Destiny (Vanish Book Four)

It had been one year since the fall of the
Alliance. One year since Dante and I became a couple. One heavenly
year, where Dante and I took things slowly, and learned things
about each other we’d never thought to ask before. A year full of
sacrifice and happiness. A year full of celebration and a little
bit of regret, but the only thing that mattered, was that we were
all here. It had been one whole year without the bother of peoples’
greediness, without the fear of being chased.

I had to admit, it was perfect. Perfection
wasn’t being without flaws. It wasn’t steering clear of any issues
that couldn’t be resolved. But it was learning to accept the little
things and the obstacles that stood in your way, because if you
never learn to look past—and get past—those things, you never learn
what perfection can really be.

There
was not one day in this last year that went by without problems,
but there was also not a single day that I couldn’t see every
reason I had to be happy. I was lucky. I felt like the luckiest
girl in the world, but I that didn’t stop me from feeling like at
any moment it could all come crashing down. I didn’t want to think
that way, but I also didn’t want it to be a huge surprise if and
when things did go wrong.

I turned
toward the mirror. My long red hair flowed in even curls down to my
waist. I was wearing a bright-orange blouse and a pair of jean
shorts. Most days, I didn’t bother with makeup, but it was a
special occasion, and I wanted to look my best.

I
waited for Dante to arrive. I craned my head and looked out the
window. It didn’t look like he was coming yet. I grabbed the small
wrapped box from under my bed and readjusted the bow. Then, I
grabbed my orange flip-flops and went downstairs. By the time I got
down, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door and stared into his eyes.
Just seeing his face was like a jolt to my heart. He stood there
smiling, he didn’t say a word—he just let me soak in his
perfection.

“Are you ready?” he asked, after my eyes
wandered to the perfect blue sky above.

“Yes,” I answered.

He grabbed my hand and led me to the car.

He drove a little ways and then stopped,
right in the middle of nowhere. He got out of the car and then,
went to get something out of the back. It was a blanket and a
picnic basket.

We walked about half a mile into the woods
before I started wondering where we were going. I’d seen at least
five places where we could have set the blanket. He stopped for a
moment, scratching his head.

“Okay, I
think we go this way. It’s only a little bit farther; I know
it.”

We walked on a path that went downhill. The
sun shined through the leaves, and it started getting brighter. The
trees spaced out more and more the farther we walked. Finally, we
reached the spot Dante had been looking for. I knew before he said
anything, it was beautiful. There were wild flowers strewn through
the grass, and a tiny river ran right through the middle of the
sun-drenched meadow. We set the blanket about a foot away from the
stream, and sat down.

“This is beautiful, when did you find this
place?” I wondered.

“Oh, I was looking for an amazing spot to
take you the other day,” he answered.

“Well, it’s amazing.”

He opened the picnic basket and set out the
food. Once it was all out, he pulled out one more thing. It was a
tiny box, wrapped in teal paper with a tiny pink bow on top. That’s
when I realized that I had been holding onto his present the entire
time. We exchanged the boxes and opened them together. Inside the
box, was a beautiful charm bracelet, each charm was unique.

“Thank you,” I said. I looked over at him,
and he was putting on the watch that I’d given him.

“Thank you,” he repeated.

“You’re welcome,” I said as I looked at the
intricate detail on each charm.

I fidgeted with the bracelet as I admired it.
I thought today would be a great day. A day where I would forget
all of the things I had speculated about, but still I could tell he
was hiding something from me.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked, staring into
my eyes.

“Nothing,” I said with little conviction.
“What time is it?”

“Almost three, why?”

“I have to be somewhere around five.”

“Where?” he asked.

“It’s nothing really, kind of an
appointment.”

“Oh, okay,” he sighed.

“Look, it’s nothing really. I just promised
to help someone with… something,” I explained.

“Okay, I’ll have you back to your house by
four thirty.”

“Thank you,” I smiled.

It wasn’t that I needed to keep this secret
from Dante, but I knew that if I told him, he wouldn’t approve or
worse—he would worry and follow me there.

We sat bathing in the sunlight next to the
river. I sat in front of Dante, and leaned up against his chest. I
slid over one way, so that I could look up at him. He smiled, but
he almost looked sad.

“What’s wrong?” I wondered.

“I just love you so much, you know that,
right?”

“I love you, too,” I said as I straightened
up and turned toward him. “Is everything alright?”

“Fine,” he mumbled.

It seemed as though only moments had passed,
when Dante got up.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Packing up, it’s almost four thirty.”

“Already?” I groaned.

“Well, you don’t have to go if you don’t want
to,” he said in an almost pleading manor.

“No, I have to. I’m sorry. We’ll have to come
back here though.”

The walk back to the car seemed to take less
time. Dante knew where he was without a doubt now. It was like he
was rushing. He wanted to know the details, but was trying as hard
as he could not to ask.

He raced down the narrow dirt road all the
way back to our neighborhood. I still felt a haunting presence
there, like this was a place where only evil could truly flourish.
I shook it out of my mind for the moment. I’d had too many long
nights where I never found sleep, to think about all of this. Now
was not the time.

Dante stopped the car right in front of the
house, almost hitting a giant plant pot in the process. He got out
of the car, walked me up to the door, and kissed me on the
forehead. He stopped and stared into my eyes. It was as if he was
trying to figure out on his own, if I was up to no good. He sighed
and then walked away.

I stood there watching him until he made it
home. Then, I went into the house. Violet was waiting at the table,
reading the newspaper. She stopped, set it down and looked up at
me.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, but I need to hurry up and get
ready, there’s somewhere I need to be.”

She picked up the newspaper and continued
reading. I was glad that for once, she didn’t have fifty questions
to ask me.

I marched upstairs to put on something a
little more—intimidating. I chose an all-black outfit. I grabbed my
sunglasses and threw them in my purse. Then, I ran down the stairs
and out the door, without a word. I jumped in the car and began
driving toward my destination.

I knocked on the door. Then, I looked down at
the paper in my hands, checking the address for the sixth time. I
let out a deep sigh once I realized—I was in the right place. I
waited patiently for whoever was in there to answer. Even with
everything I’d been through, nothing could prepare me for this.

“Yes?” The woman said as she opened the
door.

“You contacted me?” I said, lifting up my
sunglasses.

She nodded, “come in.”

“I should let you know, this is my first….” I
paused trying to find the words. “I’ve never done this…
professionally.”

“You were the only person I could find, so….”
She laughed, but she didn’t seem amused.

“There shouldn’t be an issue,” I assured
her.

I walked down the hallway, looking for
anything out of the ordinary. She followed, staying a few feet
behind me. I peeked in each room that we went past, but I didn’t
see a thing.

“Where did you say these incidents were
taking place?”

“When I’m in my room, I hear footsteps coming
from the attic. Every night,” she whispered.

“Anything else?”

“Well, sometimes I hear laughing,
screaming.”

“I’ll head up to the attic.” I noticed her
uneasiness. “Maybe you should wait down here.”

“Okay, if you think that would be
better.”

I walked up the creaky stairs to the attic. I
wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d never done this before; hunted down
a ghost, let alone a ghost I didn’t know.

I had an idea after we stopped the Alliance,
I would help people with my powers. I didn’t think that anyone
would really approve, but I felt like it was something I needed to
do. Maybe if this went well, I could tell them, and then they would
see that everything was fine, and I really could do this.

I turned the doorknob slowly once I made it
to the top of the staircase. The light switch didn’t work, and the
sun had to filter through dust and cob-webs to make it into the
room at all. I opened up my bag and grabbed a flashlight.

“Hello?” I said as I walked between stacks of
boxes, behind me one fell. “Hello?”

“What’s going on up there?” the lady
asked.

“Everything’s fine,” I called down as I took
in my surroundings.

I picked up the box that had fallen and put
it back up where it belonged. A few things had fallen out. Some
pictures I didn’t pay any attention to. Some vials with
bright-colored liquids in them. I picked a red one up and pulled
the top off. Before I could see if it had a scent, the ghost
appeared. I dropped the vial on the floor and soon there was
nothing left but a hole.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the ghost
asked.

He was a young boy; he couldn’t have been
older than seventeen.

“I was just looking—”

“What are you doing here?” He demanded.

“The woman downstairs thought her house was
haunted; I came to check it out.”

“Alright, well, I’m not leaving. So, I guess
you can go now.”

“Why? Why are you here?”

“I’m here to keep all this stuff safe,” he
answered.

“To keep it safe?”

“The woman who lived here before was part of
the Alliance, she died and this woman bought the house.”

“So, what is all of this stuff?”

“Potions, books, secrets—things that no one
should know.”

“Well, I’m sure no one knows what’s up here,”
I assured.

“That’s the problem; kids make up stories,
and sometimes those stories actually have some truth to them.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They used to say she was a witch. She looked
so… evil. She never left the house and when she did, she was always
very secretive,” he explained. “So, one day they dared me to break
in. Biggest mistake of my life.”

“She killed you?”

“Yes, but if you want to get technical, it
was one of these potions,” he said.

“So, how long were you up here before she
died?” I wondered.

“About a year,” he said as he looked past me.
He was deep in a thought; I figured he was probably recounting his
time spent up here.

“Did she make these or—”

“No, no, no. I’m not telling you that. Don’t
you understand? I’m trying to make sure that this doesn’t happen to
anyone else.”

“I can assure you, if I ever did use one of
these, it would be on someone who deserved it. But the Alliance is
gone, and I’m only curious. By the way, how did you know about the
Alliance?”

“I followed her,” he answered. “And as for
the potions, yes, she did make them, but there are far too many
kinds to remember which does what.”

“Would you mind if I took some? I’ll help you
hide the rest,” I offered.

“You’re not going to hurt anyone?”

“Of course not, I would just like to figure
out how common these were. We cleaned out the Alliance
neighborhood, but I didn’t find anything like this.”

“You promise?” He asked again.

“I was with the group who defeated the
Alliance. Now, unless someone as bad as them comes up to me wanting
to kill me like the last time, I promise I will not use these on
anyone.”