Description

Felicia was not quite fourteen years old the night that she disobeyed her mother and took a path home through the woods after nightfall. She was attacked. When she came to, she vaguely recalled the incident, and could not identify what or who had attacked her. Celta, a servant who had been with the family for decades, helped her recover and keep the attack secret. However, four months later her pregnancy could not be disguised. Felicia’s mother felt strongly that they should keep that baby and raise it as her own to protect Felicia. This stance led to the disintegration of her parent’s marriage. When Felicia delivered beautiful baby boy Jeremy, the family feared the worst when he seemed very passive and did not cry at all. Celta had heard stories back in Ireland about changelings, and warned that the baby’s symptoms exactly fit the description. However, she kept the secret about the attack.  Over the next few weeks Jeremy and Felicia developed a special bond. However, Jeremy began to have episodes where he was completely lifeless and appeared to be dead. Nurses hired to care for the baby were frightened by this and other events, and seldom stayed more than one or two nights. When nurse Janet quit, she was killed on the road to town, her face mutilated. This was the first death. Felicia’s mother worried that Jeremy was too attached to her, and arranged for Felicia to transfer to a private girl’s school a few hours away. The move did not go well, and led to more strange occurrences and deaths. Celta slowly became aware that bad things happened any time that Jeremy had an episode. She tried unsuccessfully to convince Felicia that Jeremy was somehow responsible, and that they needed to protect themselves. Felicia was unconvinced. After all … Jeremy was such a good baby.