The sun hung low in the sky, almost completely hidden behind the tops of the trees that were behind him. The shadows that were cast stretched far and long, giving everything an elongated look that almost seemed to be unreal. The sun also cast an almost orange-hued glow around everything. It was borderline breathtaking, well would be if not viewed from the ground level. If viewed from above, a few stories up, with all the trees in the area it’d likely be absolutely gorgeous.

He was walking down the street, looking around with more intensity as would be expected from an average person. He was looking for something, or maybe it was a someone. Whatever it was, he was searching, and intently. He almost gave off the air of it being a matter of life and death, which was causing most people to avoid him. Anyone that walked past him either crossed to the other side of the street before coming close, or they gave him a wide berth because of the air he gave off. He didn’t seem to be aware of it, at all, though.

The figure looked to be a young man, if not a teenager. The beanie he had atop his head was large enough that it hid all his hair barring a small amount of what appeared to be green to the left side of his face, and some of his features from the shadows it cast. His deep emerald eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight though, which was almost rather eerie. His ears were hidden beneath the hat as well, but that wasn’t anything too unusual. It was getting to be colder out, so at this hour it was rather chilly. He seemed to be chillier than most though, as along with his hat, he had a deep almost natural coloured leather full length trench coat. It was a work of beauty though, appearing as if it had been made specifically to fit his frame.

“…where are you…?” He asked the air, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer.

“I know you’re here somewhere…” He said further as he closed his eyes to concentrate on something. What that something was, was unknown to those that were around him. After a few seconds though, he just sighed before making his way over to where there was a bench. It was below a shop window, with a mild air of annoyance, he sat down before looking toward the window. Sitting just outside the glass on the ledge was a plant. It looked to have been forgotten for it was dehydrated, the leaves looking to be brittle. To say it saddened him would be an understatement. He hated seeing things like this, evidence of abandonment in any form to the worlds flora. It wasn’t natural, he was sure.

“Savages…” He growled as he lightly cupped the decaying plants leaves.

“Don’t eve—” He started to continue before pausing mid-word, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before his head whipped upwards, toward the apartment building that was ahead of him. He looked up, his gaze locking on the pale light that was barely visible from one of the windows.

“…there.” He said quietly before getting to his feet. He’d found what he was searching for. Now was the time to act.

—*—

She hit the wall, and she hit it hard. The few pictures and the mirror that had been on the wall fell, crashing to the hardwood floor from the impact. She was held up against the wall, the hand around her throat and getting tighter. There was no way that she’d be able to speak at the moment, she could barely breathe. At least her attacker hadn’t removed that possibility yet.

“Now then. I finally found you.” Her attacker stated, his voice seeming to have a hint of pride to it as his grasp around her throat tightened. She coughed from the pressure as she started to violently fight to get his hand off. She did everything she could think of, scratch, claw, kick… nothing seemed to work. Even with his attention split between her, and his other hand that he was extending out to the side.

“Now that I have finally found you, I can extract what I want from you.” He added as what seemed to be ink started to form past his hand that wasn’t wrapped around her throat. As she saw that happening, her attention faltered. She stopped fighting and just stared at what was forming before her very eyes. She knew what it was, but couldn’t believe it was there. How could she? As far as she knew, what he was doing was very difficult, very time consuming, and almost impossible.

Her attention faltering resulted in her head beginning to feel light, almost numb. She knew she had to regain the ability to breathe, but she didn’t know how well that would go. Very soon she’d likely be unconscious, and who knew what would happen to her after that happened.

She continued to fight, trying to get free of his grasp. She couldn’t though. He had a surprising amount of strength in that one hand, was holding her far better than she’d ever thought a single man could hold her. It was getting to be far too difficult though. He was cutting off her ability to breath, and it was interfering with everything for the moment.

“Not here, though.” He stated as the inky magic formed behind him.

“It would draw far too much attention.” He reasoned, a light smirk on his face.

“And time is quite a precious commodity when something quite so delicate is being done.” He finished with, before chuckling darkly. What little of her breath that remained, froze as he said that. She didn’t know what to make of it, and certainly didn’t want to know. She wanted to get free, so she resumed her attempt to get his grasp off of her. The harder she tried though, the tighter his grasp got, and it didn’t take long at all before she noticed the coldness spreading through her, and the darkness at the edges of her vision. She couldn’t let this be the end though.

With the last bit of strength she had, she reached into her back pocket and withdrew a pocket knife. Her movements weren’t he steadiest, were rather jerky and frantic, but she managed to get the knife open. She was able to do it with practiced ease, before stabbing her attacker through the arm with it.

It was almost instantaneous. As soon as the blade was through his flesh, and she was pretty sure she scraped the bone, he dropped her. She hit the ground relatively hard, and had to fight to remain conscious for the moment, but at least she was alive. At least he’d let go, and she was alive. She could continue to breathe, at least for the moment. She didn’t know if he would be able to go for her throat again while continuing what he was doing, not with that damage to his arm.

“Why you little…” he snarled before starting to rant and rave in a language that she barely had the wherewithal to realize the origins of, before returning back to English as he removed the knife from his arm.

“You…” he growled

“Just like your parents…” he continued as the magic that was just past him continued to shift and form into what he was trying to create. The pain, however, did interfere with that for the moment.

“You never know when you’re beaten, and always want to have things end in the worst possible way for you.” He finished. He was about to continue, before she interrupted.

“I’ve heard that. A lot. Dad always told me that it was a family trait, and not one to give up.” She stated, her voice sure, confident, but weakened from the suffocation before.

“As long as I draw breath, I will not, I refuse to, lay down and die.” She then said as she forced herself to her feet, and took as good a defensive stance as she could. Considering the previous lack of air, it was very much a difficult task.

“Do your worst.” She then stated, proving to him that she wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t give in. If she had anything to say about it, she wouldn’t let him do anything. She’d fight tooth and nail. No matter what it was that he would do, she would fight to survive.

He was silent for a moment before just laughing. It was dark, it was foreboding, it was ominous.

“My worst?” He asked her, almost rhetorically.

“Child, my worst would shatter this world.” He then stated before pausing, considering the possibilities of that. It only lasted a few seconds before he shrugged, though. Before she could ask what he was thinking, even if he was too scared to know (not that she would admit it), he continued speaking.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” He stated. “I have no use for this world, after all.” As he spoke, he was able to bring up his injured arm so that the hand was useable. She was surprised about that, but wouldn’t dwell on it for now. Instead, she was too preoccupied with the black and red magic that was forming between the pair of them.

“Or perhaps I’ll just decimate this city instead.” He continued, his silver eyes locking on her almost crystalline blue ones.

“We’ll see what happens.” He finished with a laugh as she just stared, watching what he was doing. She wasn’t even listening to him, barely hearing anything he was saying for the moment. She was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and what she could do to save her own damned life.

Stories, travels, from her past rushed through her head. She knew that there was truth to what he said, to an extent, but she also knew that there was no way that he could be there. She’d been told that she was protected, that she couldn’t be found. Well, not unless her location was revealed by a knowing party. If that was the case, it left her to wonder who… before everything about her froze.

Her father had gone missing about a year prior.

Did he reveal where she was…? Was he even still alive?

‘There’s no way he gave me up. Dad and I … he wouldn’t.’ She thought, before shaking her head and meeting those eerie and haunting silver eyes. There was a new determination in her gaze, one that hadn’t been there before. Before either of them could think anything, she dove for him, tackling him to the ground.

He was surprised, but didn’t seem to have an issue as his back hit the hardwood floor.

“Well now.” He started, “Aren’t you the brave one?” He asked.

“Just like your parents.” He finished, darkness to his voice that she was beginning to feel engulfing her. There was no way to describe it, her brain could barely process it, but she knew what it was. It wasn’t suffocating, at least, but she could certainly feel it creeping into her pores, her bones, restricting her movements, making it harder and harder to do anything.

No matter what it was that she tried, she couldn’t get free of this darkness, this form of restraint. It was something that she hadn’t truly believed was real, for she’d never encountered it before. It almost felt as if there were shadows holding every bone of hers in place.

“Dammit!” She exclaimed, irritation in her voice as she found the shadow ‘binds’ that held her in place.

“I refuse to go easy.” She stated, the determination from before, which was something he’d never seen in a victim of his before, seeming to just get stronger. As he met her gaze with his proud one, he saw something he wasn’t entirely surprised to see, but certainly not prepared for. There was an odd sheen that her eyes took on. The light hadn’t changed, but they almost looked to have acquired a crystalline look … or maybe it was ice.

He shoved her off of him and got to his feet when he noticed it. The step that he took back seemed to say more than he was likely willing to convey in words, as well. He was afraid. Even if it wasn’t a high degree of fear, there was some within him.

She took pride in that. It was possibly the one thing that would let her live. Especially once she felt what was binding her starting to weaken. She could almost break out of it, but before she could his gaze turned from fearful, to angry.

“No…” He said quietly before growling lightly.

“NO!” He yelled, grabbing the collar of her shirt and pulling her up. It caught her off guard, and she hadn’t been able to prepare. As his hands grasped her. She felt the binds tighten, return to where they had been previously.

“I refuse to lose to your bloodline!” He declared.

“Damn you! I will make sure you suffer before you die!” He promised, his words angry and his eyes seeming to betray more than that. He honestly looked to be insane, as if something had snapped within his mind.

As his hand grasped her collar, she just brought her hands up and wrapped her hands around his wrists, making sure that it was skin on skin contact, she couldn’t have material in the way with what she was about to do.

“Fuck. You.” She snarled, her voice determined, and filled with self-preservation born adrenaline.

“My Dad warned me. He’d said that someone would come looking for me eventually. He may not have told me why, but he did tell me someone would… once he went missing, I knew that whoever it was, was getting close.” She continued. As she spoke, he could feel a chill creeping up his arm, and down his hand. That chill was getting stronger though, sharper too.

“I had to make sure I was ready to defend myself to the death. So I’ve been practicing.” Was the last thing she said as he felt an intense cold seep into him, almost seep into his very bones. It caused him to freeze for a fraction of a second. That fraction though, was long enough for the cold to creep up past his elbow, up closer to his shoulder. He recoiled, dropping her and causing the connection that was there to be broken, before almost staggering back a couple paces.

“You bitch.” He snarled as she landed on the hardwood, and someone managed to stay on her feet.

“Icesska, you fucking bitch!” He then screamed before his half frozen hand had an orb forming above it. It was dark, almost as deep and unendingly dark as a black hole was. There were tendrils of the sheer blackness almost looking to escape from it. She, Icesska, was silent for a moment before scrambling to her feet to get away from him and that magic. She didn’t know what it would do, she didn’t know what it was that would happen, and she wasn’t even sure she’d live to tell the tale of that hit her. She just knew that she had to avoid it, had to hide, and had to stop him from trying to steal her from there.

It didn’t take long before she realized she couldn’t. No matter what she tried to do, nothing would work. While she wasn’t the smartest or more strategic person out there, she knew enough to be able to realize that she wasn’t the speed of light, and couldn’t avoid something once it was thrown at her. Along with that, she knew that once she moved, he’d throw it if he was smart. She was willing to bet that he was smart enough to do that, too. Meaning she couldn’t take the chance.

So she stayed where she was. She stayed there and watched the magic grow, watched it change shape, colour, and continue to get larger. She was taken by the sight of it, if only because she’d never seen magic like that before. All she knew was what she could do, and some of the other stuff she’d see… but there was never anything of this variety in her past experiences.

Her attacker just smirked, the expression dark, foreboding, and very creepy on his thin shadowed face. His silver eyes seemed to scream that this would be painful. She was ready though. As she’d been there, not moving, not doing much of anything other than watching the magic, she’d been using her own. She’d her her own magic covering her, coating every part of her. It was giving almost everything about her a frozen look, but she was far from cold. He just clicked his tongue a few times as he shook his head, before throwing the magic at her.

She attempted to dodge it, she may have had something akin to an icy shield over her, but she didn’t really want to test if it would work.

She didn’t have a choice in the matter though. As she attempted to dodge it, she largely did. She dodged it enough that it didn’t hit her torso as had most likely been the intention. In the flip that she’d done to try and avoid it, it had hit her foot. Almost instantly she felt the magic seem to meld, merge, with the layer of ice that was acting as a form of protection. She felt it seep into her skin. She felt it seep through the tissue, the muscles, right to the bone.

Instantly she felt an insane heat. It felt as if there very core of the bones in her foot had fire in them, and it felt like it was spreading. With a scream of pain, she tried to use her magic, her ice, to block it off. She had to stop the spread, and she knew that. She didn’t know what it would do, was confident it wouldn’t kill her, but she still didn’t know what sort of damage would result from that attack.

She didn’t dare wait around to find out though.

The ice helped halt it enough that it didn’t feel like it was spreading up her leg anymore. That halting allowed her to breath normally, or at least more normally, as she sank to a seated position on the floor. She couldn’t put any weight on that foot, and it wasn’t hard to believe. Her attacker just grinned for a moment before laughing out loud. He was taking pleasure in what he was witnessing, what he’d wrought upon her. He could see the agony that she was feeling in her face, and he loved it.

“And now,” he started as he roughly grabbed her arm with his half frozen hand, which he’d managed to thaw out by this point, ”you have a date with destiny, my dear.” His voice was cold as he said what he did, and while she wasn’t paying full attention due to the pain, he was able to force her to her feet again.

“My destiny, that is!” He added, he sounded almost gleeful as he said that before roughly shoving her toward the magic that he’d formed what seemed like forever ago. She tried to stop it, tried to avoid being thrown through, but she couldn’t. He was able to get her into the hole with little difficulty, but that was in part because of the pain that she was feeling from the magic that he’d thrown at her foot.

‘Dammit! NO!’ She screamed internally as she felt the magic around her start to pull. It was taking her elsewhere, it was taking her somewhere she hadn’t been for years, and she knew that. She just didn’t know where, exactly, it would be.

She didn’t want to find out, either. As she felt the hole that she’d come through closing up, she felt herself pale. She could barely breathe for the moment, and she knew that she was in a lot of trouble. He was standing in the way though, wouldn’t let her past even if she were to honestly try. He noticed that she was about to panic, before laying a hand on her shoulder, more calmly, and almost kindly, than he’d shown at any point before. Gone was the anger, gone was the insanity she saw earlier. It was replaced with confidence, a victorious cockiness even. He was sure he won, that there was nothing more the teen could do, and even she was sure he won. She couldn’t get out of here, could barely even stand on her own power for the moment.

“Just let this happen.” He said abruptly, almost kindly.

“You cannot fight me off,” he continued, “you have no hope.” She felt her ire starting to rise as she heard what he was saying, but it was never able to come to a head. He continued speaking before she could consider reacting.

“So just play your part in fate and allow me to take my proper place in Adaminia.” He finished. The teen, Icesska, was silent. Proper place? She wasn’t sure what he was thinking would come of this, what he was aiming toward, but she knew that a psychotic man like him should not be in position of power, as he was obviously aiming to be. It wasn’t hard to guess, either. Otherwise he wouldn’t be saying such things, ro trying so fervently to get her. Most people would have likely given up when she attacked their wrist with the pocket knife.

“Yeah… no.” Was all she said for a moment. Her voice was sharp and determined. Even if she was certain that she was on her way to death, she refused to let him take her easily.

“I refuse to let you do this without a fight. While I still dra—” she continued, before she felt his hand over her mouth.

“While you still draw breath you’ll fight me to the death. I know. I’ve heard it all before.” He told her with a bit of a roll of his eyes.

“But you have no choice.” He then stated. She knew that he was right there. She couldn’t get out of the passageway they were in. She couldn’t do anything until they got to the other side, until they were out of the magic. Only then could she even consider attempting something.

“As soon as we exit this tunnel, my minions will be ready for you.” He continued, causing Icesska’s breath to catch in her throat for a split second. That certainly put a crimp in the burgeoning plans within her head.

“I can tell that you still want to escape, but there is no escape for you.” He stated as he started to get closer.

“Now tell me,” he started, his breath practically in her ear, “are you going to continue making this harder for yourself?” He asked. Icesska was silent for a moment before growling.

‘Not like I have a choice, it seems.’ She thought. She didn’t dare speak her thoughts though, and she would ensure to keep her mouth shut on that front.

“Yeah… no.” She stated, her tone defiant. “I am not going to make anything easy for you.”

“I am going to get free, and then I’m going to stop you.” She promised, not sure why she said it, and certainly not sure she could do as she promised, but she knew that if given the chance, she had to take it. She was barely finished the statement, the promise, though when her abductor just laughed out loud.

“Hah!! Free?” He asked, her voice incredulous. He couldn’t believe she was entertaining that as a possible future. He knew she wouldn’t be able to get free, strictly because what he had in store was far too well planned.

“Right now, the only thing that will give you any sort of freedom is a miracle!” He boasted, not noticing the slight change in the magic around them. Icesska did notice it though. She saw what looked to be a divide starting to form ahead of them. She had no idea what it was, exactly, but she did have an idea. Someone was coming from the same location, but down a different path. She’d seen this once before… and it gave her a sense of hope. Maybe she would get out of here, with the newcomers help.

The man that was taking her wherever it was that he was taking her noticed it too.

“What!?” He exclaimed, anger and shock in his voice as he looked around.

“What’s going on!?” He added as someone else stepped up from behind. It was the same teen from before, his beanie and coat seeming to be eaten by the darkness of the magic they were surrounded by.

“One miracle coming up!” He state with a grin before extending his hand out toward Icesska. No words between the pair of teens were exchanged. She didn’t hesitate either before just grasping his hand.

“Sorry Vyran, but this is her stop.” He finished with a smirk, before using her non-pained foot to kick Vyran has hard as she could, trying to put some distance between the pair of them. Thankfully, her kick had been unexpected enough, as this entire situation was, that she was able to cause him to stagger a few paces away from her, allowing the newcomer to tak e her.

“You!” the one called ‘Vyran’ snarled at the newcomer, who just met his gaze.

“You will not take this away from me!” he declared. The newcomer just shrugged.

“Yeah, I think I will.” Was the teens response before throwing something, an orb of magic Icesska though, at Vyran. When it connected, it exploded into what looked to be a type of pollen. It wasn’t identifiable, but that was all right. It was enough to cloud Vyran’s sight of them, and that was all that she could hope for at the moment. As Vyran cried out in pain, the newcomer pulled her down the new path, and had it close up behind him so that they couldn’t be followed.

There was silence between them for the short path. It lasted around three seconds before they were standing in a grassy field. Or more specifically, a grassy field-like clearing in a forest.

She dropped to her hands and knees before shifting, bringing her pained foot out from under her. She didn’t let out a cry, somehow, from the extreme pain she felt. The teen that saved her looked toward her with a bit of a concerned expression. Before he could say or do anything though, she spoke.

“Uhh… where are we? I … I don’t recognize anything around here…” She said. She knew where they were, in the sense of what world, but nothing more specific than that.

“Hmmm, well… the immediate answer is the Verdant Glade.” He answered honestly. There was a bit of hesitation to his voice as he spoke though, almost as if he didn’t know how she would take the information. She didn’t get a chance to say anything though before he continued.

“A slightly larger answer would be that we’re on the land of Tevash. And even more broad that that, would be that we’re in Adaminia.” He told her.

I woke with a start. It was so real, so haunting. It wasn’t anything that I had experienced before, and I knew that. My dreams were never that vivid, so… why was it tonight? Was it an omen of some sort? Even I didn’t know, there was no way for me to know, aside from just going about my day to day and seeing what happened.
I looked around, growling slightly at the echoing voice in the back of my head. I knew that there was no way that I could silence it completely, all I hoped, was that if I ignored it long enough, it would shut up. It had worked in the past, so all I could do now was hope that it would work again.
There was, as wasn’t surprising, nothing in my room other than the bed, a bedside table, and a dresser - all of which being bolted down. I hated it there, but I’d been there for a couple of years now, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to leave. I was used to it, I almost didn’t want to leave, either. It was home, and it would be weird to go back out into society. While here, I was a mute, and no one questioned it. I don’t know if people would question it out there or not.
I sighed slightly as I pulled my feet up and under me. It was cold in the room, and I didn’t have a blanket that was worth mentioning. Plus the fact that I was required to wear a t-shirt… it made it almost unbearable. It was common and I was largely used to it, but in no way did that mean that I liked it. I’d just learned that I couldn’t change it. The heater, or furnace, or whatever it was desperately needed to be fixed. I knew that, I just didn’t like that.
As I was there, trying to distract myself from the rather vivid nightmare I’d just woken from, I found myself having an increasingly difficult time with it, but I didn’t know why. What about it was trying to pull me back into the depths again? Back into that world that I had just escaped from?
Thunder crashed suddenly overhead. I hadn’t expected it and I nearly jumped out of bed from it. Instead, I jumped and just looked up. There hadn’t been a call for a storm, had there? I lost track of most days now, most of the time I didn’t even know what year it was, actually. The days just bled into weeks, and the weeks into months.
Thunder crashed overhead again, and I just sighed. It seemed that there was going to be storm tonight, and I knew that it would eliminate any chances of me getting any sleep. So be it, I could live with that. Wouldn’t be the first time that I’d gone with little, or no, sleep. With how rowdy the others there were, it was easy to believe too.
I looked around. It was then that I realized that aside from the thunder, it was quiet - too quiet. I didn’t know why, what had happened, but my curiosity got the best of me as I got to my feet. The blanket I’d wrapped around myself lay on the floor forgotten as I climbed off of the bed.
As I walked, I could hear the my bare feet padding lightly on the cold tile floor. The room was surprisingly dark as well, but I didn’t pay any heed to it. I knew where the door was, and I was hoping it wouldn’t be locked as it normally was at night. I wasn’t classified as a ‘dangerous’ patient, so there wasn’t much reason for them to lock it, but they still did. Of course, they always stated that it was for my own protection. Did I ever believe them? Not at all.
Without thinking about it, I made my way to the door and tried the handle. Surprisingly enough, it was open. I didn’t know what to make of that, so I shoved any thoughts about it aside and stepped out. As I did so, a flash of lighting lit up the hall for a second, and the first thing I saw against the flash was red splattered on the walls.
“What…?” I asked, not expecting an answer. It was far too reminiscent to the nightmare I’d just woken from. I didn’t dare stay lingering there for long though, who knew what would come for me?
I made my way down the hall, not realizing that I was heading in the direction that the blood seemed to be coming from. Looking around, as my feet stepped in a rather large puddle of half-congealed blood, I froze. The voice in the back of my head laughed almost maniacally. I tried to ignore it, but that was notably easier said than done.
“……” I didn’t have anything to say as another flash lit the room. The flash didn’t vanish quite as expected this time though. Instead it seemed to linger, to grow, and to acquire an orange glow. When I looked out the window, I could see the the tree that was there had been struck, and was now on fire.
The light that came from that flame outside the barred window allowed me to see the figure of someone at the door, and the blood in the room. I couldn’t believe that anyone would cause so much bloodshed, and why they would just stay there, stay where they had done the deed.
The figure stepped forward, I couldn’t see them the clearest, but I could hear the footsteps. The squelching blood beneath their boots, the weight of the steps. As they made their way in, I turned and ran. I had to get out of there, I had to get away from him. I was convinced that he’d been the one to do it, to kill off everyone. I had no way to prove it at the moment, but I would figure something out, I had to.
Well, if I could get out of the damn building, I would.
I don’t even know how long I was running, and when I turned a corner, I ran straight into them. They were a few inches taller than I was, and had piercing gray eyes - eyes that instantly had the warning bells in my head going off. I knew they couldn’t be human, or rather, as human as the general population was. Gray wasn’t a natural eye colour after all, to be completely devoid of colour was a perfect enough proof from me.
I had met someone with gray eyes once before… and that had been a meeting that I’d wished never happened. Before I had been able to say anything, or even move, their hand suddenly grasped my throat.
The last thing I thought, was his name.
Riley.
-*-*-*-
I woke with a start, just as I had before, and looked around as I sat up. Where was I? Yet again I was somewhere that I didn’t remember, couldn’t remember, getting to. I growled slightly when I realized that, and got to my feet. Or rather, tried to get to my feet. I found was I was chained to the bed this time. I couldn’t figure out why, and naturally went to call out for help. It didn’t work though, I found I couldn’t make a sound.
Instantly, my mind was flooded with memories, back when I was first in Riley’s care, and muted. The last thing I could remember, was that someone had grabbed me, and that I had recognized them… I couldn’t remember anything past that, or before that, though. Looking into my memories seemed to be something akin to looking through a window that was in severe need of a cleaning. I couldn’t make heads or tails of anything at the moment.
I don’t know how long I was left in there before someone entered the room. I heard the footsteps coming and looked towards the door. A woman entered, she had amazingly long ebony hair that seemed to be far longer than she was tall and seemed to sparkle in the minimal light that was there. I hadn’t even noticed the few candles that were placed in the corners of the room yet.
She wore a witches hat as well, a rather standard styled one, but at the same time it looked as if it was torn out of a cartoon of some sort. It had sharp edges, and was very stylized. The end of it reached down to her knees, which I couldn’t help but be shocked about, and seemed to have a bell on the end.
“Good. You’re awake.” She stated. Her voice was rough, almost more so than I had ever heard before. I managed to avoid cringing when I heard it someone, but internally, I almost felt as if I was bleeding. The voice in the back of my mind just laughed and seemed to be relishing it. I silently begged it to shut up, to stop laughing, but it wouldn’t listen and I was quickly pulled back to the outside world by the witch’s voice.
“Get to your feet.” She ordered. I didn’t say anything, not that I could, and just sighed as I did as I was told. She approached me and seemed to look me over, every inch.
“Strip.” She ordered. My hands balled into fists when I heard that order, I refused to do it, absolutely refused to. She seemed to pick up on that and just looked me in the eye, a rather wicked grin in her red eyes.
“Now.” She snapped as the tip of her hat seemed to move on its own. It came up and around, pointing towards me. I took an unconscious step back from it, and hit the cot I had awoken on. I quickly ended up on it, sitting and not on my back, thankfully.
The tip of the hat started to glow, and I almost felt like I was turning to stone. I couldn’t stop it, and I could barely even breathe. This was new, and it was certainly something that I didn’t want to experience again. After about a minute though, the glow on the hat died away, and the tip returned to it’s previous position. Immediately, I let out a breath of much needed air.
“Tch. I don’t get why Riley is so fascinated by you.” She snarled. I didn’t respond, didn’t move. Just stayed where I was, hunched over, breathing. I wanted to ask what the hell it was that she’d done, but I couldn’t. I was a mute, again, and this time it wasn’t by choice. If I’d had the capabilities at the moment, I’d use my voice and ensnare her without hesitation. I would have demanded answers, freedom… something.
What was I to do? I couldn’t do anything, and when she grabbed my hair in her hand and forced me to look upwards, she could see my almost hopeless expression. It just made her laugh before bending down and locking her lips with mine.
I froze as she did so. I didn’t push her away, didn’t return the kiss, I had no idea what to think, didn’t know what to do. Every part of me was frozen.
When she pulled away, I just looked at her.
“Now I see why he’s so fascinated by you.” She stated as she let go of my hair and stepped back. I didn’t know what to think, regarding that.
“You’re the one that got away.” She continued as she turned to walk out. “The one that is to save us all.”
I barely caught the last bit as she left. I had no idea what to think of all this, and she certainly didn’t help matters, but I couldn’t ask. I was a mute again. They’d silenced me, probably to prevent me from manipulating anyone. By now, I knew how to do it, I’d been practicing in the ward I was in before. I knew I could easily ensnare others, I could control them, even. It didn’t matter if they were male or female even. From what I could gather, I was a rarity among sirens.
I just had to figure out how to use that to get out of the predicament that I was in, since I couldn’t think of any other way out. I wish I knew a way out, but of course, I couldn’t think of anything.
‘I have to get out of here…’ I thought with a bit of a shudder. I didn’t know what to make of this, and I certainly didn’t know what to do. Without thinking about it, I pulled my foot up, so that I could look at the shackle that was around it. It looked to be well made, and was made of some sort of metal that was black. I had no idea what it was that had done it, but didn’t care as I looked around.
I saw the candles around the room, one of them within reach and sighed. The only thing I could think, was whether or not I could possibly manage to melt the chain. If I could even manage to use the candle to melt just one link, weaken it even the slightest, I’d be free… Or at least able to get my ass out of that room. That was the least that I needed to do, and my main concern.
It wasn’t hard for me to grab the candle that was there, and I prayed to some sort of deity that I didn’t actually believe in that it would work. It didn’t take long, actually, since the chain was surprisingly thin, before the link weakened and I could bend it. I was shocked, I really was. What the hell were they thinking? Candles and weak chain links? That just wasn’t right. If they were to try and keep someone captive, why would they have it that the links were so weak?
As soon as I was free, I quickly made my way to the door and opened it. I looked out into the hall, up and down it. I didn’t see much, it was far too dark. I couldn’t see even just a foot in front of my face. It was really unnerving, and quite disconcerting. I had no idea what was ahead, and just sighed before retreating into the room to grab a candle. As I approached one of the corners, the door slammed shut. I jumped and straightened up, whirling around to see what was there, what had caused the slam. I didn’t see anything, and it didn’t take long before the flames of all four candle’s was extinguished.
‘… What!? What’s going on!?’ I wondered almost frantically as I looked around. I couldn’t see anything. There were no windows in the room to let in any light, and certainly no light in the room to allow me to see any figures. It was complete darkness, and of course, I carefully tried to make my way to the door. On the way there though, I heard the voice in the back of my head laughing at me. I couldn’t pay attention to it, but when it started whispering again, I found myself straining to hear it.
“You’ll never get out of here Rebecca.” I heard. I assumed it was the voice, but a matter of a second later, I realized it wasn’t as I felt hands at my temples. They weren’t putting any shocking amount of pressure, I know that, but I found myself losing my grasp on reality.
The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness, was a pair of steely gray eyes that seemed to glow.
-*-*-*-
When I woke however long later, I was still in the room. It was still pitch black, but this time it had some sort of scent. I couldn’t pin point it, and didn’t want to try. After a moment, I realized that I was stripped completely nude, and when I tried to cover myself, I found that I couldn’t. My limbs were bound to the posts of the bed, and I couldn’t move them any more than about an inch.
"Awww, Becky can’t move, can you?” The voice I’d heard far more than I cared to admit asked. It was taunting me, I could tell, and it wanted me to react, to use the power that it gave me to get free. I knew I couldn’t know, I couldn’t succumb to that, for I knew that as soon as I did, I would be it’s pet.
I tried to silence it as I had continuously tried over the past few years. I didn’t expect success, but was hoping. Sadly, my hopes were dashed as I heard it’s laughter seem to increase in volume, and aura.
“Please, Rebecca. You seriously believe you could keep me quiet?” It asked.
“You can get out of the binds you know. If you truly want it.” It taunted, not giving me a chance to answer it’s previous question. That was just as well though, I didn’t have an answer for it, I didn’t want to answer to it.
“Oh, I know, you’re not going to give in… we’ll see how long that determination holds though.” It said. “We shall see. I’ll sit here patiently and wait.” It was silent after that, and it was leaving me to question what it was planning. I didn’t even know if the voice was a male or female, or even if it had been human originally. All I knew was that it was something that had planned to cause problems, and I took it into myself, in an attempt to keep it under control. What I hadn’t expected, or at least hadn’t taken into consideration, was the fact that it would never shut up.
I don’t even know how long I was there before I heard the door open again. I resisted the urge to look over, and as I heard the footsteps coming towards me, it was harder than I had expected. It took all I had, every part of me, to resist looking over, to resist checking to see who was there.
“Ahhh, Rebecca, how wonderful to see you again.” As soon as I heard his voice, I froze. My breath hitched in my throat, and I literally couldn’t breathe for a moment. It was Riley, a man I had come to seriously distrust rather quickly.
He seemed to sense my distrust, my hatred, as he just clicked his tongue a few times. It was almost as if he was unimpressed with me, or something. I had no idea what to think of it, of him, but I knew I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.
“Rebecca… you’re too innocent, too pure.” He said after a moment. “Let’s change that, shall we?” I tensed when he said that. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was almost scared to find out.
I felt his hands on me, one on one of my breasts, and one over my nether regions. I didn’t know what to think, and before I could even consider trying anything to get his hands off, I felt a warmth start spreading through me. The point of origin was his hands, easily, and it spread, shockingly fast. As the warmth moved, I could almost feel my free will slipping away, being shoved aside to make room. Instinctively, I tried to fight it, tried to keep myself within the confines of my own head, but the voice within, the darkness I’d pulled into myself, just pushed me.
“Rebecca, just succumb. You know you want to.” It said before it pushed me off of the mental cliff, sending me into the dark abyss of nothingness that my mind was becoming.
-*-*-*-
The next thing I knew, I was on my knees in front of the witch girl again. I didn’t know what to think about it, though. As I was looking around, trying to figure out where I was and what was going on, she seemed to realize what had happened.
“Oh, you’ve come back to yourself now, have you?” She asked, her voice seemed… softer than before. I had no idea as to why, and no inclination to find out either, but it did, and it was rather noticeable.
“Riley has had you for nearly a month now.” She told him, I just looked up to her, since she was standing above me, a bit of a shocked expression on my face. What was I to say to that? She seemed to pick up on it since she just shook her head slightly and walked over to a table that was a few feet away.
“Come here, you need to eat.” She stated. “Riley’s been starving you.” As soon as she said that, I suddenly became aware of how empty my stomach was. I had no idea how long it had been since I’d last eaten anything, but I was willing to bet it had been far longer than it should have been.
“You’re still a mute, but I’m looking to get that fixed soon.” She added. I just got to my feet and made my way over to her, a puzzled expression on my face.
“Oh, right, my name is Amy, short for Amethyst.” She told me. “And I’m a witch.” As if I hadn’t been able to figure that out. Of course she was a witch, she only wore the hat and did magic things like witches did. If I had my voice, I realized I would have asked if she could fly broomsticks like the stereotypical witches did.
“Anyway, eat. Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” She told me before walking off to sit on a chair a bit away. I didn’t even look at what I was grabbing, but I piled a plate high with food and followed her, all the while not noticing that I didn’t have much on. It was all leather, what I was wearing, and it was skin tight. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t about speak up regarding it - not that I could, of course.
I sat down across from Amy and, rather quickly, devoured what I’d grabbed. She just watched, a bit of a shocked expression on her face before she shook her head slightly.
“Rebecca, I know why Riley’s been after you for so long.” She started. As soon as she said that, my head snapped up and I just looked at her. Was I finally going to get the answers that I so craved? The answers that I felt I deserved?
“You’re one in a million, actually.” She continued. “You’re a rare one. Sirens normally cannot leave the sea, which makes sense since one could argue they are a type of sea creature. You though… you aren’t related to any. The water calls your name, but you can actually choose to ignore it.”
I didn’t know where she was going with all this, but she was curious, definitely did want to hear. So, I just sat there, my attention focused on her completely as I locked this away in my mind, did all I could to make sure I didn’t forget it.
“Siren’s, by default, can only maintain their control of their victim when they are singing, or at the very least humming, a tune. You don’t need to. You can do it by just tal—” She went to continue, but suddenly found she couldn’t breathe a pair of hands suddenly wrapped themselves around her throat. I was shocked, I had no idea what it was that was happening, and I certainly didn’t know what I could do to help.
“Lavendar will fix you—-!” Was the last thing that Amy managed to cry out as she got a breath of air before she was gone. She’d vanished and left nothing behind but her hat. The owner of the hands reached down and picked it up before grinning.
“Oh, this will do nicely. She can run, but she can’t hide.” He said. His voice was soft, innocent, but suitably creepy with the dark connotations of his words. I didn’t know what to think of it, or even how to react, and quickly scrambled to my feet before backing away from him.
He looked in my direction and just grinned, his yellow eyes not hiding how psychotic I’m sure he was at all. I just scrambled back more, hoping to avoid any altercation with him, but I realized that I would be rather hard-pressed to do that.
‘Dammit! The hell can I do here!?’ I wondered as I backed into the table that had all the food on it. He didn’t approach me, which I thought was odd, just stayed half hidden in the shadows there. I didn’t have time to question it before grabbing a steak knife that was there, and being ready to defend myself.
I had no idea what I was doing though, and I’m rather sure it was obvious as the yellow-eyes male just looked at me, and seemed to be laughing inwardly at me. I had no idea what to think, and was realizing how common that was getting, nor did I know how I should react. I knew I had to get out of there, but I didn’t know where the door was, and I was too scared to take my eyes off him.
“You know, with my help you cou—” I cut the voice off there. I wasn’t interested in listening to whatever it was that it could say, or what it could offer. I knew that I wouldn’t be willing to do it, whatever it was, so I just shut it up there. I could hear the laughter from it for a moment, and as the shadowed figure approached, I felt my determination to keep that voice silent slipping.
The figure seemed to be just that, nothing more than shadows. It had a face that looked normal, aside from the yellow or golden eyes and normal flesh toned hands, but the rest of him either wasn’t there, at all, or it was a shadow. Solid black and I realized it would most likely be banished with a light source.
I quickly looked around and spot a small lantern that was lit on the far end of the table. Without thinking about it, I quickly reached for it. In the time that it took for me to turn and reach, for my fingers to wrap around the handle, it took the same amount of time for the shadowed figures hands to grab my red hair and hang my head back. I didn’t know what to do. As he yanked me back, he pulled me away from the lantern, my fingers losing grasp of it as I was pulled.
He wrapped a shadowed arm around around me, and it felt as if the shadows went in me. I couldn’t breathe, and it almost felt as if something, probably the shadows, had hold of my heart. It wasn’t long before I heard the voice again, telling me that it could help me get free of this predicament, and that the shadowed being would kill me without hesitation. I was hesitant, extremely, until it promised no backlash, no strings attached, no nothing. Just a test drive, it said.
So I agreed.
The glee that I could feel from the darkness was overpowering, and I found myself unable to breathe because of both the shadowed being, and the darkness. It didn’t take long at all before I could feel some locks slipping out of place, the binds I’d placed around the darkness starting to loosen. I couldn’t keep track of it, and moments later, I let out a scream as my entire body seemed to acquire a black glow. It didn’t last long though, before the glow was absorbed into my skin.
“You can keep me as long as you wish. No strings attached, as I said. This is just a test drive.” It assured me. It’s voice felt far more comforting, and less haunting now than it had before though. I didn’t know why, exactly, but I didn’t care at the moment.
“Let me go.” I stated calmly. When the shadow didn’t cooperate, I just brought my hand up to his, grabbed it, and put as much force as I could into breaking the fingers. It wasn’t as hard as I had honestly believed it would be, and I felt them snap and pop under the pressure shockingly easily. He quickly withdrew his hand after that, whimpering slightly. I couldn’t help but take pride in that, some part of me was appalled that I was, but the bulk of me didn’t seem to care.
I approached the whimpering shadow and growled slightly as I grabbed his hair.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked, my tone overly demanding. The shadow was silent for a moment before I repeated my question, harsher the second time though.
“Lucas.” He answered, his tone hesitant. “I’m a shadow demon.” He added, seeming to know that was the next question I would ask. I just acquired a puzzled expression when he told me that though, I’d never heard of a ‘shadow demon’ before. Before I could ask him to elaborate, he was, it was almost as if he knew what I was going to ask.
“I… I can meld with shadows, make it that my body is nothing more than a collection of them.” He told me. “I literally cannot exist in pure darkness, either.”
“That… really has to suck.” I commented. He just nodded meekly.
“How old are you?” I asked, curious. My tone was softer now, since as I was there, I noticed that he didn’t look to be any older than fourteen.
“…. Twelve.” He answered me, honestly. I was surprised, I half expected him to claim he was older, even if he wasn’t. I sighed slightly, I didn’t want to have him stuck here. Even though I didn’t know know him all that well, if at all, I felt bad for him. He seemed like nothing more than s scared child. The fact that he was there, and still a minor, made me hate Riley more.
“Why are you here, Lucas?” I asked. My voice was almost hesitant, but I still asked, I still wanted to know. Why was a child there? Was it by choice, or was it because he had no choice in the matter?
“I… I was promised that if I … if I helped, then my family would be saved.” He told me. I just sighed. That wasn’t fair, he was a nothing more than a child. Before I could say anything, he continued.
“Riley… he promised that my family would be safe, that they wouldn’t be prosecuted because we’re different, because we aren’t human like everyone else.” He added quietly. Instantly, I knew that I had more reason to not trust Riley. I have no idea what it was that I would ask, exactly, or even what it was that he could tell me, but I had to find out if there was anything.
“Lucas, I know you probably don’t want to answer to me, but I need to know. What is it that you know of Riley, of what he’s doing.” I told him, my tone stern, but had a bit of hesitation to it. I knew that there was a good chance that he wouldn’t know all I wanted to find out, but he should at least be able to help point me in the right direction.
He looked to me, hesitation in his face before sighing.
“Why…. Why should I? I don’t… I can’t risk Riley finding out! I can’t risk him torturing my parents!” He exclaimed, fear in his voice and tears in his eyes. I couldn’t help but sympathize with him, he was here against his will, working for Riley. It wasn’t much different than when I was brought in the first time, after all. I hadn’t been willing, and I hadn’t wanted to be there. Sadly, I had to escape again, but I had no idea how I could, at least, not without any information.
“Lucas, I’m planning on stopping Riley.” I told him simply. “I want to stop him from causing any more problems for anyone else.” When I said that, it seemed I caught his attention, as he just looked at me. I could almost see him trying to weigh the possibilities, weigh his options. I didn’t know what to think, and I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to make it seem like I was trying to force him. He had to choose if he wanted to join me, help me, of his own volition. He had to make that choice.
After a moment, he looked away from me and sighed slightly.
“We’re in below the University hospital.” He told me. I just smiled slightly as I laid my hand on his shoulder, wondering if he would continue or not. I was, of course, hoping he would but just the fact that he gave me the location was more than enough to help, I was sure.
The University hospital was insanely large, and I didn’t even know that there was a lower region to it. I thought it was all above ground, at least from what I’d seen, but it did make sense that there was a basement region to it. If that was where I was though, then it was making me wonder who Riley was. What role did he fill in society? Was he someone to be trusted, or was he someone that was known to have ulterior motives? I had no way to know at the moment, but I swore I would find out.
“Riley had said that … that you were one of the top students at the University, too.” I heard Lucas say. I looked towards him, a puzzled expression on my face.
“I… what? What do you mean?” I asked, my confusion evident. I’d never been in school, well aside from Elementary and High-school that is. I didn’t know what he was talking about, and all I could think was that he had me mistaken for someone else.
Lucas just looked to me, puzzled as I was for a moment.
“Are you not Rebecca Knight?” He asked. I nodded. That was my name, yes.
“Did you not graduate high-school about eight months before you were first grabbed by Riley?” He asked. Again, I nodded. That was true, as far as I knew. Of course, what he was saying was making me question my own memories. What did I know? Did something happen to make it that I didn’t know something?
“Then you are the woman that Riley had abducted from the campus.” He stated. “He said that you were in his History class.” I didn’t have any recollection of that, but he didn’t say anything before sighing. It was as if he could see it in my face, that I didn’t know what was going on.
“Rebecca, I can prove it.” He said. “Come with me.” He added after a moment as he held a hand out to me. I looked at it for a moment before looking back to him and nodding, making it apparent that I was willing to accept his offer. He didn’t say anything before grasping my hand. The next thing I knew, I was becoming like him, nothing more than a shadow. His face vanished first, before his hands, and then it stretched to me.
It wasn’t unpleasant, exactly, but it definitely felt odd. I felt numb, every piece of me, as if I didn’t have feeling to most places of my body. It was a bit unnerving, but not uncomfortable, which made it odd. Before I could get used to it, or seem to think more on it, he was dragging me along. I had no idea what was going on, not really, and quickly I fell into step behind him. I had no idea how far I we were going, or even how we were getting there, exactly, but we were going, and going fast. It didn’t take all that long before we arrived wherever we were meant to be, and I felt some rather excruciating pain as my nerves seemed to cover my entire body. As it faded, surprisingly quickly, I noticed that my body was back to normal. It was surprising, definitely an experience I didn’t want to repeat any time soon.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Lucas said as I dropped to my knees, hardly able to think through the pain. It faded and I sighed slightly when I could and just looked to him.
“I know, it’s rough for people who aren’t used to it.” He added as he helped me to my feet. Once I was up I looked around, curious about the room we were in.
It was rather large, and almost completely empty. There was nothing more than just a desk, a chair, and a small little table that had something engraved on the surface. I was, notably, curious and made my way over to it. As I neared, it seemed as if it glowed a bit, which just confused me.
“Don’t get too close to that!” Lucas exclaimed as he jumped in my way. I just looked at him, curious and definitely wanting to know why.
“It… It’s just…” He started before sighing slightly and pushing me away from the table.
“That table… the carving will steal who you are.” He told me. I looked at him, shock in my features. I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but I knew that I couldn’t argue it, since I did realize that unbelievable things like that could happen. The world that I’d recently been thrust into, or maybe not ‘recently’ since it was a few years ago, allowed me to know that things like that was rather possible. It was getting to the point that I didn’t know what wasn’t real, what wasn’t possible.
“Don’t question it, Rebecca, just believe me. It’s not a pleasant experience, I’ve seen someone fall victim to it before.” He added. I just nodded, not wanting to experience something like that, since it didn’t sound fun, before looking around again. I didn’t know what we were doing in that room. Lucas seemed to pick up on my unspoken question, of how I wanted to know why we were there, or even where we were, and made his way over to the desk.
“We’re in what is, essentially, Riley’s office.” He told me as he started to dig around in the drawers. Before I could consider saying anything, he continued.
“He comes here every few days to de-stress, and to see what he can find out about people. It’s how he found you in the first place.” He continued. “He tracked you down as a child, following reports of how you were checked over several times to find out what it was about you that had so many people wishing to do as you said. It was definitely and oddity, especially when it was a child.” As he spoke, I tuned him out a bit, I didn’t know what to say about it, how could I? What was it that one could say to something like that?
He continued talking, and I found myself tuning him out a bit as I thought. I kept trying to pull up my history, my past, but found that I was having a harder and harder time with it. It almost seemed as if my memories were on a chalkboard, and they were quickly being erased. I didn’t know what to think about that, and I didn’t know how to recover what was apparently being lost. At this rate, I didn’t know if I’d remember anything about me by the end of this, whatever the end would be…
“Are you even listening to me, Rebecca?” Lucas asked. I looked to him, a vacant expression in my eyes as as I shook my head.
“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.” I told him honestly. He just sighed and shook his head slightly.
“Seems what Riley has planned for you has already started.” He said with a small sigh before making his way over to me. I didn’t say anything, just looked at him as he pushed me down to the ground.
“I just have to find what it is that he has on you, that is doing this.” He said as he started to feel over my entire body. I, of course, smacked his hands away as they reached my breasts.
“Hey!” I exclaimed as I scrambled to my feet and backed up. “The hell do you think you’re doing!?” I had my hands over my chest as I backed up, anger in my features.
“I was just looking you over! Rebecca, you have to trust me. Riley’s had something planted on you, and if I don’t find it, then you will be lost. It won’t take long, either!” He told me, the emotion in his voice made it hard for me to deny that he was most likely telling the truth, but I still didn’t believe him. Suddenly, I remembered what the witch, Amy, had said. Lavender would fix … something. She never got a chance to finish the statement earlier, and honestly? I wanted to know what it was that she had been talking about.
“Whatever, Lucas, do you know of anywhere that there would be any lavender?” I asked suddenly. He looked at me, a bit of a puzzled expression on his face.
“That witch, Amy, was saying that it would help with… something.” She said. When I said that though, Lucas seemed to pale, and rather noticeably at that.
“What!? No! You can’t believe her! She was hired by Riley, was hired to get you to trust her, so that you would do as she suggested. All she was aiming for, was to have it that you did what Riley wanted!” He exclaimed. As he said that though, I just took a step back, my eyes hardening.
“Really? And how do I know that’s not what you’re doing?” I asked calmly. My tone wasn’t accusatory, but it wasn’t kind, either.
“Rebecca.. You have to trust me.” He said, his voice quiet as he sounded about ready to cry. I just shook my head.
“How do I know that what you’re saying, or doing, isn’t what you claim that Amy was doing?” I asked, my distrust evident in my voice. Lucas didn’t say anything, just sighed slightly. He didn’t know what to say to me. It was easy to see, too. His silence, and his hesitation, spoke volumes. It almost looked as if I had caught him, but at the same time, some part of me was saying that I was accusing him of things that weren’t true, that he was actually being honest. I didn’t know what to think, and I heard the voice within me laughing. I didn’t know what to do, I wanted to just shut it up, but I couldn’t, I would have to acknowledge it first… and I didn’t want to do that. Not again. I didn’t want it to be attempting to claim me again, so I wasn’t going to acknowledge it this time. I was going to try, and see if that helped.
The voice in the back of my head kept laughing, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t ignore it, and it knew that. It fell silent, leaving me in peace for the moment. It wasn’t long before I realized that Lucas had left. I looked around, shocked that he’d left, but not sure if I cared or not.
“Where…?” I wondered as I looked around. I was looking under the desk, curious as to whether or not he had hidden under there or something, when I heard the door slam shut. I jumped and looked up, and towards the door. What I saw there, made my blood run cold.
“Oh, Rebecca, why do you insist on being so difficult with me?” Riley asked, his gray eyes looking more metallic as they seemed to draw me into them. I felt as if I was losing my footing, and that was not something I wanted to have happened. I didn’t want to succumb to him again, and it seemed the darkness I kept deep in the recesses of my body seemed to know that as it came to the front.
“Rebecca, I can help keep you yourself” It said. It’s voice was more melodious than normal, was more seductive. I couldn’t deny it and just nodded, a resounding yes echoing through my head. It just laughed, rather darkly, before I felt an overwhelming power flood through me. I could barely think, and some small part of me felt like I was losing myself, losing what it was that made me, me. Riley seemed to notice that, for he just started laughing. It was just as dark as the laughter from the darkness within me. I barely had the wherewithal to notice it, but a small part of me did, and that small part tried to come to the front.
I stepped forward, towards Riley, and grabbed his throat. The effects of his touch did nothing to me, which just made me laugh. Riley’s face lost all colour, and I just grinned.
-*-*-*-
The next thing I knew, I was standing in a room with Lucas. He was cowering against the wall as I stood there, seemingly uncaring. I could feel something wet and warm on my hands, on my body, and when I looked down, I noticed the that leather I was wearing was stained with blood. I had no idea what to make of that, and certainly didn’t think I would like to know what had happened. Still, my mind drifted, wondering what had happened.
Had I killed someone, had someone attacked me? Lucas was cowering away from me, I had to have attacked someone, but had I done it in front of him? Had I honestly threatened him? Of course I had… he wouldn’t be scared otherwise, would he?
“Be… Becky…?” He asked. His voice was hesitant, almost too hesitant to bare and I sighed before nodding.
“Lucas, it’s me. I… what happened?” I asked. When I did, he seemed to relax a bit before slowly coming over to me.
“You… You tore Amy apart…” When he said those words I froze, my face lost all colour, and I looked around. I didn’t know why I hadn’t actually looked around yet, but when I did, I couldn’t believe what I saw. The floor was covered in blood, and I could see Amy’s hat in the middle of a puddle. I made my way over to it and just picked it up, trying not to grimace at the crimson life that dripped off of it. I didn’t want to think of how it was hers, and certainly didn’t want to notice that it was still warm… but I did.
As soon as I noticed the temperature, I looked around, looking for her. I had to find Amy, had to see if she was still alive, had to know if I literally ‘tore her apart’ as Lucas had said I did. I didn’t see her easily. The room was dark, and there was barely enough light filtering through the filthy windows to see Lucas’ figure in the shadows or the blood on the floor. I looked to him, about to ask where Amy was, when he pointed behind me.
I whirled around, wondering if she was there, or rather if I would be able to see her, and didn’t see anything in the shadows. He walked forward and laid a hand on my back, between my shoulderblades, and suddenly, I was able to see what was hidden in shadows. It was something that would definitely be handy, and I found myself hoping that I hadn’t destroyed the trust and friendship that had been budding between us.
I was quickly pulled from those thoughts though, as I saw the form of Amy against the wall. She honestly, at first glance, looked to be dead, but I did see her chest rising and falling slightly. She was still alive, and I didn’t know how, nor did I know how long she would be, but I had to do all I could to save her.
I ran over to the witch and dropped to my knees by her. I didn’t care that she shied away from me, or tried to, at first.
“Lucas! I need some material, and fast!” I called out to the shadow demon behind me. I was met with silence from him as I wished that there was some light there, or that Lucas would lend me his abilities to see in shadows again. I was feeling around Amy’s body, trying to find what was the open wound causing all this blood, but I couldn’t. It was too dark, and my hands felt a bit numb, or rather just couldn’t feel anything different. I had no idea what it was that had happened, what it was that I had done to her, and I started to panic as Lucas approached.
“Here.” He said as he handed me some cloth. What he handed me felt like towels, and that just made me grin slightly. I knew that they could soak up a lot of blood, and help to pad something rather well, so it really was the best that he could find. I also noticed that what he handed me was oddly clean, it smelled so fresh that I forgot where I was for a moment.
I was silent as I worked, and Lucas kept his hand on my back, allowing me to see what I was doing better. I tried not to think of what had happened to Amy, what I had done to her, but I knew. The more I worked, the more I remembered what had happened.
I’d come into the room, livid, claiming that she wasn’t someone I could trust, and lashed out. I tried, first, to force her into a trance with my siren capabilities, but I quickly found out that I couldn’t as a pendant she had around her neck seemed to glow every time I tried. The voice in the back of my head told me what it was, it was something that nullified anything that would attempt to control her, any effects of that sort. So I decided to get physical with her.
First, I pulled her close and returned the favour with the kiss she gave me the first time we met. I don’t know what compelled me to do that, but I did. As I pulled away from her, and went to throw her against the wall, I noticed that her expression started to look a bit lifeless, almost as if I had stolen some of her soul. The darkness within me told me that I hadn’t, that she was just faking it to get me to leave her be, let her live, and I believed it. A rapier made of shadows formed in my hands as I just looked to the witch.
She was the one whose custody I woke up in after Riley grabbed me, and I was starting to believe that she’d done far more than I wished to know to me, and with me, then. I had no way to know whether or not that was the truth, but I was believing it. The voice in the back of my head was telling me to, and more and more I found myself succumbing to it, believing what it told me.
I approached her, shadow-sword in hand and stood over her as she shied away from me against the wall. A small part of me couldn’t believe what I was going to do, and certainly tried to stop me, but the darkness, the dark part of my being shoved it aside. I just let it be quelled and proceeded with what I honestly believed would kill her.
It didn’t, as I was now learning. I’d awoken due to the panic at attacking Lucas. The small part of me that still remained during that had forced itself to the front as the darkness receded again. I cared for him, surprisingly enough. I didn’t know if I could trust him or not, but I did care.
Now, the question remained, and I found myself seriously wondering it as I worked on Amy, what happened to Riley, and how was I here now?
“Rebecca… Are… are you alright?” Lucas asked from beside me. I looked over to him and nodded before sighing slightly.
“I think so, Lucas.” I told him honestly. I wasn’t completely sure, but I did think I was alright - for the moment at least. I didn’t know if I could relapse into that state again, and I didn’t know what had brought it about. At least, not at first. As soon as I heard the voice laughing quietly again, I knew.
It was because I gave in, gave it permission again. I was becoming its pet, a puppet, more and more, and it was lasting longer.
“I … I hope you will be… Rebecca, I really do think you’ll be the one to save us.” He said moments before Amy coughed. I sat her up more, hoping to help her breathing since she was at an awkward angle. She tried to push me away, but when she realized that I was trying to help, she stopped.
“I’m sorry Amy…” I said quietly as I finished wrapping the split skin on her head. I didn’t know what all I had done, but I knew enough to know that there was some serious damage. Once that was done, I looked to Lucas.
“Lucas. You said we’re beneath the University. Is there any way out?” I asked him. He looked at me with a puzzled expression for a moment.
“I… I’m not sure. Riley’s the only one that I know of that goes from here to the surface and back again regularly, but he took off.” He answered. Instantly I was growling. He’d survived, and ran. Dammit, I was honestly hoping that I’d finished him off, as I’d nearly finished Amy off. He cut my growl short though as he continued speaking.
“But… it may be possible. There is what seems like an elevator shaft deeper in the complex… I could possibly get us up there with my shadows.” He told me. I nodded before looking to the unconscious witch in my arms.
“Forget about me, Lucas. Take Amy to a hospital. Get her fixed.” I said. He just looked at me, shock in his features. It was almost as if he knew what I was thinking, knew that I was planning on scouring the building for Riley. I had to find him, and I certainly had to pay him back for all he’d done to me in the past.
“What!? No! Rebecca, I can’t!” Lucas exclaimed, I just sighed. I tried to ignore the tears I could hear in his voice as I took a breathe to explain this. I wasn’t going to tell him what I was planning though, I knew he wouldn’t like that, not with how he reacted there. I had to plan my words carefully, and try not to make it obvious what I was thinking. I didn’t know how perceptive he was, so that made it unknowingly difficult for me.
“Lucas, can you take both of us at once?” I asked. It was a simple question, one that made him freeze for a moment and seem to think. After another second or two, he shook his head. “I didn’t think so. You need to take Amy first, since she’s the one in critical condition.”
He seemed to accept that, but didn’t look away from me.
“I … Will you be there when I come back for you?” He asked. I sighed, again, and just nodded. I vowed to myself that I would be, that I would be there for him to pick up, but there was a small part of me that didn’t know if I would be able to keep that promise.
“I will be, I promise.” I told him, even though I didn’t want to. I had to keep him believing I would though, otherwise he would never get Amy to safety.
He seemed to appeased with that, and got to his feet.
“Come on, we need to get her out of here.” He said. “I can’t carry her, sadly that has to fall on you.” I just nodded and carefully got to my feet before lifting Amy up. She was notably lighter than one would have thought. She stood at about five feet nine inches if I were to guess, and looked like she would weigh a fair bit. She was well defined in regards to muscles, but not ridiculously so, and I knew that muscle weighed more than fat, so I was surprised.
“Lead the way, Lucas.” Was all I said once I was on my feet with Amy in my arms. He nodded and we left the room. I resisted the urge to look back at it and just closed the door with my foot.
We walked in silence for longer than I could mentally keep track. There were so many halls we turned down, and so few doors or lights, that I seriously wondered where we were going. I didn’t question it though, since I found myself honestly trusting him, more than I thought I would. I guess it had something to do with the fact that he seemed honestly scared of me that made me start to question his innocence, and start to see that it was there.
We reached a hall that had no doors, and no lights, and walked down it. I was on edge due to the darkness around us, and the voice within me started laughing. It was almost as if it was mocking me, and I tried to ignore it, but found that task to be increasingly difficult. I called out to Lucas, wondering where he was, and received silence in response. I could barely even hear my own breathing, and seriously started to wonder if I’d stepped into another dimension or something. We entered a hall that was about ten feet across… so why did it suddenly feel as if I was standing in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around?
All the hair on my body started to feel like it was standing on end as I continued walking, hoping to find someone, anyone, that could help. The darkness was starting to suffocate me, and I felt as if I was going to collapse. I knew I couldn’t though, for that would give the darkness within me a chance to come out again, and I did not want that. Amy was already in critical condition, I couldn’t take advantage of that.
I just kept walking, and didn’t know how long it was, before I felt someones hand on my shoulder. I jumped and let out a small scream before I heard Lucas’ voice.
“Hey, Rebecca, relax. It’s just me.” He said. I let out a breath of relief when I heard him, calming down rather considerably. “Come on, we don’t have much farther.” He said before seeming to activate whatever ability it was of his that allowed me to see what hid in the shadows. I could see the faint outline of what was around, and was relieved when I saw that there was a wall only a couple feet to either side of me. It was something that I never thought I would appreciate, I wasn’t claustrophobic, but I certainly wasn’t one to love small spaces either.
Lucas led me through the hall, and turned the corner at the end of it to show that there was a door, with a couple of people seeming to be standing guard. Obviously they were there to make sure that no one other than those that were approved were allowed to be there. I looked to Lucas and nodded before stepping back around the corner, away from them, and setting Amy down again. I rolled my shoulders, cracking them, and looked to Lucas again.
“Lucas, I’ll be back.” I told him. He looked about to argue for a moment before shutting up. If I were to guess, he realized that I needed to do this, that I needed to finally test out my Siren abilities. He nodded and sat down next to where I had set Amy.
“Plug your ears.” I told him before making my way to the corner and sighing slightly. Now was the moment of truth, the time for me to find out if the claim of me being a siren was real… or if it was just a dream.
I didn’t hesitate before starting to hum a simple tune. I was making it up on the spot, and I knew that it had managed to get their attention as I heard their footsteps. I stepped around the corner and continued.
“Who’s there!?” One of them called out, and I just sighed internally as I realized that he sounded like a teen, barely even an adult. I just continued for a moment before shifting to singing as one of the two lit a lantern, allowing me to see them.
As I approached, one of them, the one that didn’t light the lantern, brought what looked to be a rifle of some sorts up and took aim at me.
“Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot!” He called. I just rolled my eyes.
“No you won’t.” I stated, my voice far more sultry than I was used to. I didn’t react to it as I neared him, my steps not faltering. As I neared, I could see the determination and dedication to guarding the door in the eyes of the one holding the lantern seem to fade completely.
“Adam! Dammit! You were supposed to keep that damned pendant on” The other one exclaimed. Adam just looked to me, an almost wistful or dreamy expression on his face as I kept getting closer. I didn’t say anything more, just kept humming a random tune, until I was able to lightly grasp Adam’s jaw.
“What will you do for me?” I asked. Adam just met my eyes, and I could see them losing some of the life that was there. I was effectively making him my puppet, I could see it.
“Anything.” He answered, his voice as wistful and dreamy as his face looked.
“Anything? Would you kill your friend for me?” I asked. I didn’t want to, but there was nothing I could do here, I had to get it so that they would allow me to go past, and it seemed as if the other one had something on him that would negate what I could do.
“I would… without hesitation.” He answered, his voice betraying how he was losing even more of himself to me. I couldn’t help but smirk with this, I was taking pride in it, even if I didn’t know why exactly I was.
“Tell your friend why you don’t have the pendant you are supposed to have. I’m curious.” I ordered softly. He nodded and turned to his friend.
“Jacob, I don’t have the pendant because I gave it to my girlfriend, to protect her.” Adam told his friend.
“What!?” Jacob exclaimed, obviously not happy in the least, and having a hard time believing it.
“Why would you do something so fucking stupid as that!? We were charged with watching this post, and we are supposed to keep the pendants on us to prevent anything like this happening!” He continued. I just laughed slightly.
“Adam, kill him.” I said simply, almost flippantly. I sounded as if I didn’t care for human life. I did, but I couldn’t let that bother me now, I couldn’t let that get in the way of what I had to do.
Adam grabbed the rifle he had next to him and took aim at Jacob, someone I assumed was his friend. I didn’t say anything as I watched him cock the gun, moments before he fired it. Jacob dodged a fatal hit, instead it hit him in the shoulder, rending his left arm useless. I didn’t like how this was going to play out, really didn’t like how I had to have friends attempt to kill each other, but I couldn’t help it. It was something that I needed to do, if I wanted to survive.
“Adam!” Jacob cried out, pain in his voice before he managed to try and shove that aside as he aimed the rifle he had on his friend. I could see the pain in his face, and not just the physical pain from the gunshot, but the emotional pain of having to kill his friend. I hated it, but I didn’t step in the way.
Adam just stepped forward, grabbed the barrel of the rifle, and tore it out of Jacob’s grasp before taking aim with his own again. He didn’t say anything before the sound of the gunshot echoed through the darkness, and Jacob fell to the floor, his head bleeding from where the bullet had gone straight through. Adam had shot him at point blank range.
I was shocked, and almost appalled that he’d done so. When he turned to look at me, he still had that empty dreamy look.
“I did well, right?” He asked. “I did as you asked.”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before looking to him.
“You did, Adam. You did very well.” I told him, even though I hated it.
“Now, you need to come with me, grab the lantern and leave the gun.” I ordered. He nodded and obliged immediately before following me back to where I left Lucas and Amy. Lucas was pacing when I returned, and when he saw me, he nearly jumped into my arms. He stopped midstep though as he saw Adam.
“Rebecca!” He exclaimed, the cry meant to be a warning. I just waved him off.
“Look at him closely. He’s mine for now.” I stated but didn’t say anything more regarding that. Lucas looked Adam over before nodding.
“Adam, grab her.” I ordered as I took the lantern from him. He nodded and quickly bent over to pick Amy up. As he did so, and the pendant around her neck fell a bit, I saw some pain in his face, and I knew right then and there that Amy was his girlfriend, the one he gave the pendant to. I felt a pang in my heart as I realized it and just sighed.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.” I said before heading off, with the lantern in hand, down the hall to the door. Lucas and Adam were following me, I could hear their footsteps. As we neared the door, I looked to Adam.
“Can you open this?” I asked. He nodded. “Give me her and do so.” He didn’t hesitate before handing the unconscious form of Amy to me and making his way to the door. Lucas just watched, shocked and amazed that I was able to control him. I hated it, but at the same time, I loved it. Perhaps I would have to do this more often…
We couldn’t see what he was doing before the door opened, and light was let into the hall. The door opened to what looked to be a rather large elevator shaft, but had no elevator. It wasn’t even the door to an elevator.
I set Amy down as Lucas stepped in and looked around.
“I don’t know if I can do this… I can’t carry her.” He told me abruptly. I froze and looked to him before sighing.
“Adam, grab her, and follow Lucas. Do whatever he says.” I ordered. Adam looked at me for a moment, completely silent before nodding and picking Amy up. I looked to Lucas.
“Lucas, you have to do this. I’ll be here when you return.” I told him. It was a lie, I knew that, but I had to maintain it. I had to keep him confident that I would be fine. I could tell that he was hesitant, but he nodded and grabbed Amy’s hand. After a moment, they melded with the few shadows that were in the room, and were scaling the walls.
I just sighed before turning back to the door, and closing it. I didn’t know what the darkness of the complex I was in would hold, but I knew that I had to find out. I would do it alone, too, to prevent any damage to anyone else. I’d already done enough to Amy, and I scared Lucas. I couldn’t handle that.
As I stepped out, and before the door closed, I bent over and grabbed the rifle that Jacob had used, along with the small satchel he had on his belt. As I grabbed it, it was easy to tell that it was filled with ammo, and a few other things. I couldn’t believe how much was crammed into that, but that was answered as I opened it.
I reached my hand in, and couldn’t help but gasp. It had no bottom. It seemed as if the satchel had been charmed or something to be able to house whatever, and however much, the owner wished. That would most definitely come in handy.
I was set, or as set as I could be, and I knew I had to do this. Without hesitating, I headed off, daring the shadows to eat me, and daring the darkness withing me to come to the surface again. I was a woman with a purpose, and nothing would get in my way. Or so I believed.
I was wrong, I was so terribly wrong, and as I walked, it almost felt as if I was walking right into a trap, as if this had all been planned. As I heard the voice in my head laughing at me, I couldn’t help the chill that ran down my spine a few times.
The last thing I remember from that night, was stepping into the shadows, and feeling them overtake me. The darkness within was feasting on my weakness, on how I was scared, and how I had succumbed to it previously. Before I was lost within them, I saw a pair of gray eyes seeming to glow a few feet away from me. I knew who they belonged to, and I tried to take aim with the rifle I’d picked up, but couldn’t. All I could do, was allow one last fleeting thought echo through my head before it all emptied and I didn’t know anything other than what the darkness wanted me to know.
Riley.