Chapter 17-Kidnapped
I had the dream again. The one that I prayed everyday would never come back. I’m surrounded by darkness, only this time I’m touching something solid. It doesn’t exactly look like ground because everything is a dull grey and close to pitch black, but not. I know my feet are touching something which means I can walk. I break off into a jog headed forward which is about the only way I can go. I pushed on for what felt like hours and then started to slow down thinking maybe I should just sit and wait. I plopped down and closed my eyes concentrating on breathing in and out, listening carefully to what was going on around me. Nothing but silence and then a whisper causing my eyes to fly open.
Zilla was in front of me with her hands tied behind her back. Her face was swollen and bruised. Blood was seeping out of a gash on her forehead. I stood up, trying to take her arms so I could undo the rope, but my hand went right through her. I tried to make eye contact, but couldn’t because her pupils were glazed over. Instinctively I tried to grab at her again, but my hand zipped through once more. I panicked, trying desperately to reach her. I jumped up and down, waving my hand in front of her face, but nothing seemed to register.
I walked around behind her finally noticing a grayish light glowing near her wrists. A bracelet was clasped firmly there, digging into her skin with droplets of blood running down and spattering into the blackness. The bracelet looked similar to a spider, but made out of metal. It had 6 long leg-like things that wrapped around and bit into her flesh. In the very center, where a spider’s body would be, was a small and shimmery, oval-shaped, turquoise colored smooth stone. It glowed so brightly that it made my eyes water just looking at it. I closed my eyes and reached out to touch it, but my hand met dead air again. When I opened my eyes, Zilla had disappeared. A knot of anxiety formed in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to scream out for her and call her back. I flopped down on the ground with my head in my hands and sobbed. What was happening? This was just a dream that I couldn’t wake up from and yet it felt so real.
I was so immersed in my own thoughts that I flinched when I felt a hand on my shoulder and sprang into action. I rolled forward, whipped around and kicked out with my right foot as hard as I could. Someone grabbed me at the ankle and yanked me forward causing me to stumble into their awaiting arms. I tried to squirm loose, but a voice said, “Settle down. I usually like it when you’re feisty, but if you want me to help you then you’re going to have to take a chill pill.”
The voice that spoke was all too familiar and I didn’t know whether to run or to sigh in relief. “How did you get in my dream?” I asked Cole trying not to look as agitated as I felt. Had these dreams been because of him? They had to be. That morning I woke up from a terrible nightmare I saw him as an orb hovering near my bed.
“It’s not what you think,” he said defensively. “This time I’m only here to help and I don’t actually make the dreams, Thanatos does.”
I blanched. “How?”
“It’s not something I can talk about now. If we don’t move quickly he will realize I’m here helping you and who knows what he might do.”
I stood my ground as he tried to pull me along, “I don’t want your help.”
He sighed in frustration. “Yes you do, or you might not get out of here alive.”
“I’ll just wake up,” I said proudly. “No matter what he does in here it won’t matter because my body will just wake me up.”
He snorted. “You’re so naïve. You won’t wake up Callie, trust me. If he kills you in here that’s it, end of story. Your brain controls your body and if he destroys that then it’s over.” His explanation was logical, but part of me still wanted to be stubborn and stand my ground.
The sane part that thought about not being able to see my family again won over. “Okay,” I said reluctantly, “what do we do now?”
“Follow me,” he said taking my hand and pulling me along. I tried to keep up with him, but I kept stumbling and dragging us down. “Over here,” he said swerving to the right. A little ways down light filtered through a set of double doors and I immediately felt reassured. Everything was going to be okay. All of a sudden, the doors blinked out of existence and a man’s loud bellowing laughter erupted all around us.
“You didn’t think I’d let you get away that easy did you?” he asked venom seeping through every word.
Cole turned to me suddenly afraid. “If he can’t turn you, he will kill you instead. You have to wake up now.”
“I don’t know how,” I said fear pummeling me.
He began shaking me. “Wake up Callie! Wake up!” I felt like someone threw me in a dryer on tumble.
“Stop,” I said pushing him back, “I can’t just wake up like that, it won’t work.”
“Yes you can,” he said frustrated, “just concentrate.”
“Fine,” I said standing still and closing my eyes. I tried to imagine myself at home waking up and getting ready for school. I had to wake up, I needed to wake up or something terrible might happen. I’d never be able to see my family or friends again. The next thing I know my feet are wet and water is rapidly snaking around our legs. Cole looked terrified as he pulled me close and clung to me, the water rushing in all around us. It was murky black and smelled terribly foul as it lapped at our skin. I tried desperately to wake up again, but it just wouldn’t happen. The water reached our chests and we had to start swimming. It was gaining ground on us as we tried to stay afloat and hold on to each other. When our heads bumped something near the top we both panicked. I reached up trying to feel around, but all I came up with was wall. We were abysmally trapped, like fish in a tank.
Cole looked at me with such longing that I wished I’d never known what he’d tried to do to me. Regardless, I knew this might be my last chance to ever do this so I pulled him close my lips searching for his in the dimness. His intensity matched my own and when he let go he said, “I love you.”
What harm could it do me now? “I love you too.”
He eyes widened a coy smile playing on his lips and then he yelled, “Wake up!” When nothing happened he yanked me under the water, my arms and legs flailing around trying to kick back up to the surface. I gulped in a giant breath of the putrid liquid and my lungs burning with an icy chill. I stopped struggling. I closed my eyes focused on getting home while simultaneously sinking to who knows where and I immediately woke up gasping for air and choking.
My parents rushed over to the bed and started checking me out. “Are you okay?” my father asked. I was struggled to breathe, feeling like I still had a lung full of water. “I am now,” I sputtered. Cole had been trying to save my life, but he also could have killed me. What was he thinking? “What happened?” I asked trying to remember where I was before all of this.
“You were going upstairs to get some clothes and you just started shaking like you were having a seizure and then fell on the ground,” she said.
“We didn’t think you were going to wake up,” he said through tears. I let them pull me close as my thoughts wandered. I remembered the terrible pain my body felt before I passed out. What was that? Had Thanatos done that to get me into that vivid dream? Was it a dream? It had felt so real I couldn’t tell the difference. What about Zilla, I thought slightly freaking out. That thing on her wrist had something to do with her acting so out of it, but I wonder what it was and how did she end up in my dream too? She wasn’t real like Cole. I could taste, touch and feel him, but not Zilla. I glanced at the clock and realized it was late, really late. Zilla should have been here by now to pick me up. Maybe she got stuck helping Locke? I needed to call her and make sure everything was okay, but first I had to assure the parental unit that I was fine. I gave them both a kiss on the cheek and tried to sit up.
My mother pushed me back gently onto the bed. “Not yet,” she said sternly, “you need to rest. If this has something to do with your powers then we wil
l get this figured out.” I couldn’t tell her that this had more to do with her arch enemy and less to do with my unusual talents or she’d get suspicious and we wouldn’t be able to set out on our mission. I wondered if Draven was here somewhere, I needed to talk to him as soon as I checked on Zilla.
“Don’t worry,” I said trying to sit up again, “I feel fine now.”
Both of my parents eyed me carefully, but didn’t say anything. “Really,” I said trying to break the tension, “it was probably just an allergic reaction to something I ate at the party. Or maybe it was all of the stress from today sinking in. I promise it will be fine.”
“You’re not leaving this bed,” my mother said, her tone edgy.
“I won’t,” I said putting my hands in the air faking surrender. “I will stay in bed if you two give me a minute to breathe.”
They looked at each other and seemed to come to a silent agreement. “Okay,” they both said in unison. “We are just down the hall if you need anything,” dad confirmed.
“Thanks,” I said taking their hands and squeezing. “I’m just going to rest.” With that they both got up and unenthusiastically left the room.
Draven appeared by the bed almost instantly scooting close and touching my cheek lightly with his hand. “You’re okay?” he asked questioningly.
“As okay as I’ll ever be,” I said trying to lighten the mood. He didn’t laugh. “Sorry, probably not a great joke.”
He smiled a little though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m just glad you’re fine, but tell me what happened.”
I relayed as much of the nightmare as I could visualize, including the part about Zilla and the weird bracelet on her wrist. He listened intently his eyes widening a few times, but never interrupting me.
“What do you think it means?” I asked him trying to sound casual. All of it really bothered me, but I didn’t want to feel like such a wimp anymore.
“Well, I think we might have a problem,” he said scooting close and placing his hand on the small of my back. I leaned in take a deep breath, his heady fresh scent easing the tension coiling up inside of me. He noticed how close I had gotten and tried to pull away. I grabbed his hand and held him there.
“Don’t. I need some comfort right now, please,” I said giving him my sad puppy face. I knew he was longing to do more than just put his arm around me, but he was holding back. If this was as close to him as I was ever going to get, I’d take it. He didn’t say anything, just nodded and readjusted himself edging a little closer and taking me into his arms.
“What kind of problem would you say we have?”
“If Cole was in your dream then that means Zilla was more than just an image. Either you were seeing something from the future or you were seeing something from the past.”
“Like a vision?” I asked confused.
“Sort of,” he said fumbling for words “it’s more like a connection to someone. If you’re that strongly entwined with anyone you’ll be able to get glimpses of things about that person, good or bad.”
“Do you think something is happening to her or maybe already happened?” I glanced at the clock. “Something’s definitely wrong, look at the time! Zilla should have been here hours ago and there’s still no sign of her.”
“You’re right,” he said contemplating, “you need to give her a call.”
I was reluctant to move from the comfort of his arms, but I said, “Can you grab my cell for me?”
He strode across the room and plucked it of the desk just as it went off. He glanced at the screen then back up at me trying to play it off like he didn’t snoop, but the way he briefly looked angry I knew it had to be Cole. Not that he should have a reason to be angry, if he wasn’t going to make a move he couldn’t blame someone else for taking an interest. He plopped back down next to me and handed me the phone. I checked my messages and sure enough, it was him. The message read: If you’re reading this it’s because you’re alive and I’m glad you’re safe. I love you! I’ll never forget you telling me you love me too so there’s no use trying to deny it. When can I see you?”
I hesitated before responding. I was torn. Yes I loved him, but it felt like we barely knew each other and it didn’t help that I still resented him for everything he had done to me so far. Then there was Draven who was watching me with such admiration that it made my breath catch in my throat. He was too proud to admit it or say anything to me, but there was something between us and we both knew it. I just couldn’t make a decision right now and the last thing I wanted to do was keep leading him on so I replied: I can’t right now. I wish that I could, but I have some important things to take care of first. Don’t call me, I’ll call you.
I checked my caller id and messages for anything from Zilla, but found nothing. I punched in her number and put the receiver up to my ear. It rang a few times before her voicemail picked up. “No answer,” I told him ending the call. “Maybe she’s still with Locke, I should try him too.” He nodded in agreement. He picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Locke, thank gosh, I was worried you weren’t going to answer either. Is Zilla with you?”
He paused for a moment. “No, I thought she was with you? She left my house a couple hours ago on her way to yours.” A creeping feeling niggled its way throughout my body, this was not good.
“She’s not here,” I said shaking my head, goose bumps spreading along my arms. Maybe she went back to her house for more supplies? Doubtful, but it was the last option I could think of. “I’m sure she’s just at her house picking up a few things,” I said trying to sound reassuring “I’ll give her a call over there, no worries. Thanks Locke.”
He didn’t sound convinced, but said, “Okay, call me once you find her. Bye.”
“Bye,” I said hanging up. I tried Zilla’s house, but her mother said she was at Locke’s and hadn’t seen her. I knew something was wrong, even if she had decided to detour somewhere else, she would have called to let me know.
“What now?” I asked Draven, unease settling in the pit of my stomach. If anything happened to her I might as well just let Thanatos have me, I couldn’t go on without her.
“I have an idea,” he said searching around my room.
“What are you looking for?”
“The book,” he said flustered. “There might be something in there we can use to find her.”
“Like a locating spell?” That would be wild to see, but definitely worth a shot. “I think my mom shoved it under the bed,” I said pointing.
Viale came out of the closet as Draven was rustling around, his hungry eyes made my head spin. Was it that time again already? It couldn’t be. He gave me a knowing smile and beckoned me forward. I grudgingly slipped off the bed and dragged a chair over to where he was standing. I slumped down and extended my wrist, cringing in anticipation of the excruciating pain I was about to feel. This time he came at me with a vengeance and I stifled a scream knowing my parents would walk in at the most inopportune time. It felt like someone was ripping and clawing the flesh away from my skin, bleeding me dry. Tears started falling down my cheek and when I whimpered softly Draven finally realized what was happening. He looked severely pissed off and came over to stand next to me protectively, the book dangling from his slender fingers. My eyes started to flutter and Draven tapped Viale a little roughly on the shoulder. “Enough.”
They exchanged glares, but Viale smirked and let go remaining by my side to lick his lips and fingers in front of me just trying to savor every drop. I felt like I was going to be sick. He reached out and brushed his gnarly finger down my arm. “You have no idea how wonderful you taste.”
“You better savor it,” I said trying to stay awake, “because after this is over you’ll be getting no more.”
He grinned wickedly. “He didn’t tell you yet, did he?”
All the color drained from my face, “Tell me what?” I had completely f
orgotten about the previous incident where Draven told me he would tell me about the “consequences” later. Draven looked like he wanted to reach out and slice Viale’s head off, but stood his ground.
His tone turned serious. “I haven’t had a chance to tell her yet with everything else going on.”
“Tell me now,” I said feeling frustrated and scared. Draven lifted me up and carried me over to the bed, gently sitting me down and covering me up. He lay down next to me and started flipping through the book. Viale went back into the closet his knowing smirk the last thing I saw before he shut the door.
“Tell me,” I said poking him in the chest. He tried to avoid the question, but I persisted.
“I told you there were consequences,” he said solemnly.
“I know, but you didn’t tell me what.”
“That’s because you didn’t give me a chance before you just went ahead and volunteered yourself.”
“Well, I’m listening now.”
“It’s already past the point of no return.”
“I realize that, but I still need to know.”
He sighed. “When Viale had that first taste of blood it bound your oath. You may have thought it would only last until we were done figuring this mess out, but in reality you’re bound forever.”
My head started spinning. “As in I’ll have to give him blood for the rest of my life?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t there some way to get out of it?”
“There are only two ways to break the bond. One is by death and the other is by making a blood bond with someone else which would cancel out the first one.”
“No biggie,” I said shrugging my shoulders. “As soon as we find Zilla I’ll figure out a way for it to be her instead.”
He sighed. “You’re not getting my meaning, let me try this again. The only way to break the bond is by having another vampire break the first one. Keyword here is vampire and unfortunately, Zilla is not one.”
My heart beat faster as the weight of his words sank in. I would have to be bound to Viale forever or kill him. Killing him seemed a likely option, but I couldn’t yet, I still needed him to help us get to Circe. Not to mention, I wasn’t a cold blooded killer, it would be difficult for me to pull off the task, but maybe I could have someone else do it for me.
Draven gave me a knowing glance and shook his head. “You’d have to be the one to do it. If Viale get’s killed by anyone else but you, then you’re bound to his next of kin and so on until you yourself have left this world.”
I sunk farther in the bed trying to fight the tears welling up and pulled the covers over my head, this day was getting worse by the minute. When would this madness end? I just wanted a normal life, but something told me that was never going to happen.
“So, what else comes along with this “bond”?” I asked.
“Not much, except that Viale can feel what you’re feeling at all times. Although directly after a feeding the sensation is more intense.”
“Great,” I said ashamed, “It was bad enough for him to take my blood, but now for him to have my feelings too, that’s almost unbearable.”
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.
I sat there wallowing in my own pity trying desperately to think of a way out of the horrible mess I was in while Draven flipped through the book. He stopped abruptly and shifted over so I could see what he was pointing to. “This looks like it might be the one,” he said tapping the page. The title read “Per individuare un amato.”
“What’s it mean?” I asked curiously.
“It means “To Locate a Loved One”. It’s about as close to what we need as I could find. Fuoco brucia e inizia nuovamente, aiutarmi a trovare il mio amato uno vero. It means “fire burns and starts anew, help me find my loved one true”.”
“Sounds sorta cheesy, but easy enough,” I said getting out of bed, “let’s give it a go.” I still felt a little dizzy from the blood loss, but centered myself in the middle of the room, carefully avoiding anything I could set on fire if something were to go awry and memorized the chant. I closed my eyes and concentrated on fire. The way it danced in, around and on my skin like a second layer of protection on a body that sometimes felt like it wasn’t my own. I knew when it was time to start chanting because a deep calming heat washed over me. It started out slow and then as it intensified, so did my words.
My head flew back and my eyes flashed open, but I wasn’t in my room, I was somewhere else entirely. Smack dab in the middle of a place that was completely unfamiliar to me. The walls were stained brown with streaks of red; almost like someone had taken a paint can filled with blood and splashed it everywhere. I looked around trying to move, but realized I was sitting in a chair, my hands tied behind my back and my feet chained to the legs. I glanced down trying to figure out a way to break free and noticed that they weren’t my feet at all, they were Zilla’s.
A terrifying realization dawned on me, I was seeing Zilla and wherever she was, she was in deep trouble. I didn’t know how long the spell would last so I tried to take in every detail I could. All along the walls were a bunch of tables with some sort of cloth-like material. There were wooden bowls and vials full of weird items. One of the vials looked like it had eyeballs in it. This must be Circe’s. Just as I thought it she appeared before me out of thin air. I panicked, my pulse raced and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My heart wanted to stop beating at the sight of her. She was short and scraggly with wiry salt and pepper speckled hair. She had a crooked nose and broken yellow teeth that had seen better days. She wore a silver robe that was clasped in the front with some sort of stone. I froze. It looked similar to the one I saw in my dream of Zilla. I tried to move my, or rather Zilla’s wrists and felt something dig farther into the skin, the bracelet. I gasped. She folded her hands together and walked towards me/Zilla taking her time and gazing at us intently. She leaned forward and looked directly into my/Zilla’s eyes.
When she spoke her voice sent shivers up and down my spine. “If you ever want to see your precious friend alive again then you better get here as fast as you can.” She threw her head back and cackled the most earth-shattering high pitched laugh, then extended a long wrinkled hand out and touched my/Zilla’s forehead pushing so hard I felt like my/her head would fall off.
I was immediately jolted backwards, out of Zilla’s body and back into my room, landing with a thunderous boom on the floor. It felt like someone had blasted a cannonball at me. I shivered. She knew I was there, her words were directed at me. The pieces started to fit together and nausea threatened to overtake me. She took Zilla because of me. I wanted to cry and run to Circe throwing up my hands up in surrender if she’d only let her go. This was my entire fault, just like everything else.
My head felt fuzzy and I just wanted to drift off to sleep, but Draven was shaking me, trying to get me to snap out of it. “Stop,” I said gently placing a hand on his chest. He bunched me up in his arms and clung to me.
“What happened?” he asked brushing a strand of hair off my cheek. Silent tears started falling and he pulled me in closer trying to comfort me, but there would be no comfort today. I was about to embark on the most dangerous mission to not only save my best friend, but to kill the witch who was trying to do me in first. After a few minutes of silence I relayed the story, everything from me being inside Zilla’s body to the fact that Circe knew I was there and the warning she gave me. Draven looked serenely calm through all the details and didn’t and waited until I was done before he started grilling me. Once he seemed satisfied with my answers he said, “What now?”
I reached up and put my hand to his face. “We leave. We can’t procrastinate any longer, not with Zilla’s life on the line.” I wished I could have stayed in his arms forever, but I had to get up and get started. Who knew how long it would take to get there and we couldn’t waste anymore time.
“Right,” he said helping me up.
I started towards the closet to grab my bags when Draven grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him. He looked at me with such longing that I scarcely knew how to breathe.
His hand snaked around my neck as he stepped in closer, his soft lips urgently seeking mine. I felt my body melting with his and I wrapped my arms around him, loving the feel of him this close to me. He was like a breath of fresh air in my excessively stuffy life. Eventually he pulled back and smiled. I blushed, wondering what he was thinking. It took him a minute to realize what just transpired, but then he got a faraway look and said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
I felt hurt that he could even say that after how passionate our kiss was. Couldn’t he feel what I did when we were that close? It was as if our two souls clicked into place and we became one. We were a whole of two halves. I wouldn’t let him get off that easy. “I’m not,” I said standing my ground. “I liked it and I won’t apologize for that, you shouldn’t either.”
He eyed me warily. “I never said I disliked it. I said I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Sounds the same to me, tomato, tamato.”
He tried not to crack a smile, but failed. “Very funny. I’m serious though, I shouldn’t be leading you on. We can’t be together. I’ve told you that before. I have to leave after this.”
“Not without me you’re not.”
His eyes widened. “No way.”
“Yes way. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m going to help you. A promise is a promise.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not, it’s too dangerous.”
“Too bad. Either I go with you or I go on my own, but regardless, I’m still going.”
“Well just have to see about that.”
“Yeah, we will. Now, if you don’t mind, we need to get going. Viale, it’s time.”
He came slithering out of the closet his familiar wicked grin set in place. I shivered. “Grab your bags, it’s time to hit the old bunny trail.”
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