Chapter 30
I was falling through darkness lit up by shimmering stars, tumbling toward the unknown. It seemed like I fell forever, until finally my feet landed lightly on the ground, as if someone had caught me and slowed me down, which was a good thing since I probably would have broken a few bones, with how fast I was falling.
Although, I wasn’t sure, I was guessing this was it. This was the one; the memory that I needed.
I was standing with my back to Keeper’s grey stone castle, the lake stretched out before me. It looked like winter-time; the trees crisped with snow, the water was a sheet of sparkling pale blue ice, the sky nothing more than a cloud of grey. However, I wasn’t going to assume that it was winter. The snow and ice could be coming from a group of nearby Death Walkers. Or maybe this was the end-of-the-world vision my dad recreated. I suddenly realized I had no idea what was going on. What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to find out if this was the right memory?
Then, I saw him, my dad, walking down the ice-covered hill, heading for the lake. He was the younger version of my dad, like the one I saw in the other memories. But he wore the same silver robe I saw him wearing in the Room of Forbidden. His face was solemn, his violet eyes fixated on the lake. He did not see me as he walked by me, and I carefully followed after him.
“Where is it?” he muttered to himself as he came to a stop at the edge of the lake.
As if on cue, I saw them, creeping out from the tall icicled trees that encircled the lake. Death Walkers. Their black cloaks dragged across the snowy ground and the glow of their yellow eyes reflected across the icy lake.
I shivered as they marched toward us, hoping they couldn’t see me. The ground shook with the beat of their footsteps and I heard my dad’s breath catch as a man appeared at the edge of the trees, not too far off from where we stood.
Stephan.
He was wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled over his head, but the scar grazing his left cheek let me know it was him. His dark eyes seemed to darken everything around us, along with the pleased look on his face. He motioned for someone to follow him, and another man, much shorter than Stephan, wearing a long, black cloak, stepped out of the forest.
Demetrius.
“There it is,” my dad muttered from beside me, staring not at Demetrius and Stephan or at the murderous Death Walkers marching at us, but at something else; something at the shoreline of the frozen lake.
I squinted my eyes. What was he looking at? There was something there…a blur of colors and shapes. I focused harder and the colors and shapes started to shift and take the form of two figures hugging, clutching onto one another for dear life.
“Oh, my God.” My heart stopped.
Alex and I hugging by the lake.
I shook my head, my breath puffing out erratically. Was this what my father created or erased?
The Death Walkers, Stephan, and Demetrius headed for us, the ice rumbling and the snow falling from the trees as the world shook beneath the pounding of their footsteps. I watched as Alex brushed my hair from my face.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispered softly.
“How do you know?” I whispered back, tears streaming from my eyes.
“Because I do,” he replied, brushing another strand of my hair back and tucking it behind my ear. Then, he kissed me with so much passion that, even from where I was standing, I could feel the air electrify. He kept kissing and kissing me as the electricity intensified, until finally he pulled me against him and I buried my head into his chest as I clutched onto him for dear life. A bright light orbed around us, suffocating the air as it burned brighter and brighter—as it burned everything.
I shielded my eyes, searching the light, trying to see what was happening. I had never gotten past this part in my dreams, but I think deep down I knew what the light meant. It was why I kept seeing nothing but light at the end of my dreams and my visions. It was the same reason why, when Alex had looked in the future mirror, he only saw light.
“So this is what happens right before the portal is about to open…they stop it from happening, by sacrificing their own lives?” my father whispered under his breath as the light dimmed away. He shook his head. “I’m so sorry.” I gasped at the sight of what remained. The sun shone brightly from the sky and the snow had melted. The lake was no longer blanketed by ice, and it no longer carried the march of hundreds and hundreds of Death Walkers—they had all vanished.
Stephan and Demetrius were nothing more than a pile of ash scattered across the grassy ground. Everything had been burned away with the light, including Alex and I. Our bodies were sprawled on the grass, our fingers intertwined as we lay side by side, our eyes sealed shut, no longer breathing.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as my father stepped toward Alex and me, and reached a hand out, preparing to erase us.
“This is what you erased,” I whispered through my tears.
This is what I had to put back. I had to let this happen. Let Alex and me die.
My heart raced in my chest, knowing what I had to do, knowing I had to erase my father before he created a different future; a future where Stephan would win and the world would die a horrible death. But how could I do it? It would basically be like I was killing Alex and myself. That beautiful little talk we had about our future…we didn’t even have a future. How could I place my hand on my father and erase him, when I would be erasing Alex and me right along with him.
I cried harder and harder. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this.” But as my father’s hand hovered only an inch away from Alex and I, I knew. I had to.
Sobbing hysterically, I reached a trembling hand toward my father, wondering what he was about to create. Would Alex and I have lived?
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered and then I placed my hand on his shoulder. Just like on the beach, I watched my father vanish into nothing, flickering out like a bad TV reception.
Then, I sank to the ground and cried and cried until all the energy drained out of me and I blacked out.