The portal

'Tap,tap,tap' I heard the sound of a man's footsteps gradually come closer and closer until they were a few foot away from my bedroom.

The man opens the door and comes into my dark, eerie room. He shuts it behind himself.

I sit bolt upright, I hardly notice the man, it is if I am in a dream.

'Hello, Cecily. I am sorry for this intrusion, I am your uncle Stefan from Bulgaria.' The man in his very distinctive Bulgarian accent.

I turn on my light to get a better view of the man. He is very tall, well over 6 foot perhaps even 6 foot 7. He has dark brown hair, dark brown eyes that sparkle in the candle light, a hint of a beard growing on his chin.

'I am sorry for being so forward but you need to go with me immediately. It is very important. Your mother and father have been kidnapped,the same will happen to you if you do not come with me.'

'My parents never told me about a Bulgarian uncle. I didn't even think I had an uncle!' I reply calmly.

'There is a very..important reason they did not tell you. We need to go,noww!' He shouts,( he is getting very anxious)

BANG,CRASH,BOOM,CLANG!

I heard an awful noise and to my horror I saw smoke surround my bedroom and then a fire a massive fire t surrounds my whole house engulfing everything, showing no mercy....

• • •

I wake up my eyes are filled with puss I can hardly see a thing. I am in a dark room with a long burgundy sofa across the back corner,there is a lamp in the corner of the room the only light in the room it casts creepy shadows on the walls..

A woman enters the room, a fairly small woman with dark black hair, light brown eyes and a raged blue dress.

The woman shouts something in language I don't even try to understand. I guess it must be about me.

The woman stares me in the eyes, her eyes have something..scary about them. Her gaze doesn't wander from my eyes, she looks like she is trying to look into my mind.

'Helloo Cecciluy.' The woman says with a distinctive Bulgarian accent.

'Hello. Where am I? Where is my uncle?' I say to the mysterious woman

'You my deare are in Vidin in Bulgariaa. You're uncle has gone out,he has some..business.to attend to. I will tell you about what happened in England, you must be quite confused you have been in a coma for 2 1/2 months'

'How did I get here? The last thing I remember was a Big Bang and there was..smoke and then a fire started. I can't remember anything else. What happened that night, why am I really here? What happened to my grandma is she alright?'

' Some bad people, the people who kidnapped your parents set your house on fire. They were planning on kidnapping you and killing your uncle but their plan didn't go quite right. Your uncle had been warned of this, which is why he came to save you. Your grandma has been taken somewhere safe, I can't tell you where but you will see her very soon'

My head is unbearable at at this point, I have a terrible migraine, everything the woman had said is spinning around my head trying to make sense of my situation. I feel like I am going to collapse, no not again this is not going to happen. I ask the woman for some water and she walks out of the tent to get my water.

I feel like I am in an alternate universe none of this feels real to me, I feel as if I am in a dream. It feels like I am actually in an adventure book, like the sort if adventure books I used to love reading.

I decide to explore the place, I am quite a curious person. It's just my nature I can't help it.

I slowly get out if the long red sofa I have sitting on, it has red and gold cushions placed carefully on it, all the cushions have the same flowery pattern. The cushions look old, they seem to have black edges around the piping on the cushion, I don't think this is part of the design. It seems the cushion has been through a fair few fires.

Also in the room is a long wooden table with a burgundy velvet table cloth on it, on the table are a few sets of cards, a charm bracelet, a pearl necklace, a sort of voodoo doll and a fairly new charm bracelet.It's charms are glistening in the small bit of sunlight which is

peeping through the caravan.

It seems this woman is quite accustomed with magic and the depths of the unknown. I know that some of her items are used for foretelling, cursing and other branches of magic.

I pick up the charm bracelet, charm bracelets have always interested me. The way it sparkles in the sunlight,the different charms and the different stories the owner will tell about each of them.

'Put it down, I ave someone to seee yo' the woman says gruffly.

I put the bracelet back where I found it and I cautiously follow her, not knowing where or what she may be leading me to.

The woman leads me across the gypsy site, it is a fairly small one. It has approximately 10 or 20 caravan's. The gypsy site seems to have been built on a small field near the edge of a dark, gloomy forest.I have seen that forest before I think to myself, I have.Somewhere,but when? It seems familiar, I somehow remember being here with men in black cloaks, when I was a small girl.

I look over the picture of the wood, time and time again, each time pondering how and when I was in this wood.

I jump when I hear the sound of a man'a voice, the man is the same man I saw in my vision of the forest. In the vision he smiles at me strangely.

I don't think I can trust this man. I don't think I can trust anyone here..

• • •

'Helloo child. I haven't seen you since you were a little girl! How you have changed. You have your fathers height and dark brown eyes and your mothers nose and good looks of course. I suppose I will have to explain the situation...to you.'

'Hello, ' I returned politely. ' What situation do you mean? What is going on?'

The raven headed woman and the tall man give each other a glancing look. Neither of them want to tell me the truth... The truth is all I want to know. The truth is what I have been waiting for. All my life could have been a lie, a trick. I don't know what to think anymore, I don't know what to believe.