Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1)

by Ahsan, Samreen

  "All my life you came into my dreams to haunt and kill me." My voice was drunk with flames that never burned before. I moved my palm to feel her smoothness and she copied my moves—we were lost in the enchantment of this mirror. "But now when I can feel you through Satan's mirror, you're not here to kill me." I smiled, enjoying the rhythms my heart was giving me. "Can you see me?" I asked.

  "Yes," she whispered. I took a deep breath. Her voice sent me into a deep pit of desire that I didn’t know existed. I had never longed for any woman’s touch but this woman, with a voice like a feather, touched my heart and invaded my body.

  "Do you know what I look like?" I asked her, needing to pull her into my world.

  "Yes, I can see you, King David," she answered softly.

  "I'm Edward. Don't you know?" The heart that had just raced at her voice died the moment she spoke of King David, the original owner of this castle. The love in her eyes that I thought was meant for me was actually for King David.

  Perhaps the woman I had been meeting in my dreams was not there to kill me. She came for King David, and that man was not me—he merely looked like me. She had loved King David and not this beast.

  The dream I’d had for so many years was not a dream for me at all. I saw love in her eyes and it wasn’t for me; she longed for King David. I had been making a fool of myself, desiring the woman who had haunted my dreams for years, and the woman was never mine. I had wasted a big portion of my life thinking about her, hoping she’d come one day. It was a very stupid idea to talk to someone in my lonely times when she never existed for me.

  Perhaps the tales were true. A few centuries ago, King David had fallen in love with a beautiful witch. Now I saw that witch, who was apparently locked in the mirror for some unknown mysterious reason. Maybe she had brought the curse here…maybe it was her that made us look hideous in Satan’s mirror…maybe there was no other curse than her.

  Or rather, it was my punishment for killing my sister, that the only woman I’d ever feel anything for in my life would be the witch trapped in Satan’s mirror, who would haunt me forever.

  I pulled away from the mirror, turned my back and swore on my life never to look at it again.

  “Keep love in your heart.

  A life without it is like a sunless

  garden when the flowers are dead.”

  Oscar Wilde

  CHAPTER 9

  MYRA

  APRIL 2015

  I woke to the sound of the car doors opening. I looked up to see Steve opening the passenger door on my side. Neither he nor Tyler said anything. I checked the time. It was six in the evening. I got out of the car and saw that my father was watering the flowers in our front yard.

  “Hey...you guys are back.” He gave his million-dollar smile. I walked over and hugged him. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” That was the sign of a real father. He knew right away that I was upset. I belonged to them—not to some stupid cult.

  “Nothing, Dad. I’m just tired.” I didn’t look at him.

  “Aren’t you going to invite your friends in?” he asked with concern, looking at the blokes behind me. “Come in, Steve. Paula will be so delighted to see you.”

  “Oh thank you, Mr. Farrow. I think we should go now,” I heard him respond. “It’s been a long day.” I guessed he didn’t want to talk to me.

  “How can you just leave like that?” My mother came out the front door. “Dinner is almost ready. I won’t let my future son-in-law leave without something to eat.” She walked to Steve and hugged him.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Farrow.” He was blushing. “This is my friend Tyler.” He gestured toward Tyler.

  “Pleasure meeting you, Tyler.” She shook hands with him. “And call me Paula, please,” she said to Steve. She walked back to the door. “Myra, bring your friends in. I’ll be serving dinner in a little while.”

  I took a long breath and looked at them. Mom hadn’t given me a chance to say anything, and I didn’t want to create a scene in front of my father.

  “Please come in.” I looked at Steve.

  He nodded and we all walked into the house. The wonderful aroma of homemade food filled our senses.

  “Wow! What’s cooking?” Tyler exclaimed.

  “You’ve come to the home of best baker in London.” I smiled at Tyler. Our house was a small three-bedroom bungalow that Mom had decorated with passion. My father was fond of gardening, so our front yard and backyard looked like a mini-nursery. Around forty percent of the main level was comprised of kitchen and dinette. My mother was an excellent host, so she loved cooking, baking and arranging parties at our place whenever she got time. I was the polar opposite of her. For me, the definition of a party meant I grab a book, snuggle into my warm sheets and lie awake the whole night reading a thriller. Because of this, I‘d never made any close friends.

  The guys settled into the dinette area with my dad. I walked toward my mom. She looked at me with concern.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked, stirring something in the pot on the cooktop. She was making soup, I guess.

  “Nothing!” I replied.

  “There is something. You don’t want to share, that’s okay, but don’t lie to your mother.” She was my mom. She knew me so well. Why did I even think she was not my mother? Stupid, stupid Julia’s assumptions.

  I heard Dad asking Steve about his gaming company. Tyler and Steve were both engrossed in the discussion. My father was very good when it came to entertaining guests. He had mastered the art over the years for my mom. Before that he was just like me—grab a book and lie beside a fireplace to read all night.

  “You didn’t have fun with Steve?” she asked in her motherly tone. I was glad she wasn’t looking at me.

  “It was good. We had fun.” I learned the secrets of a haunted castle.

  “That friend of his was with you guys too?”

  “Mom!” I almost whispered. “It wasn’t a date. Okay?”

  “Really? How sad!” She shrugged. “What did you guys do all day, then?”

  I took some time to reply. She looked up at me for an answer. If I lied, I knew she’d find out. So it was pointless not to share with her. “Steve took me to Hue Castle.”

  Her face turned white in horror. Why was she reacting that way?

  “That haunted castle?” She raised her voice. My dad and the boys looked at her. “Why, Myra?”

  My gaze met Steve’s for a second. He furrowed his brow in concern. He didn’t know my parents were very superstitious. My mother looked at Steve in anger.

  “You took my daughter to that haunted castle? Why didn’t anyone bother telling me?” She was almost yelling. I had never seen her like this. She was throwing a tantrum like a child. “There are ghosts in there.”

  “There are no ghosts, Mrs. Farrow.” Steve got up from his seat. “And we saw things that—”

  “Mom, I guess the bread is ready,” I interrupted before Steve spilled the truth. I didn’t want my parents to hear about what I had seen. They would not let me meet Edward again, because they’d think he was a ghost. I knew he was not. You don’t feel a ghost’s skin.

  She immediately walked to the oven and took out the fresh bread. I sneaked out silently and walked over close to Steve, whispering in his ear. “They should never know what I saw,” I warned him.

  He gave me an I-am-not-buying-that look. Mom brought over the dishes of food and placed the fresh bread on the table with butter, while I set up the plates and drinks.

  There was an awkward silence at the table. Mom kept looking daggers at me while Steve was busy giving me stealthy glances. I was glad Tyler was the first one to start the conversation.

  “I have never tasted such delicious noodle soup as this. It’s wonderful, Mrs. Farrow.” He looked at Mother. She smiled and thanked him. “Myra told us you run a café here,” he continued.

  “Not just a café, Tyler. The best café in London,” I said proudly.

  We all ate dinner quietly. At the end of the dinner, Steve
started the conversation again.

  “You have a wonderful house,” Steve commented. The Bernard boy is saying our house is wonderful? He hadn’t seen his? Either he was trying to change the subject or he had been too busy to look at his manor. “I like small houses. They’re warm and cozy. Not like ours, where you have to intercom the person you want to talk to.” He gave a sad smile. “Especially when you’re the only child in your family.” It looked like he’d had a very lonely childhood in a very big house.

  “But your house is lovely,” Mom replied. “Your mother wanted a house full of kids, but maybe it wasn’t in her fate. That’s why she wants many grandchildren.”

  Tyler coughed. “Sorry,” he said. I knew it wasn’t just a cough. Mom was bringing up the topic of our marriage in front of Steve’s boyfriend, and that was very very awkward.

  “So Myra, you have no siblings either?” Steve changed the subject before Mom could say anything more.

  “No, but I didn’t have to intercom anyone.” I smiled.

  “So...Mrs. Farrow.” Steve looked at my mother. “How long have you been living in this home?”

  “Oh, it’s been four years. We moved after Myra finished high school,” Mom replied. That was the time when that pervert tried to steal my virginity.

  “And where were you living previously?” Steve asked again. I didn’t know what he was up to.

  “We were in West Hampstead,” she responded.

  “So, that was your first home?” Steve asked me. I looked at mom for the answer. “I mean, when you were born, you lived there?”

  “Yes,” Mom replied.

  “So Myra was born at West Hampstead Day Hospital then?” he asked.

  My father coughed this time. I didn’t know why Steve was asking such silly questions. Even if he thought I was planning to marry him, still, why would someone need to know where I was born?

  Oh wait! He wants to know if Paula gave birth to me.

  My heart started racing like I was running a marathon.

  “No,” Mom replied sternly. “She was born at home. We called a midwife.” She started playing with her napkin. I could see her hands were shaking.

  “Really?” Steve chuckled. “Then I’m sure she must have gone to the hospital nearby for her first checkup?”

  “Why are you asking all this?” Mom sounded furious.

  He looked straight into her eyes without hesitation. “I want to see Myra’s birth certificate, Mrs. Farrow.”

  “Steve?” I tried to say something, but he held up his hand and shushed me.

  “Why do you want to know?” My father was probing now.

  Tyler was just watching me. Did I miss something in the car while I was sleeping?

  “I want to know, Mr. Farrow, if the girl I’m soon to be marrying is your first-born child or…” He paused and looked at my parents. “Or if she is adopted?”

  I sucked in a deep breath and looked at my parents in shock. Steve had rendered them speechless.

  He was still calm and composed. “I want to see where she originally came from.”

  My mother slammed her palms on the table. “She is my daughter and she belongs to us.” I had never seen my mother like this. She started crying. My father immediately got up and took my mom in his protective arms.

  “This dinner is over. You may leave now, Steve. Thank you for coming!” Dad was almost scolding Steve. That was not a nice way to talk to their son-in-law if they were thinking of pushing me into marriage. But after this statement, I doubted if my father would let me marry Steve. Although the truth was, we were not even planning to get married.

  “Thank you for the wonderful dinner, Mrs. Farrow.” Steve stood up from his chair. Tyler and I followed him. I was still in shock—not sure if the shock was due to Steve’s question or my parents’ disturbing attitude. “But you can’t keep your daughter in darkness. She has every right to know.”

  “Steve!” My voice was breaking.

  He walked toward me and held me by the shoulders. “Myra, please ask your parents to answer my question.”

  I looked at Mom, who was still weeping. I walked over to her, knelt down and placed my hands on her lap. “Mom?”

  “Baby, we have always loved you like our own child.” She caressed my hair.

  I backed off. “What do you mean like your own child? Am I not your child?”

  She kept weeping.

  I looked at my dad. “Dad?” He didn’t reply. He just looked out into the backyard. He was not even looking at me.

  “Will someone tell me the truth?” I was yelling now, but my eyes were also blurred with tears.

  “Please don’t force us, sweetie. We don’t have the strength to tell you,” Dad replied.

  “Tell me what? Just answer me...am I your actual child or did you adopt me from somewhere?” I yelled again.

  Their silence said everything. My heart crashed into a deep dark well. I felt abandoned all of a sudden. I didn’t want to know who my birth parents were. If they left me when I was a baby, why should I even bother looking for them?

  I gathered my energy to get up and walk out of here. I didn’t want to know the truth—it was too painful. I didn’t even look at Steve or Tyler. I was walking out of the kitchen when I heard my father’s voice.

  “They found you outside Hue Castle,” he said sadly. I froze when I heard that haunted name. “They put you in an orphanage because no one knew where you came from.” I turned around and looked at my dad. He wasn’t looking at me, though. Tyler and Steve stayed quiet—I had a feeling they already knew this. But how did they find out? “We were unable to conceive a child, so we opted for adoption. You were only two months old when we brought you home and—”

  “Who are they?” I wanted to know who found me.

  “There was some historian named Julia Watson and her team who found you outside the castle, and—”

  “Julia Watson?” I looked at dad in horror. That was why she asked me where I was born? I looked at Steve, who nodded silently. So he knew too? “When did you learn this?” I asked Steve.

  “While you were sleeping in the car, Julia called me and told me she did some background research on you and found out that you happened to be the same child who was found outside the castle. The child that the Farrow family adopted.” He paused and glanced at my dad. “That’s why she was so curious about you from the moment she saw you.” He walked toward me—I was standing against the kitchen wall. “She says you have a connection with the Hue family. No wonder you saw things no one had ever seen before.”

  “She’s not going to that castle again,” Mom shouted. “You get me, Bernard? You take my daughter there and I will call the police.”

  “Calm down, Paula.” My dad rubbed her arms. “So you took my daughter to Hue Castle? May I ask why?” He looked keenly into Steve’s eyes.

  Steve took a deep breath. “I told you I run a gaming company. We pick places to film for our fantasy games.” He stole a glance at me. “I had been trying to get into Hue Castle for a long time, to film it for my next game concept. I met your daughter at my house and thought she’d be perfect in the lead role of a girl who would discover the dark enchantment of the castle.” He paused and looked at my mother. “I didn’t know where she came from or what powers she held. We found things that no one had discovered for the past six hundred years. We can’t capture the castle with our cameras, but if Myra is in the picture, everything appears beautiful. She sees people beyond a mirror in the chapel, and was able to talk to someone from an earlier era. How? I really don’t know, Mr. Farrow, and we are keen to find out the truth.”

  “You spoke to someone?” Mom asked.

  “Yes,” I almost whispered.

  Dad tugged Mom closer to him. “What’s your plan now?” he asked Steve.

  “The lady who found Myra outside the castle is the same lady we met today who gave us the guided tour.” Steve looked again at my mother. “She thinks we should go to Morocco to find out about the book.”

>   “What book?” Dad narrowed his eyes.

  “There is a book that has some information regarding the castle.” I jumped into the conversation. “Julia said the book is empty and had been compiled by people who were masters in magic. And only those who held the same power would be able to read it.” Using the term ‘cult’ would have sounded offensive to my parents. They’d never let me go there. “They think I might be able to see the text and read the book.” I shrugged.

  “And what do you think?” he asked quietly. “Do you want to go?”

  “I want to give it a try, Dad.” I walked over to my parents. Mom looked broken. “I love both of you and the bitter truth has not changed my love for you. You’re my parents and will always be.” I looked into my mother’s eyes. “You always knew how much I wanted to visit that castle. And when I had the opportunity to see it, I saw things no one else had ever been able to. I want to explore it, Mom. And no one knows me better than you.” She was listening to me intently. “I spoke to a king, Mom. Can you believe it?”

  Mom kept staring at me and read all the truth in my eyes. “How was he?” She knew how much I had admired medieval kings and knights.

  “I’ve never seen anyone like him. I want to know who he is.” I held her hand tightly. She could see the desire burning in me. She had seen me rejecting boys from wealthy families because I never found them attractive.

  Although there was no such thing as eloping-with-Edward, but God…how much I wished to touch that man or run my fingers in his hair or steal a kiss from his tempting lips. I knew my mom could read me like an open book. I had never demanded anything from my parents, but this I wanted to experience.

  She took a deep breath and looked at Steve. “When are you guys planning to leave?”

  “Tomorrow!” Steve replied.

  “Tomorrow?” I repeated in surprise.

  “The sooner the better, Myra.” Tyler finally spoke, after the long argument between the rest of us.

  “I will call my travel agent and ask them to book the closest possible flight to Casablanca,” Steve added.