Chapter 32: Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Shadowland
Anaya’s P.O.V:
Black.
That was all I saw no matter where I turned; no matter how many times I blinked my eyes. It was as if I had been shoved into a room that had all the lights switched off. Except, this wasn’t a closed room. It was open space, open enough that I could feel an icy wind blowing against my skin. It’s said that when you lose one of your senses, all the others become heightened, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
Other than the chill in the air, all I could feel was panic. Where was I? Why couldn’t I see? Was this really Shadowland?
The great thing about Shadowland is that no one, mortal or immortal, has ever come out of it, alive or dead.
Melinda’s voice rang in my ears and with it came a sense of hopelessness like I’ve never felt before. I felt tears stream down my cheeks as I swung my hands around wildly, trying to grab something. If I couldn’t see, how am I supposed to get out of here?
Anna…
The words seem to echo around in my head…or was it outside? - I couldn’t tell. But all I knew, was that I knew this voice.
“Lance?” I called out, loud enough that my own voice seemed to echo endlessly all around me.
And then a flash of red light illuminated my surroundings and I finally got my sight back. I looked down to find the pendant that the witches gave me, emitting a slight red light that wasn’t enough to tell me where I was, but enough so that I could finally see what was in front of me.
But with temporary relief that I felt at getting my sight back, a sense of dread also settled in my stomach. I could clearly remember Tobias telling me that the necklace would light up only on one given circumstance…when danger approached me.
And that was when I heard it, the low moans and groans that had been like white noise in the background until now, but now I could hear them clearly, since my panic attack had subsided to some extent.
I tapped my feet on the ground a little bit, making sure that I had enough space all around me to bend over and that I wouldn’t topple over into a gorge. When I lowered myself enough so that the light from the pendent could reach the ground, I saw that not only was the ground made of black rock, the surface of the rock was made of jagged edged that looked sharp enough to cut through skin.
All around me, I could see such rock, some protruding from the ground to form large mounds while others forming tiny depressions that I needed to watch out for. But the things that disturbed me the most were the moaning sounds. They weren’t the ‘someone was having sex in the next room’ kind of moans, no, they were more like ‘someone was being tortured to death’ kind of moans. And the sound felt like they were moving closer.
Shit!
Where the hell was I? What kind of creature could be making those noises?
My heart nearly slammed out of my chest when I realized that I could see red orbs on the horizon and they definitely seemed to be moving towards me.
Antony’s P.O.V:
I waited outside m little brother’s room as the healer attended to him. Melinda and mother were nowhere in sight and neither was Anna.
“Something’s not right, Marissa.” I told my Scribt. “Why hasn’t anyone arrived yet? Mother and Melinda aside, Anna seemed too eager to be with Lance, she should have come here by now.”
“Really, Ace?” Marissa shook her head at me. “When she wanted to follow us here, you didn’t let her, and now you’re concerned?”
“My brother had just been seriously injured by Anna’s father, Marissa. How could you have expected me to behave rationally? And as much as I might be angry at her for not leaving the room, I don’t trust her with those two women.”
“Ace, why didn’t you leave the room?” Marissa asked. “You could’ve gotten out faster, gotten help for Lance, but you didn’t. Why?”
“Are you kidding me?” I snapped. “My brother was in there! How could I have just left him?”
“Exactly.” Was all she said, bringing me to a sudden realization.
I stayed behind because I was worried for my brother, because despite our differences, I loved him, I’d do anything for him. Anaya stayed back for the same reason. Although her love for Lance was different, she loves him nonetheless and that was why she couldn’t leave him behind.
“Marissa, stay here.” I ordered. “There’s someone I need to inform about the situation.”
Anaya’s P.O.V:
Their moans and groans grew louder as I watched the red orbs move towards me slowly, the sound of their voices enough to bring me to tears. For the first time, I was afraid of the light that my pendent was emitting because it made me stand out like a beacon. What were these creatures? And how were they moving on these sharp surfaces? The rocks looked dangerously sharp but these creatures seemed to have no problem crawling over to me.
I felt a slight rumble in the ground as the neared, as if the ground itself was repulsed by their presence. Something scuttled past my leg at that instant, something slimy and scaly at the same time and my skin burned at the point of contact. I screamed, unable to hold in my cries as my skin scorched like it had been dipped in concentrated acid. By the time I realized that I’d let the enemy in on my exact location, it was already too late. I didn’t know how they saw me, but their pace increased as did the rumble beneath my feet.
Just when the red orbs had moved dangerously close to me, blocking my exit from all directions, something fell in front of me that had the ground rumble so hard that it knocked me off my feet. I fell to the ground, thankful for the fluffy material of the gown that took most of the hit, but my hands came in contact with the rocks and they instantly sliced through my skin, drawing blood. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out loud. It didn’t matter how much pain I was in, I couldn’t give away my location to the newest member who was far too close for comfort. But before I could back away from my attacker, something grabbed a hold of my hand and hauled me to my feet. Strangely, they felt like hands; normal human hands that didn’t burn my skin on contact or draw blood.
I looked up at the figure in front of me and for a second, the beauty of the eyes that were looking back at me, struck me. Amethyst with a hint of grey and blue. They were human eyes, unlike the red orbs of the creatures that were surrounding me. Hope bloomed in my chest. I wasn’t alone. Someone was here with me, someone human!
But then those hands pushed me away and the creature turned to face the others. I don’t know what happened next but the moaning and groaning sounds increased in crescendo until they were like screams coming from all directions.
“Run!”
There was no doubt about it, the sound had definitely come from the amethyst-eyed creature and it sounded more human than anything I’ve heard from this world.
“Run!”
It repeated, this time, turning its unique eyes towards me. The light from the pendent wasn’t enough to show me who it was, but I could distinctly shape out a human like outline of a person. But right then, I didn’t have any other choice. If I stayed, the red-orbed creatures would kill us both, and I did not want to die today. So I did exactly what the voice told me to do.
I ran.