Hidden Lycan. (COMPLETE)

Thirty Three

I woke in an unfamiliar room and I couldn't help the fear that clogged my throat at being in an unknown place. It would take a while for me to get used to going other places and I knew that, but I wasn't prepared for the fear it brought. 

So when something wrapped around me from behind pinning my arms against me, my body rebelled. Every nerve in my body screaming at me to get away, to run. Only the grip got tighter, until I could no longer struggle. I could hear muffled talking, or maybe screaming I wasn't sure but to be honest it only made things worse. 

Terror took over, my beast back in hiding mode so the slayers couldn't get to her. Only when the light of the room turned dark taking on a grey almost blue hue and the air dropped several degrees did the restraints leave my body. I wanted to release a relieved sigh, take a deep calming breath, but I couldn't, not until I knew I was safe. 

I slowly sat up and looked around with wide eyes. I was in the same room, but not. The walls were peeling almost as if years of age had them decaying in front of me. The ceiling was collapsing in on itself, debris falling off in chunks onto the floor. The floors even had holes and cracks where it the place was in shambles.

That though wasn't even the worst of it. Nope, we had to go and add creepy wondering people. And creepy was definitely the word for them. They walked around with no rhyme or reason. Their shoulders slumped, mouths partially opened, while their eyes held this glaze to them that told me they weren't quite there. It was almost as it they were wondering, waiting, maybe even searching for something. But their eyes held no intelligence that hinted towards that theory, their faces holding no emotion. 

I hesitantly swung my legs over the bed and studied the floor as I stood, not wanting to fall into one of the holes that formed there. I most definitely not wanting to find where it led because as I leaned over one a bright blue light was the only thing I could see at the bottom. 

A shiver went down my spine and I wrapped my arms around myself. Where was I? How did I even get here? And more important, how did I get back? I didn't blend in with the wondering people with their graying skin. No, my pale skin shone almost like a beacon, and I was worried what it would or could attract to me. Looking around the room there was nothing to hide under, nothing to stop the odd shimmer that took form on me. I need to hide, I whine to myself. 

Not seconds after I thought it clouds of darkness seeped from the floor boards up my legs. I shrieked, trying to bat away the darkness, wiping at my skin furiously. But it was like smoke, my hands went straight through it without a trace. There was nothing I could do as the darkness wound its way around me and spread over my skin like a blanket. What the hell? It wasn't hurting me, wasn't trying to kill me, it was. Helping me? 

I glanced over my once pale skin. A smoky darkness now swirling around it. I tried to forget it was there as I continued to survey my surroundings but it was hard. It moved with me, the smoke dancing along my skin like a whisper sending weirdly pleasant chills through me. I shook the thought away, how could darkness be pleasant? But as I continued I couldn't help but confirm my thoughts. It was. It was pleasant. It felt almost like being outside on an autumn day, the wind gently breathing on your skin. It felt like a warm blanket on a cold winters night. It was comfortable, familiar. 

Familiar. I've seen this before. I lifted my hands in front of me and studied the darkness there. But where have I seen it? The slayers never used it. No doubt if they had access to it they would weaponize it somehow. I've never seen the guys are anyone who attacked us use it. 

Hades. The memory struck me like a boulder. When he got mad in the forest, this weird smoky darkness swirled at his feet. Did he send me here? I haven't seen any sign of him, not a trace of actual life. I hesitated as I reached the front door, my hand frozen on the door knob. What would be outside? Was it safe to leave the house? I turned and looked behind me, seeing the thing fall apart. Couldn't be anymore dangerous than having a beam fall on my head. 

Closing my eyes I heaved the door open. A rush of air knocked the breath out of me. When I opened my eyes again confusion hit me. I was still in the forest. Well a murky, hazy version of the forest at least. The same dazed wondering people polluted the grounds out side just in larger quantity. Some of them though looked new. Was new the right word? Fresh? No, I don't know what to call them but they looked different, like some intelligence and awareness still lingered in their eyes. 

I strode up to one of the saner looking ones only for him to look at me his eyes widening with terror. His mouth fell open in a silent scream and he turned to run. "Wait." I yelled catching his wrist before he could take off. Only his frame trembled, then went deathly still. I looked from his wrist back to his eyes and screamed. I stumbled backwards, confused and terrified of what was happening. 

The once still intact looking man was no more. No, he was worse than any of the others I'd seen. His skin had begin to crack like plaster. His face was sunken in, his cheeks hallow, his eyes so sunken into his skull they almost disappeared. By the time I regained my senses the man was a pile of scattered bones. What just happened? 

My heart was beating erratically, my breathing ragged and short. Panic attack, I'd had enough of them to know the symptoms. But I also knew the only way to stop it was to take deep breaths, calm my heart and try to even my breathing back to normal. Except there was no doing that right now. How could I? I still didn't know what was happening or where I was. At least with the Slayers I knew what to expect, I knew virtually everything. Here I was clueless. 

Something again grabbed me from behind. My already over loaded senses and self preservation in over drive kicked up a hundred more notches. So when I threw my elbow back into whatever was behind me, I expected a large whoosh of air to blow across my skin, not a echoing thud that sounded several yards away. 

I turned to see the shadows rearing in my defense. They had swollen to twice the size they were when they were on my skin. They were pulsing as if they had their own heartbeat, and it looked like millions of tiny diamonds shimmered within their depth. I tentatively peered around the cloud to see who or what had attacked me and gasped. 

I shot forward through the cloud and all but slid on my knees beside him. "Are you alright?" I asked, not daring to touch him for fear of what would happen. "What are you doing here?" He wheezed, pulling himself to a sitting position. I looked around again, wanting nothing more than to get out of here. "I don't know. I woke up and something or someone grabbed me. Touching still isn't easy for me, especially if I can't see who it is. So fear and instinct took over and the next thing I knew one world seemed to dissolve for another." 

I fell from my knees to my back side and pulled my knees to my chest. "And these shadow things keep clinging to me." I said shaking my arms like I was trying to throw them off. "Not that I mind. They've been hiding me, and helped me when my panic took over with you. They're comforting." I said with a shrug. He gave me a quizzical look before he spoke again. "What do you mean they are hiding you?" 

"Well, I noticed my skin doesn't react the same here as the wondering peoples do. Mine kind of shimmers or glows. I was scared it was some kind of beacon. I had the unnerving urge to hide it with no way to. Then these smoky shadows seeped through the floor and covered my skin. I'm not sure why, but thankful all the same." 

"Show me." It wasn't a demand, but also not a request. "I don't know how. They won't unattach themselves." I said furrowing my brows at the swirling shadows. "Just will a small portion away." He instructed. I nodded and closed my eyes, willing for the shadows to just release my hand for a moment. When I felt the warmth of the shadows leave and the chill set in, I knew it worked. 

Opening my eyes I cringed at the shimmering hand. That couldn't be normal. He went to grab my hand and I instantly pulled it away, the shadows claiming it once again. "Don't touch me." The panic in my voice had his eyes tightening around the edges. "Why not?" His voice was calm, too calm. "I wanted to know where I was. I saw one of those people that held more intelligence in their eyes and went to ask, but he tried to run. I caught him by his wrist to stop him and within seconds he was a pile of bones. I don't know if I did that or not, but I'm not taking that chance." I said standing and backing away from him. 

"Do you remember when you fell asleep?" He asked. I nodded. I also remember the crushing weight that pressed in on me. "You passed out Fallon, you didn't fall asleep. All that building emotion that was threatening to explode from you in the forest somehow triggered the powers you didn't know about. It seems you have some if not more of my abilities. I've never been able to harm a soul here, but you, you can kill the soul."

"Soul? Souls don't have bones." I said shaking my head. He nodded. "Maybe not in the human world, but here in the underworld the soul is reverted back to its human shell. It's how they are tormented. They are shackled by their bodies, unable to truly rest. That's why they wonder, why they look the way they do. And you also got here on your own." 

I was in the underworld, Hades domain, my fathers. When he stood and moved to grasp me by my shoulders I stumbled backwards, a frightened gasp escaping me. "Your touch won't harm me Fallon, just as mine doesn't you." 

"How do you know? How can you be sure?" I asked. He smiled, the dimples I once thought added to his good looks showing. I cringed at ever finding him attractive. "Because you are my daughter." He said simply, before his palms landed on my shoulders. My body tensed, but nothing happened. He was right. Relief flooded my body and the tension left my shoulders as they fell forward. "What does all this mean for me?" I asked, motioning to the world around us. "It means that I must help you control these powers, help control the shadows that cling to you. But first I must get you back to your men." 

Before a word could leave me the world fell away, leaving us standing in the darkness of the forest. How was it dark already? It was just sun rise when I crossed over. Hades laughed "The two worlds may look the same, but time runs different." He said simply. 

Not a minute later I saw the guys barreling towards us. As they got close I stepped behind Hades, not willing to harm them. They stopped short, hurt crossing their faces. "I just don't want to hurt you." I whispered. They looked to Hades, questions burning in their eyes. "It seems she has inherited my power, plus a few more." Hades explained. 

I stepped out from behind him, my eyes on my feet. That's when I noticed the shadows still swirled around my legs and feet. It snaked out away from me and across the ground to the guys. I froze, panic and fear clogging my throat. They stiffened as the shadows reached them, but they weren't harmed. The shadows seemed to swivel around them, caressing them like they already knew them. Hades bellowed a laugh and I looked up to him in confusion. "I don't think you need to worry about your abilities hurting them Fallon. It seems to already know and accept them." And my jaw fell slack.