Somewhere in Time Read online

  Somewhere in Time

  Fizza Younis

  Copyright © 2020 Fizza Younis

  All rights reserved

  Contents

  Introduction

  More Than a Century Ago

  A Few Days Later

  Exactly a Century Ago

  A Few Weeks Later

  Present Day

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Fizza Younis

  Introduction

  A story from another time and a different world

  Somewhere in Time is a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. The story is set between the twentieth and the twenty-first century. With a much darker paranormal twist and no happily ever-after within sight, it follows the journey of our beloved characters; Aurora and Prince Phillip. What the future holds for them is yet to be determined, so read on to find out how their story unfolds this time around.

  More Than a Century Ago

  There weren’t many things I wanted from life, but the one thing that I had desired the most remained elusive, hiding just out of my reach. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t touch the moon.

  The Year was 1904

  Looking at the chubby face of their newborn baby girl, they both thought the same thing; she was the most beautiful child in the world and they’d do anything to protect her. It was the happiest day of their lives.

  “Have you thought of a name yet?” Atticus asked his wife.

  “Aurora,” Hima said, smiling, “because she is the dawn of our new life.”

  “Beautiful just like her,” he said, kissing his daughter on the forehead, “Aurora it is then.”

  After years of waiting and praying, Lord Atticus and Lady Hima received a blessing in the form of their baby girl. They wanted to celebrate her birth with all the pomp and show befitting a princess. Atticus was one of the richest men in the world. Being from a noble family, he was well-respected, and the world would cherish his heiress.

  “You’re already planning a party,” Hima said, knowing him well, “Aren’t you?” She pursed her lips in a pout.

  “Yes, I am, my dear,” he declared, “Honestly, I don’t want the celebrations to end. I have already debriefed the staff and hired a planner. You won’t have to worry about a thing, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, well, there is no point in delaying the inevitable.” She gave him the approval. His face beamed with delight.

  The day of the party came soon enough. Atticus had invited all the important people, including national and international dignitaries. Unfortunately, an old friend unexpectedly crashed the party, interrupting the celebration.

  Phillip’s sudden appearance was most unwelcomed. No one else noticed it as the party went on, but Atticus made sure that he greeted Phillip himself because he wanted to ensure that Phillip didn’t go anywhere near his wife or daughter.

  “Aren’t you happy to see me?” Phillip asked, as if accusing his friend of being negligent.

  There was a time when the two were closer than brothers. Even though they came from different backgrounds, their friendship was once fodder for people’s envy.

  “I don’t recall inviting you,” Atticus stated, looking weary. He didn’t want to offend Phillip as he knew that if either of them lost their temper, it wouldn’t end well for anyone, and because this was the day for celebrations. It wasn’t the time for opening the old wounds—that still hurt.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t have ill intentions. I only wanted to congratulate you. I wished to be a part of my friends’ happiness. Can’t I do that anymore?” There was sadness in his voice, underlined with regret.

  It made Atticus wonder what he was up to now. “I don’t think I can believe you. You have tried to kill me a few times. Or have you forgotten that?” He glared at his former best friend.

  “It’s true that it had hurt me, and I was angry when Hima chose you over me, but it’s all water under the bridge now. Let’s not fight anymore. So much time has passed. I can see you two have moved on. I want to do the same.”

  There was something in Phillip’s eyes that compelled Atticus to believe him. His friend looked remorseful, but he knew all about his current reputation. It would be wise not to let his guard down. Prince Phillip wasn’t a simple man to understand. Atticus was aware of the life Phillip led and why people knew him as the Prince of hell.

  Atticus wondered when did his friend become so cruel. He had once vowed never to become a part of his family’s mafia lifestyle. Perhaps he needed someone to believe in him. “One last chance,” Atticus said, coming to s decision. He hoped that by extending a hand of friendship he could bring his friend back from the hell Phillip had created for himself.

  Just then, Hima entered the ballroom with sleeping Aurora in her arms. “Prince!” she exclaimed, a beautiful smile adorning her face. Where everyone had always called him Phillip, she was the only one who used his given name. “You’re here.” She looked genuinely happy to see him.

  “Of course, I didn’t want to miss such a day,” Phillip said. He smiled at her and this time his smile reached his eyes. “Congratulations to you both.”

  “Thank you,” Atticus and Hima said at the same time.

  “Let me introduce you to our beloved daughter. This is Aurora,” Hima said with all the pride of a new parent. “You know, I have been thinking about you a lot lately.”

  “You have?” Phillip and Atticus said at the same time. Atticus hadn’t known that his wife missed their mutual friend, who was also her former lover.

  “Yeah, I know things didn’t end well between us, but I think it’s time that we forget about the past and renew our friendship. I hope that’s why you are here,” she said, looking at both men with a plea in her eyes.

  Atticus knew that Hima had always blamed herself for coming between the two friends and turning them against each other, but the heart wanted what it wanted. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his wife, and besides, he had already been thinking of giving Phillip another chance.

  “That’s right,” Phillip said, “Anyway, I won’t keep you from your guests. I think I have already taken enough of your time.”

  Atticus looked at Phillip, realizing that he was still in love with Hima, after all those years. It didn’t make him jealous, he wasn’t that kind of a man, but it made his heart ache for the man he had once called brother.

  “You are leaving so soon?” Hima said, “Won’t you stay for dinner?” It was obvious that she didn’t want the moment of their reunion to be over so quickly.

  “Some other time,” Phillip said, smiling. “I have brought a present for Aurora, though. If it’s okay with you guys.”

  “How thoughtful of you.” Hima looked excited while Atticus looked weary once again. This unexpected visit from Phillip had unsettled him. It had brought back a lot of bad memories along with the good ones. There was an undercurrent of emotions. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he had a bad feeling.

  “It’s nothing extravagant. I have left it with the other presents. I hope you like it,” he said, and then looked at the sleeping child.

  Atticus noticed the glint in his former friend’s eyes. Something had crossed Phillip’s mind as he had stared at the sleeping baby, but he hadn’t voiced his thoughts. Troubled by that odd look, Atticus quickly said goodbye and ushered Hima to greet the other guests. From the corner of his eyes, he watched as Phillip made his way out of the room. Only then did he sighed in relief and hoped that the rest of the party went off without a hitch.

  A Few Days Later

  “Why was life so cruel?” he asked himself, but he had no answer. All he hoped then was for death to be kinder. Taking one deep breath, he
jumped into the murky waters below. The waves were crashing against the rocks, reaching out to him, and he was about to meet them halfway down.

  The Same Year (1904)

  Prince Phillip woke up with a start, his heart was racing. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the ceiling. What happened? He thought to himself, noticing that he was lying somewhere dark and cold. The only light in the room was from the full moon, looking down at him through a small window to his right. There was no furniture in the room. He could feel the hard floor under his back.

  The last thing he recalled was standing at the precipice, both figuratively and literally. He had tried to think of a single good thing in his life. He had told himself that if he could imagine even the slightest glimmer of happiness or hope anywhere, he wouldn’t jump. Unfortunately, nothing had come to mind. That was it, then. After a decade of struggle, he was ready to give up on life.

  Things hadn’t been going well for him, anyway. His circumstances had forced him to work for his family and live a life he had promised himself to never be a part of. He had held on to his sanity for a few years, but the cheerful faces of his two former friends turned out to be the last nail in his coffin. Seeing them proudly looking at their daughter, love evident in their eyes, had made him realize that he had nothing. Absolutely nothing!

  Even as he tried to reconcile with Atticus, he couldn’t bring himself to be happy for his friend. It should have been him. Hima was his fiance before Atticus stole her heart and took her away from him. She was the only light in his dark world. Without her, his life had no meaning.

  He wasn’t sure how he had survived for as long as he did. At the back of his mind, there had always been this hope that someday Hima would come back to him. That hope died when he saw with his own eyes how happy she was with Atticus. She would never return to him, and he refused to keep living in a world where they weren’t together.

  He hated that he was sad while they were happy, and he hated himself for thinking like that. He had truly become his father’s son; scum of the mafia world. Looking at the sleeping beauty, Aurora, for a minute there, he had wished for her to never wake up. He had wished for her to keep sleeping, for a hundred years, maybe forever, and he had hated that thought. Death was the only solution, but his - not anyone else’s.

  Was he dead after all? He surely felt cold. His miserable thoughts hadn’t left him, though. Wasn’t death supposed to bring him peace. He looked at the bare walls of the room, noticing that there was a door to his left. A way out, perhaps?

  He was still feeling confused when the said door clicked open, and someone entered the room. For a moment he wasn’t able to see a thing from the burst of bright light that had followed. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that the newcomer was a woman dressed all in black. She kept standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, and glared at his prone form on the floor.

  “So, you’re up?” she said, smirking. “Another fool taking his own life as if it means nothing.”

  He wanted to ask her so many things, but he had lost his voice. He instinctively knew that he wouldn’t be able to form the words, so he didn’t try. Silently, he stared up at her lean and athletic form, wondering who the hell she was. He didn’t even try to sit up. He continued to lie on the floor and looked at her with curiosity.

  “Anyway,” she said, sighing, “welcome to the Underworld. You’re one of those souls who, unfortunately, are here to stay and will never move on. Congratulations!”

  Was she being sarcastic? He definitely detected malice in her tone. That wasn’t his biggest concern, though. It looked like that even death wasn’t kind to him. Still unable to speak, he averted his eyes, not being able to look at her through the tears now brimming in them. His heart was as broken as it was in life. Death was just as cruel.

  “Save your tears, idiot!” she bellowed. “Pathetic! You humans never learn.” She was now glaring at him with open hostility. “You have brought this upon yourself when you jumped from that cliff. Now your soul is ours. You belong to the Grim Reaper Society and you will work for us for eternity.” She looked like a cat, ready to pounce. Phillip was sure she could see the fear in his eyes because she took a deep breath, as if trying to calm herself down. “Anyway, I’ll give you a few hours to collect yourself. Hopefully, your voice will return by then and we can talk business.” With that, she left the room.

  Leaving him alone to drown in his misery, and only the moon to keep him company. He felt closer to the moon. The moon was finally his. It would keep him company in the long nights that were about to become his new reality.

  She had said eternity. He wondered how long that would be. Perhaps, in time, he could forget about his past, about Hima and Atticus. Hopefully, soon his conscience would leave him alone for thinking murderous thoughts about a newborn baby.

  In all of this, that’s what bothered him the most. Growing up, he used to promise himself that he would not become a killer. He had planned to leave his family and move far away from them, forging a better life for himself.

  Atticus was his childhood friend. Phillip had met him by chance when he was visiting one of his Aunts. They never lost contact and as they grew older, their friendship had grown with them.

  He had met Hima when he was eighteen. They had dated for a few years before he proposed to her, and she said yes. He had kept nothing from either of them. They knew about his family, and they also knew about his aspirations.

  When he was twenty-two, he had moved away, cutting ties with his family. They indulged him and no one had come after him. They didn’t need him, anyway. Hima stayed with him and they started their lives in a new city. The city where Atticus lived.

  If Phillip was being honest with himself, he would admit that Atticus was the reason he wanted to be a better man in the first place. He held Atticus in high regard and wanted to be as good as his friend was.

  Things didn’t go as planned. “Life tends to play its jokes on us,” he whispered to himself, smiling sadly. The moment he had introduced Hima to Atticus, it had sealed their fates. There was no going back then. They called him the Prince of hell, but even he couldn’t stand in the path of true love. But wasn’t his love true, too? Ah! It remained unrequited.

  “Hima,” he mumbled as another tear rolled down his cheek. “Let’s never meet again.”

  Exactly a Century Ago

  I was doomed to walk the eternity alone. Was I wronged or was I the one who wronged others? My Life was a mess and my death turned out to be even worse. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t change my fate.

  The Year was 1920

  Another day had passed and my parents still hadn’t come home, but then, what else was new? This was the norm in this mansion that often felt like a mausoleum to me. “Come, Yuri,” I said in a whisper, looking down at my cat who was sitting near my feet. “Let’s take a walk in the gardens.”

  As I walked down the spacious, well-carpeted stairs, with Yuri in my arms, my mind was a million miles away. Finally reaching the bottom, I walked down the hallway leading towards the back door, through the kitchen. I was looking at the portraits of my ancestors that lined the hallway, wondering about my life. Sometimes I felt like a prisoner in this huge ancestral home.

  Unfortunately, neither of my parents knew the difference between a house and a home. They thought that by providing me with all the comforts of modern life; they had done their duty, and they could ignore me to follow their own selfish dreams.

  My father came from a rich noble family. This mansion was one of many around the world that he had inherited, or so I was told, because this was the only one I had ever known. I didn’t know much about my mother’s side of the family. My parents were always away, doing who knew what?! They left me to live with my dark thoughts, and an army of servants.

  I probably wouldn’t have minded that if I had a life of my own. Maybe a few friends to keep me company, but no, they didn’t want me to live. I hadn’t left this house since I tu
rned ten. That was six years ago. No one told me why. All my parents had told me was that it’s for my safety. I didn’t know what kind of danger lurked outside of these walls.

  “It was a suicide.” I heard someone slamming their fists on the table. I stopped in my tracks. I was almost at the end of the well-lit hallway. The door to my father’s study was ajar, and he was home. “I don’t know when is his family going to give up their stupid vendetta.” I heard my father’s voice.

  Yuri wiggled herself out of my hold and ran towards the kitchen. I kept on listening to the conversation taking place behind the doors of my father’s study.

  “It’s been years,” someone else said, but I didn’t recognize this voice. All I could tell was that the voice belonged to a man. Probably someone around my father’s age. “Atticus, I think we should strike first. There’s no reasoning with them. Violence is the only language they can understand. How long will you keep hiding Aurora on this island? It’s not right. Hima’s health is declining too. Frankly, I’m worried.”

  “No, Mark. As much as I want to, you know that I can’t do that.” This time my father’s voice held a hint of sadness. “Hima wouldn’t like that. The life of mindless violence destroyed Phillip. He was never the same. I will not stoop down to their level,” he said firmly.

  “Well,” the other man sighed, “nothing we can do then except to make sure that Aurora remains hidden and well protected.”

  “Yes,” my father said, confirming my worst fears, “That old crook, Dan, wants to kill Aurora because he thinks I killed his son. Foolish, stubborn man. You know what the worst part is?” He paused, not getting a response from his companion he continued, “The worst part is that Phillip and I mended the rift between us. Because of our families, we had always kept our friendship a secret from them,” he said. I could hear nostalgia in his tone. “And then Hima chose me over him.” He chuckled, “Not that anyone could blame her.”