The feeling of drops of water lightly splashing my face woke me up from my usual trance.
I was back again on the boat and the next moment, I was at the bottom of the Cyre river.
Dassy had said it was a part of Audrey's memory and would stop after a while but it seemed to get more intense every time.
I struggled to my feet and brushed wet sand off my body as I tried to fix my memory and remember how I had gotten to the lake and why there was a fly covered man lying with a sword sticking out of his chest.
I pinched my nose in disgust as I dragged myself away from the awful sight.
My eyes landed on the wooden mask and everything finally made sense. The memories of that awful day came flooding in and I grabbed my head as waves of pain surged through it.
I had put on the mask to defend myself but I was too weak to handle its power and now, it was trying to become a part of me. It had a force that kept drawing me to it and the more I resisted, the more pain it caused me.
"Dassy!" I screamed as another wave of pain shot through my body..
I fell to the floor and wrapped my arms around my head to soothe the pain.
"Please, answer me," I cried as the pain became unbearable each passing minute.
After what felt like eternity, Dassy's small frame appeared and she rushed to me immediately she saw the state I was in.
She placed her palm on my forehead and began chanting in a low voice.
"This soul does not belong to you," she muttered as she picked up the mask.
"She belongs to my master and he orders you to set her free."
Her chanting must have upset it because the pain trippled and I began to bleed out of my eyes.
"Damn, Dahlia. Why did you wear the mask? Do you know how powerful ancient magic is?" She yelled at me.
I would have yelled back but I was in too much pain. It felt like I was dying again and the pain was worse than the first time.
"I order you to set her free!" Dassy continued to scream at the mask but her words had no effect.
"A part of you still holds on to the monster you became when you had the mask on," a familiar voice said from behind us.
Dassy froze and fell to her knees.
"I did everything, my lord," she said as she bowed her head to the ground.
"Let go of the monster, Kitten," he ordered as he lifted my chin and wiped blood out of my eyes.
"He almost killed me," I whispered as tears mixed with blood rolled down my eyes.
"Nobody hurts my Kitten," he growled. "If anybody hurts you, I'll gouge out their eyes and feed it to the crows."
"You're mine and I will protect you," he said, his voice calm and soothing.
I nodded and slowly, the pain faded away and my vision was restored.
"Welcome back, Kitten," Hades smiled as he brushed back my hair with his palm.
"Go fuck yourself, creep," I spat.
Within the a heartbeat, his palm flew to my neck and he pulled me closer to his face.
"Your manners are as filthy as the man you killed," he hissed. "I might not tolerate such disrespect next time," he warned before letting me go.
I held unto my neck and tried to catch my breath.
"Why didn't you just let me die?" I murmured.
"It's not yet your time," he replied before vanishing into thin air.
"That was close," Dassy sighed.
Too close if I was being honest. For a person that had died once, the thought of death freaked me out.
"I don't want to go through that ever agin," I sighed as I rubbed my temples.
"I think it's better for me to hold on to the relics from your missions," Dassy declared. "I think it's safer."
After establishing a way to transport the relics, Dassy instructed I return to Lady Vivian's home and wait till my next mission was communicated to me before leaving.
I took a quick rinse in the lake and snuck back to Vivian's home. I waited in the garden until the bustling activities of the day died down.
There was no sight of Vivian in the hallway and Paula had turned in for the night.
I tiptoed to the first floor where my new private room was and slid into the half opened door to meet an angry Paula and an even more upset Vivian.
"3 days," Vivian yelled as she pulled me into the room.
3 days? I was only knocked out for a few hours, there was no way I was out cold for that long.
"Do you have money for your bed and food?" Vivian screamed as she shook me violently.
"No, I gave you all my money," I replied. "All that money was more than enough for 3 days," I protested.
"If you can't give me a bed then give me my money back," I said firmly.
"You stupid whore!" Vivian screamed as the back of her palm made contact with my cheek.
"You're done. I want you out of my house immediately," she said angrily. "And trust me, I'll let the council know where to find you".....