Chapter 6

We all waited patiently for my father to wake up. I had Dana in my arms, nestled in a chair. My father groaned as he slowly pulled himself up from the ground. I could feel
Dana tense up as he moved across the room to my mother. He let out another groan as his head fell onto her shoulder.

"Well, that's what you get for messing with a very hormonal woman," she snorted.

My father glared at Dana from where he was. Dana narrowed her eyes as she gently pulled herself away from me.

"Dana," I warned. "You need to rest."

"Darrin, let me worry about me," she replied.

"But now you have to worry about 3 other people as well," I told her coming up from behind her and rubbing her stomach gently.

Dana hung her head in defeat as she placed a hand over mine. We turned our eyes back to my father who was still glaring.

"You little bitch!!" he hissed.

My mother reached up and whacked him in the back of the head. My father growled only to receive a snarl from my mother. My father may be tough, but it was my mother everyone really feared.

"Don't yell at her!!" she roared. "She's in a very delicate state right now."

"She didn't seem delicate when she head butted me in the stomach!!!" he growled.

Dana and I watched amused as my parents bickered. I heard Dana giggle as she got up from the chair, a hand placed on the small of her back. She gracefully walked over to my parents. They both looked at her with matching glares.

"I want to know what's going on here," Dana said sighing as she did.

My father stepped closer towards Dana, an evil glint in his eyes. I was by her side instantly, a growl ripping from deep within my throat. He retorted with a growl of his own. Dana and my mother hit both of us in unison.

"Please tell me what's going on?" Dana asked kindly.

My father sighed as he closed his eyes, regaining the control he lost.

"Whenever a member of the family plans on starting one of their own, we need for them to prove that they'll go to any lengths for their family," my father said calmly.

"And why did you have to kidnap me?" she asked peevishly.

"That was so we could get Darrin's attention," my mother answered.

"Well," Dana began, "what does he have to do again?"

"Darrin must travel to the Land of Lost Souls in order to gain permission from your birth parents," my father said dramatically. "Then and only then can he marry you."

"And if he fails you plan on killing me thus killing 3 innocent lives?" Dana asked sternly. "The lives of your grandchildren I might add."

My father let out a hiss breath as he ran a hand through his hair. Dana crossed her arms over her chest awaiting his response.

"Yes," he mumbled weakly.

"Uh-huh," she said.

An eerie silence settled over the room as Dana held my father's gaze. He finally looked away and at the floor. I placed a hand on Dana's shoulder as she turned to face me.

"Your not really going through with this are you?" she asked me.

"I have to if I want to be with you…all of you," I answered rubbing her stomach gently. "I want nothing more than to be with you. I don't like my family but I will follow their wishes."

"What if you fail?" she asked fearfully.

"But I won't fail…I can't fail," I whispered pulling her closer. "Failure is not an option for me."

She sighed, burying her face in my chest. Dana might be a hellcat at times, but even a cat knows when to retract her claws. I looked at my father with pure and utter loathing. I walked away from Dana reluctantly and towards my father.

"I'll do what you want," I told him. "Just lead me to the right place and I'll be good to go."

We all stood in a barren wasteland outside of a dark, looming cave. Dana was nestled in my arms yet again as we peered into the cave. My father looked at me and pointed.

"In there is the way to the Land of Lost Souls," he told me. "Go in there and find Dana's parents, gain permission and come back."

"Sounds easy enough," I mumbled pulling away from my fiancée.

"You'd think that," my mother scoffed. "Don't let appearances fool you my son."

"Listen to your mother," my father said. "The pathway to the LOLS (A/N: that looks like what you do when texting "laugh out loud"!! Haha!!) is not meant for the living. You'll run into many dangers on your way. Such dangers include evil spirits searching for a body to take over, bottomless pits of fire and eternal suffering, ROUSes…"

"ROUSes?" Dana and I asked in unison.

"Rodents of unusual size," my father answered. (A/N: I couldn't resist. I love that line of The Princess Bride. If you've never seen that movie, go rent it now!!!!!)

"I see," Dana giggled.

I let out a long, shaky breath as I stepped into the cave. I looked back at my family and Dana.

My mother and father had the same expressionless face; my sister was poking at a spider trying to get away from the annoying girl; Davian and my grandfather both gave me a thumb's up.

Dana was the last person I looked at. Her expression was mournful as a tear slid down her cheek, her hand curled on her stomach.

"Be careful…I love you," she told me.

"I love you too," I answered.

With that, I turned and walked into the cave, allowing the darkness to swallow me whole. I wasn't sure but at that moment, I could hear the soft patter of feet following me through the dark.