Chapter 1
Prologue
He comes in the night when sleep plays upon the mind, this man only I can sense for he is only in my heart. Yet he holds me closer than any who have held me does. He knows my secret inner thoughts, my thoughts of him. The thoughts that I have hidden from a world in the deepest creases of my mind. He is there, even before I ask, for he is my destiny.
Through dreams, he is both lover and friend and yet when I awaken, I know sadly that he will be gone. Therefore, I long to keep my mind asleep so that he will tarry, for he is what my heart desires and who am I to deny my heart. Only him; no one else will ever fulfill the need as he has.
My soul cries out for him when morning comes and when night falls, I anticipate the dance that our bodies will do together. As I give in and yield to his touch, my soul yearns for him even more. He is forever with me; never so far away, that I cannot feel him, want him, need him. He is the beat of my heart, the burning of my soul, and the passion of my body. He is destiny, thrown somewhere out there in the spaces of time.
Therefore, I know I will never be free. You may ask “But who is this man, this destiny you so desire?” and I would have to answer – I do not know his face for I have never seen it, nor his name for he never speaks it but I know him through my heart. Therefore, I wait through the pages of time for my true destiny. My Highland Destiny.
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August 1987
Somewhere in the Highlands of Scotland
“You are such a jerk, and I am such a fool!” Emily said aloud as she hit her flashlight, even though there was no one to hear her. Her so-called lover, well not any longer. Maybe the word ‘boyfriend’ fit the part better but Emily doubted that he even registered that high on her romantic scale at this moment, had left her hours ago to get more supplies and the batteries in her flashlight were not going to last much longer.
Emily knew Jeff was not coming back. In her mind, she had known that the minute he left but she would not admit it. The supply stores only took thirty minutes to get to by car and Jeff had her car. However, she kept telling herself that surely, he was not so low that he would leave her in a cavern she barely knew anything about, with no food and no batteries. Especially no batteries because he knew how much she hated the dark! Besides, these caverns had such a bad reputation when it came to superstition. Not that she would ever believe in that rubbish.
Moreover, what scared her even more then silly superstition was that she had this fear deep within that she would never find her way back out of this cavern? For she had been to the opening that she and Jeff had come through but now it just was not there. Now she was praying she could get the batteries to last long enough so that just maybe she could try it one more time and this time be the charm.
She had obviously gotten lost in the maze of caverns that enveloped her. Since she had realized Jeff was not coming back – she had run, crawled, climbed, stumbled, screamed, beat the walls and yes, even cried with no luck of finding the exit or any other human being. It was as if the door just was not there anymore, and she left enslaved in the cavern.
The Caverns in Scotland best known for their secret passageways are brilliant to behold. However, what they mostly known for are the superstitions that surround the caverns about Bonnie Prince Charlie. Legend says that during his run from the enemy, Bonnie Prince Charlie hid in the caverns until he could escape. One night while hiding, two young children came upon him to offer him food. When he reached for the food, the children disappeared. The superstition of the caverns draws more attention and crowds then most National Landmarks.
With the help from the tour guides and very reliable signs, anyone could find their way back out of them. Oh, but not Emily, of course, she being the investigative type had decided not to take the usual visitors route into the caverns. Nope, not her, she had to be smart and take a back way that Jeff had just happened to stumble across.
There were no tour guides and no information on the tour map she had about this tunnel. All she could remember seeing when she and Jeff had entered this cavern was the warning signs posted telling visitors that these caverns had not been explored as of yet by professionals and to not enter them. Damn her and her inquisitive mind, everyone had told her it would get her in trouble one day and this may just be the day.
Emily hit her flashlight again and took a deep breath, as the light grew a little brighter. She loved hiking and exploring places, even caverns. It was in her blood after all. Her father was one of the most famous archaeologists of his time. She so wanted to be like him and not like her stepfather who was frightened if a tiny mouse ran across the floor.
At least, that is the way he was when in public. Behind the back of society and when with some of his not so trusting friends, Mike was quite a shady character. The difference in her father and Mike astounded her and she still questioned why exactly her mother had married Mike. Her mother Sonja had not lived but a couple of years after she married Mike and Emily moved out on the day of her funeral. Enough about Mike – that was a part of her past she did not venture through. It scared her almost as bad as being stuck in this cavern with no lights.
The truth of the matter was simple enough. Emily hated the dark. It terrified her worse than anything in life could ever terrify her. In addition, sadly she knew each time she hit her flashlight and the light got just a little brighter, that she was getting closer and closer to total darkness.
“Come on Emily, you have explored caverns larger than this before and never gotten lost! What is your problem? Quit sitting on your lily-white ass like a spoiled little rich girl and find your way out of here!”
“Okay, now I am talking to myself. If, no, when I get out of here, I swear I am going to make that creep so miserable he will never think about dating another woman.”
Emily knew she was getting exasperated and that was not helping anything, but she could not stop herself. She hated feeling helpless and right now, that was exactly how she felt. She also knew she was going different ways each time she tried to find the exit. She was tired, hungry and she hated to admit it, but even frightened by this point. She knew in the back of her mind that she had been to where the exit was at least twice, had even seen it but when she got closer to where the light was coming in; it seemed to have disappeared into thin air and nothing would be there but solid wall.
She wondered if she had, just plan lost it altogether. Better yet, was she starting to hallucinate? Nevertheless, she refused to believe that. She had just been turned backwards, confused, twisted around. After all, caverns were solid stone, right. In order for her to get in the cavern, there had to have been a door, right? Right?
Emily started walking again in the direction she knew the exit had to have been in to see if by some strange chance she had just missed it when she found herself in total darkness. “This is it,” she thought aloud as she hit the flashlight several times with her hand and finally decided to beat it wildly against the wall of the cavern.
She was facing something worse in her mind than death. She was not sure neither her body nor her mind could take another blow. She could feel herself start to panic and she knew that was not the smart thing to do. Then, who gives a damn about what was smart right now! All she knew right now was that she needed to find some light and find it fast. It was getting harder and harder to breath, and she was beginning to feel very lightheaded.
Emily started running, not paying attention which direction she was going in. She did not know how long she had been running when she hit a wall and had to stop. She suddenly felt very cold, as if she had stopped under a waterfall in the middle of winter. There was no water in this cavern. She knew because she and Jeff had searched the cavern over trying to find water before he left.
Suddenly Emily felt a very strange presence as if someone or something were watching her. She closed her eyes and held her breath praying it was just her imagination. She would not have minded so much if she knew for sure the presence was safe but for some reason it just did not feel natural. Suddenly, she felt a shiver run down her back and she knew for sure something strange was going on. “Help me, please someone help me!” Emily screamed in a voice filled with fright and started running again. SHE WAS GOING TO DIE! Dear God, she was going to die, all alone and in the dark.
Suddenly, she felt herself as she ran right into whatever it was that had caused the shiver to run down her spine. This time Emily did not attempt to run. She did not scream. She did not even have a chance to cry out as she felt her knees give out on her and she started to fall. The last thing she remembered before total darkness overtook her was the strong muscled arms that seemed to catch her before she hit the floor.
