BOOK ONE: Enchantments Veil ~ Chapter One: PART I

The sun rose over the tops of the trees, casting a cold morning light on the cabin nestled on the shores of a serene lake. The cedar trees that encircled the cabin swayed gently in the breeze, providing a welcome distraction from the lingering nightmares that had slipped out of bed with her.

Jodee took a sip from the rough stone mug cradled in her hands, savouring the dark roast David had recommended. Divine, she thought.

“Blessed be the morning,” she whispered, settling into one of the Muskoka chairs that rested on the old dock Randall had built by the lake. A decade had passed since Randall’s death, and today marked that grim anniversary. It was an anniversary of sorts since they had never known the exact date of his death, only how it had happened. That day still haunted her, the day she learned of his death, much like the other days of their tumultuous youth.

She thought back to the morning when the phone call had changed everything. The autopsy had revealed that Randall might have been lying there for weeks, alone, succumbing to the vices that would eventually claim his life. Their relationship had grown strained since her departure for university, and she had distanced herself from whatever madness plagued him over time.

The ghosts of her slumber, the demons she herself carried, remained close at hand.

Her feet rested on the rocky ledge surrounding the fire pit she had constructed in spring. She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the dawning winter sky. The pale blue hues of the morning sky merged with wisps of delicate pink, heralding the arrival of a new day. Despite the weight of memories that hung in the air, a sense of peace began to settle within her. The tranquillity of the lake, undisturbed by the passage of time, offered a sanctuary for introspection.

The tendrils of early morning mist danced across the water’s surface, adding an ethereal quality to the scene. It was as though nature herself sought to comfort Jodee in her grief, wrapping her in a cocoon of serenity. As she closed her eyes, the rhythmic lapping of the lake against the shore became a soothing lullaby, easing the turmoil within her soul.

In this tranquil haven, memories of Randall intertwined with the beauty of the landscape, creating a tapestry of bittersweet recollections. Each ripple on the lake mirrored the complexities of their relationship, the undulating emotions that had ebbed and flowed over the years. Despite the pain of loss, there remained a flicker of warmth in her heart, a gentle ember of love that refused to be extinguished.

With a deep breath, Jodee released the burdens that had weighed heavily upon her shoulders. She embraced the stillness of the morning, allowing it to envelop her in its embrace. The dawn held a promise of healing, a chance to honour Randall’s memory while finding solace within herself. As the sun ascended higher in the sky, its golden rays infused the world with renewed hope, casting a radiant glow upon the waters below.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Jodee rose from her chair, ready to face the day that lay ahead. As she stepped away from the tranquil shores of the lake, a newfound strength blossomed within her, an unyielding resolve to embrace life’s journey with courage and grace. Though the scars of the past would always remain, she carried them as a testament to the depth of her resilience, a reminder that even in the face of adversity, the human spirit endures.

As she walked back to the cabin, the echoes of her footsteps mingled with the whispers of the wind, weaving a melody of hope and renewal. The chapters of her life, both joyous and sorrowful, converged in this idyllic setting, painting a portrait of resilience and quiet determination. With each step, Jodee embraced the possibilities that lay before her, knowing that within the tapestry of her experiences, she held the power to shape her own destiny. The morning light, infused with a sense of purpose, illuminated her path as she ventured forth, guided by the enduring warmth of love and the unyielding strength of the human spirit.

“It’s a campfire night, I believe, Thomas. What do you think?” She directed the question to the cat, who had been grooming himself in the tall grass at the edge of the woods. Thomas continued his self-care routine, a signal that he’d keep his thoughts to himself, and sauntered off into the woods.

David had given her the day off from her pub shift, allowing her to confront her grief in solitude. The cabin in the woods had been left to Randall in their father’s will, and this wooded glen surrounding the lake had been his refuge as well. She had recently learned that this humble homestead had once sheltered the first pioneers to this new world, who had brought their own demons and woodland fairies with them.

With Randall’s death, her new beginning had commenced, and with her, new demons had arrived, for better or worse. She didn’t know yet. The wind rustled the reeds on the other side of the murky water, and she felt a deep connection to the place.

She had initially visited the cabin sporadically, but last week, she had finally given up her apartment in the village, moving to the cabin for good. It had taken months to cleanse the space of the stains Randall had left, but now it was truly her own.

Watching Thomas hidden in the long grass, she sighed.

Beyond, she saw Randall, his white, naked body, dancing feverishly. Swinging wildly round the trees, spiralling away in mad abandon. Her pied piper, her demented brother. Her very own mad-hatter. Infused with the delusions of childhood, this had been her first memory of him.

Oh, he was a golden-headed god, a Pan to her innocence. A tangled mess of dichotomies. He was as gentle as he was dangerous. As light as air, as dark as hades. As loving, as he was cruel. And with a gentle tug, off came the mask to reveal the predatory nature of his madness. As his hazel eyes lured her in.

Their mother could never control him, could never lure him towards her healing hands and loving arms. He had rejected her, almost as soon as he could crawl, pushing her away whenever she tried to pick him up, he would have none of it.

And after their mothers death, after all the rituals of death had been performed, he became worse. Angrier, more addicted to the dark, more manipulative, more erratic.

That boy, becoming a man, who had taken her with him on his woodland jaunts. Then, late at night, under her Holly Hobby covers, he laid himself down, beside her.

Shuttering in the warm morning air, Jodee takes another sip of the steaming Java between her hands. Wrestling with the shiver down her spine, and the solitude of her secret catches her breath. She closes her eyes, and watches as the memory slowly dissolves, leaving not even a scent behind. Swallowed whole.

Despite everything. Despite the betrayal, her silent secret, the escape. Despite the scars he left on her soul, the wounds he inflicted on her heart. Despite the years of silence, of healing, of forgetting. That call had pierced through the darkness and struck her like a dagger. It whispered to her, but she brushed that away as well.

I will NOT let you take it all away from me. I refuse. I will grieve you, and I will always remember there was love, once upon a long time ago there WAS LOVE, she yelled at the top of her lungs. Then listened as her words fell from her tear-drenched lips into the new morning light.

As the sun quietly crept across the lake towards her, she knew.

Rising to her feet and pivoting back towards the open door of the cabin, she can see the outline of his golden head within the door. Staring blankly out at her, with those deadened eyes. And raising the gun to his temple, she sees the red as it splatters on the screen door, and out into the darkness that lay before him.

She sees his body crumple, and then it disappears.

As those last moments of the demon sibling she loved flashed before her, she knew.

Dim within her memories lay the enslavement of truth. Until now, as the vision of Randall’s last moments had come to her, unbidden. As the demon of her slumber danced its deathly stare back at her, she remembered what else had been dragged forth with her this morning, upon waking.

A name.

As the sun slowly made its way, tickling the ripples across the reeds at the far edge of the lake, slowly out of the corner of her eye, dancing with the light across the spot where he lay, she caught the last glimpses of what looked to be a large bird on the distant shore as it flew, and disappeared. Then, as the reeds slowly came into focus, emerged a cloaked figure, the forest, and the lake, all disappeared.

Startled she closed her eyes, afraid of what she saw before her. On opening one eye, and finding that figment was not her imagination, she takes a long, strangled, breath.

I nod my ancient head towards her, in acknowledgement. It is then she hears my voice, as the silken tone glides across the water. Hears it in crystal clarity, as if I’m standing before her, instead of some 1000 feet away.

I am who you seek. It has begun.