Chapter 18
Sarah and Kristy followed Phoebe to the office, and then—after being urged to sit—took two of the three guest chairs that were seated in front of a well-kept antique desk. Their purses were placed on the floor next to them.
Phoebe shut the door to the office before taking the seat behind the desk.
"Sarah, here's what you need to know about Faye," Phoebe began. "Pure female Faye are seers, and they are always born as either identical twins or as identical triplets. If the sisters are twins, one sister will see the immediate future to the distant future and the other twin will see the immediate past to the distance past.
"Now, if the sisters are triplets, like with me and my sisters, then one sister will see events that will take place after one month in the future. Between my sisters and I, Helen is the one with that ability. The second sister will see events that are over a month old, and I'm the one with that ability. The third sister will see events that will take place within a month, along with seeing events that had taken place that are no more than a month old, and of course, my second sister, Athena, is the one with that ability. When woged and holding hands, Faye sisters—whether they are twins or triplets—can see a person's entire life from birth to death. They can even manipulate a person's life or manipulate when a person dies if they choose to."
Sarah interrupted by slightly raising her hand and saying, "Your description of three Faye sisters sounds much like the Fates in the Greek Mythology."
Phoebe grinned before saying, "You are correct. The Fates—Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos—were, in fact, Mountain Faye."
"I know a little bit about Greek Mythology, and according to the myth, the three Fates weren't identical triplets," Sarah began. "Clotho was the youngest, Lachesis was the middle sister and Atropos was the oldest."
Phoebe held her grin while saying, "I'm aware of the myth as well, and for the most part, the myth is accurate. Clotho was the youngest, but only by a few minutes, not by a few years as the myth portrays it to be. And Atropos was in fact the oldest, but only by a few minutes as well."
"Okay, that's a nice fun fact to know," Sarah replied. "Anyway, have you and your sisters ever changed anyone's fate?"
Phoebe pursed her lips and considered her answer before saying, "Athena, while using tarot cards and reading palms as props, will tell a person his or her immediate future, and depending on what the seeker is seeking, Athena could inadvertently change that person's fate… Oh, um, a seeker is someone who is looking for psychic advice. Anyway, keep in mind that any proclaimed psychic—true or false—could also inadvertently change a person's fate as well. At least when Athena does it, I know that it wasn't done deliberately or to harm the seeker."
"Wait, let's back up," Kristy requested. "How could Athena or another psychic inadvertently change someone's fate?"
"A recent example was yesterday," Phoebe began. "A seeker came in while looking for insight to the three job interviews that he had lined up. He wanted to know which of the three companies that he should go with if all three would offer him a job. Athena saw only one job offer in his immediate future, and so that is what she told him. However, if there had been more than one job offer, then Athena could've inadvertently changed the seeker's fate by choosing one of the job offers for him. And I know Athena. She won't choose for the seeker. Although, what she would have done… and what she has done in the past, was tell the seeker that what she sees is murky. She then would have instructed the seeker to make a pros-and-cons list, whether it was physical or mental, and then accept the job with the greater number of pros. Of course, when a person tells anyone to make a pros-and-cons list, it is more of an advice than anything, but even giving someone some advice could inadvertently change someone's fate as well. So, Sarah, to answer your question of if we have changed anyone's fate; possibly, and if we had, it was not done deliberately or out of malice."
Sarah politely grinned and nodded.
"Anyway, getting back on topic," Phoebe continued. "Male Faye are not born as identical twins or as identical triplets; however, even though it's rare, they can be born as fraternal twins or as fraternal triplets. Also, male Faye are not seers; however, they are empaths, which means that they can sense what others are feeling on a physical and emotional level."
"I'm an empath," Sarah quickly shared. "I can sense what others are feeling on a physical and emotional level."
Phoebe grinned before saying, "Yes. You would have to have empathic ability for you to be the one who had turned Kristy's daughter into a witness."
"Kristy told me that I did it… that I had turned Olivia into a witness when Olivia was a few days old and that I had to have the flu at the time," Sarah began while glancing at Kristy. "But I don't ever recall having the flu in my life."
"That's because the flu doesn't affect Faye and Faye/Wesen hybrid the same way that it affects Kehrseite and other Wesen," Phoebe began. "In fact, our outward appearance will appear as if we are quite healthy; however, our minds will be affected."
"In what way?" Sarah quickly asked.
"Well, if I had the flu right now, I would be seeing the present and the past simultaneously and thinking that everything that I see is in the present," Phoebe began. "And if Helen had the flu, she would see the present and the future simultaneously. And poor Athena wouldn't know if he was seeing the past, present or future if she had the flu.
"Anyway, when male Faye and Faye/Wesen hybrid with empathic ability get the flu, they will unintentionally inflict others with whatever mood that they are in at the time. And if any of them would come into direct contact with a Kehrseite newborn who is less than seven days old, then that will start the process of altering the newborn's brain into becoming a witness. And the gestation period—the alteration process for a normal witness to become a witness—takes a minimum of fifteen years and two weeks to complete." Phoebe amusingly grinned as she continued to say, "However, for an irregular witness, as evident to when Kristy's daughter had become a witness, the minimum gestation period can be slightly less. Anyway, do either of you have any questions?"
"I have a question," Kristy replied. "Olivia has had headaches off and on since before her fifteenth birthday, and her last serious headache occurred last Sunday. Are her headaches caused by her being a witness?"
"Yes, the headaches that Olivia is experiencing can be considered growth pains for a witness," Phoebe replied. "Once her ability as a witness has fully developed, her headaches will subside."
"And how long will it take for her ability as a witness to fully develop?" Kristy asked.
Phoebe slightly cringed before saying, "Well, a normal witness could take as long as six months to fully develop. However, an irregular witness could take as long as a year; most irregular witnesses don't take that long, though. It just depends on what psychic abilities get awaken in them. And I'm sorry that I couldn't give you a better answer."
"It's fine," Kristy replied. "At least that gives me an idea on how long her headaches will last."
"If Olivia's severe headaches continue, talk to Rosalee," Phoebe informed. "She may have something that will help reduce their severity."
"Okay," Kristy replied with a nod.
"Anyway, Sarah, do you have any questions for me?" Phoebe asked.
"Other than physical difference, what are the differences between a Woodland Faye and an Artic Faye?" Sarah asked.
"Okay, when we showed our true selves to one another, you might have noticed an air freshener type fragrance in the air," Phoebe began. "Secreting a flora scented pheromone is a hallmark for a Woodland Faye when we woge. Of course, that is only true if we are not threatened, frightened or pissed off. In fact, if we are threatened, frightened or pissed off, the pheromone we secrete when we woge will smell anywhere from rotten eggs to a decaying corpse. Now, Desert Faye, Mountain Faye, Aqua Faye and Artic Faye don't secrete pheromones, but they do cause other things to occur, such like how you lowered the temperature around you when you woged. Greatly lowering the temperature around them is a hallmark for Artic Faye when woged. A Desert Faye will greatly raise the temperature. An Aqua Faye will greatly raise the humidity of his or her surroundings and a Mountain Faye will lower the oxygen lever around him or her to the point where it could cause hypoxemia for some people."
"Okay, knowing that is actually helpful," Sarah replied. "Is there anything else that I should know about Faye?"
"Let's see," Phoebe replied while searching her thoughts. "Well, male Faye are compelled to help the suffering—even at the risk to themselves. And they do that by either going into the medical profession or into the priesthood. However, I can't really say if Faye/Wesen hybrids with empathic ability are compelled to help the suffering, as well."
Sarah slightly chuckled before saying, "It's good to know that it isn't just me who can't walk pass a suffering person without doing anything about it. In fact, I got in trouble during my first week of residency for treating a patient without insurance… oh, I'm a physician."
"I got that from what you said," Phoebe replied with a grin. "Anyway, I'm hoping that this isn't a personal question, but were you conceived at a fertility clinic in Montreal, Canada?"
"I was," Sarah quickly replied. "And I get the feeling that you know something about my conception that I don't."
Phoebe nodded with a slight grin before saying, "Before I share what I know about the fertility clinic, I should state that Artic Faye prefer to live in cold climates and I'm assuming that you are not an exception to that rule."
"I'm not," Sarah replied. "I live in Anchorage, Alaska. Of course, I can visit warmer places, but after a week or two, I'm ready to go someplace where it has a cooler climate."
Phoebe nodded again before saying, "Over fifty-five years ago, Artic Faye lived primarily in Russia. They were then discovered, hunted and nearly killed off into extinction by the KGB. Dr. Ivan Petrov—one of the last Artic Faye from Russia, if not the last one alive at the time—escaped the KGB, fled to Montreal, Canada, changed his name to Mikhail Ivanov and opened up the fertility clinic. The sperm donor information was falsified as Ivan Petrov—aka Mikhail Ivanov—was the only one donating his sperm. And I'm certain that it wasn't him who had handled your mom's insemination or otherwise, he would have turned your mom away."
"Dr. Ivanov was mentioned as the founder to the clinic, but you are correct, it was Dr. Greene who had handled my mom's case," Sarah replied. "Anyway, why would Dr. Ivanov had turned my mom away if he had been the doctor?"
"Dr. Ivanov was on a mission to repopulate the world with Artic Faye and having Faye/Wesen hybrid children wouldn't have done that," Phoebe began. "However, children born between Dr. Ivanov and Kehrseite women are either one hundred percent Faye or one hundred percent Kehrseite. They are not considered hybrids; they are as fertile as any other Faye or Kehrseite, and Faye daughters born between Dr. Ivanov and Kehrseite women were always born either as identical twins or as identical triplets."
"Wow, I expected to have a few siblings out in the world somewhere, but if Dr. Ivanov was the only one fathering children from his own fertility clinic, then… Wow, I can't even fathom how many siblings I must have," Sarah commented.
"Yeah, I don't think that I can do that math either," Phoebe replied.
"Is that clinic still open?" Kristy quickly asked.
"No," Phoebe began. "Forty years ago, the Montreal police discovered that Dr. Ivanov was fathering all of these children and was arrested. However, for the fifteen years that his clinic was open, he succeeded at repopulating the world with Artic Faye, and of course most of them live in Canada."
"So is Dr. Ivanov still in prisoner?" Sarah asked.
"Actually, once in custody, his true identity was discovered and since there was a warrant out for his arrest in Russia, he was departed back to Russia," Phoebe replied. "And I'm assuming that after he got back in Russia, he was executed."
"I was actually hoping that he was in a Canadian prison," Sarah replied. "That way, I could have visited him and get to know him."
"I have a feeling that many of your other siblings feel the same way," Sarah replied. "Anyway, out of curiosity, what kind of Wesen was your mom?"
"Kristy and I had talked about that earlier," Sarah replied before repeating everything that she had told Kristy.
Once Sarah was finished, Phoebe replied, "I have never heard of a Wesen like you before, and I can't help to think that something unnatural had occurred centuries ago for your female lineage to be like that."
Sarah considered her thoughts before saying, "A memory from my great-great-grandmother had just popped in my head."
"Okay," Phoebe replied in an uncertain told. "What was the memory?"
"After my great-great-grandmother had gotten pregnant with my great-grandmother, she told my great-great-grandfather what was going to happen if their child was a daughter, and my great-great-grandfather's response was very similar to what you had said," Sarah informed.
Phoebe nodded in understanding before saying, "If the Faye sister who sees into the past is powerful enough, she could see into a person's previous generations. Personally, I have never attempted to see into a person's previous generation, but, Sarah, I would like to attempt it with you. If you'll let me."
"For what purpose?" Sarah quickly asked and shooting a worried glance towards Kristy.
"It's a long shot, but I would like to see if I can go back to the very beginning of your female lineage and find out if your female lineage is natural or unnatural," Phoebe replied.
Sarah pursed her lips before saying, "I would like to find out about that myself, but a lot of what you might see along my female lineage is very private to me."
"I promise that whatever I see will remain confidential between you and me," Phoebe replied.
"I guess that's my cue to wait in the main area," Kristy commented while standing.
"Kristy, you are my best friend, but there are certain things about my family's history that I'm not comfortable sharing with you," Sarah quickly told her.
Kristy politely grinned before saying, "Yesterday, I was able to read about several Wesen from the Grimm journals, and if your ancestors were anything like the Wesen I read about, I understand why you don't want me learning about it. And I'm fine with it."
Sarah pleasantly grinned before saying, "Thanks for understanding."
Kristy held her grin and nodded before turning and leaving the office.
When the door closed behind Kristy, Phoebe told Sarah, "Faye, regardless of if we are of the same race or not, can sense certain things about each other, and I sensed that you weren't completely honest to Kristy about why you wanted her to leave the room."
Sarah pursed her lips before saying, "I don't want Kristy to know what I have to do to stay alive. And honestly, the idea of you finding out terrifies me as well, but I'll risk it to find out what kind of Wesen I am."
"Okay, before I begin, what do you have to do to stay alive?" Phoebe asked.
"My mother, for all intents and purposes, was a Spinnetod," Sarah reminded her. "And a female Spinnetod must consume someone's insides three days in a row every five years just to age naturally; otherwise, they will rapidly age as if they have that rapid aging disorder."
"Yes, I'm acquainted with a female Spinnetod's needs," Phoebe replied. "But what does that have to do with you or what we are discussing?"
"I have a similar need as a female Spinnod," Sarah replied "Although, I have never killed anyone… well not directly anyway."
"Sarah, what are your needs?" Phoebe quickly asked.
"I must feed on people's youth, otherwise I will starve to death in a matter of days," Sarah informed.
"How do you feed on a person's youth?" Phoebe asked.
Sarah considered her answer before asking, "Have you ever watched the Stargate Atlantis series and see how a Wraith feeds on a human."
"I'm actually a science fiction fan," Phoebe replied. "So, yes, I had watched the series."
"Yes, well, how I feed is like that, but all I need is skin to skin contact," Sarah informed. "From a hardy handshake, I could take about twenty-eight days from a person…"
"What do you mean when you say that you could take about twenty-eight days from a person?" Phoebe questioned, as if for clarification.
"Genetically speaking, the person I shake hands with and feed from will age twenty-eight days within a span of a hardy handshake," Sarah replied. "So, if a person is supposed to die from old age and at a certain age, then that person will reach that certain age a lot sooner than if I had not fed on him or her. Anyway, back in college, I was introducing myself to everyone and shaking hands each time. Kristy just thought I was being overly friendly when in fact what I was doing was feeding."
"How much time do you need to take a day?" Phoebe asked.
"If I only feed through handshakes—and not to feel… rundown—I could get by with only shaking twelve people's hands each day," Sarah replied. "Although, to be completely full, I would have to shake hands with fourteen people."
"You don't feed through handshakes, though, do you?" Phoebe questioned.
"If I'm at a party, hungry and don't know too many people, I will," Sarah replied. "But for my normal day to day feeding, no, I don't. I'm a prison doctor, and I feed when I examine inmates who had been sentenced to life in prison."
"How much time do you take from them?" Phoebe asked.
"Per feeding—per a normal feeding, I should say—I might take sixty days from one patient, but accumulatively there are prisoners who are several years older than what they should be," Sarah informed.
"What would happen if you found yourself where you can't feed?" Phoebe asked.
"I would go berserk and attack the first person I see," Sarah replied. "During a lockdown at the prison last year, I reached that point. I couldn't feed for forty-two hours, and I nearly killed a guard once the lockdown was lifted. I took two years of his life in one feeding. Lucky for me, he doesn't remember his attacker."
"So, how hungry are you right now?" Phoebe asked.
Sarah amusingly grinned before saying, "I'm not. During my flight from Anchorage to Portland, I was seated next to a womanizing salesman who insisted on holding my hand during the flight."
"And how much time did you take from him?" Phoebe asked in manner as if she dreaded the answer.
"About seven months," Sarah replied. "I would've taken more time from him, but if I don't stop feeding once I'm completely full, I would make myself sick. I gorged myself on my would-be rapist twenty-five years ago, and I won't do that again."
"And how much time did you take from him," Phoebe asked.
"I was actually hungry when he had attacked me, so, I was able to take two years of his life," Sarah replied. "I would've taken more, but the guy passed out once I took a year of his life, and I got violently sick soon after I took two years from him."
"Okay," Phoebe began. "Is there anything else I should know about you before I attempt to see into your female lineage?"
"That's it," Sarah replied. "All of my dirty secrets are out, and I prefer if Kristy never finds out about my feeding needs."
"She won't learn about it from me," Phoebe vowed before standing. As she moves towards Sarah, she continued to say, "Anyway, I'm going to take the seat next to you, and we will need to face each other. Normally, when I look deeply into someone's past, I would hold the person's hands, but no offense to you, I'm going to forgo holding hands with you."
Sarah chuckled with slight humor while saying, "No offense taken. But I swear I'm not hungry."
"I believe you, but once I start going into your past, I could trigger a memory of you being hungry and unintentionally make you believe that you are hungry," Phoebe explained. "Like a hypnotic suggestion could make you feel as if you are starving even though you weren't hungry before being hypnotized."
"Okay, I would like to add that I have the strength and speed of a female Spinnetod," Sarah informed. "So, if I would suddenly feel as if I'm starving just because you had triggered a memory of me starving, I could attack and feed on you before you had the chance to react. So perhaps doing this isn't a good idea."
"Ah, yes, that's something that I failed to consider," Phoebe replied. "However, I do have a solution."
"And what is that?" Sarah questioned.
"I shackle your arms and legs to the chair," Phoebe replied.
"Do you actually have shackles here?" Sarah questioned.
"Coincidently, I do have shackles," Phoebe replied while gesturing towards a filing cabinet. "They're in the bottom drawer of the cabinet."
Sarah slightly hesitated before saying, "I would like to ask about why you have shackles, but I slightly scared of the answer."
Phoebe amusingly grinned before saying, "It was a grand opening gag gift from my mom, five years ago."
"How is that a gag gift?" Sarah asked.
Phoebe gestured for her to wait a moment before asking, "How do you give a Siegbarste an unfavorable prophecy?"
Sarah slightly chuckled before saying, "Given the fact that we are discussing shackles, I will say 'with the Siegbarste shackled.'"
"The answer is actually 'chained and shackled and then run before he can break free' but you got the gist," Phoebe replied with a grin. "Anyway, I would still like to look into your female lineage. So, may I shackle you?"
"Sure, what the hell," Sarah replied. "Although, being shackled will most likely trigger memories of my sexual bondage days."
Phoebe slightly chuckled, and as she moved towards the filing cabinet, she replied, "Thanks for the warning."
Phoebe stepped over to the filing cabinet and grabbed the shackles, and then proceeded to shackle Sarah's arms (at the wrists) and legs (at the ankles) to the chair.
Once Sarah was secure to the chair, Phoebe sat across from Sarah, stared into her eyes, and fully woge into a Woodland Faye.
Since Sarah had memories of her female lineage for the past twenty generations, it was easy for Phoebe to burrow her way through them; however, it took concentration for Phoebe to reach beyond that.
Sarah female lineage beyond twenty generations were Bauerschweins, and it wasn't until Phoebe burrowed her way to Gertrude (Sarah's twenty-five-great grandmother) when Phoebe found the answer. Sarah was also aware to what Phoebe was seeing.
Centuries ago—unaware by the nearby villagers—a meteorite crashed at the edge of the Black Forest during a heavy, overnight thunderstorm that kept most villagers awake. Mild radiation contaminated the area that caused mutations among the plants, the parasites and the insects, and birth defects among the animals, birds, Kehrseites and Wesen. Sickness and diseases mutated as well where it could cross species.
Gertrude's favorite pastime was mud-bathing, and once the sun was up and the storm had lifted, she left her home in search for a deep mud puddle.
Within a short time, Gertrude found a suitable place to mud-bathe; however, the mud puddle that she chose was infested with parasites that had been affected by the radiation.
Gertrude fell ill the day after her mud-bath, and her husband identified the source of her illness quickly to a type of parasite that Bauerschweins were prone to get during mud-bathing.
After Gertrude drunk a concoction brewed by her husband, all but one mutated parasite died out and were expelled through her bodily waste; however, that single mutated parasite attached itself to the five-day old female fetus that Gertrude was unknowingly carrying.
As the female fetus grew, she absorbed the parasite as if it had been a twin sibling being absorbed.
As the weeks passed, and Gertrude learned that she was pregnant, the news of strange rocks being found in a medium size crater was circulating among the villagers; however, everyone who had directly handled the rocks fell ill and died days later.
The cause of the villagers' death was quickly identified, and the rocks were quickly shoveled up into a cart and taken somewhere to be buried.
Seven months after Gertrude learned that she was pregnant, she gave birth to Hilda. Hilda appeared as healthy and normal as any other newborn, but Gertrude sensed that something was off about her.
As Hilda grew, Gertrude dismissed what she felt about her as other kids around Hilda's age were born blind, deaf or had severe health issues of some kind, and it was the same with the local farm animals that were being born.
No one could come up with an explanation for the birth defects, but the birth defects among the farm animals subsided around Hilda's twelfth birthday. Around a year later, healthy babies were being born as well.
After Hilda's sixteenth birthday, she was married off to the son of the village leader (also a Bauerschwein) and became pregnant right away. As Hilda was giving birth nine months later, she drifted off to her death as her daughter, Frida, was being born.
Phoebe followed Frida's life until she gave birth to Matilda at the age of seventeen, and as Matilda was being born, Frida drifted off to her death.
Phoebe followed Matilda's life until she gave birth to her daughter at the age of eighteen, and as her daughter was being born, Matilda drifted off to her death.
Phoebe chose then to end the session and return to the present.
"You were right," Sarah told Phoebe. "Something unnatural did occur with one of my distant ancestors that made my female lineage to be the way it was. I'm glad I learned the truth."
"Let's get you unshackled," Phoebe told her as she went to do so.
"Before today, I never knew that some of my ancestors were Bauerschweins," Sarah replied as Phoebe was unshackling her. "Although, I do like mud-baths when I go to a spa. So, I now wonder if my like for mud-baths comes from my Bauerschwein-ancestors."
"Possible, but I'm certain that there are a lot of people—who have no relationship what-so-ever to Bauerschweins—who like mud-baths, as well," Phoebe replied before completely freeing Sarah.
"True," Sarah replied with a shrug before grabbing her purse and standing. "Anyway, I should pay you and then let Kristy know that we are done."
"This session on the house," Phoebe replied.
"Are you sure?" Sarah questioned. "I don't want to cheat you."
"You gave me the opportunity to look deep into your ancestry, and I have never looked into anyone's ancestry before," Phoebe replied. "So, believe me when I say, I was not cheated."
"Okay," Sarah replied before hanging her purse off her left shoulder. "And thank you. You answered a question that not only did I have, but a few of my ancestors have had as well."
"You're welcome," Phoebe replied before gesturing towards the door. "Anyway, let's go back out front."
Sarah nodded before she and Phoebe moved towards the door.
To be continued.