Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen
Page 19
“Sam, calm down, she is going nowhere,” Kenneth said while he held my hands, seeing how the pain and the fear consumed me. “She is not going to abandon you, she never did.”
“But I don´t know her,” salty tears sprung from my eyes crossing my cold cheeks. “And if she doesn´t recognize me? She might say that I am not her daughter.”
“Samantha, listen to me,” Francis said leaning his hand on my shoulder, with a firm voice, unusual in him. “Your mother has fainted because she recognized you. We don´t know what she was doing in the forest, but you can be sure that when she wakes up she will not let you away from her side. She loves you.”
I took the glass of water that he extended to me. I felt how the water ran through my body. I close my eyes trying to clear my ideas.
I cannot allow fear to dominate me. I was asking questions and no explanations came from anywhere. I cannot be afraid that she will abandon me again, because she never had. I had wanted to know her since I was aware that she existed. So I had to be strong. When she woke up I would ask her everything I wanted to.
I opened my eyes with my thoughts in order and apologized to the boys. I left to get some fresh air and sat on the wooden bench that was on the porch. I bent my knees up onto the bench and surrounded them with my arms.
I leaned my head on them and closed my eyes. I found myself to be at peace. But I did feel a little alone. I didn´t have by my side the person who understood every part of me.
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There was a silence in my mind and it made me ask myself if I was just hallucinating.
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My face lit up as though a thousand lights were pointing towards me.
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I felt happy again. I was happy. I had seen the appearance of my mother as something bad, when it was really something positive. At last I had found my mother and my boyfriend loved me so much that he would try to come and see me. At that moment I felt very fortunate.
I stayed sitting there looking towards the forest. It was starting to get dark. After a few minutes I got up and went in the direction of the trees. I started to pay attention to every one of their branches and the seams in the leaves. I closed my eyes and touched the hard and rough trunk. I left my hand leaning there and started to connect with the Earth. I could feel every leaf in the forest. I wanted to climb up; I opened my eyes and looked up. I wanted to climb to the top of the trees. I closed my eyes and imagined the peaks appear before me, but when I opened my eyes I was still on firm ground. I closed my eyes again and asked the trees if they would allow me to go up. All of a sudden I felt how a branch wrapped itself around me. The tree had a natural balancing movement and its branches moved firmly until reaching the peak. Once up there I sat on one of the biggest branches I had ever seen and I supported my back on the trunk. I breathed in the freshness that nature gave me and relaxed. I could see the whole valley that we had been training in this very morning and on the other side was the city. Its lights were few, but thanks to them I could see the silhouette of the buildings.
It was already night-time when I heard someone calling me. I was happy thinking it would be Eric until the voice sounded closer. I looked down and saw a small Gabriel looking around about the house.
“I am here,” I shouted down.
He looked up unable to believe where he found me.
“How did you get up there?” he shouted so that I could hear him.
“With my powers.”
“Can you come down?”
“Is my mother awake?”
“No.”
“Then why do I have to come down?”
“Because I am supposed to be looking after you, making sure that you are well and safe. It is really difficult to do that if you are up there,” he emphasized moving his arms in my direction.
“Okay I will come down.”
I closed my eyes trusting that the appearing would work anywhere. I opened my eyes and found myself just behind Gabriel.
“Hi,” I said smiling.
He turned round, surprised that I had come down so quickly.
“Come on, Kenneth wants to speak to you. You haven´t eaten anything all day.”
I followed him silently into the house. I looked to the left when we entered and my mother was still there, immobile. We continued to the kitchen and we sat all four around a table that occupied almost the entire room.
By the sight of things, Francis had made supper while I wasn´t there. And he was pretty good at it.
“Francis, this is really great,” I exclaimed putting another fork wrapped in spaghettis into my mouth.
“Thank you,” he smiled recovering the fun air that he always had.
“Is it a family recipe?” Gabriel asked, he didn´t stop eating either.
“No my dear, it is my own recipe, it has taken me many tries to perfect it, but now it is jolly good,” he said moving his fingers round his mouth, confirming that it was delicious.
“Samantha, I have to comment something to you,” Kenneth spoke, he hadn´t said a word since I entered the kitchen. “Venice, I mean, your mother…” he paused, ”I don´t know when she will wake up.”
“Is she alright?”
“Yes, calm down. I just want to say that she hasn´t fainted. It is as though she were in a trance.”
“Why?”
“The night you disappeared, a wizard cast a spell on her. The wizard made her immortal.”
“Supposedly,” said Francis under his breath.
“Yes, supposedly, but he told her that although she wouldn´t die, she would grow old from the pain of not finding your sister and you.”
“That is why she is so different?”
“That´s right, and I believe that what has happened is that seeing you, her pain vanished, something in the spell has changed, making her body take charge of her mind. Her body needs to sleep in order to regenerate itself and free itself from all those years of pain which changed her aspect,” he concluded.
“Do you have any idea approximately how long this process will take?” I asked wanting to receive an affirmative answer.
But it was not the cas
e.
“No,” he responded not knowing what to say.
“And what happens if she doesn´t wake up before the battle. We cannot leave her here,” I said distracted.
“After considering that question, they all looked at me amazed that that detail had escaped them.”
“She is right. She cannot stay here,” Gabriel affirmed finishing off the plate of pasta.
“I have a house in the human dimension where we can take her. She will be safer there,” Kenneth replied while Francis looked at him in a suspicious way. I didn´t understand what was going on but I didn´t want to get in the way either.
We finished supper and I went to the lounge. I sat beside my mother and it surprised me to see how her face had changed. She had less wrinkles and her hair had more shine to it. I concluded that Kenneth was right. I don´t know how long I was by her side until Francis woke me softly.
“It is late, princess. You have to rest. We still have a day of training.”
I went upstairs while I felt the heaviness and tiredness of my legs made me go slowly. I sat on the bed without wanting to turn the lamp on and looked towards the window. The moonlight came through it. I got up and moved towards the window to be able to see better, it still wasn´t full but there wasn´t much missing. My mind was clear, when I woke up it seemed like the tiredness had gone and didn´t want to return. I turned over in the bed when I saw a blurred silhouette. I moved towards it trying to see it better when it started to move towards me.
I keep moving closer carefully until I was at his side. Without waiting more I pounced on him, throwing him onto the bed.
“I thought that you weren´t going to recognize me,” Eric whispered in her ear as he hugged me in his firm arms.
“I knew it was you ask soon as I turned,” I smiled in the darkness.
“That isn´t true!”
“Yes it is. I have memorized every part of you. Your hair, the shape of your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your lips; everything…” I said as I caressed every part of the body I named “… I would be able to recognize you in any part of the world.”
At that moment he kissed me firmly, as though he had desired to do so for a long time.
“The days seem like centuries,” he whispered between kisses.
“The night we had last night, seemed like much farther away than I would like,” I replied as I rubbed nose in his neck and his shoulder bone.
He started to kiss me again as he stroked my back. He slid down with care and he lay on top of me embracing me strongly.
“I love you,” he mumbled over my lips just before he gave me one last kiss.
“What is going on?” I asked not understanding why he was no longer kissing me.
“I am not going to make love to you with your mother two floors down,” he said as he tensed his shoulders.
“I just want to sleep by your side. I have told you to come because I cannot bear not seeing you. I needed you to hold me after everything that happened today.” I muttered into his chest.
He relaxed and lay down by my side letting me hug him.
“Has something else happened?” he asked almost alarmed.
I told him what had happened with my sister and Ian. He relaxed after hearing how I had fried his arm.”
“I am sorry that you have had to go through this. I didn´t even know she was here, with you.”
“Don´t worry,” I kissed him, “you are here now.”
Eric told me about the plan that Phoenix had in mind and how Elizabeth was helping them, he understood why they hadn´t seen her that day.”
“You should rest,” he said as he caressed my chin.
“I don´t want to sleep.”
“You should.”
“I don´t want to wake up and not see you. I don´t want that to happen again,” I sighed as I leant my head on his chest.
“It will just be tonight. I promise you. When everything is over, you will wake up by my side every day, because I am not thinking in leaving you alone for one second.”
He kissed me on my forehead and my eyelids fell despite the resistance I tried to make. We slept the whole night embracing each other until a ray of sunlight woke me, letting me know that a new day had arrived.
After a long shower I went down to have breakfast. Francis who was in an excellent mood, as always, made buttered toast with jelly. I had never imagined that he would be such a good cook. He was quite the expert.
“Has she woken yet?” I asked.
“No, but now you will be able to see how much she has improved.”
We didn´t speak anymore. With a full stomach I left the kitchen and arrived to the sofa where my mother was resting. She was every time younger. The wrinkles were almost unperceivable, her hair has recovered its color and the stains on her skin were very difficult to see.
“I don´t think she will take long in waking,” Kenneth said to my back, making me jump.
“She is very beautiful,” I answered him as I looked how her chest rose and fell with every breath.
“And you look very much like her. Although you don´t believe it, there is no denying that you are her daughter.”
“Who is my father Kenneth?” I said before thinking properly if he could answer or not. I looked at him waiting for an answer.
“I do not know.”
“But, you have to know. You were her Counsellor, her best friend. You have to know who my father is.”
“I only know a name.” he said as he looked at me with his brownish-grey eyes.
“And what is it?” I asked seeing that he did not speak.
“You mother will kill me if I tell you”
“No she won´t and you know it. I have the right to know who my father is.”
“His name is Patrick Owen. That is all I can tell you.” He declared sinking into the sofa beside my mother.
“So that means that my complete name is Samantha Owen?”
“Exactly,” he answered.
“I think it wouldn´t do you any ill to rest, I can stay with her.”
“Don´t worry, I have passed worse nights, I can assure you. Now you should go, you have to train.”
“How can I leave my mother here?”
“Francis and I will take care of her. You will go with Gabriel to practice. There is not much time left.”
“When did you first see the battle?” I wanted to know, trying to understand how his prediction method worked.
“And is it good what you see?”
“Samantha, that I see it doesn´t mean that it will happen. The future can always be changed. Now go. Gabriel is waiting for you.”
I got up and looked at my mother another time before leaving. I really didn´t want to leave her alone, but the battle was very close.
The fresh morning air brushed against my face as I went out the door. It was a precious, sunny yet fresh day. I saw a peaceful Gabriel observing the trees, distracted. I felt that something was changing in him. His shoulders weren´t as tense as normal and the tone of sarcasm had disappeared from his words.
“Good morning,” I said not sure that he would hear me.
“Good morning Samantha,” he answered as I moved towards him.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, why do you ask?” he answered very sure.
“Because you seem different,” I said without preambles.
He smiled distracted and started to walk.
“We can talk later about that if you want. Now we have to train,” he said without anger in his voice.
I nodded my head and followed him, happy that my question hadn´t annoyed him.
“Are we going to the prairie that we were yesterday?” I asked curiously as we walked.
“No, I am going to take you to a different place. It is beyond the prairie.”
“Why don´t we vanish?”
He veered his face so that I could see his huge smile before answering me.
“That is because, we sons of the night love to walk.”
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I was astonished by his good mood, so I didn´t ask anything else so as not to spoil it.
We crossed the valley at a quick pace and went into the woods again. We walked on a small path that seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, so much that you could barely make it out. But Gabriel knew the way.”
A few minutes later we were crossing branches and leaves until we reaching a clearing and I saw not only a new prairie, smaller than the previous one, but also a small lake with a precious waterfall about six meters high. We went down until arriving to the shores of the beautiful lake. There were stones by the edge; I followed them, bordering the lake until I arrived to a large stone wall that stopped my path making me life my sights until I could see the great waterfall that was falling only a few meters above me. That place was impressive. It was peaceful and relaxing. I turned round and saw small animals close to the lake drinking water; I heard the birds singing and I felt free. I was so enclosed within myself that I didn´t hear how Gabriel called me.
“Samantha!!” the cry was closer to me.
I looked confused by his tone of voice and moved towards him.
“What is going on?” I asked innocently.
“Didn´t you hear?”
“No, what did you say?”
He looked at me and started to explain again all that he had told me and I hadn´t heard.
“You have to be careful with this place. I have brought you here for a reason.” He paused trying to make sure that I was paying attention.
“Continue,” I insisted.
“This is an enchanted place. It is able to absorb all your senses leaving you with nothing, just as happened to you a moment ago. That is something that you cannot allow to happen. Without your senses you are defenseless and anyone could attack you. If you learn to control your senses here, then tomorrow you will have no problem.”
I almost couldn´t imagine such a beautiful place doing such things, but he was right, I had to concentrate.
“Alright, let´s get started,” I said firmly.
I followed him to where he had left our things. He took his sword from the stony ground and looked at me. I took out my daggers from my belt and centered all my senses in them; their weight, their firmness, their balance. I had practiced many hours in the training hall, but here time was real and we had to make good use of it. This was going to be my last training.