Chapter 71: What Did He Say?

Ebony Winters POV:

Something was wrong. I mean, something was seriously wrong with this one, older man, and the way he was standing there looking at me as I lay there on this wooden table. I didn't know what to think right now. Even my own thoughts were frozen in fear, as I found myself stuck in this moment. For one, I didn't like the way he was looking at me. There was something about it, the way he was just standing there, staring at me intently. It was like he could look into the very depths of my soul and suck out whatever good there was that I had.

As he stood there, staring deep into my eyes, he slowly started to pan his gaze down over my entire body. I couldn't help but shudder as he broke eye contact with me when he started to look over my chest. I had my arms wrapped around me, but I don't think that mattered. It was like he could see what I looked like, even under all the material I was wearing. When his gaze managed to reach my lower legs, he winced his expression slightly before he slowly ran his eyes over me again till his gaze met the terrified look in my eyes.

I didn't know what I could do. The way he was making me feel as he ran his eyes over my entire body gave me a sickening feeling from the pit of my stomach. It was like I could feel exactly where he was looking at me, almost as if something was touching me where his eyes looked, yet no one was touching me in that precise moment. Even the two men standing on either side of my head didn't bother to touch me as this man looked me over.

I wanted so much to jump up off the table right then, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being weighed down by an unknown or some kind of invisible force. That, and the fact that I don't think I could run even if I had the chance to do so. Crawling was out of the question, too. Given how sore my lower legs were. They were burning with a cool sensation, and I dreaded having to look at how bad they were. If this older man winced at his expression just by the sight of my lower legs, how bad could they actually be?

But one thing wasn't sitting right with me. It didn't make sense, really. How could one look from someone do that to another person? How could one look make someone feel so... well, feel so dirty, in a sense. It was as if they were actually undressing me with the look in their eyes. How could one person be able to make another person feel like that just by looking at them?

I swallowed hard as I tried everything I could to be able to take my eyes away from this older man's powerful gaze once our eyes met this time. It was strange, really. For some unknown reason, I couldn't manage to pull myself to look away from him. I did everything I could to try to stop looking, but I couldn't help it. It was like my eyes were glued to his, and that made me even more fearful than him taking advantage of me in my current predicament. I couldn't even close my eyes as it were.

It was one thing for me to be able to look at Nic in a similar sense. However, in that, I would have the notion of not wanting to look away from Nic, and when I did look at him, he made me feel the same in a sense, as I was taken over by a peaceful sensation. Knowing that, by looking at this older man, the feeling was the complete opposite!

"Well, well, well, what... have... we... here!..." The older man's raspy voice spoke up in a slow manner, drawing out his words.

While he spoke, I ensured to keep my hands tucked up close to my chest. I even flinched, thinking he was somehow going to strike me when he reached out, grabbing a loose strand of my hair that was partially lying there on the table beside my arm. I watched him closely as he lifted it up slightly, and at the same time, he watched me carefully as he started to lean forward. Then, he shocked me when he inhaled sharply, even closing his eyes as he smelled the end of the strand of hair he held in his grasp.

When he opened his eyes again, he seemed astonished, as if he had just found some sort of artifact and was admiring what he held in his hand. He even reached over with his other hand, turning the small strand over before running his fingers through the end, and then curling the end around his fingers when he looked back at me.

That's when he spoke next, saying, "Gentlemen, we most certainly have something rather special in our midst."

"Really?" Clay and Dylan spoke up and asked at the exact same time.

"And what does that mean exactly?" Dylan asked, turning his head to look at the older man who was standing beside him.

"What this means is that the prophecy is true," he said as he looked down at me again.

What did he say? I couldn't help it as I swallowed hard upon hearing his words. Prophecy?! What sort of prophecy? This was starting to make my head hurt. This time, as the older man looked at me, there was an eerie glint in his eyes, one that made you think he was about to do something rash. As he looked at me, you could hear gasps coming from both Dylan and Clay as they looked at each other before looking down at me briefly, and then they turned to look at the older man again. I was speechless, not that I could speak clearly anyway.

"Now, do either of you know how she came to be here in the first place?" The older man asked this time. "This is not a random event, I'm afraid."

"How do you mean?" Clay was the one to ask his question this time, as my eyes were still stuck on the one who said something I couldn't get out of my head.

The older man looked first at Clay, as he was the one to ask that last question, before he turned to look at Dylan. Then, when he looked back at me, he spoke. "By her being here, it means..."

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound. It resembled something metal clanging as it fell to the ground before you heard the breaking of wood, or so I thought. It all came from the next room in this old wooden cavern, in the direction from which the older man came before the hood was taken off my head. That was the only other doorway in here. They all tensed as they turned to look in that direction.

What was happening? Was Nic coming to me?!