Earth Realm.
~~~~
"You have been asleep for the whole day"Nadia's statement didn't settle well with Lily,her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets because of shock.
"What!"She yelled, dragging her hands up Nadia's shoulder to face her so that she could read her facial expression, to be sure if she's saying the truth this time around.
Nadia could be more of a tease,and with the bad dreams and omens she's been having lately,she wasn't in the mood for her joke's.
"Geez? Girl my ears,"Nadia covered her ears,while pushing Lily's hands off from her shoulder.
"Are you trying to say that i have been asleep for a whole day?"Lily asked with all seriousness,she could already imagine the kind of insults she's going to receive from their boss if that was true.
"So you seriously don't remember anything?"Nadia asked, turning around to observe her skeptically.
"Remember what?"
If there was anything Lily didn't like,that was Nadia playing mind games on her,like she could just go ahead and tell her what the matter,but yet she insists on always making her talkative.
"You passed out in front of Dwayne's tent yesterday night"Nadia revealed,and literally saw Lily's eye nearly fall from its sockets.
She looked away from Nadia, trying to put her brain to good use, which is trying to remember anything,but nothing.
Nothing at all!
She doesn't recall doing anything that Nadia just said, and that made it more uncomfortable for her, because she couldn't fathom what exactly could have made her faint in front of his tent.
She has embarrassed herself first,and that was all thanks to him that she didn't die on the first day they had met.
The girl's from her team are already calling her the biggest slut ever,and she didn't need Nadia to tell her about her because she knew that was true.
"I don't remember anything Nadia,I don't!"She cried, moving along to hold Nadia's hands.
"Did i do anything stupid?"She moved on to inquire more from her news source,but Nadia's countenance changed.
"Stupid? I don't get you L,come on, everyone is waiting already"She said, dragging her hand in an attempt to leave their tent.
She didn't give her enough time,to ask about their boss's reaction to her sleeping for the whole day.
"Waiting for what?"Lily asked,as Nadia was the first person to be out of their tent,while clapping her hands excitedly.
"For going on a research"Nadia completed her statement,before she gave a bow to their team leader who was a few meters away from them.
Lily's eyes went directly to the man who he was talking with,and that was nobody but Dwayne.
Dwayne Black.
The man who was a mystery she was yet to uncover, but soon.
"How are you feeling today?"Malcolm asked,and that got a yelp from Lily who didn't see him coming to stand in gront of her with a smile on his face.
A smile!
Is that smile for me?
She nearly asked that out loud,but pushed against doing that when she saw that she wasn't dreaming.
Her team leader was smiling at her,and asking about her health while she heard the grunt coming from Gwen's side.
"I still don't get why she gets to be treated special,that's annoying. ''Gwen complained without caring that the team leader,who was her step uncle, was here.
"Well that's because you don't see the grace she carries,Lily is loved by anyone,isn't that right ?"Nadia spoke up, nudging her shoulder with that of the boy beside her,while indirectly looking at Dwayne to find him staring right ahead at Lily.
Like always.
"Miss Hayes,you can still take a break if you still don't feel good, thanks to Mr.Black you get to be treated like someone great"Malcolm mocked,with his voice reduced so that Dwayne wouldn't hear what he was saying.
While his eyes only screamed disgust at the woman in front of him,it was very obvious that he was all along pretending to be nice to her.
He's nothing but a monster beneath that ugly face of his,Lily still doesn't get the reason why she's into him, because there was nothing she could literally say that attracted her to him.
He's a married man.
His wife must have been blind to meet and fell for him,besides if Gwen has any idea that she was crushing on her uncle,god!
She didn't want to imagine the drama unfolding,she knew it was going to be a hot one between the two.
"No, I'm fine"She replied curtly,and added a smile on her face when she saw the look Malcom sent her way.
Dwayne was looking at the both of them,and Malcolm doesn't want to give off the wrong impression so that's why she had to smile.
Idiot!
"So,that's it everyone.Finally,we have come to the end of our workshop which i would like to thank everyone for their cooperation,and zeal towards making this a successful one"Malcolm addressed his team,as a clap erupted between them.
"I will specially like to thank our guest who indeed made our stay here worthwhile,I have heard silly stories about the Mountain, especially the cave but i guess that's all lies.please a round of applause for our guest"
Malcolm went on to address his team,while Lily's entire attention was on the man who would turn to look at her briefly,only to look away immediately.
She wanted to talk with him.. desperately.
Yes,she had to.
To clear the rumors about her dating him secretly, and also to figure out the whole story about how she ended up passing out in front of his tent.
Yes,that's what she wanted to know from him.
Malcolm waa done with his speech, likewise Dwayne who had done a brief one too.
Lily could literally see the girls,Gwen,Mia and Nora trying to get his attention while he was talking,but his eyes were directly at her.
Only her.
Why?
"We will all be leaving tomorrow,so i guess we have a lot of packing to do which i would encourage everyone to cooperate,see you all in the morning"Malcolm said lastly,and left with Dwayne who was leaving this evening, just like he had said when he was addressing them.
There was this feeling that settled upon her,which she had no idea what it was about.
She was happy,and found herself smiling like she just won a lottery until the sudden strike of thunder and the darkening of the sky.
"Woah!"Mia exclaimed, looking up at the sky.
"What's that?"Nora pointed at a very specific position in the sky that had everyone's attention.
"Isn't it odd that a thunder storm started suddenly around this season?"Asher asked,with a huge grin on his face.
The ground started shaking for a while,until a loud echo was heard which had everyone falling to the ground.
"What just happened?''Gwen asked, standing up while Leaning on Asher but he pushed her away from him.
"The question should be what is happening?"Mark says,as everyone's attention was on him.
"Are you alright?"Nadia asked,as everyone turned to find Lily smiling.
"I'm good,I have never being good in a while than today"She replied, looking way back to where the echo came from,as the others followed her eye movement.
"This is not a mistake that we literally just had a mild earthquake"Nadia added, holding onto Lily's arm.
"I think it came from the cave"Nora pointed,as they saw a puff of smoke cone out of it.
An ice cave.
How could it have produced a smoke?
"Of course none of you have heard of the mystical story about the cave,and the vampire who lived in it,"Asher added,which caught everyone's attention.
"A vampire?"Mia asked, holding onto Mark's hand.
"Is that even real?"Gwen didn't believe in any of the bullshit he had to offer.
"This isn't a Korean drama,Asher"Nora supported her friend.
"What exactly does a vampire who lives in your imagination have to do with the cave?"Nadia added too.
"He was cursed and banished to live in eternal peril, for falling in love with the woman who he wasn't supposed to love"Asher went on to tell the known story about the mysterious cave.
"So what exactly is the main point about all these?"Nadia asked,while Lily wasn't interested in any discussion of theirs.
Rather she was somewhere else.
She could feel it.
He's calling unto her.
But this time the feeling was different,it was like no other and all she wanted to do right now was to flow with it.
Until her eye's caught another pair of angry eyes staring right back at hers,it was Dwayne.
He looked furious.
No.. he was mad.
She could feel it, starting from his facial countenance that was covered with a smile,but beneath that was an angry fellow which triggered her curiosity to know what exactly was going on.
"The main point is that we are going into the cage tonight"Asher's voice drew her attention back to them,and they had it fully this time around.
"You gotta be kidding me,no we are not"Gwen disagreed,Asher has gone mad.
"Come on guys,it's going to be fun.We get to find out whether the supposed story is real or not "Asher urged.
"And if it's not?"Nora chipped in.
"Yes,we can't just walk into danger,what if there is truly a vampire there.That would literally make us his dinner"Mia added.
"You aren't thinking of going there right?"Gwen glared at her.
"Oh! Don't be such a scaredy cat,it's going to be fun,a one night opportunity to unveil the story about the cursed vampire "Nadia said, clapping her hands in delight before turning to face Lily.
"I'm not giving in to this madness"She disagreed,for the first time she was on the same side with Gwen.
But deep within her,a strong urge to leave as soon as possible was right there,but why?
Leave to do what?
"Yes you are"Nadia agreed for the both of them.
"Good,so who else is in?"Asher asked,and everyone raised their hands up regardless of Gwen's warning.
She glared at Mia and Nora in anger,and for betraying her.
"You all have gone crazy,you are going to die!"Gwen shouted, leaving them to their madness while she had another plan in mind.