Chapter 24 - A Trip to the Past

Chapter 24 - A Trip to the Past
Amanda didn’t take Matteo’s offer to drive her to the restaurant. Instead, she asked her step-father if she could borrow a car from the large garage they had in the building. Mr. Arnold allowed it and gave her the only car exempted in the contract: a red Camarro that had been his first automobile when he established the Company. It had sentimental value.

With a grin, Amanda took the keys from the front desk and drove it out of the building like a professional race car driver she was. The restaurant Matteo picked was located a few miles away from the office. It was mostly surrounded with lush green trees and had a breathtaking view of the city.

When she arrived at the entrance, a valet took her keys and drove the car out into the parking lot. Matteo was already waiting in the foyer when Amanda waltzed in. He had two sparkling wine in hand, the first one he offered to her accompanied with a dashing grin.

“A toast to our first dinner together,” he said.

Amanda cautiously took it with narrowed eyes. “So smooth of you, Matt. You forgot our dinners and lunches in that beach house when you kidnapped me.”

Matteo lowered his head and smiled sheepishly. “That was wrong of me, Cait. I hope those memories are behind us now.”

“You’ve got a second chance in life. You should choose the correct path this time,” she remarked.

They clunked glasses and thereafter strolled into the interior of the restaurant well lit with teardrop light fixtures. For a fancy place, it wasn’t fully loaded. Amanda could only make out a dozen people in total busily eating and chatting with their companions. They were dressed in formal wear much like her and Matteo, so the thought of being under-dressed never hit her.

Matteo guided her to a table for two located in the balcony overlooking the north side of the city. Amanda didn’t mind the dim lighting in this side of the restaurant. It was essential for the magnificent view. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Matteo was trying to make this dinner a romantic one.

“You do realize I’m only here because I want to know more about my kind, right?”

“Of course, Cait,” he nodded. “This is just me, trying to impress you. Not woo you again.”

“I think they’re synonymous, but I’ll keep your word for it. Shall we order?” She opened the menu in front of her, but before she could even scan through the pictures, Matteo informed:

“I actually ordered for the both of us.”

“Oh?” Amanda’s brow arched.

“I ordered your favorite: lobster salad, tomato and basil chicken fettuccine and honeyed cucumber juice.”

“That’s thoughtful of you. Thank you,” she replied and then closed the menu. Placing her elbows on the armrest, she cleared her throat and met his gaze squarely. “If you don’t mind, can we start? I really want to know about the history of witches.”

She hoped she didn’t sound that desperate. Or maybe too conscious about the time.

Matteo bit back a grin before answering. “Sure, but, in order for you to really understand it, you should see it for yourself,” he said, a little vague with his words.

Because of this, Amanda’s brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“You need to travel in the past, Cait. I need to put you in a trance and induce the memories inside you,” he replied with ease.

That sounded somewhat dodgy and Amanda knew it.

“I’m not sure that’s wise,” she stated, frowning at him.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I will guide you through it, Cait.” Matteo placed a hand across the table, palms up as if waiting for her to take it.

Amanda contemplated for a moment. She still needed to put her walls up. Her trust on him wasn’t a hundred percent, but for the sake of Cord, she’ll have to go through it.

“Remember your promise, Matt.” Her stare was firm and reprimanding.

“Yes, I will behave, Cait,” Matteo replied with certainty. “What I did in the past was unforgivable, I know, and I am trying to make amends. I will not touch you without your consent, believe me.”

At least that erased a bit of Amanda’s apprehension.

“Then, let’s start,” she said, hauling as much oxygen into her lungs.

She placed a hand on top his palm to establish connection. Matteo, as expected, quickly squeezed it tight. His free hand joined, consequently sandwiching hers, allowing little to no chance for escape.

“Close your eyes,” he said, his voice turning deeper and echoic.

Amanda did so.

“Open your senses,” he added.

This time, a glow from his hands traveled up to Amanda’s arms until it reached her head. She felt her whole body lighten, as if a heavy chain had just slipped off her shoulders. The top of her head cooled. Her toes and fingertips tingled. Like Matteo instructed, she opened her senses, focusing on the sense of hearing, touch, smell, and sight. The second she did so, she felt her body shift into position.

“And remember...”

That was the last word Amanda heard as soon as she sensed she was in a different timeline.

Before she could open her eyes, her ears were attacked with a group of women ululating, chanting a string of words that she was unfamiliar with. They were near her. Very near her.

The smell of incense hit her nose just as she popped her eyes open. She realized that these women were actually surrounding her, wearing a full violet robe that covered their faces. However, as it turned out, they couldn’t see her. Amanda was invisible.

With her mind open, she continued to watch as the women did their ritual. On top what looked like a mountain temple, they congregated. Trees, thick shrubbery and piles of flat boulders surrounded the edifice, allowing no wandering eyes to see. The temple was wide and spacious with large pillars supporting the open rooftop. To Amanda, it definitely looked like those temples back in Greece.

Under the silvery blue moon, one woman stepped forward and brought up a golden goblet. She placed it on a round altar surrounded by petals of different flowers. Once she stepped away, another woman lit up a fire around the goblet. Then, a third one splashed oxen’s blood inside the altar.

All of them returned to chanting. Amanda got chills while hearing it. She watched as the earth around the altar glowed, then a swirl of energy started, its colors were pulsating and changing, moving up until it touched the first layers of nimbus clouds. The fire that surrounded the altar earlier joined the pulsating energy until they became one. As this happened, the goblet slowly filled with a blackish shimmering water.

The first woman who seemed to be the leader of the group stepped forward again and stretched her arms up to the night sky.

“We are warriors,” she started, her voice filled with certainty and authority. “We are chosen ones. Each one of us has a unique bloodline that is blessed by the Universe. We are all the offspring of the Universe. We put order in the Universe. We harness the energy around us. This powers us. This makes us stronger.”

She neared the fire and energy tornado, stuck out her hands inside it and reached for the goblet. Once she pulled it out from the altar, the swirl disappeared, leaving in its trace the different petals of flowers. They fell down from the sky like rain, blessing all of the women present in the temple.

“Drink in thy goblet and we all shall be bonded. One kind. One family. The witches of the Universe.”

She pulled off her hood revealing a beauty inside. She had a serene face and the longest waterfall of blonde hair Amanda had ever seen. With slender fingers, she pressed the goblet against her lips and drank the contents. Afterwards, she touched her abdomen with adoration. Only then that Amanda noticed, under that bulky robe, the woman had a pregnant belly of about four months.

The other two women joined in and drank from the goblet one at a time. Amanda couldn’t say if they were pregnant too, but she sure was amazed by the magical water. So many women had drank it, but the goblet stayed full to the brim.

She returned her attention to the first woman and only now did she realize, there was something familiar about her: her eyes, her stature, her smile. It almost looked like she was looking at a reflection of her mother, but Amanda knew it wasn’t her.

A black mist surrounded Amanda then and brought her to another location. In this place, her question as to the identity of the woman was answered. It was her grandmother.

She saw her as she bear beautiful twins under the silver blue moon. She called them Eloise and Eloisa. Particularly confusing names but nevertheless unique.

The twins grew like their mother, beautiful, elegant and powerful. Amanda saw them play around the temple and learn about the energy of the Universe. She saw how their mother taught them how to harness the energy. The twins were quick to master it. Eloisa became a moon witch and was destined to ascent into the witchhood and take her mother’s mantel as the leader in the Order of Enox—the Witches of Old. She was benevolent, kind and righteous—everything that her mother was. She believed in the good of the humans and supported living alongside them.

Eloise, on the other hand, became an astral witch. She could go through different realms with her magic: the Demon Realm, the Soul Realm, the Elemental Realm and the Human Realm. She was happy with it, but it didn’t erase her childhood desire of wanting her mother’s position in the witch community. Because of this, she secretly harbored jealousy towards her twin.

Over the next few years, she had lost her way. Eloise turned to dark energy—the demon energy—from one of her travels to the Demon Realm. She saw its advantages and used its magic to prey on her suitors, particularly the man who got her pregnant and broke her heart, Earl Bernard Vitalis.

From another vision, Amanda saw her aunt putting a curse on Cord’s family and all the guests in their castle during his birthday. She heard her witch words, “By blood it is created and so by blood it shall be undone.” It was clear to Amanda now just how much her blood could save Cord, but she knew this wasn’t just possible. Were there any other options? Could there be loopholes in the curse? She hoped there was so she continued to travel through the past.

Another vision came and Amanda saw herself back to the Hastings House, watching the memory unfold.

Eloisa and her mother saw what had become of Eloise and the dark magic curse she had cast on the Vitalis Family. They had arguments a number of times, each leading to them growing distant. When their mother finally succumbed to her last life, Eloisa didn’t take her position as leader. She knew it was for the best. She didn’t want her twin to be more jealous of her. She wanted to work with her to solve the curse and the problem that had backfired on them—the creation of the dark ones. The vampires. But it turned out, Eloise was already a lost cause. She could not be saved from the demon energy that was within her. Eloisa severed her connection with her twin as a result.

With the fear of the dark ones growing more and more each day, the witch circle was disbanded. Some witches had regrouped and protected themselves. Others hid together with their families and spread all over the world. Some witches who hadn’t had a family or a group to run to, blended in with the humans and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. This was what Amanda’s mother did for over hundreds of years and it worked out just fine.

It was during this time that she met Ellis Roand, the Marquess of Tallinn, Estonia, fell in love and got pregnant with Amanda. To give her child a normal life, Eloisa decided to keep her from all things witch-related. She gave crumbs of truths from time to time, but never the whole story. To give her child a safe and protected environment to live away from the dark ones, she made a pact with a great mage, Lord Nikos, and offered her as his bride in return.

Out on the sidelines, Amanda cringed upon seeing her mother’s pact with Matteo. Clearly, her mother didn’t count on her daughter meeting and falling in love with the Master of the Dark Ones and vice versa.

Her mother’s plea and desperation for her child to be protected wasn’t lost on Amanda though. The next visions she saw next were a harrowing sight. It was exactly what she saw when she wore the witch necklace back in the Vitalis Castle: agonized screams for help, helpless tears, and grotesque lifeless bodies lying on the ground on a pool of blood. All of these were the works of the vampires under the rule of Rexcord.

Cord. Yes, him. Or at least his past self.

Tears then streamed down Amanda’s cheeks as she remembered her beloved. What twisted fate it was for them to find each other and fall in love unconditionally. Was this part of the curse too because she damn believed it so.

“No, I will not give up,” Amanda stated to herself, her conviction strong.

With all the pieces in their proper places, Amanda willed herself to return to the present. There were appropriate questions she had prepared for Matteo to answer and it would be best she start asking him while early in their dinner.

However, as she opened her eyes, what she expected as a fancy table in front of her was replaced with a great chandelier in dim lighting. With brows furrowed, she shifted to the side and found that she was actually lying on a bed in a bedroom that was unfamiliar to her.