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She reached out for the note and held it in the palm of her hand. A light was shining from the inside of the note. She opened it and it read; Dear Rachel, remember me? You looked through me once to determine your fate. You must return to me, I will give you everything you need. I will be the key to saving Benji. Now, find me.
Rachel let go of the red balloons and watches as the floated through the air one by one and then popped as they reached the ceiling. The popped plastic came falling down and landed at her feet. Inside each balloon were rosemary leaves whose smell permeated the stark white room. The scent filled her body and her mind.
Then the room became multicolored and started turning in circles with shapes and images on the walls. Red, Orange, Green, Pink, Violet, Yellow the room kept on changing colors and it turned around and around. Rachel started turning her body again over and over and over until she fell down on the ground.
All of a sudden, her body shook as she awoke from her dream. Her head still spinning and she had a huge headache. She couldn’t understand where it was coming from. She’d never had a headache upon waking before. She knew something must have happened. She knew what she had to do.
It came to her in her dream, the colors, the balloons, the note, the smell of rosemary and the spinning. It was all making sense to her now. She had to find the kaleidoscope that Benji had given her last year. It would hold the key to finding the Red Amulet. She knew it would, she just had to find it.
Rachel thought long and hard as to where the kaleidoscope might be. It had been a long time since she’d seen it or looked through it and couldn’t remember exactly where she’d left it. As she thought about all the possible places, the most probable place it could be was her house in Bedford. She knew she must have left it in her bedroom but couldn’t remember exactly where. She had to go find it.
*
She quickly got dressed and out of the bed she was laying in. She took one more look at the beautifully painted ceiling and then put her shoes on. She knew she didn’t have much time to get out of the castle so she moved quickly.
She tiptoed down the hall to the room that Hunter and Penelope were sharing. She knocked softly on the door but didn’t hear anything. She opened it slowly, hoping to no witness anything she shouldn’t and when she saw them both laying there sleeping she walked in.
“Guys, guy, it’s me, wake up,” Rachel said in a whisper.
She watched as they both started twitching and turning in the bed. They opened their eyes slowly to see what was going on.
“Sorry, guys, I didn’t mean to wake you, but I’m leaving now,” Rachel said.
“Rachel? What are you doing here?” said Hunter.
“I’m leaving. I have to go,” Rachel said.
“What? Now?” Penelope asked, wiping her eyes and looking over to check the time.
“Yes, right away, I figured it out,” Rachel said.
“But it’s not even light out yet,” Hunter said.
“Figured what out?” Penelope questioned.
“I figured out how I will locate the Red Amulet,” Rachel said excitedly.
“How?” Hunter said. “I thought you needed my parents to tell you?”
“No, your mom helped me a lot, but the answer lies within myself. I know what to do and I have to go do it now,” Rachel answered.
“Tell us!” Penelope said. “What is it?”
“I have to find the kaleidoscope,” Rachel said. “Once I have that, I will have all the answers I need.”
“Kaleidoscope?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah, Benji gave it to me once. I don’t have time to explain. I must leave you now,” Rachel said.
“Well, do you want us to come with you?” Hunter said, jumping out of bed.
“Yeah, we will come, too!” Penelope added.
“No, please. I must do this on my own,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry.”
“Alone?” Penelope asked. “Why?”
“I just do, I can’t explain it,” Rachel said.
“All right then. Do what you have to do now,” Hunter said, with a confused look on his face.
“I wish I could bring you with me but I have to leave you at this point. I no longer need help,” Rachel reMarced.
“Ok, be safe out there. And guard the Red Amulet with your life,” Hunter said. “And please, take care of Benji. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
“Bye, Rachel,” Penelope said as she walked out of their bedroom door and onto the balcony of the castle.
“Good luck!” Hunter yelled after her.
Rachel stood there, looking at the passing clouds, wondering why she didn’t think about the kaleidoscope in the first place. She remembered it had brought her such clarity in the past in regards to Benji that she should have thought of it first. But, she couldn’t just stand there beating herself up over it, she had to move on. She had to make it right and find the kaleidoscope.
She leaned over the balcony’s edge and before she could count to three, her wings were in flight, she was about to take an even longer journey to her house in Bedford, New York. It was a little bit farther south than Hunter’s boarding school, but she figured if she could make the trip yesterday, she could do it again today. The worst that could happen would be that she would have to stop off to rest her wings for a little bit.
Not long after she took off, she realized she was starving. She hadn’t fed in what felt like days, and perhaps was days. She couldn’t remember. Her life was not a time warp and she couldn’t place the days anymore. All she knew was that she had to feed and now. She peered down below like an owl after its prey. As she flew along the coastline, all she spotted were dolphins jumping up out of the water and a few minnows swimming around in schools. Neither of those appealed to her, especially because the dolphins reminded her of the last family vacation she took, back when she was human. Her family went to Florida and stopped off at the Dolphin Research Center where she spent the day learning, caring for and even swimming with dolphins. She knew they were an under populated species, and she didn’t want to do anything to harm them, despite her relentless hunger.
Then, she headed inland to see what kind of animals she might spot there. At first, she saw nothing. Nothing but tall trees, fields of grass and rolling mountains. She was desperate, the aches and pains in her stomach were becoming unbearable, her body began to quiver and shake as she flew through the morning sky. Her eyes became watery and her palms began to sweat. She knew she had to find something, and fast.
