The echoing screams of a girl jolted my eyes wide open. I saw a familiar canopy above me that was colored in different shades of yellow. The bed I was laying in had the same yellow silk sheets as before. I'm in Teivel's room at his castle. I had a horrible feeling I was here for real this time.
I sat up and immediately tried to fly away, but found myself remaining in bed. Either this isn't real again, or my powers were being blocked. I stared across a few feet from the bed at the silver chair that was empty. He was sitting in it the last time I woke up here. Where was he?
I looked around and everything was exactly the same. Stone walls with dark carpet, wall sconces with bright candles. A large brown wardrobe stood right of the silver chair. Adjacent to the wardrobe on the right was a window. Beside the window was a small glass table with two more silver chairs.
The rest of the room was just empty, especially on the left side. Minus the two separate doors I didn't observe last time. One was on the wall the canopy was up against, closer to me, and the other was directly across the room from the window. The doors appeared wooden, but newer than the rest of the room.
Suddenly, I heard a quick thud as if something dropped. My green eyes gazed around the room but saw nothing. However, I know that sound came from the door closest to me. I glance left to stare over, realizing I could hear more sounds from in there... sounds that are made when someone is taking a shower or bath. I bet you that room is a bathroom.
The other door must be the exit out of here. Shouldn't I try it? Why haven't I gotten up? I let out a voiceless sigh. Why am I asking when I already know? Shaking my head, I climbed off the golden bed. Instead of trying the exit, I went for the other door and simply entered. The knob wasn't iron so that was nice.
Bathroom is confirmed. It was big enough to hold a toilet, a double sink that actually looked very fancy, and a massive walk-in shower. Though incredibly steamy, I could tell it was Tei in the shower. I knew the shape of his dark hair. I knew his height. I would always know it was him.
"What was that noise?" I called out. I didn't doubt he knew I came in.
"Dropped the shampoo," he replied in the voice I'd always know. Dark, but calming and possessive. I should be screaming, panicking. I should be trying to get out of here, but I couldn't. The imprint feels like it gets stronger and stronger every time we're together.
Tei leaned forward to slide open the shower door, just enough to stick his head out at me. "Want to join me?"
"Hilarious." I shook my head.
"Suit yourself." Tei shrugged, sliding the door back shut. "I'll be out soon, unless you want to keep staring at me."
I really was staring. I couldn't see much because of all the steam, but I had never seen him without clothes before. It took great effort to finally look away, leaving the window-less bathroom. The moment I stepped out I heard another echoing scream like before. Immediately I returned to the bathroom.
"Teivel," I cleared my throat. "Are we alone here?"
I knew he was annoyed I used his full name. "No."
"Who's out there screaming?" I asked.
I watched him slightly drop his head, thinking. "Probably the collar slave. I told Rylie to put her in one of the new cells in the dungeon."
A lump was caught in my throat. Collar slave-? Did he mean Gel? "There's a dungeon?"
"We're in a castle, my love. Yes. I had to repair most of it from old damage."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why do you want her down there?"
Tei was rinsing his hair. "I have a new purpose for her and that's where she needs to be for now."
Gel's scream carried up from the dungeon again. "Is Rylie hurting her?" I asked in growing concern. I didn't give Tei the chance to answer. I turned around and ran out the door, stumbling a bit as I turned left for the exit door. The door swung open and I nearly jumped out. What lay before me was a stone covered hallway going left and right. Various bits of wall were missing, as if something had exploded here a very long time ago. This was when I noticed for the first time that it was still night.
I waited until I heard another scream before I moved my feet. I followed the sounds, running left down the hallway. I saw that eventually the hallway was curving right, and ended at a door. I plunge through the door and entered a vast space that was both inside and outside.
An extremely large and wide staircase going up was on my right side. Straight ahead was a bit confusing because a lot of this part of the castle was gone. Based on how the stairs were positioned... I suspect this was the entrance hall of the castle. The front half where the actual doors to enter the castle were gone, along with everything else on that side. The half that remained was over where I stood. Bits of stairs were missing, but you could still take them up to the second floor.
Left of me was another wooden door, and something told me to go through there. It led to a short staircase going down into a dark but very open hallway going left. Not far down was another staircase going down on the left side. Another scream rippled, and it was louder now. Closer. I beelined for the other set of stairs and almost tripped going down.
When I hit the bottom, I entered quite a large room that was well lit with sconces. I only needed to observe what was around for just a few seconds before I knew where I was. There were six obvious jail cells. Three were on the left side of the room and the other half were directly across the opposite side.
The middle cell on the right side was open, and I saw Angry Rylie with a cruel smirk on his face. I approached the tall, green eyed demon and uttered, "Leave her alone."
Gel was on the ground, a bloodied and beaten mess. She didn't look capable of screaming anymore.
"Or else what?" Rylie asked with his fists clenched. "Come any closer and you're next."
"I remember what he said to you before," I started to threaten him. "You wouldn't dare hurt me."
Rylie rolled his eyes. "Fine, I was getting bored anyway." He stepped around me and promptly headed for the stairs I appeared from. "Not like my powers work here, anyway."
"Why don't they?" I asked him too quickly. "Mine aren't working," I admitted, entering the open cell and kneeling down towards Gel. She really didn't look good, but I heard her breathing. I wish I could heal her.
"You didn't see the dome outside?" Rylie asked, slowing down.
"Dome?"
"Yeah, the one he likes to trap you in. He's got it big enough right now to surround the castle. No using powers, no flying away," Rylie explained.
"No way," I said in shock. Tei could change the size of that awful, confining dome?
Rylie shrugged. "Better just get used to being here." He finally disappeared up the stairs.
I observed the cell, spotting a small bed, sink, and toliet. It all looked strangely new. Teivel must have some suspicious agendas. I acted carefully to lift Gel up onto the bed. "Gel?" I whispered. "Gel, you alive?"
A moment passed and a pair of eyes that were darkened from abuse slowly opened. "Unfortunately," she mumbled with a cough.
I stood up straight. "Teivel," I called aloud, clearing my throat. "Please come here."
An old familiar whoosh passed my ears and he appeared just outside the cell. "Yes, my love?"
I merely pointed at Gel on the bed without looking back at him. "Heal her now or let me do it, or else I'm never going to stop trying to break out of here."
"As if you care about her," Tei scoffed, taking one step into the cell. "However, if it's what you wish."
"It is." I stepped left, and then backwards to swap places with Tei. "She's part of my group now."
"Not that poor excuse of a gang you ran with your brother," Tei muttered, kneeling down and running his hand over Gel to fix her up. She winced and groaned from the recovery, and then fell right asleep.
"Gang?" I repeated, watching him stand back up. "They're more like family."
Tei shook his head. "Melgreth has her claws in deep I see."
"What does that mean?" I asked, leading us out of the cell. "Does Gel really need to be kept down here?"
"Yes, she does," answered Tei. "And to put it into modern terms, Melgreth was always obsessed with playing house."
I took a huge guess to keep this conversation going. "During the Nephilim War?"
He nodded. "She hasn't changed."
I crossed my arms over my chest, watching him step out. "From what they say, neither have you."
"I don't care what they say," Tei said cruelly. He shut Gel's cell door and swiped his hand over where the lock would be, revealing a small white glow. "Ward lock," he informed me, knowing I was curious. "Of course I know," he again replied out loud to my thoughts.
I winced and looked down to check if we were touching, but we weren't. "That's no longer needed," Tei said a bit too happily. "Our imprint has been... activated. You're close enough that I know what you're thinking."
"Why don't I know what you're thinking, then?" I demanded, clenching my fists.
Tei briefly widened his flaming orange eyes. "Have you tried?"
"Tried what?"
"To see what I'm thinking," he answered simply. "I'm not hiding."
"How do I do it?" I asked next. This was getting weird.
"May I?" He offered, holding out his hand. I gulped before looking past him to check on Gel, who was still sleeping. "She will be fine."
I sighed, nodding and placing my hand in his. A moment later we were back in the room I woke up in. "Focus, my love," Tei instructed me. "Until you get the hang of it, just think about wanting to know what I'm thinking."
"I want to know what you're thinking," I said aloud and also in my head, and then something weird happened. I felt a bunch of power moving through me, and then I seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.
Me.
The baby.
He wants to restore the castle as much as he can.
Rylie's annoying, but he's good at what he does and he won't switch sides. I could see glimpses of Rylie in my head, but he looked so different. His hair seemed lighter and it was very long.
Gel- wait, her full name is Angela Everlyn? Seriously? Next, I saw a boy I immediately recognized. "Murdock," I said aloud. My memory of meeting him and convincing him to untie me from the torture table was what I saw next, and I knew Tei was seeing it too. "He's going to be here too?" I deduced.
Tei nodded, guiding me over to the little glass table with two chairs, having us sit. "What happened to him after I got near-blasted from there?" I wondered aloud.
"His Cult put him back home," Tei clarified, snapping his fingers with his free hand to make an assortment of food items appear on the table. Of course it was some of my favorite things, along with a meal eerily familiar. A burger, fries and root beer was what Tei had when we had lunch with Racquel of the Hev. "Yes, I like root beer." He chuckled.
"That spell-knowing boy is in a cult?" I said in shock. Now that he mentions it... Murdock was yelling about a cult right before I almost got annihilated.
"Not by his choice," Tei corrected, letting go of my hand (shockingly) and reaching for his meal. I looked down at my plate of bacon strips. Yeah, that's good enough for me. "He was born into it I suppose. They've isolated him because he's the only one left actually related to Merlin."
"What do you need him here for?" I asked curiously.
"He's the only one who can perform magic I may need," he admitted.
I took a bacon strip and began to eat. "Like the going to sleep one?"
"Yes."
"So he's joining our group," I decided.
"Group?" Tei repeated in confusion, taking a sip of his beverage.
"Well yeah. Us, and Gel, and Rylie too I'm guessing since he can't leave," I explained. "This is my group now."
Tei smiled. "Then yes, he's joining us. After we eat, we head out to get him."
"We?" I'm going too?
Tei looked nearly startled. "Of course, Love. The dome will fade when I leave, which means you could leave me again."
Darn.
He narrowed his eyes at my thought. "You don't want the girl to die, and I know you don't want me to kill Colby," he struggled to say his name. "So I know you'll stay by my side when we leave here."
"Of course." Unfortunately I think next. I sighed and ate a few more bacon strips before I reached over to try a sip of the root beer. Why not? My situation has become the most out of control it's ever been. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be around this psycho.
With this stupid imprint, I also do want to be here. I do want to be around this psycho. How does someone want and not want something at the same time?
When we've finished our quick meals, Tei gently holds out his hand. I took it right as he zapped us out to the main hall of the castle. "What happened to the front half of this place?" I asked. He knew I was dying to know.
"Would you like to see for yourself?" He offered, squeezing my hand. I was now seeing a memory of Tei's... has this ever happened before? Maybe just the one time where he showed me when he first approached Megan, looking for me.
In the memory, Tei was standing on a stone bridge that separated the castle from the rest of the forest. A massive forest that was on the side of a giant mountain. Holy crap, is that where we are?
Up in the evening sky, something big and bright is coming down right towards the castle. Tei watched it, squinting his eyes. He realized it was a meteor, oh my-
He turned around and bolted for the castle doors. "Magdha!" He yelled out. "Get away! Meteor!"
I could only see literal butterflies in the distance, all fluttering away after Tei's warning. A moment later the meteor hit at the bottom of the mountain, and Tei relieved me from the memory. I blinked a few times while I thought about what I saw. Who is Magdha?
"Rylie," Tei called out. "If you can hear me, we're leaving to retrieve the Warlock. Try to be back before we are so I only have to bring up the Dome once."
I thought I heard a grunt from somewhere around, as a response. Wonder where he's at?
"Ready, Love?" Tei asked me.
"Yeah, I am." I squeezed his hand as a confirmation. Tei took a long breath before he zapped us away. Now we were standing before a big but beautiful white arch with various pretty plants wrapped over the top of it. Through the arch was a walkway to a large, white mansion. "Where are we? Hollywood?" I asked as a half-joke.
"Florida," Tei answered. He held up his other hand towards the middle of the arch, where we would walk through. Something rippled in response to his touch, but it was... invisible? "Force field warding surrounding the entire property," he explained to me, and then he looked confused. "But he is still unable to step outside. Interesting."
"Who? Murdock?" I assumed. Was this force field any similar to Tei's dome? Or even the barrier from the Domain?
"Yes, now please step back." Tei released my hand so he had both of his on the force field. I listened to him, and he proceeded to use his incredible power to remove the force field. For a strange reason the force field flashed bright purple before it dissolved.
Tei lowered his arms down to his sides, standing up straight. "Not clever enough, guys." He smirked and then asked me again. "Ready, Love?" He turned back to take my hand again, sharing a massive grin with me. I merely took his hand without a word, walking through the arch with him to head for the mansion.
I'm sorry, Murdock. I wish I could tell you to run.
