Darkness.

That’s all I could see. No forms, no shapes, just dark. My feet carried me as if they knew where they were going. I could hear my heart pulsing through my body. Slowly in the distance a figure appeared. I tried to walk faster, but my feet wouldn’t allow me. The figure didn’t move as I got closer. It was almost as if the figure had been waiting for me.

I finally stood next to the figure; it was a man. His back was turned from me, but the familiarity was facing me. I reached out to touch him, but before I could he turned around and faced me. His gray eyes searched my face with sadness in them. His hand cupped my face as he gazed at me.

“Be safe.” He whispered. His thumb stroked my cheek. “I care too much about you to lose you.”

He kissed my forehead, starred into my eyes with his aged gray eyes, and slowly walked away.

My eyes slowly opened as I woke up. My stomach dropped as the words repeated in my mind. I looked over at a sleeping Charlie. His snores were deep but soft. I ran my fingers through his hair; he needed a hair cut, but was still handsome. 

I glanced over at the clock and it read 6:09 AM. I slowly got out of bed trying not to wake up Charlie. He stirred a little, but didn’t fully wake up. I crawled in the shower and let the hot water wash away my dream. Those eyes were all I kept seeing. He had aged so much from all the stress he had been put through, and my chest tightened when I thought about what he was forced to become.

My thoughts were broken when there was a knock at the door. At first it didn’t register as a knock until it happened again. My breathing become labored at the sound of the knocking.

“Babe…” Charlie knocked again. “I need to pee. Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” I yelled over the water. For some reason I was thinking of another person knocking at the door.

Charlie came in, did his business, and stupidly flushed the toilet turning my warm water into scorching hot. I finished my shower and got to drying my hair. I put on a little make up, and threw on some jeans and a t-shirt. 

As Charlie showered I cooked some breakfast. I felt like I couldn’t stop moving my hands, and if I did I would start thinking. Thinking before you were about to meet your long lost father was not a good thing. At times I had to stop and remember to breathe. I couldn’t believe this day had come, and thinking about this made me want to throw up.

It was 8:47 AM when we decided it was time to head out. I took a deep breath as I took Charlie’s hand apparated to Scotland. Everything was green and looked out of a fairy tale book. We were near a bakery and the smell of fresh bread overtook us.

“You ready for this?” Charlie looked down at me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I squeezed his hand tighter as we walked towards the small village up ahead.

We really didn’t know what we were looking for, only who. We decided to stop inside a small pub and see if anyone knew anything. It was a good thing we stopped in there, I really needed a drink to relax me.

“What can I get cha?” Asked a dark haired man with a thick Scottish accent. 

“Two Fire Whiskeys please.” Replied Charlie.

“Bit early to be drinkin’ don’t you think?” The bartender joked.

“Not for me it isn’t.” I replied with a smile.

“Got yourself a keeper there Laddy!” He gave Charlie a wink and he passed our drinks to us. “Enjoy!” And with that he walked away.

I drank a huge gulp, feeling it burn down my throat. Charlie took sips of his drink, but wasn’t chugging it the way I was. The drink seemed to calm my nerves a bit, but I couldn’t stop my hands from moving. Charlie grabbed my hand and stroked it with his thumb. He looked into my eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

Two elderly women walked in and sat at the table across from us. They seemed to be lost in a world where it was only them two. They were gossiping about the young baker and how he had many affairs. Nothing they were talking about was of interest to me, but I listened anyways.

“Yes, he also was with that Bar Maid that used work here on the weekends!” The older lady of the two said.

“You mean that Rowland girl?” My ears perked up at the name, his name.

“That’s the one!” She got a little closer to her friend. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I was told she got herself into trouble, if you know what I mean, and left here to live in Brazil.”

“Peter must’ve been furious! Do you know what’s come of her now?” The ladies eyes grew wide.

“Not since she left! She did the right thing though by leaving! You can only shame your family so much!” The both shook there heads in agreement.

I didn’t even look over at Charlie before bombarding their conversation.

“I’m sorry, but you know Peter Rowland?” I asked without hesitation.

“Of course dear! Very respectful man he is.” The older one said. You could tell she had once been beautiful, but was now trying to hid under globs of make up.

“And not to mention incredibly handsome.” The younger one added. I could see she was missing a few teeth and a mole under her chin.

“Do you know where he lives?” I asked impatiently.

“Oh yes. He lives up on the hill near the church. Though he doesn’t go much.” She added trying to sound superior.

“Thank you.” I said standing up and rushing out the door.

“Izzy wait!” Cried Charlie from behind me. I turned to see him jogging after me. With all the adrenaline I completely forgot about him. “I’ve never seen you run that fast before, well not unless there is cake involved!”

“Shut up dork!” I giggled as I pushed him. “He lives up there!” I pointed to the hill where the church was standing upon.

“Well let’s get going! Just don’t leave me behind again.” He took my hand as we slowly walked toward the hill.

We finally reached the church. It was older, but that’s what made it even more gorgeous. There were little houses behind the church and I was guessing that’s where he would be. The houses were more like cottages. I was looking around and didn’t notice Charlie stop. I ran into him face first as he just stood there staring.

“Wha…” But before I could finish I saw what he was looking at.

In front of us was a mailbox that read, ‘The Rowland’s’. My heart sunk and I thought it was going to fall out of my butt.

“Ready?” Charlie asked. All I could do was nod my head.

We walked past the gate and up to the door. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I knocked twice on the door and waited. Time seemed to stand still as the door began to open. At the door was a beautiful woman with auburn hair and dark green eyes.

“Can I help you?” She asked with a polite smile.

“Is-is-is Peter Rowland here?” I stuttered out.

She looked into my eyes then examined my entire face. It was almost as if she knew who I was. Her eyes grew wide and seemed to be tearing up. Without a word she opened the door more and signaled for us to enter. We followed her into a luxurious room with candle light and a small crystal chandelier. 

“Wait here.” She said with a cracked voice.

I stood where I was looking at my feet. I heart was pounding hard and my palms were sweating profusely. I didn’t look around I just stared at the floor.

“Izzy…” Charlie whispered. “Isn’t that you?” He pointed to a picture that I knew all too well.

It was me at the age of 9 before I even knew about magic. I was wearing a horrid pink dress that me mother forced me to wear, holding a large teddy bear, with a huge smile plastered on my face. The picture stood still, it wasn’t magical in anyway, it was just me staring into empty space. My mother kept this picture in hallway near the kitchen saying it was her favorite of me. 

I gaped at the picture as footsteps came near us. Charlie stood near me protectively just in case something was to happen. Following behind the green eyed woman was a man with dark brown hair like mine, dark eyes like mine, and lips shaped like mine. We stared at each other for a moment taking everything in.

“Isabella?” The man questioned.

Before I could answer the room began to spin. I heard Charlie’s voice call out my name, then everything went black.