The Journal Chronicles (Excerpts)

It was time for me to face him. He’s been haunting me for too long.

AJ and I rode our carriage as far as the horses would comfortably go. After realizing this was our stop, AJ turned to give me his deep concern of the situation. We didn’t say anything to each other but knew what the other was thinking. We could only hope to see each other again, and that this wasn’t the end.

Through the thick woods, I managed to find the mangled, spike fence with a metal plated gate. Skulls scattered the façade of the gate. Just like in my dreams.

I managed to find an opening through it and squeezed through. Through the fallen leaves, I found rough cobblestone tracing a path from the gate to the entrance of the castle. As I walked closer to the castle, I could sense more and more darkness in the trees. I never knew that trees could be evil, being such pure spirits, but these trees harbored a darkness that I have never experienced before and hadn’t since. Trying to describe in detail what I felt from them is even now making my head dizzy. Best way I can describe it is feeling like your mind is under 100 pounds of weight, increasing every second, and you can barely think or move.

I stumbled my way to the front door of the castle. I didn’t have to wait long, since I knew he knew I was already there. The door creaked open, worse than nails on a chalkboard. I walked through it and went as far as I could go in the entryway. I heard the door close with a massive thud. I was in here for good. No turning back now.

Inside the castle, it was completely dark, with a faint flicker of candlelight lined up across the stone walls. Nerves shot up and down my spine.

         I felt him. He was here. He was everywhere in the air. It made my stomach twitch and flip. I instinctively drew my shoulders closer to my chest.

         “I have dreamed for so long for us to finally be alone.” I heard. The voice was coming from the mist that was surrounding the area. I couldn’t distinctly find where the voice was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from all around me. I just knew the voice was his. It was the same voice that had haunted me in my dreams. It was the same voice that I heard that very first day in the forest.

         I didn’t know what to say. I was trying my hardest to not yell and scream at the top of my lungs in fear. I was starting to regret making this decision to come in alone, but I had to remind myself that he would’ve killed AJ if he came along… and AJ had no chance to face him. A whole army couldn’t face him and win at this point. He was just too powerful.

         “Your smell… it intoxicates me…” He said slowly. I felt a mystical breeze go through my hair, right along the side of my neck. I instinctively clenched my shoulders up.

         “You are the only one for me…” I felt the air press closer to me. I tried to wrap myself tight, feeling that disturbing sensation of being touched unwillingly, even though nothing was touching me physically.

         I ended up closing my eyes. I wanted it to be over.

         “We can rule it all… if you proclaim yourself to be mine.” He said. “No one else I need. Not even Lorelei, your grandmother. She will no longer be needed.”

         This caught my attention. “What would you do with her?”

         “She will be eliminated. She will no longer have any need for me.”

         “How so?”

         “Her desire for power is what makes her useful to me. Her power is what helped bring you to me. If you were to gain that power, then she would no longer have it, and therefore, would be eliminated.”

         I didn’t want to ask, but it made me wonder what would happen to me if I refused his offer of power.

         “You’re the only one I need. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted.” I continued to sense his aura around me, inches from me. “Just say the word, and you can have everything you’ve ever wanted. You will become Queen, and I will be your King. We will become impossible to stop, and, like me, you can live forever, ruling over this land. Our reign would never end. We can rule over this world, and many others.”

         I couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m sorry… I can’t.”

         There was a long, distant, uncomfortable pause. Like he was waiting for me to say more.

         “I… I’m sorry. I reject your offer.” I was in cold shivers as I was speaking.

         I was waiting for the pressure to increase, believing that he would increase in his anger, but it sounded like he was remaining calm.

         “This is what you want?” He asked. I subtly nodded my head.

         I sensed the slow transformation of disappointment in the air. I was surprised that it wasn’t anger, but it still wasn’t pleasant in the least.

         “Are you sure?”

         I hesitated, only because I was afraid that the next word I said was going to be my last. “Yes”.

         To my surprise, the fog lifted from where I was higher into the vast room. I watched as it centered itself and almost disappeared. I looked around to see what was going on, but I couldn’t sense anything, other than the castle walls from earlier.

         “My dear Selene… I wish it didn’t have to come down to this…”

         I feared the worst.

         “If you kill me, I’m ready to die.”

         “Oh but my dear… it’s not that easy.” This didn’t sound good. “I cannot kill you. I want you alive. It was I that protected you against Lorelei all those times. I want you to live.”

         I was waiting for the catch.

         “But now that you’ve disappointed me, I will go after everyone that you love, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

         My eyes got wide.

         “Believe me when I tell you… I will take everyone you love away from you, and as much as you may try, you will ultimately fail. It is not enough to simply kill you. You must suffer and experience the suffering of those you love before it is time for you to die.”

         “What… what will you do?” My breath was short.

         “Haven’t decided yet. I know your unborn child is a target of Lorelei’s. She’s always wanted a son…”

         I faced the floor and dry-heaved.

         “No! Please no…”

         “This is what you wanted. I offered you everything, and you rejected me. A price must be paid for your insolence.”

         “Please… not my son…”

         “I’ll give you 9 years with him. Enough for him to really form a bond with you. Then I’ll let Lorelei brainwash him and take him from you. There will be no spell or magic that you can do, or teach him, to release him from her grasp.”

         My entire body started convulsing out of feeling sick. I just wanted him to release me from his torture. “Is that enough for you to stop haunting me?”

         “I’ll determine later what to do about AJ. He may be spared, he may not. All determines on what he does from this point forward. One wrong move may be his last...”

         “Please…” my body was fragility weak. “…release me.”

         “Ok. I release you, sadly. You will wake up back in your room with only the two of us remembering this day. I vow to you that you will never see me again, but you will see my continual influence in your life as a reminder of your rejection of me. You will remember me, even when you don’t want to. I may no longer haunt you in your dreams, but I will now haunt your memories and future moments. You cannot help but to think of me, constantly, wondering what could’ve been with me. You will suffer and become miserably tortured, knowing you could’ve prevented all of that if you just accepted me. Your loved ones will suffer, because of you, and you will have to live with that, knowing you could’ve prevented all of that.”

         The whisp whirled away up to the top of the steeple room. “It is done.” I heard him say.

         Next thing I remember was waking up in bed with AJ standing on top of me in complete distress.

“Another nightmare?” He asked.

If only he knew…