Fate of Elements (2 page)

T
he stranger stood there
in the shadows. I could only make out his huge silhouette and glowing, red eyes. Under normal circumstances, fear would have been coursing through my veins, but I’d dreamt of him my whole life. He had never hurt me. There was no reason for him to start now.

I watched as he spoke to the others, and as always, I wished I could understand their language, but I couldn’t. The other man and two women didn’t particularly want to be there, but they had come, and then they were angry. I’d never seen anything so powerful before. Gusts of wind blew so hard, it tried to bend and break the tall pines, but they wouldn’t splinter. I blinked, unbelieving, as the ground heaved and cracked, reaching out from one of the women. Torrents of rain beat down from the rolling grey clouds that would have beaten a stronger man to the ground. Yet, all four of them stood still, as if they couldn’t feel it.

As quickly as the storm had started, it stopped, and the three of them left my dream man alone. Slowly, I walked toward him. It wasn’t fear that faltered my steps, it was the fact that I wanted him so badly; a man I had never fully seen nor spoken to. Over the years, I’d seen him both protect and destroy with his fire. The same fire which he now had burning in the palm of his hand. The bright flames sensuously danced like an old partner. There was something sad and comforting about it. I reached my hand out and touched it, jumping back when the flames leapt in his hand, shooting up toward the darkened sky.

Instantly, he was on guard, his body tense as he spun, searching for an enemy. One that wasn’t there – because it was me, and I’d never hurt him. As he shot flames out of his fingers, lighting up the meadow, one of those flames hit me, immediately engulfing me. It felt warm and comforting as his fire danced over my body, warming me from within. I raised my hand and watched as his fire flowed across my skin, and the beauty of it brought tears to my eyes. My dream man’s power, both dangerous and exciting, intoxicated me. His familiar essence pulled me in. I knew he saw me, too, because he froze and did not look away. We took a step toward each other, reaching out before he faded away.

K
nock
, knock, knock
.

I jumped in my seat, so engrossed in the book I was reading it took me a minute to figure out someone had knocked at my door. Looking at the clock, I saw I still had a half an hour before I had to leave for work. I was torn between ignoring the knock and continuing to read or answering it. Curiosity got the better of me, and I went over to open the door.

“Hello, dearie,” said Mrs. Miller, my elderly neighbor. She stood there, all five feet of her, grey hair sticking out at odd angles. “I was out late last night playing bingo, and I wasn’t able to drop this off for you.” She shoved an express envelope into my hands. “Looks important. I didn’t want to leave it on your doorstep.” She peered over the edge of it and tapped the return address. “See, it says
Esquire,
that means it’s from a lawyer. Do you know what it’s about? Look, they even spelled your name right, Raina Owens. Must be real official.”

I had no idea why a lawyer from South Carolina would be contacting me. “I don’t know, but thank you for bringing it over to me.” I tried to close the door.

“I hope it’s not any bad news, or that you’re in trouble for something. Although, I guess they’d just send the cops over. Besides, you’re too quiet to cause problems.” She shook her head at me. Over the years she’d been trying to, what she called, ‘loosen me up.’ I think she thought I was a lost cause.

“Ummm, thank you, I think. If I need anything I’ll let you know. Thank you, Mrs. Miller.” I finally succeed in closing the door and walked over to the kitchen table. I sat down looking at the envelope as if it were some kind of snake, ready to strike.

My life had been pretty uneventful up to this point. I preferred to live my adventures between the pages of a book. I had a boring job, doing the same thing, day in and day out in a plain, beige office. I lived on a quiet street, in a small community of townhomes in the suburbs of Chicago. Even though I was only less than an hour from one of the most interesting cities in the world, I never ventured into the city. If what I needed wasn’t within twenty miles of my home, or I couldn’t order it online, I didn’t need it.

I had one of those feelings, deep in my gut, that nothing would ever be the same after I opened this envelope. Vaguely, I wondered if I had been reading too many mystery novels lately. I took a deep breath and pulled the tab, dumping it over and shaking it until a few sheets of paper fell out.

My fingers shook and the lines blurred as I attempted to understand the words telling me I had an uncle I never knew, Charlie Owens, who had died, and I had somehow inherited his entire estate somewhere in South Carolina.

The words on the cover letter swam in front of me as I tried to make sense of it all. Searching through the pages, I saw a list of assets. It seemed like I’d be able to quit my job and move there, never having to work again. I could live in his house, which came with a fully stocked library in it. This was a dream come true.

My stomach clenched at the thought of actually quitting my job, selling my townhome, and moving hundreds of miles away to somewhere new. My breathing became shallow, and I had to put my head between my knees. Looking at my shelves of books while upside down made me wonder about seeing things differently. Yes, it would all be a challenge, but shouldn’t I have an adventure? Sure, I’m living in the same town I grew up in, even after my ultra-overprotective, conservative parents died. I didn’t spread my wings and fly away. Reading about adventurous people was much easier than actually taking the risks myself. I knew I learned that from my parents who always wanted to play it safe. No one had died from reading a book. I could do all the things I never even allowed myself to dream of doing in the novels I spent hours reading.

I jumped for the second time this morning as one of my alarm clocks went off, letting me know it was time to go. I wondered if I was even going to survive long enough to set foot in my uncle’s house.

I knew myself, and I could sit here for the next week going over and over every single pro and con for moving, but right now I needed to get to work. I had responsibilities no matter what that letter said. I had to logically go through all the steps and focus on something else while the information contained in that one, life-changing envelope seeped into my brain.

This is where my routine office job would come in handy. I’d be able to let my brain work on autopilot, calculating the endless numbers while my subconscious would be able to come to the decision I was too scared to commit to.

A
s I came
around the last wooded bend in the rural country road before arriving at my uncle’s house, my stomach fluttered. This was the beginning of my grand adventure! I laughed at myself. It felt amazing to be able to do something I love with my life, even if it was something as simple as reading.

With the sun setting, the sky was on fire behind the crisp white, old Victorian house. I knew my gut feeling was right; everything would change because I had finally found my home. I swore I could hear the click as my future unlocked in front of me. I almost ran off the road gazing at the beautiful house that was now all mine. With shaking hands, I put the car in park and simply sat there for a moment, trying to calm my nerves and get my breathing under control. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this excited about something other than a new shipment of books.

I wanted to act like a kid and run around the house, investigating everything at once. Instead, I carefully opened the car door and slid out from behind the wheel, taking the time to retrieve my purse before focusing on the front door as I walked up the brick pavers. With no lights on in the home, and sunlight fading fast, I couldn’t clearly make out the crest on the transom window above the door, but the thought of it possibly being original to the house excited me.

I was somewhat disappointed that the ornate old wooden door had a modern lockset on it. Running my hand over the carving, I tried to make out what the pattern was, but since it was in the shadows, I couldn’t. Sighing, I slid the key in the lock and heard the whisper of the tumblers catching. Fancifully, I wondered what it was trying to tell me, a welcoming or a warning. I shook my head, laughing at myself. I was listening to the house like a heroine from one of my novels… as if it were alive!

Everything in my being since I had read the letter from the lawyer had awakened. Pure joy burst from me. I wasn’t meant to be another number, an accounts payable specialist in large corporate America. I was meant to be so much more, and now I had the time and money to figure out exactly what I was supposed to do with my life.

I
was amazed
when I woke up the next morning. It had been a dreamless night. Typically my nights were filled with dreams. There were days I’d wake up exhausted from them. I stretched and looked out of the window and gasped at the morning sunrise. The sun was breaking the horizon, and I felt like for a moment I could see the fire burning along its surface. I remembered the sunset from the night before and thought it was a good omen. This was my place. This was where I belonged.

The master bedroom was at the back of the house on the second floor, and the view was amazing. From the front of the house you wouldn’t know it sat so high on the hillside. Seeing the vast expanse of the forest laid out in from of me wasn’t as isolating as I thought it might be. Being surrounded by so much nature made me feel whole. I never realized how much I craved the solitude of the countryside until I set foot in this house. Something inside of me hoped the feeling never went away.

Grabbing a sweater, I went down and made myself a quick cup of coffee before wandering out the backdoor off of the kitchen. This property came with one hundred acres and butted up to a national forest. I knew better than to go too far from the house, but I thought I could hear running water just down the hill. Carefully, I walked down, a smile on my face as the crisp, cool air caressed my cheeks. Taking in a deep breath, the smell of coffee and forest mingled together, making me happy.

I had thought it was a gentle decent to the bottom, but I was wrong. I’d been walking for about ten minutes when there was a sudden ten-foot drop off. Down below, a small river wove its way across my property. I had a moment of worry that I was standing on a weak overhang and could end up toppling into the water below, but then I noticed the tall trees right next to me, and I knew it could support my weight if they were still standing.

I sat down, enjoying nature and sipping my coffee. I thought about what I’d be doing if I was back at my job. I didn’t have to think that hard. I knew what I would be doing; the same thing I always did, day in and day out, surrounded by the same fake people, counting down the minutes until I could leave and pick up my next book to read. Living each day over and over, never truly happy, just simply existing. I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. This was so much better. I couldn’t wait to get started with my new life. First things first, there was still so much to discover about the house.

I stood up and walked back up the hill and inside. I started searching for what I knew had to be there, the most important thing to me. Sure enough, on the other side of the house on the first floor, were two oversized dark walnut doors leading to the library. I had learned from the will that my uncle was an avid reader and had an extensive library. I couldn’t wait to go through every single book he had. I was excited about the prospect of finding new books to read.

As I threw the doors open, I felt lightheaded and gripped the doorknob tightly with my hand, leaning against it for support. It was better than I could have ever imagined. A set of two story windows looked out upon the forest and gave light to the room. A spiral staircase led to a small balcony which ran round the whole area. There were dark wooden bookcases to match the doors leading into the library, but the shelves had ornate carvings along each unit – floor to ceiling on both the upper and lower levels of the library. An ancient, heavy desk filled the center of the room. There was plenty of workspace to spread books about for doing research. A stone fireplace took up one corner of the room. The dark brown leather couch facing it called to me to grab a book and curl up to read for the day.

I sank to my knees in awe, trying to fathom the amount of beautiful books in my library. I knew I could spend years in here; looking, reading, touching, and smelling all of these age-old treasurers.

When I began to think clearly again, I started a tour of the library. I needed to decipher how he organized it. I started on the same wall as the fireplace, stopping in front of it to look at the carving in the stone mantel piece.

The key to unlocking your dreams is within you.

There was an old fashioned skeleton key carved above the quote. This key was a little different because there was an actual skull at the end of it. I wondered what it meant. Obviously there was the literal translation, with the key right there, but could there be some other more metaphysical meaning? Shrugging, I continued on, gently running my hands over the spines of the books as I read the titles and authors to myself. I stopped when I got to the window overlooking his - I shook my head - I mean,
my
property. From there, I could see the river below and knew immediately I wanted to put a chair directly in the sun rays drifting lightly into the room. I could sit and look out on the beauty of nature while I read.

I continued to the other side, knowing I was taking longer than I should, as there were still so many other parts of the house to familiarize myself with, but I couldn’t stop. It was going to take me awhile to get used to the fact I didn’t have to answer to anyone about my time. After taking a break for lunch, I stepped onto the balcony, starting with the bookshelves above the entrance door, moving around to the chimney. I frowned as I traced the faded letters carved into the stone, trying to make out what they said. Aimsir. What did that mean? What was Aimsir? I made a mental note to see if I could find out what that word meant.

It seemed like my uncle had more contemporary books up here because there were a lot I had read myself. I wasn’t sure at this point how I was going to be able to incorporate my library with his, or if there was any way to expand because there didn’t seem to be a lot of extra room as it was.

I had almost gone all the way around when I noticed something strange. It was almost like there was an optical illusion with the shelves. I took another step closer to the closest bookshelf and sure enough, the case behind the front one was slightly offset. They weren’t flush together like every other case in the room. I hadn’t noticed from below, but there actually was a small, dark hallway, or room, something off to the side, hidden. Taking my phone out of my back pocket, I turned the flashlight on and noticed I was right, it was a hallway. Without a second thought, I entered the unknown.