Forbidden Enchantment (Book One)

Forbidden Enchantment: Chapter 26

The shortness is pathetic, but I wanted to post at least something to show that I haven't gone completely AWOL. It took me a while to realise why I drew a blank whenever I opened up my word: I was taking the wrong angle with the person you will meet in this chapter :P I've figured it out now, and I did a plan for the next part of the story so I know what to write about now so the next upload shouldn't take SO long. 

“Heather!” the voice called out, just on cue. Clenching my fists, I stayed put, forcing myself not to turn around.

A hand landed on my shoulder and flipped me around. Again, I planned to keep my eyes shut, a show of pathetic defiance, even as it was.

“Heather, look at me”, another voice spoke this time; one I had not heard for years. My heart stopped for a moment, before beginning to pound again. I had been positive that I would never hear that voice again. Could it really be...? Well, there was only one way to find out.

 26.

I peeked an eye open first, as a precaution. Who I saw was a person I had thought dead for the better part of my life. This couldn’t be him, could it? Both eyes as wide as footballs, I stared into the unforgiving eyes of my father.

The man I had seen dead with my own eyes.

~

After the paramedics and rescue workers had found my hunched down in a cluster of debris, nursing my swollen ankle, I had been brought the hospital – much like the other passengers of the flight, as well as those misfortunate enough to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A male nurse whose name I forgot the second he had told me looked after my wounds, and calling the doctor to wrap my ankle in a cast. You’re one of the lucky ones, he said. Others didn’t make it.

I had asked him for my mother and father but neither the doctor nor the nurse had been able to help me. They said that there were too many people at the hospital, that they couldn’t keep track of all of them. I gave the nurse their names though, and he brought me to the secretary to see if she could help. She couldn’t.

Call it what you want – fate, luck, chance, but as soon as I turned around to face the nurse, a gurney was brought in, and on it lay my father, his face and body mauled with red, hot scars, unmoving. I had screamed, running over to him, calling his name, waiting; waiting for the response that never came even when I tried to convince myself that he was only sleeping. He wasn’t waking up at all, and when I turned to the nurse to ask him, he wouldn’t meet my eyes.

He took me away then, even when I cried and asked to be brought back. Even when I thrashed around so much that he had to lift me up in his arms and take me away. He told me that my father had moved on to a better place, somewhere much better for him. He told me he had gone up to God, in heaven, but I could not bring myself to believe him. Then why did I see him? I had asked him, but when he answered me with talk about things I did not understand, I shut him away and starting crying again, this time asking for my mother.

~

That red face, with crusts of black, that face that was mangled, broken, seemingly without repair, was somehow looking me straight in the eye now. It was impossible – it should have been impossible. That person was dead, yet my mother.... she was dead yet I could still speak with her here, in Link. Things were beginning to click into place now, yet they were not making any sense. My Dad was with Aiden. My parent was standing alongside the one person I could say I truly hated. All those other people – the foster parents, those kids at school – I could say I hated them for all the pain they caused me, but it had never been true. Not since these past few days when I learnt what hate truly was. It was just as powerful as love.

“Dad..?” I spoke, unsure of myself, unable to think of any other way to break the silence.

“Yes, honey, it’d me”, he said, pulling me into his arms. Apprehensively, I brought my arms around him, not too sure as what to do, somehow more confused than relieved. I was probably the only person in the world who didn’t feel immense joy after seeing her supposed ‘dead’ father after fourteen years. He seemed to sense my stillness and pulled back, a concerning look on his face.... but for some reason I thought it seemed a little too sincere, almost as if he were faking it. But then why would he be doing that; shouldn’t he be happy to see me?

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, his grip never leaving my arms. I wanted to tell him to stop, that it uncomfortable, but I couldn’t find my voice. I just shook my head, but as I did, I caught Aiden’s eyes and saw that he had a frown on his face. But the second his eyes met mine, his frown turned into a smirk. What? Narrowing my eyes, I pulled myself away from my father’s hold with some resistance and took a cautious step back.  I needed some space to figure this whole situation out, minus the pressure from being only a few inches away from him.

“Why are you here?” I blurted the first thing that came to mind, unknowing of what it was that I should have been saying.

He didn’t seem to want to answer my question, as if this was something that he wanted to leave until last. It was so weird – he seemed so easy to read, almost too easy. His thoughts were obvious to me, different to others’, who I’d have to guess based on actions. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what his response would be.

His arms stiffened, his posture became straight. “I’m here because I need you to do something for me, but not only me, it’s for the benefit of everyone”.

Lies.

The word wisped through the air, just like a light little feather that you may not always see blowing through a gust of wind. But it would always be there, it just depended if you paid enough attention to see it.

“What is that, exactly?” I asked, arms crossed, already knowing that I wouldn’t like to hear.

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©Munni101