it takes in order to accomplish this.”
“I could not have said it better myself,” spoke Anne, “this child will face many difficulties in her life, many hurts, many betrayals. She will always be the main prey of those wishing to destroy her. I may not know her but I want to protect her. I want her to grow up happy and confident and safe. If that means marrying a stranger, then that is what I will do.”
“You also understand that you must not ever contact anyone that you currently know? Not family or friends?” Catherine said, still addressing them both but looking at her sister.
“Catherine, may I please address you as my sister?” Anne said in a clipped voice.
“Of course, Anne.”
“You keep looking at me when you are saying these things, as those you think that I don’t understand these things and will change my mind as I hear you explain them to me. I understand exactly what I am getting into, Catherine.”
“You’re the little sister Anne. Are you truly ready to never see Mom again? Or Dad, Carson, or Emily? Never to speak to any of them again?” Catherine snapped, no longer able to hide her sisterly concerns behind the mask of Head of the Alterers.
“Catherine, I may be the youngest. The baby of the family. The one whom none of you want to see grow up. But I have grown up. I am not just the youngest in our family anymore. I am a rare and powerful Alterer: an Alterer of the mind and of the person. I am strong, I am powerful, and I am caring. You know I am the right Alterer for this, Catherine. You know it in your soul, and you have known it since the second I spoke out. So stop acting like you think I making a mistake and don’t know it.”
Ryan and Lucas were stunned into silence. Speaking out against the Head was not done, it was unheard of. It was usually caused for punishment. Yet as the Head of the Alterers’ sister, Anne could get away with things the others couldn’t.
Catherine listened to her little sister, heard the passion and the power in her voice, and knew beyond a doubt that her sister was correct in all of it. Her little sister had grown up to be a powerful alterer but also a powerful woman whom still had a caring heart despite her great power. No other alterer would be able to protect and love the child. Catherine had not known this since her sister spoke out though. She had known it since the second she and Ryan had decided what was to become of the child. Catherine and Anne looked at each other, and while no words were said, it was all understood.
“All right, let’s move on,” Ryan broke the silence, “we have a lot of things to take care of tonight. You both understand that the child must be aware of her powers but you cannot explain her own powers or yours to her?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we guided her in the use and development of her powers?” asked Lucas.
“In theory, yes it would be,” Catherine answered, “but as long as she is unaware of the existence of Shifters and Alterers, of the prophecy, of all of this, the better of she will be. We want her to have as normal a life, for as long as possible. There will come a time when all of this will have to be explained to her but it shall not happen until it must happen.”
Lucas and Anne nodded, realizing the truth of the words.
“Now, we must explain several things which we concealed at the meeting.” Said Ryan.
“What do you mean sir?” Anne and Lucas replied as one.
“The attack of the Rivers home occurred as we explained, except that the parents of the child were not dead when they were found but merely Mind Frozen.”
“Mind frozen? But sir that is a truly rare…”began Anne.
“Alterer power? Yes, it has not been seen in decades. We were not aware of any Alterer with the ability. We must conclude that the Alterer responsible has either kept this power hidden or it was a recent development of their Mind Alterer abilities.”
“Wait, what is Mind Frozen? I’ve never heard of it.” Asked Lucas with a puzzled look and tone.
“Mind Frozen is an ability that goes along with the Alterer of the Mind power, though it is extremely rare. It allows the Alterer to freeze your thoughts, your memories, and your entire brain functions. You have no awareness of what is going on around you, you become a vegetable. The state only lasts 10 minutes, after that the victim ‘reawakes’ but with absolutely no memory or awareness of what occurred during the state” Explained Anne.
“Then we are dealing with a powerful alterer.”
“Yes, we are. Not only a powerful alterer but an alterer very skilled at hiding their power.”
​There was silence for a few minutes, as all four of them thought of whom amongst the Alterers and Shifters had turned traitors. Finally, Lucas broke the silence by asking what had been done with the child’s parents. Once again, Catherine answered.
​“I Mind Altered their memory. As far as they are concerned, they have never had a daughter. We removed all traces of the child from the home; they believe they interrupted a burglar in their home whom knocked them out with a blow to the head with a bat.”
​“Any chance they will Reboot?” asked Ryan, using the term for when victims whom had had the Mind Alter power used on them recalled what they had been made to forget.
​“Mind Altering a person’s mind so they forget someone whom they love is very…unstable. Love can never truly be made to be forgotten, and while I can take away the memory of their daughter, I can never take away the love they felt for her. I can only merely…hide it within their own mind. Sometimes the person finds the love and Reboots.”
“What do we know if that happens?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it.”
It was at this point that Anne spoke out.
“Why were the rest told the parents were dead?”
“We know that the attack on the Rivers was made by Alterers and Shifters, but unfortunately we do not know who. The blue light of unification, as you know it, is actually an Emotion Reader. It allows Catherine and myself to be able to read the emotions felt by each Shifter and Alterer. Tonight, while there was anger and fear felt by a lot of the members, there was no malice or betrayal felt by anyone. Since the light only reads the emotion being presently felt, it can only be deduced that they have somehow figured out the true meaning of the light and therefore covered their malice and betrayal with anger and fear.” Ryan spoke these words at a fast pace, like he was ripping off a painful Band-Aid.
“No Shifter or Alterer was missing tonight, so the traitors now believe the parents of the child are dead and will not track them down hoping to learn the whereabouts of the child. It keeps both the parents and the child safe.”
​After thinking for a few moments, Anne broke the silence with a surprising question.
“Sir, if Lucas and I were to fall in love with each other, our powers would disappear, making us unable to protect the child. What would occur if that were to happen?”
Catherine and Ryan looked at each other, neither one wanting to speak. This was a subject which had naturally come up when they had formulated this plan, yet they had not been able to come up with a solution for the scenario which Anne had just asked about. Finally, Catherine answered.
“We don’t know, Anne. All we can ask is that you do your best to never let that happen. Keep your relationship loving and caring towards the child and towards each other, but never let it develop into romantic love.”
Lucas and Anne were shocked. The Head always had the answer; The Head always knew what to do, what should occur. In this moment in which Anne and Lucas realized that all the rules and expectations they had, no longer applied.
Catherine continued speaking, “we will check in with once every 6 months, keep you up to date on what is going on and also to keep track of the child’s development. You may choose to say that the child is your own, or that you adopted her. We will leave that up to you.”
“The location which you will move to is a small town in Texas called Abilene. No one should think to look for you there and it is a good place to hide away from the world. We have already bought a house for you there as well as vehicles. Lucas, we have also supplied you with US citizenship, and before you ask it is legal, we have a contact. We will all five of us fly there tonight, Catherine and I shall help you settle in and then we shall leave you.”

Lucas and Anne nodded as one. With that, all four stood up, the chairs disappeared with a wave of Ryan’s hand.
Pointing to the East, Ryan said, “Our path is this way.” All four began walking yet this time they all walked side by side.
***
After they were gone, two figures stepped from the shadows. They both wore hoods which covered their faces, one in white and the other in blue.
“So the child is to be taken to Abilene, Texas. A place where no one should think to look for her. Lucky for us we followed them, or we never would have found that child.” one of the figures whispered as a stray red hair peaked from the hood.
“Yes, but we must be careful. As much as I want that child destroyed we cannot risk acting now. The botched attempted at the Rivers home means that the Heads will be keeping all of us underneath a microscope.” The second figure spoke in a cool and controlled voice.
“So we let the child go? We must act now! They may plan to move the child from place to place as a security measure!”
“No, I know Catherine and Ryan very well. They have chosen a small town that most likely does not show up on a map. They do not expect her to be found, they are confident in that.”
“Yes, they are. But neither are they expecting anyone to have followed them and listen to their conversation.”
“We must wait. I want to destroy both children from The Prophecy at once. That means we wait until they find each other.”
“The Prophecy states that they will take our powers from us, correct?”
“Alterer Boy and Shifter Girl are fated to become one, to fall under the most ancient of spell of Permanent True Love. They will unlock each other’s full powers and together reverse The Power to how it was at the beginning” The figure recited.
As it was being recited, the first figure stood listening, as though a powerful prayer was being recited, a prayer of doom.
“It cannot be allowed to happen. Our powers must not be taken away! They both have to be destroyed! They must die!” the first figure shouted in anger.
“And so they shall” said the second figure in a chillingly evil voice.
The two figures stood in the darkness of the wood with only the moon as a witness to their evil plot and their true evil nature.
​

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~ 1 ~