My Immortal (2 page)

It's horrible, the things they were doing to
him in my visions. But if they were good for anything, it was to
lead me to him because now I know where he is being held, and I'm
going to rescue him alone.

I don't want you risking your title, or your
place in this stupid City. Your reputation doesn't need to get any
more tainted than it already is because of me.

If I don't see you again, you know where I
am and maybe one day I will see you there too.

You know that I really do love you. So much.
And that's why I want you to stay out of this.

Be happy.

Be free.

Live your life wonderfully.

Love again.

Find someone you actually deserve.

~Alexia

• Chapter Two
  

I
have been here with Gabe enough to know where I am going. This is
the dungeon of the Grand Mecca. No one really knows about it except
for the authorities that the Overlord keeps close. Gabe knew about
it because his father sent some of the Guards to torture enemies in
the past. This is exactly where Gabe and I have been looking for
Shadow over the last six months but come back empty handed and no
closer to finding him every time.

It wasn't until last night when I was
remembering my dreams of his torture (that I know are really
happening due to our freakish telepathic connection) that I finally
figured it out.

They move him around.

They never keep him in one cell or place for
very long.

There have been visions of him in a bright,
sterile environment that I know is a lab, so they are definitely
running tests on him, maybe even trying things with his DNA that I
don't want to think about. It's just wrong.

Other times he has been in a cavernous room,
tied to some kind of post and whipped and burned. That is probably
the worst for him because of the fire.

And then there is the dark room. The room
that I would lose my sanity in because we aren't meant to be
without light. Without companionship. Without knowledge of time,
day, or night. Or knowing what it is that's coming at you, beating
you, or going to attack you next.

So here I am, in my black, baggy clothes with
my hair hidden. This is a poor attempt at disguising myself as a
(male) Guard but it was the best I could put together.

Of course I stole one of Gabe's uniforms to
pull this off…and his knife. Luck would have it that I couldn't
find where he keeps his guns. They say they don't have guns, but I
don't believe them. I am smart enough to know the Overlord isn't
going to say no to any device that holds precedence over others,
especially with the knowledge of an impending Hell Horde
attack.

So with lack of a better plan, I will just
check every place he has been in my visions. I will start with the
lab because it's the first thing I will happen across, and then it
will be the bay. The last will be the really creepy, dark
cells.

All of these places scare the hell out of
me.

What am I to do if he is in the lab being
tested? I can't just break in and help him escape. How do I know if
he can even walk anymore?

If he is in the bay, the authorities will be
there torturing him and I am no match for them with a little
knife.

But for some reason my biggest fear is that
he won't be in the first two. It's those scary, dark cells that I
really don't want to look in. I don't know if I want to see whoever
or whatever they keep in them.

What if something attacks me? How will I see?
I didn't even find a lighter.

I am so ill prepared, maybe I should just
turn back.

No.

I can't. For some reason, I just know that if
I turn back now Shadow will die.

I could feel his hope and despair two months
ago hanging on by a thread. He had lost the will to live.

Who knows what it's like now.

But he is still alive. I know it.

And that is what gives me the courage to take
my first step towards finding him.

I step out from behind the boulder that I was
hiding behind and sneak down the dungeon steps as quietly and as
quickly as I can. The air is stale down here and my heart beats
faster as the light fades with every step that I take. The sconces
on the wall barely light the way and some are completely out, while
most of them flicker with half-life.

So far so good. It's quiet and I don't hear
any voices. I hug the dry, crumbling wall and follow along until I
come to a fork in the tunnels. The right fork leads to the lab and
the left one leads to the dark cells if I remember the map that
Gabe showed me correctly. I lose my breath just thinking about
having to go in the left tunnel.

Please,
please
let me find him in the
lab, or the bay.

Somehow I get control of my shaking legs and
waste little time making my way to the lab. I see the brightness of
the fluorescent lights at the end of the tunnel way before I reach
it.

I am able to take a large breathe.

Why is it I feel better reaching the lab?

I stop at the end of the tunnel and listen
for voices. Still nothing. Is this my lucky day or what? I peer
around the wall and look through the large windows that one can
observe the lab workers and their
patients.

My stomach drops.

The glass is obviously thick and soundproof
because several different kinds are clearly screaming and all that
I hear is utter silence.

A lab worker stands over a shifter and
injects him with four very large syringes. Each time he violently
shifts into several different kinds with a severe amount of
pain.

Next to him a nymph is strapped down and a
lab worker is cutting open his head while he is awake and
screaming!

My eyes can't take this in fast enough. Each
little table holds some kind of torture tool and I finally hope
that I do find Shadow in the dark cell. Anywhere but here.

I scan the tables one by one making sure that
he isn't on one. It's hard not to get sidetracked seeing the things
before my eyes.

There is a nymph with the wings of a
Hell-Hordian sewn onto him, a demon (this made my heart race)
having his fangs removed with pliers, a spirit that they are trying
to force to drink what looks like blood, and some Shifters that
they may have frozen permanently into different forms. What I
notice about all of these kinds is that their muscles are
definitely honed and way larger than they should be. They also seem
to be abnormally fast and really, really pissed off.

One of the shifters suddenly whips his head
towards me and we make direct eye contact.

Something in his gaze makes my insides crawl.
It is pure evil and also knowing.

I add smart to my mental list of descriptions
for these genetically altered kinds.

The lab worker jabs the shifter with another
syringe and he lets out a silent scream, shifting into a Vampire
with red eyes. This brings my focus back, reminding me of Shadow's
red eyes and that I need to get on the move before I get
caught.

On to the bay area.

Please…please be in the bay.

I drop to my hands and knees and crawl as
fast as I can below the windows of the lab to the entrance to the
next tunnel. I make it without incident but my breathing is ragged
and my pulse is all over the place. I am nervous beyond reason now
and may scream at the littlest thing.

Maybe I should tie something around my mouth
just in case.

But it would take too long.

I stand next to the wall and try to get
control of myself. The sconces are more brightly lit now and I
worry even more about being seen as I creep along the wall,
white-knuckling my knife.

It seems to take an eternity before I reach
the bay and I almost turn around two or three times thinking I am
lost. But just as I am about to, I hear a series of agonized
screams up ahead.

My body freezes and locks up, refusing to
move. I close my eyes and try to suck in air.

I tremble.

My face wrinkles up.

I almost fall apart, but I tell myself that
it's not Shadow and it gives me some semblance of control.

If it is Shadow then I will obviously be no
help at all. I will turn into a wailing sissy and cause more
problems than I am worth. Hell, maybe they will let me join him on
the whipping post.

I grind my teeth so hard my jaw pops and I
move forward, one slow, determined step at a time. The boy's
tortured screams grows more and more ragged and I wish he would
just pass out already to save himself from the pain and agony.

Finally, I reach the big opening of the bay
and hug the wall, looking around frantically to make sure no one
can see me from this side.

To my relief, no one can see me at this angle
but they are yelling things in a language that I can't understand
behind me, so I peer around the wall at my back.

On the post is a head of stringy, sweat
soaked, dark hair and a body with no tattoos. I can't see the face
because his head is limp, chin to chest, blessedly passed out.

But now I know it's not Shadow and I can
breathe a little easier. Although, it's not much relief because I
have seen him being whipped in my visions, so I know he's been
through this. Unfortunately, I don't think he was lucky enough to
pass out.

It's the authorities that are doing the
whipping though, not the Guards and I can tell because they are
wearing red and black outfits with an assortment of weapons and
night sticks. Also, I never really thought of it before, but they
are bigger than normal. About the same size as those genetically
altered kinds in the lab, with the rippling muscles twice the size
of Shadow and Gabe.

Hmm.

So they are altered too and I am betting they
are fast and smart as well.

I whip back around and hug the wall, hoping I
didn't get caught peeking but not sure if I did or not. The strange
language stops abruptly and they start whispering.

Oh no.

Whether or not they saw me, I am not sticking
around to find out. I jog away as quietly but as quickly as I can
and when I get far enough away I start running, crossing my fingers
that I don't run into anyone coming towards me.

I see the bright lights from the lab up ahead
and when I reach it, I drop to all four's and crawl across, below
the windows, faster than I ever thought I was capable.

Reaching the entrance to the first tunnel I
stand and dust the rocks and dust off of my knees. I hiss when I
do, realizing that my knees are cut and are bleeding heavily.

I have no choice but to leave the pebbles and
dirt in my knees because I have no time to spare. Hopefully, I can
clean them out sooner rather than later though.

Trying not to allow myself to think about
where I am heading now, I keep on running, stinging knees and
all.

I reach the fork in the path and swallow
thickly.

I know if I give it any thought I will
chicken out. I don't let myself slow down as I dash down the dark
tunnel.

Haunting wails and moans echo towards me. My
heart beats so rapidly in my chest that I become light headed and
it becomes harder to breathe.

I am shaking and trembling with a fear that
owns me completely.

I feel for the wall at my back so that I can
continue along it into the darkness.

I can't believe that there is no light in
here whatsoever.

How deep into this tunnel do the cells
lie?

What will I find when I find them?

I know I'm getting closer because the moans
and groans are getting louder.

Oh gods. If he isn't here then I don't know
what I will do. I can't give up but I can never be satisfied
wondering what happened to him, and this is my last hope.

Squashing those horrible thoughts, I continue
on shaky legs in the direction that I really do not want to go.

After I have snuck in the dark for about five
ten minutes, the wall at my back suddenly turns into something cold
and hard with a space next to it.

Just as I realize that it is a metal bar,
something grabs my fingers and causing me to jump and squeal.

Luckily, I panic and it jerks my hand away
from whatever it is.

My heart thumps wildly in my chest, knocking
so loudly that I hope it doesn't give my presence away to anything
or anyone else.

Ha! Like the startled squeal didn't.

The moans and groans turn into a cacophony of
different languages. From what I can tell, some even sound like
pleads and some sound like threats.

I hug myself tightly, trying my best to stay
in the center of the path away from both sides of the cells. If I
get too close to either my right or my left, hands try to grab
me.

This is difficult in the dark.

I drop to the dirt floor and crawl, wincing
when pain sears through my knees and I suddenly remember the gashes
and cuts.

"C-can anyone understand me?" I stutter.

The voices rush at me, more forceful than
before but I have no idea what they're saying.

"I'm looking for a demon named Shadow…"

And they continue.

But so do I.

The voices grow louder and louder and bombard
me from every side of me.

I fear that they are drawing unwanted
attention and panic grips my chest.

"Shhh! Keep it down! You'll get me caught and
then I can't help any of you…."

Either my deceiving promise doesn't fool
anyone or they don't understand me either.

"I for one, do not believe that you would
rescue any of us," a deep, rough voice rumbles from beside me.

I freeze completely. I turn slowly, trying my
best to adjust my eyes to the dark, but to no avail, it does not
help. I strain to see something in the dark cell, or whatever it
is, to my left and come up short.

But with just one blink of my eyes, there's
nothing there one second, and red eyes open and staring directly
into my eyes the next.