Page 11 of Tempted
When I get up and brush myself off, I look up to see that there are many more roots coming up out of the ground as though shielding the insanely large, cavernous ruins that lie ahead of me from enemies and intruders alike. I can feel my mouth gaping open and my eyes bulging at the sight of it. If I’d thought the previous commune of crudely made homes were beautiful, then I don’t truly have words for this, this… temple. Much like the other dwellings, this is made of stone and interwoven trees but on a much grander scale and with more markings impressed into the stone’s openings. I’d call it a doorway but that doesn’t quite do it justice seeing as it must be over twelve feet tall and six feet wide. How this entire structure can’t be seen for miles and miles and miles is baffling and to call it something as trivial as ruins almost feels disrespectful to the impeccable build and stunning craftsmanship. I’ll need to research more, but this doesn’t seem as though it’s been sitting here rotting for hundreds of years.
My mind conjures thoughts of magic preserving the embodiment of this temple, and wishes of seeing it in its prime, full of life, humanity, and community. My heart longs for the time’s past despite knowing almost nothing of the people who inhabited this land. For all the research I’ve done on this island and for how obsessive my need to exist here has been, you’d think I’d know more but there’s actually very little information documented up until more recently, within a hundred or so years.
I’m shaking with both nerves and anticipation as I force my feet to move forward. Each step fills me with apprehension just as much as it does excitement and I’m at odds with myself over it. Trusting my gut is usually much easier than it is in this moment.
When I advance onto the first of the stone steps, the air around me swirls like a small whirlwind as if pushing me further toward the enormous cavern that makes up the doorway. In need of a second to think, I stop at the top of the stairs and shuffle the pack on my back nervously, darting my gaze all around to make sure nothing’s wrong despite the prickles running up the back of my neck. I don’t feel like I’m in any danger, but there’s definitely a warning going off inside of me that something is going to happen.
My senses are on overdrive so when thunder crashes angrily overhead, I jump at the sound as though it happened within mere feet of me. And when the rain starts to pour down on me out of nowhere, I yelp in alarm at the cool liquid against my overheated skin, making me almost wish I still had my jacket on, especially when the wind picks up again, seeming somehow far cooler than before.
With that, I make a mad dash into the ruins for shelter and click on the small light to help guide me through the dark. Strangely enough, it’s built like an indoor maze, made up of stone and vine with hand carved wooden features throughout to make up what I can only interpret as furnishings of the temple.
I really hope I’ll be able to find my way out of here before the light of morning.
The deeper I make my way into the complex labyrinth that makes up the inside of the ruins, the more sense of familiarity falls over me. Instead of panicking or getting overwhelmed with anxiety like I’d expect, a sense of peace and contentment keeps my heart beating steadily while I continue forward on my adventure instead of the insanity I felt just outside the supposedly ancient structure.
I make my way through what appears to be the end of the maze and find myself in a large spacious room that looks a lot like a dining room, which leads over to an oversized fireplace that could be considered a kitchen of sorts. There is a gargantuan table and benches with some crudely made tools on the table top, along with some hand crafted bowls, which leads me to think the tools are actually utensils, much like our forks, spoons, and knives, though it’s hard to tell since I’m significantly smaller than what’s actually required to see or study any of it properly.
Giants.
The word flashes through my brain over and over again like a neon sign and while the idea is preposterous to the academic side of my brain, the other half of me that’s dipped in the realm of magic and possibility is screaming that there’s no other option.
It’s like I’m living my own tale of Jack and the beanstalk, only I’m not here to thieve a goose who lays golden eggs or a magical harp and instead of planting beans to get here, I’ve defied every rule set out for me and put myself at risk to epically fail at my mother’s alma mater.
Pure, unfiltered wonderment grabs a hold of me as I take in my surroundings, wishing I could get a closer look. Instead, I shuffle my feet forward to try and see what’s beyond this expansive room, finding what looks like an entryway of sorts full of… bedrooms? Never in my life have I seen anything like it. A massive room with seven adjacent rooms hidden beyond closed doors—massive ones that are so tall and wide, I don’t know that I’d even be able to push one open if I tried.
Instead of the cave-like openings, like the one that leads into the ruins, these are surprisingly more modern, made by hand from the trunks of the surrounding trees. I run my hand along each one as I pass, enjoying the simmering thrum of energy I feel flow through me with every door I touch, trusting my instincts to tell me when to stop. Now, instead of Jack I feel a little bit more like Goldilocks, but instead of three options to choose from, I have seven.
The first door I touch makes me feel grounded like I can trust what comes from it explicitly. The second offers me a sense of peace, tranquility settling in my bones in the deepest sense. The third leaves me with a feeling of enchantment, thoughts of all things supernatural happily swirling into my mind. Each of them offer positive vibes that make me feel a little more complete than before and it makes me excited to see what will happen next. I walk over to the other side, opting to leave the door in the middle of them all for last.
I press my palm to the rough bark on the farthest door from my end goal, and immediately wish I hadn’t. It only offers resentment and self-loathing. I don’t know how I know this, but I do. I can feel it in my soul. Whoever lived in that space was not someone who had good intentions… or maybe just selfish ones.
My mind flashes an image of Dr. Carmichael and it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. There’s a nagging feeling in the back of my thoughts that I can’t seem to grasp and if I dwell on it any longer, I’ll drive myself crazy.
I shake my head as if that will rid me of the crystal clear image in my head of the man I’ve come to intimately know, only he’s not dressed in modern clothing. In my mind, I’m seeing him as more primitive, with longer hair and dressed strangely, sort of like Tarzan. It’s weird. The whole freaking thing is crazy. But it also kind of makes sense—at least sort of. I get the same vibes from him, that I do this door and with my mind stuck in the land of fantasy and discovery, it only makes sense that I’m combining all my thoughts into one jumbled mess.
Right? That has to be it.
Moving on, I hope for more of the goodness I felt from the first few doors and reach out to touch the fifth door and shiver in pleasure. As in,sexual pleasure.
I was not expecting that.
Not. At. All.
Pulling my hand back quickly before I spontaneously orgasm, I move on to the second to last door and gently lay my fingertips to the wood and I feel safe. So safe that I actually breathe a sigh of relief before moving onto the last and final door. There’s something so encouraging, if not somehow demanding, in the energy I felt when I touched it that it’s given me the strength I needed to move forward and come face to face with the seventh door.
The draw I’ve felt to this one has been the strongest and it’s why I saved it for last. I just know that I’ll want to explore whatever lies beyond this opening. Instinctively, I can tell that this is what I’ve sensed since I first came here as a little girl, the sensation only growing stronger with each moment that I grow closer to it and now I’m here. Something about this room feels a lot like destiny, and when I reach out with both hands and place my hands on the door and push with all my might, a spark of light flashes and there’s never been a stronger understanding of what I’m feeling than right now.
I’m home.
Chapter Seven
Felix
ThedooropensandI quite literally fall inside as an unknown force shoves me forward into the unlit space. A rumbling quake erupts beneath my feet, slamming the door closed behind me while rubble and debris start to fall from the skies along with a heavy wind and downpour of rainfall. I hadn’t expected the door to lead me outside, but the hateful attack of the elements tells me that’s exactly where I’ve ended up.
If I hadn’t already fallen down, I’d have dropped to the ground anyway with the trembling of the earth shaking me up the way it is. It’s so intense that moving from this spot seems almost an impossibility. So instead, I curl into myself up against the door where it meets the hardened cobblestone floor, praying to our grandmother goddess Toci that I don’t die here, not when I’ve only just found contentment unlike that which I’ve ever felt before. It wouldn’t be fair, though such is life, am I right? But I put all of my faith in her right now because if I can’t believe in the goddess of my namesake, then who or what else can I believe in? Especially when I could possibly die here.
The awe that struck me when the door swung open—surprisingly easier than I’d thought were possible—has now given way to fear. The flash of light was gone in an instant, leaving me shrouded in a mostly dark area. My trembled excitement flashes to terror in mere seconds as my arms come up over me to bear the brunt of the weight of the scattered rubble that’s falling from above, but from where if I’m no longer under the rock formed ceilings of the ruins?
