AN: Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry for the wait. I've been trying to get my grades up in school. I am currently writing a Nicercy/Percico fanfiction as well as a HiJack fanfiction. I don't know when they'll be done. Chapter Eleven will be up as soon as possible. Once again, Thank you to RogueMudblood for re-writing a couple of things.
Disclaimer: Nope don't own it.
Ok I'm done with my rant. ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER.
-Z out.
I groaned and opened my eyes, looking around. It was dark so I couldn't see much. From what little I could see, it appeared to be a closed room. The lack of light made me think there weren't any windows. I was in a bed made completely out of metal. The pillow and blanket, stiff as a board. I tried to stand up but something stopped me. I realized my feet were shackled and my hands were tied behind my back. I tried pushing myself up on my elbows but managed to slip against the polished surface. My head thunked heavily against the metal as I landed on my back once more.
"Where am I?" My voice sounded scratchy to my ears. I wanted a glass of water, but I figured it would be a while before anyone bothered coming to check on me. Because I'd expected no one would be hanging about in this darkness, the voice that came from somewhere behind my head made me jump.
"Some place where the Guardians will never find you." I'd only ever heard his voice a handful of times, but not a single spirit on this Earth could ever forget Pitch Black. "Lillian was right." His voice was filled with sadistic mirth. It moved about the room, even though there didn't seem to be any change in the blackness surrounding me. "You are a pathetic little girl." I could hear his hands touch the chains attached to my feet and shuddered. He gave a hollow laugh. "I doubt the Guardians even care to look for you." His words felt like a knife cutting into my heart, carving out the deepest, most secret part of my soul. And I couldn't help but think that he might have been right. He smirked, leaning in close enough to me that I could see his face, his pale features forming in the darkness like white smoke. "You shouldn't have been chosen." He disappeared as quickly as he'd come.
"Maybe he's right." I felt the tears welling up in my throat and swallowed against the lump in my throat. "Maybe they don't care." My voice was no more than a whisper, but it seemed to echo loudly in the empty room. I finally let the tears loose, feeling them roll silently from the corner of each eye, sliding down the side of my face into my ear lobes. I lay there, wallowing in my self-pity and desolation, sobbing silently until the world faded completely again.
It didn't feel like much time had passed when I heard the next voice. I shuddered, shivering against a cold I could no longer feel before I recognized the voice I was hearing. I tried to rouse myself as, to force myself awake as Jack continued to call to me.
'Eve, if you can hear me, say I love you!' I smiled. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming – if I was even capable of that after running into Pitch, but I decided there couldn't be in any harm in answering him anyway.
'I love you, Jack.' Despite my hope that he was real, and could hear me, I couldn't really muster enough energy to do more than think the words back at him.
'Oh, Eve!' Jack's sigh of relief sounded more clearly. The realization that he was still talking to me – that he was responding, had me forcing myself awake. 'Thank goodness! I thought we'd lost you. Are you alright?'
'Jack, I'm fine.' My mental voice was a little breathier than I would have liked under normal circumstances. But, these weren't normal. 'I just don't know where I am.'
'We're coming to find you.' I could almost see the determined look that would be on his face. It brought a smile to my lips that the sound of footsteps echoing on the floor quickly wiped away.
'No.' I physically shook my head, despite knowing he couldn't see it. 'I don't want you getting hurt.' I let a silence stretch between us for a moment. It was possible this would simply urge him into further action. 'I know that I'm not alone. Pitch paid me a visit.'
'Pitch?' Both worry and resolve were present in his mental voice. I didn't say anything else as I heard the footsteps coming closer to my cell. They stopped in front of my door. My vision had cleared from earlier, and though I could make out more of the room, I still wasn't able to see much. Not until the covered window in the door slid open. The golden eyes stared in at me as I heard the bolt being unlatched, dancing with a promise of pain. The door opened creaking on its hinges.
Dark magic gripped me, holding me still as Pitch loosened the shackles on my feet. He walked out of the room, seeming confident that I would follow him without question. When I just thought about running in the other direction, the ropes that tied my hands together rubbed painfully against my wrists, turning them red. I felt something nudging me in the middle of my back, and turned to look back at it. A nightmare stood behind me, pushing me with its snout. It guided me out of my cell and into another room. Though it too was dark, I could clearly see a globe, like the one at the North Pole. It stood in the corner opposite the door, reflecting the belief of the children. The lights on the globe were flickering.
Suddenly, my perspective changed drastically. Pushed to the ground at someone's feet, I found myself eye level with the pouf of a pink tulle dress.
"Hello, Eve, darling." The sweetness in the voice was sickening. I couldn't help but be shocked that it wasn't Lillian's voice greeting me. Tilting my head backward, I lifted my gaze upward, locking eyes with her.
"Cashlin." It should have bothered me more that I wasn't surprised to find her there. She smirked as she helped me to my feet.
"I have been waiting for you." I narrowed my eyes at her. Her voice sickened me. I fought the bile rising in my throat. I wasn't sure that spirits could wretch, but I had no doubt that if she continued to talk that way, I would be the first to find out.
"What do you want?" My voice was laced with the bitterness I felt coursing through me. She took hold of my face, pulling it closer as though to take a better look at me.
"My mirror was right. You are beautiful." She could not have sounded more disgusted if she had tried. "No wonder he dubbed you the most beautiful spirit." She threw me violently away. Letting my muscles fall limp, I dropped back to the ground. Her fingers sifted into my hair, pulling the strands tightly and forcing my head back. My mouth fell open reflexively, though I refused to let her hear me cry out. "There's a reason I'm the spirit of Jealousy and Vanity." She was just far enough away from me that spittle dropped from her lip as she spoke, falling down on my cheek.
Her grip fell lax immediately as another set of footsteps sounded behind me. Her fingers were caught up tightly in my hair, causing her to tear the strands violently from my scalp as she wrenched herself free. "Cashlin." The steps stopped immediately behind me. "What are you doing here?" Lilian's hands reached under my arms, pulling me roughly to my feet.
"Why, I'm teaching Eve a little lesson about taking someone else's spotlight." Cashlin's voice was full of false innocence as she answered Lillian.
"She is none of your concern!" Lilian glared at her, her voice a violent hiss. Cashlin scoffed.
"Be careful, my dear." She turned on her heel, making her way to the door. The trickle of light that made its way into the room was blocked quickly by her body. Her shadow seemed to loom impossibly large as she stood in the doorway. "You never know when you'll need a helping hand. It's not wise to bite every hand that comes to your aid." I could barely make out the smirk on her face as she turned and left.
Walking around to face me, Lillian looked at me with resignation. I could see clearly that there was no hatred in her eyes. It had been replaced by sadness.
I didn't want to feel sorry for her, though. I looked away from her, searching for anything to say that would derail the train my thoughts were taking. "How do you know Cashlin?"
I'd hoped to seize on the irritation she felt for the other woman. Instead, she continued to regard me with that same sadness. "I was another of her victims." My eyes narrowed a bit at the word 'another'. Was she trying to tell me something about my own past? "I also knew her in her past life. She was a queen who was very jealous of many of the ladies in her kingdom. She wanted to be the most beautiful." She'd been pacing as she spoke, and suddenly stopped. The knife she pulled out from the sheath hidden in her hair made me flinch. I tried to back away when she reached for me, but she only scoffed, forcefully turning me away from her before cutting the ropes that tied my hands together.
"Why are you setting me free?" I didn't even try to hide the confused anger filling my voice. "You hate me!" I moved my hands back around to the front of me, rubbing my wrists briefly.
She heaved a great sigh, turning me around. "I don't hate you. I never did. I'm setting you free because Cashlin was the one that took my life." Lillian looked away from me. I didn't blame her if she was as uncomfortable as I felt at the revelation. "She is the one I hate." She looked back up at me then, her eyes filled with resolve. "The guardians are wrong. I have no intentions of helping Pitch. But I do know that Cashlin is working with him." I let this new information sink in. "You need to contact the guardians and tell them where you are. I will find Cashlin and distract her while you escape."
Her footfalls were much quieter as she walked toward the door. I needed to say something to her, but the only thing I could even begin to come up with was inadequate at best. I settled for getting information from her before she left me alone in this dark den. "But where am I?"
"In Pitch's lair." She didn't even pause as she spoke, the words carried to me on a breath of air as she made her way out of the room. She seemed to vanish into the light just on the other side, seconds before it went out, leaving me in complete darkness other than the intermittent flickering of the globe in the corner.
I sighed, rubbing my hands up and down my arms before sending a mental message to Jack. 'I'm in Pitch's lair.'
His answer was quick, as though he'd been waiting for me to speak to him again. 'We're on our way.' Releasing a slow breath, I started to wander around trying to find my way out.