Chapter Thirty-Nine

I sit at the table feeling slightly dejected. I know I felt something wrong, and I thought everyone else would feel the same way, having everyone question whether I was jealous about Addam and Dafne’s relationship made me take a step back and really think about whether or not they had a point. I think about the shivers that crept up my spine when I brushed against her and how her body language spoke to me. I conclude that I’m not jealous and that there really is something fishy going on, but instead of voicing what I feel and possibly having people tell me that it’s all in my head again, I decide to stay wary of Dafne and keep an eye out for any possible trouble that may be following her.

“You alright?” Nik asks bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m good just thinking that maybe you’re all right and I just need to let people in a little more.”

“Fal, you’re a wonderful person and we all love you, but you are kind of territorial when it comes to all of us. You realize that right?” He asks.

I shrug “I don’t mean to be, I guess I have abandonment issues.”

“I mean, who wouldn’t with your past?”

I chuckle “you make a good point, but that doesn’t give me a pass to be a bitch to people.”

“I don’t think you’re being a bitch necessarily, you just kind of come off standoffish.”

I purse my lips in thought “It’s a definite personality flaw. I’ll work on it.”

He chuckles in response, “Come on, lets go to the lake and take a dip.”

I smile, “I think Dafne wanted to hang out with me, just her and me, even though I don’t trust her, I might as well get to know her and make sure that the shiver wasn’t just a jealous reaction.”

“I think that might be a good idea, it’ll give you some time to hang out with her and get to know her better and show that you have nothing to be worried about.” He says smiling.

‘Or it’ll give me the chance to prove that she’s an imposter who doesn’t belong.’ I think to myself but instead of saying it out loud I agree with Nik and follow him out of the room and back to nature where everyone is lounging in the sun, playing in the water, or just conversing while sitting at the picnic table. Dafne and Addam are off to the side by a fire pit that is has been dug into the earth and has remnants of old bonfires, Dafne is sitting on Addam’s lap, and they seem to be in a heavy discussion of some kind, I decide to leave them be and slip unnoticed into the forest. I run back to the clearing where I scared the group and sit with my legs crisscrossed underneath me, I close my eyes and meditate, letting go of everything that has plagued my mind allowing myself to be one with nature, listening to the sounds around me, I feel the dirt and grass under me, the wind blowing up against my face and through my hair, I smell the mixed fresh sent of pine needles and dirt, I hear the chirping of birds, and buzzing of different insects that are around me, I take a deep breath to center myself allowing myself to become one with the nature that surrounds me. When I open my eyes, I’m no longer sitting in the clearing, I’m sitting on a cold stone floor surrounded by what looks to be cement or gray brick walls, I see that I am no longer wearing my acid-washed jeans and black band tee, I am instead clothed in what I could only describe as an old rag that is barely big enough to cover everything that needs to be covered.

“You’re finally awake.” I hear a sneering voice of disdain say.

I look around to find the voice, only to see a dark figure in a dark corner to my left. “I was never asleep?”

“Don’t get cute.” The voice says.

“Where am I?” I ask feeling like I’ve been in this place before.

“Where do you think you are?”

I roll my eyes at the tactic. “In Disneyland.” I retort sarcastically.

“Funny, and here I thought you weren’t into dreaming, but staying in the present.”

I raise my eyebrow at the person “I am a realist, but I wasn’t being serious.” I retort taking in the rest of my surroundings, my eyes lingering on what looks to be an old dilapidated grand staircase, much like the one that was in my dream. “Now, are you going to tell me where I am, or am I going to have to keep guessing?”

“You are where you’ve always been, where you’re meant to be as an abomination that has been unleashed upon this earth.” The voice spits out.

I strain my eyes against the darkness of the room to see who I am talking to. “I haven’t always been in this dismay of a cell.”

“Oh? Are you sure about that?” The voice laughs maniacally.

I think about this for a minute “Pretty sure.”

The person who has been speaking with me finally steps out from the shadows to reveal themselves, making me gasp in surprise. “I knew you were able to astral project, but to make up a whole world where you’re no longer in this dingy cell, now that’s impressive, especially for someone so young.”

I stare at the person who I thought was my family, the one who had always been there for me, through the nightmares, the tears, and every step that I went through while navigating my way through life growing up. “I’m confused, what do you mean ‘astral project’?”

Berik’s mouth twists into an ugly scowl. “Ever since you were born, we knew that you’d be powerful, no one knew for sure just how powerful, but with the prophecy we knew that you’d be powerful enough to destroy the Underworld Society, but to make an entire reality, now that is impressive.”

I stare in complete disbelief at the woman standing in front of me. I remind myself of a quote that has helped me to stay grounded. ‘Only believe in half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.’ I keep chanting this in my mind as I continue to take in my surroundings. There are chains on my hands and feet that tether me to the floor, there is only enough slack to give me room to stand up and move around in a decent amount of space. “Why are you doing this?”

Her bright green-hazel eyes stare at me in disgust. “You mean to tell me that after all of these years, you still don’t know?”

I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat and take a deep centering breath. ‘This has got to be someone fucking with my mind.’

A loud banging comes from outside the door and Berik looks at me with a wicked smirk on her face. “This is where I leave you, we will meet again Falencia. Keep telling yourself that this isn’t your reality, you’ll see soon enough just how horrible your reality is.” As she says the last word she disappears in a puff of black and dark green smoke, leaving me alone in the dungeon, the banging getting louder but as it gets louder it distorts into voices.