As they swept into the room, a shocked expression filtered through Keto’s wild green eyes, while a calculating glimmer shone from Selene’s silver ones. Each woman’s presence was magnified by their proximity. Keto wore a long, simple black dress that accentuated the green highlights throughout her hair and the scales running up her arm and neck. Selene was as ethereal and stunning in person as she had been in my vision; her pale skin standing in contrast to her dark, unruly hair. The calculating instability of her silver eyes matched the shifting layers of her silver dress. The same strips of fabric I had seen in my vision hung from her wrists and gathered around her ankles. As a cold wave of evil washed over me, I instinctively pushed back Nadia’s essence and locked my eyes onto her golden ones so she would know that I was aware of her attempted violation. She sneered happily at me as if she had been expecting my reaction. Her arrogance only angered me more.
“Let me go!” I countered; resulting in three very toothy smiles.
“Ugh, give it a rest.” Nadia rolled her eyes at me and regarded the other two women under her breath, “I don’t know what he sees in her. She’s really quite annoying.”
“Go to hell,” I growled with hatred.
“And quite rude as well,” Nadia scolded me with a smirk. “She certainly needs a lesson in etiquette.”
“Quiet,” Selene held up her hand and sent us piercing glares. “Both of you.”
“This is quite the accomplishment, Nadia.” Keto glided across the stone floor to stand over me with a smile. “Well done.”
“Defeating her will be no problem if she is already under your control,” Selene added.
“Yes – however, her essence shall not be left to its own devices. I will still require your assistance, dear friend.” She gazed at Selene lovingly, but I didn’t miss the threat in her voice. “She could prove very valuable down the road as well.”
“You will not control me, and I refuse to let you take my essence!” I threatened her.
“It would appear that you have already been proven wrong on both accounts.” Keto nodded at Nadia. “More. Collect as much as you can. And make sure she cannot escape. We will begin the ritual when the moon has reached the highest point in the sky.”
“No!” I protested uselessly. With a gallant twist of their heels, Keto and Selene disappeared from the room; leaving me with the Princess of the Underworld, who clapped her hands together in delight before retrieving the now-empty syringe from the window sill.
“Maybe when Keto makes me Queen of the Underworld, I’ll let you live in my underground room,” she quipped. “But don’t get your hopes up.”
“The only throne you should be sitting on is your toilet,” I shot at her with venom.
“After mother’s taken care of, I’ll decide who should and should not do what. Lucky for you, you’ll be scrubbing my throne and toilets for the rest of your pathetic existence.” She knelt down beside me and grinned wickedly. “You’re welcome.”
As she grappled my arms and brought the syringe closer to my trace, I realized how weak I had become when my muscles wouldn’t budge beneath her hold. The last thing I remembered was the sound of her humming my now-most-hated nursery rhyme, the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
The next time my eyes cracked open, it was to a slight knocking sound farther down the same wall I was leaning against. Instantly on the defensive, I instinctively searched my surroundings with my sixth sense, only to realize it just wasn’t working . All I felt was the cold stone against my bare skin and the throbbing of my weakened heart, as it strained to push blood through my constricted veins.
The knocking commenced several feet away, more urgent this time. With every ounce of energy I had left, I scooted several inches toward the sound, and then rapped my knuckles against the wall as hard as my pain threshold would allow.
“Hello?” A deep voice murmured from behind the wall.
“Who’s there?” I asked hoarsely.
“I heard you crying out. You sounded like you were…in pain.” His voice trailed off. I gently touched my face to find fresh tears. I swallowed thickly before answering.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
“I’m a prisoner. Like yourself,” he answered solemnly. A vision of the group of people floating above the sand, their souls hovering above their bodies flashed in my memory.
“How many others are there?”
“I’m not positive,” he conjectured. “Fifteen? Maybe twenty?”
“My vision’s coming true,” I muttered in defeat. All of those people would die. All of those souls would be drained of their essence. “Are you a Tyde?”
“No. I’m…nothing,” he said with bitter finality.
“Where are we?”
“The ancient Isle of Doulos, which means the ‘Island of Slaves’ in English.”
“Slaves…” I repeated breathlessly.
“You have to find a way out! You must escape as soon as possible!” His voice took on a more urgent tone as his emotions rose.
“I can’t…” I managed, the effort of talking leading me closer and closer to sheer exhaustion.
“They’re draining me…I can barely move.”
“You have to find a way!” he yelled desperately. I knew he believed I was his only hope. But at the moment, I was the one who needed rescuing. I wasn’t capable of rescuing anyone else. I heard him gasp as a door slammed. I closed my eyes as a woman’s voice yelled, and a loud thump shook the wall behind me. The door slammed once more and then…deafening, absolute silence.
“Hello?” I whispered as loudly as I dared, fearing for the man’s life. “Are you okay?”
After no response, I slumped down and followed the light of the moon sweep across the floor as it rose higher and higher in the sky. The silver moonbeams collided with the silk webs that cascaded from the ceiling, creating a spectacular display of nature. The bark spiders were beginning to stir; busily weaving new strands or repairing old ones. Their magnificent works of art were dazzling in their intricate designs and artistry. They worked in tandem, creating one massive web of silky death traps; just waiting for unsuspecting prey to flutter by or walk into it. My hand dropped to the floor and landed in something sticky. I groggily contemplated my blood from earlier in the day that had begun to coagulate on the floor.
Had Finn or my roommates found my body? Had they tried to wake me up? Were they looking for me? If I couldn’t return to my body, I had no way of telling them I was in trouble. I had no way of warning them about what was about to happen or where I was. Someone had to stop this, and unless Nadia’s vacuum imploded in the next couple of hours, it would most certainly not be me.
Did my body reflect the pain I was in? Could they see how dark and dull my trace had become?
Could they see the bruises and the blood? I was reminded of the pain from my wounds after returning from the Underworld. Every bruise, every scratch had been visible. That was it! Every scratch was visible! My body! That’s how I could send them a message! I looked down at the smooth skin of my arm above my dulled trace, and couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of it earlier.
My eyes and hands frantically inspected my surroundings for anything remotely sharp. A sliver of shell that had been tracked in with the sand would have to do. I ran my finger over it and decided that it would suffice for breaking skin. I took a deep breath and attempted to justify what I was about to do. I had a high pain threshold, but I’d never inflicted any amount of pain upon my own body. Looks like I’d be able to check ‘disfiguring one’s own body’ off my bucket list.