-1The Wine Cellar

'That will be all child' The old man uttered, tossing a small bag towards the direction of a shadow that looks that resembles that of a little girl. The small figure seems to shudder upon the sight before her, grabbed the tiny bag that made the unmistakable sound of clobbering coins, looked back at the figure against the wall, and scrammed out of the room, her sobs faint as she run farther and farther away from the place

'You will never have her!!! You hear me slave boy!! You will never have her!!'

'Kill me if you want… but if you do, make sure that life has left my body, for if not, I'll come back and take her away.. I'll never leave her, not with a monster like you!' said the you man whose both hands were chained on the wall. The thick smell of whiskey clouding the voluminous cellar

'HAHAHA you are more pathetic than I thought. After tonight, I'll make sure that you will never even as much lay eyes on my daughter!

He saw a shining object coming fast aiming at his face, he closed his eyes and gasped for air, knowing that it will be his last..

'AhhhHH!' Will jerk from his seat.

'Sir is everything alright?' the pretty blond stewardess asked.

'Yes… umm, yeah.. Bad dream.' He replied and smiled.

He wiped the beads of sweat form his face with his hands and rested leaned back on his seat. He smiled as he imagined himself holding Karen in his arms, imagining how soft her skin would feel against his, how sweet her scent is, how tightly he would hold her, and how she would clung to him, as if her life will depend on it. 'Karen, Karen', .. He thought. He tried to sleep again, hoping to make the hours fly by, but just as he's about to close his eyes again and drift to sleep, the echoing of a woman's voice weeping filled his head, he quickly opened his eyes. 'Damn lifetime movies!'. He shifted his weight to his left, looking at the window. 'Please love me Karen'..a million times he have thought about this wordswhenever he sees her at Grace's office to invite Grace for lunch, or handing Karen a pen, or her drink.. Or simply sitting by his office with her just 3 feet away from him sitting across his desk He always try to look at her dismissingly, trying to hide his pain and thing thinking 'Please love me..'..

'I'll see you soon..' he whispered dreamingly as he watches the clouds float by..

'Hey G' Jack said as they walk around in what appears to be the biggest room in the castle.

'Yah?' Grace said in a I've heard you but I'm not paying attention manner. She stares at one corner of the room, taking pictures and scribbling notes on her tiny note pad.

'You know I've heard stories about this place. One of the gardeners told me that somebody actually died here.' he said in a scared voice.

'Jack, I know that this comes as a surprise to you, but I think more than one person died in this place. It's a four hundred year old castle!'

'I know, duuuuuuuh!, but some say that this man, who died, kept saying something before he died..and a curse!! Their was a curse!!! What was that again, hmm, Grace? Are you listening! HEY!!'

'I'm trying to WORK here, why don't go out and play with your gardener friends. We'll talk about your dead guy later. Oh no!'

'What!! What!' said Jack in an exaggerated manner.

'I forgot to call Will!, he's probably worried out of his mind!'. Grace hurried out the room. Jack slumped in the cushioned black Victorian chair. A small coffee table with an old lamp lay beside it. He traced the edge dark stained wood table with his fingertips, looking bored. He lazily grazed his eyes around the room ..he could still hear Grace from the hallway..

'Damn it Jack! How many times am I to tell you to only use my cell phone for emergencies! it's dead again and you don't even bother to charged it!"

'F.Y.I G! It was an emergency!, how are my plants suppose to survive if I don't remind my friend to water it every single day. Don't you think its easy for me to have all this responsibilities'

'Those damn plants better bear human fingers coz I'm gonna chop yours off if you don't quit touching my stuffs!'

'Jeez Grace, touch your stuff (Jack fakes a shiver)…now that you put it that way, I'm never gonna do it again'

Jack waited for a response but all he heard next was Grace's angry stomps away from the room. He grazed his eyes around the room , feeling sleepy, until a he was startled by a 'thump' sound. An old book from the book shelves that lines one of the walls fell, he got up and picked it up.. As he was about to return it when a small piece of paper fell on the ground. The edges burned, he soften his hold to it for he felt that its starting to crumble due to its age. He look at the words that was scribbled on the paper…

'In the wine cellar'..

'What the heck is this? Humm….. Pretend to care pretend to care, arc one eye brow…and say hummmmmmmmmmmmmm..Gracie??? Do you know where the wine cellar is?

'FIRE!!! FIRE!! NOOOO!!'

'Mary! Wake up Mary!, you're having a nightmare! Mary!' Karen, panic stricken, immediately wrapped her arms around Mary and stoked her back. Mary quieted for a moment, and opened her eyes.

'He was still alive Katherine! He was left for dead but he was still alive when they left him! A note!! There was a note! It was meant for you! I'm soo sorry. It was all my fault. He died because of me.'

'What note is that? Mary, you have to calm down, its all in the past now, nothings gonna change that'

'But my child, you are here today because of what happened on the past. You will keep on living one life after another, but you will never escape that dreaded past. The curse will continue until all things fall into its rightful place' Mary closed her eyes and opened it again, her weak body seeming to shake more as she tries to speak.

'A curse…but who..'

'You.. Made a curse upon yourself, to never love again the way you loved Wilhelm, but the night they took him away, he promised to come back to you. A promise from Wilhelm makes the two of you meet ..somehow, in your new life, but the curse, the curse keeps the two of you apart.'

Tears welled up on Karen's eyes and trickled down to her flushed cheeks. 'so I have brought this upon myself, I am all to blame for all this'

'No Katherine, all you did was love with your whole heart. It was I, I was the one who told your father that Wilhelm was in the manor, I was blinded by greed and fear. When they took Wilhelm from you, I thought that your father would just give him a warning and leave him in the middle of the forest, I never imagined he would do something like that to another human being..' the old lady's voice broke as sobs drowned the silence inside the room. Wilhelm was chained to the wall, he was covered with blood, I saw his face but I could not recognize him anymore. Your father kept him at the old McGaven castle. The wine cellar was the most isolated part of the castle, and was only opened once a year for it to be stocked with barrels. Night after night , Lord McGavin will go in that place and beat poor Wilhelm. The strong smell of whiskey could not even mask the rusty odor of blood pouring out of the young mans body. Night after night, your father will ask him the same question.. Will you promise you'll not see my daughter ever again (old McGavin)… and the boy will keep on repeating the words Never…never..'

…..

'Never..that was the word that the man was saying before he died!. It never made sense though, anywho, G! did you just hear what I said, I asked you where the wine cellar is!'

'Jack, there is no wine cellar!! We have toured this place 3 times already and I assure you, that even if there is one, I don't.. I don't really care..'

'What's the matter Grace? You've been so cranky all day. Did you find gray hair in mustache this morning?'

'Shut up Jack, I am not in the mood right now. I called Will like a hundred time now and he is still not picking up. His boss told me that he has not shown up for work since we left, I'm really starting to get worried.'

'Fine, worry about your gay husband, don't mind me! I'm Just Jack anyway! Since when did Jack count? Huh! Well I'll repeat that dead guys dying word.. NEVER!!!!'

Dead silence followed as Jack's last word seemed to echoed to the entire castle, a paralyzing eeriness seeped out of the stone walls and shot though Jack and Grace's body. They looked at each other at the same time, surprised to see that what they were feeling was reflected on each other face, a same strong emotion, that they both experience within a matter of a split second…fear..

sorry for the long wait, .. Let me know what you think… if you like it, let me know so I'll keep on writing.. )