Before I Rise
The Elder's Wisdom

Em’s POV

I was emotionally and mentally drained. I have been for the past few days. Ever since a few nights ago, I have been dreaming the same dream over and over again. After I wake up with the bruises on my neck, I can’t seem to calm myself down to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that meant I was only getting about three hours of sleep. I was thankful for the fact the bruises seem to disappear in about an hour after I wake up. I was glad I wouldn’t have to come up with some logical explanation for where I’ve obtained them.

I haven’t told anybody about the strange dreams. I wasn’t sure who would believe me as I was having a hard time accepting the fact that they were real. I definitely wasn’t about to tell Marcus about it. He was already so busy with the rogue situation and now that he was doing night patrol, his free time was limited. I have barely seen him the past few days since he started. Most of the time it’s when I’m headed to bed and he’s leaving, and vice versa.

I’ve thought about maybe talking to Alicia or Jules, but I didn’t want them to think I’ve gone mad. I was even tempted to tell Alexis about the dreams at yesterday’s practice, but I chickened out. I feel like I’ve gained some of her respect after the headbutting incident and I was worried I would lose it after she realized how crazy I was. So I was left with no one. Well, not exactly no one. There was one other person I thought of, one that would possibly have a way to help me. I also knew they wouldn’t tell anyone anything.

I knocked on the wooden gray door, praying she would be home. After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened.

“Hello Luna, what can I do for you?” Elder Morgan asked. Her voice gave me a great deal of comfort, something that I have not experienced in the past few days.

Instead of answering, I burst into tears and crashed against her, clinging onto her as if she was a lifeboat in a raging storm.

“Luna! Are you alright?” She asked me, as she hugged me back and gently rubbed my back.

“I don’t know.” I choked out to her.

She patted my back before pulling me into the house and shutting the door. She stood there with me, allowing me to get a handle on my emotions. Once I finally did, I let go of her and brushed the fallen tears away from my cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to have a breakdown.” I felt embarrassed and surprised about my actions.

She waved her hand. “Nonsense, you have nothing to apologize for. Please, come in and have a seat. I just finished baking some cookies. Would you like one?”

I nodded my head as she led me into her living room. It looked exactly the same as it did the night Marcus and I came here, but this time there was no circle in the middle of the floor. She sat down on one of the chairs at her small round coffee table. In the middle of the table sat a plate of what appeared to be cookies.

“Are these snickerdoodles?” I asked her as my mouth watered at the thought.

“Yes they are! I heard they were your favorite. I decided to make them for you in case you showed up here.”

That threw me for a loop. “How did you know that I would be here?”

She let out a wind chime chuckle. “Oh I had a feeling and I’m usually right about those things. Though, I wasn’t picturing you being so distraught over something. I actually thought you would be coming over here to get an update on the rogue serum that I’m making.” She explained to me as she handed me a cookie.

“Well since we are on the subject, how is that going?” I asked her.

“Actually, everything is going according to plan. I’m just waiting till tonight to add everything together. I had to have water sit out in direct sunlight and moonlight for three full days and nights. Tonight I’ll be able to add the water to the mixture. I saved some blood to test it out, so we’ll know if it works or not.” She said, with a confident smile.

It did make me feel slightly better to know that at least the serum was coming along without a hitch.

“What happens if it doesn’t work?” I asked her, wondering if she had a back up plan.

“Oh I collected enough blood to be able to make multiple batches in case it doesn’t work the first time. There was a lot of blood in that room. I am glad you are okay Luna. You gave all of us a scare.”

“I’m sorry about that. I’m glad everything worked out okay.” I grimaced as I responded to her, hoping she wasn’t about to give me a lecture. I already received one from Marcus, I definitely didn’t need another one.

“As am I. It is nice to know that our Luna is willing to protect others, even if it does put her own life at risk.” Elder Morgan said.

I blushed at the compliment. I didn’t realize that a simple act would affect what people thought of me. I often wondered since it happened if people thought I was a little reckless. It was nice to know Elder Morgan thought the opposite.

“Thank you. The cookies are wonderful by the way.” I said, as I grabbed my third one.

She gave a nod of her head in response before clearing her throat.

“Now tell me Luna, what brings you here?” She asked me.

I put the cookie down and nervously swallowed the bite I had in my mouth. I debated for a few seconds if I really wanted to tell her. Here she had just complimented me, and now I was going to have to tell her that I might be losing my grip on reality. Maybe the blood had in fact affected me? Was it making me lose my mind?

“Well, I’m not sure if you are going to believe me or just think I’m crazy.” I said as I nervously let out a chuckle.

“Try me.” She relaxed back into her chair and waited for me to speak.

I sucked a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. It was time to rip the bandage off.

“A few nights ago, I had a strange dream… no more like a nightmare. I was in complete darkness, when suddenly there was a mirror right in front of me. It was completely black and standing in dark water. I was pulled to it and as soon as my feet touched the strange water, I began to hear whispers all around me. I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Then the mirror began to… well it began to ripple. It reminded me of the way water looks after you’ve dropped a stone into it. After the ripples stopped, I was staring at my reflection. Except, it wasn’t really me. The eyes were a different color. Suddenly, the reflection reached out and began to choke me. I tried to fight back, but it would just squeeze harder and harder. I then woke up suddenly, gasping as if I really had been choked. And then I went into the bathroom and…”

I stopped talking, afraid to say what had happened next. I’ve tried over the last few days, I really have tried to replace a reasonable explanation. I thought maybe I had subconsciously choked myself. However, there just was no possible way given the position of the markings on my neck.

“And then what? Go ahead Luna, tell me what happened.” Elder Morgan reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

I brushed the tears away from my face before continuing. “I looked in the mirror and I saw… I saw… I saw hand prints on my neck, as if I had really been choked by something. They seem to disappear within an hour of me waking up.” I stopped talking and squeezed her hand hard, before looking directly in her eyes. “Am I crazy? Is there a way to stop this?” I asked her, desperate for an answer.

“Has this been happening every night since then?” She asked me.

I nodded my head, “Yes. Afterwards, I’m too scared to go back to sleep so I just wait until daylight appears and start my day.”

“What does the Alpha think of this?” She questioned me.

“He doesn’t know.” I admitted to her, afraid she would be disapproving of me.

Her eyebrows scrunched up together. “What do you mean he doesn’t know? Does he not feel you panicking beside him?”

It dawned on me what she was thinking. “Oh no! He actually started night patrol a few days ago. I’ve been sleeping alone.”

“Oh! Did the nightmares start the first night he was on patrol?” I nodded my head. “Interesting, that changes things.” She mumbled to herself.

“What do you mean?” I asked her, curious as to where her thoughts were going.

“During the dreams, are you shown anything else? It could be in pictures or short clips in your head. Do you ever feel the need to go through the mirror?”

I shook my head, “No. Not necessarily. Of course, I’m mostly thinking about trying to breathe and panicking at that moment. I don’t really feel anything else or even see anything else.”

She thought for a few minutes before getting up and walking to one of the many bookshelves she had. She scanned across the many book spines before finally pulling one off and sitting back down.

“This is a unique situation that we are in. It would be incredibly helpful if we knew who you were exactly, but I think I have some ideas.”

That caught my interest fast.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked her on the edge of my seat. Could Elder Morgan possibly be able to provide me some crucial information on who I might be? If so, it would change everything.

“A couple of generations back, an Elder of this pack was fascinated with witches. She studied them and wrote as much information as she could about them. She predicted that it would help our pack in the future. This was still a time where witches would work with our kind. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible to replace a witch.” She explained to me.

“What happened to them?” I asked her, feeling the need to know more.

She shrugged her shoulders. “That’s the thing, nobody really knows. One day they were here, and the next they were gone. There are still low level witches around. Those are the ones that practice spell and potion work. There are also some that can see the past, present, and future, they are called Seers. What I’m talking about, is the ones that could tap into the elements. We called them Elemental Witches. The last one recorded was over hundred years ago. Since then, there hasn’t been one.”

I rubbed the middle of my head as I took in the information she was throwing at me.

“What exactly does this have to do with me?” I asked her.

“Well for one, you said the mirror was black right?” I nodded my head in confirmation. “Black mirrors are known to help someone connect to the other side. Some witches would use them in their practice. I was wondering Luna, if maybe you are meant to be seeing something. Maybe there’s more to you than meets the eye?”

“What do you mean?” I asked her, still not sure where she was going with this.

“The rogue blood should have burned you no matter what, yet you walked out of the room with no marks on your body. Another example is the night Alpha Marcus and Alpha Jensen formed the alliance. Do you remember the ceremony?” I nodded my head before she continued. “That night, I spoke words in an ancient language that only gets passed down from Elder to Elder. You told me that night that you thought those words were beautiful as if you understood everything I was said. No one there, especially a human, should have been able to understand what I was saying. Yet, somehow you did.”

“Hold on a minute, are you trying to tell me that maybe I might not be human. That there could be a possibility that I may or may not be a witch?” I asked her. I felt as if my head was about to explode.

“Not necessarily. You may just have an ancestor that was a witch. It’s possible that you may have some witch’s blood running through your veins Luna. Perhaps it was an ancestor who was a Seer and maybe you are meant to see a vision through the mirror. May I suggest something?”

“Sure…” I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to hear what she was going to suggest. Part of me thought she had lost her mind. However, another part was so desperate for answers, I would have believed her if she told me I was part unicorn.

“The next time you have a dream, instead of fighting against the reflection, let it pull you into the mirror.”

My mouth fell open at her ridiculous suggestion.

“You can’t be serious?” I questioned her, making sure I heard her right.

She nodded her head. “Oh I am. I wonder if after all this time you are receiving these dreams now that Marcus isn’t with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“The mate bond is a very strong connection. It’s possible that it was blocking you from receiving the dreams. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you are suddenly experiencing these strange dreams now that you are sleeping alone.” She explained to me.

I shook my head at her. “I don’t think so. If that was the case, why didn’t I receive anything when I first got here? I didn’t start sharing a bed with Marcus until weeks later. I never once had any of these dreams.”

She placed a gentle smile on her face. “Like I said, the mate bond is a strong connection. It could be that you couldn’t receive anything until after you were marked and mated. Of course, this is just me logically guessing. I could be wrong.”

That did not make me feel any better about this, especially since she was suggesting I go through the mirror. I wasn’t so sure how great she was at this guessing game she was playing.

“Listen, I highly suggest you go through the mirror. Who knows, maybe you will start to gain your memories back.” That piqued my interest. She got up before I could say anything. “I will go ahead and grab you a sleeping aid that I believe will help you. It will be your choice if you want to take it or not.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when she walked away to go grab the remedy. This was not how I was expecting this to play out. A part of me was thankful that she didn’t think I was crazy, that she was willing to help me. Though, a smaller part of me wondered if she was crazy. I wasn’t sure what I would do tonight. Take the remedy, or go through the mirror?

“Here you go. I suggest you make it with a cup of tea. It works fast so drink it while you are in bed. If you decide to use it and it works, come back tomorrow and I will give you a bigger batch.”

I grabbed the small clear vile from her hands and followed her to the door,

“Thank you Elder Morgan. I appreciate the help you have given me.” I pulled her in for a hug, one without tears this time.

“Of course Luna. As I always say, I am here for you whenever you need someone to talk to.” she said with a warm smile on her face.

I waved her goodbye as I walked down the steps. Thoughts were racing across my mind. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was going to do. Part of me begged for a good night’s rest. But the other part of me wanted to go down the rabbit hole. What if Elder Morgan is right? What if I wasn’t who I thought I was?