by Anna Collins
I let out a long sigh and picked up the mask chosen to match the dress. It was made of black lace in the shape of a butterfly; its large, delicate wings outstretched in flight. I poured myself a stiff double shot of vodka from the rack and drank it in one gulp, coughing instantly as it fired its way down my throat.
"Right," I breathed, shaking it off. "Let's do this." And with one last application of lipstick, I headed towards the door and out to the stairs.
"You are such a cunning woman!" I kicked on Kate's leg.
"Ouch, don't kick me when you are wearing pencil heeled shoes," she protested.
"Screw you, and the heels. Uff! I can barely walk in these, and we have been standing in line for more than 20 minutes. Is this what you wanted for your birthday?" I complained in a frustrated voice.
Kate shrugged, squaring her shoulders, "You are not the only one, everyone's waiting and besides, you should thank me for the praising gazes you are receiving because of me."
"What did you say? Praising gazes? I never asked for this. I hate this dress, it's too short for my taste," I adjusted the cleavage of the black shimmering cocktail dress Kate tricked me into wearing. Jeez! I'm such an emotional fool. I hit my head with my hands.
"I am not to be blamed for anything. You know me, so why did you have to promise me you will give me anything I want? Why do you even make those promises you can't keep?" Her hand was on her hips, and she was in a total tornado mode.
I looked down at the shiny pair of stilettos on my feet. "Kate, I know what you are trying to do here. You are forcing me into all this because you want to make me happy, but I'm not the same Freya anymore. Now nothing makes me feel happy, nothing. So please don't stress over me," I sighed.
Kate was staring at me as if she was about to cry. I turned to leave when I spotted Rick and Edward coming towards us.
WTH! What the hell was Edward doing here? I narrowed my eyes at Kate. It didn't take me long to figure out inviting Edward was Kate's plan. I had this sudden urge to break her nose.
"Hey girls, sorry for being late, and why it's difficult to find transport?" Said Rick catching his breath. Rick was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans. Like me, Kate had also blackmailed him to accompany her. Kate was such a brat.
"Leave your excuses to yourself. Hand me the passes, my brain is already damaged standing here in this freezing cold," said Kate.
"I'm sorry again, actually the roads are pretty jammed up due to the snow," Rick frowned while handling the passes to Kate.
"You are good for nothing, I paid for the passes online, the only job you had was to just collect them from the booth and…Never mind! I shouldn't have expected this from a useless rat like you," she taunted.
"What did you say?" Rick raised his voice.
Kate rolled her eyes at him and shooed him out with her hands.
"Don't fight guys. Rick has a point, the roads are in a total mess," said Edward, trying to cut in between them.
"Oh! Hi, Edward! Sorry you got overshadowed because of this useless rat," Kate taunted.
"Again! You are calling me like that?" Rick protested.
The ‘I-am-in-trouble’ and ‘what-should-I-do’ looks were very much prominent on Edward’s pale white face.
I smiled and whispered "Don't bother, they express their love fighting like this. It has become a routine by now."
He laughed.
"You guys wait here, I'll go and give the passes to the security guy," Rick offered.
"No! I'm coming with you, cause I'm pretty sure you will mess this up too," Kate taunted.
Rick stomped his feet and went ahead with Kate following and taunting him.
"Poor security guy. He's gonna have a rough time dealing with these two," laughed Edward.
"You can say that again," I smiled.
I don't know, but it looked like his gaze was kinda fixed at me, and it was turning out to be a bit awkward for me.
"Umm...I never knew you were interested in this...I mean party kind of stuff," Jeez! What was I talking about? He was a young guy, why wouldn't he like parties?
"So you think I'm the boring type of doctor, who doesn't see anything except for his dispensaries and patients? Hmm... Maybe that's why you turned down our coffee date as well," he had a playful look in his eyes.
I bit my lower lip. Date? From where did that came from? I thought he offered to grab a coffee as a casual friendly gesture.
"I'm such a fool," I muttered to myself.
"Did you say something?" He asked.
"Ah…No, just talking to myself," I blurted out.
He smiled, "Freya, thanks for inviting me here, I was sad when you turned me down for coffee, but this is even better. I get to spend my evening with a gorgeous lady like you," he reached for my hand, and before anything else, I saw his lips pressing on it.
"You are so beautiful, I keep thinking about you all day," he whispered.
Jeez! This was wrong. He was getting all the wrong signals. Should I shout on his face 'I am not into you'?
Fine! He was good looking and all. He was wearing a nice black blazer with faded jeans and his shoes looked expensive. But how could I tell him I could never see anyone like I used to see my Robert?
"You are awfully quiet. Anything wrong?" He asked.
"Actually Edward, I really respect your profession and whatever you are doing for my brother…but…" I felt at a loss for words.
"We're back! Let's go!" Kate announced.
I looked at her in awe, "How did you manage to get us in so quickly?"
"She practically threatened the guy at the door to make us stand in front of the line. You should have seen his face, the guy was about to cry," Rick shook his head, "she's impossible."
Kate glared at him angrily.
We laughed.
I cautiously walked along the stone steps that led me to the big ancient castle. Yes, it was castle which was now redecorated and turned into a hotel. It was good to see they hadn’t demolished the original essence of the historical place. The dark stone walls bathed in a stream of silver light spilling through the clouded sky. A golden light shone glorious from the windows; it made anyone long to be inside.
Once inside, I couldn't quite gather if we were at a Christmas Eve party or a Halloween party. The huge hall room was filled with unusual decorations. Instead of curtains, the huge gaping windows were covered with old and torn white nets. When I looked up, the view of different colors of lights carefully fitted inside skulls kinda creeped me out. However, I couldn't deny the fact the arrangement was looking beautiful, though in a different kind of way.
There was a giant Christmas tree in the middle of the huge party hall. What looked strange was that instead of shiny bells and cute little stars, the tree was mostly filled with tiny little skulls. Taking a close look, I noticed each of the skulls depicted a different kind of reaction, one was smiling, another was winking and another was glaring anxiously. The lighting effect was done beautifully, and I really liked the big crystal star they had put on top of the tree.
A lot of people had gathered; they were really into this 'Chrismeen' theme as they called it, which only came from the words Christmas and Halloween. Crazy people they were. The music was super loud, and it was becoming quite difficult for me to spot my friends. Almost everyone was dressed in black and red, and on top of that, some people had used scary masks, or had they painted those ugly look on their faces? I really wasn't sure.
Some had painted big teeth all over their faces, others had painted their lips red and added a fake pair of teeth to resemble a vampire. The skull and witch looks were pretty common amongst people.
"Your end is near," whispered someone in my ear, the words immediately inflicted an adrenaline rush in me. Keeping my hand in my heart, I turned around to see who that was.
"Ha-ha got you. You got scared, didn't you?" Edward teased.
I gave him a look of disbelief, "I thought you were pretty decent for these cheap tricks."
"I was jok
ing, chill. Anyways, why are you standing alone? A girl as beautiful as you shouldn't be alone," again he was flirting. Jeez! I hated when things turned out to be awkward. Changing the topic seemed like the best idea.
"Umm...Kate is dancing and flirting with the guys, and Rick is standing in a corner, being jealous," I pointed out.
His eyes went bigger, "I thought they were a couple."
"Hmm…they were, but things didn't work out," I said.
"Some people just don't acknowledge the feelings of others. I don't understand how they can push someone away after seeing the love of their heart in their eyes," I could detect a different kind of tone in Edward's voice as he spoke these words. What was he trying to say?
Out of nowhere, Zack's face appeared in front of my eyes; our last conversation, his eyes, his voice everything played in front of me like someone was projecting a movie right before my eyes. There was so much pain and care in his eyes. He loved you, and you pushed him in the dark shadows of death, said a voice inside my head. It felt like someone was strangling me. I clutched my nails on the flesh of my hand. God! This feeling was worse than death. My mind stopped working, and my heartbeats were trapped somewhere in between my chest. I lost all sense of place and time and ended up running like a crazy woman; all I wanted to do was escape.
Chapter Eighty-Three
Freya
I ran out to the lawn from the back door of the castle, ignoring the sign that read "No guests allowed."
When all my energy ran out, I found myself resting against a tall pine tree. There was no one around me, the sudden fading of the loud music made me feel peaceful for a second, but when the breeze of silence overtook my senses, both my blood, and limbs ran cold. I was standing near a beautiful lake, lined by pine trees and whifts of mints. It was teardrop-silver in color, and it was shaped perfectly like a flat disc of metal.
Chill air went past me, giving me goosebumps and the feeling something bad was going to happen. I tried to think more about this when a pungent smell hit my nostrils. The smell made me sick and before I could recover from this, I heard a sharp intake of breath. No! It was more like the sound of a snore. As the breath fell on my bare shoulder, I was certain someone was standing behind me.
"Who's there?" I cried out in a broken voice. As expected, no reply came. Maybe I imagined things again. I said to myself. I thought of going inside the castle. I began moving my feet when a pair of cold and sticky hands pulled me back forcefully; my back crashed against the hard bark of the tree making me yelp in pain.
I was trembling, with fear, cold, and pain. "Who is it?" I yelled again, but no answer came except for that loud snore. I tried to jerk myself away from the hold of those nasty sticky hands, but it was too strong.
Five seconds passed then ten and then twenty. The pain caused by the tight grip of those sticky hands started to pull back like the tide going out. The pain left my fingers and began to crawl up to my arms. It felt like someone was tearing my skin apart. I tried to yell for help, but couldn't find any strength to shout. The pain was spreading like venom through my blood, making me weak and thirsty. Ah, now it reached up to my head. A thin film of fog appeared before my eyes, and I was unable to feel my legs, everything was spinning like a Ferris wheel.
"Cry as much as you want to, because today is your last day on this earth," the squeaky voice reached my ears like an echo. I was writhing and gasping in pain when the sticky hands left me and pushed me with force. My body was too weak to tackle it, and I lost my balance, but I didn't hit the grass, something stopped me. Someone was there. I felt a firm grip around my waist; the single support that didn't let me fall flat on my face.
I raised my face, and my scared, drowsy eyes met a pair of hypnotic blue eyes. The icy blueness generated a feeling I was trying to bury in the deepest corners of my heart. It looked like all the myriad shades of blue were swirling together in those eyes. Those were the eyes my eyes were yearning to see, the eyes that made my heart dance even though my body was struggling in a pool of pain. My eyes were filled with tears of both pain and an endless amount of relief. With all the power my limp body could gather, I murmured "Robert."
And all the fear, all the tension in the world just vanished. His hands had surrounded me as I rested in his embrace, the safest place in the whole world. I kept staring at him like that, I was afraid to blink because I thought he would disappear again. I brought my trembling fingers to his face. My cold hands caressed the stubble on his cheek, "Robert" I uttered again; my voice just came out as a whisper.
The muscles in his face clenched, then also when my fingertips made contact with his warm skin, his lips curled into a smile. It looked as if it had struggled through rivers of pain.
"Is it really you?" It wasn't me, it was the pressing fear of my heart yearning to confirm this.
His intense gaze now showed the deepest of affection and care. He ran his hand through my messy hair and then swept me off my feet. I encircled my arms around his neck, but it wasn't really necessary, I knew he would never let me fall down.
Burying my face in the crook of his neck and inhaling his fragrance made me feel I was swinging in the air with no ties attached. I quickly shifted my eyes to his face, the fear again rose in me; if I looked away, he might disappear.
I saw the feelings of pain and yearning, so evident in his eyes. For a moment I wondered if they were my own reflecting through his eyes. How could we feel in the exact same way? And then I heard his voice, his deep grainy voice, which answered everything, "I love you Freya, you don't know how much I had been craving to be with you. My heart was dying without you, it was your memories that kept it alive," with this he leaned down and kissed my forehead.
I froze. His words and that kiss made me forget myself, and I kept looking at him as if there was no tomorrow.
"I miss you so much, all the time l…" my voice trembled and I felt a burden of tears building up in my eyes.
He shut his eyes, his jaw tightening up. The silver moonlight casting on his face made him look as beautiful as a dream.
He opened his mouth, maybe to say something, but then closed it again. The smell of rotten flesh and snoring became prominent again. The soft faint leaf sound turned into a loud rustling, the sound of that ghostly snore was now getting heavier.
"Amagra...may...mai…gia…uzun..." again I heard the squeaky voice as it murmured some those words in a language far beyond my understanding. I looked at my right, then to my left, they were everywhere; they had formed a circle around us, leaving us no way to escape.
My throat went dry. No! I can't lose him again. I looked at him and found him staring at me already. He straightened my crooked forehead with his index finger. He was smiling. How could he smile when we were surrounded by death?
I looked at him in disbelief, "they are gonna kill us, you know that, don't you?" I asked.
"You don't need to worry about that baby. I'll not let any harm touch you," he promised, as his eyes bored into mine. Ahh, his usual arrogant smirk. Jeez! How could this man stay calm in such a tough situation?
I wanted to rebuke him, but as I opened my mouth, he pressed his cold lips against mine. My eyes opened wide in shock for the first few seconds and my words were lost somewhere in his mouth. I wanted to grab him and kiss him back, I wanted it so bad, but it wasn’t the time. When his mouth left mine, a certain feeling of emptiness took over my senses.
I was perplexed, nothing was making sense.
A shrill ear blocking sound shook the living out of me. I dug my nails on his shoulder. Then came a splash of light stuck at the head of the pine tree, illuminating the whole dark ambiance. "Robert!" I yelled his name.
"Shhh. I'm here," he responded.
The snoring and chanting were now replaced with the sounds of thrashing and crashing. I remembered those black hooded demons of Rebecca. They unveiled their faces, and their red eyes glowed in the darkness like red globes of fire. Their pale faces were filled with scars, stitches and burns.
&
nbsp; "We found you!" They rejoiced yelling in their rib shaking voices. I looked back at Robert, who was now smirking and shaking his head.
"Hold on tight," Robert whispered in my ear.
"But...they...umm," I gulped my words as he gestured me to stay silent.
Holding me tightly against his washboard abs, he suddenly jumped up at the head of one of those demons. He stepped on their shiny bald heads as if they were stepping stones. They were jumping, howling and trying their best to grab and capture him but his speed and those movements flowed like liquid electricity, making it difficult for them to catch up with him.
Once his feet hit the ground, there was no looking back. The pine trees, the lake and the silver moonlight all appeared to be nothing but bits of blurry vision. The view around me looked like the fast forwarded scenes of a movie. I was pretty sure I was still protected in his strong arms, other than that, the whole scenery was spinning and moving too fast for my eyes to follow.
"Freya, you are okay, right?" I heard him ask.
I nodded yes; it was all I could do. By that time, I had forgotten to speak. Forget speaking, I wasn't even able to blink.
Chapter Eighty-Four
"Freya, you are safe, see no one's here," I heard the deep soothing voice of my love. Slowly, I opened my eyes and was greeted by the feather-light touches of his fingers, he was caressing my cheek.
"Robert, how did we…?" Again I was stopped; he put his finger on my trembling lips, "Shhh, don't worry, everything has been taken care of, you are safe," he said and leaned down to kiss me on my forehead. That's when I realized my head was on his lap. I roamed my eyes here and there; we were resting on a round red ottoman, and the room surrounding us, reminded me that of a presidential suite of a five-star hotel.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Someplace where no one will find us," he said while tracing the shape of my lips with his finger.
