chapter 70

ARIELLA.

I couldn't believe it. I just got tricked by David and now we're alone in this unfamiliar place. I looked around and saw that we were in some kind of forest. All the trees here were tall pine trees and the wind was ice cold. It was rocky here too, and at a distance, I could see a tall black gate and over it was a huge castle-like structure made of stone.

Where was I? I hope that I wasn't far enough from Eli and the others.

"Where did you bring me?" I asked David loudly because he was still grinning at me like a madman. He was standing in front of me, waiting for me to come to him or something. He had his arms wide open for me as if I would gladly go to him. Like hell, I would.

"Oh yeah. You should know where we are. We're here up in the North, where most of the remaining vampires live."

"What?" I was shocked. I thought that we were still near Kingsville, but this is already outside the country. If what I heard before about vampires were true, then we must be near the North Pole already. "How dare you bring me here!"

I charged towards David because I was mad that he brought me to a very far place. I was going to punch him but he dodged. My momentum was so strong though, so I almost got out of balance. I saw him wave his hand at me and I suddenly got lifted off my feet just like what he did to Eli. I tried so hard to get away from his powers but he was so strong.

"You don't have to fight me anymore, Ariella. You have already lost." He laughed like a maniac again and I suddenly got scared because no one else was here other than the two of us.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Do you see that castle over there?" he said, then moved me with his powers so that I could see the stone castle that he was referring to. "That's where we will live as husband and wife. Once we get inside the gate, you can never leave that place again."

"And you really think that I'll let you do that?"

"You have no choice. That mansion has a curse on it. Anyone who isn't a vampire is eternally locked inside that place once they go inside. We call it the Northern Lair. It belonged to my mother's family for centuries. My ancestors on my mother's side of my family tree were known to make great fortresses. But you already knew that as you have already been to one."

He must be talking about the old mansion in the cave. "You can't do this! I have the powers of the Moon Goddess! Even if you put me in there, I will get out using my own powers!"

"Oh, really? Then let's see whose powers will prevail over the other. Don’t get mad. This is your fault that I have to come this far. Literally. I wasn't planning on using that castle but I have no other choice. I must not underestimate you now that you have awakened your powers."

"You will pay for this, David. My people will find me and they'll kill you!"

"But how could they do that? They don't even know where this place is. Just accept it, Ariella. You're all alone here. This is very far from Kingsville or New Forks. No one will come here to save you."

I scoffed. "But you're here too. You're far from your family just like me. And I know that you don't have the ability to magically appear and disappear from place to place so you're stuck in this goddamn place too!"

"You're right. But that's nothing. Blaire or Lawrence could come here and fetch me using their powers. So don't worry about me. Just prepare yourself to live here because this is now your new home."

"Never! I'll go back home and you can't do anything about it! Just watch me---!"

David slapped me and I fell to the icy ground head-first. I got cuts on my cheeks because of that, but I didn't mind it at all. I got back to my feet again because I wanted to fight back but David had already restrained me with his powers. My arms got locked into each other because of that. "You should be thankful that I am still very patient with you. I could just knock you out and I could do anything to you after that, but I am not doing that because I want you to accept your fate. And this is your fate now, Ariella. You are now stuck here with me."

"Just knock me out then," I challenged him. "I would rather be unconscious than listen to you..." I was having difficulties with my breathing as the cold had started to affect me. We must be in a high-altitude place for me to feel like my lungs were starting to get overworked.

"I can do that, but I won't because I want you to be awake when one of my people comes here to report about your mate's death. Once he dies, you and I could start trying to conceive our child. How sweet is that?"

"Eli will not die. He is stronger than you think!" I insisted, hoping that what I said would manifest into reality.

"Oh come on. Let's not kid around here, Ariella. Your mate might be strong, but not strong enough against my family. Julian alone could take him out. And there are still others there who could kill him too like my parents. Just you wait, Ariella. Soon, someone will come here to tell me the good news that your mate is finally gone." He laughed again, but this time all I could hear was my wolf howling sadly as it realized that it might take a while again before we reunited with Eli. I should think of a way to get out of here before David locks me inside that cursed place that he was talking about!

David started walking to the castle with me hovering beside him like a balloon. Every step he took scared me because it meant that I was getting closer and closer to a life of being his prisoner again. We were just a few steps away from the tall gate when we heard a woman's voice echoing around us.

It was Blaire's voice and David stopped because she was crying. She projected her voice here and she was crying so hard that she sounded like she was here with us. "Blaire, what happened? Why are you crying?"

"David! I have bad news for you." She was already wailing and I already have a theory as to what happened. "Julian... Together with your parents... They are all dead..."

I fell to the ground again because David dropped me. But instead of wincing, I laughed out loud. "What news, David!" I said, mocking him. "What did you say earlier? That your family is stronger?"

"Shut up!" David kicked me on my stomach, causing me to cry in pain. He then picked me up and carried me bridal style and he continued to walk to the gate. "I'm putting you inside the castle first, Ariella. And then I'm going back to New Forks to kill your mate myself."