Mist swirled around in a cold sheet, brushing my face like icy fingers. Trees stood guard on either side of the path, watching me. Shuddering I tried to shake of these fanciful thoughts. My family and I had been traveling in a carriage for at least a week to get to this new house that Pa had bought. Still I couldn’t stop this climbing sense of dread as we traveled ever closer to our destination. We had made it, yet I couldn’t be less uneasy. The manor stood tall and forbidding with mist shrouding its figure. A low growl punctuated the still air.

As I turned I spotted two black beasts pounce on my ma and pa, their jaws seeking their throats. The beasts’ turned, their teeth dripping red. Their eyes… their eyes were an unearthly, blazing blue. The beasts, I now realized, were wolves, crouched, ready to kill again. The wolves pounced once more; I could only see those razor-edged teeth coming closer and closer to my face. Then I felt my body shoved to one side, as our manservant pushed me away from the murderous jaws of the wolf. He had been standing between my brother and I. I stumbled, hearing the sickening thuds of two bodies hitting the ground. Barely keeping my balance, I ran like a hare startled by a hunter’s gun to the nearest tree I could find. As I scrambled up, my laced up boots slipped on the smooth bark, and my racing heart leapt into my throat. I managed to get a better grip and scampered half way up the tree.

Only then did what had just happened strike me like a blow between the eyes. I let loose a scream that was riddled with pain and despair. I glanced down and nearly lost my tenuous hold on my branch, for below me were both of the killer wolves who were gazing up at me, their alien, blue eyes glinting menacingly. I screamed again and clung to my safe haven. Smelling my fear, both wolves leapt at the same time. One of them snapped the branch a few inches left of my hand; the other raked the trunk with its claws. I yelped and climbed higher, but my dress caught on a small branch and I wasted precious seconds tugging it loose. Suddenly I felt a blazing pain shoot up my leg like liquid fire, as a wolf ripped its teeth into my ankle. I cried out, but the wolf lost its hold on my ankle and dropped down. Pulling myself the rest of the way up, I somehow got myself into a position where I could more or less sit without falling. I don’t know how long I swayed in the tree, terrified and in pain with the wolves leaping and snarling, trying to reach me and kill me. Eventually the wolves gave up, though not before howling with rage and challenge. A challenge that echoed and reechoed within me, “We will get you later”.

* * *

I kept on with my trigonometry even though the bell would ring soon, signaling the end of school and the beginning of the summer holiday. Next to me I heard Bernardo mutter, “Done, and I’m sure I got all of the questions correct.” I was reasonably sure he hadn’t. I had just figured out the last math problem when the final bell rang. Just before I left I handed my paper to my teacher, who gave me a wan smile. Striding out, I bumped into a group of people consisting of Bethany, Bernardo, James and the creepy twins Lewis and Clark. We were all orphans from different orphanages. Lewis burst out, “Guess what, guys, I heard about a supposedly haunted manor that’s in the forest just out of town.”

“Why exactly would we want to go into a forest with a haunted manor?” I asked.

“Are you scared, Jason?” Bernardo taunted.

“No, it’s just when people go somewhere haunted, they usually don’t come back,” I replied tersely.

“I’m game, as long as there’s Wi-Fi,” Bethany said lazily.

“Fine, I’ll come just to make sure you guys don’t kill yourselves,” I muttered under my breath.”

“Are we there yet?” Bernardo asked from the back seat of the rental jeep.

“No!”Andrew answered a trifle angrily since this was the sixth time in two minutes.

“Now?”

“No!”

“Now?”

“N… actually, yes we’re here,” Andrew replied.

We all piled out of the jeep. It was early morning, and the way the sun’s rays struck the manor, gave it a menacing feel. Clark announced, “I need to go to the bathroom. Let’s go into the house.”

“Yea, let’s go into the haunted house,” I muttered sardonically. Clark, Lewis, Bethany, and Bernardo made their way to the looming manor. I stayed behind; to you know, check the outside of the place. As my eyes flitted from one place to another, my eyes rested on a particularly chilling sight. A tree stood a little apart from its neighbors, and it was covered from the trunk to at least ten meters high with claw marks. I gulped, thinking, “Okay, Jason maybe you should go inside.” Whatever had made those marks could still be around.

I glanced over to where the group was now and saw that they had reached the door. Andrew had apparently touched the lock, and the lock had pretty much broken under the touch. I started to make my way toward the others when I heard a, CRUNCH. I glanced down and nearly had a heart attack; my foot had craved in the skull of a young child. I yelped and dashed to my friends. They were already inside when I made it in, slightly winded. Clark was just starting down a hall with a particularly rank smell wafting from it; I decided to stay here with my friends.

Clark whistled as he strode through the dim hallway. He gagged a little from the stench coming from a room that could only be the bathroom. Poking his head in, he debated whether it would be more sanitary to go outside. Shrugging, he stepped inside and abruptly wished he hadn’t because the door slammed into his backside with surprising force. Immediately the room was pitch black. “Yeah, yeah, super funny Bernardo. Now would you let me out… please?”

Then he noticed a faint shimmering figure of a young boy. The boy looked up, and whispered in a voice barely audible, “You should not have come.”

Clark gulped, “Uhh, yeah umm… I’ll go now and, uhh you know, not ever return.”

The boy shook his head sadly and began to glow brighter. It was only then that Clark noticed the slash marks going vertically on the boy’s chest and a gruesome bite mark on his pale neck. With a sigh, the boy flew through Clark’s chest, which exploded with agony. Screaming, Clark collapsed to the floor.

“Did you hear that?” I asked nervously.

“Oh, my word, yes,” Bernardo replied sarcastically.

“You know what – never mind,” I grumbled. I glanced around and felt my heart skip a beat, for before me I saw two sets of flaming blue eyes. I didn’t wait to see who or what belonged to those eyes. All I knew was that those things were hostile, and I wanted nothing to do with them. I squeaked, “Run,” and bolted for the door. I made it out the door and down the stairs before you could blink. Andrew came next then Bernardo, with Lewis at his heals. Where was Bethany? Oh, there she was, she came shrieking through the door, her arms waving like a windmill.

“Oh. My. Gosh. Those things made me drop my phone,” Bethany wailed.

“Is that the only thing she’s worried about right now?” Andrew whispered to me.

I took in a shuddering breath, “Okay I think we should get in the jeep”. Before any of us could do anything, however, something happened. The jeep exploded.

“Well that’s just perfect,” Andrew said in the ensuing silence. There was a snarl behind us, and we all turned as one. We could only see the sapphire eyes of the thing in the manor.

Bethany stepped closer, “Hey, there doggy. Nice doggy,” she said as she moved towards the door, “Would you let me go get my phone?” She took a few steps closer.

Lewis cried, “Bethany, are you crazy? Get away from that thing!” Then everything went wrong. Jaws snapped closed around Bethany’s leg and yanked her inside the manor. The screaming was awful, until it was abruptly cut off. Victory gleamed in the beast’s demented eyes as they reappeared. Jason spotted a paw sliding out of the darkness, but the beast yanked it back with a growl of pain. Then we all seemed to unfreeze, and we dashed back to the wreckage of the jeep.

“Bethany,” Andrew whispered, his voice stunned.

“Look guys, I think these things, whatever they are, can’t go into direct light,” Jason said, his voice hollow.

“Clark. My brother. He’s still in there,” Lewis exclaimed, fear creeping into his voice. There was an uncomfortable silence. “No, he can’t be… can’t be,” Lewis said, tears misting his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lewis, but I think Clark is dead,” Bernardo said bluntly. Before Bernardo could say anything else, I put my hand on the grieving boy’s arm, “Hey, Lewis, look we have to concentrate on staying alive and getting out of here. Lewis nodded, trying to put on a brave face, “What do we need to do?”

It was drawing near sunset when we finally finished our huge bonfire. “Do you think that this will work?” Andrew asked doubtfully.

“It better, or else we’re all dead men,” I answered with some misgiving. Fortunately for us Bernardo smoked. Unfortunately he refused to let us use his cigarette lighter. “Come on, Bernardo, will you just give it to us?” Jason pleaded.

“No,” was Bernardo’s answer.

Then Andrew had a brilliant idea, “how bout’ this: I’ll do all your homework for four months.”

“Six.”

“Fine, you got yourself a deal,” Andrew agreed. Jason lit the bonfire with trembling hands. Soon the whole thing was ablaze. I breathed out a sigh of relief and then realized with a sinking heart that Lewis was nowhere to be seen. Where was he?

A scream permeated the air. Bernardo jumped, dropping his cigarette with a low curse. “They’re on the hunt,” I announced grimly.

Andrew stood up nervously beside me, “Let’s see if this works”. I spotted the black shapes as they circled our bonfire. I realized for the first time that they were wolves, their black fur rippling with muscles, lips drawn back to show pearly white fangs. Above those snarling mouths were two pulsing sapphire eyes. I slowly felt my sanity slipping away, my mind being drawn to those strange eyes.

Yanking my own eyes away, I glanced around seeing that the wolves were having the same effect on my friends. I gripped Andrew’s forearm, shaking it roughly, and the dazed light in his eyes vanished. I said urgently, “Get Bernardo.” Andrew nodded and made his way towards Bernardo. When Andrew had gotten Bernardo and dragged him over to me, I told them, “Don’t look into their eyes; it’s like they draw you to them.”

Bernardo grunted, “Yea, maybe we should blind them.”

Before we could ask him what he meant, Bernardo grabbed a burning branch and charged the wolves. The only reason the wolves didn’t kill him off right was that they couldn’t understand why this weakling was charging them. Bernardo stabbed the first wolf in the eye and then swung around, raking the other along its side. Fortuitously, the first wolf was put out of action, at least for the moment. The other wolf . . . not so much. Snarling, it circled Bernardo, keeping out of the dimming light of his fiery branch.

“Bernardo, come back!” Andrew yelled. Bernardo’s attention was diverted for but a second as he glanced at Andrew, but it was enough. The wolf leapt, taking Bernardo by the throat and hurling him to the ground where he lay motionless. The wolf turned its manic blue eyes blazing with hatred on us. It dragged Bernardo away into the darkness.

A movement caught my eye. It was the wolf Bernardo had badly injured. It pushed itself up, head lolling to one side, so when it turned to us, my heart jolted a bit. The eye that had been stabbed by Bernardo was white and filmy; the other was the same raging blue. It turned to follow its companion. My heart slowed down to a mere gallop. I glanced at Andrew, who had a devastated look on his face. “I…I shouldn’t have distracted him,” Andrew croaked, his voice breaking. I was silent for a second then answered, “True, but he shouldn’t have run off like that. Anyway, I think you should try sleep.”

Andrew shook his head, “I wouldn’t be able to.”

“Try. I’ll take first watch,” I said gently.

After taking turns whenever we felt tired, we each got at least three hours of sleep. Though most of the time we simply lay down and were wide awake, our minds working overtime to try and understand what had happened during the day. The sun finally poked its welcome face above the tree tops. I stretched and gazed around, spotting Andrew squatting dejectedly near the remains of the fire. Wearily I ambled over, “Morning, Andrew.”

“Morning. I think we need to get some fire wood,” Andrew answered tiredly.

I nodded, “Okay, let’s go in together.”

“Agreed,” Andrew said tersely.

Together we foraged for wood in the dark woods. Every slight sound we heard made us jump in fright and look for a safe exit. Eventually we each had an armful of firewood. We kept on making these trips until it was near evening. Andrew sighed, “I think this should just about do it. Maybe one more armful should finish it”.

I glanced at the sky, “Yea, I think we have enough time for one more armload.” What I didn’t count on was the fact that it seemed to get darker a lot faster here than at home. So by the time we were half way to the place where we usually collected wood it was getting really hard to see. That’s when we heard the howling. “Uh, Jason?” Andrew asked, panic creeping into his voice.

“Tree! Get in a tree!” I yelped in voice an octave higher than it should have been. We both dashed to different trees. After I had scrambled up the tree, I gazed around till I spotted the hazy outline of Andrew in the tree opposite of mine. “Andrew,” I called. Instead of answering he pointed forward. I could make out three demented blue eyes bobbing in the darkness like lanterns. Wait . . . why three? Oh, right Bernardo had stabbed one of them in the eye. Soon one of the wolves were crouching below me. The other crouched below Andrew. Well, at least I think they were crouching. I could see one’s eye as it gazed up at me. Then it leapt without warning or preamble. It missed by a hairsbreadth. Well more like it missed what it had been aiming at, because I felt a lancing pain shoot up my arm originating from my hand. I screamed, and Andrew did also. Breathing raggedly and using one hand, I pulled myself up to the tallest place in the tree and sobbing wedged myself into a fork in the tree. Then I fell unconscious. It was a good thing, as I didn’t hear what the wolves did to Andrew.

When I woke, I was in a different tree. “Strange,” I thought my mind still hazy. Turning my head, I saw a beautiful girl, her eyes a deep sea green, framed by a wave of curly blond hair, “Good morning, my name’s Lizzy. What’s yours?” she asked kindly.

Part 2

“Jason. My name’s Jason,” I mumbled. “Anyway, where’s my friend Andrew?”

“And who in the world ar e you?” I asked

The kindly smile faded on Lizzy’s face, “I’m afraid that your friend is no longer on this earth,” she answered sadly.

“Wait – what, do you mean, ‘no longer on this earth’?” Jason exclaimed, his dark brown eyes widening.

“He was eaten by the wolves,” she replied plainly.

I felt my mouth go dry, and my stomach curl up in a fetal position, “Oh,” I said dumbly.

“As to who I am . . . I’m Lizzy Manro, and I’ve been here for… awhile,” She replied vaguely.

“Anyway, let’s try to figure out how to escape,” I said, trying to keep my mind off the horrible news I had just received.

“Escape,” Lizzy echoed her voice clearly puzzled.

“Yes, escape. I don’t plan to stay here the rest of my life!” I exclaimed exasperatedly.

A thoughtful expression came over her face, “Hmm, I suppose since there’s two of us now we could…. The last time I tried to escape alone, it didn’t work out so well,” Lizzy murmured.

Leaving Lizzy to her brainstorming, I decided to check out my surroundings. As it turned out, we were in a massive network of tree houses, and the middle one, the one we were in, was the biggest. The others were simple platforms with a bin of arrows attached to the rails. This one had walls, a roof, and two plain rooms, though no bathrooms, so I assumed we would have to go down to do that. I had asked Lizzy about what the arrows were for, and she had given me an odd look, like ‘You’re an idiot’, so I dropped the subject. My hand kept throbbing, so I finally decided to remove the bandages on my hand to see what was making it hurt so badly. What I found out made me faint. Why, you ask? Well, you see, I was missing a finger. When I awoke I found Lizzy frowning at me.

“I’m missing a finger,” I whined.

“Aye, you are, but are you going to faint every time you look at your missing finger?” Lizzy said, unsympathetic.

“You’re heartless,” Jason muttered.

She shrugged, “Nah, just practical.”

That night Lizzy explained her idea to me. I nodded, “That could work, but I don’t know how to shoot a bow, and I don’t know these woods as well as you.”

She made a face, “I was afraid of that, and you won’t be able to memorize the woods like me, anyway.”

“Another thing. A lot of the things you want to do will take a long time,” Jason pointed out.

“Yes, but you can’t learn to use a bow in a few days, can you?” Lizzy replied pointedly. I had been fiddling with the scabbard of the knife Lizzy had given me the day before when I looked up, curious, “So how long exactly have you been here?”

Lizzy was quiet for a moment before answering, “A few centuries, and before you ask, I believe that we are, let’s say, in a time loop; but I think that since my family died here and I couldn’t do what I should have done, like have a family, I won’t crumble into dust the second I step out of the time loop.”

I blinked, “You mean we’re, like, immortal?”

Lizzy sighed, “Yes, up till the time we step out of this loop.”

A few months later

“‘Bout ready?” I asked as I buckled on my heavy sax knife.

“Yeah,” was Lizzy’s terse reply as she slung her bow over her shoulder.

I gazed up at the sky, “Think there’ll be any clouds?” I asked.

“No,” Lizzy replied shortly.

“So, um, do you know if we’re actually going away from the Manor or just going in circles?” I asked cautiously.

Lizzy gave me a long-suffering look, “Yes, Jason I’m sure that we are going away from the Manor, and no we’re not going in circles.” I noted the dangerous tone in her voice and decided that it might be unhealthy for me to continue this discussion.

It was freezing. My breath sent a cloud of steam into the air. “Th…Think we should go b…back t…till it get’s warm…mer?” I stuttered.

“N…no, it’s th…the Manor fighting back,” Lizzy stammered back. It was mid-morning and there were no clouds covering the sun, and yet the air was absolutely frigid. We kept on going in the direction in which we had started. Finally we came into view of the end of our journey. I don’t know how I knew because all I could see were woods, but at some point the trees seemed to become less wild and less, well, menacing.

“Do you see it?” I asked quietly.

“Yes,” Lizzy replied simply.

That’s when disaster decided to visit. A large cloud covered the scant warmth of the sun. Furthermore a white mist came, curling like snakes, around our ankles.

“That’s not good, is it?” Jason queried.

“Nope, not at all,” was Lizzy’s grim answer.

A howl broke through the temporary silence that followed.

“Get the torch ready,” Lizzy commanded.

“Right,” I slid the backpack off my shoulders and fumbled around in it. My hand found the oil-soaked cloth that had a stick connected to it. I also found the flint and steel that would set it aflame. Quickly I lit it and held it up.

“Um, why don’t we just jump from tree to tree till we get to the border?”

Lizzy gave an exasperated sigh, “Because, you idiot, if we do that we will lose our way. Then we’ll never get of this blasted place!” I tactfully didn’t answer. The wolves finally came into view. They were loping along, confident that they were going to win. Lizzy drew closer to me. Her bow, already strung, was pulled back, ready to fire. The mist was making it hard to see. My whole body was quivering with tension, my eyes kept on a search for another sighting of the dreaded wolves. Once again the wolves came into view, and this time they stopped. They stood watching us. We watched them. The mist swirled. I was careful to not make direct eye contact in fear that I might be sucked into those dreadful eyes once more. There was a sharp HISS from Lizzy’s bow as she released her arrow. It caught the lead wolf in the throat. The wolf staggered back, shaking its head. The other wolf stepped forward, yanking the broad head from its throat. Wolf number one let loose a hoarse whimper as blood dripped from its matted fur. It wasn’t dead. Indeed the wolf seemed only winded, and a lot angrier. I gulped, “Hay, uh, Lizz?” She was staring dumbfounded at the wolf, “How?” The wolves crouched ready to pounce.

Their full attention was on Lizzy; apparently they wanted to get revenge. I took a deep breath. I would have to wait till the last second. I set the torch down; it would only hinder my movements. We simply had to get across the border, and right now the wolves were between us and our goal. I somehow knew that if we got across, we would be safe. I just could not contemplate failure. I slid the heavy, sharp sax out of my sheath. The wolves leapt. They seemed to be coming in slow motion, their lips drawn back and showing glistening white teeth. They were ready to end my friend’s life. I yanked Lizzy to me. Then, as wolf number one slid past, I stabbed the thing right in the gut. It howled in absolute agony. Quickly I released the knife, as Lizzy slammed into me. We both staggered. Then, somehow, we regained our balance.

We ran, like our worst nightmares were chasing us, ‘cause they were. Gasping, we staggered over the invisible finish line and sat, our hands resting on the ground behind us. All was not over, though. The wolves appeared once more, and inexplicitly wolf number one was still standing, my knife still buried up to its hilt in the wolf’s gut. Then something weird happened; a soft wind blew, pushing the thick fog away. The knife in the wolf’s gut disintegrated and the wounds closed up. Perhaps the strangest of all were the wolves; they seemed to be shrinking into normal sized wolves, their blue pulsing eyes slowly turning amber, till at last standing before us were two run-of- the-mill, everyday wolves. They both turned and disappeared into the forest. “Did you see that, or am I just delusional?” I asked Lizzy. The look of pure amazement on her face told me the answer. I lifted my hand and looked at it. Nope the finger was still missing. “Why do the wolves get healed and my hand doesn’t?” I complained.

Lizzy’s laugh was just a tad bit shrill, “Oh, Jason.” Then her eyes misted. I could understand. We had survived so much and lost so many friends, and in Lizzy’s case – family. My own eyes filled with tears. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, but I didn’t care. I started crying. Lizzy did to. These tears weren’t self-pitying tears. They were for the loved ones we had lost. Bernardo, Lewis, Clark, Bethany, Lizzy’s brother, her mom and dad, and for the manservant that had saved her life by sacrificing his. I knew we had to move soon, to get back to civilization, but we had to let these healing tears run first. The Manor had changed us, and because of that I knew our lives would never be the same.

Memory

The sun’s light crept upon my upturned face, as I rested peacefully. Though I soon woke and ambled over to one of the precious objects in the corner of my little cabin. It showed my reflection perfectly, my mop of straight brunette hair, still tasseled from sleeping. With a pair of greenish blue eyes and below them a curving mouth. I smiled at my reflection, and two dimples showed themselves. On my slender neck was a beautiful sapphire the same color as my eyes. Something bumped gently against my leg. Glancing down, I spotted my wolf-dog, Bolto. I ruffled his head before picking up my fishing gear. Then I grabbed my two sheaved knifes and attached them to my belt. I glanced around to see if I had missed anything, then I turned and strode out of the cabin, with my pet at my heels.

The air was cold, but it felt good on my face. Today would be a good day for fishing. Finally we made it to a wide stream. I paused for a second. I always did when I reached this spot. The reason was this; I felt like something important had happened here. I just couldn’t remember what. I decided to try to remember this time. Closing my eyes, I concentrated. A pale face flashed into my mind – a face I didn’t recognize, with a something familiar laying limply on her neck. Before I could identify what it was, the face disappeared. Gasping, I clutched my head. It was throbbing painfully. Apparently something didn’t want me to remember.

I shook my head, then staggered forward, making my way to my favorite fishing spot. I sat down and started to put a worm on my hook. I felt a reprimanding nudge, then without looking up I commanded, “Patrol.” It was a command that I had trained Bolto to understand. He scouted around while I fished. Almost two hours later, I was about ready to call it a day. The fish had completely ignored my bait. That’s when Bolto came pelting out of a clump of trees. He stopped, then let loose a short howl, only loud enough for me to hear. Immediately I gathered my stuff and ran to the cover of a thick bush. Sliding under, I got into a position from which I could easily grab my knives and throw them. Around three minutes later a boy and a girl strolled out of the shade of the trees. The boy wore a faded brown T-shirt, and ripped jeans. He had a mop of unruly dark brown hair, and a pair of mischievous brown eyes. He was lanky and in need of a bath. The girl that flanked him could be trouble. She was slim, and she had a bow slung over her shoulder along with a quiver of arrows, though it seemed only a third full. They strolled over to the stream and stopped, apparently unsure of what to do next. I decided to get out of my hiding place and confront these to strangers. I made sure my knives were handy. Taking a deep breath, I crawled quietly out from my hiding place. I knew that my wolf-dog was nearby, so I whistled softly; he padded silently to me. Their backs were to me, so I was able to sneak up on them.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” I asked politely. Both of them whirled around, the girl pulling an arrow from her quiver, yanking her bow from her shoulder as well. The boy instinctively touched his waist, but there was nothing there. I reached for my knife, but before I could the girl said sharply, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Bolto, stay,” I commanded.

“Now, I’m going to ask you questions, and you’d better answer,” The girl said coldly. “Let’s start with, what’s your name?”

“Jewel.”

“Are there any other people around here other than you?”

“Nope, other than my dog.”

The girl’s face relaxed a bit, “Then why were you threatening us?”

“Me! Threatening you? More like you were threatening me with that bow of yours,” I replied hotly.

The boy finally intervened, “Okay, ladies calm down. Let’s start this over. My name’s Jason, and this wonderful lady is Lizzy.” Jason leaned over and looked behind me. “Is that a wolf?” he asked nervously.

“Hmm, no that’s Balto; he’s half wolf and half dog.”

“Where’s your parents?” Lizzy asked.

I felt my cheeks going red, “I don’t know.”

“Are they like hunting or something?”

I murmured, “I don’t remember. I can’t remember anything important.”

Jason suggested, “How ‘bout we go to wherever you’ve been calling home.

I perked up, “Yea, let’s do that.”

They trailed behind me as we marched back to my homely little cabin. Opening the door, I surveyed the sparse furniture of the house and suddenly felt a little self conscious. I hadn’t had any visitors since…. since, as far as I could remember. Though my visitors didn’t seem to mind my Spartan-ish house.

“Nice house,” Jason commented.

“Um, thanks,” I replied nervously.

“Anyway do you want some coffee?” I asked tentatively.

Jason made a face, “Not really.” He turned and asked, “What about you, Lizzy?”

“Sure”

I gestured to the old-ish coaches that were up against the wall, “Then wait there.” I went over to my stove and started to brew some coffee. “While I’m in the kitchen, do you guys want some rabbit meat?”

“Yes, please!” Jason and Lizzy chorused.

While Jewel was making Jason and Lizzy a meal of sorts, they started talking about the strange girl.

“So what do you think of her,” Jason asked.

“I don’t know, there’s something off about her,” Lizzy said quietly.

“I tend to agree,” Jason replied. “When you asked about her parents, she got this sort of blank look in her eyes.

“Yea, and did you notice that when I asked Jewel about her parents, the penete around her neck seemed to glow a little?” Lizzy asked.

“Yea, should we ask about it?” Jason replied.

“Ask about what?”

“The necklace, obviously.”

“Oh, right, I’ll try, but it might be difficult.” Just then Jewel came in juggling a coffee mud, a glass of water, and two bowls of steaming rabbit soup. Like all people who have been talking about the person, they fell silent, feeling a little guilty. Jewel set down the food, and was about to go back to the small kitchen, when Lizzy stopped her.

“So what’s the deal with your necklace?” Lizzy asked bluntly.

Jason smacked his forehead; did Lizzy always have to be so forthright?

Jewel blinked, “Necklace?”

“You mean this one?” She put her hand gently on the penant hanging on her neck.

“Yea, where’d you get it?”

Jewel scrunched her eyebrows in deep concentration, “I… don’t… wait” Then her face paled, and she collapsed.

Whatever had been keeping my memories prisoner, it had released its iron claws… to an extent anyway. I remembered flashes of my parents, them smiling and gesturing at our new cabin, my mother giving Balto to me, my father being worried about… somebody, my mother maybe? A fuzzy picture of my mother giving me something that shone slightly in the sun. My eyes suddenly flew open and I gasped.

“You’re awake!” Came a relieved voice from beside me.

I sat up groggily, and looked around, my brain still in turmoil. The boy, Jason, was sitting on a stole beside me; apparently they had taken me to my bed when I had fainted. Lizzy was leaning on the doorway, looking a little concerned, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, no, not really,” I replied.

Jason lips twitched, “Those are three different answers.”

I sighed “I’ve got to tell you guy’s something” I told them everything I had seen while unconscious, and anything else I thought important.

“So you’re telling me that there’s something blocking you from seeing important times in your past,” Lizzy said slowly.

“Yes, and it seems that whatever it is, is losing its grip on me,” replied Jewel.

“Hmm, so if we took the thing that was blocking your memories off…” Jason trailed off.

Understanding light up Jewel’s face, “You think it’s my necklaces that blocking my memories, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

“Well, not necessarily the necklace, more like the penate.

Jewel blinked a couple of times, the yawned, and promptly fell asleep. Jason and Lizzy glanced at each other, and then back at the slumbering girl. Quietly they slipped from the room, and shut the door.

My dreams were disjointed and fuzzy, and I couldn’t figure anything out, until a memory surfaced that was clearer than the others. My parents were about to leave in a vehicle and they were about to go without me. My Father had a blank look on his face. My Mother however seemed agitated and pale faced, until at last she walked over to me, “Child, I… this necklace is erasing my memories even now I’m forgetting you.” My mother swayed then continued, “When I take this necklace off I am going to forget you, and give it to you.”

I seemed to think this was a huge joke and asked, “What about father, won’t he remember me?”

“Alas, it is affecting him as well,” Then before I could ask her anymore questions she pulled the necklace off, then put it on me. She swayed then whispered, “If you are stronger than I am, and destroy this necklace, then our memories will return.” Then she straightened, and turned her back on the girl she could no longer remember, and strode away. Many more memories flitted through my brain like little bird, me waiting for mother and father to come back, me sobbing in my room, then a year of repetitive days. The only reason that why I knew it was a year was the fact I looked different, and I could see the seasons change.

I sat up suddenly, the necklace burning like fire on my neck. Bolto who had been curled up at the end of my bed, came and nudged his soft warm nose against my cheek. I smoothed his naturally rough fur, and tried to wrangle in my spinning thoughts. I could already feel the thing around my neck trying to smother all these memories, but failing. How could I get rid of this thing? I had already tried to take it off, but, weirdly, there was no clasp. I glanced at my knives and shrugged, might as well try. I quickly unsheathed my razor sharp knife. I placed the tip near the edge of the pennant and yanked away from me. My head split open in agony. My knife clattered to the floor. Nope, that did not work, not at all. I took in a shuddering breath. I held the necklace in my hand, staring at the place where the clasp should be. What on earth did you have to do to get this thing off! I thought back to when my mother handed the cursed necklace to me. Something clicked. Oh, no, not that, surely not. Tears of distress filled my eyes. Please not that.

“Okay, this is an airplane, and you fly in it to go to far of places,” Jason explained patiently.

“How on earth does that thing get into the air! It’s a huge chunk of metal, for Pete’s sake!! exclaimed an exasperated Lizzie.

“It just does, okay, don’t ask me why, it just does,” Jason muttered, losing his patience for the first time in two hours of teaching Lizzie about the 20^th century.

Then, suddenly, the door to the Jewels door flew open. The girl stood there, her blue, green eyes misty, her thin body shaking.

Jason stood abruptly, and took the girls hands, “What’s the matter Jewel.”

“I…I figured out how to get the necklace off,” she whimpered.

“Isn’t that a good thing,” Jason asked.

Jewels lip trembled, “No, I mean, yes it is for me, but not for someone else. Or something” Jason’s eyebrows came together. However it was it was Lizzie that asked the obvious question.

“What do you mean?”

THIS IS NOT FINISHED!!!!!