His mom reached out and took the page from Rachel, scrolling over the words with her eyes and shaking her head and said, “I can read this, but it won’t do you any good. Contrary to what many believe the answers are not found on this piece of paper.”

“What do you mean the answers are not there. I was told that the page tells us how to locate the Red Amulet. Is that not true?” Rachel asked wearily. “Please don’t tell me there’s no information on that page.”

“I’m sorry, young lady. There is nothing here that will help you,” she replied.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Rachel asked.

“You said you are in love with Benji. Is that true?” she asked.

“Yes! Of course it’s true,” Rachel said without hesitation.

“How much do you love him?” she asked.

Rachel thought these questions were a bit irrelevant and out of place in this conversation about the Red Amulet but went along with them as to not upset her, especially after barging in on them without warning.

“With all my heart. I’d do anything for him, which is why I am here right now, talking to you,” Rachel said.

“I can tell that you really care about him,” his mother said. “And while his father and I are not on good terms with him, we are glad that he has found someone like you.”

Rachel felt surprisingly good to hear her say those words. She was glad that in some small way his mother approved of her. That maybe she even liked her. She didn’t know but knew this wasn’t helping her find the Red Amulet.

“So what does this have to do with the Red Amulet?” Rachel asked.

“It has everything to do with the Red Amulet,” she said. “When you truly love someone you are the one that holds the key to finding it. You have the power to find it in this case. Nobody else does. The answer lies in your hands, Rachel. Only you can save Benji now.”

“What do you mean I hold the key to the Red Amulet? What does that mean?” Rachel asked.

“You will learn, young lady. You have all the answers you will need. You have to search within yourself to find them,” she said.

“But I don’t. I promise. I have no clue where to find it. Please, help me out here,” Rachel begged. “I can’t do this on my own. I can’t!”

“You have to. You have no choice. The answer will come to you, I promise. Sleep on it, my dear.”

“Sleep on it?” Rachel asked.

“Yes—if you truly love him, it will come to you in your dreams. Go on now: go to one of our rooms upstairs. Sleep. Find the answer for yourself,” she said. “Trust me, it will come.”

Rachel followed directions. She left the room and went upstairs, winding her wat down the hall into one of the guest bedrooms.

She crashed on the lush bed, and in moments fell asleep, hoping that his mom was right. She fell asleep, hoping and praying that she loved him enough—and that all her answers would come to her in her dreams.

Chapter 11

Rachel lay there in silence staring up at the ceiling, which was beautifully painted with a landscape of a Roman garden with sculptures and fountains. She replayed her conversation over and over with Benji’s mother, but couldn’t figure out what she meant. She knew she didn’t have the answers or the key to finding the Red Amulet and didn’t feel any closer to finding it having spoken to her. She felt at a loss.

Sleep on it she kept saying to herself over and over in her head. Those were his moms words of advice for her. She didn’t quite understand, but wondered if maybe it would just come to her in her sleep.

Rachel felt her eye lids getting heavier by the minute, and then before she knew it, she was fast asleep in a strange bed in a strange room in a new castle.

The walls were a bright white and there was a bright blue pulsing light that hit each wall. There was no artwork, no furniture, no bed, no carpet, just stark white walls. Rachel stood there, alone, spinning in circles humming a childhood lullaby as she swung her arms around her. Her pink and yellow dress was long and flowed in the air around her. Suddenly, red balloons floated up out of nowhere with light blue ribbons which she held in her hand as she stared wondrously at the balloons, she saw a note attached to one of the ribbons.

She reached out for the note and held it in the palm of her hand. A light was shining from the inside of the note. She opened it and it read; Dear Rachel, remember me? You looked through me once to determine your fate. You must return to me, I will give you everything you need. I will be the key to saving Benji. Now, find me.

Rachel let go of the red balloons and watches as the floated through the air one by one and then popped as they reached the ceiling. The popped plastic came falling down and landed at her feet. Inside each balloon were rosemary leaves whose smell permeated the stark white room. The scent filled her body and her mind.

Then the room became multicolored and started turning in circles with shapes and images on the walls. Red, Orange, Green, Pink, Violet, Yellow the room kept on changing colors and it turned around and around. Rachel started turning her body again over and over and over until she fell down on the ground.

All of a sudden, her body shook as she awoke from her dream. Her head still spinning and she had a huge headache. She couldn’t understand where it was coming from. She’d never had a headache upon waking before. She knew something must have happened. She knew what she had to do.

It came to her in her dream, the colors, the balloons, the note, the smell of rosemary and the spinning. It was all making sense to her now. She had to find the kaleidoscope that Benji had given her last year. It would hold the key to finding the Red Amulet. She knew it would, she just had to find it.

Rachel thought long and hard as to where the kaleidoscope might be. It had been a long time since she’d seen it or looked through it and couldn’t remember exactly where she’d left it. As she thought about all the possible places, the most probable place it could be was her house in Bedford. She knew she must have left it in her bedroom but couldn’t remember exactly where. She had to go find it.

*

She quickly got dressed and out of the bed she was laying in. She took one more look at the beautifully painted ceiling and then put her shoes on. She knew she didn’t have much time to get out of the castle so she moved quickly.

She tiptoed down the hall to the room that Hunter and Penelope were sharing. She knocked softly on the door but didn’t hear anything. She opened it slowly, hoping to no witness anything she shouldn’t and when she saw them both laying there sleeping she walked in.

“Guys, guy, it’s me, wake up,” Rachel said in a whisper.

She watched as they both started twitching and turning in the bed. They opened their eyes slowly to see what was going on.

“Sorry, guys, I didn’t mean to wake you, but I’m leaving now,” Rachel said.

“Rachel? What are you doing here?” said Hunter.

“I’m leaving. I have to go,” Rachel said.

“What? Now?” Penelope asked, wiping her eyes and looking over to check the time.

“Yes, right away, I figured it out,” Rachel said.

“But it’s not even light out yet,” Hunter said.

“Figured what out?” Penelope questioned.

“I figured out how I will locate the Red Amulet,” Rachel said excitedly.

“How?” Hunter said. “I thought you needed my parents to tell you?”

“No, your mom helped me a lot, but the answer lies within myself. I know what to do and I have to go do it now,” Rachel answered.

“Tell us!” Penelope said. “What is it?”

“I have to find the kaleidoscope,” Rachel said. “Once I have that, I will have all the answers I need.”

“Kaleidoscope?” Hunter asked.

“Yeah, Benji gave it to me once. I don’t have time to explain. I must leave you now,” Rachel said.

“Well, do you want us to come with you?” Hunter said, jumping out of bed.

“Yeah, we will come, too!” Penelope added.

“No, please. I must do this on my own,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry.”

“Alone?” Penelope asked. “Why?”

“I just do, I can’t explain it,” Rachel said.

“All right then. Do what you have to do now,” Hunter said, with a confused look on his face.

“I wish I could bring you with me but I have to leave you at this point. I no longer need help,” Rachel reMarced.

“Ok, be safe out there. And guard the Red Amulet with your life,” Hunter said. “And please, take care of Benji. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Bye, Rachel,” Penelope said as she walked out of their bedroom door and onto the balcony of the castle.

“Good luck!” Hunter yelled after her.

Rachel stood there, looking at the passing clouds, wondering why she didn’t think about the kaleidoscope in the first place. She remembered it had brought her such clarity in the past in regards to Benji that she should have thought of it first. But, she couldn’t just stand there beating herself up over it, she had to move on. She had to make it right and find the kaleidoscope.

She leaned over the balcony’s edge and before she could count to three, her wings were in flight, she was about to take an even longer journey to her house in Bedford, New York. It was a little bit farther south than Hunter’s boarding school, but she figured if she could make the trip yesterday, she could do it again today. The worst that could happen would be that she would have to stop off to rest her wings for a little bit.

Not long after she took off, she realized she was starving. She hadn’t fed in what felt like days, and perhaps was days. She couldn’t remember. Her life was not a time warp and she couldn’t place the days anymore. All she knew was that she had to feed and now. She peered down below like an owl after its prey. As she flew along the coastline, all she spotted were dolphins jumping up out of the water and a few minnows swimming around in schools. Neither of those appealed to her, especially because the dolphins reminded her of the last family vacation she took, back when she was human. Her family went to Florida and stopped off at the Dolphin Research Center where she spent the day learning, caring for and even swimming with dolphins. She knew they were an under populated species, and she didn’t want to do anything to harm them, despite her relentless hunger.