“Really Dax, you were supposed to wake me if something happened.” I argue with him. I’m never taking his word again.
“Sorry Natalie, I’m stressed as well. I’ve never been apart from him this long. Its fucking weird and fucking unsettling.” He says to me and a swarm of sadness hits me hard. I never thought how this would affect Daxtin. But I guess I should have known.
“No, I’m sorry Dax, I was being selfish. Let’s just figure out how to get out of here.” I say to him as I scan the small room we are in.
“How do you normally leave your dream walks?” He asks me as he turns to look at me. There is clearly nothing to find in this cell.
“Normally I get pulled back when I’ve seen what I’ve needed to see.” I say to him and walk to the cells gate, which is open, not that it would have stopped me, but I’m unsure of Dax’s abilities here. “Come on, let’s take a look around.”
The air is hot, I feel the sweat running down my back as we continue to make our way through the prison we are in. Every cell is empty. The only things inside the cells are the makeshift beds and what I’m guessing is the toilet. Not a soul in sight.
Why bring us here, to an empty prison. I know enough about my dream walks to know that I can’t leave until it’s over. And it definitely won’t be by choice.
“Do you normally just wonder around your dreams like this?” Dax asks me and I stop to look back at him.
“No, normally I’m led straight to Jacin. Either by cheering or just from practice. But every time I walk, I walk to Jacin. And I’m starting to worry.” I admit to him.
“I thought so, this can’t be good. And to be here is also a bit concerning.”
“How do you know its Human Hell. And not the hell we were just in?” I ask Dax as we continue to walk through the prison, passing cell after cell as we do.
“I am what most call a messenger. From heaven to hell. And vice versa. I’ve been here many times. Jacin is banned from here though, so I don’t see him being here, but then again he is here against his will.”
“Or whoever is in charge here, has him. Ever think of that?”
“He wouldn’t dare, it would be suicide on his part.”
Before I start to question Dax more, I hear something as it echoes along the walls of the prison. We both start to pick up speed as the echoes grow louder and turn into screams the closer we get.
When we finally arrive at the end of the long passage, the door blocking us from the other side is our only option. The voices have grown strong and I can make out a few words. But it’s his voice that has me shaking. It’s his voice that has me wanting to go barging in there. it’s his voice that has the enchantress in me wanting out.
“You know what gets me, you did fucking nothing to stop it. You fucking sat by and let them do it!” A man screams from the other side of the door.
“You don’t fucking know what you are talking about, the fucking lot of you. All of you come in each day, to fucking moan. But how could you understand, none of you would ever be fit to rule.” I know that’s Jacin. His voice sends shivers down my body as I press my ear to the door.
“I watched you, sit on your fucking horse, looking down on them as if they were the dirt beneath your shoes. You couldn’t care less about your people.”
“We have to try get closer, but I’m scared to open the door. I know I can walk through it.” I say to Dax as I move my ear away from the door. “You going to have to try and if you can’t, just rather stay out here.”
“Okay, give me your hand, hopefully if we are joined, I will be able to do the same as you.” Dax says to me as he brings forth his hand.
My hand lands in Dax’s and I slowly step through the massive wooden door. I hold my breath as my hand is still through the other side, connecting me to Dax. God, I hope he can walk through it and not just walk into it.
Another moment passes and Dax’s foot appears, then his leg and then Dax is standing before me. The voices have gone quiet, no one says a word. We step closer to the corner and we both peep around to see the other side. There is nothing but chairs and tables dotted off to the one side, we look further around the corner and my heart just about stops.
Jacin.
He is tied up and hanging from the roof in chains. Four thick long chains suspend him from the roof and his feet don’t touch the floor. There is a puddle that has pooled beneath him and I see his blood dripping into the puddle, adding to its already large volume.
I suck in a large breath and slam back around the corner along with Dax. He saw what I saw. Jacin is bloody, beaten, hanging from chains. They are torturing him.
“Are you ready to talk now, you motherfucker?” A man shouts at Jacin, but I can’t see who it is. I’m too afraid to look back, but I know I need to.
As I look around the corner once more, the sound of skin meets skin, bones cracking, echoes around the room. I want to be sick; I want to start crying. Before me, Jacin takes blow after blow, yet he doesn’t make a sound. The men that surround him continue to have their turns on Jacin’s body.
When the three men finally tire of beating on Jacin, they all move away to the far table on the side of the room.
I yank Dax’s hand and nod my head in the direction of the tables on the other side. My dream took me here for a reason and I need to get closer. Maybe we can pick up on any clues as to where we are.
I’m here for him and I’m not leaving until I get some sort of answers.
We both make a dash for the table. This place is so unkept, some of the tables are missing legs and are thrown onto their sides, we make a run for those. Hopefully they give us enough cover to enable us to figure out some sort of plan.
The men start to return from the table. One by one they stand before Jacin and my eyes grow wide as saucers as I see what they have in their hands. Not again. My hand moves to grip hold of Dax, who is watching the scene before him unfold. But I can’t watch this again.
Each man in the group have some sort of weapon or tool. And I know Jacin’s body is now their toy. I don’t need to watch, as I hear the first of many tools land on his beautiful body. He doesn’t make a sound. But I feel it for the brief spilt seconds before the pain disappears. And I grumble to my feet in pain, where Jacin looks bored hanging there, I grip the stone-cold floor instead and I will ride out the pain being dealt, one attack after the other.
“Fuck, Natalie, what is wrong?” Dax asks me as I lay on the floor in a pile of my own pain.
“I feel. Everything.” I whisper to him as he crouches down to my face. His hands run the length of my face as if he is trying to give me comfort. But it’s not the same. It will never be the same. I’m powerless at the moment to move his hand away.
Another blow, and another, my body shakes violently as I hold back my cries of pain. They can’t know I’m here. How is Jacin just taking this? How is he surviving? No one should be able to. I’m only experiencing the pain for brief moments and it’s enough.
Dax lifts my head and places it on his lap as he sits on the stone floor. From where I collapsed, Dax can still see Jacin and so can I. But I don’t need to watch to know what’s happening.
Another hit.
Another blow of pain.
One after the other.
I think I’m going insane from it all. I press my face into Dax’s thigh. I try my best to hold back the pain I feel. It’s never ending. But I can do this.
Voices turn to murmurs and those too go fuzzy in my ears as I’m laying there. Dax is trying to smooth my hair, patting my head when he knows a particularly bad blow has been dealt. He says nothing and I don’t let out a sound.
I don’t even realize it’s ended. That the blows have stopped. My body is still in shock from all the pain.
“I think it’s over.” Dax whispers out.
Do I dare look?
I can’t help myself. I do. I turn my face to look at Jacin. And all I see is red. Blood coats his body in so many places, it looks as if his body exploded and
then put itself back together. Blood coats the wall behind him, the pool of blood on the floor grows bigger the more I lay there and watch him. And there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it. I still don’t know where I am. Where he is. Nothing has been answered. I don’t know why I was dragged here then. To see him being tortured. To see the brutality of it all.
I’ve dealt the brutal effects of torture with my own two hands.
There is nothing I can do, and I can’t wait any longer. My eyes start to tear up as I watch my love.
~Jacin~
They inject me again and it’s the only peace I get from these fuckers. It takes longer to work through my system. I’m building an immunity to it. And they don’t even fucking realise it. They think they will be safe forever. They are not.
Once I find out who this master is they keep referring to, their days are numbered.
I hang there and wait for the drugs to take effect. Until I smell something.
Its sweet, like strawberries.
My head snaps back up, I haven’t smelt that in weeks. I would know that smell anywhere. I concentrate. I try pick up on our heartbeats and I realise, she is near-by. She must be, her heart rate is beating out of control, where mine is cool, controlled. She must have seen everything.
My eyes try scan the room. Tables and chairs line the far side of the room. But I don’t see her anywhere. My heart sinks. I didn’t realise how much I craved the sight of her. Even if it is just for a moment. That will bring more peace than these drugs will ever bring me.
Until she stands. She looks as if she is fading from my view. But she is still as beautiful as ever. Her dream must be coming to an end, she came and saw what she needed. And so did I. My eyes take her in, as hers does, but hers are rimmed with tears she shouldn’t be crying.
I know what I’m doing, but I can’t let them know she is here. That she has seen everything. It will be just that much more of an incentive to get to her. I can only pray that Weyland is keeping her safe, away from danger.
She drops her hand to her side and my eyes follow the action, until another hand grabs hers and stands to their full height.
Dax.
What the ever-loving fuck is he doing dream walking with Natalie. Rage consumes me and she watches my change. It looks as if it confuses her, until she looks down at Dax’s hand and then looks back at me, giving me a sad smile. And then she is gone from me.
I will kill everyone. Brother or not, family or not, she is mine.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“He is mine to keep, mine to have and mine to save.”- Natalie
~Natalie~
I march right out of the confines of Jacin’s bedroom. Dax is hot on my heels, but I don’t stop. I can’t take it anymore. Not with what I have just seen. He has been gone too fucking long. And I can’t do it anymore. He surely can’t endure anymore of what he is going through.
I hold back the tears that want to fall freely from my eyes. I hold them back; I take a deep breath in and keep going. I can’t show weakness, but my strength is being tested and I need to stay strong. God, I have got to stay strong.
It occurs to me that I don’t even know where I’m storming off too, Dax doesn’t bother to stop me but follows me anyways.
“Find him.” I order the enchantress inside me.
I wait only a few seconds before she murmurs back to me. “Keep going, I will guide you.” And that’s what I do, I march wherever my feet are taking me and that’s hopefully to Weyland.
My dream walks are real. I know that after my experiences with Jacin. I was supposed to see the brutality of it all. Maybe it was what I needed to see to push me into doing something crazy and crazy is what I am going to do. With or without the help of Weyland and my five.
As I storm from the room and down the spider webbed halls, I hear the footfalls of my five, they don’t stop me, and I don’t bother to acknowledge them either. I’m after one white headed hound and nothing is going to stop me. Not even Weyland. This is just a courtesy I’m giving him by going to him with my plan.
Fuck caution. I threw that bitch into the wind. My war path has now been set, I’m out for blood. They should never have taken him. He is mine.
I keep marching.
I march right out into the grounds of the castle. No fucking clue where I’m going. The people that dot the grounds see me coming and they either make themselves disappear or they stand by gawking at me. Who gives a fuck what they think? I certainly don’t.
I keep moving passed the manicured lawns, the fountains that spray water so far up into the air you wouldn’t be able to tell where it went, I walk passed couples huddled together and all I want to do is bash their heads together. Shit ever since I became one with this maniac inside me, my thoughts have turned dark and deadly.
Again, who gives a fuck.
I keep going until I hear the grunts and moans of men. And not the sexy type either. I hear pain. It sends shivers down my body as I want to be the one giving pain. I want to bathe in the sounds of their painful moans and play with their blood. I have to shake my head from those thoughts. She needs to learn control.
I round the corner, the sounds of men fighting is getting closer and closer. I hear Weyland barking off orders in the distance. I found him. My pace picks up a few notches until the men that are training come into view. Once they start to take notice of me, they all pause. Some getting hit and kicked in the face by their opponent, until they too turn to look at me.
I have never met any of Jacin’s army. I have called on them once. But I didn’t stick around afterwards for a chat. Tray took me back and it’s not like I had a choice in the matter. I nod my head slowly at them, never taking my eyes off my target, who hasn’t realized I’m stalking his ass.
The men that surround me watch me in silence. None of them move, none of them make a noise. The closer I get, the more stop to watch me. Weyland is too busy beating on some pour guy that didn’t manage to be quick enough to stop his advances. He seems a lot more on edge lately and I don’t know if Jacin’s disappearance has finally started to take its toll on him.
I stomp up to him. When he finally realizes who is approaching, he does a double look which then earns him a shiner from the man on the floor. Never take your eyes off your opponent. I know, I lost that round with Weyland, so fucking long ago.
Weylands head snaps back to the man, then he delivers his final blow, knocking the poor man out cold. I watch as he steps back off the man. His topless form is glistering with sweat and his ripped eight pack comes into view. Don’t get me wrong. Weyland is gorgeous. And with him looking like that it’s no wonder I saw the woman hanging out nearby when I stormed through.
But I’m not fucking interested.
“Weyland!” I bark out to him. His eyes darken and I watch as his eyes run the length of my body and then back up to my face. What the fuck is he checking for?
“Natalie.” He says to me after his eyes meet mine once more. I watch as he runs his hand through his sweaty hair, to remove it from his face.
“Weyland, I am fucking done!” I scream as I near him. I come to stop before him, nose to nose. Well nose to fucking chest but I’m right up there in his personal space.
“What happened.” He growls out to me and once again checks my body.
“Stop fucking doing that. I’m fine.” I grumble to him. “But I’m fucking done, so you either get on board, or just get off the fucking boat. I’m done waiting!”
“Well first you going to have to explain to me, Little Lady. As you can see, I was fucking busy and I’m not sure what the fuck you are on about.”
I look about the grounds and watch as the men that were training have come to surround us. Most have their arms crossed over their bare chests, sweat runs down their bodies. God, I’m actually thankful we are outside because this amount of sweaty men can really change the smell of a room.
“In private.” I grumble out to him.
“Say what you need to say. This is Jacin’s a
rmy, they are loyal to a motherfucking T. That, you don’t have to worry about.”
I look back to Tray and my other four. Dax is no longer following me, and I think that’s because I’m now out in the open and his ass is not supposed to be here. Tray gives me an encouraging nod; he too must trust them, and I bet he is itching to find out what has me in such a state.
“Fine.” I grumble out. I take a breath in and let my anger flow from my mouth. “I dream walked again; I saw him again. And I’m done waiting. No one can survive what he is going through!”
The men that surround me start to growl and I watch Weyland still at my words. I feel my five move in closer to me, as if I’m in some sort of danger. When I turn to look at them, they are not worried about the men that surround me, they are looking passed them, seeing who is watching, who is listening.
“How long ago was this.” Weyland asks me, once he gets his bearings back.
“Not even ten minutes ago. Once I was thrown from the dream, I came straight for you. We need to do something. Waiting around is doing jack shit. Waiting around is just getting him more hurt and I can’t continue like this knowing he is being hurt!” I say to Weyland, who nods his head at me.
“And I have a plan, it’s not one you are going to like, but one that will work and work quickly.” I say to Weyland.
“Does it involve your life?” Weyland questions me.
“Yes.”
“No, I will not put you at risk. You are our future and once Jacin finds out and something happened to you, this world and the worlds to come are as good as dead.”
“Listen here Weyland and you listen damn good because I’m going to say this once and only once. I answer to no one. I will do as I fucking see fit. You are either on board or get off the fucking boat you will just slow me down. Either you listen to my plan or I do it without you. It’s that fucking simple.” I bite out to him.
“You are under my protection, Natalie. Jacin’s mate or not. I’m second in command. You will fucking do as I see fit. Don’t you fucking forget that.”
The Darkness in You (The Darkness Series Book 2) Page 22
