AN: Thank you to erin1705 and kritsy77 for reviewing xx
ALL RIGHTS GO TO CHARLAINE HARRIS!
Chapter forty-two
Ammy's POV
"First things first, rules of the place where you'll be heading to. If you die whilst there, you die in real life, any injuries you sustain whilst there you sustain in real life. Which means if you get a cut on your hand, the cut will appear on your physical form as well. You have roughly two hours to complete the task after drinking this, the portal will disappear after two hours so if you do not return back through the white portal within that time, you will be left in a coma for life, unless someone is willing to risk their own life to come and collect you. But in going into the world to collect you, they risk losing their own life. Only one soul can return through one portal. You are only allowed to take the items which are actually on your body. So after crossing the worlds the only items you will have are your clothes" the doctor begins, Alec gripping my hand in his; that one interaction conveying all his worry to me.
"Will I still have my necklace?" I probe, my spare hand playing with said necklace, it's the same one Alec gave me when I was seven years old. It's my lucky charm.
"Yes, you will still have it on. Now say anything you want to say to your husband now before you drink this"
"Alec" I look at him, fear building up inside of me. I'm not just risking my own life anymore; I am now risking my life and my unborn child's life.
"I'm here" he assures me as he takes both of my hands in his, his eyes meeting mine.
"I'm scared" I admit for the first time since deciding I was going to do this.
"I know you are, but just remember that I'm always here for you, that you are always protected. This necklace," he takes it in his hand, his thumb stroking over the charm on the necklace, his necklace falling out from behind his shirt. A small smile forming on my face when I spot it "it will always protect you. This charm holds my love and that love will shield you from the bad and painful. You will be safe, you will be fine. I promise you this if nothing else" he tells me as his hand comes to cup my cheek, his lips grazing over mine in a soft kiss.
"I love you" I smile at him, the doctor coming over with the concoction I have to drink.
"I love you, too. Be brave and remember that when you come back from that place, I'll be sat right here waiting for you" he assures me before moving out of the way so that the doctor can pass me the drink, Alec taking a seat in the chair near the hospital bed.
Zach's POV
I hate doing homework. What is the point in doing work at home, I thought the whole point of going to school was so that you could learn and work, so why do we have to bring it home with us? Let's face it, school is supposed to educate us in knowledge such as science, maths and English, whereas being at home will educate us in things such as general knowledge and safety. Plus many more things.
"Zach, come here" dad motions me over. I breathe a sigh of relief as I drop my pen down, feeling thankful that I can run away from those dreadful equations for a bit. I actually surprise myself with my own vocabulary. But I guess that just goes to show you who is the smarter twin out of me and Annika. I obviously inherited the intelligence whereas she got the beauty. Nah, I take that back. I got both. God, I would give anything to see her face if I told her that. Oh, wait, I can tell her that the next time I see her. I love tormenting her.
"Right, Zach, I am about to give you lessons in how to run a business, providing that is what you want to learn about?" dad probes, making me nod enthusiastically.
"Finally, something interesting to learn about. School never teaches anything interesting that actually holds peoples' attention, I think the most exciting thing they have ever taught us was how to play the recorder when we was 7" I inform dad, dad eyeing me up curiously.
"You do amaze me with your knowledge, son. You have a very wide vocabulary for a nine year old"
"Almost ten" I correct him, causing dad to chuckle.
"Yes, almost ten, but not quite" he laughs.
"Where do you learn these big words from?"
"Books. Mom reads to us all the time, but she doesn't just read those children books, she will sometimes read us sections of the books she reads. Then when we come across a big word she will explain what it means. But I have also been taking my education on further by using mom's word of the day calendar. Although, I still have to get mom to read it out to me. Some of the words have strange spellings and are said weirdly" I tell dad, him nodding as he thinks on it.
"Tell me, what is the most difficult word you have learnt so far?"
"Xy-lo-phone" even I had to pronounce that out separately to get it correct. I always struggle with that word.
"Yes, xylophone is a strange word. I think out of all three of you, you, Annika and Ammy, I must admit that Ammy is the only who took to that word instantly" dad tells me, a small ounce if jealousy building up in me. Unbelievable. Wait, I don't know how old she was when she supposedly took to that word.
"How old was she?"
"About 7, although she could have been younger than that now that I think about it. She struggled to say the simplest of words such as fantastic when she was younger, yet she made up for that with her fluent speaking in Swedish. But after all, I believe she did spend the first few years of her life speaking Swedish and grasping that language. So going from one language to the next must have been difficult for her. So I guess you could say she managed to grasp the more interesting and fun words more than she did the easy and more important ones. But all children are different, just remember that, Zach. After all, you are more advanced than most nine year olds these days, even some adults" dad assures me, making me nod. He's right.
"So, what was it you wanted to teach me about business?" I ask, but dad's face scrunches up as his hand moves over his chest.
"Dad?" I probe lightly, his eyes darting to me.
"Sorry, I just felt a pull" but something tells me it wasn't just any type of pull. I know how Vampires work and I know that they have bonds, I mean, dad has a bond with both me and Annika, so I'm pretty sure he has one with Ammy. So my guesses are that this pull is from Ammy, and that is not a good sign. But it looks as though dad knows exactly why that pull happened. I couldn't help but become remotely suspicious myself. Why would her bond be pulling? Is she trying to sever it? Or is she in danger?
Ammy's POV
Entering a different realm is very strange indeed, the empty space in the midst between the worlds is pitch black, the white portal I just came through being the only shining light. I look around the darkness, hoping to find…well, something I guess. A light that could guide me around here would be nice, but if I cannot get that, well, I guess I will just have to venture into the darkness on my own and pray for the best. Just as I begin to move forward I feel something strike me from the side, knocking me to the side where I move my hand to my cheek. I could feel some sort of liquid trickling over my hand. Blood. My blood.
"That was a cheap shot!" I yell into the nothingness, already figuring that Delilah has sensed my arrival and this was her warning to me. I guess it could be put under as saying 'leave now or die'. Little does she know, I don't take well to threats.
"Woman up and get out here!" I scream, needing her to appear. I can't risk venturing too far into the blackness, because if I go too far into the depths of, what I shall deem as, Hell I will never find my way back in time. I need to be back in time, not just for my sakes, but for my unborn child's sake as well.
"You come to defeat me, but you know that it is not possible. For one, you cannot see me. You can only hear me. For two, you are weak, my child. You are young and weak – vulnerable if you will. You stand no chance of survival against me" I could almost feel her grinning at me. In fact, I can feel her behind me; I could almost imagine her breath attacking my neck.
On instinct I quickly turn and swing my arms forward as to where I would estimate her head to be, a loud shriek sounding out. I actually hit her. I just need to stick to my senses, I can do this.
"How?" she demands, a cold breeze whipping around me until I feel something stabbing into my ribcage, it feels like nails, nails that are on fingers.
"I met your father, he's distressed. He believes your soul is torment-"
"My soul is tormented by the memories of the death your mother delivered to me!" she screeches in my ear before throwing me to the side. I can see this is going to be a very difficult experience…
AN: Finally! The fight shall be the next chapter, sorry to have taken so long getting to it but I hope you will all enjoy the full experience of this fight that will be taking place in the next chapter xx