chapter 23

My eyes opened almost instantaneously, the blood trickling across my cheek had soaked but my head still throbbed abysmally. My feelings were going haywire, the ground underneath me seemed to have vanished. The illusion or dream or whatever it was, seemed to have restored memories of a life I lived hundreds of years ago. Vengeful feelings had slowly begun to overtake me, channelling my veins with hot blood, I felt as though I was going to erupt like a volcano. I looked at my painting again, it felt so weird, as though I had travelled through time and had been brought to this era. A sudden ray determination struck me, filling my peaceful heart with a yearning for revenge. I had to avenge the death of my (Talia’s) parents’ and nurse’s death, I determined myself, and began striding away towards that sorceress, but, a voice in my head halted me. The witch was way too powerful and possessed dark magic. For now, I’d have to run away, before she tries to do the dark deed she couldn’t accomplish centuries ago. Instantly and as swiftly as my legs could take me, I scampered out of the hallway and into the great hall. As cautiously as I could, I moved out of the hall and opened the gates of the castle, struggling to maintain the tranquillity. To my utter astonishment, the gates opened without any sort of noise, and with no moment to waste I sprinted away into the woods.

My world seemed to have turned upside down within those last few hours. The dawn of a fresh day arose through the night sky, bringing with it a seemingly new purpose for me in life and restoring my long lost identity as I hurried across the forest towards the manor house.

“Why aren’t you eating Ellie?” demanded Judy, looking at me serenely, holding a slice of pizza, while having lunch in Matt’s house. “Are you still worried about that lake incident?” They weren’t aware where I had been last night, which suited me perfectly, I didn’t want any sort of awkward and serious questions. I had already been sick of their concerned faces whenever they talked to me or made any reference to me.

“Nah Judy, I’m just not feeling hungry,” I retorted, though a little irritably as I sat on an armchair near the fireplace, staring stupidly at the logs of wood and contemplating about the previous day’s mystifying events that had inevitably brought a revolution in my ordinary and mundane life. At that point, Matt approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

 “Hey pretty girl, you know we are all with you right. Don’t have to conceal any problems from us. We’re your friends, and you know that we’d never judge you,” Matt assured me, with an affectionate and caring smile that sort of diminished my worries for a moment.

“Thanks, Matt,” I said, placing my palm on his and beaming. It was difficult to disguise my feelings for him as friendship any more. It had always been, but now it was even tougher and even more necessary, as I had a witch on my back. Previously, I kept away from Matt coz of trivial and silly reasons, but now the barrier between us had to be maintained.

It had been nearly a week since we had arrived here, and most of the trip had been a series of shocking and ominous episodes. I had been exposed to such dark revelations about my own life which caused me to be an insomniac. Not a second passed when I didn’t think about the horrors of my past life. The idea of me having a past life petrified me, such that in a week, an ordinary high school teen’s life had turned upside down. Mixed and muddled feelings rose and fell inside me. Sometimes I wanted to run away, thinking it was just a nightmare like all those I had before and forget about it. While, on the contrary, there were times when I recuperated the feelings of revenge I experienced after my memories were restored. I believed I would go crazy if I stayed there any longer, but since my friends had planned to extend our vacation by two days I had no chance or energy to argue with them.

“Alright, is everyone ready then?” clamoured Alex, shoving his packed tent inside his mountain bag, and then rushing to help Judy pack her rucksack. We were going camping and hiking in the dense forest and the nearest mountains. 

“Yeah, done mate,” replied Matt, carrying his bag. “Are the barbecue utensils necessary Alex, I mean we could have done that here outside my house too,”

“Nah, where’s the fun in that, we came here to not just relax and chill but also to mingle more with nature right Judy?” he asked Judy flirtatiously, who winked at him and nodded her head thoroughly in agreement. Matt and I were fully aware that they both just wanted to spend more private time together. 

We set out into the forest at exactly five past six. The sun was gradually emerging across the horizon as its rays jutted through the dawn light, spreading its soothing morning light across our faces and illuminating the lifeless trees. The weight of the bags nearly caused me to stoop as we marched through the forest. Matt had courteously offered to carry my tent in his bag but I had refused, I didn’t wish to be considered physically weak, especially during a time when such incidents had occurred which portrayed me as being emotionally frail. 

“Guys, I guess we’ve found our first stop!” exclaimed Alex, as he dumped his bag on the riverside in the forest. The river’s water was sky blue and crystal clear, which provided a soothing feeling just by throwing a look at it. The rest of us placed our bags too and decided to change into our swimsuits and sunbath lying on the smooth grassy ground. As we placed a mat on the ground and were about to go and change, a frightening howl echoed across the woods, which nearly stopped my heart and also terrified Matt and Judy. We had just turned our heads in fear towards the forest when a horrified Alex emerged from across the forest sprinting towards us in his shorts.

“Help me!” he roared, knocking us off our senses, as he ran like a mad dog. He let out a growl of fear, raced past us and dived insanely into the river, going out of sight. Utterly horrified and perplexed, we called out his name loudly, but no answer arrived. There were tears in Judy’s eyes and she was about to let out a squeal when Alex burst off the water and started laughing maniacally. His prank had worked perfectly on us, but he was more successful in annoying us, especially Judy, as she marched towards him with a furious red face and starting punching his chest, while he laughed crazily.

“Oh you piece of a jerk, how dare you pull such a ridiculous trick, scared the life out of us,” she blabbered angrily, hitting him persistently. 

“Give him some from me too Judy!” shouted Matt, as he lay there on the ground, half-laughing, half-angry.

“Ok, ok I apologize, my damsel,” said Alex, holding Judy’s arms to defend himself and then giving her a rib-cracking hug. As they both rejuvenated their endlessly mundane romance, Matt and I were once again left in solitude.

“Ellie could you pass me the sunscreen,” asked Matt, casually putting on his sunglasses as he lay there on the grass with his hands folded behind his neck, thoroughly relaxed. I passed him the lotion from my bag and had a relentless desire to apply it on his irresistibly tanned muscular body, nevertheless, I shoved aside the lusty thought and passed it to him who took it lightly. Guess, he had given up on the idea of us being together.

“Matt,” I began lightly, lying down a few inches away from him on the cool grass.              

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything,” he said, not changing his position or even looking at me.

“What if…what if someday you get to know that I am not who I am? Like, I am not Ellie or I was someone else before, and not an ordinary person. But someone who is hunted and haunted unceasingly by an evil and unstoppable power which can be lethal. Would you still be beside me then and….would you still want to be with me?” I asked him seriously, expecting that he’d gawk at me thinking that I have gone crazy or something, or that he’d ask him that why I would be asking such senseless and irrational questions. But what I received in reply was quite stunning. He lifted himself, removed his sunglasses, revealing an intensely loving look in his uniquely glowing grey eyes as he moved towards me.

“Ellie, ever since the day you have come into my notice, the only thought that has crossed my mind is whether this girl’s going to ever respond to my feelings. And I always told myself with assurance, that when the day arrives, I’d never let you go, nor will I ever let anything harm you. You may say this is an infatuation, but infatuation is capable of transforming into love over a transition of ten years…..which is since the day I have known you,” saying that he leant over me and planted a tender kiss on my forehead, causing a tickling sensation as a result of his thick goatee. It was the cutest thing that anyone had ever said to me in eighteen years, and magic of love began gushing through my veins, scintillating my worn-out spirits and revitalizing my mood. Perhaps oxytocin or love hormone was being released into my bloodstream, I thought, chuckling staring at his perfectly slim beardless jawline and placing my palm into Matt’s as he fondly slid my hair behind the earlobe while I simultaneously caressed his typically messy blond hair which obstinately refused to stay flat. 

Alex and Judy returned, holding hands and portraying two people who have just had the time of their lives. Usually, I would get rather irritated and extremely sulky at Judy’s abrupt and spontaneous disappearances, feeling rather neglected by her and preferring her boyfriend over her best friend. But today, I didn’t mind them at all and felt unusually blissful at the sight of them being together. Is this what love does to one? I wondered dreamily.

“Eh…What’s going on here?” Judy inquired with amusing suspicion, as she caught us in an awkward position, which alarmed us and we broke apart.

“Judy…” began Alex slowly, eyeing Matt and me, with an irritating grin forming across his face. “I guess nature has given birth to two new love birds,” 

“It’s not what you both are thinking,” shot Matt, bending his head down, turning rubescent, exactly like a tomato, while they sniggered uncontrollably. Then Judy moved towards us lovers and held both our hands smoothly like a mother holding her children’s hands, and most astonishingly gave both of us a tight hug.

“You guys have no idea how happy I am for both of you,” she claimed gleefully, as we hugged her back warmly.

“Hey, hey, don’t leave me side-lined,” complained Alex, so Matt and I raised our hands from behind Judy as he sprung and enveloped all of us in a bear hug. “Now aren’t we forgetting something fellas, we’re here to have some fun and not getting all emotional,” declared Matt, as we broke apart. “All of you pack your stuff up we are going to go hiking up that mountain,” he ordered, pointing at the colossal mountain visible at the edge of the forest.