"Umm.. hi dad ." I tried getting away after giving him a quick hug . Drooping my head low , I was dragged backwards by my dad just when I started running away from him . "You think that I'm going to let you run away after being so careless about your own life ?"
"I'm really sorry ! I didn't think that he would do something like that . I mean , he's a Morkoth so I wouldn't have thought that he would seek help from modern technology to kill me ! By the way , when had Nate reached here ?"
Dad took hold of my hand and dragged me to his room harshly . I didn't realize how childish and immature I was acting in front of all of the others when they were concerned about me . He slapped me hard on my cheek right after closing the door . "Your life is not serious enough for you ? Do you have any idea of how much we were worried about you ? I have no idea about what I'll do if I loose you too soon . I would probably find a way to kill myself . I want you to be safe Rene ."
I was already crying because of the sudden sting I felt from the slap , considering the amount of strength he had as a Vampire . I cried even more when I realized how much he cared about me . "I'm really sorry dad . It's not because I was naïve enough to trust him blindly , but because I had felt so lonely and isolated . I didn't even know for how long I had been locked up there . The only movements I saw where the movement of my meal plate being filled . When Nate came and I got to talk a few words , I don't know myself but I saw him less of a threat . I have no idea what happened but one thing still bugs me ."
My eyes were red and swollen already . The mark of his hand on my cheek became brighter and more visible . Dad patted me on the back lovingly , trying to calm me as much as possible before saying , "Tell me honey , what's bugging you right now ?"
I looked up at him and told it , "I think Nate has access to mind ."
Dad laughed . "N-Nate has access to your mind ? Ridiculous ! You're such a joker Rene ! I guess the time I wasted here wasn't completely wasted !"
What was he talking about ? Is he really my dad ? I realized that I had been fooled to an extreme level when my surroundings started to distort . The hotel was distorted , Dad was disappearing slowly , showing Nate underneath it . He had created an illusion in front of my eyes , right in front of the prison . HE had slapped me , making me think that it was my father .
I was furious at him for playing such a trick on me , even though I knew that it was to be expected from a person like him . "How long was I like this ? "
I didn't wait for an answer from him . It was better that I acted like he was invisible . I walked towards the meal plate again and took my food . There was something , a small detail which was left out that I felt was missing . I looked around and realized that there were no cameras . So when exactly did he start keeping me in a state like this ?
The light bulb in my head burned quickly when I looked at the ceilings and saw the familiar writings on the wall . It was Nate's house . I was in his house , and my wound, it was still bleeding . "So , let me ask you Rene . How does it feel to have lived for more than six months in an imaginary world that I'd created for you when in reality , you've just been passed out for a few days ? "
I trusted neither my eyes , nor my mind . I didn't know what was real , what wasn't . "Where am I ? " I asked , not even daring to believe that Nate was actually there .
"So you didn't recognize ? I thought that you would be able to , given the fact that you were here before ."
"I know that this is your place , Nate . I'm just not sure whether this is another illusion , or is real time ."
"Well , if that's what you're confused about , then this is real . I had to keep you unconscious for a while so that I could bring you back from San Francisco ."
"How do I know that you're telling me the truth ? I don't think that there is a way for you to show me that all of this IS real !"
I challenged him . If dad and the others were still in San Francisco , then Cora would be able to track me down , right ?
Nate gave me my phone . "Wait and see then ." Shrugging , he went out through the prison door which was previously locked . I waited for a few minutes , and when nothing extraordinary happened , I kept the phone on the bed that I was formerly was lying on , and walked up to a window which was built on the wall . Not strangely enough , the window wasn't leading outside . Instead , it was giving me a view of the hallway of Nate's huge mansion . I turned my head backways when I heard m phone's familiar ringtone .
"Hello? dad ?"
"Rene ! Oh my ! I didn't think you would pick up ! We lost contact with you.. Cora tried so hard to find you but another power is hiding you from us . Do you know where you are right now ?"
I didn't notice Nate entering the room . He snatched my phone away from me , hung up on my dad and gave me an innocent smile . I shouted at him and tried snatching it . I fell down onto one of the bed's pole , where a sharp corner was sticking out . I waited for an excruciating pain, adding up to the pain that I was feeling on my actively wounded stomach . Nothing came . I DID fall onto the pole , but I had no injuries . Something clicked inside of me . Even in the last illusion that I was in , I didn't get hurt at all , not because I was in a safe distance , but I wasn't supposed to get hurt .
"I'm still in an illusion . Don't play dumb Nate , just tale me back . "
Nate was dumbfounded . He probably might not have expected me to find out about how his powers worked this fast . I gave him a proud smile . With a snap of his fingers , I fell unconscious .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I woke up inside a church . Correction , I didn't know what to call that place . It was indeed built as a church but the walls were covered with old skeletons hanging . All of them were wearing the dresses that people from the 90's wore . The skulls looked like they could fall off from it's body any moment now and I had no idea what to do. This was the kind of place I would think was an illusion so to check whether I was right or wrong , I looked around for something to hurt myself with .
Nate had acted very clever regardless of whether this place was an illusion or an actual place because he had left mothing for me to hurt myself with . Moreover , he wasn't there . I got an idea . I felt bad for the dead bodies but I had no other option . I walked over to one of the skeletons and used it's forefinger bone to cut my hand . Blood started oozing out of my hand . So this place was real ?
I couldn't believe it . No sooner had my blood touched the skeletons , I heard the noise of cracking . Was it possible that the building was too old that it was starting to collapse ? I took my right foot and turned it to the other side , to move out of the building as fast as possible when I was held back . Five bone fingers held my hand as if I was the last thing they could hold on to . "What the -?" I couldn't talk anymore because then I heard more cracking . I took a quick look around , only to find the other skeletons , almost eight thousand in number , started cracking their necks as if they were tired from staying in one position . None of them talked , it was like they already knew what they had to do . I looked over at the skeleton who had his , as per the skeleton's clothing , hands on me and tried taking it off . He wouldn't budge .
I was frustrated because all the other skeletons were making their ways down from the walls and were heading towards me . I wasn't going to be killed like this . I knew that magic existed because I was one of them , but bringing the dead back ? I was confused . But I bled , didn't I ? Looking over to my hand that I hurt , I realized that I hadn't hurt myself that bad for it to hurt that bad . My hand didn't have any blood , not even a single drop of blood was left on my hand proving me wrong . This was an illusion too . I looked over at the exit of the church , only to find Nate smiling , showing all of his teeth . He was proud because he was successful in trapping me .
"MOVERE ! APERIAM! " I tired many other spells on the door that Nate closed . My magic was useless in the world of illusion . I was trapped . Nate is a mind controller, he was flaying with my mind and messing with me . I was a normal human in the world he created to trap me in , with around eight thousand skeletons chasing me , one of them having his hands on me tightly . I was helpless. Hopeless . and almost at the end of my life . There was no way that dad , or Cora could come to save me . This was a challenge for my human capabilities .
Someone like me would never back down from a challenge like this . I was also not in a situation to be able to back down and turn the challenge down . I noted the changes in each and every skeleton . All of them were starting to have small muscles on their hands . The skeleton catching me was still in a daze , or were just ordered to keep me from escaping because he did not attack me . I didn't have time to give out sympathy for something that is not even real . 'All of this is an illusion." I told myself .
I caught hold of the skeletons hand with my other hand and ripped it off of the body itself . The hand lay clutched onto my hand , not going away . I didn't try throwing it away . I watched as I saw a small cluster of skeletons , those who already had made good progression in growing flesh on their body . They were probably planning on hiding away and coming back when I was tired from fighting all the others .
I decided that they would be my first target . All the skeletons were still following me around like crazy and I had no way to get to them unless I move around with the rope of the church bell . Yes , that was my chance . The rope was long enough to reach all the wall and I could move around with it . The skeletons that I had targeted were north of the church bell . Pulling out heads of skeletons that had just started moving in between going to the bell , I finally made it .
I ran to the rope and jumped on it . Going straight for the wall . And so I started my mission of beheading eight thousand skeletons who were starting to grow into humans with more strength . Till now , I had beheaded almost two thousand skeletons . The mere thought of having to re-kill another six thousand more was tiring . I wanted to rest . The skeletons were growing fast , but I had no extra power with me to help me . I decided to help myself for a little bit and swung to a wall . I stood on to one of the nails that a skeleton was pinned on to . The pin was way too small but it gave an immense sense of pleasure for my hands to be able to rest after almost three hours of excruciating pain . I had no idea when this would be over but I was sure that I would kill Nate when I get out of this . That was right . I would get out of this mess no matter how much tired I get . So many people were counting on me to save them .