Terra ~ One Last Wish

by Amelia Grace

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  And then the snow came. Earlier than usual for this time of the year. I constantly had the fire stoked. It was the coldest winter season on record—a polar vortex, the bureau of meteorology said.

  One night I was dressed up in very fancy clothes, ready to go to a Ball. My brothers, sister, Mama and Pa were taking me. They thought it would cheer me up with all of the fairy lights, the dancing, the food, the conversations, helping others to succeed in life.

  But they did not know the pain it would bring me. They did not know how the memories of Ben would flood back and haunt me.

  I was only going to please them.

  I grabbed my thick coat and headed for the door. Outside the wind was howling and the snow was falling heavily. I sat in my car and turned on the ignition. But all I heard was a click, and nothing more. I would not make it to the Ball after all.

  Strangely disappointed, I returned to the house and phoned my family to inform them of my uncooperative vehicle. I felt a little better when they told me they were snowed in. So it was no go for them either.

  I decided to sit in front of the glowing fire and watch some mindless television. The news bar on the television screen issued a severe snow blizzard warning and advised people to stay indoors.

  The temperature dropped dramatically in the house. I had already closed all the curtains to keep the warmth in. So I went upstairs and lit the fireplace there, then returned downstairs to enter Gran’s drawing room to ignite the fire.

  But I stopped at the door.

  It had been a long and painful journey to fulfill Gran’s final wish. And I had succeeded, even though my heart had been shattered. Desolated, I walked over and closed the floor door. Permanently. And hence the portal to the parallel world.

  I had had it open all of this time—years—waiting for Ben to return.

  And I had finally come to the realisation that he would never return.

  I didn’t blame him.

  I had been to Une Autre Terre in Gran’s memory. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Why would you want to come back to this miserable, stinking Earth?

  I had grieved for a long time. I was ready to lock the floor door to the portal and move on, in a sort of way. Although, I would never find a man exactly like Ben.

  I was lucky to have had him for the short time I did. I had learnt the true meaning to counting your blessings.

  I walked out of Gran’s drawing room for the absolute final time. I pulled the old oak door shut and locked it. I never wanted to go there again. The memories were too painful.

  And I would never, ever forget.

  The blustering wind continued to howl outside. The snow was piling higher in the yard. Soon, I thought, no one would be able to trudge through the impossibly deep snow.

  At least I had my cat and dog to keep me company. They were all I had now. And I was happy.

  Sort of.

  I snuggled up under the warm blanket to drifted off to sleep in front of the television. Sleep, I thought, was like death, there was peace from the pain I felt every minute of every single day.

  I jerked awake when the animals jumped in fright, their senses on high alert. But I didn’t recall hearing anything.

  Perhaps it was just the sudden movement of my furry friends that woke me?

  I listened a little harder. The blizzard was quite ferocious outside and was unnerving at the least. Whatever it was that had startled the animals would have been to do with the snow storm. It was rough weather out there.

  Then the electricity went off. There was no power and it was quiet.

  Deathly quiet.

  A loud urgent knocking started on the front door.

  I went to open the door, but stopped short of reaching for the door handle. I was alone now with no one to protect me. If someone was going to attack me, I was more or less defenseless. I would never win.

  ‘Ruby,’ I called, ‘come.’ At least I had some protection with my dog by my side.

  The knocking continued. It wasn’t the knocking of someone of kind spirit, I thought. It sounded like the knocking of an angry man—and I was afraid to open the door.

  But then … what if they froze to death out there?

  What if I was their last chance at survival? I’d really feel bad if I opened the door in the morning to the sight of a frozen body leaning against my front door.

  What if it was a child?

  What if it was a pregnant woman?

  I had to stop being a coward and just open the door. Whatever happens—happens...

  I took a deep breath and opened the door.

  The crisp, piercing cold hit me. I squinted to see the figure standing there in the darkness. It was a man. He was moving from foot to foot and blowing air from his mouth into his hands. His head was bowed and looking at the floor and I couldn’t see his face.

  Then he looked up at me.

  His eyes were cerulean. Even in this darkness, I could see them.

  He smiled coyly at me and reached out his hand to touch me. But I pulled away from him.

  ‘Cate,’ he whispered.

  I stood at the door motionless, speechless. I did not want to believe it was him. I did not want to get my hopes up only to have them cut down violently. I could not go through the wretched, broken, hurting, aching heart again.

  I could not cope ... it would kill me.

  ‘Cate,’ he whispered again and stepped towards me.

  Once more he reached out his hands. They were freezing, but his eyes were warm. I felt the jolt of electricity jump from him. It was like he had wakened me from a hundred year sleep.

  But, I did not want to believe it was him. It was too painful. And anyway, it couldn’t be him. I had locked the portal in Gran’s drawing room.

  I started to shake. Uncontrollably. This could not be happening. I had said goodbye to him.

  ‘Cate,’ he whispered again. But somehow it was like torture. He put his hands around my waist and pulled my body close to his.

  I started to cry.

  I didn’t want it to be him.

  I didn’t. Want it. To be him.

  Gently and slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and held me. He smelled like jasmine, musk, oak moss and sandalwood—my favourite Ben scent—full of masculinity.

  ‘Hi,’ he whispered into my ear. ‘It’s me … Ben. I have returned to you.’

  He kissed my head, he kissed my neck, and, he kissed my lips.

  ‘I love you,’ he whispered with tenderness in his voice.

  I looked into his eyes. I wanted so much to believe it was him.

  Death … maybe I was dying? Maybe my mind was projecting what I had wished for, letting me have my last pleasure before my body ceased to function, and before my consciousness of this world became obliterated.

  ‘Cate, Gran says hi. I met your Poppy. My people released me back to you.’

  ‘Ben?’ I whispered, shaking, with tears streaming down my cheeks. ‘Ben?’

  My tears flowed. I let out the aching pain I had been carrying for such a long time.

  He held me, and once again I felt safe—safe in the arms of the man I loved.

  He leaned back and looked into my eyes and placed his right hand on my head. I knew what he was doing, reading my mind and my body health.

  He guided me to the warm fireplace with a Terrean gentleness and sat me down. He sat next to me, took my hands in his and looked deeply into my eyes.

  I looked at him with disbelief as my tears continued to flow. Was he really here next to me? It all seemed so surreal in the light glow of the fireplace.

  Perhaps I was dreaming?

  Perhaps I was hallucinating?

  Perhaps I had lost my mind and was insane?

  I started to touch him, slowly at first.

  His face…

  His hair…

  His shoulders …

  His lips…

  He sat perfectly still as I explored.

  I was
hardly breathing as a red rose of the throbbing heat of love grew in my heart and exploded into bloom.

  He brushed away the tears from my eyes with the lightness of his fingers, then caught one and placed it into the corner of his. ‘Cate, give me your pain. I want to take it away. It is killing me to see you suffering like this.’

  He too was crying. He held me in his arms again. ‘My beautiful, beautiful, Cate.’ His voice was broken.

  I looked up at him then and moved my face closer to his. I wanted to feel his sensuous lips on mine again. It had been such a long time.

  And, like he had read my mind, slowly, ever so slowly, his lips brushed over mine before he kissed me with a gentle tenderness, and pulled away.

  I was so fragile. I felt like I might break.

  ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

  ‘I love you, forever and a day,’ I whispered back.

  I watched in horror as he moved away from me then.

  I didn’t want him to move away. But, he was moving away.

  He turned to face me. He was leaving wasn’t he?

  Was this his final goodbye as I was dying?

  How cruel to end my life like this, tortured by my love for Ben.

  Don’t do this, don’t do this, please don’t do this! My soul was tortured.

  Then he held my hands, lowered himself onto one knee and looked up into my eyes. ‘Cate, I love you deeply and truly. I want to be with you, forever—marry me?’

  I closed my eyes and wept. Was this really happening? I couldn’t tell whether this was real or imagined. Was it?

  I reached out to touch him. I needed to know he was here. I moved my body down to his, looked into his cerulean eyes and placed my arms around his broad shoulders.

  He pulled away a little, enough to gaze into my eyes with tender pure love. ‘Will you marry me?’ he asked again.

  ‘Ben,’ I whispered. My head felt light, and odd. ‘Oh…’ I had a most unusual sinking feeling in my body. Was it that my life force was leaving? My skin prickled and I gasped for a breath.

  I looked into Ben’s eyes, willing him to save me. He faded into the distance before my vision became speckled with blackness. I slumped into his arms in a dead weight, conscious no more…

  ####

  Follow Ben and Cate's journey in

  IGNIS

  ~ Say Something ~

  book 2 of

  A Beautiful Heart Quadrilogy,

  Ignis