Life, Death, and Strange Encounters

The spell that had surrounded us at the stables was broken. I pulled away from the warmth of his body, but left my hand in his. We took our time when walking back and when we finally reached the castle, numb from the cold, but still happy, we saw it was already two o’clock in the afternoon and they were serving lunch. Filling our grumbling stomachs and then finding Lucy seemed to be the best course of action.

After lunch, Isaac and I decided that the first place we would look for my best friend would be her room. We chose well, because there she was, lounging on the bed with Jane. Their eyes went wide at the sight of us coming in together and they started grinning almost instantly. I rolled my eyes, since I knew very well what they were thinking. They were already building all kinds of scenarios which definitely included ideas of Isaac and I doing something more than friendly.

“Isaac and I were wondering… Do you want to go out and spend some time away from the castle? We thought it would be nice to do something.”

Jane’s eyes lit up with an idea. “Oh, I know what we should do! Let’s go to the village a few kilometres from here. There’s a really cute little pub where we could eat dinner. You could also meet my boyfriend!” Lucy was nodding manically to show her approval of the idea.

I looked at Isaac. “That’s a pretty good idea, don’t you think?”

He nodded with a smile. “Of course, whatever you want.”

My face held a big grin as I turned back towards Lucy and Jane. “Count us in. What time do we meet?”

Lucy pondered on this for a moment. “It’s like… 3:00 p.m. right now… We could meet at 5 o’clock at the bottom of the staircase.”

I nodded at her reasoning. “I agree.”

When she saw that the details had been decided, Lucy jumped up from the bed. “Great! Now quickly, get out, I need to get myself ready.” She started digging through her wardrobe, paying no attention to us anymore.

“Darling, you have two whole hours,” Jane said with an expression that stated she was trying her best not to laugh.

My best friend shrugged. “I’ll probably take a very long shower, then.”

Laughing, we finally obeyed her command and left her alone. Jane went to her room not far from ours. I opened my door and looked back at Isaac. “I suppose I’ll go and take a shower, too.”

He grinned devilishly. “Want me to join?”

Laughing, I gave him a gentle punch in the arm. “In your dreams.”

I quickly walked into my room and closed the door, leaving him standing there with a curious expression. Why did I leave in such a hurry? Because I had to calm myself down. His flirtatious remark had thrown me off balance. Where did all this sudden boldness of his come from? Not that I minded, but it was making it more difficult for me to get his beautiful face out of my head. All this constant flirting did not really help my crush. On the contrary, I was falling more head over heels for him with each moment we spent together.

Sighing, I stripped out of my clothes in order to take a long shower. They always helped to calm my nerves. When I was done, I went through my clothes to pick out an outfit for the occasion. A black, curve-hugging dress is what I chose to wear. My make-up had vanished because of my long shower, so I had to redo it. After lining my eyes with black eyeliner and putting on some red lip gloss, I inspected my hair in the mirror, trying to decide what to do with it. I finally put it up in a messy bun, leaving a few strands out to frame my face.

All done, I looked at the clock on my bedside table and saw it was already 4:56 p.m. Thinking that I might as well get going, I put on my boots, grabbed my black coat along with my purse, and started my way downstairs. Just as I was going to exit the corridor, I felt a hand sneak around my waist. I was startled at first, but then heard a familiar whisper in my ear. How could I have missed his footsteps?

“You look beautiful, as always.” I couldn’t help but blush as I looked at Isaac. He was not the one to talk, looking the way he did. The man was too gorgeous to be true, wearing black jeans with combat boots and a black dress shirt with two of the top buttons left undone. I noticed that he had switched his silver nose ring for a black one, which of course suited him as perfectly as any other.

“I must say you look very handsome yourself,” I managed to choke out. He smiled and pulled me even closer.

“You, my darling, are a keeper.” I didn’t know what to say to that, I could only feel my heart going ballistic in my chest. Isaac sent me another one of his warm smiles and gently guided me down the stairs.

When we reached the bottom of the staircase, I noticed that the others were already there, waiting for us. In an instant, Jane grabbed a tall, blond man by his hand and dragged him to me. I could see that she was very proud of his lover and rightfully so, the man was very attractive in a way completely different from Isaac.

“This is James, my boyfriend. He’s a photographer, too!” James smiled warmly and extended his hand. I shook it, knowing already that he was a nice person.

“I’m Johanna. Nice to meet you.”

He nodded. “Nice to meet you, too. I know quite a lot about you already. Jane doesn’t seem to shut up about her new friends.” Everybody let out a chuckle at his remark.

We decided to call a taxi that would take us to the village, since none of the guys wanted to drive. During the ride, I had some time to get to know James better and we ended up sharing lots of work stories. He promised not to leave us alone during our visit, since he claimed we were great photography material. I was finally starting to understand what people were trying to tell me when they complained that I was constantly harrassing them with my camera.

Finally, we arrived in town. The place looked lovely: it was very small, but had a warm and welcoming feeling. Not many people were around. Since the village was very old, Jane offered for us to do a bit of sight-seeing. We ended up walking through the narrow streets and visiting an old church on the edge of the village that had stood on the same spot for centuries.

At about 8 o’clock, we went to the pub Jane had suggested. It was time for the others to get drunk and for me to just have a good time, since I normally didn’t drink in public. Isaac was a sweetheart like always, and offered to stay sober with me, but I told him to have a good time and not hold back because of me. He still decided to just stick to one beer for the whole night. The man was so stubborn, but I can’t deny that it made me feel special.

It was nearing midnight and I was getting really tired, since I’d been up from God knows how early. “Could we go now? I’m tired,” I whispered in Isaac’s ear.

He looked at me and smiled. “Of course, darling, just let me help you put on your coat.”

Soon, we said our goodbyes to everyone and called a taxi to take us back to the castle.

The ride back was silent, since I was halfway asleep, resting my head on Isaac’s shoulder. He was stroking my hand that he was keeping in his firm grip.

When the taxi pulled up in front of our home and we got out, the cold night air woke me up a bit and I looked around. What I saw left me breathless. The whole garden was lit up with thousands of little lights! I looked at Isaac and tugged on his hand. “Please, let’s go and walk around for a bit before we go inside!“

He chuckled and took my hand in his, pulling me towards the garden path. The night sky was clear and we could see millions of stars twinkling, dancing for us. It was so beautiful that I felt like crying. I never wanted to leave that moment.

Suddenly, he stopped and pulled me closer to him. I looked into his eyes, questioning his motives, and saw this foreign gleam in them. The two big black pools of mystery pulled me under and I couldn’t look away. I could feel his hot breath on my cheek as his lips were coming closer and closer. I closed my eyes, waiting…

Then we heard a bloodcurdling scream. We pulled away quickly, and started running back to the castle to see who had made such an unnatural noise. It had sounded like someone was seriously hurt.

When we finally reached the hall, panting, we saw Lydia coming towards us slowly, nochalantly, as if nobody had screamed and everything was in order. “What happened?” Isaac asked her, worried. I could understand his distress very well, he was probably wondering if some of his guests had hurt himself somehow.

Lydia just shrugged. “Nothing much. Helena just broke her nail.”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. This situation was just too comical to be true. Our special moment had been ruined because of a nail-emergency!? Good Lord!

Still chuckling, unable to get over the big joke that was Helena, we made our way upstairs. When we reached my door, Isaac gave me this longing look that left me wondering. He kissed my cheek and it seemed as if his lips lingered for a moment. I then said good night to him and entered my room.

After having made all the necessary preparations, I changed into my nightgown and climbed into bed. Soon, peaceful dreams had me in their embrace and I didn’t have a care in the world. My tired mind and heart could rest for a while.

I woke up in the morning to something hard landing suddenly on my blanket-covered body. Opening my eyes and squinting in the bright light – I had forgotten to pull the curtains across the window – I saw Lucy getting comfortable on my stomach. She grinned when I opened my eyes.

“Wake up, sleepyhead! It’s two o’clock in the afternoon already!”

I was stunned. “Seriously? What’s wrong with this place, I seem to wake up either really early or really late every morning!“

Then, something clicked. "But why are you so happy? You should be hung over from all the alcohol you consumed last night…”

Lucy smirked. “I was, but Jane has this really amazing medicine. It took away all the pain and the gross feeling in my mouth in an instant.”

Rolling my eyes at the fact that she got off so easily after all the pain she put her liver through the night before, I pushed her off me and stood up, yawning. “I better take a shower, are you going to wait for me?”

She nodded. “I’m just going to listen to your iPod or something. We’re going to have to find a way to amuse ourselves today, unfortunately, because Jane and James are away on business and Isaac had to go to London. I only caught him when he was walking out the door. He won’t be back until tomorrow. But he asked me to say ‘I’m sorry for leaving’ to you.”

I smiled at his message, but felt a stab of pain in my heart. I had become addicted to Isaac, it was a weird feeling, knowing he was not close by. Shrugging it off, I went to my bathroom to shower and get my mind off him for a moment.

When I was done with my daily routine, I picked out my clothes for the day, while we were discussing ways to amuse ourselves. Since I knew that Lucy and I would probably spend our lonely hours doing almost nothing, I just slipped on some black jeans and a black T-shirt.

Finally, after contemplating all the possibilities, we grabbed a few pillows and some blankets, along with my iPod, and made our way to the library. We had thought of a plan – listening to music and drinking some tea in front of the fireplace for the whole day seemed like a good idea.

We made a little nest in front of the fireplace, pushing the two armchairs a bit further away from the fire, so that we could fit in the space between. The fire was already lit, God knows why, and was crackling merrily. As if on que, a maid walked in with a tray with chocolate chip cookies, two cups and a teapot. I looked at Lucy, astonished.

“You had this whole thing planned, didn’t you?”

She smirked, obviously happy with her achievements. “Of course, I just felt like we hadn’t had some girl time in so long.”

I sighed. “You’re right. I’m happy you did this. Thank you. I really need to get my mind off of… him.”

Lucy nodded, taking the cups from the tray and filling them with tea. She handed one to me and I smelled it. It was peppermint tea, my favourite! I sipped on the tea and made myself comfortable under the blanket, my back resting against one of the armchairs. The one Isaac had sat in just a few days ago, in fact. Isaac… And, again, I was thinking about him!

I turned to Lucy. “Distract me, quickly.”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “Thinking of him again, aren’t you?” I nodded.
“I kind of know what you’re feeling, being away from him. I miss Damien like crazy and it has only been a few days… Let’s just try to forget them for now and listen to some music.”

I grinned and scooted closer to her, she handed me one of the earphones and we spent the day listening to all our favourite musicians. Somewhere in between I told her about the books I had stumbled upon while waiting for Isaac the other day. The ones about Avalon. I showed them to her and we had fun going through them and reading each other bits that seemed the most interesting. We found out that you could supposedly visit Avalon by conjuring up a portal, but only people with certain knowledge and powers could do it. The book didn’t have any instructions, unfortunately.

The day passed by quickly and soon it was evening. We hadn’t left the library for the whole day, not even to eat, and we didn’t feel hungry because we had the cookies. Healthy, I know. We had kept the fire burning the whole time, but now we were out of wood and it was beginning to reduce into coal. It provided much warmth, still.

Lucy and I snuggled closer to each other. I told her about the night I had spent in the library with Isaac and about last night, when I was sure he was about to kiss me, but we were interrupted by Helena being her usual charming self. She chuckled and said:”Well, at least you know he wants you, not her!”

I smiled. “I can’t be sure, Lucy, you know that. Maybe I misread the signs. Maybe he’s just being friendly. I don’t know! I don’t want to hope and then be disappointed in the end. It always happens to me.”

She patted my head, trying to comfort me in her own strange way. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m sure you’ll end up together. At least if Jane and I can help it.” She grinned wickedly and I couldn’t help but laugh.

We were soon starting to feel sleepy, but since we had our blankets and pillows, we just decided to crash there. What harm could it do? It was warm and comfortable and neither of us wanted to move. We laid down and were both asleep in no time.

***

I was riding on Cinnamon through the meadows and moors that surrounded the castle, wearing a long, black dress that flowed in the wind. It was summer and I was not cold. I felt free – free from all my troubles, free from people I didn’t want to face… My heart was full of love that was not aimed towards something specific, I just felt happy and my joy was expressed with this overwhelming feeling of love. But I knew I loved someone… Isaac. Where was I riding? Was I going to meet him? I heard his voice whispering in the wind. “In summer, when the lands are green and it’s warm, will you come and visit me?”

Yes, I was going to visit him, I was riding to his castle just now! But then, Cinnamon stopped. We were on a beautiful field, surrounded by sweet-smelling flowers. Their strong aroma made me sleepy… I jumped down from Cinnamon’s back. There was something in front of us. It was made of pure light. The creature came closer and I could see wings. Was it an angel?

“Who are you?” I asked from the strange being. “I am your Guardian Angel,” it answered. I couldn’t understand if it was a he or a she, it seemed perfectly balanced between both. Even its voice was a combination of masculine and feminine. It was unbelievably beautiful. “Why are you here?” I inquired. “I gave you this dream to show you some things you need to learn about yourself. Are you completely sure of your love towards Isaac?” I nodded. “Then know that you two are meant to be. Don’t fear, you will be together in the end.” “In the end of what?” The creature smiled. “In the end of certain events that are going to take place. Don’t worry, you will be together forever. We will be watching. No harm will come to you that would have permanent bad influence on your life, but there are going to be changes. I can’t say more, you are not allowed to know yet. Goodbye, I will be close.” I sighed when the angel gently touched my face… Then it disappeared. In its place stood Isaac. He smiled when he saw me and his voice sounded like music. “Johanna.”

***

“Johanna? Darling, wake up!” This voice was not part of my dream, but it did belong to the same person. This meant only one thing. My eyes fluttered open. Isaac was back!

He chuckled when I suddenly sat up and hugged him. He held me close, still laughing quietly. I then pulled away and looked in his eyes. They seemed happy. Was he happy to see me? “I just got back… What have you two been up to?”

I smiled. “We just took a day off, doing nothing.”

He chuckled. “I can see, from the pillows and blankets and an empty plate of cookies.”

I blushed, which made him laugh even more. “Aww, darling, don’t be embarrassed, it’s good that you took time to be with your friend. But let’s leave Lucy to her dreams. She seems peaceful.“

I grinned. “Yes, the only time she’s peaceful is when she’s asleep.”

Lucy mumbled something that sounded suspiciously close to “I heard that.”

Isaac grabbed my hand and we walked back to my room. He came in with me and sat on my bed. He gestured towards the bathroom. “Go on, I’ll wait.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, love, don’t worry about me getting bored.”

I nodded. “Alright.” In the bathroom and the door securely closed, I slipped out of my clothes that were wrinkly from sleeping in them and took a quick hot shower to wake myself up properly. When I was done with all my morning procedures, I started thinking of what to wear. Suddenly, it occurred to me that all my clothes were in my bedroom and I was only in a towel. I blushed at the thought of having to walk into my room like that with Isaac there, but I didn’t have a choice…