Valor

TWO

I remember walking along a corridor, taking one step at a time but I dont remember making myself do it. I was alone and everything else was pitch-black.

The place was strangely familiar from the way it smelled but I just couldn't put my finger on it. It smelled something like coffee and lavender. Mixing in an odd way. I know this place. I've been here before. The coffee in the air reminds me of Jack's room except the scent of cappucino in his room is a thousand times stronger and judging from his invariable personality, it is impossible that he's a fan of lavender.
As I was walking endlessly in blank space, a scary music echoed, filling me with the uncertainty that I was alone. Someone must be watching me. Through this darkness. For some reason, I didn't bother to reach out my arms to make sure nothing was in my way or maybe I was unable to do so. It was as if I knew exactly where I was going without even needing to see or do anything. At one moment, it all felt like a peculiar dream but the next, it all seemed too real to be just another nothing-to-worry-about dream. The eerie music continuously played and at one point, it sounded like a hypnotic lullaby, the sweetness in its spooky tune monitoring my every movement and even the place itself as if it wants me to witness something. This time, a masculine voice was singing along. I struggled to wake myself up but to no avail.

"Hail, hail ye who presides over greed,
for to us, it's an indelible creed, To countless staunch, loyalty is gold,
Praised be those whose souls are bold"

Then in a sudden, everything around me was vibrating. The walls, the ceiling, the furnitures (maybe), the floor. The place was shape-shifting. I somehow knew. It was reconstructing itself into a new and of course, vaguely familiar, void of darkness. I could feel it. The place stopped shaking almost simultaneously as I hear a distant chime of bells. Then gently, a fragrant scent began to fill the air. I knew exactly what they were and where I was the moment my nose detected the fragrance. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our old house. I was at my old house. My mom's room to be precise. That's for sure. Red plums, honeysuckles and once again, lavender. There is no place on earth that smells as heavenly as my mom's room. But question is why was I brought back to this place? And what was whoever, or whatever, that's doing this trying to show me?

"As determined as you can ever be,
there is no flee from destiny,
you can run, you can hide,
bar you can never push fate aside."

Again, the place shook but this time, a bit more silently as the mysterious voice tunelessly hummed the music. The quake ended in a jiffy and there wasnt much difference after everything became still again. In fact, nothing was. The fragrant smell of my mother's room and lavender still lingered under my nose. I didnt bother to think of how strange it was for it to follow me around since the smell was nice.