CHAPTER FIVE

Anne's POV

The Cottage

"What are the secrets you wanted to tell me?" I asked, my eyes focused intently on him as he gasped for his last breaths.

"You have to go the house on the Feverwood peaks. There's a secret cabinet behind the fireplace. That key holds the answer to all your questions, even the ones you didn't know you need to ask."

"I don't understand any of these things you are saying."

"You won't understand now. When the time comes, the understanding will come to you."

"I understand, let's get you to wellness first. I will try to go get you the healer from the village, or can you make it to any cave nearby. It's cold outside, father."

"Frostbite had already set in on the open wounds. I won't survive it, but you should. The wolves are going to be circling back soon and I don't want you to be here."

Tears was welling in my eyes and I wasn't ready to let go. "I would not let you go. I am not leaving you here."

"Go, my time is fleeting, and I don't want you to see that. Remember, the cottage at Feverwood, the secret cabinet behind the fireplace is where the answer to all your questions lies."

"But… I don't have any."

He looked at me and managed a little smile, closing his eyes weakly. There and then, right in front of me, I didn't need to be told that the man who I knew as my father had just drawn his last breath and was forever lost to me.

I felt the blood stop in his nerves and his body grow cold to the touch. It was a defining moment, one that was bound to push me to more negativity.

I remembered the last instructions he gave me before shutting his eyes and the key hanging on my neck felt suddenly heavy, threatening to drag me down the pits of hell.

I went the traditional way and buried his body under a heap of stones, putting his favorite flower to seal the grave and started my journey. Fourteen year old, no previous training, no food, water or other resources but only the determination that I must get the answer that my father had promised lay in a secret cabinet.

I didn't even know if the questions were the ones I wouldn't want to ask. If the questions were the ones I have been fearing to ask. What if it was related to my mother? Or it was about something else more dreary? More scary? More controversial? Or something that would impact and change the trajectory of my life forever?

Hundreds of questions raced through my mind as I journeyed west towards Feverwood, hoping to get some relief. I knew I was embarking on the journey more for the closure than the secrets that he had promised.

With heavy heart and a set face, with the traditional map guiding me as I went on the journey, I was unsure of what to expect.

****

It had been three years since we had been to the house and it was in better shape than I expected. Maybe Gunnar came around to clean it. The last time I came here was when Granny was still alive and she requested that I baked her an apple pie and I personally delivered it. Those were the good memories to remember and Gunnar's death tainted them all in my head.

I walked faster towards the wooden cottage, realizing that the ground looked like it was just swept a couple of hours ago. With caution, I stepped on the wooden stairs, the antique house creaking under the weight of my feet.

The door stood there, waiting to be opened and an eerie feeling seemed to surround the door knob the moment I reached out, sending another wave of emotions crashing through me.

I took my time and went back to the tree where I often played with Gunnar, my head on my laps. Too much had happened to me all in the expanse of one day and my brain was too young to handle everything.

The crickets were already singing in accompaniment to the creaking of frogs from a nearby pool, indicating the end of the day and dangers that accompanied the impending night.

Even if I was not ready for the answers that the house held, I needed to protect myself from the cold and the lurking beasts that frequented these parts of the woods.

I tried the knob and the door gave way instantly, my eyes picking up the dimly lit outlines of the items in the house. I searched for the essentials that I was going to need to survive the night and I found it, right where granny always placed them.

I lit the lantern first and used the light in navigating the whole house, surprised to see so many ready logs in the fireplace ready to be lit. All it took was a strike of the match and the fireplace was already in use, my eyes picking up the structure behind it.

It looked perfectly like…nothing.

This was the first time I would be sleeping in the cottage alone, or in any house alone for that matter, and I immediately felt the emptiness I had to adapt to. I missed Gunnar more than anything at that moment and before I knew, I caught myself crying again.

The firewood in the earthen fireplace crackled, radiating heat and light to the sectors of the room and I just sat there on the couch, lost in thought, staring into space.

I had made the mistake of lighting the fireplace first and I could not reach out for whatever lied behind it, probably for now. The silence that surrounded the house was deafening, but the thoughts streaming through my mind were louder.

I sat there and waited for the perfect response, the perfect answer. I waited, and waited until the noises encroached me.

And then, oblivion.