Hidden Emerald's: Chapter 1

F A I T H

Blindfolded. Faith fluttered her eyes open against a black, wool scarf wound tightly around her eyes. The sound of branches scrapping the side of the car startled her. She had been tangled in a dream, caught somewhere between self-awareness and the murky waters of unconsciousness - where physical reality fades into background noise, and unconscious reality becomes a gnarled, distorted reflection of truth. Bewildered, Faith replayed the odd dream in her mind. 

She stood in a vast, barren field. An overwhelming feeling of death and loneliness surrounded her. She knew this wasn't right - but, like in any dream, what "seems right" or "wrong" stays in the back of the mind, with little importance to the dreamer.

The ground beneath her was dusty, cracked. The desert-like landscape was painted with a color pallet of muted rust: parched ground, and sunless sky. There she stood, in the middle of an empty, lifeless field. Alone. 

The wind howled and whipped her hair around her. Sheets of windblown dust limited her visibility, and stung her eyes. She began walking forward, into the nothingness, trying to shield herself from the violent wind. 

She could feel her lashes sticking to the wool fibers and closed her eyes once more, trying to rid herself of the thorny sensation arising in the pit of her stomach. She thought of home, and wondered what Pippa and Grams were up to. 

When Alec and Tabitha showed up at Faith's apartment earlier that day for a "birthday surprise" they had already arranged for Faith's mother to take Pippa for the evening. Faith imagined they probably headed over to the ice cream shop down the street-  the cold weather never stopped any of them from getting ice cream. Now that she thought about it, Grams and Pippa would get ice cream more often during the winter months. Summers were strictly for making blueberry-raspberry lemonades. They would then probably head over to the city park, the one with the big pond that she could never remember the name of - with a bag of bread, where Pippa would chase leery ducks in an attempt to hand-feed them. 

Her thoughts drifted away as she became more aware of her immediate surroundings. Faith could barely hear her cousins whispering violently to each other in the front seat. "Wait, what you mean she won’t like it?" she heard Alec say with a tinge of annoyance, "It was your fucking idea!"

His twin sister, Tabitha let out an exaggerated sigh, "I mean, I don't know that she will actually follow through with it. She's already had such a rough year. Don't you think it would..." the rest of the sentence was lost somewhere between the low hissing of the heat on full blast, and what sounded like tree branches hitting the side of the car once again, "... God dammit Alec, can you PLEASE watch where you are going!" Their once hushed voices had vanished.

"Bloody hell, Tabs! It’s a narrow road!" he chortled back at her, and, like clockwork, their sparing began:

"Oh, 'Bloody hell' Alec, really? Just because you went to college in London - two decades ago, I might add - does not mean you're British". 

"Fuck off"

"You're from Montana, Alec. You're being pretentious."

"You're being a pain in my ass" he patted his jacket looking for his lighter.

"Shall I light the fag for you?" Tabitha said in her best British accent.

"You're a total brat, Tabs. It's not my fault you decided to - Look, a deer!" 

He slowed the car down, and  Faith wondered why he was so particularly fascinated with the deer. Alec shouted to his blindfolded passenger in the backseat, 

"Did you see that, Faith?!" So that was why, she thought to herself, He's trying to be funny. 

He bursted into a ridiculous laugh, and began hitting the steering wheel in amusement. Even though they couldn't see her, Faith rolled her eyes, 

"Unfortunately for you Alec, that is probably the best joke you've told in a while" she said as she stretched her legs. 

"What are you talking about? I'm super funny!"

Tabitha responded by telling Alec only he thought he was funny, and their bickering continued. Faith had grown up with these two constantly picking at each other - it was entertaining as kids - and even funnier as graying adults, with kids of their own. She smiled to herself, leaning her head back on the seat.  

She felt rocks hitting the bottom of the car, "Where are you taking me?' she asked. 

She couldn't believe she agreed to be blindfolded. It seemed like a fun idea at the time. They were both so insistent. Faith thought maybe they were just taking her to a nice dinner, though she was beginning to see that a nice dinner was not in the cards this evening. Two hours later, they were  still driving, and the blindfold was becoming a nuisance. 

"Cant you see?" Alec roared in laughter, Tabitha followed with, "You'll see when we get there!" she let out a loud snort-laugh.  

"This is why your kids hate you." Faith added with a lighthearted chuckle. 

The car finally began to slow down, and Alec started making a turn. By this point, Faith was so disoriented she could not tell whether they were turning right, left, or completely around altogether. They came to a slow stop. For a few moments, it became quieter in the car - Faith wondered if Alec and Tabitha were holding their breaths.

"Here we are!" Alec's tone was abnormally upbeat. It was forced, much like when you are forced to be amicable with the one co-worker you cant stand at the company Christmas party. Faith's instincts began to awaken. Whatever this surprise was, her cousins were obviously nervous to present her with it.

Faith began to untie her blindfold but was quickly stopped by a small, cold hand, Tabitha's. "No, no! Not yet. Hold on."

Faith heard Tabitha open her door, and Alec followed suite - for a few moments she could hear them grumbling outside. The door finally opened and cold air rushed in. "Shhhhit!" Faith said wrapping her jacket closer to her, "Did it drop another ten degrees?"

Alec patted her shoulder, and guided her out of the car, "C'mon, kid". Faith had never heard Alec call her by her actual name. For as long as she could remember, she had always been "kid" to him - even though he was only a few years older. 

Her feet fell upon loose gravel. The mood had shifted. 

Her cousins- normally so lively, even juvenile at times, were eerily quiet. For a moment, fear flooded through Faith. Her stomach dropped, and without a second thought, she spat, "You better not have brought me to see him!"

For months, Faith's family and friends had been trying to convince her to "go talk" to a man she dated for a while, after the ugly split between her and Kevin (Pippa's father). 

She had met Sam last Easter, at a family barbecue. He was a friend of one of her cousins. Charming and witty, Sam swept Faith off her feet at a time in her life where she was vulnerable and heartbroken. Her family couldn't have been happier - they knew Sam, he was a good guy. But after a few months, Faith started realizing Sam wasn't the man he portrayed himself to be. 

Her family was quick to tell her she was just overreacting. This was just her putting up her walls again. She just needed to relax a little. She just needed to stop being so demanding. She just needed to trust a little more. She just needed to be more positive. Just. Just. Just...

But it was they who just didn't know his true character. They didn't know his spitefulness.They didn't know his dark obsessions, and they sure as hell didn't know his secret. A secret she held on to, that made her stomach turn. Her family didn't understand why she would give up what they believed to be a happy future with Sam. Not a single friend understood why Faith was running away from "love". No one understood, except Alec.

"Fuck that creep, I never liked him" was all he said to her, the day she told her family she ended things with Sam. In a room full of gasps, and disapproving looks towards Faith- as if saying here she goes again, making yet another mistake - Alec sat next to her, with a bag of chips, and a bowl of queso.  

She could hear Tabitha rushing to her side, "No Faith, we wouldn't do that to you" Faith could hear the tension in her voice, and, as if she couldn't contain herself, she quickly added, "For what is worth, you should really consider giving him a call though".

Faith clenched her jaw as she bit her tongue. She couldn't be mad at Tabitha; she meant well.

Alec saved Faith from having to respond, "For fucks sake, Tabs. Let the Sam bullshit go. You know I once saw him using a fork and knife to eat a pizza? Who does that?"

They all laughed. Awkwardly. 

Tabitha, back to her chipper self exclaimed, "OK! lets do this!" Faith felt Tabitha and Alec wrap their hands around her arms and began guiding her forward. They walked about ten paces before simultaneously letting go. 

"You can take it off now!" Whispered Tabitha unraveling with excitement.

Faith had suddenly become acutely aware of her surroundings. The winter wind twirled itself around bare trees. The car, crackling, cooling from its long drive. The echoing caw of a crow in the distance. 

Slowly, she brought her hands to the back of her head where she began to untie the knot. She slipped it off and a flood of blinding white light rushed into her eyes. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, and her eyes watered as the bitter air attacked them. 

And then... she saw it. 

They stood in front of an old iron gate. Beyond the gate was a spectacular snow covered manor. Complete with peaks, gargoyles and stained glass windows, it was a story-tale worthy castle of sorts; or at least it was at one point. Now it was in a decrepit state: neglected.. and eerie. 

This was the Emerald Manor. 
This was the home of their ancestors.
This was the one place they were always told they must stay away from.