PROLOGUE

Alyse Fletcher was not drunk.

Regardless of what her cousins would say, she was tipsy at best and she knew it. Sure, she had a slight buzzing in her ear and yes maybe her legs felt slightly more like the jelly she had for desert earlier that day and if she had a slight racing heart than that was only due to the running her cousins had thought would be a good idea in the field they were currently in.

It wasn't until she tripped on an uneven piece of ground, leading her £5 bottle of wine she had bought to spill everywhere, that she finally admitted to herself that she was three sheets to the wind and absolutely gone. She'd never admit it to Jess and Ethan though; not that they were any better.

The trip to the field was celebration as it wasn't everyday you turned 14 and so spirits were high as they often were this time of year. The Annual Fletcher Trip to Scotland was underway where every year, Alyse; her mother Sylvié, father Matthew and brother Jack took a trip to visit Matthew's parents in Inverness during the half-term break leading Alyse to spend the time hanging out with her cousins and embracing her Scottish heritage. Whilst in her childhood, the time spent with her relatives was rather mundane as they visited various historical sites that her grandfather insisted she knew such as Castle Leoch and Fort William. Of course as she and her cousins grew older and they were allowed more freedom, they began spending time outside without their parents leading to nights spent wandering the fields only going back home when the streetlamps on the road began to turn on, for fear of missing curfew and facing the wrath of one Elsie Fletcher.

The visit of 2020 however became particularly infamous, as that was the first time alcohol had ever been involved. Ethan, being 2 years older than the girls at the ripe old age of 15, had managed to sneak a bottle of his dad's Jameson from the cupboard one night and bring it on their adventures. He felt it his duty to introduce his younger sister and cousin to the fine taste of alcohol and with the whisky being the only drink in the house, it left him with very few options. Needless to say, it was a messy night - sitting in a field at 8pm drinking straight liquor that tasted of piss to the 3 teenagers and having to channel Oscar-worthy acting performances when they went home that evening and again when they woke the following morning.

The spring 2021 visit however would go a lot more smoothly, the 3 teens had hoped, as they were now a whole year older and thus had a lot more experience than they had the previous year. Whilst Ethan and Jess lived in Scotland, Alyse had been spending the first quarter of the year stuck inside in her hometown of Clapham in England, only to begin going to parties and hanging with her friends that summer. After not seeing her friends in person for over 3 months, the summer of 2020 had been a milestone of a year for Alyse as she went to her first party, smoked her first cigarette and even had her first kiss as she embraced the beginning of her teenage years with open arms having left her childhood back in April. It's no news to anyone what the first few months of 2020 were like and due to the nature of working on the healthcare frontlines, it was the horrendous illness that had taken her father from her that year and changed her life forever. With the death of her father came the death of her childhood and Alyse returned from lockdown a new person as so many others had, leaving her to strive to find normality in some form during a time when normality had gone out the window.

The 2021 trip however had much cause for celebration despite the heartbreak and grief Alyse felt just by being here. Sylvié had felt it important to visit her late-husband's family during the holiday and took her and her brother up to Inverness alone to carry on the tradition. Alyse's 14th birthday had been timed perfectly with the trip and Alyse felt there was no better way in celebrating her first birthday without her father than in his homeland with her family.

Despite the earlier fall, Alyse felt rather light on her feet and joined Jess in screaming almost the entire discography of their current favourite musical as they ran ahead across the wide open field in drunken stupor much to Ethan's dismay

"Raise a glass to freedom, something they can never take away, no matter what they tell you."

It felt appropriate to sing the likes of such a song after such an appalling year although Alyse doubted Lin had intended the words to be screamed in such a manner despite how the girls felt after such a crappy year. Soon after, Ethan joined in, spurring a cluttered and impromptu version of the Schuyler Sisters to take over their walk. They were so involved in their song and performing their hearts out on their West-End stage, in fact, that they hardly noticed where they had ended up after their walk. Alyse had been so absorbed in her song that she hadn't noticed when the buzzing in her ears had gotten louder and when she did, she chalked it up to the remainder of the wine she had drunk on the walk.

As a matter of fact, the trio had been so occupied with their choreography that it wasn't until Ethan had almost fallen head first into rock did they realise where they were. Only then did they notice they had inadvertently made their way to the stones they had heard so many folk tales of throughout their childhood. As both Alyse and Jess had begun laughing at Ethan's misfortune and helped him up despite their aching bellies, it was then that Alyse's life changed forever once again. As she moved to help Ethan to his feet, she placed one hand on the nearest stone to steady herself and gain more stability in her drunken state.

It was at that moment that instead of the stone taking her weight to help her with her cousin, it took her further away from the two than she ever thought possible. She had never taken stock of the old folk tales she heard her grandmother tell when she was little but they soon became the only explanation for what was to come.


Hello - welcome to my new story! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and decide to stick around to see what Alyse gets up to. Cross-posted on Wattpad under the same title with the username: lightfromwithin if anyone prefers to read on there - there is a link on my profile. Thank you!

For anyone interested, there is a link to a Pinterest board for this story on my profile.