I Am Where You Are | Mystical Flowers#1 (Ongoing)

Chapter Thirty

We were finally here. I walked forward, my heart racing. Suddenly, the forest blinked with a flash of light, illuminating everything around it. I stopped, a little startled. I turned back to Archer, hoping for an explanation. He was staring into the forest with an equally perplexed look, so I figured he didn't know what had just happened either. As soon as it had come, the light disappeared and everything was the same again.

"Lisa..", Archer started to say, but I stopped him.

"Shhh..don't speak."

I started walking again and the flash of light came once again. This time it was brighter.
I stopped walking and just like that, the light stopped too.

"I think the light is somehow connected to me. It seems to appear only when I'm moving. What is that supposed to mean?", I asked, turning towards him.
He stared at me for a second, then started to say something when we heard a loud crack from inside the woods. My heart skipped a beat at how loud the sound had been.

Archer turned toward the sound first and I watched his bright eyes start to widen until they looked almost eerie against the dark background.

"What is it?", I whispered.
I hadn't turned around yet. Something told me I wouldn't like what I was about to see. He stared at whatever he was seeing, not looking away or blinking. It was almost like he was in a trance.

I took a deep breath and turned around, ready to take on anything. I also secretly hoped that it wouldn't be anything scary or otherworldly. The woods were still dark and everything looked the same as before. Nothing was different. I looked towards Archer, just to make sure if he was still looking at whatever it was. He was.
I turned back to the woods to see if I would notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Archer..what is it?", I repeated, trying to take his hand.
He lifted his hand at the same time, extending them towards the woods, as if he was reaching out to someone.

"Aerys", he whispered, his voice trembling.
His expression was pained and his eyes welled with tears. I put my hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. It was like he couldn't even see me. He started to walk towards the woods slowly.

"Mom. Dad. Is that really you?", he asked into nothingness. I stared after him, shocked.
I ran up to him, stopping him from moving any further.

"Archer, there is absolutely no one here. It's just me, you and Viva. The forest has you under it's spell."

I looked at him fiercely, gripping his shoulders tightly. He looked at me briefly, but he was soon staring into the woods again.
"Archer, look at me! We don't have time for this. Focus. Snap out of it!", I shouted, my voice echoing across the forest. He didn't even flinch. He simply started walking again.

"Archer, listen to-", I started to say, but stopped.

A lady stood a few feet away from me, her hair flowing behind her. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, thinking I was starting to imagine things. The woman laughed, her eyes sparkling. Her laugh was sweet and melodic, ringing in my ears like music.

"You're not imagining me, sweetheart. I'm right here", she said, spreading her arms. "All around you. This is where I live."
She gestured towards the forest. Then she pointed a slim finger towards her chest, then mine. "And there. I live in each and every one of you", she said with a smile.

"Who are you?", I asked, disbelief quite evident in my face.

She tilted her head to one side, giving me an odd look.
"You don't know who I am?", she asked, like I was stupid to not know her. I shook my head.

"No one tells me anything around here", I muttered under my breath, looking down.
She laughed again, and I looked up at her. I decided that her laugh was starting to annoy me a little.

"Well, it's a shame you don't know me. Whoever had decided not to tell you about me either forgot, or underestimated my power. The second one was probably the biggest mistake of all."
She paused for a second, looking at Archer. I looked at him and realised that he was looking at her too. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her, his eyes starting to brim with tears again.

"What's wrong with him?", I asked her and she laughed, throwing me a triumphant look. I wondered if she was going to laugh like that for everything I was going to say.

"Oh, he's fine. Just taking a little trip down memory-lane. Would you like to see?", she asked me, her eyes glinting. I looked around me. Everything was dark, like it was night.
It shouldn't be dark yet, according to my sense of time. This was so not normal. Then again, nothing around here was normal.

I looked back at the lady, who was watching me with an amused look on her face. She had piercing blue eyes which looked like they could see right through to your soul.
She had a heart shaped face that was pointed at the chin. It made her look a little devilish, but beautiful at the same time. Her lips were of a pale pink colour and thin. She had hair that was startlingly white against the blackness of the woods and flowed behind her as she walked, glowing like little strands of threads.

I noticed that she wore a long white gown that had a low neck which showed off a lot of her smooth, pearly skin.

"What do you want?", I asked, surprised at how firm my voice sounded.

She regarded me carefully, her eyes dancing between different shades of blue.
She tutted and spoke with an edge to her voice.

"You haven't answered my question yet. I'm usually not this nice to people who dare to visit these woods, and I prefer to keep it that way. So, I won't repeat this again. Would you like to see what your boy here is seeing?", she asked, looking at me hard.

Again, I didn't know what to say. Finally, I nodded. She gave me an approving nod.

"Very well. I just hope you don't regret your decision."

I gave her a level look. "And why would I regret it?"

She laughed, her voice echoing across the whole forest. I heard what sounded like the flap of wings in the air and before I knew it, ravens suddenly seemed to appear from everywhere, making a circle around the four of us. They glared at us, snapping their ivory beaks at us. I turned to the lady,who was smiling at the ravens. She'd called them here.
She seemed to read my mind and nodded.

"I would like you to meet my friends, Lisa. As for your question, well...let's just say that my niceness doesn't come for free. It has a price."
Her eyes glowed menacingly.
She spread her arms out, addressing us all. "My friends here haven't had a meal for days. I can assure you that they won't hurt you unless I command them to. Now, why would I do that if you obey me and do exactly as I say?", she said, walking towards me.

I tensed, wishing she would stay where she was. She seemed to sense the tension and smiled at me, but there was a deadliness to her smile.

"Let me get straight to the point. Do what I say, exactly as I say, and you will be free to go. Disobey me, or try to trick me, and you will have to face the worst of your nightmares. Which, for any person, is obviously the fear of death, isn't it?"

She stopped right in front of me, giving me the full force of her piercing blue eyes.

"I'm sure you're sensible enough to do as I've requested, aren't you, Lisa?", she asked, her blue eyes turning a shade darker. The ravens squawked at me, trying to bite at my ankles. I met her gaze with a glare.

"I'm ready", I said, standing my ground.
She lifted my chin lightly with her hand, smiling softly at me.

"Excellent choice. Let's just hope you come out alive, eh?"