15 February 2013

Chapter one (Part one of three) - The other side of the Mirror

When I was little my mother use to tell me a story, it was a story she had been told when she was a small child, living on the moors of Scotland. I had loved it, though, looking back now, I can't understand why. It was about a man who fell madly in love with the kings daughter. The man, being born into a common family was considered not worthy of her, so he admired her from afar. Everyday he would wake up just before the sun hit the sky and watch as she roamed the land picking wild flowers, humming to herself, and then, just as the sun fully rose from it's sleep, she would head into the safety of the castle, never knowing of the man that loved her. Everyday for five years the man would wake up, watch her and then go home as she did, everyday for five years his love grew stronger, until one day he woke up and went to the place he would normally find the princess, but this time she was gone, no melody filled his ears, her shadow no longer graced this land. The panic that rose inside of him was one so strong it over came everything, and so he ran to the castle, knowing he could not simply walk in, he dressed up as a simple servant and snuck in threw the servants chambers. After hours of searching he found the princess looking out of the window but as soon as his eyes fell upon her she meet his gaze. "I've been waiting for you." she whispered, and in one moment they were in each others arms, the love he had felt for her overwhelmed him, now shared between them both. Softly he planted a kiss upon her lips and for a moment there love lit the land. But the sun will always rise, and when it did, the guards found them. The man was torn away from his beloved and thrown into the darkest cell of the castle. A day went by before he was pulled from the darkness, but when he met the light there stood the King. "My daughter has claimed that you two are in love?" And so the man told the king everything, about the five years he had watched her, how there love was strong and true. "I love her with all my heart." he said casting a glance at the Princess whose smile shone brighter than any star. "You can not love her, only those of Nobel birth can love her, death is what awaits you for this love." "But I do love her, and so be it, let me die for that love." "As will I. Our love will always bring us together, we will always find each other in this life and the next." marvelled the princess her voice showing no fear. The King, amused by this so called love decided to put it to trial. "Very well, I grant you freedom to this 'love.' but you must prove that it is truly as strong as you claim and can unite you in what every circumstances may befall you both." "We will always find each other." Said the man as he reached out for the Princess's hand watching happily as she took it. "As you wish. You will have five days, five days to be together, one for every year you have watched her. On the morning of the sixth day you will be parted, each of you standing at the opposite ends of the great moor when the sea mist swarms the lands, if your love is true you will find each other, dead or alive." And so the man and the Princess married and those five days where spent in happiness, each day as special as the last, and their love grew so strong it was brighter than the sun. So on the morning of sixth day the Man kissed the Princess whispering softly "I will find you." "As I you." And so they were parted, placed at opposite ends, the man looked up into the Gray mist so thick it took on it's own being, slowly walking into it's unknown depth, slipping on the occasional puddle, it's dark waters pulling at his heels, daring to drag him under its black surface. The cold scratching away at his skin, this mist pressing in blocking out everything, even the sun. As he breathed in deeply he thought of the Princess, of the days he had watched her, listened to her sing and softly he hummed the familiar tune as he wondered, searching for his love, knowing she was searching for him. I don't know why I liked that story, in my mind I had always imagined them finding each other, somehow, they were united again, that they lived happily ever after. It was only now, looking at the shell of an apartment that I realised that they might not have found each other, that they may have both died, that somewhere in that moor in Scotland are the bodies of the man and Princess; hidden from the world. Just like me. Well, minus the moor and romantic story. I had been so wrapped up in the thought I hadn't been paying any attention to what Damon had said and he knew it. "What did I just say?" "Don't leave the oven on?" I mumbled looking around the room, not exactly what I imagined when I thought of my future home but this isn't exactly how I pictured my life... Or well death... Afterlife? Whatever you want to call it. "you should remember that to, but it's not what I said." "Then what did you say?" "I said the first three months have been paid for, but you're going to have to get a job." "Unless you do what I do." Said Adam giving me another cheeky smile. "And what's that?" "He steals, don't do it." "Steals?" "Well they no longer need it." said Adam. "Need it? Wait! You steal for the dead?!" "I think of it more as payment for a job well done." "Or in most cases for a job done." shaped Damon, irritated. "That was one time." "One time to many." "Hay I only-" I let their argument carry on ignoring it, I had learnt along time ago how to drown people out. The room was a shell, nothing but cream walls and wooden floors. I walked around the living room looking into the kitchen, basic necessities like a fridge and an oven sat unused. "I'm gonna have to learn to cook." I muttered to myself sighing before I moved onto the next door. This room was slightly bigger, a double bed in the middle and that is all it took to call it a bedroom. I walked in studying it. I'd never had a double bed, hell I'd never had an apartment, I don't think I've ever even been in one, and now I own one. I walked to look out the window, I was at the very top of an apartment tower, Damon had said it was the 'penthouse' is this what it meant? Small and empty? I looked out over Washington DC and realised how normal it was, nothing was different about this place, nothing special. If I closed my eyes and listened, If I forgot the world I could almost pretend it was England; that I was in London on some holiday with my friends, or I was going to university and this was my dorm room. But sooner or later you have to open your eyes and when you do you're greeted with the world; the reality of a situation, and it sucks. "There's a bathroom just through there." Said Adam leaning against the door frame pulling me from my minds darkness. The bathroom turned out to be alright, not to small, a shower, a bath, sink, toilet etc. I didn't really know what to look for in an apartment. "My mum was good at picking houses, she had a talent for it really." "Oh yeah?" "Yep, she runs an estate agency. She just knew a good house when she saw it." "Nice." "She would have loved this." "Well, it's a nice apartment." "Not the apartment, this, me getting my own place, she would have loved shopping for a place with me." "Ella." he sighed "Don't worry, I'm fine." I said though it was more than painfully obvious I was anything but. "Don't you have to be somewhere? Souls to collect?" I said trying to make my voice sound light and joking. Adam sighed pulling out an old pocket watch checking the time. "Yeah, I do. Damon's gone to get your new stuff, figured you'd want some time alone." "I'm fine." "Yeah." He said, his voice so sad and with that he was gone. Everyone was gone, My parents, my brother, my friends, but they hadn't really gone had they? The truth was i had gone. And it wasn't fair. I wondered back into the living room, it looked how I felt, empty. "I live alone." I said facing the truth square on. I had never really been alone, someone was always there, if it wasn't my parents then it was my brother, or my friends, there had always been someone and now there wasn't. So what happens now? What do I do? I looked down and kicked off the red stilettos, I hated high heels they weren't even mine, I had borrowed them from Jasmine, she was going to be so pissed off when she didn't get them back, the girl practically lived in heels, I mean who brings them to a camping retreat? It was then it dawned on me, this was all I had of my old life, a pair of red shoes and a torn dress. No, I couldn't just have that, I would talk to Damon, get him to take me back to the camp just so I can have something, anything of my old life, a keep sake. I needed to do something. It was then I noticed my skin, the mud stains, the blood. "Shower, shower now." I almost ran to the bathroom, pulling off my cloths as I turned the hot water on. The shower rattled and groaned for a few minuets before a stream of warm water shot out. At least I think it was warm. Showering was strange, I could feel the water on me, but I couldn't at the same time, it was like I was living a memory. I watched as the mud and blood ran off my skin disappearing down the plug hole, the only proof of my death, well if you didn't count my body somewhere in the woods.

RachelleBOn The Other Side • Opuss № I