Faith in Fate

CHAPTER 6

"Where are we going?" I asked her after quite sometime. We've been walking down a rocky path covered in dried leaves. It looks like this track has not been use for a while. I'm starting to feel a little squeamish.

"Will you please relax? I'm not gonna do anything to you." She told me while laughing softly.

"Okay.. but where are we really going?"

"There's something else I want to show you. You'll see." She said as she took a turn to a more dense path.

"You're not going to deliver me to a serial killer right?"

She looked at me for a moment and then she started laughing. Like a real laugh. The ones that reaches your eyes. I couldn't help but just stare at her. Her eyes crinkle a little. I also noticed that she got dimples right above her cheekbones when she laughs.

"Hahaha.. Rach, a serial killer? Seriously?"

"What? This is exactly how you get killed in the serial killer documentaries that I watched. Secluded road.. surrounded by trees and no other people in sight. Thats a formula for a serial killer."

"Hahaha.. you watched too much of these documentaries. But to make you feel at ease, I'm not a serial killer nor delivering you to one." She said still laughing slightly.

"Then can you please tell me where we are going?"

"Oh come on Rach.. where is the fun in that? Live a little will you? We are almost there anyway."

After a few minutes of walking through the dense track, it opened to a wider dirty road. I can't see where it leads but it looks like it's sloping uphill.

"Come on." I followed her through the small wooden gate.

"Uhhhh.. Kizzy...? Are you sure about this? The sign says no trespassing." I point to the tarpaulin hanging by the fence.

"Don't worry about it, its fine. Follow me." She said and just shrugs. I hesitated for a moment but she's already walking towards the path. Then I realized I don't want to be left alone in the middle of nowhere so I run to catch up with her but stayed a few steps behind her.

"Do you come here often?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I used to. Before I moved to France."

"Can I ask why you moved to France?"

"Uhm.. I just thought it was time to move on with my life and take a leap so I did." She answered.

It was obvious that she didn't want to elaborate on that so I decided not to pry any further but I'm not gonna lie, it only made me even more curious about it.

I was about to ask her something else but I was stunned when I looked up. The path opens up to a huge fire tree that is currently in bloom. Its red flowers are dancing with the wind. The ground beneath the tree was covered with fallen leaves and flowers from the tree. Beside it is a light house with its body painted in white and the crown in black.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?"

"Can we?!" I asked excitedly.

"Of course, come!"

I followed her through the wooden door beneath the light house. The interior of the light house is also painted in white but the spiral stairs leading to the viewing deck is painted in black. Rays of sunlight are pouring down from the glass roof over the stairs. At our right is another wooden door.

"Whats that door for?" I asked, generally curious.

"Ahh.. that door leads to a small quarters. This light house used be owned by the military, that room used to serve as their shelter, but when the war ended this light house mostly just use to navigate the sea."

"Ooohhh.. such a rich history. I wonder what kind of stories it witnessed over the years."

"I'm sure its got a lot to tell." She said smiling brightly under the cascading beams of sunlight.

"Come on, lets go upstairs."

I followed her up on the spiral stairs.

"WOOOOOW.. " I walked slowly towards the railings and as I come closer, I can see the entire beach shoreline. You can even see the villa from here though its quite far. I closed my eyes to savor the feeling of the cool breeze touching my skin and whispering through my ears.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She continued.

"Its breathtaking." I can't help but smile and appreciate the view.

"You said you have a lot of things in your mind well this is where I go when I want to clear my head." Kizzy said now standing beside me.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

"How did you discover this place?" I asked her.

"Hmm.. you can actually see this light house from my bedroom window. Though its far from the villa, this is the view from my bedroom everyday when I wake up. I always wonder what it feels like to be up here. Every waking day of my life, every season, I watched this tower just standing still, bravely facing the storms, come what may, beaming her lights over the ocean, all alone as if its wanting to be be noticed or maybe its waiting for something. Then one day, I had this huge fight with mom and dad over a silly thing. So in act of rebelliousness I sneaked out of my window and start walking to this lighthouse. It created a whole fiasco at the villa though." She stopped for a moment and look at me.

"I'm not over sharing am I?" She asked me.

"No! No no, of course not, I'd love to hear your story." She smiled at me when I said that. I think my heart skipped a beat. With the sun light dancing in her eyes, she looks even more stunning.

"Okay.. so.. when I got here, I immediately fall in love with the view. I lost track of time just staring at the ocean and exploring this place but what I didn't know is that the whole villa was already looking for me. I wasn't even aware that I'm causing a massive search and rescue. They eventually found me tho. Some locals saw me on my way up here so they were the ones that probably told them that I went this way."

"Wait. So how old were you when this happened?" I interrupted.

"I was 12."

I thought of what was I doing when I was twelve. I couldn't even cross the street on my own. Its brave of her to actually be on her own at that age.

"Isn't that a little too young to be by yourself? I mean.. weren't you scared?" I asked.

"A little.. but I was also driven by my anger towards my parents so I didn't waver."

"Thats so brave and reckless at the same time.."

"Hmm.. It was..anyway, where was I? Oh.. ah.. When they found me, I saw my dad was crying. He told me that they were looking for me the entire day and that they thought I got kidnap or worst. I immediately felt bad for my actions and apologized to them. I told him that I was just mad and wanted to clear my head. I think he felt sorry when I said that. He said he'd make it up to me and we went home after that."

"Woow. So you really are little miss adventurous back then huh? Although.. now that I think of it.. it could have been a totally different scenario. Like what if you got hurt for real?"

"Naah..not in this place. The locals have a very strong sense of community around here. I wouldn't dare to leave if I didn't thought its safe for me to wander on my own."

"Well I'm glad you were safe."

"It was a long time ago but thank you. Oh! My dad renovated this tower. Its his way of saying sorry. He said he made this place safer for whenever I feel like coming here again. So since then its been my go to place whenever I want to clear my mind or just let time pass by."

"Thats very sweet of him. But now I get it. That's why you ignore the sign at the fence. This land is owned by your family, isn't it?"

"Yes." She said hiding her face away. She's probably too shy to admit it.

"Well.. I'm just glad that I'm not breaking any law as of the moment."

She let out a little laugh.

"You never fail to amuse me."