Reincarnate [Isaac Lahey]

Chapter Three

Taking a step forward, she searched the darkness of the forest in an effort to figure out where she was. Everything was so quiet, so silent, it made her think that there was something lurking in the shadows. Climbing on top of the tree stump she winced as a splinter hit her palm - splinters were the devil in her own mind. Stepping into the middle of the stump, she spun around slowly to find the exit of the forest.

Everything was so peaceful and so calm. Maybe that was the danger of it.

Hearing a growl, her brows furrowed and she spun around in an effort to find the source of the noise. She couldn't see through the darkness but the thought that there was something evil and cruel in the same place as her terrified her. Taking in a deep breath she hesitated for a moment and the growl was repeated.

Thundering from the bushes, a large dark creature sped towards her and panic flurried to her mind as she jumped off the stump. Stepping away, she glanced back at the creature just as it leapt into the air. Fire spit around it and the entire thing was enveloped in burning flames and the heat shocked her into waking up.

Bolting up from the bed, she took in a breath before flopping back onto the bed allowing her head to collapse onto the pillow. It seemed to be a recurring dream. Taking a few moments to relax, she allowed her eyes to shut in hopes of thinking away from that horror. It was the same horror as the last time and yet the amount of fear that filled her was just as much as it was the first time. Like it was actually happening each time she remembered it.

Hearing a meow, she rolled over and looked to the door. It was shut and she knew that meant Steve was trying to get in. Climbing out of bed, she opened up her door and the cat barrelled in and jumped onto her bed. Watching the feline, her eyes fell into that of a tired mess. She needed to get back to sleep.

Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes momentarily and allowed the breath to pass through her. All those times as a child when she'd wake up from a nightmare and run straight to her mother...all of them felt so far away. She wished she could do that now but those times went up in smoke. Walking to the bed, she took a seat before reaching out and flicking on the lamp; grabbing onto the Lorenzo de'Medici book on the bedside table, she brought it to her lap and got herself comfortable.

Flicking it open to the bookmarked page, her eyes trailed across the poem. Her mother had read it to her a thousand times because even if they'd got the completely wrong message from it, it was still a message that they loved. That some people live in hate, some live for war, and some live to relax and others to create art and beauty.

Bathing in the flower-filled fields, a seven-year-old Lena reached out for the butterflies which surrounded them. Watching her with a smile Holly, Lena's mother, reached out to grip onto Rob, Lena's father's, hand and she leant back into his chest and in his arms. Reaching out for her book, Holly flipped open the cover and trailed her eyes over the words that marked the pages.

It was a sunny day, a rarity for where they lived, and each flower was graced with light that made it look magnificent. Like everything was a masterpiece and filled with art. There was nothing that could be wrong with the day. It was made better with the laughter of their daughter who so desperately reached out for the gentle creatures.

"HOW every hope of ours is raised in vain,
How spoiled the plans we laid so fair and well,
How ignorance throughout the earth doth reign..." upon hearing her speak, Lena ran over to her mother and threw herself over her parent's shoulders so that she could see what she was reading.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's a poem," her mother mused, "a very important poem," she repeated.