A Step Into The Past Novels & Stories

It pulsed once. Like a heartbeat. Waiting. I didn’t hesitate. I stepped forward. The moment my foot touched it, the world changed—not violently, not abruptly, but with quiet certainty. The castle did not disappear. It reshaped itself around me. Corridors stretched and twisted, forming a path I had never seen before, guiding me forward until I reached a door. It opened before I could touch it. I stepped inside. And found my past waiting for me. The room was vast, its walls lined with moments suspended in time—not memories, not illusions, but something deeper. Each one carried weight. Presence. Truth.

That same look that made my skin hot and my thoughts wander to places they weren’t supposed to go. I didn’t even know him back then. Not really. But something about the way he carried himself quiet, confident, like he didn’t care what people thought made it hard not to stare. I’d told myself it didn’t mean anything. He was my stepbrother now. Off-limits. Untouchable. But the moment I stepped into that house and heard the low, familiar voice behind me, I felt everything crash down again. “Well, well. Look who’s moving in.”

I chuckled when Steph tugged on one of her braids. "Aye, boy!!! Don't touch the goods!" She yelled out, jokingly. Stephen stuck his tongue out at her, causing everyone to chuckle. She rolled her eyes, flagging him off. "Anyway, let's try to get through whatever else that needs to be said tonight. Tomorrow, I want to start moving forward. I'm tired of the past. I don't know about yall, but it feels like everyone got a problem with us. So since we're the center of entertainment, let's give em a show."

The man steps forward, punching in a different set of numbers into a keypad before the glass chambers begin to open. As we walk into the bright space my eyes immediately squint as they try to readjust themselves. I cautiously look out at the very expensive looking room, noticing the different paintings and marble statues around the space. The man continues to walk me through the fancy hallways, having us pass by a bunch of scary looking men as I allow him to guide me to our destination.

I'm recommending we infiltrate tomorrow night instead of three days from now. Tomorrow night. Twenty-four hours to finalize preparation instead of seventy-two. Twenty-four hours before I walked into consciousness- research facility pursuing objectives I barely understood to document impacts I wasn't certain I could assess. "I'll be ready," I said, hoping it was true. "Are you sure? This is your last chance to back out. Nobody would judge you for recognizing you're not prepared for an accelerated timeline." "I'm not prepared. But I'm coming anyway. Because someone needs to document psychological impacts and apparently that someone is me."

he said. Then he opened the door and stepped out, disappearing as suddenly as he had arrived. The room fell silent once more, but this time, it wasn’t just fear that filled it. It was something worse, panic because the past they had tried so desperately to bury, had just walked back into their lives alive and ready to destroy them.

"I think we all should focus on how much of a laughing stocks we'd be when we leave this house because we look worst than buffoons and clowns." No statement is made after that, but I can see Nana Jones glaring at me from my side eye. And I release a brain storming sneeze. * * * There is a sudden awkwardness as I step foot into church. Not that I hate churches or os against Jesus, I just don't like going to churches in the past. The hair on my arms stands up when heads from the entourage starts turning to stare at us. I don't look at the Mckenzie siblings at my side or my back. But I know they're feeling the way I'm feeling. Ashamed, embarrassed and all shades of disgrace.

The pretty boy turned his back at me, twisting my young love under the claws of his corrupted hate. "Please... Ryder!" I gasped for air, opening my eyes and slowly getting used to the darkness of the room. I missed the dreamless nights when I would just place my head on the pillow and be swallowed into a dark slumber. Now every time I went to sleep, all of my memories were brought back to life. How could I not hang into the past when it swirled around my neck by its own?

I just had to be ready to recount everything to him. He deserved to know why I was being this difficult. I just could not control my actions when I was on the verge of remembering my past over and over again. The past was holding onto me like some vines wounding around my body. I felt like I managed to get one leg stepping forward towards my freedom yet my other leg was still stuck in the past. It could tear me apart if I just push my way out of it. I needed to take small baby steps forward and once I take them, I must make sure that I refrain myself from looking behind my shoulders.

The cake he'd surprised me with in the morning before we left to work had brought tears to my eyes and the surprise he was planning for later was uncalled for, really. Kayden had given me a second chance of making everything right and I was not going to screw it up. I was still trying to pick up the pieces of my shattered life and piece them back together, five years later. I may have fallen to the ground but I trusted myself to get up too. "... Isla?" An irritated voice snapped me from my reverie and I turned around to meet Maeve's signature frown. She raked her manicured fingers in her hair which was too blonde to be true and stepped closer, her expensive perfume suffocating me.