Chapter 3 - I Would Have Never Believed It, Had It Not Happen to Me

“A stranger you meet more that once is not meant to stay as a stranger.”

“ARE you sure we are not lost?” Angelique asked Revin who was at the far front, leading the group.

“My cousin took me there last time we were here. We are on the right track, I think.”

“What if we are bewitched by elves or dwarves? We would not notice it but we may be walking in circles!” Nina exlaimed, making the atmosphere eerie.

“I am not really superstitious, I do not believe that kind of stuff.” Jeff answered. “But if you do, you just wear your shirt inside out. That should do it.”

For a long while, it seemed like they were just going round and round. The trees and plants looked the same. Angelique was starting to get tired from all the walking. She wanted to rest for a little bit so she called out to her friends.

“Hey, let’s rest for a while.” But when she raised her head, she found out she was alone. “Guys? Nina? Rev? Jeff?” She called to them as loud as she can but she did not get any response.

She was starting to get scared. She was alone in the middle of the forest with literally nothing with her asides from her clothes, phone, and some money in her pocket. It was also getting dark, too. She opened her phone and tried to call her friends but there was no signal in her location.

She looked around frantically. She feels like she is being watched. She got goosebumps all over her body. Then, she heard a faint voice calling her name.

“Angelique,” the female voice said.

That was odd. She does not know the owner of the voice. She should be wary given the situation. But the voice was calm and heavenly. It washed away her fears and worries. Something inside her told her it might be dangerous but she cannot control her own body. She was bewitched. She tried to find the where the voice was coming from and saw a faint light. She decided to follow its source.

“That is it. Come.” The voice said.

The path lead to an old, unfinished bridge. “This must be the one that Revin was talking about!” The bridge was probably built to connect the two cliffs on each side of the shallow river. However, it was not finished and just hosted vines and wild grass. She went closer.

The bridge was made up of large slabs of stones. Fascinated, Angelique touched them. As she looked closer, she found out that the stones have various symbols etched onto them.

“These look ancient. .” They did not look like modern engraving of teens who like to vandalize. “ I feel like I have seen a couple of these from my history class. . like some alphabet used by old tribes.”

“Angelique. .” She heard that enchanting female voice again. She looked around to see where the voice is coming from and noticed a particular slab of concrete that seems to glow. Cautiously, she went closer and noticed it has an engraving of a flower. It has six pointy petals and a circular center.

“These are daffodils.” With her curiosity getting the best of her, Angelique reached her hand to touch the carving. And the world went black.

-+-

“Finally! The master will be overjoyed when he knows that the mistress has been found!”

“What are we waiting for? We need to start the preparations for a feast!”

Angelique was awoken by women whispering. She opened her eyes and struggled to adjust her vision due to bright lights coming from a chandelier.

She looked at her surroundings and noticed that she was in a grand room with pastel green walls and industrial style light fixtures. There were about five women wearing hotel-like uniforms around her bed.

“Mistress, you are awake.” a woman with dark copper hair spoke to her.

“Where am I? What place is this?” Angelique was so confused. She definitely remembered passing out on the bridge.

The women just smiled at her.

“I understand why you might be bewildered at the moment, madam. But it is not our place to educate you in the matter.” The copper-haired woman answered her.

On the other side of her bed, a woman with fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair told her, “When the master comes, your questions will surely be answered.”

Angelique’s heart was beating crazily. The women seemed welcoming. In fact, everybody was treating her with respect and smiling at her. But she do not know them! And who is this “master” that they talk about?

She feared for her safety. Is this perhaps a kidnap? Will she be a victim of human trafficking? Will her organs be harvested? She studied her area quietly. Somehow, she needs to find the way out of the house so she could escape.

The women led her to a grandiose bathroom with floor to ceiling windows overlooking a fruit orchard outside. They bathe her in lukewarm water and spread rose petals in the tub. Angelique was very embarrassed being naked in front of these women. She was more on the curvy side and she does not have fair skin. But they insisted to take care of her and groom her saying that this is their “duty”. She decided to obey them for a while as she figures out the perfect timing for her escape.

They infused her bath with essential oils. After her bath, they applied more oils to her face and body. She was dressed in a beautiful dress. It was a crepe de chine silk dress with a plunging v-neck line and a full skirt. It’s color was mostly white with the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet swirling from the hem making an ombre effect. The dress was made by a famous designer based in Los Angeles.

“The dress fits your title perfectly, madam.” The blond-haired woman commented as they look at her with admiration.

They also put light make-up on her, curled her hair and accessorized her. On her neck sit a jade necklace and on her finger was an oval-shaped, pink diamond ring.

This only made Angelique more bewildered. What kind of underground criminal group would spend ridiculous amount of time and money before selling their victims?

At that moment, she heard a knock on her door.

“Is her ladyship ready?” a somewhat familiar voice called out from the other side of the door.

“Yes, she is.” one of her attendants answered.

When the mystery man entered, Angelique was flabbergasted. It was the bony man in suits from the mall!

“Y-you!” She struggled to form a coherent sentence as she pointed at him.

He bowed respectfully. “Your highness, if you could just come with me as we are pressed for time.” He went to her and helped her up. Guided her out of the room.

Outside the bedroom was a long hallway with high ceilings and chandeliers. There were some art pieces hanged on the wall. They passed by several doors only god knows where they lead.

“I know you right? I saw you earlier at the mall.” She told the man.

“Ah, yes. By the will of the fates we met.”

“Just what in the name of hell is happening right now?”

The man smiled at her remark, “Everyone is in a festive mood because we have found you, mistress.”

“Me? But I do not even know you.”

“You do not know me now. But you knew me before.. from a previous life.”

“Previous life?” It just made Angelique more confused. “I do not understand you one bit.”

“Tell me, madam, did you hear a voice calling out your name? Without you even realizing it, you followed the source of the voice and found a glowing object?”

She felt goosebumps as he accurately describe her weird encounter. “Yeah.”

“Did you touched that object, perhaps?”

“Yes. .” Was she not supposed to? “I am sorry. Do you own that bridge? I did not mean to invade your privacy.”

“No, madam. You were meant to go there and touch that object.”

“Wait, ‘meant to?’” She gasped. “Do not tell me some elf prince fell in love with me and took me to his castle?”

She have heard those kind of ridiculous stories from her grandmother. An elf takes a fancy at a beautiful human. He abducts her and takes her to his magical kingdom to be his wife.

“Uhm, no. However, that also happened to the “you” of a previous life.”

"You mean I was married to an elf prince in my previous life?"

"You were married to someone far greater than an elf prince."

They descended a majestic spiral staircase with glass balustrade. Downstairs lead to a spacious room with a white grand piano at the center. It has floor to ceiling windows on one side. Opening that leads to a veranda across which is a swimming pool and tables and chairs lined on each side.

The man spoke again, “You see, my lady, you are no normal being. You are, in fact, the reincarnation of goddess Persephone.”

Angelique stared at the man. He must be kidding. They stayed like that for a while but he did not budge. She was waiting for him to burst out laughing and tell her he was just joking. But he did not. She blinked twice. Nothing.

“Uhm, no. .” She shook her head, “I am Angelique Cruz, daughter of Leo and Isabel Cruz. I live in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Philippines.”

“I understand that you may be in denial. You have lived a long life as a mortal human. But you must understand, this IS your reality.”

Angelique laughed hard, “Well, if I am Persephone, then this should be hell.”

He nodded. “It is.”

“No. . This is a beautiful mansion. There is no way this is hell. . right?”

He smiled at her with a look in his eyes that seems to tell her he pities her. “Those female servants who were with you are lampads or underworld nymphs.”

Angelique furrowed her eyebrows. “Do not tell me you are Hades?” This old guy is supposedly her husband?

“No, madam. I would never dare to steal his lordships’ name. I am Charon, his boatman and right-hand man.”

“If you are not Hades. . then who is?”

Charon raised his hand palms up and gestured to their right. Angelique turned and recognized a familiar face among the crowd. It was that rude guy she met in the van. This must be some sort of a practical joke.

He was still as handsome as she remembered with that perfectly-combed hair and bluish-gray eyes. He was wearing a black suit with small diamond embellishment starting on the outer side of the collar, going to the lapel, and the flaps.

He raised his glass and tapped it with a fork, effectively silencing the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my appreciation to all the guests who are with me today to celebrate such a special occasion. As all of you have known, this empire had a long way from the difficult, dwindling ruins it was before my accession to the glorious, majestic structure that it is now. All of this I had endured alone.”

He then turned his body to her direction with his eyes looking at her. “But finally, my long wait is over. I would like to present, my beloved wife and queen, Persephone.”  

Charon held her hand to guide her closer to Hades. Everyone was welcoming her with happy faces and applause. Her so-called husband then reached for her hand and guided her to two throne chairs.

The one on the left was made of wood painted in black. On its arm rests an owl. The one on the right was also made of wood but was maintained in its natural color. Flowers of the same kind but with the varying colors of white, yellow and orange adorned it. The flower had six pointed petals and a circular center. Angelique recognized it as the carving she saw on the stone back on the bridge.

“This must be a joke, right?” She whispered to the handsome man once they were seated.

“See for yourself.” He gestured his hand to the crowd dancing to music.

Angelique studied the crowd. At first glance, they seem like normal people enjoying themselves at a party. But when she looked closer, she found out that some of them are translucent as if they have no flesh and bones. . as if they are just souls. In a corner, there sit a group of creatures with torso of a woman and legs of a bird. Some have wings and bear harps.

This cannot be happening. She cannot believe her eyes. This looked like a scene straight from a fantasy movie. Slowly, Angelique’s sight clouded and became pitch black.