CHAPTER 2

Sabastian and I reached the place. But the gate was locked with a old rustic chain and a lock.

I started looking around and saw a rock by a tree closest to the gate which was about 1 feet tall. It had some engraving on it but it was covered in dust. I dusted it off and it read 'FOR THOSE WHO FIND IT'. I called Sabastian to see it and take some pictures on his phone. While he was at it, I looked around the rock and behind it something was written on it. I looked closer and it read 'Look Deeper'. And suddenly I paid attention to the ground. There was a small hoop type thing stuck in the soil. I tried to pull it and there were two keys on it. Sabastian and I looked at each other with amusement, I said 'Well that's not creepy at all!' in sarcastic tone, Sabastian agreed to it by showing gestures with his eyebrows.

I suggested that the keys must be of the iron gate and guess what it was.

As the gates opened, the wind blew through our faces. What was it? This wind felt a little different. The energy was a little different, the aura suddenly felt a little different. The feeling was at a whole different level of ambiguity. But the good kind of ambiguity, which only made me more curious and excited to know more about the place.

I could see it on Sabastian's face that he also felt the same thing. There was a beautiful garden between the main door and the gate. A beautiful fountain with a unique looking structure stood right in the center.

Sabastian- 'Wow! I can't believe this place is still undiscovered. It is so huge and beautiful.'

Me- 'Yeah, I am amazed too. This is such a mesmerizing place.'

He and I walked up to the front door. It was also huge and had a lock on it. We tried to open it with the second key we found earlier and again guess what happened, it was the key to the front door lock.

As we opened the main door, that feeling of ambiguity got deeper. You know sometimes you have that feeling in your gut, where you are not sure what it is but there is a feeling, I was experiencing something similar to it.

My mind was blown away. The castle was extremely beautiful. The walls were in a very light toned turquoise color which was faded and dusty at some spots. The castle had a white and a dark green marble flooring. There were a lot of couches and sofas made of with what looked like velvet but I couldn't be sure. The ceilings had beautiful angelic paintings, you know the kind you see at big churches. There were three floors, ground floor, first floor and second floor.

Sabastian- 'Wow! This place is getting more amazing by the every second passing by.'

Me- 'I couldn't agree more.'

Sabastian took some pictures and we both started exploring. I looked around and with what I could make out, there were about six big bedrooms, one ginormous kitchen, one what looked like a meeting room, three living rooms, a huge dining room and a lot space with beautiful furniture and all of this was just the ground floor.(Remember this is all in an abandoned old castle. Everything was from the old times and life styles.)

'This all looks like it is from the period between 1600s – 1800s. Don't you think?' I said.

Sabastian said 'you know what, you are right this does looks like it is from around 1600s to 1800s.'

While we were exploring, I opened one of the drawers and there was a small box kept in it along with a hair brush and mirror and few other things. There was an initial engraved on the box, which was the letter 'M'. I opened it and it was a chain necklace with a small dark rich green colored stone pendant on it. And suddenly out of no where Sabastian came and said 'You should wear it. That will look charming on you.' As much I appreciated the complement, I really got jump scared. I took a breath of relief and said 'Thank you. But I don't think I should wear it, it is not right.'

Sabastian- 'Do you see anyone! Nope, no one is here, so go ahead and wear it. Wait let me put it on you.'

I said 'Um… Okay as you say.'

Sabastian walks up to me, moves my hair on the side of the neck takes the necklace and puts it on me, and adjusted my hair back. While he was helping me, I could actually slightly feel his breath on my neck. It felt a little awkward. I turned around.

He said 'See, just like I told you. It looks really pretty on you.'

'thanks' I said with a smile.

I noticed that the sun will soon set. So I took the necklace's box and we left. We made sure to lock the place before leaving. We were back on the main road. While we were walking, I remembered there was a place near by.

'Come with me. I want to show you something.' I said.

'Okay.' He replied.

We walked a little through some trees around. And there we were. My hide out place. It was a small lake and there was small wooden foot over bridge on the edge of the lake. I used to come here a lot when I just moved in with my aunt and uncle. Once I even got lost while leaving that place, that's when I found the castle but I only saw its boundaries and never bothered to check it. Whenever ever I miss my mom and dad I come here to lighten up.

'Wow! How did you find this place? It is feels so peaceful.' Said Sabastian.

'I know. I come here whenever ever I miss my parents or if I want absolute peace.' I said.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked so calm. We sat there, I offered him the snacks and juice I packed. We had a little picnic. After enjoying the sunset, we had to leave. He thanked me for sharing that place with him. And he went back home. I met up with Hazel JJs, the town's diner.

'So who is the new hottie you are hanging with?' Hazel asked me with a smug on her face.

I said- 'Oh stop! We are just working on an assignment Miss Baily gave us. He is my partner for that.'

Hazel- 'Uh ah…. So you agree that he is hottie.'

Emmy- 'I never said that.'

Hazel- 'So he is not..'

Emmy- 'Um… he is not so bad.'

Hazel-'hmm… Interestingly'

We both looked at each other and laughed. She and I talked for a long time and then I headed home. And I was so tired with our little adventure that I took a shower and directly went to bed. Next morning I got dressed and went down to spent some time with Anna, Hanna and uncle as it was a Sunday. I helped Anna and Hanna with their craft project and then sat with uncle in the backyard. I laid my head on uncle's shoulder while were sitting on the swing.

He looked at me for a moment, took a deep breath and said 'You look just like your mom and you have your father's hair. I really miss them. If they were here today, they would have been so happy to see you grow in this beautiful woman you have become.'

'You know I miss them too but your love never helps me to get over it and I am really thankful for that.' I said.

He planted a soft kiss on my forehead. He then asked me to come with him to the attic. I went there and uncle started moving a few stuff and was looking for something. I stood there watching him and then he pulled out a cardboard box. We sat on the sofa in the attic and he opened the box. There were a few picture albums in it. Some toys and a few diaries in it. I opened them and those were my pictures with my mom and dad.

Uncle started showing me pictures and the stories behind those pictures. Some of them were super cute and some them were very emotional and some of them were very funny. Like there was one picture of me in the bathtub filled with bubbles but my face looked really weird and uncle told me that when mom was giving me a bath I tried to eat the bubbles because I thought that was cotton candy.

We both laughed so much. We spent the entire afternoon going through those picture albums.

Later that night I went to the bed. And started going through mom and dad's diaries and soon I fell asleep. I slept peacefully but the dream I had was very weird, it was.....To Be Continued.