ALL IN THE HEAD 1

CASTLE ISLAND

'Hey, you're home early' says Pedro as he greets his beautiful fiancée with a brief kiss on the lips the very moment she comes through the door.

'Yeah, got a half day I wasn't expecting' responds Monica with a smile. 'You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now ... would you?'

'What? Who me? Nah ... not at all, c'mon, let's go?'

'Go? Where? ... I only just got in.'

'Don't worry about that, bags are packed and we're ready to roll.'

'Roll where? You know we still have so much so organize, only sixteen days to go, you haven't forgotten, have you?'

'Of course not, my dear, and this is why I have a little surprise for you ... right now.'

'Pedro ... I know you mean well, but we can't afford the time to take a little surprise. There is way too much still to sort out.'

'Like I said, don't worry. Our moms and your sister have things well in hand. They can handle a couple of days without us.'

'Couple of days? Pedro, we ... we ...'

'We have our phones too, if they need anything, we are just a quick call away.'

'Alright, you got me. So where are we going?'

'It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now, would it?'

It may only be a three-hour drive and a ninety-minute ferry trip away, so it is quite surprising that Monica never previously found the time to go visit a place known as Castle Island. It is somewhere she had longed to visit ever since she first heard the stories as a young girl. For Castle Island is no ordinary place, it is one filled with wonder and mystery.

Monica had, as a child, heard the pleasant versions of the White Lady stories. It was only as she got older, a fair bit older, that she would discover the darker side of those stories. Maybe it was these darker stories that prevented her from visiting Castle Island though those exact reasons are maybe even a mystery to her with why a trip have been put off so indefinitely for surely those stories were only stories and something which could not be considered as being in any way real.

Now, ready, or not, Monica was on her way to Castle Island. Not only would she come closer to those White Lady stories, but she would also become one of them too and a big part of one at that. There would be nothing pleasant of course, about such a thing but trust Monica to find darkness, intentionally or otherwise. What Monica and Pedro were heading towards was something much, much darker than any passed down story could be, so much so that it would put a lot more than just their wedding in jeopardy.

Having yet to disclose the destination of the brief trip away, Pedro took charge of the driving. Despite the lack of information, it didn't take long for Monica to hazard a correct guess, exactly as to where she was on her way to and almost as soon as the journey began a quiet hush came over her.

The afternoon was a bright and warm one with a medium strength cool breeze flowing and Monica enjoyed that breeze while having the passenger side window wound all the way down. That breeze caught her long dark brown hair and aided the arrival of a moment of being able to lose herself to a daydream. She was so lost in her daydream that the car journey came to pass, and it most definitely did not feel like a three-hour trip.

It may be a strange thing to suggest, though as the ferry made its way to the island, it would feel as if the waters could sense something. The waters may be carrying something or someone to where he or she may truly belong. It may also be down to the fact that a wedding was in the works, or perhaps down to the upcoming destination and all that surrounds it, or even down to something else, but Monica could not help herself, she just had to wear a white dress and she just had to head out onto the deck and watch those very waters she travelled upon.