My existential crisis had a tight grip on me for the next few hours. I didn't want to be no more. I didn't want to exist in this world that was filled with suffering and injustice. I just wanted to vanish from everything. Too bad that reality always had a way of coming crashing down on me and everything around me. I had spent the last day lying in the same spot in my bed, just staring. I was in a deep crisis, both emotionally and in my mind. When I finally felt the depressing thoughts release their grip on me, the door got kicked in. It wasn't just a lame kick that made the door fling open, no, this kick sent the door flying straight across the room and crashing against the wall. It was a kick so strong, that I was surprised when it was a tiny looking woman standing in the doorway. She had long dark hair and was dressed in a black dress and matching black shoes. Her color scheme kind of reminded me of Morticia Addams. Other than that, I could see a striking resemblance to none other than Ms Terwilliger, Sage's teacher back in Palm Springs. This couldn't be a coincidence. Of course Eddie was out, just my luck to be alone when some weird goth chick breaks in through my door, so I had to quickly think of a plan of action so I wouldn't get killed. The Morticia look-a-like walked in with another woman behind her. The other woman was almost the opposite of the first woman, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she was like a bright sun next to Morticia. The second woman wore a dark brown dress and she seemed like she was the sidekick here.
"Why the hell did you kick in my door?!", I decided that in case of danger, always act like an asshole.
"Funny.", The Morticia-looking lady said and then she made a gesture to the other woman who quickly raised her hands and chanted some kind of spell. Since my senses were off as it was, this completely caught me off guard. What the hell was she doing? Was she a witch or something? I didn't know how to act, and before I knew it, my knees gave in and I sunk to the floor. She started chanting some other spell by then and it freaked me out. I tried fighting whatever she was doing, but it was impossible. It seemed as if the first spell thingy had trapped me or something. I just sat hopelessly on my knees until she said the last word of the last spell thingy or whatever, and I blacked out.
When I woke up, I was blindfolded. I was apparently sitting in some kind of car since I could feel the bumps on the road we went over, and I could hear the faint roar of an engine. I was sitting on the floor somehow and my hands were tied behind my back. Unfortunately, my feet were also tied. No escaping here. We were on the road for quite a while, and if I hadn't been so freaked that they could do magic I would've pulled out my witty self and sung or something. But I didn't. Instead, I sat silent. Who were they and why did they feel the need to kidnap me? What was even going on here? I could hear a faint conversation, but it was so muted that I couldn't even make out a single word. The car shortly pulled to a stop and I could hear doors being opened and slammed shut. Then I heard a sliding door being opened. Great, I was in a freaking van. On the floor. Great. They dragged me out and carried me for a while before I was sat down on the floor and my blindfold was ripped off. Before me stood the women once again, but this time, they smiled. It looked creepy and made my skin crawl. I was in what looked like a basement, narrow windows placed up by the ceiling and you could faintly make out some grass outside. I was sitting in the middle of a sort of cell, which, at the moment, had its door wide open. Apparently because I was tied up and both of the women was present.
"Hello there moroi.", The Morticia look-a-like said. "I'm Evelyn. This is Laura.", she gestured to the blonde woman who waved. "And from what I've heard, you're the noted Adrian Ivashkov.", She looked at me expectantly.
"Pleasure to meet you Evelyn.", I decided that charm was my best offense at the moment. "Tell me, you remind me of someone. Could it be that you're Jaclyn's sister?", I smiled. If given the chance, I would definitely use my spirit mojo the get out of this hole.
"My my, so you've met my little sister?", She looked pleasantly surprised. "She's such a wimp you know. Not at all an opportunist like myself.", She smiled. What did that even mean?
"I think your sister is lovely.", I stated and flashed a smile of my own. She didn't seem to care one bit what I thought of Jaclyn. She just made a gesture and Laura immediately went upstairs. Now it was just me and Evelyn.
"I have one little quick question for you Evelyn.", I smiled once again.
"Sure, What do you want to know vampire?", She raised an eyebrow.
"Why did you even kidnap me? What have I done?", Why not crave answers from your kidnapper? Apparently that was how I rolled.
"You'll see, the reason is coming down that stair as we speak.", She pointed towards the stairs on the other side of the room just when a pair of feet made themselves visible on the steps. Down the stairs came Sage, or maybe I should start saying Andrews, looking nervous and kind of sad. She kept biting her lip. She stood beside Evelyn and made a kind of bow in front of her. Evelyn bowed back and then they both faced me. Sydney's eyes darted all over me, as if checking if I was okay, before Evelyn started talking.
"My child, do you know this moroi?", She spoke with a clear and powerful voice, as if she were royalty.
"I can't say I do ma'am. He has been hanging around the coffee shop, but we have never interacted.", She spoke calmly but when she looked at me, I could see the panic in her eyes. She was trying to save my ass.
"Do not lie to me Sydney. We have been watching you closely since we found out this vampire would be in town. Tell me the truth.", She was pissed off now, for sure. I couldn't help but step in.
"Um, excuse me?", I raised my tied hands like I was in a classroom and Evelyn nodded at me to speak. I cleared my throat before putting my charm on max. "I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but, if you have been watching me and seen whether or not we have been talking, does it even matter what she says then?", This earned me a panicked look from Sydney and a amused one from Evelyn.
"Smart boy, our organization builds on trust, so if someone isn't telling the truth, it can have severe consequences.", Evelyn stated, still amused. Sydney sighed.
"Okay, yes, we have been talking. But he is totally mental. He thinks I'm some other person and what not.", Sydney seemed sad that she had to admit that and under Evelyn's cool smile and calm exterior, I could see the panic flash. All her warning lights were flashing in her mind, I could see it.
"You do know we can't tolerate that, right Sydney?", Evelyn said, with a faked smile to hide her panic. Too bad for her that I was a master at spotting fake.
"Yes, I know.", Sydney muttered and looked down at the floor.
"And I surely hope that you are aware that his interactions with you will have consequences.", She seemed so cool and calm and nice, except for the fact that her aura was the nastiest thing I had ever seen. It just screamed evil and selfishness.
"I am aware.", Suddenly, Sydney seemed scared. And sad. So very very sad.
"Good. Go fetch Laura.", Evelyn was staring at me now. Sydney bowed once again and went up the stairs. As soon as she was out of hearing range, Evelyn spoke to me.
"No matter what we choose to do to you, you will suffer.", Her voice felt like ice. It sent chills all over my body and my mind instinctively started looking for a way out. I was not looking forward to what she had in store for me. Soon after that, I heard steps coming down the stairs and Laura and Sydney were back. They both bowed in front of Evelyn and then looked at me.
"Let's discuss the faith of this little moroi boy, shall we?", Evelyn spoke. Both Laura and Sydney said a loud and clear 'Yes' in unison before Evelyn picked up the word again.
"We will of course have to keep in mind that this happens to be a royal moroi, so we can't kill him unfortunately.", She sounded disgusted when talking about my royal status, and disappointed when she told them they couldn't kill me. Awesome. Now Laura took over.
"We could kill him, if we made it look like a strigoi attack. Or an accident.", Why were these women so diabolical? They scared me.
"Good thinking Laura, but that will attract a lot of attention, wouldn't it? It would be crawling with those creatures here after a murder. They would investigate, and maybe find us.", She looked straight at Laura with a kind of disappointed look on her face and Laura looked down on the floor, as if ashamed.
"Yes, Evelyn. You are right. Forgive me.", Laura sounded scared too. Evelyn seemed to be the real bitch here.
"Well, you are forgiven Laura. Now, Sydney, what do you suggest?", She looked straight at the blonde girl who looked at me with the saddest and most scared look yet.
"I think we should sweep him.", She now plastered on a neutral look, like she didn't care what happened to me. Lucky for me, I could see her aura and I could see that she was really genuinely worried. This was apparently not part of her plan.
"Good thinking Sydney, but that would take a lot of effort. You know how exhausting it is to sweep someone. It requires a lot of strength.", Evelyn sighed, looking tired just thinking about 'sweeping' someone. What the hell did that even mean? "I will keep both of your suggestions in mind until tomorrow, by then I will have made a decision.", Evelyn spoke loud and clear and held her head high, like she was royalty. She walked over to my cell and locked the door and during that, Sydney made her hair fall forward so that it covered the part of her face that the other women could see, and mouthed a 'I'm sorry', before following the other two up the stairs. I was left alone with my thoughts in my prison cell. I never would have thought that I would ever sit in an actual prison cell. Sure, I had been in a lot of trouble, but I never thought I would end up in a kind of prison. I was better than that. I started looking around me, trying to find someplace where I could cut up my ropes or call for help or anything, but I couldn't find anything. Besides from the cell and the stairs, the room also had three book shelves on the wall furthest from me, and a big table by the shelves where a lot of herbs and things like that were stood. Witches. This was a surprise. If I had been kidnapped by strigoi or the warriors, I would have understood, but witches, How often did that even happen? Nobody even knew they existed, and I had only once actually visited a witch and spoken to her; That time when me and Sage were at Jaclyn's house. She was at least nice. Not like these monsters. But of course I would waltz right into their death grip, so typically me. I was almost perplexed by my own stupidity. I should have just gone home after finding Sage. I knew it wasn't her, and still I held on. I held on and refused to let go, even when she straight out told me that she didn't know anything at all about Sage and the wonderful person she were. Stupid Adrian.
A/N: Lucky for you, my new schedule includes a morning where I can sleep in, which means that I can stay up late the night before, after my homework is done and write. So, I will most likely be able to post the last few chapters pretty soon!
I have one question though, From the way the story is unfolding right now (I always write a few chapters ahead so I'm on chapter 13 now) it seems like this story had great potential to either continue for a few chapters longer, or have a sequel. If you could decide, what would you prefer? More chapters or a sequel? Thanks a lot for reading, you are all awesome!