Hey everyone, sorry for not uploading for so long but here it is!! Thank you to those who have subscribed to this story. You are the ones who keep this story on my mind. I have no beta so if there is something wrong and you notice it in my work please let me know! I write better than SM (lol! j/k) so I am not her, Libba...well, lets just say I live on the other side of the country...


*

*

The woods have taken a sinister feel; there is something about them that make me very uncomfortable. I have come back to Chicago, Fowlson has taken ill and there is supposed to be a very successful doctor that we are to see tomorrow. The influenza has been raging in the United States and it has no mercy, it kills many of the people it possess not even salvaging the children. Unfortunately Fowlson has caught it an I desperately want to save his life, I do not want to bear another loss. Without his company I will truly be alone. He has been my sole companion all these years, the only one who knows my terrible secret. The only one who is allowed to know, apart from Felicity that is.

But Fee has her own life and our only contacts is through letters and photographs. Her beauty is slowly leaving her, her skin withering. She still models, but not with the frequency of her younger days. She has the kind of beauty that even with the faint creases that are beginning to form on her flesh, she is still an attractive woman. She holds the same attraction her mother did. While she has not married, and I trully doubt she ever will; she has found a new partner, Anabelle, with whom she is very content. I fell for my friend as she will never express her love for Anabelle openly. Society would rather accept a girl loving an Indian man than another woman. That love shall always be kept a secret, always behind closed doors.

*

*

During the time I left Chicago; after that astonishing day I found that my magic no longer cast illusions but rather entities, Fowlson and I left in great hurry. I was terribly frightened and awed. I still know not what to make of it. Part of me wants to rejoice and still another wants to sullen at this new power. I decided to be grateful after much pondering, and help all the lives I could here on earth. I remembered how Kartik believed I could change the world that day at the Thames, and now it was possible.

I gave coins to the children, built fires in homes and helped men who were desperate to take a plate of food to their spouses and hungry children. I took pity on them all, and even though I did help, I still felt worthless as I remembered that fires ran out and I was not able to start them every night. Even though, every time I performed these tasks I felt closer to my old self. Closer to the Gemma who next to Kartik and her friends had believed anything was possible.

Sometimes the magic flared inside me and it caused anger. It truly vexed me when a mocking voice reminded me that even with this new power I still could not heal. People hurt all around me and I could not stop their pain. The only thing I did seem to do was dull he pain. As if I was morphine. Ha! But this is still an illusion, nothing real. The pain is still there, licking their bodies waiting to rise forth once more. That bloody voice reminded that I would never meet my Kartik again, that one day I would be alone, that this body never seemed to want to die.

*

*

I turned and gave Fowlson a sideways glance who now starting coughing violently in his sleep. I touched his burning forehead with my bare hand and saw his mouth covered in blood. His breathing was more labored than before and I was immediately flustered. I left the safely of our tent and ran to the river to fetch the water I prayed would be cold enough to calm his scorching body.

"If there is someone such as God, He should not make his people suffer…" I muttered under my breath as I walked past our horses.

My dear Freya, a slender bay mare who is usually very calm now snorts loudly and paws at the tender grass, her eyes rolling showing mostly white. Akasha, Fowlson's black stallion is acting much the same. I ignore them both even though they send a shrill whinny my way, with my thoughts not straying far from only wishing they do not get loose. Fowlson now occupies my mind. I grab one of their water buckets and rush as fast as I can to the river.

The disturbing feeling I felt earlier overcomes me fear takes over as I feel I am being watched. I stumble and nearly fall into the water. When I turn back towards the dingy tent that has been my home for so long, everything is quiet. All I hear is the heavy breathing of the horses, who eye the tent fearfully and send sharp glances towards the woods. They are so still they only magnify the fear within me.

I try to make out Fowlson's breathing, his coughing, the rattling of his chest but no sound comes. Something that tells me he is still living…

I hear nought.

"I shan't be scared...I shan't be scared…I shan't be scared..." I chant like a mantra, my voice leaving my lips in broken whispers.

I leave the bucket outside the tent and carefully peer inside…

I wanted to scream but no sound escaped my lips. Not even the smallest of whispers. I wanted to look away but my eyes stayed trained on the image that lay before me.

*

*


Classes have been hard and finals are just around the corner :) so It will be a while for me to upload again...but do not fear! I will be here!!

OrChick