Sinking down the Rabbit Hole!!!

**Natasha’s POV**

“Natasha, Natasha!” I heard these words playing over and over, and they sounded more like an emergency. A distant sound of skin tearing, muscles stretching, bone snapping and loud echoing growls grumbled in my mind. I opened my eyes, never believing that a simple task like that would need so much struggling.

Damon's blue eyes turned black; skin turned to menacing black fur, nails to sharp-pointed claws, teeth to canine fangs. He was going wild, screeching in pain, growling, and getting out of control. His body rumbled in uncontrolled spasms; I could feel the pain that set his whole body on fire as if thrown into the burning hot lava. The way he was suffering, it seemed as if someone was skinning him alive, plucking out his nails and tongue, draining him of all his blood. At that moment, I just wished that I could do something to soothe his pain. He was on the floor, groaning and whimpering in pain as his alternate identity took over his body and mind, a demonic creature *Ghost wolf*, the most dangerous, the deadliest predator among werewolves, with no control and mercy. A deathly greenish mist enveloped his body, giving a monstrous aura and concealing his scent. His continuous growls, moans, snarls and yelps perpetuated the surrounding air as deadly waves, constantly echoing through, giving a loud acoustic effect through the surrounding woods.

Lukas leaned beside me, trying to wake me up, his attention diverted between the ghost wolf and me. Whereas Rhaegar was standing beside Lukas, his sole attention focused on the ghost wolf.

“Fuck! What is this?” Rhaegar’s voice was a mix of surprise and terror.

“Our death, if Natasha doesn’t wake up soon and control him---” Lukas’s words trailed off as the ghost wolf released a demonic cry and shot forward straight for Rhaegar, striking him right on the chest before he had time to react. Rhaegar stumbled back, hitting the floor. He hissed in pain as the crimson blood spurted over from his mouth.

“Shit!” he shouted, trying to gain his feet.

“Rhaegar!” Lukas said tensely, and this was quickly followed by him shifting into his demon wolf. The ghost wolf was caught off-guard, just as Lukas’s demon wolf leapt on it, but the effect was not as intended, and instead, it made the ghost wolf more aggressive and terrifying like a vengeful wounded beast. It roared in an almighty way and headed straight for Lukas.

“Get back Lukas!” Rhaegar shouted, pulling out a knife hidden somewhere under his clothes, and rushed straight to the ghost wolf, striking it into the side of the lower jaw, but it hardly penetrated the thick, rubbery skin, and the blade part broke, sticking up on its cheek while the handle remained in Rhaegar’s hand. The ghost wolf plucks out the knife, letting out a deafening growl with the murderous intention.

“What the hell are we going to do now? How to defeat it?” Rhaegar shouted at Lukas.

“We can stall him by keeping him engaged in the fight for some time till his ghost wolf form subsides, or Natasha wakes up and controls him. He won’t remain in this form for longer,” Lukas shouted, holding a blade and taking on an attacking position to face the ghost wolf.

“Like fuck, we will be able to stall this creature. If we don’t act now, we are dead in the next couple of minutes. Use that fucking dagger!” Rhaegar shouted at Lukas.

My body stiffened at the thought of using the magical dagger on Damon. I wanted to oppose, but my lips refused to move. I tried to use all my strength to communicate with Lukas to seep into his mind, but I lacked enough strength.

“Nope, not that dagger, it will kill him,” Lukas argued back, and what I wouldn’t give in that moment to rush at him and kiss him all over.

“Fuck!” Rhaegar shouted, wiping off the blood oozing from his lips with his shirt.

“Look out!” Rhaegar shouted at Lukas, and the next thing I saw was Lukas on the floor, dragged by his hair by the ghost wolf before lifting its left foot in a murderous attempt to break his ribs and crush his heart. I froze in horror, trembling to my bones to watch Lukas helplessly pinned on the floor, awaiting the final blow which would take him away from me, *forever*.

Just as the ghost wolf pressed its foot, something ran into it, charging at it at such a high speed that the form was just a translucent apparition of something moving. The thing was too fast to make out a clear shape and form. A poisonous scorpion's tail struck the ghost wolf’s head. It was Rhaegar in his chimera form. The ghost wolf stumbled back to his feet, but not for long. It was back on his feet, it's roaring bellowed like a monster in pain. Lukas was quick to grab it by his arm, his jaw clawed deep into its wrist, whereas Rhaegar dodged back and spun on his feet before jumping over and inserting his poisonous tail deep into the ghost wolf’s face. For that moment, it felt as if they would be able to defend themselves; but the very next moment, the sound of demonic laughter roared into my ears, as the ghost wolf leapt high in the air as if taking a partial flight, dragging Rhaegar on the ground, grabbing his neck, choking him. Lukas paced towards them to help Rhaegar, but it was all in vain as the ghost wolf grabbed his neck as well choking him. There was no way they could subdue Damon in his ghost-wolf form.

Ghost wolf was killing Lukas and Rhaegar in front of my eyes, and all I could do was just watch. The feeling of being helpless while watching your mates die is the worst feeling ever that always stays with you, and all you can do is just roast in this grief throughout your life. The same scenario plays in your mind over and over again, and you think of lots of different ways, you could have handled it, but the time which goes never comes back, and the pain stays. All I could do at that moment was to close my eyes and focus on my mental strength.

I was all alone, in a vast emptiness coated with darkness. The feeling of weightlessness groped my body, and then I realized that I was falling, and the panic hit my nerves when I realized that I had been falling for too long in the unknown abyss of the darkness beneath me. The cry left my lips when I finally hit something, crashing into it with such force it stole my breath and hammered every inch of my body. The stinky dark waters consumed me, the stench of rot and decomposition filling my lungs, passing through my veins and poisoning my tissues, and I was pulled into the never-ending depths of the brackish waters, which seemed to be straight from the rivers of hell.

The pain and groans of my mates pierced through my ears, and that was the moment when I knew that it was time for action. There is no way I’ll let my mates die whom I love to death. I may be a Morrighan, the most powerful wolf, but all invincible creatures do have a weakness, I too have a weakness, an Achilles heel, and mine are my heightened senses. It may be a boon to see, hear, feel and sniff the unknowns that no one else can sense, but that boon turns out into a curse when the enemies target our strength and turns it into our weakness. The black-veiled mages did the same thing with me; they weakened me with the stench that messes with my senses and made me helpless, locking my powers. It was not the fight with my enemies, for they are just the spectators laughing at my hopelessness, I had to fight myself with such a force, which could conquer my weakness and turn them into my strength.

And then a miracle happened; my energy barrier pulsed through my core and resonated through my body. The tingling started in my fingers and spread all over my body, zipping around as though every single part of me was sparking back to life. The sparks of energy transversed through my veins and penetrated to my tissues, and finally lungs, pushing away the fumes of stench as if the rays of sunlight were defeating the darkness. I didn’t know if it was happening or just a trick of my mind, but a voice in my head prompted me to move. The voice of my wolf Tasha, “Natasha, get up fast, Lukas and Rhaegar need your help. Save our mates.”

I forced my limbs into action. It felt as though I had just died and was being jolted back to life. Finally, I rose with a growl as if just released from the clutches of binding chains. My body glowed hot with the fumes of blue, red and green as if emitting raw power, which can melt anything. My wolves erupted out of my body, glowing with their own powers. I moved towards my mates, and with one snap of my fingers, I pushed the ghost wolf away, as if it weighed nothing, freeing Lukas and Rhaegar. They were moaning and writhing in pain, holding on to their neck. Rhaegar's half of his face was covered with blood, whereas Lukas was hurt on his shoulders and thighs, but to my relief, they lived.

I picked Ghost-wolf from the hair as if he was a small pet and dragged him through the floor, towards the barrier.

“Stop, whining like babies, we need to move,” I looked at Lukas and Rhaegar, and they quickly acted on the cue and moved their asses along the floor. Damon was back in his human form, his clothes reduced to the rags, barely hanging over his shoulder. The same can be said for Lukas and Rhaegar. Although the barrier was invisible to others, I was quick to make out the sparks of blue lines in the shape of honeycomb, thrumming and vibrating, ready to electrocute and reduce any person touching it to ashes.

“What say? Should I bring the whole fucking barrier down?” I looked over at my mates.

“Not a good idea. You never know what is inside those walls, so can't risk them outside. Do only what is required.” Lukas was the one who offered his advice.

“And even if they come out, what the fuck will they attack, those frozen trees or depilated houses or maybe the corpses of the dead witches of the lake.” Damon was back into his witty sarcasm, whereas Rhaegar barely gave a fuck.

I looked over at the barrier, focusing my sole intention on it.

“Ready!” I spoke. The waves of energy sparkled my eyes, erupting from it, striking the blue lines of the barrier with such a force, turning it into red and then black as if it were rotting and withering away in fast motion. The moment the barrier broke, it started healing back from the edges, leaving us with no option but to enter inside. It seemed like a portal to another world. The moment we stepped inside it, we were being sucked by a dark liquid which spun around, making us dizzy. We were surrounded by darkness with the apparitions of the dark shadows trying to consume us. I tried hard to escape, but an invisible force pushed me further into the abyss.

“Oww, that hurt!” I shouted, landing on my ass, with a solid blow that sucked the air from my lungs, loosening my energy sparks. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. I forced myself to suck in a sip of air, but the heaving movement in my chest build pressure in my lungs, making the breathing process difficult.

I scanned my surroundings, unsure of what to expect as my dreams and visions never showed me what was inside these enchanted woods. Arctic, night-time air burned my already parched throat, shivers wracked my body, and my muscles got stiff and weak from the unforgiving temperature. We were in a frozen land of complete darkness.

“What the hell is this place?” Rhaegar’s voice came from beside me. Even though fully dressed, the chill wracked my bones, so I wondered how they must be feeling in rags.

“Didn’t expect this kind of welcome. A perfect example of, ‘Great cry little wool’.” Damon taunted Lukas and Rhaegar. Lukas looked serious, trying to assess the whole situation.

“Don’t be so disappointed Damon, if you don’t see or hear the things doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Always remember, we can only see the things in the visible spectrum and hear the frequencies in the audible range. These rules don’t apply to the unknown entities of this place. The magic of this place will make us see things which are hidden in the shadows of our brain, the things we never want to see EVER.” Lukas explained to him.

“Okay, folks hold on your dicks, for we’re heading for a new adventure. An adventure which would be a wet dream of Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes. An adventure which makes you drooling, dripping and bathing in adrenaline. Are you ready to check for the monsters under our beds? Ready for the game of hide and seek?” I addressed my unknown audience like I used to do when in a dangerous situation.

“Oh no, not again!” Tasha groaned in my mind.

“Is she fucking serious?” Lukas’s voice stuck in my ear.

“Anna used to do the same thing. Talking with some fucking invisible people.” Rhaegar spoke in amusement.

“Yep, I know. Perhaps, Morrighans require mental health lessons.” Damon muttered, a smirk coating his face.

“Hey honey, always ready to drool, drip and bath with you, but be alert, for the monsters are not under the bed but inside your mind. The hint of the game is staring too long in the dark, and you’ll eventually see what isn’t there,” A chorus of raspy voices hit my ears.

“Who was that? Who the hell spoke?” I looked over at my mates, though I was sure that it was not their mischief. The voices were vile and sickly, sounding like old witches.

“Not me, do you think I will partake in this madness,” Damon smirked. Rhaegar shakes his head to deny it, whereas Lukas’s expressions were of shock and dread.

Fuck!!

“Who is this? Show me your faces,” I growled.

“Hey honey, we are your invisible audience,” the jeering voices echoed through the woods, and then, something happened.

My worst nightmare!!