Beware [COMPLETED]

Epilogue

A ripple of cool air came in through the open window of the room and swayed the curtains. The morning light brightened the white sheets on the bed and reflected against the polished surface of the wardrobe. The pages of the open diary on the bedside table fluttered and stopped at the middle- a folded piece of paper resting between the pages.

Outside, the melodious chirping of birds could be clearly heard as it got carried around by the wind through the air. The bright green leaves glistened due to the dewdrops and hid the depth of the forest behind them and deep within.

The calm was suddenly interrupted when the door of the room opened. A twenty-six year old Autumn walked inside with a small content smile planted on her lips. Her face mirrored serenity and her brown eyes shone brighter than before. She made her way to the bed and flopped down on it.

For a moment, she looked out of the window, taking in the peaceful nature. Things had changed a lot in the past year and a half; they had changed for the better. As Autumn brought her gaze away from the scenery, she noticed the folded paper on top of the open diary. She frowned- painful memories coming back to her mind. Memories that had branded themselves like a hot branding iron in her mind and soul. It was hard to look at anything without being reminded of the past that held suffering. But Autumn tried her best to think of her better moments as her strength. Something that would make her feel good and relieved that everything was over. Not something that would make her feel weak and helpless.

After pausing for a beat, she picked up the paper and unfolded it. Inside, she saw the familiar calligraphic writing and she oddly felt nostalgic. She had always admired the writing since the first time she had seen it in the diary in the library. The diary she had found on her first day in the mansion.

Autumn looked at the text, and started reading it.

-

My dear Autumn,

I hope you are happy as you read this letter. I do not think I would be able to forgive myself if you end up hurt or unhappy again. It was torture for me to see you go through everything and not be able to do enough to help you. And I really hope that you forgive me.

There are a lot of things that I would like to say, first of which is that I wish I was here to meet you. You have such a pure heart and loyal personality just like my Grace and I wish I had met you under different circumstances. Most of my life I have been devastated and my soul has been tortured. You grandmother ruined me by turning my own son against me and I felt like I had lost everything. I could not have the fatherly bond with him and it made me feel like there was nothing worth living my life for. Another part of me was gone.

This was until I came to know about you. You were such a lovely child when I first saw you, and the more you grew up, the more I wanted to be in your life. I always watched you from afar and admired you. My life was ending. Time was passing by and I did not have enough of it to wait until you turned old enough to be independent. Your father would never have let you meet me unless you were old enough to be on your own.

This was when I wrote a will. I had already decided that I would give everything to you, but knowing that I was going to die anytime now, I had to write it. I thought about it hard and for a while I wanted to add other people to it, but I decided against it. I knew you enough by now to know that you will handle that on your own correctly. I am just glad that you found it along with everything else.

Dear, I am extremely sorry because I let you get severely hurt and harmed. It was never my intention to let you be in pain, but you have to trust me when I say that I also had to save your friends. I was not strong enough to keep everyone completely out of trouble, but I had the strength to keep you all alive. I had to keep everyone living. I had to.