A Fate Set in stone

Chapter one last part

The next morning when Yukita’s alarm went off she stretched and rolled out of bed. Getting up she went to her closet to get a nice outfit for today. A pair of black leggings, a skirt that looked like the night sky and a dark blue top with lace sleeves. She slips on a pair of dark blue ankle boots as she remembers he said to wear comfortable walking shoes. Just before she left she looked into a mirror. Her long jet black hair pulled back into a french braid, her eyes a deep ocean blue with a hint of green. Her smooth cinnamon colored skin was showing through the lace of the sleeve. After getting ready she hopped in her truck and went to the coffee shop that her and Jake agreed to meet at. Surprisingly Jake was already there with tea ready for her.

“Hey Yuki, well don't you look nice. Here I remembered you like mint tea with a splash of honey.” Jake said while handing her the cup.

“Wow, you remembered that? I’m impressed and I appreciate it, thank you.” Yuki responded as she took the cup from him.

“Of course, I’m a detective with an impressive memory” he said playfully but they both knew it was true. “Was there anywhere in specific you wanted to see?” Jake asked.

“Well I was hoping you would know some good spots. You did say that you were going to show me some of the more popular places.”

Jake chuckled, “I do have some good spots I can show you. We will save the statue for last.”

“Okay, sounds good to me. Where are we starting?”

Jake grins as he stands. “It’s a surprise, but you will like it trust me”

“Okay” Yuki said slightly questioningly. The pair sets off. Jake leading Yuki to the first spot, which was a hiking trail leading to what they called the spirit animal forest.

“Do you want to hear the legend of this forest while we walk this trail?” Jake asked.

“Of course I do. ” Yuki responded.

The two started walking as Jake spoke. “Well according to legends this forest is haunted by animal spirits, mostly wolves. It is said that there were disputes between two wolf packs over the borders as both packs were very teterrorial. During one of the disputes a group of hunters came in killing members from both packs along with other innocent animals for their pelts. This caused the protector, the forest witch to be filled with great rage. She proceeded to kill the hunters and banish their spirits to a realm where they are forced to relive the night they killed the animals but as the animals they killed and skinned for all eternity. It is also said the purest of hearts can interact with the spirits of the animals still trapped here.”

“Wow really? That’s incredible. Have you ever seen or interacted with one?” Yuki asked.

“No unfortunately I have not. I hope someday I can though” Jake replied then asked. “Are you a fan of wolves?”

“Yes, I love them. How about you?”

“Yes, although owls are my favorite animal, wolves are a close second.”

The two finished walking the trail and back. The conversations flowed with ease as Jake showed her a few other spots. A few hours had gone by when they decided to head to the main stone statue that Jake had spoken of. The Statue looked like it was running towards someone with one hand out as if to stop something the other hand was down palm facing forward. The statue looked like a thinner male with victorian style clothing.

“So here we are the main statue of our town.”

“Wow so this is it? What is the story again?” Yuki asked.

“From what I understand is that this guy somehow made a witch, Hecate, extremely furious and she cursed him. The curse as I know is that only his true soulmate can free him by a single touch. No one knows exactly what he did or if he is even alive anymore but people still try it sometimes. Not a lot of people believe in it as much, they just come since it is a good picture spot.”

Wait, so what happened to the one that cursed him?”

“No one knows. Hecate was never seen or heard from again.”

“Interesting. I wonder what happened.”

“Me too. Hey, do you want to get a picture before we head off?”

“Sure. Are you going to be in it also?”

“No, I’ll take one of you. Oh, You should try holding his hand.”

Yuki just half glared at Jake. “Really?”

Jake laughed. “Oh come on, it will be fun. Do it for me? Please.”

“Alright, fine. Fine.” Yuki said, shaking her head. Once there was a pause in the pictures that tourists were taking with and around the statue Yuki walked over. Pausing, she looked over at Jake once more before grabbing the statue's hand. Just as she was about to say something, she felt the hand that should have been frozen start to move. Letting go of the hand, she jumped back in shock, staring as she saw cracks forming in the statue. Pieces of stone started falling and disappearing before they hit the ground. Yuki and the others around the area stared in shock. Yuki could hear whispers around her. A few “What the hell’s?” and “Is this really happening?” but was too focused on the man that the stone was revealing to worry or even attempt to respond. After all the stone disappeared she barely had time to move and catch him before he fell over.