Lark had a meager portion of food pushed through the bars of his cell the next morning. He had no visitors until just after lunch when Eugene arrived outside his cell. Eugene said nothing initially but only looked at him before he finally entered the cell and locked it behind him. The guard that accompanied him kept the key.
Eugene approached slowly. “We meet again,” he said quietly, triumphantly. “What did I tell you?”
“I… I’m sorry sir. Please… please… I beg you. Have mercy. Give me the chance to show you how good I can be for your daughter,” Lark said.
Eugene lashed out and slapped Lark so hard he stumbled backward and fell on his butt. “Get up!” Eugene said menacingly.
Lark stood shakily.
“I told you never to return didn’t I?”
Lark said nothing.
“Didn’t I?” bellowed Eugene as he struck Lark again. Lark stumbled backward i
Erin stared out of the window of her room as her maidens and her mother fussed around her making sure she was perfectly dressed and made up for her wedding.Today was her day. At least that was what her mother and father told said. She didn’t agree. She did not want to be married. It was her fathers’ day. He was getting exactly what he wanted.She did not want to be married but she had no choice. Her father had threatened to cast her out if she did not marry Horton Ashford.When they were finally satisfied that she looked like a bride, they sent word that she was ready.Her father joined them in her chamber a short while later and led her to the chapel that was attached to the castle.Horton Ashford and the guests were all waiting eagerly.Eugene led Erin down the aisle and finally left her before the altar where she stood beside Horton. The priest began the service and Horton and Erin exchanged their vows.Horton kissed E
When Lark had looked through the window of the cabin, he had been terrified to see the headless body of the witch on the floor with the head not far away.He had realized then, the cabin belonged to the witch Eugene had paid to curse him. He pieced together what had happened, concluding that Eugene had murdered her after she had cursed him.He cleaned the cabin and removed all traces of the witch. If anyone came looking for her, he would simply tell them she had left and that he had bought the cabin from her.He added a secret storage space beneath the cabin. He was able to access the storage space from inside and outside the cabin just in case he was thrown out of the cabin by some unforeseen circumstances.He stored everything that had belonged to the witch in the storage space, and over the days and months that followed he studied the witch’s magic and searched for a spell that could reverse the curse she had placed on him.He finally foun
Erin returned the next night and the next to see Lark. She waited until she thought Horton was asleep and then left the house. She sat on the swing that had since been completed. Lark left the cover of the field and stood on the opposite side of the tree so she could not see him. He was at least close enough that she did not have to shout.They spoke like they had before he had been cursed and they both felt the love they had for one another, as strong as ever.Lark persisted in asking Erin to kiss him but she resisted. She wasn’t sure it would work. She was afraid too that another enchantment would be passed to her if she kissed him.“If you do not try you will never know. Your father told me that the only way the curse can be broken is if you kiss me. Why would he have the witch place another enchantment on that? When your father told me, he was certain you would never kiss me…”“Erin?”Hor
Lark crept through the field in the dark making as little noise as he could. He now lived for every night that he could see Erin and talk to her. It was almost like old times but he still ached to be next to her, hold her and eventually kiss her.He crept to the tree where he always sat and spoke to Erin. He always waited for the music of her voice when she arrived.“Lark?” She had arrived. He felt his heart skip a beat.“I’m here my love,” Lark replied.“I hoped you would come earlier today,” Erin said.“Why?” Lark asked.“Horton has left for a few days. I thought you might be watching the cabin during the day and notice that he was gone so you could have come earlier and we could have spent more time together.”“I was not watching my lady. But now that I know I will be sure to arrive earlier tomorrow. I could even stay the night if you would like,” he said
Eugene kissed Loren goodbye. She did not kiss him back and he may as well have been kissing a statue.Loren was a shadow of the woman she had once been. She had descended into hatred and depression since Erin had disappeared.Eugene and Loren had made a trip one fine day to visit Horton and Erin at their house. They had not found Erin or Horton initially. A search of the property had led to the discovery of two bodies. The search had been widened to the nearby forest where Horton and a fourth body had been found.Eugene had been livid and had ordered the surrounding forest searched. He blamed Lark and claimed it was revenge. He offered a reward for the arrest of Lark but no-one found Lark and no-one thought to search the forest near the witch’s cabin.Loren on the other hand had blamed Eugene.“If you never cursed the boy, he would never have taken revenge!” she screamed at him time and again. “It’s all your fault! The
In the days that followed Eugene was left to himself. He couldn’t forget the image of the wolves eating Eugene alive and he cringed at the thought that he had been the one who had created that situation.Yet, he had wanted Eugene to suffer for all he had done. The curse, Erin, and her death, marrying her to Horton and destroying so many lives. He had wanted Eugene’s death to serve as justice for all that he had done and even though Lark cringed at the thought of how brutal he had been, he was satisfied that justice had been served.He turned his thoughts to the future. He had no idea how long he would have to wait for Erin to be reborn, he had no idea even how he would know if she had been reborn and even if he did know when she had been reborn, he would never know where to find her. His initial hope was that her next life would be in this same area and not some other place in the world. If her next life was not here, hopes of finding her were almost an imp
The next day Lark was almost taken by surprise. He had expected that Emma would arrive with Lendra or Justin to report for her first day’s work. Instead, she arrived alone riding a horse.Lark was still indoors when the transformation began.He sat still in shock as he watched the fur appear on his hands. As he tried to understand what was happening, he incanted the spell he had learned. His transformation did not cease and he felt his blood run cold as he cringed waiting for a scream that would tell him the spell had failed.He stood and walked to a window of his house which was when he spotted her.He was amazed at how she looked just like Erin. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at her through the window. She sat on her horse studying the house.Lark finally opened the door and stepped out hesitantly waiting for the scream, that would tell him the spell had failed.Instead, she smiled when she saw him.“Good day sir,
Lark told Emma the tale of their love from her previous life. He did not at first make it clear that the tale was about them. Emma listened, fascinated by the tale. When Lark had finished, Emma seemed lost in thought.“Is that a true story?” she asked at last.“It is,” Lark said looking at Emma.“It is such a beautiful and yet sad story,” Emma said.“It is exactly that,” Lark replied.“How do you know about it?” Emma asked.“You would not believe me if I told you,” Lark said.“I could not say if I would believe you if you told me unless you tell me,” Emma said smiling.Lark laughed softly, “You are just like…” He trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.“Just like…?” she echoed waiting for him to finish.Lark hesitated and then decided to push through. He had come this far. He had i
Lark kept Sasha away from his house for a few days longer as he converted one of the bedrooms to an office for her and satisfied himself that Lynn was really gone. Everywhere he went he checked to see if he was being followed. He even hired a private investigator to follow him when he went out. The private investigator reported that no-one had followed him at any time and, finally satisfied that Lynn had decided to leave him alone, he had let Sasha come to his house.She was amazed when she saw what he had done for her.“Thank you so much, Lark. You didn’t have to,” she said. “We could have managed in one office.”“We could have,” Lark smiled, “but I need space as much as I enjoyed having you less than a shout away.”“Thank you,” Sasha said again. Then she asked, “Is Lynn here? I should say hello to her. It would be rather rude of me not to.”“She’s gone,&rdqu
Lark opened the door as quietly as possible, stepped inside, and closed it just as quietly. He placed the thermoses on the table in the entrance hall and then, after quickly peering into the living area and not seeing Lynn, proceeded down the passageway.The first room was his office. He had suspected he would find Lynn in his office. Her back was to him and she was muttering to herself angrily.“Damn you… where is it? Where have you hidden it?”Lark stepped into the study behind Lynn and watched her silently. She was going through book after book quickly, angrily, trying to cover as much ground as she could.Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed something out of place in the room.She noticed Lark. She turned to look at him and dropped the book, surprised. She gave out a small shriek of surprise.“Lark! What the hell? You almost gave me a heart attack!” she exclaimed.“Looking for somethin
“So what if I want to read up on how to do spells and teach myself more when you’re busy writing your books?” Lynn asked.“Well, I’m sure I could always give you a book to read. What do you have in mind?”“Well, let me carry on with the book that you’ve been teaching me with. How do I read it so it doesn’t look like a fiction novel?”Lark smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll unlock the book for you.” He reached up to the shelf and removed the book he had been using to teach Lynn. He turned away after removing it from the shelf and muttered something before he turned and held it out to Lynn.She took the book from him and opened it. It was no longer a fiction book. She paged through it reading about spell after spell.“There you go,” Lark said.“Thank you,” Lynn said. She left the library and returned to the living room lost in reading the book and
Lark felt as if a weight had been lifted off him. He could not believe that the curse was finally broken. It was a dream come true when he had given up hundreds of years ago.A few things that seemed out of place crossed his mind but he pushed them aside.Lynn’s father had not made an appearance since he had met her. It was strange considering what he knew about the curse and his previous experience.Lynn had seemed to be much more relaxed about what he had told her. He guessed though that everyone was different and that it was more difficult for people in today’s day and age to believe in magic.Lynn didn’t look anything like Erin. Sasha looked more like Erin than Lynn did.But who knew how the universe worked? Justin had not looked the same as Eugene despite Emma looking exactly like Erin. Emma’s mother had also not looked like Loren, Erin’s mother.If he expected everything to be the same, he would most likel
Lynn made her way to Lark’s study and began to go through his books one by one. The books on the shelves in his study were all genuine as far as she could tell. There was a large variety of fiction and non-fiction books on the shelves. There was not a single one about magic that she could see. She began to take books off the shelves and to check the backs of the shelves for hidden buttons and levers that would reveal a secret opening in the wall that would grant her access to a secret library filled with magical books and knowledge.She could just imagine what she could do with the knowledge Lark must have stored somewhere. She had an alternative plan if she failed to find the books or Lark’s secret storage place. She didn’t want to set that plan in motion but it was beginning to look like she had less and less choice in the matter. It was beginning to look like she would have to activate her plan ‘b’ as people called it.Lynn was so engro
Lynn collected the sleeping pills for which she had obtained a prescription. She headed back to Lark’s place and placed them in her cupboard. Then she went to see Lark in his office where he was busy working on his latest novel.He looked up from his computer when she entered his study.“Hi there. Where have you been?” he asked smiling.“Oh, I needed to go and get some things,” Lynn smiled. “I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight.”“That sounds like a plan,” Lark smiled. “Where are we going?”“No, no, I mean just dinner here at home. I’m cooking. My treat.”“I certainly won’t say no,” Lark smiled.“Okay. Well, you just carry on doing what you’re doing and I will make dinner. I insist on doing it alone tonight okay?”“Okay but just shout if you want some help,” Lark smiled.“That will
Lynn was over the moon with the departure of Sasha. She felt as if she had newfound freedom in Lark’s house now that Sasha was gone. She had always been restricted from searching Lark’s house for where he kept all the magical knowledge she believed he must have gained. Now at least she had some more freedom to search with less chance of discovery. There had been a few occasions when Sasha had almost caught Lynn going through Lark’s things. Now she only had to concern herself with Lark while she searched his house.As if Sasha’s moving out wasn’t enough of a gift, the universe seemed to play even further into her hands. Sasha arrived in the morning two days after moving out. She was in tears when she entered and Lark ushered her into his office. He closed the door and they spoke quietly. Lynn did not eavesdrop. She was sure that Lark would tell her what had happened later.And he did. Sasha finally left looking a bit better. Lark saw her ou
Lynn moved in two days later. Lark was happy about the decision to let Lynn move in. He thought it would give them both more time to get to know each other better and for him to build up her trust to an extent that she might not be as surprised when he finally told her the truth about his reluctance to kiss her. She might be willing to trust him to the extent that she wouldn’t hesitate to kiss him at all when he told her.Lark helped Lynn get as settled as possible. She told him she had stored the majority of her belongings with a friend since she was only staying in a room at Lark’s house and her possessions would never fit in the room that Lark had given her.In truth, Lynn had kept her place. She wasn’t in the financial difficulty she pretended to be in. This was all temporary until Lark trusted her enough to tell her what she needed to know. When he did that, she would be in control. Until then, as long as she lived in Lark’s house, she had
Just before Christmas, Lark had started advertising for a personal assistant. He had halted the interviews just before Christmas because it was Christmas after all and people were going away for the holidays. He checked his e-mail daily though and on Boxing Day he received an e-mail from one of the applicants. Her name was Sasha.Dear Sir/Madam.I am writing about my application for the position of your assistant. I would like to inquire if you have considered interviewing me. I believe I am very well suited for the position and I would be most grateful if you would interview me. I do apologize for pressing you for an interview at this time but I have limited resources and time in New York City before I have to leave if I do not find a suitable position to support myself. In truth, my application for this position is my last chance. I have always dreamed of being in New York and I hope that you would consider making my