He grinned. “Something of mine is missing and I’m sure you know where it is.”
“What makes you think that I know what you’re talking about or where it would be? Do you think I would be crazy enough to go down there?”
“Well, it seems that you have his pet.”
“He was in Ether. He was the only thing I have found.”
“I believe you’re lying,” he turned so that we were nose to nose.
“I’m not. Now, if you don’t mind, can you please take yourself and your men back to your own land? I’m only going to ask nicely once.”
Not bad. Not going to work but not bad.
Aaron threw his head back in laughter. “And what are you going to do little girl?”
I looked down. He was right, there was nothing that I could do. I was just hoping that Ryan wouldn’t try.
“That’s what I thought. Let’s go.”
It was my turn to laugh. “If you think that I’m going with—”
He placed a hand on my shoulder sending a wave of pain through my body making me collapse to the ground.
“Oh, Abigail,” Aaron sighed kneeling down beside me. “Such a pretty girl. What a shame.”
He placed his hand again on my shoulder sending a new more intense wave of pain through me. My body began to shake uncontrollably until my vision faded to black and I couldn’t feel the ground any longer.
***Ryan***
“Owl?” Abigail’s voice echoed through the courtyard.
Don’t let anything bad happen. Please don’t let anything bad happen.
I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on hearing more. She asked Owl a few more questions, he got upset with her and then it was silent.
What’s going on?
I took a deep breath opening my eyes. If I wasn’t already leaning against the wall I would have fallen over. Owl was hovering in front of me. Too scared to say anything just in case they had a listener with them. So instead I shook my head. He hooted. My eyes widened, I waved my hand at it warning him to be quiet.
“Well, look at who it is.”
NO!
When I heard his voice echo in my ears it took everything I had to not run in there and beat the crap out of him. Everything about him made me sick and knowing that all of Ether was still trapped made my stomach flip.
“Something of mine is missing and I’m sure you know what it is.”
Missing? What’s missing?
“Well, it seems you have his pet.”
Oh, me... how the hell did he find out? There’s no way! Someone must have snitched.
I took another step back from the doorway so I wouldn’t expose myself.
“Oh, Abigail, such a pretty girl. What a shame.”
No. NO!
I knelt down beside the door. It took everything I had to not run in there and try to protect her.
It’s okay Ryan. Abigail is going to get Chase back.
When I heard Abigail start to struggle I covered my ears with my hands. When I felt Owl pull at the shirt I knew that it was time to go. He and I went down the hall into someone’s room. When all I could hear was my own breathing and Owl’s claws pacing back and forth I knew that Abigail was gone.
We walked back to the courtyard. When I finally was able to bring myself to walk through the door I didn’t stop walking until I was in the middle of the courtyard.
Abigail?
“Abigail?” I yelled.
Nothing.
“Abigail!”
Gone.
“Why did I think that she was actually going to be here?” I turned to look at Owl.
He hooted.
“I know that’s what she wanted.”
He hooted.
“I hope she does find Chase,” I nodded. “But what do we do now?”
He chirped.
“Wait? We can’t just wait!”
He growled, circling around me.
Just have faith, Ryan.
“I still should have done something though,” I whispered, lowering my head.
Owl landed on my shoulder, rubbing against my cheek.
“I wonder if this is how Abigail felt when she was alone.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - ABIGAIL
Blackness began to fade to grey. I felt my hand run across my face. A sharp pain engulfed my whole body. I groaned as I rolled over onto my back. I slowly opened my eyes to the same dark grey.
Great.
I blinked. It was the same. I tried unsuccessfully to sit up. The pain was too much.
“Here, let me help you.” A voice said.
A man?
I felt a hand on my arm then one on my back. Slowly and gently they began to raise the upper half of my body. Pain pulsed through my body. I felt something cold behind me.
“There. Are you okay?”
Ryan?
I blinked covering my eyes with my hands.
Come on Abigail.
I dropped my hands into my lap blinking a few more times before lifting my head to look around. A few feet to my right knelt a man.
You’re not Ryan.
He was lean; too lean. His cheeks suck into his face and his ratty t-shirt hung off his small frame. His wrinkles were deep, showing both age and wisdom. His grey hair was patchy. His hazel eyes somehow intrigued me.
Why do they look so familiar?
But yet, even with all the signs that showed he was far from healthy and most likely close to death, he smiled.
“Are you okay?” He calmly asked.
“I—ah—” I glanced around the room. The room was a hole in the wall—a cave. The dark stone was mined out long before it had ever become such a horrid place I assumed. To my left, in the corner, was a set of chains that were bolted to the wall. Straight ahead was a barrier made of steel rods that revealed the other side of the hallway to be the same stone wall where the only touch dimly glowed. The hallway turned sharply to the right just past the end of our room. Near the barred door was a metal plate and cup, both empty. Looking up at the ceiling it didn’t look to be more than five or six feet high.
I looked back at the man. “Where am I?”
“The dungeons.”
“The dungeons? What?”
Fantastic.
“What does that mean?” My words were much harsher then I meant them to be but he didn’t seem to be bothered by my tone.
“The dungeons in Limbo Palace.”
“Palace?” I questioned. “Did Limbo just copy everything Ether did?”
Not surprising.
“No, the worlds were created like this.”
What?
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound rude, but, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Well, first I think I should introduce myself. My name is Adam James. People around here will call me Adam but please, if you would, call me James.”
“Hello, James,” I smiled. “Can I ask though why they call you Adam?”
“When I was born I was named after my father. Adam Henry the third. At first, the name was fine, even into my school years I went by Adam. But then my father did horrible things that I wish not to speak about or my own child to find out about, so I decide from then on I would go by James. Nothing that would remind me of my father if I didn’t have to,” he paused. “But around here they know some of the things he has done, some even praise him. So they call me Adam to get under my skin. It doesn’t bother me as much as it used to but it would be nice for someone to call me James again. Would you do this one thing for me?”
I felt bad asking after I heard the story. “Well, hello James. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Abigail.”
“Abigail?”
“Yes. Abigail Cody.”
“Wow! I never thought I would have the pleasure,” he smiled, placing a hand on his chest, bowing slightly. “I’m humbled, really.”
“Ah, thanks?” I paused. “Nice to meet you.”
He smiled, sitting next to me. Strangely I didn’t feel threatened.
“When the Worlds were first being formed the Creator—or Creators, no one is really sure— believed in everything being equal. Limbo and Ether both have a main city, a Palace, and an entrance from Earth. They have the same amount of towns outside the city limits. Everything about them is the same if you were to look at a map of them. The Creator thought that if everything was on an even playing field that the Worlds could live at peace and coexist harmoniously.”
“But that’s obviously not the case.”
“Exactly. Once the Creator began placing all of these enchanted people in Limbo and Ether it quickly became clear that coexisting peacefully was not going to happen for long. Once Limbo and Ether discovered one another—which did take many centuries—it soon became a battle of power. Who’s better than who.”
“Why didn’t the Creators just do something about it?”
“Many believe that that is what’s happening. The wars are the Creator trying to figure out which world is the most powerful and worthy. Once decided, people say that the Creator will destroy the other world.”
“Wow. That’s a little harsh,” I paused. “Do you believe it? This story?”
“Well, that depends,” he shifted, trying to get comfortable on the lumpy rock.
“What do you mean?”
James glanced down before returning his gaze to me. “The Worlds had to be made somehow but the wars being a part of the plan and one being destroyed, well, I find that a little hard to believe.”
I nodded in agreement. “What about Earth?”
“Stuck in the middle.”
“Ha, I’ve heard that one before.”
“Earth was a place where all of the non-enchanted, people with no abilities, or were just not capable of dealing with such things as Limbo and Ether do were put. Ninety-nine percent of beings on Earth have no idea about the other Worlds. The other one percent are people who either didn’t want to be a part of the legacy of the other Worlds or are placed there by Limbo or Ether as spies—more or less.”
“Well, that seemed to work well,” I mumbled.
He smiled. “I didn’t say they were good spies.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I’m not sure anymore,” he said shaking his head.
“Not sure?” I couldn’t believe that he would be here for that long.
“I’ve stopped counting. After ten years I stopped. Besides, it’s a little hard to tell what time is down here. Day or night? It’s hard to tell.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Have you been here, in this room, for all that time?”
“Most of it,” he nodded. “They moved me a few times but I always seem to end up back here.”
I waited a moment before speaking again, “I don’t understand how you can be so... happy.”
“I have my days, believe me, I do. I almost lost it at one point. But that’s what they want to happen to you down here. If you lose your mind they’ve won.”
“What keeps you from not going crazy?”
“Anything I can think of to keep my mind busy. Sometimes I’ll count the time in between guards’ visits. Let me tell you, sometimes it’s a very long time,” He paused. “But mainly the thought of seeing my son again one day is the main reason I don’t go insane.”
“You have a son?”
“Yes,” He smiled the biggest smile I ever saw someone smile.
“Is he—”
“I think he’s still alive. I like to think so anyway. I’m sure my brother wouldn’t let anything happen to him. If not him, there were plenty of people that would have taken him under their wing. I just wish he knew what really happened. He doesn’t even know I’m alive, you know. He thinks I’m dead. But that’s what they wanted.”
We sat in silence for a moment until I was able to ask my next question. “What’s his name?”
“Chase.”
I swore my heart stopped beating and sank into my stomach at that moment. “Chase?”
“Yes, you may know him?”
“Chase Williams?” I swallowed hard.
“You know him?” James’s eye widened.
“He’s why I’m here right now. I’m trying to get him back. I can’t believe you’re alive. Chase told me the story. He’s like my right-hand man, you know,” I paused thinking if that was the right way to describe him. “Well, maybe not really. I would say that Ryan is Chase’s right-hand man and I just tag along.”
“Ryan,” he laughed as tears came to his eyes.
I nodded in agreement, “I know right? He was here too but the Spirits helped us out on that one. I’m pretty sure he’s still in Ether. The Spirits or Witches haven’t been able to find Chase—however, they do that—but then I touched this tree and I’m pretty sure he’s here. That sounds really weird but that’s why I’m here.”
“Ether? Where’s Michael? How’s Noah?”
My heart dropped again. “Ah, Michael, I don’t know. And Noah...”
“What?”
I couldn’t answer.
“I’m overjoyed to hear that my boy is doing something so important for Ether but where’s Noah?”
“Well, I, ah—”
How can I tell him something that I wasn’t supposed to know because I read something I wasn’t supposed to read because I went somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go? He’ll understand though, won’t he?
“Okay, well, um, I honestly don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Is he dead?”
Maybe this will be easier than I thought?
“Yes.”
“Oh my goodness. How?” Sadness was written all over his face.
Maybe not.
“Well,”
Just tell him. He doesn’t seem like a judgemental person. He’s probably just happy to know the truth.
“Okay, well I was never really told this information. How it happened I mean. I kind of found it out by...snooping through things I wasn’t supposed to but long story short, he died from a training accident. He fell from a building.”
James shook his head. “That man has never been able to catch a break. It was always something with Michael, although he would never show it.”
“Well, I haven’t been helping in making his life easier if I’m being honest.”
“Why would you say that? You seem like a lovely girl.”
I smiled. “Thank you. I just not very good at listening. And he kind of drives me crazy sometimes. He tells me all the time that people look up to me and that I’m destined to do great things, blah, blah, blah.”
James laughed. “He can be a pain.”
“I just don’t understand it all. I’ve been going through the motions but that’s all I can do. Chase has done his best, but there’s never enough time.”
He nodded.
“There has also been a lot of tests. Some of them are so annoying and pointless.”
“Why is Michael testing you?”
“Well, Chase is a listener and I’m a blocker. Apparently, that’s supposed to mean something.”
“You’re a blocker?” His eyes widen.
“Yes.”
“Wow. I can’t believe that it’s true.”
“Mm,” I rolled my eyes.
“You don’t know the whole story do you?”
“No not all of it. There isn’t time to learn about it all,” I replied.
“I see.”
“I just don’t understand why people are so surprised if it was prophesized.”
“People don’t always know what to expect when a prophecy comes to pass. People have high hopes most of the time and usually it never turns out how they think. You must be exceeding expectations. Not many people would get captured to save one of their friends, you know. Friends right?” He squinted his eyes.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Just friends. We are all just friends.”
“How are you going to find Chase down here?”
“I don’t know to be completely honest.”
“Have you tried talking to him?” James tapped his temple.
“Everyday, but I try not to do it too much just in case one of the men from here were listening. I didn’t want them to find me. I guess that doesn’t matter now.”
“Has he ever answered?”
“No. I think that he’s being blocked. Even the witches can’t find him. They found Owl and Ryan for me but nothing with Chase.”
“Who’s Owl?”
“Ryan pet,” I said holding out my arm so he could see my mark.
“Oh, I see,” he nodded.
“Yeah, I guess I should try here. If he really is here maybe he’ll be able to hear me.”
James nodded.
Chase? Can you hear me? Where are you? Just say something. I just need to know you’re alive.
James and I sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity.
“I can’t hear him. He didn’t answer me.”
“I’m sure he’s okay,” he reassured. “Chase can look after himself.”
“I hope so. I have to figure out a way to get us out of here,” I slowly pushed myself to my feet. James quickly jumped to his feet helping me.
“Don’t worry about me. You need to find Chase and the people of Ether.”
“You are a part of Ether.”
He didn’t say any more. He held onto my arm as we slowly crossed the few feet to the barred door.
“You can’t see anything. God knows where we are. I mean, I know we’re in the dungeons but where?”
The Divine Fallen Page 9
