Autumn & Ash

Chapter 2 - Flightless

'I've been here now for... far too many years for my questionable sanity to fathom. That my father said to me before his passing, "Only a fool would seek to have his heart broken and his soul tarnished by unrequited affections."  Though it was not a lover of which he spoke. My own mother scorned me from birth and until I first met her I sought her out with hope soaring through my veins that she would welcome me back with open arms!

   A fool I was against my father's will and a fool I'd proclaim no longer to be if I wasn't irrevocably so!

   That first meeting with her was my beginning and my end. The pureness of my father's memory within my blood is infected with the darkness from her evil. These days I fear I have been naive and it has always been deeper than blood and putrefied my very existence, my soul. There are spells of which I cannot recall. Of being in one place then awaking in another. What does my body do during these periods? I would fear for others safety if it wasn't that I am bound to this wretched house and it's grounds!

   Whilst relishing in the air of the wide open from behind the fence of my prison I have noticed more of the shadows. They started visiting from the first eve of my damnation and since more and more often they will come. One was as daring as to come no further than my eyes from this paper but I fled from it into the house. How ironic I should use this building as a sanctuary when it is just as much an abomination!

   The only solace I can offer to myself is to remember my name. My father's name. The only words on this Earth which proclaim me as the good I once was as a whole and overshadow the evil that wars with the good!

  Ash Benson.'

   "Holy..." Layla caught herself before she let loose that profanity. The woman eyed her suspiciously.

   "What happened just then? You closed your eyes then went all pale and stiff." She was standing a little further away than before, Layla noticed.

   "I just got my first glimpse of a memory from this place, that's what!" Layla was a little more than excited at this point and was all but bouncing on her heels with it. What had she discovered? A madman? Although he looked no older than nineteen and perfectly healthy if not a little haunted.

   "Is that it then? Are we all done here because we've got people on standby to start work..."

   "No! That's not it. There's a story to be told here, I can feel it! It's not something I can pick up all at once. There's layers I need to sift through psychically to reveal the whole thing! Just give me a week here. Please." Layla felt desperate, she'd never discovered anything like this. Usually the best it got was a necklace once owned by royalty or a ring given to a secret lover. To be given enough time to uncover this boy's story would be like gold for Layla.

   "Of course not, time is money..." The woman was getting agitated and seemed to be closing down the conversation when her husband walked in, he was a portly man with kind blue eyes and a mop of brown hair. Despite Mrs Fellows obvious sterness it was her husband who made the final decisions, which Layla knew and was relieved he'd walked in at just the right moment.

   "Hello!" He came and gave his wife a peck on the cheek, to which she instantly softened, and wrapped his thick arm around her small waist. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at Layla. "Anything interesting come up?"

   "Actually yes. I was just asking Mrs. Fellows if it would be alright for me to have a week to complete the reading. There's a lot of history here and some interesting memories I would just love to experience and piece together." His excitement for her work was refreshing, she was all too used to reading for people to be challenged with nothing but skepticism. He on the otherhand trusted her abilities fully and treated her as the superior for her links to the past. The same couldn't be said for his wife however, but Layla could deal with that.

   "Why of course!" Mr. Fellows chuckled, Layla smiled. "I can't wait to hear everything you've found out! And please, just call us John and Sarah."

   Layla's smile widened and she shook both their hands and thanked them profusely. "Can I start again tomorrow, say nine?"

   "See you at nine, Layla!" John waved her out of the house. She climbed into her car, 'rusty but trusty' she called it, and drove off satisfied. Nine o'clock couldn't come quick enough. What would she find out about Ash Benson? Was he insane? Was he so tortured and lost he'd turned to hallucinogenics to create a different life only to become addicted and live in a world of shadows and imprisonment?       

  Sleep was going to be a problem. She had no answers, but she knew she was excited to discover them.