Valley Of Glamorgan (23 page)

As he did this she began to chant in a low
voice, “Great Pacu spirits please join with me tonight and give
strength to this young life.”

Over and over she chanted the words whilst
everyone stood around watching and praying for Carmina. Maggie knew
it would take a lot of power to restore a life once it had been
taken or it would be lost. What she didn’t say but knew herself,
was that this could very well be her last healing. Willow knew that
she herself was growing weaker as the pain from Carmina flooded
into her own body. It only lasted a few moments but it took so much
out of her.

Although she felt light headed still she
chanted on and on, until finally she could see the golden light
enter Mina. As it did Willow’s breathing picked up to match
Carmina’s recovery. As the healing reached a climax and Carmina had
been healed Willow made her way to the living room where she
collapsed, exhausted, on the sofa. That was the last thing she
remembered.

“Carmina. Carmina, can you hear me?”

I could hear a familiar voice calling out to
me. I tried to force my eyes open. Then panic set in and I was
suddenly being pulled out of the black abyss that had been drawing
me in, deeper and deeper as I felt my breathing become slower.
Suddenly I felt an awkward peace come over me and then I saw a
brilliant golden figure hovering over me. It was faceless, and I
wasn’t sure it even was a person until I heard it speak, “Give us
your hand child; you are too young to die.”

It was odd that there was only one figure
standing above me yet I could hear thousands of voices echoing from
within the same figure. I felt warmth and love emanating from the
strange figure that had descended upon the darkness and I knew,
without a doubt, that although I was dying, this brilliant figure
of light would take me back to my life. Grabbing onto the figures
extended arm, I trusted and followed it. Then, before I knew it, I
could hear people talking; I just couldn’t open my eyes no matter
how hard I tried, all I could see was the darkness that had
consumed me. Struggling to speak, I finally managed to get the
words out, “I can hear you.” My words were reassuring the frantic
voices around me. Someone knelt down next to me. “Mina,” a soft
voice cried out.

“What has happened to her eyes?” I heard
Knoll say from the corner of the room.

Trying to calm the frantic breathing, it
felt as if my heart would burst from my chest. I hoped that maybe
someone had covered my eyes for some reason, but somehow I knew
that was definitely not it. Something had happened to me, and the
golden figure who had given me my life back, had also taken
something in return.

Eleanor, who I now realized was the one
kneeling down next to me, was the first to speak. “Let’s not jump
to any conclusions; we just need to wait until Willow wakes up. She
will know what to do,” she said in an assertive tone. But I could
hear the quiver in her voice, as if she was afraid that I would
never be able to see again.

The room grew quiet, although I could hear
hushed whispers all around me. It was at this point that I guess I
had never realized how much I had taken my eyesight for granted; at
least not until now. Although I could hear people milling around
me, it was not the same as seeing them. Maybe I had only lost my
eyesight for a matter of minutes, but; it was by far the scariest
thing I had yet encountered, and that even included being stabbed
by an image of my dead pretend father, Jack.

Quickly sitting up I suddenly felt light
headed and queasy. “It was Jack!” I blurted out and a silence crept
across the room once more. No-one said anything and I started to
wonder if everyone had left me alone.

Liam was the first to speak in his raspy
voice, “Mina-Bear, you have suffered a very serious injury. I know
that is what you think you might have seen, but it is impossible
dear, he is dead.” His words kindly reminded me of what I already
knew after all I had helped bury him! Of course I knew he was dead,
but I also knew I wasn’t crazy, being positive of what or more like
whom I had seen. Liam instructed Knoll to help him lift me up, and
they carefully carried me to my room, laying me upon the welcoming
softness of the bed.

As I lay on the bed I could hear Eleanor and
Maggie arguing outside my room; as if I was deaf as well as blind.
“I am telling you that we need to wait,” Eleanor said, her voice
growing louder with anger.

“And I am telling you that we don’t have to
time to wait! Willow could be asleep for days; it could be too late
for her then,” Maggie replied, sounding defeated and tired.

I cleared my throat loudly, trying to
attract them and hoping that I was expressing that I was clearly
annoyed at being talked about and not to. However, I didn’t get the
response I had hoped for because all I could hear was the door
being closed and their footsteps heading down the stairs. Shocked,
I couldn’t believe they had left me alone. I had just been stabbed!
Not to mention I was blind and couldn’t see anything in front of my
face; besides what if I needed to go to the bathroom?

My frantic thoughts were cut off when I
heard a small sigh from the end of the bed, and before I could ask
who was there I heard Knoll say, “I am so sorry. I have failed you
as a guardian. I should have never left you here by yourself.” I
felt bad for him, knowing from the moment I had revived that he
would never forgive himself. Now I knew I would hate it when I
announced that he was no longer my guardian and he would think it
was because he couldn’t protect me, and maybe so would everyone
else.

Suddenly I wanted to scream, ‘why couldn’t
anything go right in my life?’ Just when I thought everything was
falling into place something bad had to happen, and it seemed to
happen every time I found the smallest glimmer of hope. Pulling my
pillows behind my back as best I could for better support I looked
to where I thought Knoll was sitting; at least I hoped it was in
his general direction.

“Please, don’t blame yourself. You have been
more than great to me! You rescued me from Jack and Stephanie, and
you saved me from those wolves.” Although I tried my best to boost
his morale by reminding him of all the times he had done a
wonderful job as my guardian, I knew in my heart it did no good.
Once Knoll had his mind set on something there was no changing
it.

“I will not leave you alone again,” he
stated plainly and adamantly.

‘Great,’ I thought to myself, ‘Now I was to
have a 24 hour live-in guardian, and I still couldn’t see a
thing.’

The remainder of my evening was not much
better. Granted no-one else tried to stab me, not that I could have
seen them if they had tried. The problem was I was finding myself
slipping deeper and deeper into a cynical, depressed mood. Yes, I
knew I should be grateful to be alive, and I was, it was just that
it was really wearing on my nerves, especially as it had hours had
passed and my eyesight still hadn’t returned.

As I lay in bed I thought I might be able to
get some rest, considering that everyone had been and visited me
and I was now feeling extremely tired. But, then I remembered what
day it was tomorrow. It was going to be the first day since his
animal ritual, meaning I would be able to see him. Yet I wouldn’t
even be able to look at him or those amazing stormy eyes that
could, with one look, pull me out of any sense of sadness I felt.
Suddenly I began to sob uncontrollably. I wasn’t sure if it was the
fact that I wouldn’t be able to look at the one thing in my life
that made sense anymore or, if it was the fact that I would never
be able to see again. My head sunk into my pillow, ande I cried
myself to sleep.

That night I didn’t dream of death or of
people coming back from the dead. I dreamt of the brilliant golden
figure that had given me my life back. I was standing in a room I
had never seen before; it was empty and had light wooden floors and
stark white walls. Yet there was nothing else there other than me
and the figure which stood a few feet in front of me, hovering just
above the floor. The aura of the figure almost hurt my eyes to look
at it, so bright and welcoming it was and I almost felt as if I was
a moth being pulled by the light. As I made my way closer and
closer, no matter how bright it became or how painful it was to
look upon it, I still couldn’t look away.

“You shall learn to see with your heart.”
The sound of many voices echoing in unison, I wanted to ask, ‘how
can I see with my heart’ but suddenly the light was gone and for
the rest of the night I was surrounded by darkness.

Chapter 14

I was use to waking up with the sun shining
down through the beautiful stained glass ceiling, today I woke up
to the darkness that I was slowly becoming familiar with. Although
I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face, it was all I could
feel. Excitement filled me for I was to see Declan today. However,
as the thought passed through my mind I realized yet again, that I
wouldn’t actually be seeing him; or anything else for that
matter.

Sitting up I traced my hand across the bed
then climbing out I tried to make my way to the bathroom. I thought
I knew the general direction it was in by following the direction
of the bed, but this was all so new to me. Never having had to
depend on just some of my senses to get somewhere before I thought
I was on track and was getting close to the bathroom door, when
suddenly I walked straight into the wall. My heart sank and I felt
so defeated. Having only been awake for a few minutes I could tell
that this was how the rest of my day would be.

Standing straight I finally managed to find
the door to the bathroom; using the counter to help direct me walk
further inside. It felt strange using the memories of my
surroundings to get somewhere and suddenly I felt very sorry for
those who had lost their sight at birth. How they found their way
around things they had never even seen amazed me and I shaking my
head sadly I knew regardless how bad things were for me, there were
people out there who had it a whole lot worse. After knocking
nearly everything over in the bathroom I managed to make my way
back to the bedroom and wondered what to do next. How would I find
the right clothes to wear? I would need help, yet I was going to
feel odd asking for it. It dawned on me that there was one thing I
had lost which was most important to me; it was my
independence.

Suddenly I was dragged from my worrying
thoughts as someone knocked on the door and let themselves in.
“It’s only me; Maggie,” she called out, in her familiar caring
voice. I waved at her, standing still and feeling awkward, thankful
when she spoke, breaking the silence. “I thought you could use some
help in getting ready today. I know you must be so excited about
seeing Declan, so shall we have some breakfast and then go meet his
family down at the cabin?”

My spirits started to rise and I was so
happy that she was there to help me. Maggie agreed as she lightly
took my hand in hers and led me towards the bed. Sitting down I
felt happy to have the security of what was fast becoming my safe
haven beneath me; at least I knew I wouldn’t run into anything
whilst I stayed on the bed. The sound of Maggie rummaging through
my closet made me want to ask the question that had been on my mind
since I had lost my sight, but I couldn’t or didn’t know if I could
even though it was on the tip of my tongue. Maybe I was too afraid
to let the question leave my mouth as I was afraid to hear the
answer.

Maggie made her way back to me, saying,
“I’ve picked out a yellow skirt that will come a little bit up past
your knees and a white tank top. I hope it is okay; it’s a really
warm day outside so I figure it will go perfectly with the
occasion.”

I didn’t care much for yellow, but I suppose
it didn’t matter because I wouldn’t be able to see what it looked
like anyways. “That is fine, Thank you,” I tell Maggie as she helps
me slip out of my pajamas and into the outfit she has picked out
for me. As I finished getting dressed she pulls my hair out of my
face, and reassuring me that I look pretty, she slowly leads me
down the stairs. This proved to be a hard task as I felt as if I
was going to fall on my face or worse, fall on her. Thankfully we
finally make our way to the dining room, and safety.

“Good morning,” announced Liam and Eleanor
in unison. Responding to my parents I let Maggie lead me to a chair
at the table wondering if I will even be able to feed myself;
deciding if I can’t I will just tell them I am not hungry, even if
my stomach growls and protests that I should change my mind.
Smelling the eggs and toast lying in front of me I run my fingers
across the table until I feel the coldness of the porcelain plate.
Grabbing the toast I begin eating it, thinking to myself, so far so
good. Everyone sat eating in silence, even though it feels as if
all their eyes are on me. Quickly grabbing my fork I try shoveling
some of the eggs onto it. Once completed I raise the fork up to my
mouth but I feel the fork tip and the eggs fall around me. Laying
the fork down I take a deep breath of air, trying not to cry; it is
something so simple yet I can’t even do thatt.

Liam is the first to speak, “Mina-Bear, it
will be okay. We will find a way to fix this.” He sounded as if he
was trying to reassure himself, not just me, that I wouldn’t be
stuck like this forever; even though we both knew that he was in no
position to make such a promise. Sensing someone cleaning up the
eggs from the floor around me, I feel bad that I can’t even clean
up my own mess.

Once breakfast was over relief flooded
through me and I was glad when we all headed out to the gate. My
nerves were getting the better of me as I anticipated seeing him,
but as we walked along I asked myself ‘what if he can’t love me
like this?’ There is going to be only one way for me to find out, I
tell myself as we walk slowly down the cobbled stone pathway, my
arms linked with Maggie and our Mother. Maggie thankfully, told me
we were going to stop as we had reached the gate. I sensed everyone
staring at me.