Chapter 1
Just survive...just keep walking...you have to.
They would want it...They would want you to live...I stopped my running through the Forrest and turned around.My eyes focused on the surroundings.. my ears listening to noises.I am sure nobody followed me.
I ran for hours without a proper break.Still in my Hand was the envelope my Grandmother gave me a few hours ago,and the Backpack as she pushed me to the Door.
"Run Iris..Run as fast as you can.My dear child everything you need to know is in this letter.Run as fast as you can,and do not turn around.when you're safe, open the letter and read it. Follow the instructions. Promise me that you will do what I tell you.Trust me, dear Iris. We Love You."
I turned to Pops and he gave me a gentle smile and a nod right before his eyes got a purple glow. I was surprised and scared. But Meemaw pushed me through the door and started mumbling some words. Unknown words that I have never heard from her in an unknown language. I felt warmth around my body and a purple mist that embraced me. My body felt so light as if I was floating for a short time and then it disappeared. The mist disappeared and the warm feeling that filled me disappeared too.When I realized that I was no longer in my family home in Salem, but somewhere in the middle of the forest I gasped.
What is happening here? Is this a dream?
I started to run and thought about Meemaws last words and the promise I made right before she died, fighting together with my Grandfather against him..Him the man I had dreams about since I was a little girl.They stayed behind to keep me alive.To give me a chance to run away,and save myself.Are they dead?Just keep walking..Meemaw and Pops would want it.
I was tired,hungry and scared.My clothes are wet from the rain, and my long hair is dirty from the forest floor on which I fell during my escape last night.What happened there...what happened to my beloved ones? I was running away,like a coward ,crying and scared.
But Meemaw forced me to leave...she insisted to take the Backpack and the letter,and run away.I should have stayed...even if it ment for me to die.I owed it to them! After running away for hours, I found myself on unknown ground. That's good, isn't it?This means that I have gone far enough to be able to rest. At least for a while. To sit down and think about what to do next ... I found a hiding place in a warehouse somewhere far away from people. Where am I anyway?
I collapsed on the floor crying and curled up against the cold wall. I only need half an hour of rest. Just to regain some strength, so that I can continue. But I was too tired and with my eyes closed i drifted away.
I woke up in terrible fear when I realized that it wasn't a dream. Everything that happened to me in the last 24 hours. I was still confused and scared thinking about the events that happened.
I wasn't dreaming... I saw, didn't I? It was as if someone pulled the ground out from under my feet when I realized. My grandmother used charms... But that's my grandmother, the same one who raised me after my parents died.I don't know much about my parents, I heard only nice things from meemaw and pops. They loved each other a lot and were very happy when I was born. But unfortunately they died in a traffic accident and so my grandparents took over the care of me. The only thing I have from my mother and father is a picture. I often looked at that picture and I quickly realized that I look like my mother.
Her black long wavy hair and big kind green eyes are the same as mine.I never stood out and we lived a modest and very boring life. During school I never had friends, I was quite lonely. After finishing school I found a job and took care of them. I felt loved and safe with them. I avoided people and I didn't socialize, because I know that they would consider me strange. A girl who hears voices from a young age and has the strangest dreams.Yesterday I was coming home from work when I heard grandma and grandpa arguing in the kitchen.
Grandma was hurriedly putting something in my backpack and wiping her tears saying repeatedly "We won't let them take Iris from us. They killed our daughter Liora. Oscar be ready, we don't have a choice"
When they saw me at the door, they pulled me towards them in a panic. Their eyes were full of fear, looking behind me. I turned around and saw three tall men with dark hair and black eyes.They appeared in some black mist.
"What ..is happening" I asked screaming.Looking into the eyes of the man who was walking towards me.
I recognized him ..That's...that's the man from my dreams.
"I finally found you" he said.
But at that moment my grandmother pulled my hand and pushed me through the door leading to the veranda.And then I disappeared from my home in some strange purple mist.My grandmother's scream was the last thing I heard before I disappeared into the fog, and the bodies of my loved ones falling lifelessly to the ground was the last thing I managed to see. Who are these people ?Why did they came to our home? And why did I dream of him. A man with dark eyes and a hoarse voice. And the biggest question is ,why my grandparents are not the people I thought I knew for sure.I was sitting on the floor and still holding the letter in my hand.
"Pull yourself together, Iris. No one gave their life for you to cry now. .Get yourself together!"i whispered to myself.
I wiped my tears and opened the letter. I probably won't even be able to read anything because I was running through the rain. But to my surprise, the letter was complete.This was no ordinary paper. When I touched the letter, I felt a tickle on my fingers. What kind of magic is this?
"Dear Iris,
trust your grandmother and read the following words loud and clear.
What is forgotten can be returned with the spell I used to tell you every night before going to bed.Speak without fear.The Words clear and wish at the End your Power back."
And then I remembered the Song she used to sing for me every night since I was a child.And I started to sing it
"The Walls I build, will protect you like a shield.
From all thats bad for as long as I can.
But when you are ready you can force it back.Just make the Wish....I wish my Powers back"
I felt a strange energy.Red fog spinning in circles around me faster and faster.I felt strong, I felt like something I missed was coming back.As if I was being replenished.The fog was circling around me so fast that I didn't see anything but the red glitter in front of my eyes. And then the fog crashed into me, from all sides. And I breathed it in. I felt free, strong and powerful. And then it all disappeared with a huge burst of energy.The windows shattered and everything was thrown aside with great force. I was pushed against the wall and the last thing I saw before I passed out on the ground was fog... They found me