A crazy idea sparked in my head, it wasn't much of an idea but it was something.
what if I was the one manipulated the veil? repeated in my head. If I was the one to project my emotions, there was a possibility I could find her easier that way.
To be honest I had no idea if I even had the ability to manipulate the veil. Compared to spirits, my supernatural energy was barely noticeable. But my best chance was to flood the veil with my emotions- emotions I understood and could navigate through.
In a sense, I felt like I opened up the floodgates. All the fear, loneliness, desperation, confusion and hope flooded out. I focused on each emotion that I felt. I focused on memories to amplify each one. But I focused on hope the most. I pictured Alan, I could only imagine what he felt. I pictured what it would feel like that when I found her- when I brought her back. That was hope.
As I laid there, with my eyes closed I felt my body becoming weightless and little by little I felt my clothing becoming heavier .... then I felt the water pooling around me like a flood. Startled, I flung my eyes open and when met with darkness. I then realized I was sinking deeper into the depths of the water abyss I had created. My lungs burned from the instinctive need for air, but the black water suffocated me.
I saw a glimmer of light at what looked to be the surface. With all my strength I urged my limbs to swim. However, it seemed like the water was never-ending. As if there was no surface. For a second I thought about just giving up- just letting myself sink into the watery void, but that light urged me to come towards it. That light urged me to try to reach it.
After what seemed like hours of treading water, I broke the surface. I gasped for air, and it felt like my first breath in so long. as odd as it was, I felt relief wash over me, and I smiled up at the dark sky.
I looked around my new environment. The tall cypress trees emerged from the water and their canopies reached to the heavens. a thick fog lurched on the surface of the murky black water, and in the moonlight, I could see something moving in the water.
Just beyond the trees something was lurching, watching me. I could hear a low rumbling hiss coming from whatever was watching me. I suddenly felt the need to get out f the water. I swam over to a nearby tree and climb to safety. I was cold, dripping wet, and afraid as I cling to the trunk of the tree. I gripped to the tree and grabbed hold of an air root and hoists my self up.
Looking around I knew that this was indeed my own creation. The water was the loneliness, the trees were the desperation, the fog was confusion, and the beast watching me was fear. Looking over at the moon just above the horizon, that must have been my hope.
"Great job Avery... great job letting your fears of being eaten alive by a swamp monster and drowning in a watery grave manifest themselves. Jer would be fussing over me- dangerous that- reckless this- I just know it. he's probably freaking out about me right now."
Staring at the moon an idea sparked in my mind. It was a stupid and impossible one but it was an idea. With a deep breath, I reached out to the next tree and, then hopped over to it. Looking towards the horizon I wondered how many I had left. God only knew.
Meanwhile:
JERICHO
I watched her disappear into the door. She smiled back and me as she stepped through, the white light behind her illuminated her and made her seem celestial. Then when she closed the door, the wind died down and she was gone. I fell back onto my back and ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to come to terms with what I'd just seen.
"what just happened?" I heard Allan say in a high-pitched and panicked voice.
"Did that really just happen? Were those shadows ghosts?' I saw him stand to his feet. He stood in front of where the door had appeared and he starred into the forest in disbelief.
"Oh my god- Avery- she went in there." I brought my hands up and covered my ears with my hands, and tried my hardest to block out Allan. I figured eventually he would work out his panic.
"Jericho, what is Avery? I've never met a medium who could do that. She's not your average ghost whisper is she." he frantically continued.
A seer? a guardian? bridge to the afterlife? But those barely described what Avery was capable of. I wasn't quite sure, and I don't think Avery knew herself. I had come to terms with that a while ago.
"Allan you need to breathe," I said, trying to stay calm as well.
"our mate just summoned a fucking demon door to the afterlife- and then walked through it. It's a lot to take in."
"says the werewolf with a witch-bane mate."
"How are you calm?"
"because I've seen my fair share of weirdness. Not like this, but I trust her." My eyes rested on the trees before me and a thousand and one emotions washed over me. What I found the most frustrating about all of this was no matter what there was nothing I could do. It was out of my control, and I had to trust Avery to finish this.
"she's been in there a long time." Alan's voice was beginning to sound frantic. I rolled over and pulled out my phone to check the time.
"It's only been two hours." He walked over to the middle of the platform and stared intently at where the door once was.
"What if she doesn't come back?" I asked.
"What if she comes back but didn't find Ashlin." Then he became silent, as the weight of the situation washed over him.
"What if I lose Ashlin, Jer?" He turned back to face me and his fear was clearly written in his wild eyes.
"Alan...." I said calmly.
"There's nothing we can do... Avery will find her, but you just have to trust her. Come sit with Ash until Avery gets back. All you can do right now is wait." Alan's expression softened, and he exhaled as he finally excepting things as they were.
Then he slowly walked over to were Ashlin laid and sat down next to her. Gently he lifted her head and placed it on his lap. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.
"Come back to me soon." He whispered to her. My heart tightened when I thought back to when I had said those same words to Avery.
Then we sat in the silence of the woods and waited.
AVERY
As I reached out towards the next tree, I wrapped my hand around a long air root and hopped onto the next tree. I let out a gasp as my foot slipped and fell into the fridged black water. I clung to the trunk of the tree and began to slum into it as the exhaustion took a toll on me.
Looking around me, the trees seemed endless and the horizon seemed to be farther and farther away. My arms and legs felt limp and my heart hammered against my chest and sweat blurred my vision.
I pushed the pain into the back of my mind and pressed on. After a while, the pain and exaction were overcome by my need to find Ashlin. Eventually, that became my only thought. I had no clue where I was going but something was drawing me towards the horizon. Yet every tree I climbed was like a drop of water in a bowl- I knew eventually I
How long have I been at this? It seemed like hours but there was no way to tell. I took a big breath and attempted to work up the energy to leap onto one more tree. I clung to the tree for dear life and placed my foot in the groves and rivets of the trunk as I made my way to the other side of the tree.
I whipped the sweat off my brow and rested my forehead against the trunk of the cypress tree, allowing my self to rest for a moment. then I heard movement come from the water and I watched as a pair of golden eyes breached the surface of the water and peered out at me. The beast let out a bellow the vibrated through the water and echoed through the trees around me.
I stared into the eyes of the beast defiantly, as if to say "you won't get me". then with my last remaining strength, I continued on.
I can to a halt when I heard something within the darkness. Voices. Female voices. I could not make out what was being said. The voices sounded muffled as if I was underwater. I stood there trying to distinguish the voices- I counted three- one sounded frantic. Something in my gut told me I knew that voice.
"Ashlin!" I called out, and before I
could think I had pushed my self my cypress tree and began falling into the dark waters below. Yet, I never did. Instead, I watched with wide eyes as the swamp faded and the cypress trees and the beast ceased to exist. the world around warped and twisted around me and I felt as if I had found my self in a cyclone.
Then everything came to screeching halt. I stumbled forward and crashed into a wooden wall, and causing things come crashing down on top of me. I hissed out a curse word as I felt a broom fall forward and hit me on the back of my head.
I then took in my surrounding. the room was small and pitch black- and judging my the cleaning supplies It seemed like I was in a closet. A sliver of light beamed out from beyond the door, and I could hear those three voices as clear as day.
I stepped forward tried to peer through the crack of the door. through the crack, I could see three figures passing about the room. I adjusted myself several times to try to catch a glimpse of the women on the other side of the door.
"How long do we have?" I heard the frantic voice say.
"knowing her- summer solstice." Through the gap, I could see the speaker. She was a tall woman in her mid-forties, with blond hair that was pulled back in a French twist She wore a red shawl wrapped around that seemed to swallow up her thin frame. Her lips were pressed fine line and you could by the way she carried herself that her spirit had been broken a long time ago. In the way she smiled and from the sound of her voice, it was apparent that she had felt grief and tragic loss to many times in her life. Yet her eyes still held kindness.
"Why is everything on the solstice? what's wrong with a random Tuesday? "
"Because Tuesdays aren't dramatic." The woman said in a dry voice.
"So that's what- seven months?" At the sound of the voice, my breath caught and I pressed into the wood more, hoping to get a glimpse of the speaker. There was no denying who that voice belonged to. The woman the voice belonged to stepped out into my small plane of sight and when I saw her my mind went blank. I recognized her yellow sweater and dark curly hair. It was Angela.
My mind raced with a million questions. The women kept talking, but their words fell deaf on my ears. All I could do was stare at Angela in disbelief. Then I heard the other voice. I barely got a glimpse of her, before Angela unknowingly stepped in front of the door and blocked my view.
"So that's seven months to figure out how to send her back to hell- and for good this time." With my line of sight blocked all I could do was listen. But know I found myself becoming more confused. The word "her" echoed at in my head and tugged at my curiosity. The woman talking seemed younger than the older woman, the frustration was clear in her voice
"Ladybug-"
"Do not call me that right now." I could hear the third woman- the younger one- begin passing around the room.
"You guys are just kids. it will be easier to just seal her away." The older woman said.
"Why? so she can just rise again in ten years? Not happening.... The shepherds what about them?"
Shepherds? I made a mental note to badger Angela about what that meant.
"a bunch of dead white guys isn't going to help much," Angela said.
"You said yourself that every time she breaks the seal she becomes stronger. You said She broke the seal early this time- early enough too--- " She stopped her self, as is the words she was about to say were poisonous, or too much to bear. The room fell silent.
Then Angela moved away from in front of the closet door and walked towards the other girl. When she did I finally saw the third girl. The third girl the purpose I ventured into the spirit world. The third girl was the reason I was in this dark and cramped closet. The third girl was Ashlin Powell, safe and sound. She was a disembodied soul, sure, but for the most part, she was safe.
"Hey... hey just breath." Angela wrapped her arms around Ashlin and tried to soothe her.
"- and you think just sealing her away again is our best option? For who?" Ashlin said towards the other woman. Her eyes were unwavering and were filled grief.
The woman returned Ashlin gaze with a challenging defiance, but I watched with the curiosity of a child as she slowly allowed her resolve to crumble. When she looked at Ashlin, the sternness in her eyes was replaced with an emotion that seemed foreign to me, that I had yet to experience.
"Ashlin please-"
Before I could even think I rose to my feet and pushed the closet door open. The three of them froze and mirrored my confusion. The room was deathly quiet but it was broken when the older woman spoke.
" Angela, you are officially the worst keeper that ever happened." Stepping forward she turned to face me and carried an air of confidence to her.
"Never mind the other shepherds, If Avery is capable enough to make it here, then She's the only shepherd you'll be in need of." She then extended her hand towards me, which I hesitantly took.
"Avery, Crawford... I'm Cynthia, Powell. I've heard quite a bit about you, so It's a pleasure to meet you. Now if you don't mind," she then pulled out a chair from the small table in the middle of the room.
"Please come sit... we have a lot to talk about." I had come into the veil hoping to find Ashlin. I had found her, but in doing so I found even more questions.
(A/N: This concluedes chapter 25. I recently made an outline so I'll start working on chapter 26. So I recently discovered that someone posted my book on goodreads? which I geuss is a good thing? I'm still alittle shocked that someone cared enough to post it. The book only had 10 chapters when the goodreads page was posted so the reviews arn't great but hey what can I do ¯_(ツ)_/¯. So go check it out if you want to. I found it amusing. )
Growing Pains
We stumbled out of the door. Ashlin clung to me and our exhaustion had both taken a toll on us. Once we were through the door, the door vanished and we were left in the silence of the woods. I watched as Ashlin was serenaded in a golden light as she seemingly faded away. Slowly I saw her unmoving body be slowly enveloped in a warm light that was only visible to me.
Alan, Jericho and I stood there, silent, frozen in our places, with our breath caught in our throats. Then, after a mere moment that felt like an eternity, we say her chest slowly rise as she took her first breath. her eyes flew open and she gasped aloud. Abruptly she shot up and as she sat there on the damp forest floor, her large brown eyes were wide with amazement as if she was seeing the world for the first time. She became asware of the presence next to her. she became overwhelmed with the reality of the situation, and seeing alan in that moment brought a wave of tears to her eyes.
"Alan- oh my god-" She said in between her tears, she cressed his face and peppered his face with sweet kisses. His arms wrapped around her and he brought her close to him as she sobbed into his shirt.
The only sound to be heard was ashlins sobbing. the wods were earily quite that day. I let out a startled gasp when I felt jericho reach for my hand, enveloping it in his larger one.
I looked up at him and held his gaze for a moment. as if I was silently pleading with him to say something. I felt him rub his thumb over the back of my hand. His eyes softened and he smiled gently at me.
"Thank you." what all he said. It was simple but that was all that was needed to be said.
"I'm sorry for-" I whispered back, but was cut off by the lump in my throat. Realizing I never apologized for how cruel I was to him just a few days ago. I didn't have the strength to say it out loud. Evidently, there was no need to. watched as his face fell slightly and he brought me close to him, burring me in his chest and resting his chin on top of my head.
His actions said it all, he had forgiven me the moment I hurt him.
we stayed there for what seemed like forever, stewing in the situation. Just let the whole ordeal wash over us.
I played it back in my mind. My thought felt dry, and I felt shaken to say the least. I lifted my eyes up to ash, and our eyes met. We silently promisednot to speak about what happened in the vail. Ash slowly rose up and started walking. Alan followed. Soon so did
we. There was an air of mellencoly amoung us. We were unsure what to say or where to go.
After all... what was left to be said?
to be continued.....
Small update but this is all I've got right now for chapter 26. I didn't like my last draft do I scrapped it. my chapters tend to be between 2000-5000 words so this is about 1/4 of thechapter.
Publication Date: March 4th 2019
https://www.bookrix.com/-ichigo513
Haunted Page 17