AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The woods are there,” he told me in a hushed whisper. “If you manage to reach the woods, just keep going straight. Eventually, you will come to a river. Cross it and keep going straight. It will lead you towards a village where you will easily be able to make them lose track of you.”
My mind was starting to make some sense of this plan. I knew that village. It wasn’t very close to my home, but it was closer than I was now.
“Are you sure?” I asked again, hesitant to leave him after he had helped me so much. I was afraid that something might happen to him, all because of me.
“Yes,” he said without thinking twice. “I will go first and lead them as far away as I can. Wait a little, then start moving. Keep to the shadows. If you allow it, your animal will guide you.”
I sighed. “I can’t trust it. I have to stay sober, with a clear mind.”
He shook his head. “Constantine was right about one thing. You’ve spent too much time with humans. You forgot that you were supposed to learn to live with your animal side, not banish it to the depths of your unconscious mind. But this is not a topic to discuss now.”
The more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right. I owed it to my animal to allow it to come to the surface. But I couldn’t do that now. I wouldn’t be able to control it. What if it decided to come back and attack them all, risking everything we’ve done so far?
“Watch the moon,” he advised me. “It will light up your way. Try to remember who you are, what you are. It might help you.”
With those words, he offered me his hand, and in the darkness of the bushes, I shook it tightly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Nothing now,” he replied. “When we meet again, there will be much to discuss.”
I just nodded, upon which he looked around. Assuring himself that there was no guard present, he stood up from the bushes and started heading towards the flickering lights of the lanterns in the distance. They were already going in the opposite direction, but my ally was right. It was best to have someone to lead them even further away.
I watched carefully as he disappeared in the distance, then I slowly started to make my way towards the woods. I moved slowly, like a thief in the night, listening to any unusual sound, although the garden was full of them. The crickets kept reminding me that I wasn’t alone, and I welcomed their noisy night sonata.
I moved stealthily through the garden, my heart pounding with each silent step. The darkness enveloped me like a cloak. My goal was clear—to reach the safety of the woods, where the shadows would be my allies and the secrets of the forest could shield me from pursuit.
With each passing moment, I drew closer to the edge of the garden, where the dense canopy of trees beckoned like a sanctuary. The moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the forest floor. As I crossed the threshold into the woods, the feeling of liberation washed over me. The forest welcomed me with open arms, its ancient whispers promising solace and sanctuary.
Slowly, I started to feel more and more at home here, among these towering trees, their trunks thick and gnarled with age, stretching towards the heavens themselves. The forest itself was a tapestry of moss and ferns, which felt like a plush carpet underneath my bare feet. I inhaled deeply, allowing the subtle fragrance of wildflowers to envelop me into its embrace.
Shafts of moonlight pierced through the dense foliage, creating pools of silver radiance amidst the shadows. Fireflies danced in the darkness, their luminescence a fleeting enchantment that added to the otherworldly atmosphere. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so alive, in a place that welcomed me for who I truly was. The woods held a sense of timelessness, as if the secrets of ages were woven into its very fabric. It was a place where the boundaries between reality and myth blurred, and where the natural world held its own secrets, waiting to be uncovered.
I stopped for a moment, trying to catch my breath. I was overwhelmed by the world around me. I leaned against a tree, feeling its bark underneath my palms. Then, a sudden brutal impact struck me from behind, sending shockwaves of pain, radiating through my entire body. Before I could react, everything went dark, and I slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty
Lilith
I had no idea what to choose. I doubted that any clothing item or something like that would do. It had to be personal. Very personal.
Adrian had always been an introverted person, one who did not share too much of either his past or his present. But with me and Cass, he was slowly starting to open up, changing his ways. I was trying to remember if there was anything undeniably connected to him, something that held the essence of the man I loved. Uncertainty weighed heavily on my heart, as I wracked my brain.
Then, a memory stirred within me like a whisper from the past. My husband had often shared tales of his childhood, stories of youthful innocence and dreams. Among those stories was one about a journal he had kept as a child, filled with his youthful aspirations and the whimsical musings of a boy who believed he could amount to anything when he grew up.
I quickly made my way to my husband’s study, where our shared history could be seen in every corner. He had truly made this into a family oasis, with Cass’ drawings and photos everywhere, and one of the two of us on our wedding day. I stopped for a moment, unable to handle the emotions that came rushing at me. I inhaled deeply, in an effort to pacify my racing heart. I looked around, trying to find out where he would keep such a precious memento of his childhood.
I had seen it only once, when he himself decided to show it to me. I did not read a single thing that was written inside nor did I plan on doing it this time. Those were my husband’s most secretive thoughts, and I planned on keeping them as such. I simply needed it for the magic properties it yielded. The very essence of it would prove whether he was still with us, somewhere in this world.
I started to search through his long, polished mahogany desk, opening the drawers gently. I was always surprised what a meticulous person Adrian was. Everything seemed to have its place, where it would be returned to. I, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Perhaps that was why we were so well aligned. We complemented each other in those ways that we lacked, fitting perfectly together.
I sighed heavily, fighting an onslaught of tears. He was usually the one who protected us, who kept us safe. Now, he was gone. I knew it wasn’t of his own free choice. Someone did this to him, to us all, and I was bound to find out who this someone was.
I moved my search towards the bookshelf, and there, amidst the books and other mementoes, I found it. I was now holding the cherished journal of my husband’s youth. I could feel the warmth emanating off of it. I knew that the witch would find out the answers that we needed from it.
I caressed the journal tenderly. It was smaller than the one he kept as an adult, its pages yellowed with the passage of time, and its cover worn from years of use. It was a testament to the boy he had once been, the dreams he had held, and the unspoiled innocence of his early years.
Placing it into a backpack, I rushed out of my husband’s study, stumbling onto my father in the hallway.
“Lilith,” he smiled at me.
