~LENORA'S POV
My eyelids felt glued shut as if they were desperately trying to shield me from the nightmare that had swallowed my life whole before I slept.
Memories clawed at my mind, the swirling portal that had yanked me from the world I knew, Zephyr's fierce and possessive grip on my arms, Lucian's calculating gaze that seemed to strip me bare, and that eerie, blindfolded man with silver hair that cascaded like moonlight down his back.
Please, please be a dream.
I willed it to be, my heart racing with a mix of fear and denial. I should wake up to Skye's messy bed opposite mine. Our dorm's chaotic mess of textbooks and discarded clothes. Fear of the brutal truth kept my eyes squeezed tight, as if not seeing it would make it untrue.
With a shaky sigh, I finally opened my eyes, and dread crashed over me like icy water.
This wasn't my dorm.
The room was dim, lit only by flickering torches set in sconces shaped like clawed beasts. Shadows slithered across walls of cold, dark stone, swallowing the meager light.
Heavy tapestries of crimson and midnight blue hung like warnings, depicting winged demons fighting armies of shadows that seemed to writhe in the flames.
A massive, ornate mirror leaned against one wall, reflecting the bed I'd slept in its canopy draped in black velvet, embroidered with silver thread that glimmered faintly in the torchlight like distant stars.
Panic clawed up my throat, and I immediately scrambled off the bed, landing barefoot on plush midnightblue carpet that felt like a lie in this cold, harsh place. My bag sat neatly on a carved wooden desk, like someone had anticipated I'd need it.
I yanked it open, rifling through phone, wallet, keys, pepper spray.... all there, mockingly ordinary in this nightmarish place. I grabbed my phone with trembling fingers.
Call someone.
Jason's name swirled in my mind, but guilt bit deep in my conscience because I had Cheated on him... with not just one but two. Ugh, the shame burned.
I shoved thoughts of Jason aside, survival first. Escape first.
I checked my phone. No service. The weight of helplessness settled like a brick in my stomach.
How do I get home?
Mum would kill me for missing Saturday at the hospital... and she'd probably care less about me being kidnapped. Her disappointment and hate towards me was already a familiar wound. She'd probably hate me more than she already does.
This is bad. This is really bad for me.
"I need to get out of here," I whispered, the words barely audible. I strapped my bag across my chest and kicked off my heels, holding them by their straps, making my bare feet feel vulnerable on the cold floor.
The door creaked softly as I pulled it open. A long, echoing hallway stretched before me, torches casting dancing shadows on walls which were adorned with more dark tapestries, making it seem like the shadows themselves were moving,
Watching.
The air smelled like old stone and smoke, thick and oppressive. Left and right were identical endless stretches of dimness, like choices didn't exist here. I peeked out, my heels clenched tight with my heart pounding in my ears.
I crept down the hallway, my feet making no sound on the cold stone floor. The only noise that could be heard was the soft rustle of my clothes and the thump of my heart in my ears.
I reached the dead end, and my gaze landed on the two paths which were both scary, making me not know where to follow.
Left was adorned with torches that bore eerie blue flames, dancing like spectral guardians, their light casting an icy glow on the walls. It seemed like a path of frost and calculation, a route that might lead to answers but probably to traps.
Right blazed with torches crowned with red flames, fiery tongues licking the darkness like they were hungry for it. It felt like a path of danger, but at least it felt like a path of action.
I didn't know what fate lay down for me if I followed the blue flame path and so,
I chose the right.
I'd barely taken five steps when my body was yanked backward, hard. I stumbled into a room, the darkness swallowing me whole.
Panic flared like a wildfire and I hyperventilated with my hands flailing, trying to find something, anything to grasp unto.
Then I saw them, two dim fiery lights in the shape of irises which shone brighter every second, like embers being fanned to life.
Then I saw him.
My heart froze.
The memory slammed into me, The way he'd touched me, grabbed me...kidnapped me. Fear and anger twisted inside me as the lights grew brighter, illuminating the sharp planes of his face, the cut of jawline...
And now he was here.
"Dove," he murmured in a low voice which sounded both amused, and predatory.
Zephyr.
His hands lifted from my mouth, fingers brushing my lips as he withdrew, leaving behind a warmth that lingered like a brand. "Were you trying to run away?"
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, the flames in his eyes flickering brighter as he leaned against the wall behind him, one ankle crossed over the other, exuding a casual power.
He snapped his fingers and red flames erupted from his fingertips dancing in the air like fireflies before settling onto the torches in the room.
The space blazed with a warm crimson glow and I stared transfixed by the flames in his eyes, the flames that had sprung from his fingertips and while my mind reeled, This doesn't look like a trick.
Halloween was over but this... this feels real.
Every instinct screamed at me to run. Every thought whispered that I was utterly trapped.
And yet... my gaze lingered on him.
I chuckled awkwardly, the grip on my bag tightening as I tried to ground myself. "No I was not." My voice came out steady - a miracle considering the chaos in my head.
Zephyr's gaze dimmed, his eyes returning to onyx as he pushed off the wall and took a step closer to me with fluid movements. He hummed, contemplating with an unreadable expression etched on his face.
"I see. But you can't just walk around here."
My eyebrows pinched together and anger surged in me due to his words. Who was he to tell me what I could or couldn't do?
My shoulders squared, and I met his eyes. "Look, Zephyr, I think you should forget about what happened between us and... your brother."
He raised a brow, amusement flickering across his face. His eyes sparkled despite his attempt to hide it. "And?"
"And also, I'm sure Halloween is over so you can quit the act. You probably won best Halloween costume anyway" I added trying to inject some levity into the situation.
My smile came out as a grimace, making Zephyr's gaze narrow like he was seeing through me as he took another step closer, his chest almost brushing against mine.
"I also need to return to my dorm. I have somewhere I'm supposed to be right now."
I reached for the door knob behind me, my heart racing and before I could step out, an arm encased my waist pulling me back into the room.
His chest pressed against mine, warm and solid, with his breath ghosting over my ear.
"Not so fast, Dove," he murmured, his voice was smooth and teasing, before he tightened his grip possessively around my waist.
His dark eyes glimmered in the red light like a predator savoring his prey, and I could only stare while my pulse pounded in my ears.
I realized in that instant, that my fate was no longer mine.
And for the first time, I understood how fragile, and utterly exposed I was in this world of fire, shadow, and these otherworldly creatures.
In an instant, he pinned me against the cold wood of the door, cuffing my hands above my head, making the metal bite into my wrists.
"Let me go!" I screamed, my voice raw with panic as I thrashed against him. My feet dug into the floor, futile leverage against his unyielding strength. "Let me leave before I scream, before the police gets invol—"
"Police?" His laugh was low and mocking, a dangerous rumble that rolled across the room. "And what would the police do, Dove? March into the gates of Hell to rescue you, hm?" His breath brushed my ear, warm, intoxicating, and deliberately close.
"My boyfriend's father is the sheriff, and I promise you won't—" I swallowed hard, my voice cracking with desperation. "—you won't be coming out of this alive if you don't let me go!"
Zephyrus's eyes flickered at the mention of the word 'boyfriend.' Crimson flames ignited within his irides for a brief second, and the pressure on my arms spiked making pain lance through my body.
"You want your human-toy daddy to put me behind bars?" His lips curled into a slow, dark grin.
"But your tongue was buried in my mouth just hours ago. How quickly the tables turn, Dove." He tsked, mock disappointment in the gesture as his eyes glinted with cruel amusement. "Hypocrisy doesn't suit you, though I find it very... interesting."
I flinched but forced my gaze up to meet his. The intensity of his eyes glowing with crimson made me want to look away, but I couldn't.
He leaned back slightly, letting me drink him in, his horns curving sharply from his forehead like crescents of darkness.
"The... horns... they were real?" I whispered more to myself in disbelief with a scrambled mind.
I had been plucked from my world, dragged into this nightmare, and now I was face-to-face with a being that shouldn't exist.
What have I done to cross paths with them?