Along Came A Prince (27 page)

Stacia stood on
the landing. Her hands touched the railing as she gazed over the bottom of the
cave. It seemed friendly enough, lit by an almost iridescent candle glow. Did
she want to continue?
Yes.

“Remember, any
time you don’t like what you’re seeing, you can always open your eyes, and
you’ll be back in your living room. Now count backwards again. Five. Four. Three.
Two. One. You’re now at the bottom of the cave. Begin walking again until you’ll
see a tunnel in the side of the cave. Walk through that black tunnel, and
you’ll find yourself outside. You’re now in a past life, Stacia. Look around.
Where are you? What do you see? Take your time and explore everything.”

Stacia stood
next to a wishing well in the arms of a man she knew was her lover. “This will
bring us luck, and love will keep us together forever,” he said as he tossed a
coin into the well.

“Forever means
nothing if the present means we cannot be together,” she said.

“I will be free
soon.” He tightened the hold he had on her to bring her closer to him.

“But you are
royalty. I am not. They will never let us be together.”

“You are my
princess, and whatever I am, we share. They can’t keep us apart. Not now. Not
forever.”

But she knew in
her heart he was wrong. They were not meant to be together. Not now. Not
forever.

“Time to move on,”
Josie said quietly as she entered Stacia’s space. “You must walk again until
you see a building up ahead. Walk to it. Open the door. Go inside. What do you
see?”

Stacia saw a
woman sitting on a stool in a darkened pub. Shadows intensified the glow
surrounding her from a single light bulb strung from the ceiling on a long,
black cord. Candlelit darkness encompassed the singer.

Soldiers filled
the room, and their voices, mixed with laughter, vibrated throughout the pub as
they clinked their steins of beer together. Their shouts of “Cheers” resonated
in her ears.

How happy they
sounded. Why? she thought. They’d soon be back on the front lines fighting for
their lives in this world war, and some would be losing theirs…like her lover
had.

A tear slid
down her cheek as her piano introduction began. She started to sing:

‘One
man, one man forever,

One love locked
deep in my heart…’

Shivering and
with her voice shaking, the woman she’d visualized at the wishing well bowed
her head and stopped singing while the music played on. Slowly, she seemed to
gain some control. Finding her place in the song, she continued:

‘Two hearts
soaring together,

Crashed in the
dark of the day.

Now he’s lost
to the heavens,

And I’m alone,
left here to stay…’

Unable to go
on, she buried her head in her hands and started crying.

…
and so did
Stacia.

“It’s okay,
Stacia,” Josie broke in. “Come back. Come back slowly. Walk through the tunnel.
Count as you walk up the stairs. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. You’re at the
landing now. You’re safe and away from whatever hurt you. Keep walking up the
steps. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. You’re back at your own special, private
place. No one can harm you. Relax. Take your time. Come back when you’re ready
and open your eyes.”

Stacia opened her
eyes, her tears still misting her vision. “I knew it, Josie,” she said sadly. “I
knew I was never meant to be married. To be loved forever by my soulmate.”

“That’s not true,”
Josie soothed. “You’re one of the lucky ones in life. You were able to face a
past life. Not everyone can do that, or wants to. Others who have your same
desire can only pick up smidgens of a past life. Some achieve nothing. In each
lifetime there are lessons to be learned. That’s why we choose to come back and
be around the persons we loved or hated in a past lifetime. The key to
everything is to take what you can of what you saw and apply it to this
lifetime.”

“What I saw in my
past life regression fits with the dreams I have. How can this be happening,
Josie?”

“It’s all out
there, or perhaps I should say
in there
, for anyone to tap into. It’s
just easier for some than others. I think you’re trying to solve a problem in
your life, so you’re calling upon what’s inside your subconscious to help you.”

“Actually, I did
just solve my problem, and now I know I’ll never marry. Not Clay. Not anyone.”

Josie looked
horrified. “Don’t say that. Pretend you’re going to work on a jigsaw puzzle. You
have the pieces spread out on the table in front of you. You just have to fit
them together to get the entire picture. In the end, the puzzle turns out to be
beautiful, and you feel a sense of accomplishment because you finished it. That’s
what’s happening in your life right now. Your subconscious is furnishing you
with all the pieces you need to complete the beautiful picture of your life. What
you learned in previous lifetimes, combined with what you need to know in your
present one, will glue everything together. If you take on negative energy by
saying
never
, you’ll end up losing the most important pieces to the puzzle
of your life.”

“In the lifetime I
just experienced, if that’s what it was, I was in love with someone who was
royalty, the same as this lifetime. When I told him I wasn’t royalty and they wouldn’t
let us be together, he said I was his princess and whatever he was, we’d share.”

”And how did this
make you feel?”

“I knew he was
wrong.”

“Do you suppose
that’s the idea you’re fighting now in this lifetime?”

“You mean why fate
won’t allow me to get married? Are you saying I can’t move on in Clay’s and my
relationship because of something that happened in a previous lifetime?”

“Do you think that
could be true, Stacia?”

“I don’t know. I
haven’t thought much about reincarnation, until all these things started
happening.”

“And...”

“It’s pretty hard
not to believe everything’s connected somehow. My dreams, and now being
regressed and finding out more information. I just wish there was some concrete
proof somewhere.”

“And would proof make
you feel better? Would it give you faith?”

Stacia laughed. “I
hope you don’t start quoting from the bible, ‘Oh, ye of little faith,’ etc. 
But my answer to your question is simple enough. If you have proof, it’s easier
to believe.”

“It’s too bad the
word,
faith
, isn’t in your vocabulary. You need faith in your beliefs,
or your beliefs aren’t worth believing...and I’ll bet you can’t repeat that.”

“I do understand
what you’re saying, but I still would like some proof.”

“Well, Stacia, I
hope you get it.”

“So do I, Josie. So
do I.”

♥♥

Nathan and Arthur
were elated with how the film was progressing, even with the delay the stalking
caused. The studio allowed Entertainment Tonight on the set for an exclusive
interview, which included shots from a short scene both from the remake and the
original juxtaposed. Nancy O’Dell, as she’d promised her audience almost two
months earlier, got her interview with Stacia. In the end, Rob Marciano spoke
with Farrell Fontaine.

“Farrell,” Rob
began, “can you tell us the differences you’ve observed in the filming of the
two movies now and over sixty years ago?”

“I’d say the movie
screen Stacia has to act in front of alone. Back in the old days, of course, we
didn’t have large TV screens on the set either. Other than that, everything
else is similar. At times, I feel as if I’m reliving part of my life.”

“And how’s Stacia
Saunders doing in Audra Parker’s role?”

“They couldn’t be
closer in resembling each other, and their acting abilities mesh perfectly. Sometimes
I have difficulty believing Stacia isn’t Audra.”

“There were many
rumors floating around after the original
London Affair
was filmed. Can
you tell us if any of the rumors circulating at the time of Audra and Mark
Bennett’s deaths were true?”

Farrell shifted in
his seat. “I’d have to know what specific rumors you’d be referring to, and I
don’t think we have time for that.”

“Can you at least
comment on the report Mark kept a journal, which was found with his body?”

“That much is true.
I was one of the few who saw it and read it.”

“And where’s the
journal today?”

“Until recently,
it was in the studio’s vault. Back then, it became their property because Mark
left no family, and they requested it be returned to them after the
investigation. Now, I understand it was sold.”

“I’ll bet the sale
of it brought in some hefty numbers.”

“From time to
time, the studio received offers to purchase it, so I don’t know why they
waited until now to sell it.”

“One last
question, Farrell. Do you think this remake of
London Affair
is going to
be a hit or a miss?”

“Definitely a hit.
Hollywood and its fans have always loved innovative ideas, and this is one of
the best I’ve seen in a long time.”

“It seems
Hollywood’s latest game craze is matching today’s stars with yesterday’s and
their movies. And all you listeners out there, if you want to play along, log
onto our website and give us your ideas. We promise to let you know what stars
and what movies get suggested the most.”

Stacia found
Farrell’s interview fascinating. She’d never heard him talk so lucid for such a
long length of time. She was also surprised he’d said nice things about her. Hal
was right. He sure was a completely different person now that he stayed sober. She
hoped, for his sake, he remained that way. A fall off the wagon would do more
than bruise the credibility he’d started to build up again.

♥♥

When Stacia went
to the studio the next day, she sought out Farrell on her first break between
scenes. She found him sitting on his stool in the corner as usual, his head
down, studying a script.

“May I talk to you,
Farrell?” Stacia asked.

He glanced up at
her and jumped, almost as if he’d seen a ghost. “Oh my God!”

“I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to startle you.”

Farrell shook his
head. “I was reading the scene you just finished. I must have been
concentrating too hard on it, because when I saw you dressed in that costume, I
thought you were Audra.”

“Sometimes I feel
like her too,” Stacia said softly, and paused for a moment before adding, “The
reason I came to talk to you was I wanted to thank you for the nice things you
said about me on ET last night.”

“I meant them. You’re
doing a fine job.” He chuckled. “Maybe too good. See what happened just now?”

Stacia smiled.

“There’s something
I’ve been wanting to say to you, Stacia. I wanted to apologize for my behavior
the evening of Caviar-On-Ice.”

“That’s okay.”

“No. No, it isn’t.
I go to AA now, and according to the twelve-step program, I need to apologize
to people I hurt because of my drinking.”

“I’m just happy to
see you doing so well.”

“After sixty years
of being an alcoholic, I am too. When Nathan and Arthur offered me this job, in
one of my sober moments, I decided I owed it to Audra’s memory to take it and
try to help make
London Affair
a success.”

“From what I hear,
your input has been invaluable.”

“I appreciate you
saying that.”

“Do you have any
suggestions on how I can play Victoria better?”

“You don’t need my
advice. Keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing the same way.”

“I’ll try.” She
started to walk away, then turned and faced him once more. “And, Farrell, by
the way, I enjoyed our little chat just now.”

“As did I. Audra
and I used to have good talks.” He started to stare into space.

A déjà vu´ feeling
flashed through Stacia. As quickly as it came, it left. She trembled from its
power. Why in that brief instant did it feel as if the past had touched the
present, making Farrell Fontaine seem so familiar to her?

 
His head
throbbed and his stomach ached. His hand cramped when he tried to write, but he
forged on. He saw death dressed in a black sheet, like a Halloween ghost,
dancing with glee in front of him, no matter which direction he turned his
head.

He heard death
laugh and wondered if the ghoulish creature always sounded so joyful as he
chained his latest victim to a lifeless eternal pit.

And who was
death’s next victim going to be? Blurred faces drifted by him in answer to his
question until one blob began to turn into a definitive shape. Closer and
closer it floated toward him.

He stared at
the vision, mesmerized by the metamorphosis he was viewing. Suddenly, he
recognized the face. “Oh my god,” he exclaimed. “It’s...”

And Clay woke up. As
he got out of bed, he tried to remember whose face he had seen in his nightmare.
But it was hopeless. The face eluded his grasp in reality as the image had in
his dream.

He began to slowly
pace the floor to try to calm down his racing heartbeat. He had to stop these
nightmares and his fixation on death. They were eating him up, consuming him at
a rate that sped faster than his mind could escape them.

And he could feel
himself drawing away from Stacia and didn’t know how to stop the pulling force.
Was she death’s target? He hoped not. Not her. Let it be me instead, he begged
the unknown powers that be. He was shocked he could even think of the
possibility of losing her.

Was he going to
die? If he knew that, he’d break off with her right now to spare her future
grief. Maybe he should simply walk away from her...at least until he figured
out how to stop his death dreams.

Perhaps she’d been
right, and they couldn’t be together or ever marry. Was it possible these
nightmares were destiny’s way of telling him to let her go? But how could he? He
loved her so much.

His brain
frantically sorted out plan after plan to solve his dilemma, and ended up
discarding them all. Then he thought of a name...Josie. Of course, Josie would
be able to help him make sense of his dreams and rid him of death’s ghost.

But how could he
call her? He couldn’t drag her into the middle of his nightmares. Anyway,
Stacia might find out what was happening to him, and no matter how bad his
dreams were, she was the last person he wanted to know about them at the
present time. Not when she was still recovering from the stalking.

He thought again
about Josie. What had she said? Meditation. According to her, it was a magic
potion – a weapon stronger than the atom bomb, he guessed. He shivered and
pulled up his covers. He stared into the dark. Whose face had he seen in his
dream? Why couldn’t he remember, or would the loss be so deep, so painful, that
his subconscious prevented his mind from remembering what would eventually be
reality?

♥♥

“Is something
wrong?” Stacia asked Clay the next time he telephoned her.

“Why would you
think that?”

“When I first came
home, you seemed happy. Now, you act...I guess the right word is...depressed. What’s
going on? Are you upset because I’d rather you not come to California right
now?”

“Of course not,”
he replied. “If you think anything’s wrong, chalk it up to my missing you.”

“That’s not the
reason,” she said. “And you know it as well as I do. Now you’re the one
building up a brick wall I can’t tear down.”

No way could he
tell her about his death dream. She’d said she was in a gray area she wasn’t
comfortable sharing with him. Well, he was in a
black
one – a
self-destructing area he had to shield her from sharing also. “How’s
London
Affair
coming?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Great. We seem to
be pretty much on schedule after my little...um…vacation.”

“Some vacation.” He
shuddered as he thought of how close he’d come to losing her to death. Now, if
his nightmares were based on the truth of the future, and if that was her face
in his dream, he stood to lose her all over again. He understood at last how
she believed she had the power to see into the future.

“Clay, are you
still there?”

“Yes,” he said,
the fear inside his gut fighting with his voice to strangle his words.

“It shouldn’t be
too long before we can be together again,” Stacia said. “Maybe you should just
come here now. That way, we could at least have a little time alone.”

“That wouldn’t be
wise.”
Now why did I say that?
He’d rather see her and hold her and kiss
her than breathe.

“Clay, please tell
me what’s wrong,” she pleaded.

“Everything’s
fine,” he lied. “I’ll give you another call in a few days.” He didn’t mean for
his words to come out so sarcastically, they just did.

“Are you trying to
get into a fight with me?” Stacia asked, interrupting him.

“It takes two,” he
remarked, his sarcastic tone still ringing in his ears.

“Call me when
you’re in a better mood,” she said.

“Now how did that
happen?” Clay wondered out loud after Stacia had disconnected her phone. Maybe
it was a good thing, he decided.
If I’m going to be a dead guy, she won’t
have –

His phone rang. One
ring. Two. He ignored it. Three. Four. The call went to voice mail. He checked
his calls and listened to Stacia’s message.

“Clay, I’m sorry,”
Stacia’s voice said. “You’re feeling bad, and I wasn’t understanding.” 

She sounded as if
she was beginning to cry, but he was powerless to pick up the phone and reach
back to her.

“Whatever’s wrong,
I’m here to help you face it. We’ll get through it together, okay? Bye.” 

That’s just it,
Stacia. What I’m going through, we can’t face together. Dying you do all alone.

♥♥

Night after night,
Clay’s dreams reoccurred until he was convinced he’d been experiencing a
premonition that he, or perhaps someone else, was going to die. Now he
understood what Stacia was going through. And he, like her, had to do something
about it. He was dwelling on death, and it was disturbing him enough that he
couldn’t focus on anything else. He remembered Josie and Stacia talking about
the vortex energies of Sedona.

He ran a search on
Sedona, meditation and psychic exploration on his computer. After he’d read
everything he could find about the town, he decided it might be the oasis of
help he needed.

He flew into the
Phoenix airport the following day. Once there, he rented a car to begin his
drive to Sedona. He wanted to remain an anonymous tourist, so he bypassed
hiring a limo.

On the way there,
he decided to forego the use of the air conditioner, letting the hot desert air
roam through his car from the open windows. The air cleared his mind of the
depressing thoughts that had nested there. Yes, this was the right decision to
have made.

As he drove
farther and farther on the Arizona freeway, he began to play the “What If?”
game. What if he kept driving to California and Stacia? What if he knocked on
her door and when she opened it, he took her in his arms and kissed her with
all the passion and love he had stored inside him for her? What if he proposed
to her?

Yeah, what if,
Clay old man,
his analytical mind challenged his imagination.
Go ahead,
play your little game, but you know the rules...and the answers.
Stacia
would explain the time wasn’t
right
for them. But would the time ever be
right for the two of them? Maybe never in her mind. And perhaps, never in his
also.

As he approached
Sedona, his depression was replaced by a new feeling – one of a beginning and
not an end. He could feel positive energy flowing through him. Could it be the
energies of the vortexes Josie had said were located in Sedona were allowing him
to return from the land of the living dead?

He found his hotel
and settled in for the night after he’d gathered all the information the lobby
held on the area. He spread the brochures over his bed and began to read.

The next morning
he wandered the streets of Sedona, trying to find a good teacher for what he
needed to learn. He stopped in several New Age stores and purchased some
different CDs on meditation. The stores all offered maps of the vortexes in the
area. He picked up a copy and discovered one located at the edge of town. He
drove there, stuck one of his CDs in the car player, settled back and tried to
draw the energy of the vortex inside him.

“Relax,” a female
voice instructed, “and close your eyes.”

He did.

“Now wrap your
body in white light to protect yourself inside and out,” she instructed. “Relax
your toes...your feet...your ankles...” She continued naming body parts until
she reached the top of his head. “You’re feeling completely relaxed. Picture
yourself in a place where you’ve always felt safe. A place where nature is
waiting to hold you in its womb.”

SwissDen’s waterfall
came alive in his mind. It was his favorite place at home.

“Walk from your
secure place and travel down a solitary path through a thick forest. Ahead of you
there is a tunnel cut into a hillside. Walk closer. You are protected by your
white wrapping. Don’t be afraid. Nothing can harm you. Keep going.”

He walked deeper
into the forest. It was growing dark. How would he return before night settled
around him?

“You’re
approaching the tunnel now. Keep walking. Enter the tunnel. You see a lighted
area at the other end. Go toward the light. Now step out into the brightness. You
are in a green meadow bursting with wild flowers. Walk through the grasses and
the flowers. In the distance you can see a log cabin. Keep going until you
reach its door. Open it and go inside. You are in a past life now. What do you
see?”

Clay saw a
fireplace.

The fire in the
fireplace was almost out. Its embers gave little warmth. Logs sat outside, but
he was too cold to move – too weak to walk.

Where was
Audra? Why didn’t she come for him?

Wait! Someone
was walking toward him. In the fog of his mind, he could make out a shape
coming nearer and nearer. At last she stood before him.

“Stacia,” he
said, expecting her, yet surprised she was there. How gorgeous she was. How
could he turn away from such beauty?

“No,” he said. “I
want Audra. Where is she? You’re not even born yet.”

In the midst of
the wavering puffs of wispy smoke, he heard a soft voice whisper, “I’m over
here.” 

He looked to
his right. His mind was surely playing tricks on him. “No,” he corrected once
more. “You’re not Audra, yet. I know you. You’re a café singer in London, and I
remember the wishing well where we’d always meet. You don’t belong here. I
loved you once. But this lifetime, what’s left of it at least, I need Audra.”

“Here I am, my
love.” And she walked out of the mist and stood before him.

The three
apparitions in front of him began to swirl together. Faster and faster they
spun, one shape merging into another, as if they were melting together to form
one person. Stacia became Audra became the singer. They kept spiraling together
like a streaking whirlpool.

Finally, only
one shape was left. His vision cleared and Audra stood alone. “It’s time, my
love. I have come to take you with me.”

Slowly, he
reached out and placed his hand in hers...

“You must prepare
to leave now.” The female voice from the CD had returned and interrupted his
visions. “Walk out the door and through the meadow into the tunnel and out the
other side. The forest is waiting for you. It’s early morning, and the birds
are chirping. Keep walking. You are now at your safe place. You are back where
you began. Take your time and open your eyes when you’re ready.” The woman’s
voice stopped.

  “I guess it’s true
what they say about Sedona,” Clay said out loud. Everything he’d read about the
town and its vortexes described the unbelievable energy existing there.

He ejected the CD and
looked at the label.
Part Two – Past Life Regression,
it said. He opened
the CD case and checked the other disc.
Part One – Meditation,
it read. He
couldn’t believe he had
put the wrong disc in
.
He’d sure lost his
amateur standing with what he’d seen.

Was the
synchronicity of the Universe working for him? Was it meant to be that he’d experienced
past life regression? Or had he merely not bothered to read the label?

Clay started the
car and headed down the highway. He saw a white house with a sign that said,
Readings.
Psychic available now
. 

Why not? He pulled
into the driveway, parked his car, and got out. He crossed the porch and
entered the house. A small New Age store was set up in what he assumed had at one
time been the home’s living room.

“I’ve been waiting
for you,” a dark-haired woman standing behind the counter said.

“What?” Clay asked,
surprised at her words.

“I usually go home
before this, but I knew someone was going to come in tonight. And here you
are.” The woman smiled at Clay.

“I’d like to have a
reading,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling intimidated.

“Have you had one
before?” The woman came out from behind the counter and started to walk toward
a side room.

“I recently began
to meditate,” Clay admitted. He just didn’t say how recent.

“Come this way,
please,” she said as they entered the room. “Sit where you feel comfortable.”

The room was white
and barren. No curtains hung from the windows. No pictures on the wall, and the
only furniture was a table and three unmatched straight-backed chairs. Clay
chose one and sat down.