Winter

We looked at each other and took a deep breath before we walked into the forest. We stepped over the invisible threshold and it was like we stepped into a completely different world. The forest that was surrounding us, looked peaceful and mysterious. “They told me that the old castle is haunted, you don't think that's true right?” I asked him as we walked trough the forest.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged but he did grab my hand. The moment his hand touched mine I felt it. The electrical current that ran through my body. It was something you thought would only happen in books but here it is, happening to me and I wondered if Niall had felt it as well. “Why did you want to come with me?” I asked him because it was not like we knew each other, for all he knows, I’m a murderer or a crazed up attack. fan waiting to get him alone. “I love to hike and you seem to be good company.” I know he was looking at me now but I wasn’t looking back and kept my eyes on the road in front of us.

The forest grew thicker and I could feel the tension, which was probably a fiction of my imagination, as Niall was still looking like his care-free self. “So what do you do in your daily life?” Niall was making small talk, which was fine by me. “I’m a nurse.” I watched as his expression changed in one of admiration, which I got a lot when I told about my job, I didn’t really know why but they seem to have a lot of respect for nurses. “Really? That’s some job.” He stated and that was true it wasn’t a easy job especially not on the ward I was posted but we made the most of it every day.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Normally I would feel awkward talking like this but for some reason I didn’t with him. I mean it didn’t flow normally but it wasn’t strained as well. We were just enjoying each others company, when Niall stopped suddenly. “What’s wrong?” I asked him when he let go of my hand.

I was already scanning our surroundings and that’s when I noticed that the path behind us had disappeared. “Niall, where is the path?” I asked him nervously. He turned and I saw the confused expression, he didn’t know. “Maybe we should go back.” He was thinking out loud and I couldn’t agree more, this was beyond scary as there was no sound at all except for our breathing. “Let me check the map.” I grabbed my phone and of course there was no signal, which meant that my map wasn’t going to work. “I don’t have signal, do you?” I asked him worried. He grabbed his phone and immediately shook his head. “Nope no signal, so what now?” He asked looking around to see if he could find a path but the only path that was in sight was the one in front of us.

“I think we don’t really have choice, then to follow this path and see where it leads.” I pointed to the path and he checked one more before he firmly grabbed my hand in his. “Let’s go.” We didn’t say anything for a long time and it made me feel anxious, as if something was really wrong. The coldness of the snow was finally getting caught up with me, as if began to shiver, Niall noticed this and moved his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “Thanks.” I told him and he smiled at me but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. It made me remember something about him, something that Elena had told me about him. He was claustrophobic but then again it couldn’t be affecting him now right, as we were in a forest and not in a tiny space.

“Niall are you okay?” I asked him, trying to sound nonchalant but I know I failed, as he rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, just don’t like these kind of situations, I just want the forest to open up and let some light through. I nodded because I was aching for some sunshine and I definitely wanted to get out of this damn forest.

“I think that maybe they were right about the ghost stories, I mean this isn’t normal right. I had never had a path disappear before.” I had to talk about this, just to get rid of my nerves. I wasn’t happy that maybe we walked into something as weird as that but there was really no other explanation.

“I don’t.” that’s when he stopped talking. I quickly looked at him to see what was wrong, when I saw he was looking at something in front of him. I followed his gaze and there it was, a gate, covered in leaves, which was really odd, as it was winter and such a thing wasn’t really possible, as the rest of the forest around us was frozen. I quickly grabbed my little book about this place and on the second page it was the exact same gate as the one in front of us. “We found it.” I whispered but I didn’t get a good feeling about this, it only made me anxious but I couldn’t really stop my feet from walking up to the gate and Niall followed suit.

I glanced at Niall to see what he was going to do now that we were in front of the gate. I for one didn’t want to walk through that gate because it gave me a horrible feeling but it was like Niall eyes were stuck on the gate and he eventually passed me and put his hand on the handle, which looked way too good for being over five hundred years old. “Niall, wait. Are you sure this is a good idea?” I know this was my idea to explore this ruin but now I wasn’t so sure anymore and I actually just wanted to go back to the house.

“We came this far already, so why not take a look inside?” he shrugged but was still fixed on the gate, it was as if something possessed him but then again did I really believe in ghosts? I mean what was the worst thing that could happen, it was not like we were living in a horror movie, this was reality and nothing weird could happen right?

“I guess you’re right, let’s do this.” I grabbed his arm as he pushed the handle down, I could feel my heart race at this point and my hands were also sweating a bit but Niall appeared to be calm so I just grabbed him tightly as we walked through the gate. I immediately felt like something was wrong, it was a energy that I had never felt before and to be honest I wasn’t quite sure is it was a bad energy or a good one. We walked in silence, taking everything up, just to see if something weird was happening but everything seemed to be normal, that is until we heard the gate close it self.

“What was that?” My voice was slightly higher, as it really spooked me out. It was as if the hit made Niall come back, because I felt his heartbeat pick up. “I don’t know but we have to get out now.” He sounded terrified, which was not comforting at all and it made me feel confused as heel because just two minutes ago he was perfectly fine. We turned and walked back to the gate but it was like the atmosphere grew heavier and I eventually had to stop because I couldn’t breath properly, it was like I had a major asthma attack. “Niall.” I had to take a deep breath because it got already to hard to speak. “I. Can’t. breathe.” I was holding on to him for dear life, when he suddenly picked me up and carried me back and as we were walking further into the forest, leaving the gate behind us, my breathing went back to normal.

“Are you okay love?” he asked worried and I nodded with a shy smile because I felt utterly embarrassed for what just happened. “Yes, I’m fine thank you.” He put me down again but didn’t let go of me. He was staring in my eyes and it was like I was spellbound because I couldn’t look away, I was captured by his intense stare. He caressed my cheek with his thumb and my heart actually skipped a beat, eventually he touched my lips with his thumb and I was almost sure he was going to kiss me but then he took a step back and even made me stumble, as I was leaning in.

“I think we just have to continue our journey and see what is happening.” Niall said and at this point I didn’t even want to argue about something like that because there was no way I was having an attack like that again. “Sure.” I did grab his hand, just to be safe, he gave a little squeeze, as we continued our journey.

Notes