I had to pretend to preserve what I had left of my own sanity, as there had to be an irrational explanation for the dilemma that we were in, and I knew that it would soon reveal itself.

It was after twelve midnight, and we were now in the midst of the Witching Hour. Elizabeth and I walked through the rubble looking for anything that had stayed the same from the hideous transformation at midnight.

I asked, “Elizabeth, do you know how many different people had owned the Blackwood Manor before your parents?” She just looked at me with a blank expression on her face, and when she was unable to give me an answer, I said, “Maybe there is a county recorder’s office in town that could provide us with that information.”I knew that Briarcliff Acres was a small town, so it should not be that hard to find some worthy information. “Well I guess it is time Elizabeth, time to earn that generous fee that you had so trustingly deposited in my account.”

I wondered if after all this mass hysteria if Elizabeth was ready to throw in the towel altogether, but it did not seem to me, she was that kind of woman. Elizabeth and I made plans to go to the county recorder’s office in town tomorrow morning, after the Witching Hour was over and the fallen angel or angels finished terrorizing the Blackwood Manor, and us, as their powers always weaken after three o’clock in the morning.

I told Elizabeth that we could take my rental vehicle into town tomorrow to the county recorder’s office to see if we could acquire any valuable information regarding previous owners of the Blackwood Manor. 

I glanced around the Blackwood Manor once more, and realized that one thing was for sure, and that was whatever was to be seen in the small town of Briarcliff Acres could not be any more exasperating than the supernatural forces we had both seen and dealt with here the last couple of nights.

It was light out, the suns rays were gleaming through the windows of the manor, and well past six o’clock in the morning, and despite everything that had happened earlier within the Witching Hour, I felt my first hunger pains. Therefore, I spoke up and said, “Elizabeth, I am starving to death, how about you? I am a pretty fair cook if I do say so myself, and would not mind at all to cook us both something to eat.”

She nodded her head yes, as she looked at me with a beautiful smile on her face, and I swiftly walked into the kitchen to prepare a small but modest meal for the both of us. I found some pre-mixed pancake mix in one of the cabinets, added water, mixed it, and poured the batter into a skillet that was already sitting on the stovetop. The batter was enough to make six pancakes that were as big as the skillet itself. Then when the pancakes were finished cooking, I pulled some bacon out of the fridge and threw the entire package into the skillet.

Elizabeth laughed as she said, “A pretty good cook, huh, I could have done that with little to no effort.”

I laughed out and said, “But did you.”

She smiled right back at me and said, “No, but I will set the table.”

Elizabeth set the table with the appropriate silver wear, and as soon as she was done, I put two pancakes on each of the plates along with eight pieces of bacon. The smell of the bacon made us hungrier than we had imagined.

Elizabeth replied, “Mason there is no way that I can eat all of this food.”

“That is alright, just eat what you can because we have a busy day planned, going into town.”

Elizabeth and I ate in complete silence, so you know that we must have been hungry.

Not too long after we had finished with our breakfast, my mind quickly began trying to unscramble the many unanswered questions that I had. Therefore, I decided now would be a good time to go into town. So I said, “Let’s go into town Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth got her purse and keys, and as we walked out of the Blackwood Manor, down the steps and onto the driveway, I turned around to take another glimpse at the Blackwood Manor before it transformed again at midnight, back into an old dilapidated one story house.

Elizabeth shouted, “What are you looking at Mason? Come on, get into the car, and let’s go into town.”

We got into my rental car and took off for the small town of Briarcliff Acres. On the way there, I could not help but notice the scenery, as there were no pine trees whatsoever, only trees that contained leaves, which was something quite different for me to see, as I was use to only seeing the pine trees that covered the top of the cliffs that ceased to exist at the ocean. It did not take too long to get to where we were going, and before we knew it, we were already at the county recorder’s office located in the small town of Briarcliff Acres, and found it surrounded by fire trucks. I pulled up as close as I could to one of the fire truck without getting in their way, got out of the car, and walked over and asked one of the firemen on duty what happened, and he replied, “The building caught on fire in the early morning hours and unfortunately destroyed everything inside.”

I turned around, looked at Elizabeth, and said, “Well Elizabeth, I guess this was a wasted trip for the both of us. We are not going to get any information from this place, especially now. I guess the supernatural forces responsible for this really does not want us to find out if anyone had owned this property prior to your family owning it. Thus, the fallen angel or angels must have overheard us talking about coming here and decided to destroy what evidence we could obtain concerning any previous owners.”

“Mason, what do we do now?”

“Well Elizabeth. I guess the only thing left to do is drive back to the Blackwood Manor so I can do more investigating and critical thinking on the matter at hand.”

The drive back seemed as if it was a much longer trip than that of the previous trip to the small town of Briarcliff Acres. Maybe because of the disappointment, the drive back was completely silent, knowing very well that our only lead had been destroyed. As we pulled up to the front of the Blackwood Manor I had glanced at the miraculous place, and could not comprehend how this unknown supernatural force had the immense power to transform the Blackwood Manor into an old single story dilapidated shack, along with anyone who was inside it at the time of its transformation.

We got out of the car and walked up the steps to the massive entry doors to the Blackwood Manor, and as I waited for Elizabeth to unlock the door, I took a brief look around at my surroundings. As soon as Elizabeth unlocked the door, the both of us entered the Manor and headed directly to the sitting room, where I started a fire within the enormous fireplace. Afterwards I sat down next to Elizabeth in one of the recliners to go over any other possible leads.

Then, suddenly a thought came to mind, and I asked Elizabeth, “Does Alexandrea ever remember anything, I mean anything at all when she transforms back into her usual self?”

“Yes Mason, as strange as it may seem Alexandrea has told me numerous times that she is aware of what is happening to her, and that she does see everything as it changes. She has also informed me that it is like her spirit leaves her body and it is floating weightless, up in the air as she is looking down at her own body.”

My body posture seemed to stiffen up as I listened to what Elizabeth was telling me. After she was through I asked, “Elizabeth, does Alexandrea ever see the changes within her own body?”

I listened very carefully while Elizabeth explained it to me.

“Well yes she can, she has informed me that she saw herself lying asleep on the bed, and on the sofa, which is located in the guest room.”

“Elizabeth, I gather you have not told her what really happens to her when these transformations occur?”

“No I have not Mason.