Page 2 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)
This journal belongs to
Alexandra Clavis
I am told Alexandra is of Greek Origin, meaning ‘Defender of mankind’
Maybe one day I will learn what Clavis means, hoping that it’s not, ‘dies trying to save everyone’.
PS - so if you find this journal, let’s hope my Surname means something else and it’s not because I’m dead.
I remember the day it happened.
Unlike most people, who would be running in terror, I was looking at the sky. Not in a peaceful, whimsical way, though I wish that were the case. No, I was looking at the sky and screaming in pain at the burning sensation that was ripping through my head like a wildfire.
I remembered the way I swiped at my head in panic, as if being attacked by bees. The burns I thought my hands would receive were secondary to my desperate need to put out the flames. Flames that I thought were destroying my hair and melting my face.
It was pure agony.
However, as I frantically patted my hands through my hair, I felt nothing there.
No heat, no fire to speak of. The burning sensation now quickly fading away as it strangely collected behind my left ear.
I fingered the area and didn’t know if I was shocked or not when I felt raised skin there.
Like that of a healing tattoo, the pattern undeterminable with my shaky hands.
But then the pain came again and left me screaming as agony tore through my entire body. Pain that attacked more than just my head and now seemed to target specific places. Scalding hot burns on my inner thighs, my lower back, and my wrists, that all seemed to merge together as one.
Then just like before and only moments later it cooled, as if an icy touch was taking away the heat.
Soothing the skin, calming the invisible flames that had assaulted me, until there was no more pain.
Just further raised pieces of my skin that left more questions than answers.
Because I didn’t know what any of it meant.
Nor did I know what the strange symbols were that I could now see marred my flesh.
Unlike the one behind my ear as I could now make out the details of the ones on my wrists.
Both were identical and didn’t look like they had burned my skin like I expected.
It was almost as if the burning had started from deep inside me and the agonizing heat had risen to the surface, leaving me with a blood-red scar painted stark against my pale skin.
As for its design it was about two inches long and looked like the combination of an arrow and a key.
One end had a sharp tip, pointing to my palm, whilst the other held a key bit with intricate notches on a single side.
The top of the symbol was the most decorative part, with two stacked triangles slightly below the pointed arrowhead.
A spiked symmetrical line lay horizontally underneath the triangles, and below that sat a smaller U-shaped curve with two thinner barbs branching off, like a pair of small antlers.
But as I ran my fingertip down the long line, before reaching the key bit, I couldn’t help but question what it meant.
Was I dreaming?
No, there was no way anyone could feel that much pain in a dream. If anything, that had been more like a living nightmare and one that unfortunately, wasn’t finished yet! Something I knew when I heard the cracking sound of stone and felt the first rumble tremble beneath my feet.
I didn’t know what had just happened, nor why the hell I was even off the trail.
How did I get up this hill when I had been walking along the valley below?
It was like my mind had been taken over and I was only now just waking up.
And why did I feel as if there had been a voice in my head, one that barely still lingered.
Words I couldn’t quite grasp, like they were too far away and trying to fade from my memory.
My mind ached as it tried to collect my thoughts that were jumping around my brain in sheer panic. I sat up, my head spinning and pain jolting up my back. And how did I get on the floor? Had I fallen or perhaps dropped to my knees when the pain hit? I couldn’t remember.
I got to my feet and took in the view around me, trying to pull back parts of the day that made sense.
I had been hiking through Yellowstone National Park in hopes of seeing the grey wolves and bison that America had to offer.
The wildlife that was impossible to see for people like me.
People who had grown up in cities and the most densely populated places in the US.
Which meant that the only creatures to be found for me in the concrete jungle of New York had been in a zoo.
Fortunately, I had family that lived in the slow-paced, rural parts of Wyoming.
Which was why I decided that my last free summer before studying at Veterinary School would be spent with my uncle.
He was a free spirit like myself, and I just knew that a summer in his rustic log cabin, nestled in the heart of the national park, would be one I would never forget.
And now, it was unforgettable for reasons I never expected.
As for my parents, they had opted to enjoy their vacation on a Cruise around the Norwegian Fjords. And although they were happy for me to tag along, I wanted to enjoy some solitude with nature.
The walk from the cabin had taken me hours to get to this point.
A day spent taking in the rolling grasslands and winding rivers of Lamar Valley.
Basking in the breathtaking tranquility it had to offer.
What with the Absaroka Range to the east and the Gallatin Range to the north-west, it had taken my breath away most of the day.
But that had been before the Earth beneath me had started to vibrate. I had instantly thought about the super volcano my uncle had told me about just the night before.
The Yellowstone Caldera was nothing like a conventional looking Volcano because it didn’t come in the form of a rumbling mountain.
Instead, it was a large basin-shape that had formed by the collapse of a volcano after a massive eruption.
An enormous sunken area set within a larger volcanic landscape spreading outward across the land.
It was what made it so special but, thankfully, although it often stirred, it had lay dormant for 700,000 years.
That was until now because I feared that was exactly what was happening.
But if that were true, why when I looked down now did I see the scorched grass directly beneath where I stood?
It was like some kind of demonic crop circle; it looked like a series of interlocking patterns.
The symbol was too big for me to make out, as it looked bigger than my high school gymnasium.
Oh, and that cracking sound I heard, the one that boomed from the mountain and echoed all the way down the valley floor below. Something that became a catalyst for what came next.
The sight of the wildlife below all running as one, in a huge stampede, was incredible. Surely, this wasn’t possible! Surely, I wasn’t seeing this… had I fallen and hit my head?
It was like something out of the Lion King but instead of African beasts, it was all the wildlife I had ever dreamed of seeing. There were wolves, foxes, beavers, bison, too many to name all running as one. I was in awe and absolutely mesmerized, though really, I should have been petrified.
It was common knowledge that animals sensed danger before humans and here they were right in front of my eyes, obviously running from an unseen danger. The one that shook the Earth.
I looked in the direction they were running from and took out my phone, seeing instantly there was no signal. But it was too much temptation not to film it. And it was when doing this that I saw it. Saw what they were all running from…
A strange wall of shimmering air headed my way like a mirage was sweeping across the land.
The sight that finally had me running with all the rest of the wildlife as a cold wave surged through me.
The animals were running from the direction of the mountain range as the tremors increased, leaving me questioning if it was the volcano or actually an earthquake.
Either way, I didn’t think it wise to stick around, not after what had just happened to me.
So, I shoved my phone in my backpack, sliding it next to the journal I had been writing in earlier.
Each second spent doing this had me nearly losing my balance as the Earth continued to vibrate more intensely.
Because whatever was happening, I knew I had to get back to the cabin, regardless.
I had to warn my uncle, although he probably already knew.
Everyone nearby would be evacuating if it was as I feared and some natural disaster was upon us.
I also knew without a doubt that my uncle would wait for me, potentially putting himself in danger.
In fact, I could already envision him jumping into his Chevy truck, ready to come and look for me.
He may have been in his sixties, but he was a large man who had maintained his muscle and bulk.
Not surprising really, seeing as he was ex-military and had never gotten out of the routine of keeping himself fit.
He had always reminded me of a brown bear, big in nature, and most likely just as deadly on the inside.
It was, no doubt why he adapted well to living with the nature he loved, ready to protect it.
Just like his first thought would have been to protect me now. Which meant that an earthquake or volcanic eruption wouldn’t scare him away from finding his niece, not a chance!