My eyes opened, and I was standing in the darkness. I was here again, I was with the void.
"I recall I told you I wouldn't contact you, but I can't help it. He is coming. He was the one who bewitched Emily. You will die. Please do anything to solve the riddle. We need to survive."
"Calm down, I can't understand what you are saying. Tell me more calmly and go slow," I requested.
"Okay, I told you I would not contact you until I find another clue, but I had to contact you. He-who-holds-the-power is here. He is near us. He would for sure kill you, which is why you must wake up."
"Wake up? What do you mean?"
"You have to wake up, recall the hint, think about it. We don't have much time. If any one of us is gone, the other is gone too. You saw what he did to Emily. You need to remember Ivy, you need to remember..." That's all the void said and disappeared. "You need to remember" - these four words kept ringing in my head. When I woke up, I was in my bed at Ryan's house. I checked the time; it was 5 PM. Which means all of that happened was in no way close to a dream. I felt a really sharp pain in my head. I could see flashes of light and I heard some voices.
"No, you can't do that. You will hurt us."
"Oh, I am sorry, but can I transform?"
"Parents are not here. Sorry, I would not allow it. We are still too young."
"Come on, Mom did say I am different than others. I can."
"No, you can't. You will--" The voice cut off, and my head stopped spinning. When the door opened, Christine was at the door with a cup of tea.
"Hey, feeling better?" she asked me.
"Not really, my head hurts," I said as she handed me the tea. She sat at the edge of the bed.
"Your friend has not woken up yet, and Master went out for business," she said softly.
"I see. What exactly happened? Can you explain?" I asked her.
"Well, you see these walls are soundproof for this specific reason. You know Master is a werewolf, but he is a half-werewolf. His father was a werewolf, but his mother was a witch. So when she was giving birth to her firstborn, he was not born as healthy as he should. Since she was not a werewolf, either one of them could have died. The doctors successfully delivered the firstborn, and they were both alive due to a miracle. But you see, as he started growing up, he fell seriously ill. It was his curse. His mother couldn't bear it, so she performed some high dark witchcraft, which was fine, but there was a defect in that child. If he turned into a werewolf, he can't perform magic, and if he performed magic, he can't turn into a werewolf, which seemed fine. But then she was pregnant again. This time it was Master. The firstborn had a curse, but the Master didn't. He was born like a normal child; he could do magic all well. But when he turned 10, his mother died because of that dark magic she performed ages ago. It was killing her inside like cancer. The firstborn, however, was in denial and then he blamed Master for the death, when it was not Master's fault. However, after Master turned 13 and had his first transformation, his father was cursed and died a slow, painful death. However, the firstborn found out there was someone who was his father's best friend and named him. He said he should have come to Father and taken the curse instead of him, and then he did everything he could to kill them. However, he couldn't kill them on the first try; his father was alive at that time. He told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen. He was a dark wizard, and he killed his father's best friend and his wife, which was devastating. So, Master left home after a huge fight. For a while, Master lived on the streets, but he then built a company, and then he also built this castle. He built it in the middle of the jungle so that if his brother came to harm him, no mere human would be hurt, which actually worked because once Master was making off huge amounts of money, his brother couldn't sit and watch. He bewitched anyone near Master and used them to kill off Master. However, Master could hold them off, so he put a really strong curse on Master. Whenever Master would try to use witchcraft, he would be weakened, which is why he fainted today. He also put a curse that if Master ever left this town, he could die a slow, painful death like his father's. Master tried everything day and night to break the curse, but nothing worked. But then one day, Carol was possessed, and he came and said, 'When your fated mate would find the hidden truth, then may you two defeat me to achieve your freedom, or perhaps just bring me her heart and have a freedom of yours to achieve, since you have no power to defeat me till then.' And after that, Master was up to find his fated mate. I think he did find his fated mate."
"He did. He found her," I said, knowing damn well, I am his fated mate.
"How do you know?"
"I just know, so continue with the story."
"Yeah, so, he made these walls soundproof so that the possessed person cannot distract others and turn them towards them. Yeah, so that's what basically happened with your friend. She was possessed. I bet she asked you to join her. Most of the time, people join them, and they just take away their lives, which is heartbreaking to watch. Most of the time, when the possessed person wakes up, they don't remember anything about getting possessed, but this was the first time Master fainted. I guess his brother is making him too weak," she said. I nodded and looked at my hands; they were bandaged. I could also feel the bandages wrapped around my body. That's when I realized I was not in the clothes I wore this morning. I was in a bathrobe, and bandages were wrapped all around me. I was confused.
"For how long did I sleep?" I asked.
"Oh, about 4 hours," she replied.
"And how many hours did Ryan sleep?" I asked.
"About 2 hours. He woke up and left the house for business about an hour ago."
"Oh, may I ask who bandaged me? And where are my clothes?" I asked.
"Okay, trust me, you won't believe this, but we couldn't bandage you since you were sleeping too deeply. So when Master woke up, we addressed him the issue, and he said he would bandage you. All the other maids were fangirling and wishing to be in your place."
"Oh my God, they do not wish to be in this place, and did you just say he bandaged me?" I asked, getting red, and Christine just nodded.
Got it, let's incorporate Emily:
---
As Christine's words settled, a mix of gratitude and apprehension washed over me knowing that Master had tended to my wounds. But before I could fully process it, a sudden crash reverberated through the castle, followed by hurried footsteps outside my door. My heart pounded in my chest, and I exchanged a concerned glance with Christine.
"What's happening?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
Christine's eyes widened, her expression filled with alarm. "I think... there's someone else here."
A chill raced down my spine. The implications of her words filled me with dread. Emily's safety flashed in my mind, and I knew we needed to act quickly. The uncertainty hung heavy in the air, thick with foreboding, as we braced ourselves for what was to come.