Chapter 72: Whispers In The Mist
Evelyn, who heard footsteps approaching, quickly shut her eyes and went back into the same position as before. Her heart pounded loudly, and she feared that if they had a vampire’s sense of hearing, it would easily give her away. She silently prayed to every god out there not to let her be discovered, as she forced herself to remain as still as possible.
When the footsteps stopped in front of her cell, their squinty, hollow eyes scanned her for anything amiss. When they found nothing unusual, they began to turn when they caught a little movement near the princess’s arm, spotting the same rat that had earlier crawled on Evelyn.
Eve felt like her soul was about to leave her body when she felt the damn rat crawl back up to her arm again, only she knew the amount of willpower it took from her to remain unmoving. She screamed internally, ’Oh Goddess, give me strength to endure this assault! Why won’t they just leave already!!’
The rat almost climbed up to her shoulder when one of the darkrot bared their jagged, yellow teeth in a smirk. "Seems like it was just a rat."
Another one snorted, "At this rate, let’s hope the princess doesn’t get eaten by them before the ritual." They snickered wickedly and drifted away with their footsteps into the dark.
Once she heard the footsteps receding far away from her, she pressed her lips tightly together and carefully moved her other hand to flick the damn rat off her. The rat ran out of the cell this time, making Evelyn sigh in relief, but she still sent it a silent glare for nearly exposing her.
Once she calmed her rattled nerves, her mind started to go into overdrive as her memories of being captured by darkrots slowly came crashing back to her. ’No, no, no...this can’t be real!’ she screamed inside her head, ’Why would they even be in the academy?!’ Her breath caught as another thought struck her, ’Wait, the letter...if someone wrote that letter under Ivan’s name, it means someone must know about me and Ivan, to use him to lure me out, and I followed like a fool!’ She didn’t think darkrots were the kind of creatures to go to such lengths to pull something like this.
And if someone had gone that far, it means they were in cahoots with the darkrots? But who? And why would they especially come after her?
As she thought, dread coiled up in her stomach when she remembered Ivan’s warning in the lighthouse, to never reveal her powers to anyone, or else they would come for her. ’Did I get discovered?! But how? I never used my powers after that one outburst in potion-making class.’
Even during her training with Cece and Edward, Cece would make sure to attune her senses to the surroundings, ensuring no one was approaching or near them.
But then another memory struck her; she had used her powers when she saw Ivan about to be injured in the physical examination. Her eyes widened in horror as she thought, ’Was someone there to witness everything that happened? No! It couldn’t be!’ She tried to convince herself, ’Ivan is just too sharp for something like this to happen.’ But then doubt crept in, ’He was fighting with the monsters at that time...what if he was distracted?
Regardless of who it was, here she was now, and she knew she needed to escape soon, otherwise she was as good as dead. Her throat went dry as she thought about them mentioning some ritual. ’Don’t tell me...Am I about to be sacrificed?!’ As she started to hyperventilate as panic kicked in, it became harder for her to breathe. ’Oh Goddess! What have I gotten myself into?! I should have never ventured out on my own! Gods, I’m so stupid!’ she berated herself, as she fought the tide of trepidation.
She slowly sat up, careful not to make any sound. But when she tried to move her leg, something cold and heavy held her down. Turning her head, her stomach dropped at the sight of thick iron chains clasp around her ankles, so that she wouldn’t escape.
Tired and thirsty, she slowly scooted over till her back hit the cold wall. She ran her hand across her throat as she felt extremely parched. She swallowed and wondered if anyone would even come to save her. Remembering, she had left a letter for Cece, but that would be of no use now, since she herself had no idea where she was kept captive.
As hope slowly slipped away from her eyes, her hand slid down from her throat to her amber locket. She looked down and thought, was this the reason why she failed to use her powers when she was getting cornered by the darkrot? But then again, her powers had worked during difficult situations, even when she had the locket around.
With a grim expression, she remembered the cloth that was mixed with something when it was pressed against her mouth, leading her to where she was, and she could only deduce that maybe it was laced with something else that made her fail to use her powers to defend herself.
She rested her head against the wall as she looked around the musty, damp cell. With no light or window to soften its gloom, the place dragged up unpleasant memories of her childhood. ’Father...I hope you would be happy to know that this unwanted daughter of yours may finally disappear from this world for good.’
Her eyes welled up at the dark thought. She shut her eyes and whispered, "Ivan...I wonder how you’ll react when you don’t find me in the academy upon your return anymore..."
As she thought, a lone tear escaped her eye. "Maybe it might not make much of a difference... even so, I wish I could see you one last time, just to tell you how grateful I am, for every helping hand you ever extended to me." Her heart ached painfully, and a familiar yearning for him swelled within her again.
....
At the same time, two hours away from Welfort city, horses stomped against the wet ground at great speed as they neared their destination. Ivan, who was leading the group, suddenly felt his heart twist as though Evelyn’s thoughts had reached him. The feeling of unease crept in once again, urging him to hasten as if something would go terribly wrong if he didn’t.
He couldn’t tell why he was feeling so restless and anxious when nothing moved a man like him. The feeling of dread was never a part of his emotional range, as nothing ever scared him in his life. He had fought countless battles from a young age; faced the most dangerous of enemies, yet this gnawing feeling upon him was almost unbearable.
He clenched his jaws tightly, and with the sudden surge of nervousness, made him sped up even more to reach the city faster.
....
Back in Cloak Castle, as the clock neared three o’clock in the morning, dozens of people gathered in the main hall for the ritual. Dressed in black robes with conical hoods and silver demon-face masks, they stood waiting for the main event to start. Amongst them, one figure stood out from the rest, dressed in a red robe with a golden demon mask concealing his face.
The hall, though big enough to fit hundreds of people, was still relatively smaller than the academy’s grand hall. At its centre lay a massive pentagram, painted in blood, with candles lit around it. At the heart of the pentagram was a stone platform that would be used for the sacrifice.
One of the black robed figures approached the one in red, bowed deeply, and said, "Master, the preparations are complete for the ritual to begin."
The figure in red gave a slow nod and tilted his head towards the platform in silent command. The figure in black straightened and turned to another subordinate, "Bring the sacrifice," he ordered.
Back in the cell, Evelyn sat curled up in the corner of the dark cell with her head leaning against her knee. After crying until she could no longer hold back the exhaustion, she had drifted back into the dreamland and once again found herself in the forest filled with mist.
She looked around, expecting to find the mysterious man with molten red eyes, when she didn’t, she softly called out, "Kai?"
"He’s not here...." A woman answered in a soft, ethereal voice. Evelyn’s head snapped in the direction from where the sound had come from, and she saw a woman in white a flowy gown facing the other way, with only her beautiful, long golden hair cascading down her back.
"And you are..?" Eve asked as she took a curious step forward.
"We don’t have much time. They are coming for you....but you must stay strong and don’t give up. When you cannot endure anymore...call out for him."
"Who? Call out for who?" Evelyn’s brows furrowed in confusion.
The mist thickened around them, and the woman with the golden hair slowly turned. As she did, Evelyn was stunned to see her radiating the same golden glow she herself gave off whenever she used her powers. Yet, she couldn’t see the woman’s face veiled behind the thick mist, making only her beautiful golden eyes stare back at Evelyn.
"Call out to the one...your heart yearns to see the most...." the woman said with her golden eyes softening. She then turned and started to walk deeper into the forest, her figure fading with each step into the mist.
"Wait!" Eve cried out, wanting to speak to her more.
"We’ll meet again. Remember what I said...." the woman’s whisper echoed in the mist forest before she disappeared.
