Enter Infinity

Cassandra practically kicked me out the front door into the afternoon heat. She felt the best choice for me was to face my destiny, whatever that means. I casually walked back to the forest alone. Once standing at the massive fence, I felt nervous. Butterflies fluttered and for a minute I wanted to turn back. But why should I be afraid now? Only cowards would turn back, give up. I was indeed, no coward.

I climbed the fence as easily as I ever had. My black Nikes dug into the ground below when I landed. I suppose I’ve always been good at climbing things. My father, before he died, used to call me ‘Spider Monkey’ because there was nothing I wouldn’t climb. I was extremely upset when those lame twilight movies used ‘Spider Monkey’ in the cheesiest way possible.
I sighed.

One of my best memories was the day I broke my arm. I know that breaking your arm shouldn’t be the best memory with your father, but it was the way he cared for me that helped me feel no pain or fear. It was a massive tree I decided to climb. It was an old petrified oak tree with unstable branches. I was a courageous little girl and I felt determined to climb so. So of course, I did. I only remember bits and pieces of what happened next. I was pretty sure I had almost made it to the top when the branch below my feet snapped in half. My reflexes were quick enough to have grabbed hold of the single branch above me. I remember the tears that burned down my face and the fear deep inside my stomach. “Daddy, Daddy,” I had screamed and as the narrow branch I grasped split, I fell to the ground before my Father could catch me.

Daddy ran to me and held me. I screamed and kicked at nothing because the pain in my arm was agonizing. I looked up into his eyes and I could see his sadness. I knew that he blamed himself for the accident, the accident that was my own fault. It was his tears that took away my pain. His sadness and his emotional guilt were too much for me to handle, so I
instantly stopped crying and I sucked up the pain of my injury.

It wasn’t long after that, that Daddy was in an accident. He began to hear voices and see things that weren’t there. Daddy had told me that they were after him. He told me that he knew too much about Dakota’s story. Now that I thought about it, my Father’s sudden schizophrenia might mean that he was involved with whatever was happening to me now.
Standing once more in front of the towering willow tree, I waited for something to happen. Suddenly a doe appeared just at the edge of the opening.

“Aw, come here baby.” I put my hand out to it. The doe wasn’t very shy; she just walked right up to me. In pure amazement, I reached my hand out to pat her head and she allowed it to happen. The doe was simply beautiful. Her hair glowed golden brown from the beams of light shining through the trees branches. Leaves fell from their stems with every gust of gentle wind. If only I had my camera, I thought. My Mom would get a kick out of this.

I continued to pet the doe until she walked around me and nudged at my back. She pushed me forward gently. I almost felt like I was in a Disney movie. Suddenly, a voice whispered inside my head and it wasn’t my own. The voice was masculine and calm. Follow her, the voice breathed. The softness of the voice eased my mind and made me feel comfortable where I stood. It had kindness and love even though it had only whispered a few words.

I looked strangely at the deer and knew what I had to do, allow her to lead me. The doe
began walking at a calming pace and I took larger steps to keep up, so I wouldn’t fall behind.

Hours passed and I felt exhausted from the summer heat and all of the speed walking. I have to tell you, I don’t get out much. I laughed at my own thoughts and suddenly tripped on a stump that was hidden under a pile of leaves. I guess I should pay more attention to where
I’m walking, considering we were walking through the part of the forest that had no path. It was almost as if this was a never ending walk. I’d sure feel stupid if that voice was just a figment of my imagination and I was following some random animal through a forest and end up forever lost.

It was that last thought that made me realize we had entered a clearing. There were no more trees, bushes or bugs and there were no animals as well. That including the doe, she had disappeared completely. The clearing was all grassland that danced to the winds rhythm.
Orchids grew in patches that lead to a massive hill, and on the hilltop I could see a castle. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was instantly drawn too it.

The castle must have been built hundreds of years ago, and must have been forgotten. It was a massive ruin but looked like a beautiful piece of artwork. It was gorgeous because of the old fashioned stone structure and the towers on either side. The roof of the tower on the right was torn away completely, leaving no sign of there ever being a roof.

As I entered the castle, I brushed my hand along the rough surface of the stone. Inside was a massive room which appeared to be an old ball room. There were two staircases, one on either side of the room that led to the second floor. There were beautiful statues of women wearing nothing but flowing fabric. The sunlight that beamed through the damages in the ceiling made the room golden.

I stood in the center of the ball room and urged myself to dance. I put my arms out as if to hold a man and I pictured the man holding my hand and waist. I began to spin and took steps. My imagination went wild and I could see the shining tiles on the floor and the dangling of chandeliers above my head. I saw hundreds of others dancing and twirling with their partners. Each person wore clothing not of this time. They swayed along with me. Then a voice echoed the room.

“You are quite the dancer, aren’t you? It’s rare for people of the 21st century.”

A scream rose up my throat and I stumbled to the ground. Wasn’t I graceful? My head turned to the direction of the voice and there he stood.

He looked exactly as he did this afternoon, but this time I could see how pale his skin really was. He stood in between the two staircases with his hands in his pockets. He made me feel nervous because of how attractive he was. Yes, I knew I was a square bear. I couldn’t help that was difficult to talk to a boy. They scare me sometimes with their flirting methods and the conversations they’d bring up. I suck at bringing up conversations altogether.

“Are you okay? You’re staring awkwardly.”

Now I was embarrassed, “Yes, I’m alright.”

“Well good,” he held an arm out to me, “let’s take a walk.”

“I don’t just take walks with strangers,” Indeed, I was serious. Especially not ghosts. I’ve seen enough horror flicks to know not to go with ghost.

“I am Dakota Wolfe and you are Rain Light, am I correct?”

“How do you--” He cut me off.

“If I am correct, then we are not strangers. Come, walk with me.” Something inside of me pushed me to take his arm. His touch felt cold and his grip was firm. Damn it, maybe I shouldn’t have been calling all of those girls in scary movies stupid idiots, when I was falling for all of the same tricks!

“Your father told you the stories, yes?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Dakota fell silent. We walked in silence up the staircase and entered a room that led to a
spiral stair well.

“This leads to the tower. I will explain things when we get there.”

I didn’t reply, I just continued walking with his arm intertwined in mine. At the top, we stepped
out onto the roofless tower. I could feel the wind on my face, blowing my hair. We walked to the edge and he released my arm. I leaned forward on the ledge and looked out upon the land. Far into the distance I could see the contents of the city. I was so far from home. My eyes were drawn to the border of the forest. There were shadows of twitching figures. I clenched my hands into fists.

“It’s alright. They are harmless souls of my past,” Dakota said calmly.

“This is way too much for a girl to take in all at once.”

He faced me and said, “As you know, my father, King Helios Wolfe ruled these lands in the 1600’s. See the orchids growing in the field? Well those are grave markers of my people. My father had something evil inside of him. The people below would come to him for help and support; my father would kick them to the dirt. And I don’t mean that as a figure of speech, he literally kicked them to the ground and forbade them from ever entering the castle again.”
Dakota began unbuttoning his shirt and rolled up the cuffs of his pants, revealing scar tissue around both his neck and ankles. I could see a branded mark just above his left nipple and long slashes in criss-crosses all down his chest but in the center there was a scar in a straight line starting at his collar bone, down to his hip.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?” I gasped.

“These scars were my punishments for helping the peasants. To my father, they were nothing but slaves, but to me they were people, just like my father and I are people. We are the same,” he pointed to the brand mark and continued, “My father branded me with a cross. I can see it so vividly. I was handing out apples to a family in the village. They had a little girl who was starved and they were absolutely grateful and kind to me. A traitor told my father of my actions and he had me strapped to a table. The strap around my neck was so tight, I couldn’t breathe. ‘Maybe now you’ll learn what it is to be king,’ he said to me and pierced my skin. I remember the pain, how it burned and peeled away my flesh,” Dakota stopped talking.

“What about your ankles? How did you get those scars?” I was curious.

“I stopped the war between Canada and Europe. My father tied a rope to a tree. The other end of the rope was tied around my ankles. He pushed me off a cliff. In this century you call it bungee jumping, except I didn’t bounce back up. The joints in my legs snapped apart and my father left me there with every bone in my legs broken. It was days before a villager found me and helped me down. He cared for me for many months, until my legs healed.

“When I went back to castle my father tricked me into a meeting but really it was to curse me. That was when they removed my heart…” He pointed to the worst gash of them all, “and my father still keeps it locked in a box somewhere. He lives somewhere in your city. He is trying to rule the land once again.”

Tears burned my eyes. All of this was so tragic; I couldn’t believe it was real.

“You are chosen Rain, chosen to set me free.” He put his hand on mine.

“I don’t understand, what can I do to help and why me?” I sobbed.

“It always had to be you. My father torments anyone who enters this forest but you have never been affected by his magic. Jessie Lightwood was lucky to have made it out alive.”

“So you know about that?”

“Of course I do, and don’t believe everything you read online. It’s not me who haunts and kills people and rips their hearts out,” he giggled and it was an amazing thing to hear.

“So, it always had to be me? Why?”

“You are your father’s only child. You see what he could see. You see the dead and you no
my history. Rain, your father is a descendant of the Warlock who did this to me.”

“Okay, what are you saying? Are you saying my father was a Warlock? You can’t be serious!”
I began to pace without realizing it, “Holy shit!”

“Excuse your language!”

“But then, that makes me a Warlock!”

“No Rain that makes you half Warlock. Your mother is pure Mundane,” he said.

Now I understood why my father was so interested in Prince Dakota Wolfe. He was keeping me educated. It had to be me, the chosen one because I was the last of the Light family with blood of a Warlock. I looked up at Dakota.

“What do I need to do?”

“Look through your father’s things and find something like a spell book. There you’ll find the
answers,” and then he vanished.

I could still hear his voice echoing in my mind, the doe will guide you through the forest.
You’ll have a safe journey home.

“When will I see you again?” I asked.

Whenever you call to me, Thank you. The voice was a whisper in my head. I smiled and a
tear streamed down my cheek. I left the castle and found the doe waiting in the middle of the
field. I began to walk.