Music Recommendation- Into the Fire- Marco Beltrami

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  Natalie, who went by the name of Harriet now, stood in front of the window, staring at the road. The same road that was located in front of her original house where she actually belonged, where right now she was growing parallelly to her mother's age. The first few weeks, Natalie was in a mixture of emotions, where she wasn't able to figure out how to cope with the new situation she was in and how to feel about it.

  After spending two weeks in the past, right now, everything in her life had changed upside down.

  She didn't have a family of her own anymore, as they didn't recognize her, and even if they would come to see her face again, there was no possibility of them remembering her. The witch, Opaline La Fay, had made sure to take extra care before she had sent her here by changing features of her face to look like another person. Maybe even prettier.

  Nobody wanted to have Natalie, thankfully she was taken in by the Winters family, adopted to be part of their family. She couldn't believe how karma worked, and it had come to bite her right at her bottom with no mercy. She now had a brother, Thomas Winters. Somewhere, she found it hard to let go of her past, and she had tried to cling to it by befriending her mother, spending time with her.

  Weeks had changed to months and months to years, where Natalie grew up under the Winters' household as their own daughter. When the time came, she was proposed to by Doughlas Leighton, and it was enough of a shock, noticing how everything was fixed and though she was an extra piece from the future, it didn't change the course of life. During her school time in her previous life, Natalie had tried to find out why Julie had stopped attending classes, as she had missed bullying her ex-best friend, wanting to make Julie's life miserable.

  Her thoughts went back to the past……

  'Did you see Julianne today?' questioned Natalie to one of her classmates.

  'Nope. Don't think I saw her in a while now. She's probably scared to come here after tripping down from the stairs,' laughed the person whom Natalie had questioned.

  'Of course, she should know well to not appear anywhere near here. Maybe it would be better if she just left this place. How pleasant would that be,' smiled Natalie, a smirk appearing on her lips.

  'I thought you both were best friends. What happened? Did she do something to piss you off?" chuckled the girl, who stood next to Natalie. 'You used to always stick to her.'

  Natalie's expression was quick to turn sour, and she sent a glare at the girl, 'It wasn't me who used to stick to her. It was her, always trying to follow me wherever I went. She is an eyesore,' she huffed. 'She should be thankful that I even let her stay around the class and didn't bother myself with her. If I could, I would have pushed her, but it looks like someone was more annoyed by her presence to push her from the stairs."

  'Well, if you say that, then she must truly be an eyesore. I mean she doesn't even have any friends of her own and she looks like she's not fit to be here, it is quite pitiful. Have you noticed her wearing the same sweater over and over again?' asked the girl.

  'Of course, I have seen it, something so ugly is hard to not notice,' Natalie laughed, and at the same time, the boy whom she liked, in turn, liked Julie, appeared in the corridor, walking towards her, 'What's wrong, Keith?' She noticed the deep frown on his face.

  'Did you hear what happened to Julianne?' questioned Keith, and Natalie rolled her eyes.

  'How would I know, she's probably locked herself somewhere,' responded Natalie, but the frown on Keith's face didn't leave his face.

  For as long as Natalie could remember, she, Julianne, and Keith had been together. She had caught on to the way Julianne had looked at Keith, and somewhere she sensed Keith liked Julie too. But Natalie wanted him to look in her direction, and she had tried to push Julie away from Keith out of spite which slowly turned to jealousy and rage towards the girl who once was close to her.

  Keith said, 'Julie's parents, her mother was found dead and it was Julie's father who had killed Julie's mother and then went to attack Julie. We should probably go to her house and check how she's doing. She's probably hurt.'

  Natalie placed her hand on Keith's arm and said, 'She probably needs some time to deal with it. I am sure there are many of them who might be hovering around her and she doesn't need us or you too doing that. You know how sensitive she is. Let us give her some time and we can go soon.'

  Keith looked slightly torn, but he nodded his head and left the corridor with a heavy sigh. Once he was gone, the girl with whom Natalie was talking said in a low voice, 'That's so messed up. Why would her father kill her mother? Did you hear anything about it?'

  Natalie shrugged her shoulders, 'Who knows. Maybe her mother did something to annoy her father. Frankly speaking, she keeps clinging to my mother, and it's really weird sometimes. Anyways, I have something else to do…'

  Coming back to the present, Natalie gripped her hand on the iron rod of the window, thinking about the upcoming death that was right around the corner. She was no more the young, naive girl but a woman who had a daughter.

  As hours passed, she heard the croaking caws near the tree through the window. Natalie's eyes looked in the direction where the raven moved closer to her.

  "Is there no other way that I can fix this without having to die?" Natalie's voice sounded desperate, as the thought plagued her mind since she had been married. Every human died after a certain period of time, and maybe she would have been alright if she didn't know how and when or by whom she was going to be murdered.

  The bird moved its wings as if it was making it right after flying around, and it said, 'Cannot change the course of life. Need to follow the pattern. Else chaos.'

  Natalie shook her head, "I have repented for what I have done, but I cannot do this anymore. It's killing me slowly every single day, and I am terrified to sleep in the same bedroom with him. I keep looking over my shoulder when he's around, not knowing when he has planned to kill me."

  The Corvin didn't reply to her and instead stayed quiet until it flew away from the window.

  Natalie heard the footsteps of someone, and she left the room to check who had come back home. Her eyes fell on Julie, who had returned from her classes, and she looked down the staircase.

  "How were your classes, dear?" asked Natalie, feeling thorns of the pain pierce through her heart.

  She noticed the way Julie tried to hide her hands, and she realized what day it was. It was the time when her former self had slit Julie's wrists. She could sense the hurt and pain in Julie's eyes, and it wasn't the first time she had noticed it. Natalie felt her heart squeeze. Julie often returned home with bruises, and she knew it was caused by her, but she couldn't fix the mistakes she had committed.

  To think that Julie's actual mother was Opaline, the powerful witch, it had taken her time to understand. The witch had put magic in a way where, it was Natalie who had conceived the baby. Natalie had tried to make Julie an outcast, and now that she thought about it, she didn't know what to do.

  Julie put up a smile on her face as if everything was alright, and Natalie behaved as if she didn't notice it.

  "It was good, mother. I have a test next weekend, so I was trying to find some references and it got late to get back home," added Julie to make it sound more convincing.

  Natalie nodded, "I understand. Why don't you freshen up and I will cook you something good and bring it to your room? You must be hungry."

  "Mm," Julie nodded her head with a smile, and she said, "Thank you, mom," and she disappeared inside her room.

  The smile on Natalie's face died, and she shook her head. The most ironic thing was that she had cursed Julie's mother in the past, to now know she was cursing herself. Was this why people said to be careful when cursing or wishing something upon others?

  To make it up to Julie, Natalie did everything she could while not trying to let it come in between what Opaline wanted. She tried to love Julie, offering her everything she could, and raising her right, so that she would never turn like her.

  Days continued to pass, and one night after having dinner, Julie went to her room while Natalie sat in the living room, watching television. She heard a sound come from inside the kitchen. Turning alert, she turned off the television and left to take a look.

  The lights in the corridor were turned off, and her hand reached to turn it on. She made her way towards the kitchen, but there was no one in there. Natalie could feel her heart beating loudly as if it was going to jump out of her throat any second now.

  She tried to pick on the possible noise, but there was nothing, and Natalie wondered if she was turning paranoid. After all, thinking about her death every day had taken a toll on her mind and body. Not to mention, she had been forced to act as if everything was perfect around her. After looking around the other corridors of the house, and the rooms, she was returning to the living room when she caught sight of a shadow in the kitchen.

  Before she could turn on the switch, her husband stepped out of the darkness.

  Natalie quickly put a surprised smile on her lips, but it subtly faltered, "You are home early. I thought you were going to come home late and didn't keep the cold food out."

  Douglas Leighton stepped forward, placing his hands on the centre island of the kitchen, and he offered her a sweet smile that only scared Natalie more. She didn't want to die! She wanted to live and look forward to spending the rest of her years. But at the same time, it seemed like her life had been marked since she had started to torture Julie.

  "I wanted to give you a surprise," replied Douglas, and he asked, "Where's Julianne?"

  "She's in her room studying."

  Douglas nodded his head, and he said, "You look a little pale, darling. Is everything alright?"

  Natalie nodded her head, "It is, now that you are home," she continued to offer her sweet smile that she had perfected over the years. "I just thought that someone broke in. I-I didn't see you walk through the front door."

  "If I did, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it, honey?" questioned Doughlas, and Natalie felt perspiration form on her forehead and her back. "By the way, I found something," and he placed an envelope on the kitchen slab.

  "What is it?" Natalie asked cautiously.

  "There is a woman's picture in there, she looks exactly like you. I didn't know you had a twin. Same face, nose, hair colour and so far she has this scar on her left hand. It was quite surprising to see something like that. Also her name is Harline," said Douglas, his eyes on her and Natalie softly gulped while trying not to panic.

  "It must be as I don't remember much of my childhood," replied Natalie, and she asked him, "Do you want to drink something?" There was no way it was possible, he was only trying to scare her. But how did he catch on to her? All this time, she had done everything right.

  "Maybe later once we finish talking. Anyways, what I wanted to talk about is, where did you keep that wooden box that you brought from the store a month ago?" asked Doughlas, and Natalie felt her hands clench. "It seemed like you were going to gift it to me, as you quickly put it away in the cupboard," he smiled.

  "What about it?"

  "I was wondering where it is. I spoke about it to one of my colleagues whose wife is interested in those antique items and thought to take a picture of it to show him," said Douglas and Natalie nodded her head.

  "That box was old and delicate. A week ago, it slipped and fell on the floor. I had to throw it away. I guess I shouldn't buy things from the flea market," laughed Natalie, but Doughlas didn't find one bit of humour in it.

  "How strange," Doughlas said out loud, and he questioned her, "Are you hiding something from me, Harriet? You know you can tell me anything, and I am always here to listen to you. We have always been open since we got married, haven't we?"

  Natalie shook her head as if she didn't understand what he was talking about to her right now, "Why would I ever need to hide anything from you? You must be overthinking about it. Let me get you the bottle of beer." She pulled the fridge door and picked up the cold beer bottle, but when she closed the door, Douglas held a gun in his hand, and it was pointed at her.

  She wanted to fight her fate so badly so that she could save her life, but she remembered the witch's words to her before leaving that old town. Opaline had told her that she was not supposed to change the course of events.

  But Natalie couldn't help but want to save herself. From being a human, she had turned to a vampire, while somewhere hoping that things would work well, but she had been pushed into the past where people wanted to burn her alive. She couldn't stay there, and if she had to survive, the only way was to follow the witch's words.

  "What's going on, honey?" asked Natalie, confusion and fear coming to hover over her face and her entire demeanour.

  "Since the beginning when I first met you, there has been this peculiar smell around. And do you know what I found out?" asked Douglas, continuing to point his gun at her. "You are a witch, aren't you?"

  Natalie shook her head, "This is absurd, Dough. You must be tired, let me draw you the bath—"

  She stopped speaking when she heard the sound of the gun as he had pulled the cork back, and her heart continued to beat faster than it ever had before. "Stay right where you are. Whom are you working for?"

  "No one, I swear. This is a misunderstanding," Natalie's voice was low and soft, not wanting to alert Julie, who was in her room. "Please put the gun down," she begged him in a frightened voice.

  "I found a bunch of dried mistletoe in one of the stashes of the cupboard. What are you doing with it? I have heard that the witches make use of the dried mistletoes in their mouth so that they are not compelled. Did you know that, darling?"

  "Listen to me, Dough. I am a human, just like you or Julie. The stash was given by one of our neighbours. I don't know what you are talki—"

  Natalie didn't get the chance to complete her sentence because the very next second, Douglas pulled the trigger, and the silver bullet pierced through the centre of her forehead. The life that she had, turned smaller and smaller like her vision. Darkness started to creep from the corner of her eyes before the pain that she felt from the bullet vanished.

  Her body fell on the ground, blood slowly seeping out of her head, coating the cold floor with her warm blood, where she laid dead.

  Douglas shot her two more times, to make sure that the witch was dead, footsteps were heard from the other part of the house, in the corridor. It was Julie, who had heard the sound of gunshots and had come to check where the sound came from.

  Douglas Leighton couldn't believe that all these years, he was married to a witch. Harriet had come from the Winters family, and he had never expected that they had raised a witch under their roof, and now he had two of them. He should have known, thought the hunter with disgust in his eyes.

  Julie found her mother's dead body in less than a minute, and Doughlas could tell she was a vile witch. Soon he started to chase her around the house, trying to get a shot at her, but she somehow escaped. When he tried to pull the trigger one more time, he noticed the bullets were over, and he followed her, where the little witch entered and slammed the door shut.

  Douglas used his hand to bang the door, "Julianne! Open the door!" he shouted, but the girl didn't open it.

  Julie made use of every lock she could on the door to protect herself from the inside of the room while she heard her father continue to bang the door. When the banging stopped, her father tried to coax her to open it.

  "Open the door, Julianne. I can explain," said her father from the other side of the door.

  But Julie was in shock, and her head started to reel with what she saw in the kitchen. Her hands trembled, and it reached for her phone. It took a couple of tries to get her hands steady and her mind straight, which felt like it was running a mile a minute.

  Dialling the number, Julie heard the door thunder as if threatening to break down at any moment. Getting up from the floor, she quickly moved to her desk and pushed the desk to the door. Bringing the phone to her ear, she heard the number ring, and when the person picked it, she looked back at the door that her father was trying to break.

  "What's your emergency?" asked the person from the other side of the line.

  Julie's lips parted, but her throat had turned dry, and she couldn't speak for the first five seconds.

  "M-my, my m-mother was shot dead," tears spilt down from her eyes as she said this, realizing her mother was dead, not knowing the reason why it happened.

  She suddenly felt the door being pushed forward, creaking the desk slightly—


  Julie's eyes flew open, where she was now surrounded by the slight darkness of the room, as the lights of the room had been turned off. She closed her eyes, squeezing it before trying to push herself from the bed.

  She felt tired as if she had been travelling, and her body was now exhausted. Her eyes widened, remembering what had just happened before she had lost her consciousness, and she looked around the room, her eyes searching for Roman. But instead of Roman, her eyes met Mr. Evan's eyes, and she was ready to shriek.

  "Had a good sleep, Ms. Winters? How do you feel?" questioned Mr. Evans, and Julie didn't know what she was supposed to reply. Where was Roman?!

  But then she saw the Corvin in the room, that stepped out from the shadows, and Julie's eyes shifted from the creature to the vampire.

  "I-uh, I am okay I think," replied Julie, stepping out of the narrow bed and ready to start running from there while also signalling Corvin to follow her.

  The Corvin said, 'Sullivan here to help.'

  Did the Corvin decide to call itself as Sullivan? Not that she minded whatever name it chose for itself.

  "I think she's very confused at the moment and we don't have much time," said Mr. Evans, and Julie's eyes would have fallen out of her eye sockets at the counsellor's words.

  "What?" asked Julie, wondering if she heard it right.

  Mr. Evans turned to look at the door, where Olivia returned, and she looked startled by the counsellor's presence in the room. He said to Julie with the same twisted smile on his face, which was usually present, "As we discussed until now, I am hoping you will reconsider not exerting yourself by thinking about the tests. Children are supposed to enjoy and? live, it would be sad if one died out of stress, don't you think? Don't be shy if you ever need to speak to someone about anything. You know my counsellor's office door is always welcome."

  The vampire started to head towards the door of the room, while the Corvin had disappeared from where it had been standing until now.

  "Ms. Trosney," Mr. Evans noted and Olivia, who held a guarded expression on her face, gave a slight nod of greeting.

  Julie's eyes followed Mr. Evans, while she felt like she needed to take another round of sleep to make sure she wasn't seeing or hearing things.

  Olivia quickly walked to where Julie was and asked, "How are you feeling? Rome said you passed out."

  "I am okay," replied Julie before asking, "Where is he?" The last time she saw him, he had lost his control, and she had seen him turning into a feral being. She looked at Olivia in worry, where the vampiress had a slight frown on her face.

  "Roman had to leave to attend something important…… He will probably return by tomorrow morning," replied Olivia, not sure if Roman would be arriving the same way as he had left.