Destiny's Gate (18 page)

The next morning, Hanna knocked loudly on my door, and burst into the room and said, “Wake up, sleepy head. I’ve brought you some biscuits and green tea. Hurry now. Allan will be here in an hour to pick you up and take you into town.” Her benevolent smile made me realize she had picked up on the romantic feelings Allan and I had for each
other.

Ignoring her, I grabbed a biscuit and jammed part of it in my mouth as I ran into the bathroom to turn on the shower. I hastily downed my tea before stepping in. While rinsing my hair, I heard the following:
Cleanse your aura, Paige; do it now. Picture a vacuum cleaner running up and down your body, taking away any negative energy and washing them down the drain to mother earth. She will deal with them. Now close your aura and ask for protection. Only then will you feel at peace
. I did as I was told. And sure enough, stepping out of the shower, I felt fantastic and physically stronger. Once again, I knew not to question the wisdom of the one speaking. Call it
intuition.

Allan’s voice echoed down the hallway; he sounded carefree and energized. I guessed Trixie must be with him; she was fully healed. I threw on my pink velour bathrobe gifted to me from mom last Christmas and ran to greet them. When I entered the foyer, Trixie bounded over, wagging her tail and jumped up with her paws on my shoulders. Allan said she was coming with us for the car ride and I smiled, knowing we were going to have a wonderful day together, just the three of us. I ran back to my room and dressed in my shopping attire of black skinny jeans, red turtle neck that almost matched my auburn hair and Louis Vuitton knock off bag. We said our goodbyes and ran to Dexter’s classic 1972, white with green trim, Chevrolet C10, longbed pickup with V8 engine. It made me laugh as I pictured the day Dexter checked the oil and informed me it was his baby, with the name Cheyenne painted on the side. He loved it
so.

It was another frosty day with a snowstorm in the forecast. Despite the radio broadcaster’s warning, Allan said, “Not to worry, ladies. With me at the wheel, we can get through any storm they throw at us.” He laughed but somehow I did not feel
reassured.

Trixie ignored her stepfather and said, “I am so happy to be here with the two of you. This is great. I almost forgot what it’s like to be in my human body. It’s so nice to see above three feet high. And I can pick things up like your purse, Paige. What’s in here
anyways?”

“Quick...give that back. You’re not supposed to nose around in other people’s things, Trixie, human form or not.” I was worried she would pull out my personal toiletries and that would be embarrassing in front of
Allan.

As we passed by Peggy’s house, I asked telepathically,
can we stop by?
Then I heard —
not now, Paige, perhaps on the way home
. I smiled, relieved to hear back from Peggy so
quickly.

We travelled to the shopping mall in the city of Sarnia, which was Latin for Guernsey (a British Channel Island). We walked around and I decided to get a latte from Second Cup — candy cane chai tea latte to be exact. It was delicious on such a cold day. We then agreed to split up so we could each do some shopping on our
own.

I strolled along the corridor and felt a sudden urge to go into Hilda’s, a women’s clothing store. There on display, was a beautiful bronze and silver sequined dress that I knew mom would love and half price for today only. I knew I had to buy it. While at the check-out counter, I spied some gorgeous silver earrings for grandma and a turquoise and silver bracelet for Hanna. For someone who normally does not like to shop, I was actually enjoying
it.

As I exited Hilda’s, I felt drawn to an emporium across the hallway that sold gifts from around the world. I entered and enjoyed the Buddhas on display, and the swords hung on the walls, and then felt strangely drawn to the back of the store. I found heart shaped healing stones made from gypsum and crystallized into a solid white form named Selenite. They were also used for protection from negative energy. I scored three of them and knew I was going to gift them to Peggy, Carole and myself. Now I had to buy for Trixie and Allan. When I lay the stones on the counter, I spied two charms from the Holy Land underneath the glass case. I asked the clerk about them and he reassured me they were from Bethlehem. I bought them so fast, I surprised even myself. And last on my list were dad and grandpa. I found a marble chess board for grandpa and a statue of healing hands for dad. Gift buying:
check.

I received a text from Allan stating,
we must leave now,
so I grabbed my bags and booted it to the agreed upon meeting spot in front of the mall’s fountain. Watching Trixie and Allan as they approached, I was shocked at the seriousness of their mood. Allan muttered something about heavy snow as we quickly made our way to the antiquated truck. I spied the sandbags in the back of the vehicle placed there to help weigh it down on the winter’s slippery roads and was grateful for Dexter’s
preparedness.

Clearly the plows had not done their job clearing the roads brimming with snow. We watched as dark clouds formed in the sky and knew we had a limited time frame to reach O’Brien Manor. Trixie turned up the volume on the radio and the song
Dust in the Wind
,
by the band Kansas, played eerily. I felt a chill as I recalled every
Final Destination
movie I had ever seen that played that song — when someone was about to die. We remained silent until we reached the driveway to the manor, and saw a nasty blizzard beyond the stone gate. It seemed to be brewing over the estate and then broke apart, spreading up and down the road towards us. We slid into the driveway and spun around, landing just shy of the estate’s stone wall. Allan quickly shook it off and continued driving towards the manor door. He ordered us out of the truck so he could park it. Trixie and I jumped out but refused to go inside until he was safe. We watched in horror as the Chevy truck slid into one of the ancient trees out front, and bolted over to help him. Allan held up his hand as a warning and commanded us to go into the manor. Reluctantly, we retreated and scrambled through the front
door.

Hanna grabbed the two of us, clutching us close to her chest and exclaimed, “Something terrible has happened.” She broke away and continued, “Paige, your grandfather has fallen into some sort of coma again.” She studied me and I noticed tiny tears in the corners of her eyes. “Paige, this cannot be happening again. Only you can help us.” She stomped out of the foyer towards the direction of my grandparents’
bedrooms.

I was enraged. The one day I leave the estate and this is what happened? In my absence, some dark energy had inflicted itself upon grandpa without me here to help protect him!
How did I not see this coming? How could it possibly be happening with so many spirits watching out for us?
Mackenzie broke through —
Paige, we couldn’t stop it, nor could you. Wait for Allan to come and talk to you. He’s the key
. Mackenzie’s voice faded away. I messaged to her,
wait.
There was no
response.

Grandma lay faithfully on the bed, facing grandpa, her head next to his shoulder. I did not want to disturb her and wondered if the doctor would be able to reach us in this treacherous weather. I was alarmed when I heard someone behind me. I circled around as spiritwalker entered the room, again. I was paralyzed, unable to speak. Spiritwalker guided me telepathically,
say your protection prayers each and every day. A storm is here. You must be prepared. Now that your inner wolf is complete, you are ready. Not to fear, Paige, continue to live from a place of love and all evil will be conquered. Remember, from a place of love...and your grandfather will be healed.
Spiritwalker faded into thin
air.

I stormed to the foyer, and watched as Allan wiped off the snow from his parka. Trixie was back to her animal form and though I did not react, it never seemed quite normal to me. I messaged,
we need to meet to discuss what has happened
. With his hand raised, Allan signalled to give him a minute and pointed to the stairs. Trixie ran up the black walnut staircase and waited on the landing for us to follow; her tail wagged
frantically.

Allan chased after me, taking the stairs two at a time. He grabbed my hand and commanded Trixie to proceed. We ended up in a banquet-sized room that I had not explored before. I wondered how he knew about this room if I did not. I overlooked this concern for the time being, as Allan began to pace back and forth with his hand on his forehead. Trixie lay down with her head between her paws, apparently well accustomed to Allan’s behaviour, as he pondered what he wanted to say. I stood still until my anxiety overwhelmed me and began to walk around the room. It overlooked the gardens below, and I spied the stone bridge, in the distance, leading to the guest house. The snowflakes whirled around, as if in a funnel, glistening as they fell to the ground. It was beautiful, almost mesmerizing, now that we were indoors. I jumped as Allan approached and touched my left shoulder. I whirled around, examining his face. He appeared scared, his eyes blackened; it was not something I was used to seeing in
him.

“Paige, my senses are on overdrive and I’m frightened. Not sure what’s going to happen, are you?” He held onto my arm; his hand felt on
fire.

“I don’t know. I keep getting all kinds of warnings, though... I have no idea what they are about, Allan. I’m so sorry to drag you and Trixie into this
mess.”

“You didn’t drag us into it — we volunteered to help you and your family. I’m here until the end and so is Trixie.” Allan looked lovingly at his stepdaughter who had somehow fallen asleep. Then he grabbed my waist and pulled me towards him, kissing me softly, slowly. It was fireworks until I felt Trixie’s head nudge me from behind. As I bent down to pet her, I was horrified. It was not Trixie at all. It was one of the black beasts and we were surrounded. My last recollection before transforming into my spirit wolf, Journey, was that of the full moon beaming its rays into the room, appearing so close, I wanted to jump on
it.

Blue-Eyes and I faced the black dogs, in our spirit wolf form, baring our jagged incisors and growling a warning for them to leave the estate, now and forever. There were ten of them against two of us; Trixie was nowhere to be seen. Blue-Eyes stood tall, ears erect, fur bristled and lips curled back, snarling. He was fierce. Each canine with its glowing yellow eyes crouched down and growled thickly. It was unnerving if one dwelled upon it, as my senses told me that’s when they were brutally vicious.

The evil canines encircled us. I heard Blue-Eyes telepathically,
don’t worry, help is on the way
. Before I could respond, the wolves from the guest house swarmed the room; there had to be at least fifty at first glance. They pounced on our enemies; one beast that had targeted me eluded them. He jumped into the air. I watched as his muscular torso flew towards me and he exposed his incisors. Spellbound, I was unable to move. Blue-Eyes came to my rescue and knocked him down in mid-air, and then I heard,
run
. There was no way I was going to back down now. I stealthily approached a black dog from the rear. Smelling my scent, he spun around baring his teeth and edged closer and closer, his ragged nails clicking on the floor. Oh, how I hated that sound — I had heard it one too many times. I snarled and crouched down, readying to pounce on my attacker. We collided as we sprang through the air. I knocked him sideways but he had caught me on the way down, clamping onto my leg. I howled in agony. Out of nowhere, Trixie ambushed the canine and tossed him against the windows, sending him crashing down to the snow-covered garden below. I lay bleeding when another beast started for me, and tried to drag myself out of harm’s way using my front leg strength. Trixie stood in the pathway between us. Blue-Eyes jumped in, striking the hound with brutal force that sent him through the damaged window; the rest was a blur to me. When I came to in human form, Allan was bent over Trixie, examining her listless body. My heart ached as tears rolled off his face; he was speechless. Allan picked Trixie up and carried her away. Unable to help them, I lay there, writhing in pain, my leg bleeding
profusely.

Peggy’s voice pleaded,
Paige, get to the staircase, even if you have to crawl. Cry for help.
I managed to drag myself to the top of the stairs and cried out in pain. Hanna’s footsteps echoed as she ran up the stairs and rescued me. I felt nothing after
that.

Awakening in my bed, with my left leg wrapped and elevated on a pillow, I felt euphoric. I could not grasp what was happening until Hanna walked into the room and asked, “So the drugs have kicked in, eh? Thank goodness or you’d be in a lot of pain, Paige. What happened to you, child? I found you half naked with blood gushing from your leg. We’ve been so worried. What did that to you? You’ve been asleep for two days.” She waited for a response and then started towards the door and added, “Your parents are here. I’ll get
them.”

I giggled, and mumbled,
“Hellhounds.”

Hanna swung around and asked, “What are you talking about? Nonsense!” She hollered, “Lori, Kevin...Paige is awake
now.”

I heard squealing and footsteps scurrying down the corridor. My parents burst into the room and threw their arms around me — mom at my neck, dad at my feet. It was quite a reunion. I cried and was so relieved to see them; knowing I had barely escaped death and needed all the support I could gather at this time in my life. I needed help. This was too big, even for
me.

“We’re not quite sure what happened to you, Paige. Your mother and I have been worried sick since the phone call from Hanna. We flew in as soon as we could. Come on...tell us — we need to know everything,” dad said with concern in his voice. His blue eyes appeared deep blue and I noticed flecks of grey hair at dad’s temples. His lean, towering frame did not intimidate
me.