Chapter 3 - Watch Out

"How are you feeling?" a prudish feminine voice enquired.

This isn't the hospital and there was something strange about this place, the awful smell. It was the stench of death.

Lacey Williams opened her eye to the bright sun rays in the sky.

"Where in the hell am I?" she mutters under her breath. Her head hurts.

"This isn't heaven if that is what you are thinking," another voice answered from behind. "Do you know where you're?"

Lacey wouldn't think of any place. What she remembered was coming in across a shadowy figure in the hallway and the next was the darkness of terror that rolled over her like a dark veil as her limb went limp. All she could feel at the moment was a pain in her head like a pressure that was throbbing with a constant pounding. Everything around her seemed blurry.

She raised her head, her eyes made out the profile of a churning figure of smoke whose face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of the eyes which shone like quasars.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Lacey asked with curiosity. Her voice was incoherent and still groggy. After a fit of coughing, she stared at the churning figure and continued with her inquiries. "What happened to me and what am I doing here?"

It was a deep vast space of dry land circled by a dark river seven times. The trees are branchless and fruitless like cursed trees.

"You're in my world and you will never get to leave again."

Unable to make any sense of what she just heard, Lacey stared at the churning figure with wide-eyed surprise.

The churning figure continued, "You want to ruin my fellowship with people who are devoted to me. So, I sent one of my devoted followers to retrieve you from your world. And here you shall remain with me day and night."

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that I'm dead for real?" Lacey asked impatiently in a troubled tone.

"You're… just like your parents and your older brother." The churning figure disappeared into a cloud of thick dark smoke.

The words of the churning figure terrified Lacey. She started looking around searching for the churning figure. "I must be dreaming. I don't drink… I would've said I have taken much drink that is making me see things," she muttered under her breath.

"You're not drunk." The voice of the churning figure came from behind.

Lacey swiftly turned around to find the mysterious churning figure but she was nowhere to be found.

"You're just like your mother!" the voice came again. "And too bad you have ended up like her!"

"You are a nasty liar!" Lacey yelled. "I'm not dead and I can't be dead… not now!"

"You're and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Get off my head, you aren't real. None of this is real!"

"Ms. Williams, I'm real, just like my follower that attacked you in the hallway without touching you." The churning figure reappeared and stood behind Lacey. "No one can beat death. Not even your parents and older brother."

Lacey flicked around and saw the churning figure standing behind her. "Your games won't work on me because you are not…"

"I can imagine what you are going through right now. You claim to keep your city safe when you can't even keep yourself safe or even your professor." The churning figure breaks into a silly and repeatedly laughs scoffing at Lacey.

"Stop messing with my head!" Lacey drove her hand upwards with one powerful thrust to grab the churning figure.

Before she could even get hold of the churning figure, the figure disappeared into a thick dark smoke giggling continuously in a scornful manner.

"This can't be my end. None of this is real. No… it can't be…" Lacey mumbled.

A thick dark smoke appeared before Lacey as the churning figure walked out and rushed toward Lacey like traveling lightning. The mysterious figure moved faster than Lacey's eye could see.

Hoisting Lacey in the air without even touching her, dark enormous wings sprouted out. Beating the wings incredibly fast, the sun in the sky disappeared as darkness rolled over them. "I will haul you out from this deep space of horror if you will swear allegiance to me and serve me!"

Lacey gasped. She could feel a mighty hand around her throat in an attempt to strangle her. She couldn't see the hand. Like a fish out of water, she gasped. "Please… don't hurt me…" she could barely speak.

"I will not hurt you because you begged." The churning figure released Lacey from her grip and let her slump down. She bent down and brought her face closer to Lacey. "I'm Nyx the goddess of the night. Do you swear allegiance to me?"

Lacey pants heavily trying to catch her breath. She raised her head staring at the churning figure. She spoke in a quivering voice. "Why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't I will keep you here with me forever. Darkness will swallow you."

Lacey spoke again in a quivering voice. "I'm not afraid of darkness."

"Too bad for you, my kind of darkness you can't fathom!"

Suddenly a chariot emerged out of treacherous darkness. The chariot is pulled by two dark horses carrying the mantle of night and darkness. "Prepare to be obliterated forever!" roared the churning figure.

Lacey shuts her eyes to accept her fate which has fallen upon her like dark dew. She could hear a tiny voice whispering her name from behind. She was terrified at first thinking it was part of the games the churning figure was putting up against her.

When she finally turned and looked back, she saw Ruby, a guest she accepted at her hotel a night ago. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"What does it look like am doing?" Ruby whispered back. "Here to save your ass, of course."

"How did you know I'm here?" Lacey inquired with curiosity.

"Now isn't the time, let's talk about this later."

The churning figure could see Lacey turning back and whispering but there was no sign of anyone. "Who are you talking to?" she roared with the voice of a treacherous thunder.

Ruby has shielded herself from the eyes of the churning figure. She quickly grabbed Lacey by the hand. "Let's go, now!"