Book by: Cobber

Chapter 23: Don't Go Back

Reads: 534

Preston was on the field again, moving fast.The ground sped by in a blur and like before he caught the glint of armor and weapons rusting in the grass.The sun was high in the sky but he felt no heat.He only felt the wind at his back, urging him onwards, faster and faster towards gates which had just become visible.It was a castle.Before he wasn’t sure but now he could see the elegant spires and the tall walls which curled around and up.In the center was the highest tower capped with a spire of gold.His legs carried him closer and he saw that the castle was falling apart.The stone walls were crumbling and the banners on top of the spires were torn and frayed.They flapped sluggishly in the wind.

The same sense of decay and aging was now visible on the field.The grass was dry and withered, the dead bodies were shriveled yet intact, and the weapons were rusted and dulled.

A figure appeared on the castle’s battlements, motionless, like a statue, and he knew that she was waiting for him.She was the one who had summoned him to wherever this place was.

He was getting closer and he could see that she was wrapped in a blue robe.

She was beautiful and her eyes were brilliant, radiating kindness, a kind word, and sympathy.He tried to run even faster.She could provide him with answers, he knew it.

The gates began to creak open and then he felt the tug.He willed himself forward and the tug came again.

No, he thought, I must make it inside.I'll be safe there, I must make it.The tug came a third time and he stumbled and his speed slowed and he came to a stop. For an instant he stood motionless, locked in a draw with the forces that pulled him forward and that tried to tug him back.He peered into the gates, striving to catch a glimpse of what lay inside the decaying walls.She looked at him and he saw that she understood what was happening.They locked eyes and the tug on Preston became a pull and now he was traveling backwards and the castle was receding.Before she disappeared across the accelerating landscape, her mouth opened and she spoke.Preston didn't hear the words but he thought her lips said.

"Do not go back."

His eyes opened and his body felt like it was still in motion, hurtling backwards from the crumbling, moss-covered walls.He lay there for a moment as the walls of the room seemed to twist and bend under the sensation of movement.Slowly, the room steadied and Preston tried to sit up.His arms buckled and he fell back onto the pillow.

He remembered that he was in a hotel room.He turned over to check on Ryan but she wasn’t there.Preston whipped off his covers and pulled himself over to the side of the bed.Her clothes were also gone.

"Ryan!" he yelled, hoping she was in the bathroom."Ryan are you in there?"No answer.Shit.

"Ryan," he yelled again, not wanting to believe that she was gone.They had fallen asleep beside each other.He remembered her hair spread across the pillow like a silk fan.He pivoted back to the bed and scoured the pillows, looking for some of those black hairs.

He found one and Preston held it up to the light.It was long and glistening and jet black.And as he looked at her he remembered a conversation they had in the car.He was watching the yellow lines go by and Ryan had been talking about the dark spells.

"I hope they’re gone Preston.I hope I never have to wake up alone and in a strange place again."He had smiled at her, confident that leaving Wellow Falls would put an end to her episodes.

"It's over Ryan, the dark spells, being alone it's all over."She nodded but he thought she hadn't looked very convinced.

"Preston, promise me that if the dark spells do come, you'll find me."

"I don't think you have to worry, but of course I promise."He brought the hair to his lips and kissed it.He cursed his own confidence.The dark spells had come and he knew where they had taken Ryan.They had taken her back to Wellow Falls.

He thought about the woman in blue from his dreams.

“Don’t go back.”Is this what she had been referring to?He didn’t know, but what choice did he have?He had made a promise, and besides… he loved her.

Submitted: March 12, 2009

Horror fantasy horror evil forces monarch