Hello all, here's another chapter. I think I mentioned once before this story will turn into a crossover at one point, and this chapter is supposed to reveal a little bit about the main crossover. There might be more than one, though. On a personal note, the reason I'm updating so slow is because I'm having some personal issues to deal with, which has made my very cynical about the subject of love and reluctant to write anything other than angsty stories. So yeah, feedback is very welcome.


Daphne

I am in a darkened room, sitting on a table. I have been here before and a familiar mix of spices fills my senses. There are other people present, but I cannot see them. There is a tightening feeling in my chest. A binding feeling, restricting me to feel anything, sense anything. All I can do is stay in my place.

Slowly, the veil of darkness pulls away and the room becomes more clear to me, although the entire scene feels as if I am looking through a veil of red and black. I'm in some kind of cellar, there are no windows. Candles light up the room, which is filled with closets and cabinets full of jars. In the centre of the room is another table full of clutter. Next to that, a cooking station with a large pot sitting on the fire. There is a figure standing next to it, stirring the pot every once in a while. I can't tell if it's a man or a woman and its face is obscured by a red cloak. The room smells of burning wood and different kinds of herbs that I can't quite place just yet, even though I am sure I've smelled them before. There was also another smell that's protruding through the burning spices. Something terrible that is being masked: a smell of decay, of rotting flesh...

Suddenly, there is a disturbance in the hallway. The cloaked figure turns towards the door as it flies open. Another figure rushes into the room: a young woman, or a girl even. She is small and has long blond hair. She is followed by another figure: a man, tall, broad-shouldered and dressed in all black. As soon as the duo spots the figure in the red cloak, they seem very determined. The girl walks straight towards them and pushes them toward one of the cabinets. This starts a struggle and the duo start fighting the mysterious figure.

Meanwhile, I spot a third figure baring a torch in the hallway. He is waving it around frantically, obviously trying to contain something that was trying to enter the room. The stench is protruding the air more strongly now. The duo is on the winning hand and something tells me that this is a good thing. The cloaked figure falls down to the floor and their attention shifts for a moment and they look each other in the eye, as if distracted by each other. Suddenly the figure jumps up and runs toward the table I am sitting! My heart seems to stop in its tracks, but all they do is grab something off the table and turn towards the duo again.

They look at them in horror as they manipulate the thing they grabbed off the table, and a second later the girl falls to the floor. The tall man doesn't hesitate for a second: he punches the cloaked figure in their face and quickly grabs the item from their hands. I see him tearing the item apart, or rather extracting something from it in a frantic rage. He immediately turns to tend to the girl. He holds her tight, as if she is the most precious thing on earth. It is clear to me that the two share a special bond, though its nature is unclear to me. She slowly regains consciousness.

Meanwhile the cloaked figure has used the distraction to grab some of the clutter from the table and now makes a beeline for the exit, knocking over the third figure in its process. The girl points at the door, but the tall man seems reluctant. "Just go!" I read her lips and the tall man stands up and runs after the cloaked stranger. The third figure with the torch is being forced back and stumbles through the door, trying to hold back his following. Even though my hearing sounds muffled, I hear dreadful screams coming from the hallway. The stench worsens by the second. The girl has gotten up and takes the torch from her new companion and starts to fight off whatever is following them.

The companion runs towards my table, but again, something tells me that he is not to be feared. I can see him more clearly now: It's a man, in his 40's maybe. He wears glasses and, is that a tweed jacket? He seems to look at me worriedly and picks me up, together with the people I have been sharing the table with. I suddenly realize I must have shrunk.

He yells something at the girl, who is still fighting off their attackers. She runs over to him, after which they all start following her into the room. A terrible dread fills my senses...They are people, but there is something horribly wrong with them. I don't feel anything when looking at them. They reflect nothing, absolutely nothing as they turn towards me. No personality whatsoever. Moreover, something is off about the way they move. And about the way they look...I want to get out of here...I can't move and I want to get out! Please let the nice people take me away!

..and then there's another noise. I look in terror as the girl starts setting things on fire with the torch. The clutter, the cabinets, she is setting it all aflame. The fire spreads quickly... What will become of us now? Will this save us?

No such luck, I'm afraid: the unreadable ones walk straight through it!

The girl and the man jump to the side just in time to avoid their grabbing hands and speed towards the exit. Behind me, I see the flames burning up and I hear the collective moaning of the attackers. One voice. Many, sounding as one single voice. There is no pain in them, no fear, I hear just the mumbling of dead voices and the crackling of the flames.

As we exit the building, the man grabs me. His polite, bespectacled face looks at me bemused. He then grabs something that's right in front of me, something I did not see before. The tightness in my chest suddenly dissolves. My binds are suddenly gone..

All that surrounds me seems to disappear and as I look into the nothing, I suddenly see two other eyes, looking at me curiously, lovingly. They are blue and sparkle as soon as they notice me. As they notice I'm back. The eyes float towards me and I begin seeing the contours of a face. A face that I know very well. Its smile is so full of love, of devotion...

And that is when I wake up.

TBC