I wake up in what looks to be a hospital room. I slowly sit up and throw my feet over the edge of the bed. I lift up the hospital gown I have on to see my ribs still badly bruised and wrapped. My head is a little groggy, but I bring myself to stand up. I feel a little lightheaded, but the pain in my sides feel a lot better than before, especially after what Britany did. I can't believe she threw me across the field, what a...
"Kate? Kate! You are awake! You shouldn't be standing, lay back down," Nix insists.
"No, I am fine. How long was I out?"
"Eight days."
"WHAT? What exactly happened to cause me to sleep for eight freaking days?"
"Well, you were thrown by Britany."
"Yes, I remember."
"Two of your ribs punctured your lung, but the healer could only heal those two ribs, not the rest of the injuries. Do you know why?"
"I don't know. Who else is here?"
"Jason, dad, and Jack."
"Can you send in Jack please."
"Sure."
Nix looks a little hurt as he walks to the door to get Jack. A few moments later Jack walks in.
"How are you feeling?"
"Well, better than I did on Friday."
"That's good. It seemed like you needed that sleep. Don't worry about Britany, she will have a punishment picked out by the principal now that you are awake."
"Okay, thanks Jack."
"Do you want to talk about why you cannot fully heal?"
"It is a long story. I don't feel like getting into it. If you want to know, after I talk with Liam, you can ask him why and he can explain."
"Okay, I will go grab him for you."
"Thanks."
Liam walks in and makes his way over to me and sits down on the bed, I remain standing.
"Don't feeling like sitting?"
"No, I have been laying down for eight days. I should be stretching my legs out."
"No argument there. So, how do you feel?"
"Better."
"I am sorry that you are in all of this because of my son."
"It's okay. I should be healed in a week or two by the looks of it."
"That's good to hear. Hopefully you can come back to the pack house today."
"Yeah...WAIT what about Zane, where is he?"
"He is at the pack house, he is fine."
"He must feel so lonely."
"Well, he had Nix to keep him company."
"What do you mean?"
"Since you guys are mates, Zane can communicate with him as well."
"That son of a...why wouldn't he have told me?"
"That is something you must ask Zane. Why don't I go get the doctor to see if you can leave?"
"Okay, thank you. Oh, if Jack asks you why I am not healed fully, you can tell him. I trust him, but I am still tired, and I don't feel like going into that story right now."
"Okay I will tell him if he asks."
"Thank you, Liam."
He nods and leaves the room.
A few minutes pass before I hear someone open by door and walk in. It is the doctor.
"How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good. It doesn't hurt very much anymore."
"That is excellent news! I am going to check your bandages and then I do not see why you cannot leave."
I nod and he walks over to sit me down on the bed. He carefully removes the bandages around my torso, and I can see they are still pretty bruised; however, it is starting to change from purple and black to blue and green. He feels around and over a few ribs it really hurts causing me to wince.
"Sorry, I am feeling where your cracked and fractured ribs are."
"It's okay, I can deal with it."
He finishes his examination and wraps my torso once again.
"So, you still have about two weeks of healing left, you are healing at an accelerated rate for someone with no healing powers of any kind. I want you to take at least the next week easy, and then you can start getting back into your daily routine, just no hits to your sides until a doctor gives you an all clear."
"Okay, thanks Doc."
He chuckles, "no problem."
He walks out of the room and think of what I am going to do about clothing. I make my way to the door when it suddenly opens.
"Woah," escapes my lips.
"Sorry, are you okay?" Nix asks.
"Peachy, what do you need?"
"Here," he hands me some clothes, "I brought you something to wear."
I take the clothes, "thanks."
He just stands there looking at me like he is waiting for me to get changed.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to let me change.?"
"What if I don't want to leave?"
I huff, I am too tired to argue, and I already have my undergarments on. I decide to just change. I take off the hospital gown and begin to dress myself. I pull on a pair of leggings and a big blue sweater that looks like it belongs to a boy. I turn around to face Nix and his mouth is hanging open.
"What?" I shrug, "you are the one who didn't want to leave."
"I...uh..." he stutters.
"Okay, you do that and I am going to go, bye," I walk out of the room as I give him a pat on the shoulder.
I open the door and walk out, Nix still in the room.
"Kate! Ready to go?" Jason asks eagerly.
"Ready as I will ever be."
"Where is Nix?"
"Oh, probably jaw dropped and speechless in the hospital room. Just like I left him."
"Why?"
"He wouldn't leave to let me change, so I changed anyway. I guess he wasn't expecting that."
"Yeah, that probably made his go a bit crazy."
"Why so?" I ask, playing dumb.
"Oh...uh...no reason. He just hasn't seen a girl naked."
"Well, I wasn't naked, I had my undergarments on."
"Oh, then I am not sure why."
Oh, how I love seeing lying boys stutter. It is hilarious. Liam shows up not long after with Jack who looks rather stunned and when he looks at me, I see pity. Great, just what I need right now; pity.
"Ah, I see you are dressed now, how does it fit?" Liam asks.
"Pretty good, I think I broke your son though."
"What happened? Did he hurt you?"
"Oh god no. He wouldn't leave so I got dressed anyway. He is still in the room, I bet he hasn't moved."
"Oh...well...Jason, take her to the pack house please. I will go talk to your brother."
"Okay dad. Come on Kate, let's go."
We walk out of the hospital and across the field that leads to the forest.
"So, will your brother be alright?"
"Oh, yeah. I think his wolf may have taken over. There is a strong possibility he will be here any second."
"Okay."
"Do you have a crush on my brother?" he asks in a teasing tone.
"Quite the opposite actually. He really annoys me."
"Oh sure, you know you li..." he gets cut off.
"Nice to see you again, Chara. It's been a while."
My eyes widen, I would know that voice anywhere. Luca.
"What do you want Luca?"
"I think you know what I want. You come with me to the underworld."
"And if I refuse."
"I will hurt your little friend here. I know you can't use your powers because you are injured, so come quietly and no one will get hurt."
I contemplate going with him until I hear a growl behind me. Oh no. I turn around to see Jason in his wolf form.
"Jason don't do this. He will burn you."
He wines and looks to me.
"I will be okay. There is no sense in getting everyone hurt just because of one person. I will go and you guys will continue on as usual. Please, leave it be," I start walking over to Luca, "just take care of Zane for me okay?"
His big wolf head nods.
"Good, I am glad I met you guys. Goodbye, Jason."
With that, Luca and I disappear from his sight. Gosh, I hope I didn't just doom the world. We appear back in the underworld; in the place I recognize at Aluca's office. Luca shoves me forward and I stumble, falling to the ground as pain shoots up my side. I hold back a wince, not giving him the satisfaction. I get up slowly until I am standing on my feet. I look at Aluca.
"Ah Chara, finally decide to help us?"
"Not exactly."
Aluca looks to Luca, "what happened?"
"I did what you wanted. She is powerless right now because of her injury and only one pathetic wolf was protecting her. It was perfect timing."
"Oh, you are so naïve Altair. She needs to want to help us. Why do you think Cade was her friend and why you were supposed to befriend her? She needs to trust us and see why we are on the better side of the fight. Leave!" his voice booms throughout the office.
Altair, I should say, leaves the room and slams the door.
"Come, sit." Aluca gestures.
I do as he says so I don't have to be in any more pain than I am already in.
"Can I get you anything."
I shake my head, my sides still burning.
"I am sorry for my son's behaviour. I wanted him to tell you that he was my son eventually and then invite you here. I never wanted you to come here under these circumstances."
I remain silent.
"Do you want to go back home?"
I give him a questioning look. Would he really let me go?
"If you stay here until you are healed. I will let you go back home."
I couldn't stop myself from saying, "why?"
"I want you to want to help me and my allies. I will not force you, just merely show you my side of the story. After that and after you live here for the next two weeks, I will let you return to earth and to your friends. No strings attached."
"No strings attached, really? I find that hard to believe. I mean you are the king of the underworld and I am injured which means I cannot protect myself against your 'allies'."
"Do not worry about that. You will live in the castle for these two weeks where only my trusted men live."
"Hold up, this isn't your castle?"
"Oh god no! this dump is just where we bring people for 'business' purposes."
"Okay. When are we going to this castle?"
"How about right now?"
Suddenly the room before me disappears and I reappear in a beautiful, grey and black entry hall. It is breath taking. I cannot believe this place is in hell.
"I definitely wasn't expecting this."
"I may rule hell, but I do have a sense of fashion."
He's got that right. I can only imagine what the rest of the castle looks like. As we walk through the castle the same colour scheme seems to follow. There are black and grey walls with bright red and orange flowers. The lighting is flaming torches that cover all of the walls and lights up the place quite nicely. There is a red and dark gray carpet that covers the black hard wood floor all throughout the castle.
"I have to admit, as much as I didn't want to be here, it really is beautiful."
"Thank you," he stops at a large wooden door and opens it, "here is your room where you will be staying. I do have one question before I leave you though. Did you really kill all of my Ravenier Altair sent?"
I think back to that dreadful morning, I really wanted to forget it, "yes, I did. I didn't know what I was doing though. I thought I knocked them out. They were attacking Daniel and I just reacted."
"That is amazing. You are truly powerful Chara."
"Thanks?"
"Head on inside. I will have one of the Ravenier to check up on how you are doing in a bit."
"Okay, if they try anything though, I will not hesitate to use my powers even if it gives me extreme pain to do so."
"I understand."
With that I head inside the room and gently close the door. I turn around and take in the breath-taking room. The bed frame is black, and the sheets are a soft, black silk. The duvet is black and has a beautiful red design that covers it. There is an abstract painting just inside the door with a dark grey dresser underneath it. There is a window and I am not sure if I want to see what it looks out on. There is a reading nook in front of the window. The carpet is black and there is a bookcase not far from the bed. I walk over to the bed and cuddle under the sheets. It feels so nice and warm. The bed is the comfiest bed I have ever slept on and soon enough, I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I wake up in the morning, my side still sore from Altair pushing me to the ground. I slowly sit up and step out of bed just as there is a knock at my door.
"Yes?"
"Can I come in?"
"I guess so?"
The door opens and a beautiful woman walks in. She has long, straight, blonde hair that flows down to her waist. Her body is skinny; however, it has these beautiful curves. She is wearing a short, red crop top with a small, black skirt. Her shoes are tall, red stilettoes.
"What do you need?' I ask.
"I am here to see if you are alright. I also wanted to meet the famous Chara and introduce myself. I am Talia, a Ravenier demon here in the castle."
"Ah, so you are the one Aluca sent."
"That would be me, have you even met on of my kind before?"
"Yeah, about thirty of them all at once attacking my friend. Let's just say it didn't end well. For them."
She has a look of fear in her eyes, "well, let's hope I don't get on your bad side then," she lets out a forced laugh.
"Yeah, me too. I feel like we will get along well and I do not want that being wrecked by me having to take care of you."
"Awe, you think we will get along!"
"Yeah, that is what you want to take away from that. I need someone to talk to for the next two weeks while I am here. I will go insane being alone with only my thoughts."
"That is fair enough. For now, I want you to get dressed and I will take you to Aluca where he will explain his side of the war."
I nod and she leaves the room, closing the door. I walk over to the dresser and open the drawers. I find a pair of jogging pants, a tank top, and a flannel. I throw then on and then a pair of running shoes. I throw my hair up into a messy bun and walk out into the hallway where I see a waiting Talia.
"Let's get this over with then," I say, and we make our way to Aluca's office in the castle.
We arrive and Talia knocks on the door. Aluca says to come in and she opens the door for me, wishes me luck, and then closes it. He gestures for me to sit down on the chair across the desk from him and I do so.
"So, Chara, how much do you know about the upcoming war?"
"I know that you want to spread the darkness across the earth and take over the other gods, and the other gods want to put a stop to you spreading this darkness."
"Okay, that is close, but the details are a little off. Honestly, I do not want to take over the world. The other gods believe I want to because I am the god that was casted away. I want the other gods to treat me with the respect I deserve. Noc, your father, realised that, but when the other gods found out they thought he let his powers get the best of him. For this reason, they banished him to Valanter."
"Wait, so Noc really was the prophecy about that boy who would go through hell and escape after years?"
"Yes, that was him, you guessed right as Altair told me."
"Cool. Do you know if there is any way to release him from Valanter?"
"There may be a possibility, but I think you are the only one who can do it considering you are powerful and related to him. One day in the future I will help you if you would like."
"Thank you. I would like to speak to him and my mom before making my decision on who I should help."
"So that means you may help me?" he asks with hope.
"Possibly; however, if I find out you intend to rule in darkness, there will be consequences and do not underestimate me."
"I will not, don't worry."
I nod in understanding.
"Thank you very much for even considering helping us. It shows you truly have a kind heart. You may leave now if you do not have any more questions. Talia can keep you company if you would like."
"Thank you," I say standing up and heading to the door.
I open it and close the door behind me. I don't see Talia anywhere, so I decide to try to make it back to my room by myself. I should have been paying more attention to where we were going when Talia brought me to the office. I continue walking an seem to end up in a Livingroom. I turn around to head in a different direction and run into a wall of a man. I step back to look at who I just embarrassingly ran into and low and behold, its Altair.
"What do you want?"
"You seem to be lost; you need help?"
"None from you, thanks."
"Oh, don't be petty Chara."
"I said I don't need your help."
"I do not care what you need, you will come with me," he grabs my wrist violently.
"Like hell I am," I put my hand on his wrist and burn him badly.
My side lights up like wildfire, but I push the pain down. I will not let him hurt me, not again.
"Geez Chara, what was that for?"
"Really?" I shout, "what was for? The fact that you tried to forcefully take me somewhere doesn't ring a bell?"
"I thought you couldn't use your powers!"
"Well you thought wrong, now leave me alone!" I leave the room in the first hallway I find. I rush through the hallways looking for the familiar big wooden door. I can't seem to find it anywhere. Hell, I am already in an increased amount of pain, why not more? I close my eyes and force my aching body to teleport to my room. My whole body is on fire, somehow, I make it to my room though, but I am laying on the floor, unable to move. My whole body feels like I was hit by a train and then a bus right after. I lay there crying my eyes out because of the immense pain. Why must my life be so complicated. What I would give to go back to my life in New Mexico to where I was never noticed by anyone. To where my life was bland and simple. No one was trying to hurt me, kidnap me, or kill me on a daily basis. I didn't have to hide my real name and my whole body wouldn't be broken due to my so-called mate. Why is it so hard?