Chained (The Siren Series #2) (8 page)

I landed on my feet this time, but I
landed on hard cracked ground. I was getting good at teleportation
but this was no time for celebration. Marcus pulled away from Rhea
with a grunt.

“
Why’d you do that?!” he asked.

“
You would have died, I saved you.” she
answered.

“
That wasn’t your call. I had sworn an
oath to my brothers in arms.”

“
I didn’t want to see anymore protectors’
die.” she replied.

Marcus walked away and I could feel his
rage pulsing
inside him.
He paced back and forth mumbling to himself and I wanted to tell
him that everything was going to be ok, but how could I tell him
that, after all the misery we had witnessed. It would have been a
lie, and I would convince no one of it.

I looked up into the sky and took a deep
breath,
I tried to
forget what we all had witnessed, freezing cold air whipped around
us with ice white clouds towering over us in the air. It was a grim
day and I felt it fit the mood.

“
Where are we, Rhea?” Sophia
asked.

“
An old friend’s house, we were once
sisters, but I have not seen her in some time now.” Rhea
explained.

“
Will we be safe?” Sophia
asked.

“
No where’s safe anymore.” Marcus
added.

I just stared at Marcus as his face was
formed into a grim sadness. I wish I could have made him feel
better, but what could
I
have
done?

I looked around. We stood on muddy forest
path leading up to a wooden bridge over looking a large river. The
bridge was connected to a large stone door that stood ten feet
tall. The sturdy stone wall surrounded whatever was inside, or to
keep whatever was inside locked up. Rhea was first across the
bridge. I watched her effortlessly cross it with grace while I
slowly crept my way along, fearing for my life with every step I
took.

Rhea waited for us to cross, she then stepped
forward and placed her free hand onto the stone. It responded to
her touch as the stone wall crumbled away before her.

“
Be ready for anything.” she said and
quickly ushered us in.

The stone door reformed behind us locking us
inside. I looked up at the awe inspiring building that took my
breath away. The tall building was made entirely out of stone with
balconies at every window. Each brick seemed to glow with its once
sun kissed colour. It looked like an enchanted castle that belonged
in a fairy tale. On the enchanted building it had four tall towers
had tall spirals high up into the air. It made me dizzy just
looking up at it. On this grey day, seeing this building was like a
ray of hope. Rhea walked up the stone path that once looked like a
garden but it was only now a shadow of its former self, overgrown,
faded and grey. Nothing like the bright building that stood out
amongst the drab dead garden.

“
Who lives here?” I asked.

“
You’ll see soon enough.” she said “But
I don’t think she’ll be happy seeing me after all this
time.”

“
Who’s is it Rhea?” Sophia sounded
suspicious.

She remained tight lipped on the subject. It
wasn’t like Rhea to leave us in the dark.

The four of us walked through the dead garden
until we reached one of the solid wooden doors. We all stood still,
wondering who would knock first. Then loud unlocking sounds came
from behind the door and it opened welcoming us inside. Or at least
I hoped.

Rhea turned to me and gripped both my
shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.

“
Ellie, I need you more than ever. Will
you stand by me whatever happens.” Rhea spoke in hushed
tones.

I had to think first. Why was Rhea telling me
this, did she know what was going to happen?

“
Yes, of course.” I finally
answered.

Rhea smiled at me and walked through the open
door. The rest of us followed inside. I stayed close to Rhea,
hoping if things get too much we could make a quick exit.

Darkness had filled throughout building, I
felt something from the shadows like a thousand eyes all watching
me at once. There was nothing breath taking about the inside of the
castle, it was run down with dust, destroyed paintings and cobwebs
had made it its home. I would have thought it was abandoned if not
for the mysterious person who let us in. There was no care put into
it, unlike Rhea’s amazing house, all polished and pristine. Or what
it used to be before I destroyed it.

An eerie glow appeared on the top of the
balcony casting an ebbing light on all what the destroyed hall had
to offer. The glow seemed to grow with each passing second as we
all watched it descend in front of us. I took a step back as the
radiant light transformed into a tall raven haired woman. She
scanned the others and stopped onto Rhea. The raven haired woman’s
face twisted with rage. She walked up to Rhea and slapped her
across her perfect sculpted face. Sophia stepped forward but Rhea
held her.

“
I didn’t expect to see you again.” The
raven haired woman said.

“
We need your help, and I know I’m the
last person who should ask for It.” asked Rhea.

“
So you come back begging for help. I
don’t know if you’re worth my time.” The woman seemed to take joy
in teasing Rhea.

“
Naaz, please do not do this.” Rhea
added.

“
Is that anyway to talk to your dear long
lost
friend
?”

“
A lot has happened and we need your
help.”

“
Yes, I have been watching you very
closely, but I don’t know if I can trust you again.”

The raven haired woman walked closer towards
us and came into the dying light that was the sun. She too was a
sight of beauty, soft dark skin that was flawless with dark cherry
coloured lips. Her eyes were dark, but with a hit of redness thrown
in and they seemed to hold a lot of history behind them.

“
Don’t play games Naaz.” Rhea
said.

“
I’m not doing anything, I’m just-..”
The woman stopped mid sentence. “You!” Her eyes found mine and I
felt terror rise inside my body like bile.

“
Siren’s are forbidden!” She said out
loud. The dark haired woman threw out her hand and my body was
dragged towards her. She lifted me in the air inches away from her
face.

“
Do you think you can deceive me? I
could smell her miles away, the stink is all over her.” She
spat.

“
Rhea!” I called out for her
help.

She did not look my way. She remained locked
onto the dark beauty.

Marcus rushed towards me but with a flick of
the woman’s wrist he was sent spiraling off in the opposite
direction.

“
Stop it!” I yelled.

She ignored me and continued to address
Rhea.

“
Have you been naughty, Rhea? You know
Siren’s are forbidden.” The woman giggled to herself and her eyes
were truly terrifying.

She again waved her wrist and pain flooded
through my body. My muscles sized up as the pain wormed its way
throughout my body. I screamed out in agony while the woman laughed
at my torment. I tried to fight through the pain as best I could
but it was a losing battle. I wanted to call out to Rhea I didn’t
have the energy.

“
That’s enough!” Rhea
ordered.

“
Remember your place!” Naaz
spat.

Rhea gathered a light that slowly coiled
around her hand.

There was a look from Naaz that could turn
you flesh into stone. She then released her hand and I fell to the
floor. Marcus rushed towards me and bent down to pick me up but I
filched away from him.

“
What is wrong with you?!” Marcus
yelled at Naaz but she ignored him and continued her icy stare
towards her old friend.

Rhea stared down at me and I didn’t know what
to say, I thought I could trust her but it was slowly fading away.
Did she know this would happen?

“
You may stay a few days, no more, no
less.” Naaz took one last look at me and walked away.

I picked myself up, hoping there was no
internal damage. Rhea then held out her hand and I paused for a few
seconds before grabbing it. She helped me up and I felt her healing
glow throughout my beaten body. Did she think that everything was
ok? I get beaten while Rhea stands back, and then she rushes in
like everything is ok? I found my trust in her being eroded
away.

I carried myself into the nearest room that
luckily had a roaring fire. I lowered myself into the nearest chair
that wasn’t filthy and curled up into a ball and felt like crying,
but I held it in as best I could.

The group shuffled in after me and started to
talk in hushed tones.

“
What the hell was that about?”
whispered Marcus.

“
I’m sorry you all had to go through
that. It’s me that she is after and she’s trying to do it through
you.” Rhea explained.

I wanted to ignore her words. I wanted to be
alone.

“
Are we safe here?” Marcus
asked.

“
Just leave it to me.” She
replied.

“
But are we safe here?” Marcus asked
again.

“
I hope so.” Rhea finally
answered.

“
Are you ok Ellie?” Sophia sat down
onto the carpet next to the sofa.

“
I’m fine.” I lied.

“
I’m sorry you had to go through that,
if there’s anything you need or if you want a chat I’m here for
you.”

I didn’t reply, I just wanted everything to
stop and go back to my old life, where I got bullied for being
different or worry about my English homework from Mr. Drop dead
gorgeous. That was a walk in the park compared to this.

I looked over at Marcus. He was too tense to
sit, he just kept checking the windows for signs of trouble.

“
Why did Naaz do that to me?” I finally
asked.

Rhea stood in the door with her back to us.
She gave out a great sigh and turned to me.

“
She still harbors a lot of hate
towards me and she can tell I care much for you.” she
said.

“
Should I be worried about her? I don’t
want to be watching my back all the time.”

“
No, Naaz is a loyal friend.” Rhea
replied.

“
Loyal, you call that loyal?” I could
tell Marcus was pissed. “She almost killed her.”

“
It was a test, Marcus. Please just
calm down, we have been through a lot these past few hours. We
should get some rest.”

“
I don’t think I can rest.” replied
Marcus.

I knew where he was coming from but my eyes
burned with tiredness and with all the things we had seen today. I
tried to block out all of the horrible images in my mind. The sofa
was comfortable enough and I felt myself slip away.

I was brought back to the darkest pits of the
dungeons, locked away from the light. Leaches filtered in and out
of the room to feed on me every day like I was their private buffet
until I would pass out from the pain. That’s the life I led in my
dreams. Broken and bruised, no one was coming for me and no one
cared. I was alone and the only friend I had was the oncoming
darkness.

I woke up sweating, body cold and clammy.
Looking over, Marcus and Sophia were still asleep, but there was no
sign of Rhea. I quietly crept out of the room and into the dark and
dusty hall. I had a bad feeling about this place, darkness had
taken up residence, and it wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Looking
around the hall at night was terrifying, I felt like something
would jump out and say “boo” but I ignored my childish thoughts and
went on the lookout for Rhea. Something caught my eye at the corner
of the dark long hall.

Rhea came out of the darkness as if she just
said goodbye to an old friend. She didn’t notice me and I quickly
hid myself behind a large broken statue that was chipped in many
places. I watched her, she looked worried. Rhea was always calm and
composed, but not here. This was a bad place and I didn’t want to
stay.

“
You don’t have to hide from me Ellie.”
Her voice was dull and dry.

“
Crap.” I whispered to the
darkness.

I move myself away from the busted out statue
and slowly walked over to her. Rhea didn’t turn her back to greet
me. She remained quiet while looking out of the window.

“
Cannot sleep?” she asked.

“
You could say that.” I
mumbled.

“
Yes, it has been awful for you haven’t
it.” Rhea said.

“
Yeah.” I answered dryly.

“
Ellie, I want to talk about what
happened down in the sewers.”

I didn’t know what Rhea was talking about
until slowly I started to remember. “You’re talking about when I
nearly had a breakdown?”

“
Yes.” She answered.

“
I don’t know what happened, I felt as
if I was back down in those dungeons again. I don’t ever want to go
back there.”

“
I will not allow it, Ellie. But I am
concerned about how this is talking its toll on you.”

I didn’t answer and I want to linger on the
bad thoughts that held me back. Something inside me wanted to know
what was going on, I wanted to blurt out everything that I was
thinking but I held my tongue. “What’s going to happen to me?”