Chapter Eight
Darkness Falls
DAVINA
I was falling again… deep into a chasm of darkness. The bedroom… Elijah's face… everything became shrouded in black as my body hit a concrete floor.
Pain.
I lay on a hard, wet surface, aching all over, wondering if I had died and gone to hell.
Where am I?
Slowly, I pulled myself up and scanned my surroundings. Fire-lit torches were mounted on the wall, but it didn't make my fear disappear. Chains were hanging from the ceiling like dead, steel snakes, dripping with…
I looked at my feet and screamed when I noticed the blood.
A heavy iron door scraped against the floor and screeched opened. I backed away until my spine hit the wall.
It was him.
"Are you ready for your punishment, slave?"
His hair was longer and his clothing—was different. Was I truly in hell? Or was this another piece of Tatia's memories? I wanted to leave. I wanted to run. But there was nowhere to go. Terror clutched at my throat and threatened to kill me. Slowly, I sank to the floor and hugged my knees to my chest.
The sound of a thick, heavy chain, scraped behind him as he stalked towards me.
No. Stay away!
He crouched in front of me and clasped a rusty iron collar around my neck. I could hardly breathe. Tears were flooding down my face as I cried.
It wasn't my voice.
It was Tatia's.
"You're so beautiful when you cry."
He gently stroked my cheek, his expression changing from vacant to warm and loving.
It didn't last.
I felt the pain first before I even realized what he'd done. My face stung, blooming with redness. He'd slapped me.
"I will not go easy on you tonight."
He dragged me… dragged me across the bloody concrete, as if I were a dying animal ready to be butchered alive.
"You wanted to love the monster." Elijah chuckled, making my skin crawl. "You made a fatal mistake. You should have run when I begged you to. Now I will never let you go. Never."
His sinister voice echoed in my mind as I struggled to regain my eyesight. That heavy slap had me seeing stars.
Why won't she speak? Why won't she fight back?
I was in Tatia's body—but I wasn't her. I wanted to defend myself. I wanted to attack him with all the strength I could muster.
I couldn't. I couldn't even lift my arm to push him away.
In a matter of seconds, my wrists, ankles, and torso were strapped onto a wooden cross. It was only then that I realized I was naked. I had never felt so terrified in my life.
"I can smell your fear," he said, stepping closer, black spider veins forming under his eyes as he bared his fangs. "Now I'm going to taste it."
A blood curdling scream.
Terror.
Carnage.
My mind had shattered into pieces. There was no way I could survive these memories and return to myself as I once was. I had to protect myself from Tatia's trauma, otherwise I'd end up just like her. I had to get us out of this dungeon. I had to barricade it somehow and keep her from returning to this place.
Through sheer force of will, my consciousness floated out of Tatia's body and into darkness again. I had returned to the safety of nothingness, though I could still hear her screams… the painful cries… the sound of a cracking whip… her mournful pleads.
I had to fight for my sanity. If I were to survive this, I had to figure out a way to manage her mind. If I couldn't erase the memories, I might have been able to repress them. It seemed to have worked when I'd tried it earlier. But something triggered her.
I continued to float in a blanket of black while their voices echoed all around me.
Listen to my voice, Tatia, I said, praying I could reach her somehow.
You're safe. Elijah won't hurt you. You're safe. Listen to me and let me in.
"Please don't hurt me! Don't hurt me, Master! No more!"
I was disturbed by the sound of my voice, resonating into my dark chasm of chaos.
"Tatia," Elijah said, his voice full of anguish—so different from the other Elijah I had seen in the dungeon.
Tatia, listen to me. I tried once more to make contact. Let me in, please. I promise I will protect you. No one can hurt you anymore. I promise. I promise he won't hurt you. I won't let him!
A sliver of white light was slicing through the darkness, blinding me as it grew stronger. I squinted and covered my eyes with an arm.
When I opened them again, I found myself in a labyrinth: a green maze—in a garden. The sky was dark, but I seemed to have been in some sort of courtyard. The bushes were landscaped and the ground beneath me was lush green grass.
Where am I? I wondered.
Elijah and Tatia's voices still echoed into my consciousness. He sounded like he was trying so hard to calm her down, but she was lost in schizophrenic paranoia. Wherever Tatia was in her mind, I couldn't find her.
Why am I here? I wondered, walking cautiously through the maze. I noticed one wooden door after another.
A vault of memories?
I could only assume that they were doorways into the shattered mind of a girl I had stupidly resurrected. The things we do for love.
There was nothing sinister or ominous about these doors. They were ordinary wooden doors. But as I turned the corner in the labyrinth, I noticed one particular door that was different from the others: fireflies were floating all around it.
Fireflies…
I remembered chasing them in my Grandmother's garden as a child. For some reason, I felt compelled to open it and walk through—as if this door was my door, not Tatia's.
As I reached for the handle, I held my breath and twisted the knob.
Another flash of blinding light.
~oOo~
Floor.
Bedroom.
Daylight.
Elijah Mikaelson.
Oh my God.
He tilted my chin and searched my eyes for an answer I wasn't sure I had.
"Davina?"
A/N: Thank you to my readers who left me reviews so far. I really appreciate it. Your feedback keeps me motivated to continue writing. xx