It was so hot it felt like I was melting, I was surrounded by smoke and fire, I looked for a way out but the flames had me cornered, was this it, am I going to die here, maybe this was my reward for all my punishment, all my suffering, I closed my eyes to embrace the fire when I heard a massive bang, I opened my eyes and saw a shining figure a few feet away, all the flames had now vanished, and now suddenly so did the figure.
I woke up in a heavy sweat, the room was dimly lit by the moonlight through the drawn curtains, my bed felt soaked through, I can’t remember the last time I had a dream like that, it felt so real, like the other day with the memory, maybe that’s what it was, I may regret remembering that one, I got up from my bed and went to go and take a shower, it felt nice and refreshing, it was still dark out but I knew I wasn’t going to go back to sleep now, I stripped my bed and took it downstairs to be washed, as I waited for my bed sheets to wash and dry, I sat down in the kitchen with a cup of tea, not that I drank any of it, I just sat there stirring it, it wasn’t until someone entered the kitchen did I finally stop,
'Morning Rachel' I didn’t need to be physic to know it was Charles, he poured himself a cup of tea and sat down next to me,
'Bad dream? ' I looked at him, slightly exhausted my this morning,
'Pretty sure it was a memory, my skin still feels burnt from the fires, I haven’t had a dream like that in while, even if I went home I don’t think they will get any better' I didn’t like admitting defeat to anyone, but it all just kind of came out like a confession, my mug of tea had now gone cold, his hand came to rest on mine,
'It will get better Rachel I promise you, your memories are fighting to come back and it will be a rough process, but it will be worth it in the end' do I really want to remember everything that happened, will it improve my quality of life, I stood up and went over to empty my cold tea, the times I thought about running away from here just kept coming back to me, but then so did that little girl Anna, if I left sooner rather than later then maybe I wouldn’t feel so bad, but her face would haunt me forever, the look of disappointment of yet another person leaving her, I don’t think my cold heart could cope with that, I turned round to face Charles,
'I'm guessing you got most of that' he didn’t reply, but I knew he heard it all, when will I learn, I rinsed my mug out and left it to dry,
'It's true, you have always been a fighter'
I was surprised by the return of the voice and I dropped my mug by accident, idiot,
'What happened, are you okay? ' I don’t need this right now, I took a deep breath and turned round to face, he had already left his seat and was walking towards me, I bent down to pick up the broken mug, he came over to help me, I had almost forgotten to speak,
'Yeah fine, just being my normal clumsy self' neither of us had notice the kitchen door open, It was only did I look up did I see Anna standing behind Charles, he looked at me and turned round to see her,
'Anna my darling stay there a moment, I don’t want you to cut your feet' she backed away from Charles and went to sit at the table, we quickly finished clearing up the broken mug and then we both sat down at the table with Anna, she looked up at Charles smiling for a minute then she faced me, that little smile was enough to melt anyone,
'Anna wants to know if you will go outside with her ? ' How could I say no to her, how could anyone,
'Come one then sweetie lets go' she flew of that chair so quickly she nearly fell over,
'Woah careful Anna, walk don’t run' she stopped dead in her tracks and reached for my hand, I gladly took it in mine and we headed out of the kitchen, I tried really hard to get Charles's face out of my head, but he was like a mould, slightly annoying but it slowly starts to grow on you after sometime, as we entered outside I felt the warm wind brush against and the warm sun lick my skin, I breathed in deeply and felt myself relax for the first time in what seemed like forever, I saw Anna run towards a small patch of flowers and I slowly walked after her, I had taken my shoes of before I headed outside and I could feel the grass tickle my feet, and I thought, how much independency would I be losing if I stayed here with Anna, Charles and everyone else, what sort of reaction would I get if I used my wings here, would he simply push me more to stay here, would he use Anna as a weapon against me, the thought stop me from going to Anna, she hadn’t notice me not going to her she just carried on playing with the flowers, no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t imagine myself staying here and playing happy for the rest of my life, I just can’t break this hold on my old life, constantly on the move and only looking after myself, I hesitated for a moment before I started to stretch my wings out, I began to feel myself panicking and I was starting to feel tense and fidgety, thankfully my wing no longer felt painful and I was able to spread them out to their full length, I felt slightly calmer until Anna turned round and looked at me, she was holding something in her hand, she held it close to her and began walking towards me, I started to panic again, I couldn’t cope with what was going on, before she came any closer I bent down and jumped high, my wings had now fully healed and I was able to hover above the ground, she stopped and stared at me and my wings, this wasn’t fair on her, I'm not the person she needs or deserves, she deserves someone better than me,
'Rachel! ' I turned round to see Charles running towards us, Anna didn’t move,
'You know what I want you to remember something Charles, if Anna gets upset and turns on others, I want you remember that this is your fault, forcing hopes on a child and playing god with these kids, who the hell do you think you are! ' my raise in voice caused Anna to run to Charles in fright, she held on to his leg, her face full of fear, this was me causing her fear, not Charles,
' Rachel calm your mind, your right it wasn’t fair for me to do this to you, I understand that'
'Really, I don’t think you do, you dig into people’s minds and you think you can peer pressure them into doing what you think it's best for them, I'm sorry to disappoint you' Erik had now joined Charles, but he didn’t look surprised about what was going on, Erik then picked up Anna and she buried her face in his shoulder, I didn’t know the extent of his power, but I knew I couldn’t stick around to find out,
'Erik take Anna inside please' he hesitated for a moment before he took Anna back inside the mansion, it was now just me and him,
'It was wrong for me to keep you here Rachel, I only wanted to keep you safe and let you heal, and I hope you will believe me when I say that I mean it, just promise me something' the mood had changed, he wasn’t against me going, he wasn’t trying to stop me,
'Stay safe, and also remember that there will always be a place for you here' maybe in the future, but just not now, there are still questions that need to be answered, and I won't find them here,
'Thank you professor' he smiled and nodded, and with that I flew high and headed back towards the city, I hadn’t flew this high for so long it felt wonderful, I stayed visible because for that moment I just didn’t care if someone spotted me, I once again felt free.
I was coming up towards the city when I felt someone watching me, I was still flying high just below the clouds, I looked around and there was nothing, no birds, no planes, everything was quiet, until I looked down and saw the a pair of inky black wings a few feet below me, they were a bit bigger than mine, the sight of them was mesmerising,
'I was beginning to wonder if he would ever let you go, but I knew he couldn’t keep you there forever, you’ve always been a strong willed woman, a man such as him could never keep you chained up' it was the voice again, but I knew this time where it was coming from, he quickened his pace and levelled with me, he then hovered in front of me and turned round to face me, I couldn’t help but stare at him, his dirty blonde hair stood out against his black wings, he appeared a good foot taller than me, he didn’t look like someone who had been tortured and tested throughout his childhood, he looked like a strong stable human being,
'I'm happy to finally meet you again Rachel, how long has been now, 10 years since we meet in the waiting room, I must confess, I tried to imagine how you would look after all this time, I'm sad to say that even my mind couldn’t come close to your beauty' hurl, he must of lost his crown a few miles back,
'How long have you been working on that speech, Arthur I'm guessing' he smiled and reached his hand out towards me, I just couldn’t cut a break,
'Come with me, I will explain everything to you'
'What if I don’t want to know everything' his eyes soften
'Peace of mind, I won't lie to you Rachel, it will be painful and uncomfortable, but all will become clear, and I will be with you every step of the way' will my life be better if I know, perhaps I do need to know everything, I took his hand and we flew off towards the city, his hold was reassuring, it felt like Charles was with me, it felt like I was holding his hand, maybe he could be it, my Charles.
