Crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils and primroses, the trees around the edges full of blossom. It was like Spring. But this was mid-summer. Those trees weren't even the kind to have blossom on them. It was all eerily but beautifully lit up by the moonlight. What I was seeing was only a small section of that space. The path led several yards in.
The air had been still, but suddenly there was this gentle breeze that seemed to wrap around me, giving the sensation that I was being both pushed and pulled beyond that arched gateway.
The logical part of my mind told me I'd be mad to go in there, alone, at night, when the gate was supposed to be locked. All sound of other people, seemed even more distant than before. I had to really concentrate to hear the music.
Another part of my brain, the part connected to my instinct, sais I'd be mad not to go and have a look. It was telling me this is something I really should do and that was more of a feeling, not a thought.
So many times in my life, over and again, I had failed to listen to that voice or act on that feeling. Every time, it was correct and my failure to listen had only led to trouble. It led to decisions I regretted deeply. Because each time I acted for other people, did what I thought they wanted and I was never selfish.
Perhaps, this time, I would listen and I would be selfish. For just a few minutes, just this once. Maybe I no longer cared what happened, good or bad.
So I stepped through the gateway and instantly felt as though I was now on the very edge of another world. It was not a scary feeling in the slightest.
Steadily, I followed the moonlit path as it led me past several flower beds, full of flowers that should not have been there, then curved to the left, taking me further out of sight of the entrance. It curved again and carried me further in.
There was always that breeze, gently brushing past as though helping to guide me, blowing the blossom of the trees all around.
The path curved again and I did not leave it, did not look over my shoulder, even to see how far I had gone.
As the path levelled with the barrier wall, the moonlight to dim behind a thin cloud. I stopped at last, and looked around at the gathering darkness.
“Cassia.” A voice whispered.
Somehow, I didn't scream, though I whirled towards the wall, where the voice had come from, and nearly stumbled in my stupid shoes. That was a real human voice, coming out of the shadows, not the wind or a figment of my imagination.
“Who said that?” My voice was automatically soft in the darkness.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.” The voice said.
I squinted into the shadows. The moon had been obscured now and it was particularly dark against the wall. Then I remembered.
Ages ago, an archway, more like a short tunnel in the thick wall, had led to the public footpath on the other side. To secure the gardens, that tunnel was bricked up, but only at it's centre. This stranger was standing in the old entrance of the tunnel and the darkness there was thicker than it was further out.
Part of me cursed myself for coming in here when it was such an obviously stupid and dangerous course of action. Running would not be easy, I was far out of earshot, especially with the music in the pub.
The other part of me, the part that was Sia, knew no fear. So I stayed calm.
“People will get startled, when the shadows talk to them.” I said. “Who are you?”
“You must come with me. Then you will know everything.”
The flowers had disappeared, the blossom gone from the trees.
“Why would I go with you?”
“To keep everyone you care about your safe. If you come with me now, your family will come to no harm.”
I froze. Was this person threatening my family?
“What do you mean?”
“Come with me now, your family will be safe from harm.”
My mind whirred. Stay, and my family might be harmed. That was the message that rang through my thoughts. I was being presented with the choice to sacrifice myself to keep them safe. My automatic reaction was to do what was best for others, especially my family. Could I truly walk away with a complete stranger to be sure that they would not come to harm?
“I cannot simply go with someone who I know nothing of.” I said.
“It is better if I do not tell you anything. Not yet.”
“But I cannot go into this blind.” I told him, because I was certain it was a man who hid in these shadows. “Let me see your face.”
He hesitated for a moment, then he stepped forward. Once more, I managed not to scream, but I knew that my eyes must have widened in shock and horror.
In the sudden new burst of moonlight, I saw a heavily scarred face. Horrifically scarred. Some of the markings looked like they went deep. They were a mixture of scratches, deep welts made by a range of tools perhaps, several burns in varying shapes and sizes.
Hardly any part of his face was spared. Many of those marks were still healing. Everything he wore was black, the collar of his shirt going high, but revealing just enough for me to know that the scars went far beyond his face. It looked like he was dark haired, but it had been brutally cut at some stage and was only just growing back.
Only the eyes seemed untouched, in a physical sense. Grey eyes, that were full of such pain and anguish.
In the distance, I thought I heard someone calling my name, as the stranger held out a gloved hand to me.
“Come with me.” He said.
Fliss, it was Fliss calling for me. Where was she? Had she reached the gate? Was it still open or had it closed, leaving her bemused as to where I had gone?
“ If you want to keep her safe, come with me.”
It was a gamble. He could be bluffing. But could I afford to risk it? Risk the lives of the parents who have always provided for me. The clever brother who taught me all those card games and puzzles I could never understand on my own. Risk the life of my wise and full of life little sister, who was coming ever closer at that very moment.
“Sia.” The Shadow Stranger said.
That got my attention. How could he know?
My sisters voice reached me again. She was so much closer now.
What did I have to stay for anyway? They didn't need me, any of them. All I did was get in the way. My life was no great sacrifice to keep them safe. My decision had been made when I chose to ignore all common sense and come here. Because I no longer cared and believed no one would miss me if I just disappeared. I wanted to disappear...
My hand reached out and took that of the shadowy scarred figure standing before me.
He lead me forwards, but did not pull, to that closed off tunnel. At the exact point when I know my sister reached that gate, the stranger slipped an arm around my waist and whispered “Hold on” and we melted through the stone of the archway as though it were nothing but mist.
Comments