The Traveler

Chapter 1: Brother.

The town was darker than I remembered it to be. Shadows lurked in every corner of every street as snow fell in twinkling, white flurries that obscured my vision. It was as intimidating as it was beautiful, yet I felt no fear, for this town was the town I was raised in, and I was returning to visit my brother, Daniel. Growing up, our lives had been easy, wonderful even, but something about him always seemed... off. It's why I would only visit once a year to see him. He scared me, and almost every time I saw him I thought he was going to do something crazy. He was family though, and family always came first. At least, that's what I first thought......

It was mid-day when I arrived at Daniel's house. He wasn't home when I got there and I wondered why for a short while. Perhaps he was visiting a neighbor, or even grocery shopping, but why he would do that when he knew I was coming was odd. My thoughts on the matter left as quickly as they had come though, for the snow was starting to set and the sky was getting darker with every passing moment. I glanced around the porch for a moment before spotting a key by the door. He must have known that I'd get there before he returned, so I grabbed the key to unlock the door.

The house itself was a beautiful manor. The exterior stones and bricks seamlessly blended together with the dark oak, and the interior of the manor was just as breathtaking. If I had been any other woman I would have been envious, but I was used to such luxuries. I closed the door behind me, placed the key on a counter, and made my way up the stairs to the guest room in which I would be residing during my visit. I entered the guest room, but didn't have time to take in the beauty of it, for I fell asleep the instant I decided to lay down on the four-poster bed.

When I awoke the next morning, something felt off. The morning air was stiff and colder than it should have been, seeing as winter had only just begun. I shook off the odd feeling I had before making my way down the stairs. Reaching the bottom step, I glanced around and spotted my brother in the kitchen, making tea.

"Daniel?"

"Ah Alex how are you? Did you sleep well?" he said handing me a mug of tea. I took a sip and smiled.

"Yes, I slept well last night. You?"

"Oh never mind me, I just want to know how my little sister is doing. It's been so long." Daniel's face reflected my feelings of wistful sadness, remembering days gone by. Oh how I missed the days of us being together...

We stayed in the kitchen for a while longer, content with just being in each other's company. Noon, however, quickly came, so Daniel and I were off to the town. Daniel lived just outside of town, so to get anything he'd have to ride for an hour or so, but that didn't bother me. I would have walked for hours just to see my old town again, to relive happy memories of my past, to experience the nostalgia of returning to one's hometown.

When we arrived in town, I quickly noticed everyone staring at us, as if we were criminals to be feared, which was confusing to me.

"Daniel?" I whispered as we walked through the snow-covered streets.

"Yes Alex?"

"Why are they staring at us? What have you done?" I asked warily.

"Nothing, my dear sister, I swear." His words were cheerful, and he smiled widely as he uttered them, as if the strange looks he received from the townspeople pleased him. "To answer your other question, they're staring at us because I hold a lot of power here. Additionally, they don't know you, so they believe that you to be trouble or something like that." I nodded at the answers he gave, though I wasn't completely reassured, for something felt off.

After that we both walked silently for a few minutes, Daniel stopped in front of a beautiful manor and spoke again.

"Here it is sister. The thing that kept me here all night, our old home." I gave him a look of confusion as I glanced at the manor. "Oh come now. Don't tell me you've forgotten our family home?" Daniel asked with a stern tone, his eyebrows narrowing slightly.

"Of course not, Daniel. How could I?" I told him, a smile creeping onto my face as I began to recognize the building. "I remember when we used to play in father's room for hours." Daniel smiled and produced a key. He unlocked the front door and pushed it open, standing aside to usher me in. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the sight of my old family home. I had so many memories tied to this place, good and bad. I took a step forward and glanced around for my brother, but he had already disappeared. Frowning, I looked around again, but could not find him.

"Alex!" I heard Daniel yell from some room in the manor. I quickly ran around the manor, trying to locate him, before I stumbled into the room he currently resided in.

"What? What is it, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly, trying to catch my breath.

"Oh, nothing is wrong. I just want to show you something that I found last night." Daniel said calmly. I frowned slightly and glanced down at an object in his hands. It was the wooden sword I had as a kid. I never thought I'd see it again.

"How did you find this?" I asked curiously, the frown still on my face.

"Like I said earlier, I was here all night." Daniel responded with a stern tone that reminded me of our childhood. "But that's not all I wanted to show you." He opened a chest on the ground and gestured towards it. "Look inside, there is something else."

I looked at him warily before looking down into the chest, only to find something that I had previously believed to be gone.

No that wasn't true, it was something I had wished was gone...