Chapter 67- Whispers In The Wind

Jeanette sat below the old, twisted tree that held the vortex. She had failed. She had been aiming to complete one mission, one that she held dear to her heart. All she had to do was go home and get the curses on her people lifted. Then and then only could she give Damon what he truly seeked. However, with the curse in place she had no hope of following through with her oath.
Crystal was her only ticket to freedom, and she had been dragged through the gateway. On the other side she was useless to Jeanette.
She pushed herself up and began to follow the path that led to the wolves’ territory, one that she now had no choice but to share.
They were suspicious of her and her coven and so they should be. Jeanette had made some stupid mistakes in her time, and she was still paying for them. Yet she fought with everything that she had to succeed. It just wasn’t enough. Letting out a deep sigh, her heart became as heavy as stone as she accepted that she herself wasn’t enough.
Entering the community, she kept her head held high as she was greeted with cold stares. She headed straight to the Manner in which she was staying. Seeing Seth and Mary together still happily in love revolted her and jealously swam in her pores. She had to suck it up. What other choice did she have?
Jeanette entered the vintage Manor and rolled her eyes as Mary entered the foyer.
“Life cannot always last forever. One eventually must perish. The deeds of the past will meet the future and blood will be spilled in order for a prophecy to be for filled,” Mary muttered in her strange slow voice.
“Shut up Mary I am not interested in your silly nonsense,” she snapped at the beautiful woman with her pelican face.
“Kingdom’s rise and Kingdom’s fall. If you want freedom, you must pay the price finally,”
Jeanette couldn’t take any more of the insane woman and gripped her by the throat pinning her against the wall.
“You forget Mary that you are no longer a messenger of God. Your rambling means nothing,” Jeanette loosened her grip on the still calm woman and closed her eyes to calm the raging storm inside her. Slowly she let go of Mary and began to climb the stairs.
“Will you fall by friend or foe? Only you will know,” the woman just couldn’t help herself, turning slowly she paused and carried on walking up the stairs. She wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
Jeanette lay in her borrowed bed and stared up at the ceiling, a sensation, and a feeling that she had gotten used to spread over her. It was like a distant sound of a radio frequency that made the hairs on her body stand on end.
“Ja…ne..tt…” she listened to her sister’s voice call her name. She had heard it often and still the feeling of helplessness and guilt swallowed her other emotions. She was calling out to her and there was nothing she could do to save her.
“Cry…st..al…” she heard her say and Jeanette jumped up in a start. It was the first time she had heard her sister say another name. “I am sorry Josephine, but Crystal has been taken to Athens I have no way of getting her back and lifting the curse. I have failed you,” tears brimmed her eyes as she thought about her sister asleep forever.
***
“I think telling her as done more harm than good,” Levi crossed his arms as he doubted Margon. She had always been the one with all the answers and this time he wasn’t so sure.
“Nonsense child. She needs to know the truth. Secrets and lies destroy and the truth guides you to happiness. One day she will need the truth to understand the path in which fate as laid out for her,”
“That is bullshit,”
“Mind your language. Fate as a path for us all. We may not like it, but it is tough. We all have a part to play in the world and when we are done playing our part we move on,”
“Margon, why do you believe in fate so much?” he asked her curious.
“I have met fate before. We all play a part in the grand design. One day you will understand,”
After a thousand years he would have thought he had learned all there was about life. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with Margon. She held the wisdom she knew close to her heart and only revealed hints at times. All he could do was be there for Crystal and hope in the end everything worked out.
He thought back to when he was a young man who ruled the forest. Any sign of trouble and he would look the other way. Now he was willing to head into danger. He wouldn’t allow Crystal to face her demons alone. He would fight with her.
Bidding Margon goodnight and entering the small bedroom where Crystal was sleeping. She tossed and turned and murmured in her sleep. The nightmare was written on her face like an open book.
***
Crystal was alone in the darkness. She couldn’t see and the icy fingers of the wind gripped her body freezing her to the bone. Her teeth chattered together as she took slow steps. The ground underneath was uneven, and her feet brushed against solid objects.
“Cry…. st..al..” her name was whispered in the demonic voice. She didn’t stop; she kept on shuffling her feet. The voice was all around her. It echoed in the air and made her clench her hands over her ears. Finally, she came to a part with a clearing in the trees and the moon gave her some much needed light.
“Cry…st…al,” the voice said slowly dragging out her name. It had become louder. It was coming from one direction. Behind her.
“Turn around,” the voice changed from dragged out to demanding.
“No,” she whispered into the trees and shuffled her feet forward. She had watched many horror movies and turning around was never a good move.
“Cry…st..al Tu…rn…ar..ound,” she shook her head. Her instinct was telling her to keep her eyes forward. Don’t look. Don’t look her mind chanted. An icy cold hand gripped her arm and she spun around ready to fight the culprit. Nothing. There was no one there.
She scanned the area and screamed a blood curdling scream.
Bodies hung from trees they formed a circle all lifeless with only there Skelton reaming and their military like clothes rotted.
Her mother laid on a stone platform with a black rose in her hand which was crossed at her chest. Her white dress looked untouched from the elements as she slept soundly. She wasn’t dead. She watched as her chest slowly rose and fell.
She heard a sound like cracking bones. It came from all directions. She didn’t want to look as her heartbeat frantically against her chest, yet her body automatically turned to the side. The dead men opened their eyes and began to pull the ropes from their necks. Eyes as red as blood glowed in the dark. She was surrounded by the undead. The angry ghosts of the forest. She took in deep gasps of air as they inched closer their limbs twisted in unnatural positions.
She let out a howling scream as their hands found her skin. Pulling and tugging her closer to her mother.
“Crystal!” she heard the deep rumble of a voice, it sounded familiar but distant as she was suspended back into darkness. Her body shock like someone was shaking her but she was alone.
An instant shock of cold brought her out of her nightmare. She came face to face with familiar golden-brown eyes and stared into his iris. She couldn’t move. Her body was numb, and her limbs felt like led weight. It was like part of her brain was awake while the other part was still asleep.
“Crystal!” he shouted into her face and shook her hard. She felt her head roll to the side and in her eyesight stood her mother in the same white dress. Her eyes were pure white, no pupils just white. The way she stared at Crystal made her feel like she was staring into her soul. Levi’s voice drifted away as she stared at Jeanette.
“The suicide forest is dangerous. You hold sadness in your heart. As long as you are sad, they will use it against you. Fight your demons then and then only can you find me,”
“I don’t understand,” Crystal whispered.
“Oh, but you do, you Crystal are the only one that can save me. Jeanette has always looked to the darkness but you; the light within you can fight the shadows. Your light is your redeeming quality,”
“You, you are the one that has been whispering my name? You’re Josephine,” she needed the woman to confirm what she suspected.
“Yes dear. And you will be the one to guide us to a better future. You are Crystal Hudson. Don’t lose sight of who you are,”
“I am nothing,” Crystal whispered. She wasn’t a great witch that people thought she was. She was just a teenager that made plenty of mistakes.
“Ah but you are wrong child. Now it is time for you to wake up,” Josephine said and suddenly Levi’s face was inches from hers and the fear in his eyes was unmistakeable.
“Levi!” she almost yelled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I know why my name has been whispered in the wind. Josephine needs my help, and I must find her,”
“Hay slows down. What do you mean your name has been whispered?” she looked away sheepishly. She wasn’t good at sharing her problems with others and often chose to solve them alone.
“It started when we got back from this place,” she said waving her hand with a look of disgust.
“I thought I was going crazy, but I am not. It’s Josephine,”
“Crystal. No one has seen or heard from her since the day she vanished,”
“You don’t believe me?” she bowed her head. She knew better than to trust anyone.
Brushing her hair from her face and in a soft voice he asked, “What happened?” Crystal began to tell him her dream and then about what Josephine had said.
“I have heard of this before. Twelve men are sacrificed to guard a soul. One so pure only the cleanest of hearts can reach her, the light within will guide her way. If she enters with darkness in her heart then she will be made to stay,”
“My aunt. The twelve men are guarding my aunt. I have to save her,” her mind was made up. She would go to those danger woods/suicide forests; she would save her aunt from whatever was holding her there.
“Right now, we need to go home. I am afraid something bad is happening. When I left smoke and flames were coming from the direction of your community,”
“What? And you’re only just telling me this now?” Shoving the quilts back she climbed from the bed.
“Crystal at least waits for morning,” Levi sighed.
“Like hell I will,”
“It is more dangerous in the night you know this, plus Enchilada is dead thanks to you and a war will now take place. Crystal killing Enchilada was a bad move. This whole forest will be fighting to rule. Athens is more dangerous than never before,”
“I laugh in the face of danger,” Crystal smiled. She felt stronger like a weight had been lifted. She wasn’t crazy. She had a quest one in which she would either perish or succeed. The outcome didn’t matter. She would try to save her aunt.
“Margon…Gran we are heading home,” Crystal said as she walked into the living room.
“Then be careful Child, the forest comes alive with the moon,”
“Thanks Gran we will be fine,” she pulled on her boots and turned to the old woman.
“How did Levi cross the gateway if I am the only one who can open the door?” it was a question that had been bugging her.
“Because of you girl,” Margon said with a smile.
“Huh,” shaking her head she left the question to float in the air. The woman was one strange old lady. Maybe living alone for so long could do that to a person.
“What about your wings? Why do you have them?” Crystal needed to ask her why. She had been thinking about them for a long time.
“When the time is right the answers you seek will reveal themselves,” Crystal rolled her eyes. Maybe something’s would always be a mystery.
They stepped out into the chilly night air. The sound of hands clapping but only ten times louder caused them to look up into the sky. Levi whistled and a huge dragon glided to the ground.
“Dregan?” Crystal grinned rushing to give the dragon a hug.
“Hay Dree. Do you mind giving us a lift to the vortex?” Levi asked while patting the giant scaly beast.
“Hop on,” Dregan said, and Crystal climbed onto his back holding tightly to Levi’s waist. They shot into the sky and flew over the forest. Even though she had been kidnapped and been through an ordeal. She was glad that she had returned to the place she feared the most.
She had learned a lot about herself and the past. She knew what had shaped her life and she had become determined to change the future.
“Cry…st…al, Yo…u…Kn..ow wh..at ….yo..u …mu…st .d.oo,” the message played out in the wind and she smiled. Yes she knew exactly what she had to do. Confront her mother and face her demons.
One day she would destroy the portal to Athens but first she had to rescue her aunt. The path ahead of her was long and uncertain. But she had faith and hope that she would make it to the end.
Dregan began to drift to land and when they stopped, she slowly climbed from his back.
“Thank….” she didn’t get to finish her sentence as the ground moved from under their feet. Loud bangs came from the distant and her heart raced in fear as she watched trees topple over like dominoes.
“You have yourself a protector. He will follow you. Don’t be alarmed,” she turned to Dregan who let out a puff of smoke from his nostrils and back to the forest. Peter walked casually into the clearing and her mouth dropped open.
“We can’t take him with us, what if a human sees him?” she looked at Levi to confirm he couldn’t tag along.
“I am afraid we don’t have a choice. When a protector chooses you then you can’t shake them. He will stay hidden,”
“Have you seen the size of him? Yeah, I mean I am sure no one will notice!” she lifted her hand to her head and looked at Dregan.
“Do not fret girl. Now go home. You are needed,” Dregan gave her a gentle push towards the vortex.
What choice did she have?