Chapter 4: Seeing Him Again

Akkiko

"I want to see him again." Her words echoed through the nearly empty bedroom as she sat up. Why? Why did she want to see him? He had hurt her!

"Go ahead; you are my queen after all." She looked at Seth as he stepped into the room, walking on the emptiness beneath him. "I don't understand why, but women are always attracted to his world."

She looked at him and blinked. "What is his world?"

"It's a long story, maybe he'll tell you. I will warn you though; he is insane to the highest degree."

She stared at him for a minute before cautiously returning to the subject. "How do I get there?"

Seth smiled and stood up. "Same way you did before, just remember that he ahs never hurt anyone this much before."

She nodded as she touched her bruised cheek. Women were attracted to his world, or he was attracted to them? That kiss though, it had been so deep, so passionate. That was when she looked up suddenly. "Your queen?"

Seth smiled as he reached out to touch her face, but she flinched away which ignited a small flame in his eye. "Yes," he moved onto the bed. "Queen. MY queen."

She tried to back away from him but he clamped onto her wrists and stared her in the face savagely. "Seth," she whimpered as he pulled her onto his lap and pressed her as close to him as he could.

"You want to see him? Well go ahead!" His entire body twisted suddenly and he threw her off the bed into the darkness below.

She smacked into the dark lake and then the liquid rushed into her mouth, forcing its way down into her lungs until she felt she was going to choke. Then she hit the ground and took in a gasp of air. The sun beat down on her face, and the smell of flowers filled her nose again. The caress of grass touched her cheek. "Emily?"

She opened her eyes and saw him staring at her. He knelt down and gently touched her cheek where he had hit her before. "Oh Emily, what has he done to you?"

She was hit with fear suddenly and she sat up, moving away from him. "Get away from me!"

The man stood and frowned. "Emily, it's me, Drolse."

She growled at him. "I don't care who you are! Get away from me and leave me alone in peace!" She sprang to her feet and ran blindly into the enchanted land. The grass and the flowers filled the air with their perfume, but she didn't smell it. All she smelt was the river of death, the pain in the air, the stale air. Night began to fall and she blinked. It had only been mourning when she arrived.

She stopped when her lungs burned from the lack of air. She was in a forest, surrounded by trees and plants. Most would feel at ease, but this was a new place to her. She started to walk slowly through the trees and then came to a small metal pole that stuck up from the ground. There was a scroll attached to it and she read it slowly. "The thing which can demolish all things has no meaning here." She furrowed her eyebrows as she walked on carefully.

Her foot hit something and she heard glass breaking. She looked down and saw a clock, an old one at that, but it had no hands. She shrugged it off and continued. The riddle, she knew what it meant. Someone had told her this riddle before. "This thing all things devours, tree's plants and flowers.." She bit her lip and thought hard as she walked. "Time, time has no meaning here," she said almost triumphantly. She could stay in here forever if she desired, but she would be with him, that man who scared her more than anything.

She continued walking until she came to a small clearing. It was over grown with weeds, but she still managed to push through it. There was a box in the middle of it sitting on a stone. She fingered the oak finish and then the letters engraved in it. "Emily."

She undid the silver latches and swung the lid open. There was a backpack, knife, and a piece of paper in it. She looked at the paper, which had a letter written in old fashioned script.

My dear Emily, I'm so sorry to bring you into this, but Seth must be stopped. The voices are getting louder. I have left a trail for you to follow through this place; you need to help me stop him! Gather all the blue, gold and silver keys; you'll know what to do with them when the time comes. I don't know how much longer the others will allow me to stay out, so I have to

The writing stopped abruptly and became a childish scrawl.

You will die Emily!

She stared in horror at the note before grabbing the backpack and taking off at a dead run. She didn't know what to do except to pick up everything of significance. She finally slowed to a stop and looked foreword into the night. Before her stood a tall and haunted looking castle. There was one light lit, and there was a figure pacing back and forth in front of it.

She crept up to the castle and then heard him shouting, even though he was at least three stories p. "Stop talking to me! Leave me alone!"

His voice changed, becoming deeper and more menacing. "It's not Emily you fool! You've let her escape!"

There was a weaker, gentler voice that followed. "Maybe she'll free us, she seems smart."

"Shut up Daphne," was the biting reply from another voice.

Then the original voice replaced it all. "Leave me alone! All of you!"

She stared up at the window. There was only one person in there, that meant that he was... she shook her head. No. Not possible. That was when a flash caught her eye. She turned to see what it was and saw a silver key hanging from a string on a brick. She walked over to it and snatched it, stuffing it in the backpack and walking foreword. The only way to get back to the shadow world she knew was to solve this puzzle.

Index