Chapter 96 – You know where we are

"So you're back," Danae says, coming towards me with another one of those stupidly suggestive smiles that I have grown to hate. I've seen way too many of them in a short time period.

"Yeah I am, and ready to roll -" I grip my head suddenly as the same pain is amplified. "Well... actually, maybe not."

"What's going on?" She asks, reaching for my forehead. This time I am the one to back away, tired of people trying to get my temperature. I think I can safely say by now that doing so will lead to no good.

"I'm fine. I think it might be a migraine." I turn and sit on a broken log. "It's just the first one I've had in a while so it just caught me off guard."

"What in the world could have caused your migraine?" Danae asks, to which I just shake my head. There is no way of knowing something like that as a definite.

"I did have a strange dream earlier," I say softly, thinking deeply. When I focus, I can almost hear it in my head... the muffled cries, and the painful words that were so scattered and unrecognizable that I couldn't distinguish anything from it. 

Maybe it's just my gut, but something tells me that this dream was important, maybe more so than anything else I had experienced so far.

"A vision?" Danae asks casually, and my head snaps up immediately. Her glance is inquisitive, but satisfying her curiosity is the least of my worries. 

What I have experienced today could be an indicator of another life in this barren world, or even what I can't dare to hope for...

"Guys." I stand up immediately on the tree trunk, calling everyone's attention. 

The headache retreats slowly as I make up my mind, and hopefully begin to change everyone else's. They come towards me, Kurtis and Jim dragging their feet and the others yawning with boredom. 

"We need to talk," I say firmly, my voice stronger than I expected it to be.

"Finally," James says exasperatedly, "I've been waiting for this."

I ignore him, waiting for the others to get closer. Blake and I make eye contact more than once, and he grins broadly in an awkward manner that makes it seem like he's trying to encourage a little child. 

"Do you remember when I said I was having visions... that I've seen this place before?" I begin, to which several of them nodded vigorously. James and Jim, on the other hand, are staring at me blankly.

"You know where we are?" Jim asks, his eyes narrowed. "I think it's time to fill us in."

"We'll have time for that later," I dismiss his question easily, still too focused on my current train of thought to be distracted. "I'm sure we will both have several stories to tell. But here the basic gist things are different here, as I'm sure you have figured out. We aren't exactly living in a physical world."

"What the..." James says in protest, "how can you say that this isn't a physical world?!"

Without responding, I concentrate on producing a single dagger. I can feel his gaze on me as it materializes and measuredly throw it into the ground beside my feet. It leaves an indent, and no further explanation is necessary.

"Either my power has changed, or the world has changed. Which seems more likely to you?" I ask him, stepping down from the broken log to touch the dagger. It is fading gradually, but still feels real and dangerous in my hand.

There is silence for the next few seconds as James and Jim absorb the new information. I feel a bit bad for them since they have to adjust so quickly, but there isn't too much I can do to make it any easier.

"Well, anyways, I don't remember much of my recent dream, but I still can remember a crying person that seemed to be at the center of it. I don't know who the voice belonged to, but it stands to reason given the context of my other visions that it relates to something within this world, and could have big implications. 

If this truly was a connection to another life within this world, I think we need to pursue it. Especially since we have nothing else to do."

"But how do you know that what you heard was a person?" Kurtis asks, obviously confused by my statement, "and how do you suggest we go about doing that?"

"I don't, to be honest, although it sounded a lot like one. You're just going to have to trust me on this, especially since we don't have many options. And as for plans, I think we should do exactly the same as what we were doing beforehand."

The others stare at me, incredulous, and I almost laugh out loud. Something about their mouths hanging wide open is just so amusing and unsettling at the same time.

"I mean, like what we were originally doing, which was heading towards the castle. It feels like the source of everything that is going on is located over there, and it could be our ticket out of here."

Everyone looks up in the direction of the castle, its first spiraling tower barely peeking over the tops of the trees. In our journey to the coast, we forgot how close we were getting to the main source of our curiosity, but now it looms before us as a deathly reminder that we don't have the answers.

Jim's hand clenched tightly as he turned back to meet my gaze. "I don't want to go back there," he states firmly, "James and I already traveled to the gate yesterday."

I look at him in surprise, but keep quiet as Wes unsteadily continues. His eyes start to dart back and forth as his countenance crumbles at the mention of the castle. 

"I originally woke up in this world near the castle to begin with, although not close enough to be in any danger. Every time I tried to go to sleep or rest, I would continue to hear whispers that were seemingly talking to me, as if unseen creatures were trying to hold a conversation. 

The murmurs scared me, and eventually I had to leave to go find some food. I moved towards the coast, and bumped into James, who had been resting out in the open sand by those weird fruit plants. 

We stayed together for a while, but then decided to look for you guys. I thought maybe the whispers might have been an indicator of where you guys were, so I suggested that we go explore that area again. That was a mistake."

He stops, and for such a long period of time that I feel compelled to try and probe him to continue. However, James steps in after noticing my impatience and realizing that Jim isn't going to speak. 

"At first I thought he was crazy when he told me about the whispers but when we later went to the castle I could definitely hear them as well. It felt like they were swirling around me, choking me with its intensity. 

Surrounding the castle was a large gate, and there was also a grand entryway that was unlocked and devoid of any guards. I thought that the lack of protection was a sure indication of abandonment, and we went closer to the gate. 

However, when we almost reached the arch, the whispers intensified into screams and I could barely hear myself think or talk. Several trees surrounding the area began to glow a deep, pulsating red. It was probably the scariest thing I have ever experienced."

"Were they... Shifters?" Lee asks him slowly, his face drained of color. "The same ones that we saw earlier?"

"Yes, pretty much." James nods solemnly. "It almost seemed like they were expecting us, with the way they immediately began to chase after us. Originally they were surrounding us completely, but we managed to tear through them and run into the forest. But they were hot on our trail, and by the time we were close to the coast several of them were gaining on us. 

One of them grabbed Jim and ripped at his back before he could react, and for some reason the wound weakened him, almost like there was poison in the Shifter's attack. I sent him ahead of me while I finished up, or so I thought, the Shifters, and he eventually landed at the beach, where you guys were. And then tons more appeared and I had to run too."

"Wow..." Blake says, his hand gently brushing against Jim's shoulder once to get him out of his moment of shock. Jim literally shakes at the sudden touch, and then snaps his head towards Blake while glaring at him.

"Well, the moral of the story is, don't go to the castle. Bad things will happen," James says, and casually starts walking towards the small, dying fire. 

Most of the others leave as well, probably sensing that the discussion must be over. I can hear them talking about the castle, with most of the conversation being negative in tone. 

Everyone seems to agree with James in being cautious, and I can't help myself from feeling alone after that realization.

I sit down on the broken log again, and try to think about the next step that we should take from here.

I feel a presence beside me, and Blake's deep voice slips in like honey through my concentration. 

"I know what you're thinking," he whispers. 

His hand slips around to my waist and rubs my lower back in circular motions, an action that I am very familiar with for some reason. I feel memories emerging from the chasm, at the very edge of remembrance.

"What am I thinking?" I ask him, turning to face him. His bright green eyes are glowing as he looks back at me, his face full of confidence.

"You're thinking that we should go anyways."

My eyes open wide as Blake smugly stares into my face. He's right. To me, the Shifters' presence is only a further indication that there is something. If there's a guard, there's something being guarded.

"I do think we should go," I confess to him, bringing my hands to my cheeks in frustration. "But I don't know how to convince the others. Wes especially seems shaken up about the possibility."

"You know, Elena, you're a pretty persuasive person. It shouldn't be that hard, especially for you." He smirks, and I resist the urge to slap that silly grin off of his face. He has to be kidding me. I'm the least persuasive person alive, and he knows it.

"Well, I'll leave it to you then, mister leader," I say mockingly, standing up and taking a low bow. I make sure to keep eye contact with him, letting him know that I'm willing to play the same games.

"What are you going to give me if I take care of it?" He winks, and the smile instantly drops from my face. While inwardly melting into a puddle on the ground, I sit back down on the log.

"I mean, this is in your own best interests as well," I reply gruffly. I know that he was probably kidding, but I can't help but try to hide the embarrassment I feel.

"I didn't know leading our entire group into a Shifter's den was in my best interest," Blake laughs, and gently punches me in the shoulder. 

Now I know for sure that he's playing with me, but this time I don't really have any comeback. In just about every way you look at it, going to the castle doesn't make logical sense. It could easily lead to our deaths. 

Jim and James already established that the castle is heavily guarded, and that the castle was probably abandoned by any real people. But I really feel like this is the right thing for us to do at this point.