Winter's Child

Chapter Twenty-One~Healing

The four continued through the large, unnerving mansion, staying close together at all times. The tension was growing. Each moment they seemed to be fighting off their own fears or helping another fight off theirs. It was a maze of a house. There were no windows and the doors would be there one moment and gone the next. It was terrifying to be suddenly locked in a room with no escape.

Everyone became weary. They had no idea what time it was and didn't know at all how long they had been in the house. Eventually, they came to a certain door that confused them all. It was taller than the rest and, on the wood, a message was engraved.

'Enter only if you have never wronged.'

"What does that mean?" Marcy asked, tilting her head. Elodie took a step closer, examining the text.

"Uh...I guess it means, go in if you've never done anything wrong," she guessed with an unsure shrug.

"But, then no one would be able to go in. We've all done something wrong at some point in our lives," Lark countered, crossing her arms.

"Some of us...more than others," Jack murmured. Lark shot him a glare.

"But...what if she's in there?" Elodie asked. Jack took a step forward and grasped Elodie's hand.

"If you want to go in, Ellie, I'll be right beside you." Elodie looked at the door with uncertainty for a moment before making up her mind. What did they have to lose? Besides their lives. Well, they should have been willing to part with them on this trip anyways. Especially since entering this house. Elodie gave Jack a curt nod before placing her hand on the doorknob and mentally counting to three. When she reached it, she hastily turned the knob and swung the door open before she could change her mind.

Once inside, Jack and Elodie caught sight of a tall man standing in the corner, looking out the first window the group had seen in the house. The man had wavy, medium-length, dark hair and a strong build. He turned and his gentle blue eyes fell upon the group. He smiled warmly when he looked at Elodie. She recognized him. Recognized everything about him. His kind, wise eyes, his gentle smile, his short beard, his wavy, dark hair.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded in a low voice, placing his hand on the handle of his sword. Elodie's breath caught in her throat as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Dad," she uttered, her voice breaking as she swallowed the lump in her throat. The man smiled and opened his arms to her. She ran to him and threw her arms around his torso, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Ellie," he said lovingly, his low voice making her feel warm. Just like it had when she was little. He held onto her tightly, like he always had. It was like he'd never left. Like he'd never died. He was here. He was here and Elodie had never been happier.

"Why did you go?" she asked, more tears running down her face.

"I had too," he whispered. "One can only deal with betrayal for so long." This confused Elodie. He hadn't been betrayed. He had died in the war. Well, at least she thought he had. Until now.

"Ellie!" Jack cried out. Elodie turned to him with confusion just as the piercing, bitter pain sliced through her spine in the form of a blade. Elodie's pain-filled eyes returned to her father's, whose were no longer blue like hers. They were green. A sickening green that was very familiar to Elodie. Her father laughed, a laugh that she had never heard from him. It was a wicked laugh. One of victory. Slowly, it grew higher as he morphed into a woman. An all-too-familiar woman.