"Forgotten Identity Chapter 3" by Chani L. Petro

Inside the dimly lit room, Janine prepared for her midnight crusade. Grabbing a knife from her drawer, she slipped it into the belt around her thin waist. Curling her fingers close to the palm of her hand, she emitted a small blue flame. It wouldn’t do to go out into the woods unprepared, now would it? Dressed warmly, in a thick, blue velvet cloak, Janine emerged from her room with a candle in her steady hand.

Glancing down the hallway, she observed that it was silent and empty. She walked quickly down the hall and the only sound that could be heard was the swish of her cloak. As she silently hurried down the candle lit passage, she reached the elegantly red-carpeted stairs. Swiftly descending the staircase, she artfully jumped the last four steps to prevent them from creaking. Adjusting her slightly askew hood, she walked down the Great Hall, her shoes clicking on the dark marble. Taking a deep breath, she reached out, grabbed the brass handle, and opened the massive oak door that led to the night and her betrayer.

Closing the door silently behind her, Janine stepped lightly upon the soft green grass, which whispered under the breeze of the cool night air. The pale moon disappeared from the back of Janine’s cloak as she stepped over the grass and onto the damp woodchips which rested on the forest floor. An owl hooted deep within the black woods as Janine slipped through the trees. Light filtered down through the leaves, making a path for Janine’s nimble feet to follow.
Janine’s betrayer obviously knew the McBreen family extremely well. The place Janine had been sent to meet at was a place that few people believed existed. The location of it was said to be pure myth and the story behind it as well. It is said that when the Earth was created, a fountain was created where crystal clear water sprang. This water was said to give the drinker immortality and to cure every illness known to man.

Though many men searched for this fountain it was never found; this was because when this fountain was created, the McBreen family was placed in charge of its security. This was how the McBreen family came to posses its awesome power; so they could watch over and care for the fountain. Only the McBreens knew that it still existed; even very close friends of the McBreens were oblivious to it and its location. Janine knew it had to be either a family member or someone heavily trusted. It was no family member, of that Janine was sure, as everyone in the McBreen family knew that the necklace was the last and very fragile. So this left an extremely trusted person who had turned traitorous to the family. Who this person could be Janine did not know, but she would question them before she put an end to their life.

Parting the bush that was the entrance to the secret fountain, Janine stepped through. In the center of a lovely rose filled garden, stood a tall and delicate fountain covered in elaborate signs and pictures. It emitted a glow around itself and reflected the moon off the surface of the water that rested in its basin. From a far, the basin looked shallow and small, but in fact was bottomless and never ceased to stop flowing.

Janine walked over to the softly bubbling fountain and looked down into it to see her reflection. Many times, when Janine was little and had just been scolded for fighting with the kitchen boys, she would come here. This place was a place of comfort and reassurance to her; this was also her mother’s favorite place and every time she came here, she felt a little bit of her mother residing still.

A bush rustled some where near by betraying its disturber; Janine’s sensitive ears perked up and she listened. Heavy boots came down on dry twigs, causing a brittle crunch. Janine’s betrayer was a man.

Slipping behind an Otis tree, Janine turned her hazel eyes on the edge of the trees. Slowly and cautiously, a man emerged from the trees. Looking around, he spied no one and went to sit by the fountain.

Behind the tree, Janine watched him. In the moonlight, she couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he held something in his hands that glinted in the glow from the fountain. Quickly moving noiselessly, Janine maneuvered herself around until she was directly behind the man. Slowly she withdrew the knife form her waist and then, leaping from an opening in the trees, landed at the man’s feet. Before he could even notice her presence, she knocked his feet from under him and knelt on his back. Holding the knife to his throat, she had to restrain herself from slicing his neck open and just taking what rightfully belonged to her. But she reminded herself that he might possess important information and may have been talking to others, If anyone else knew about the Fountain, they would come, and it was the family’s job to take care of them. Family comes before you; that was the McBreen family motto.

Janine bent her head down next to the man’s ear and whispered into it, “Be glad you are not dead already.” The man laughed and Janine was bounced a little as it vibrated through his back; the laugh was deep and contagious. Janine knew that laugh; she could never forget it. Pressing the knife harder to his neck, she said, “Who are you?”

“Don’t you remember me? Do you not recognize my voice and laughter? Turn me round and see if you do not know the face that stares back at you; for I surely remember you. Yes, I remember you; your very touch brings back memories. Though your touch is rough and course now, I have known it when it was gentle and loving.”

Janine jerked the stranger around, but still held her knife to his throat. She looked deep into his gray eyes and was able to match the voice with the face, and with a name, the name David. That name had once belonged to her long, lost love, her dead long, lost love.