Hello my lovelys! (everyone stares) I mean...um...Hello my readers! Here is chapter six:

.
.
.
.
.

The end!

Just kidding. Lol. I'm not that mean. Today. Cough.
This chapter should clear up some stuff. I hope. Sorry its kind of boring–the next chapter shall be more action–butt kicking–packed. Oh and the rating may go up closer to the end. Might throw in a lemon. Mild or not, I have no clue. I've written only one lemon before so...yeah. I have no idea if I can make it all good or not. It would help if my life did not lack said fruit. Meh. Anywho I'll warn everyone before hand.

Thank you all for the reviews! I love them like air!

Ch 6: Home, Be Yourself

To say I was shocked would be an understatement of the century. If my jaw had dropped any faster I'd probably have whiplash. And it would be impossible to sue myself for the pain

"How? How can she be me?"

"Shifters don't just have the ability to shift through time. We can shift to other parallels–different planes of existence," Saben answered, while wriggling a bit.

"Can someone please untie me? I'm getting chaffed here. Not to mention sitting on my hands is putting them to sleep."

Paul reluctantly untied her. She thanked him, with a crude single-fingered gesture, and started rubbing the raw skin on her wrists.

"Again, how?" I asked.

"Look, it's too hard to explain. I'd have to show you."

"Then show us," Paul glared at the rope he held in his hands.

It was because of Paul's statement that less than an hour later, the four of us were inside the Carmel Historical Society, standing in front of a mirror that looked like God himself had probably made it. Or like someone had had sticky fingers around the Harry Potter set. One of the two.

"Yeah," Paul sighed and sat on the desk; the same desk Saben had sat on while she grilled Jesse about body part names. "I'm not really getting anything from your visual explanation."

"Paul, shut up and come here. And don't get any sick ideas over what I'm about to do," Saben ordered. She then grabbed his hand and placed it on her left arm; then proceeded to do the same to Jesse's right hand, and mine. She then beckoned for us to close our eyes and reassured that "This'll only take a second." I couldn't help but peek anyway.
What? I was curious! Hey, I need to know what to do–it could come in handy someday.
I watched, quietly, as she reached out and touched the mirror, before closing my eyes again. Suddenly the air around me got very cold. I opened my stealthy eyes again and looked around. My stomach suddenly felt as if it could no longer hold the contents of the dinner I'd eaten not too long ago.
That's because I knew where we were. And yet, though I recognized the place, it seemed different. Some of the doors lining the walls of the Shadowland had red marks on them, while only one contained the letter H.
Saben didn't tell us to open our eyes, but soon noticed that we all had anyway. Which is why, when she began to move towards the door labeled H, we all followed her, still holding on to her arm. As she reached out to grab the handle she paused, and turned back towards us.

"As you all know, this is the Shadowland," Saben started slowly, seemingly trying to find the right words to illustrate. "However, this is not the Shadowland you've been to before. This is my Shadowland. Every shifter has their own. It's what allows them to visit different parallels."

And with that she grabbed the knob and flung the door open. Immediately, a blinding white light engulfed us. The next thing I knew, we where back in the Historical Society. Unlike the other office, this one was densely humid and dark. Thick layers of dust covered the floor, and everything that happened to be residing upon it. It was pretty apparent, at least to me, that no one had been in here in a while. A long while.

"Where are we?" Jesse asked, as Saben's arm fell out of my grasp. My vacated hand was soon occupied again, but now by Jesse's large, warm palm. The gesture comforted me, knowing that he was by my side.

"My home."

(8)

"Your home, huh?'Paul leered at the all too familiar desk before him. He gently swept his fingers across the top, collecting hoards of dust. After an amused observation at how thickly covered the room was, he wiped his hand on his Chinos. "To each her own, I suppose."

Saben, I could tell, was suppressing the urge to smack him upside the head. I know, because that's what I felt like doing. However, we choose to ignore him.
But apparently, though I was with it enough to be aggravated with Paul, I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to notice Saben approach me. That is, until she spoke.

"What's out there is hard to endure, even for the most experienced mediator," she forewarned, before stepping past me. With no idea as to what she was talking about, I trailed behind, curiously, as she headed out the Society, dragging Jesse with me. Paul, too, followed suit, this time without voicing every opinion that popped into his head.

As I stepped outside and looked around, Saben's words echoed through my mind. There were cars abandoned along the streets; lights in shops and homes remained on, some flashing from wear; the sky was desolate of all illumination, not even the moon was there to glisten; the ocean crashing upon the shore of Carmel beach sounded eerie rather than soothing. But of all the things that seemed wrong, one thing stood out the most. One thing we all noticed.

There was no one around.

The usual tourist clad beach was empty; homes remained with lights on, for there was no one to turn them off; cars were forsaken because no one was around to reside in them. Everyone was gone.

"This," Saben uttered quietly, still dragging her feet along the lonely road before us. "This is why I left my home. This is why I came to your world. Not to pose as someone I'm not. Not to make up lies about my history. I came to your world to stop him."

"Who?" I asked, coming up beside her. All emotion she'd had before seemed to drain from her tone.

"The one the ghosts heed you about."

"Qain?"

An abrupt gust of air surged by, throwing her loose chestnut hair into her face. Mine was pulled back casually, saving me from the hassle of pushing the stray hair behind my ears, as she had to. As she regrouped her locks, she nodded.

"Qain Paquin was the most powerful shifter I'd ever met. He brought father here in hopes of finding a doctor that could save him, but he was too late. After his father died, he began contemplating revenge. And once he found the perfect retaliation, he struck, taking everyone around him down,"she revealed as she walked towards the nearest car. The three of us watched as she got in and tried to start the automobile, but to no avail. After hitting the steering wheel and saying a few choice words, she got back out and continued towards the next car on the road.

"He arrived his senior year in high school and began attending the Mission Academy. That's where we first met. He knew what Paul and I were from the start, but never suspected Father Dominic. At the time Paul and I were...Look. In my reality, Jesse is still a ghost. Instead of shifting through time with me, he died in the fall from the barn. From there, things changed. Jesse stressed his concerns of me needing a boyfriend my parents could actually meet, and to prove his point, broke off certain..relations with me. So, I did as he wanted; I got myself someone I could introduce to my parents.." She paused and glanced at Paul, then went back to trying start the second car we'd come upon, which didn't want to work either.

"I never stopped loving Jesse, but it was what he wanted," she slammed the door to the SUV she'd been in shut and stomped down the road, with us still following like obedient puppy dogs.

"Anyway, Paul and I had been dating for two years before Qain came along. I'd pushed off advances from Qain on more than one occasion, telling him I was already taken and to back off. Needless to say, when he went on his homicide spree, Paul was one of the first to go. Even after he made me witness Paul's murder, he still tried to convince me that we'd be perfect together. Two shifters against the world. Let's just say I didn't entertain that idea as much as he did. In a few of his persuasion speeches, he mentioned parallel shifting. That's how when he started to jump planes, I went after him."

Finally, after approaching a third vehicle and trying it, a red Camaro that looked much like Sleepy's–I mean, Jake's, she found a vehicle that would start. Paul and Jesse climbed into the back, while I sat up front with...well, myself. As I shut the door, the faint smell of pizza and cologne made me realize something. This didn't jus look like my stepbrother's, Jake, car. It was Jake's car.
Trying not to think about the inevitable, I turned around to see if Jesse or Paul realized what I had. Jesse's gaze immediately met mine, as I looked back. His normal calming eyes seemed tense and full of grief, like he understood what I did, but didn't want to say anything. Paul, meanwhile, was to preoccupied playing with a piece of fuzz on the back of my seat to notice me. Typical Paul. Pfft.

"I'm sorry if I've hurt or offended any of you. It was never suppose to be this way. I was suppose to stop Qain, this time, before anyone got hurt. But as you can tell, things didn't quite go to plan."

"You could have just told us the truth, you know," I mentioned as casually as I could. This received me a look from Saben that suggest I was off my trolley.

"Really?" she asked, amused. "And what was I suppose to do? Go up to you and say "Hey Suze! I'm your alternate self from a plane of existence you've never even imagined! Lookie, I need help stopping a raving lunatic. Think you could help me?" I'd have been taken to the local funny farm faster than you can say mediator."

She did have a point. I probably wouldn't have believed her. I mean, come on, I still wasn't fully convinced that she was...me.

"So. The thing withe Amira an Jacoby?" Jesse inquired, meeting Saben's gaze in the rear view mirror.

"All bull," she sighed loudly, as she turned onto the street that lead to my house. The road that I'd been on so many times before, but here barely recognized. "They knew what I needed from them and they agreed to help. It was just another part in securing my false identity. Well, until someone had to go and ruin it for me."

She shifted her sight from Jesse to Paul. Still, Paul seemed to intrigued by the fuzz to look up. Or he was purposefully ignoring her. Maybe even a bit of both.
Within minutes we'd pulled up in front of my house. Saben turned off the car and climbed out, signaling for us to get out as well. She helped Jesse out of her side, while I moved my seat for Paul who finally seemed to come out of his trance. The four of moved in single file into the house and up the stairs. From what I could tell, the house was the same, at least from the entrance to the upstairs hall it was. Once at my bedroom door, Saben turned back to us, nervously sticking her hands in her jean pockets.

"Could you guys wait here for a second?"

"Of course," I answered. I knew why she needed time. There was probably a ghost on the other side of the door who hadn't seen her in a long time. One that I knew would be grateful she was still alive. With one last look at my Jesse, she entered mine–her—our bedroom, leaving the door open behind her.

"Querida, you're back,"a voice said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Hector."

'Querida, what's wrong? I'm not Hector to you. I never have been."

"I know that, but you must understand—"

"Susannah, what is wrong?" Hector asked firmly.

"I'm not Susannah. Please, call me Saben," I could hear her pleading. From the sound of it, she was on the verge of tears. I knew she was trying to distinguish a difference between us. Curious, I edged closer to the door, and peered around the corner. I could feel Jesse's hand on my arm, indicating I should back off, but I couldn't. I needed to see.

"What? I..what is wrong, querida? Please."

"Look, you'll understand in a minute, I promise, but for now I'm Saben and you're Hector, okay?"

Saben had her hands resting upon Hector's shoulders, making him look her in the eye. The ghost looked hurt, deeply. It was when I saw that look in his eyes that I knew she really had to be me. Jesse had given me that look before, and it nearly killed me everytime.

"Hector, there's some people I need you to meet."

With that the three of us entered the room, watching as the ghost's eyes widened inquisitively.

"Hector, meet Susannah, Jesse, and Paul."

To be yourself is all that you can do
There's no place like home

Yeah. Just so everyone knows, though this is confuzzling in itself, its much easier to understand than Suze 1, Suze 2, Jesse 1, Jesse 2 and so forth:

Saben is technically Suze/Susannah
Hector is technically Jesse

That's just to clarify for anyone who hasn't read the books.
Anywho, I'd have written more but I've had my wisdom teeth out, am in pain and need sleep. So...bear with me please.
And thank you to everyone who's reading! I love you all like a fat kid loves cake! Platonically mind you, but still 3
Chapter 7 should be up soon, but don't hold me too that. I'm just hoping it'll be up soon.
Love, Peace and Alien Probed Acorns

Sam

Ps: Sorry if there are a lot of typos. I couldn't my family computer to load the chapter so I'm trying the laptop. And on the Family comp I founda few typos that I don't remember correcting here. Cuz I'm a nutter. So please don't shoot me! The wisdom teeth were enough torture!

Where's a hot guy when you need one? Sigh