The Bride of the Zodiac King

Chapter Four

Darkness filled the room, Ella rubbed her eyes for a second time as she wondered if all those times she had been dreaming. She looked around the room, narrowing her eyebrows, she was trying to understand why she could not see the usual shadow of her dressing table which was right in front of the bed and why the usual garden lights from her neighbor's house were not on. It was unusually quiet,  the only things which she could hear were the steady pump of her heart and the air coming from her lungs. She reached out to grab the small clock which she usually kept on her bedside table and instead her fingertips brushed against something hard which felt like concrete. She quickly sat up in bed as her whole body was suddenly taken over by paralyzing fear, her bed was surely not pushed against a wall! Her mind told her that she was hallucinating, that she was still dreaming. Ella squeezed her eyes shut, pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees as she slowly counted to ten, hoping that when she will open her eyes again, she will be her back in her bedroom and wake up from this nightmare.

'She's finally awake!', she heard a manly voice said and she gasped as adrenaline flood her system, the rhythm of her heart increased and at one point she felt her heart was going to explode as she looked around with wide eyes filled with fears.

The whole room suddenly was filled with bright lights. Ella blinked to adjust her eyes to the light. Looking around her, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from screaming. She was surely not in her bedroom or anywhere which looked anything like a bedroom. Her brain was trying to figure out so many things at the same time, her head started to spin as she glanced around the room . Ella wondered how and why she had ended up in a ,  dungeon. The typical ones she had seen only in movies, the cobblestone walls, metal barred windows and flaming torches in sconces on the wall provided the light. One could feel it in the cold air which filled the room , the scent of death and suffering. With that thought a chill ran down her spine and then her gaze met his and she started to get flashbacks. She was on a blind date , the grey-haired man, the man coming towards her pressing his hand to his chest and the last thing which she remembered was her driving that man to a hospital.

What happened after that? Why cant I remember anything else!?, Ella said to herself as tears tickled her eyes, but she couldn't and shouldn't cry, not now when that man was standing there looking at her with an amused look on his old face.

'What do you want from me?!', she shouted her voice echoing against the cobblestone walls.

The old man gave a cynical laugh before he walked towards her. She had nowhere else to go as her back was already pressed against a wall. Ella closed her eyes and silently prayed for a miracle.

'Welcome to your new home', he said as he stood in front of the bed and she opened her eyes.

'Home?This is not my home!...I'm sure my friends have already contacted the police and soon...soon they will find me!', Ella said trying to threaten the man but he only looked at her and then laughed which only infuriated Ella even more!

' Well well!... I can see you are being entertained by our guest  Memphis', a deep manly voice said.

Ella turned her gaze in the direction of the voice, but she could not see his face as he wore a dark hooded cape over his head which partially covered his face, except for his mouth. Memphis quickly stepped backwards, turned towards that man,  bowed  and knelt down  on one knee.

'Your majesty , we kept our promise and brought  the child of Venus back  to you..victory to our people !', Memphis said in a serious tone.

Majesty!? What the hell is going on here! ..Im sure its a prank..I swear Helena will pay dearly for this !,  Ella said to herself as she looked from the man hidden under the hooded cape and then at the man she knows as  Memphis.

'Ok guys.. this is a prank right! Where are the cameras?', Ella said with a laugh as she gathered her strength and got off the bed. 

She stood with her hands on her hips as she waited for someone to say you are on Prank Tv or something ,anything for her to go back to  her normal life and her vacation.Ella noticed the man in the hooded cape was staring at her from head to toe and she did not like it at all ,especially since she could not see who it was underneath that hood. Ella looked from Memphis to the other man as she waited for them to say something ,but  silence fell over the room .

' Well since no one is willing to say anything, I'm just going to walk out of here ,like nothing happened and I promise I will not press any charges..'. Ella said as she grabbed her shoes from the bed.

'Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Ella. Here, no one have the last say except me, no one gives orders except me. You even have to ask me permission to breathe! Do you understand me?' , the hooded man said and his words came out in a growl and his arrogance pushed Ella to the edge.

' How do you know my name?!   And something else...Who do you think you are?! What makes you think that you are more superior than anyone else?! Oh I forgot...your majesty', Ella  sarcastically said.

' I would not do that if I were you!' Memphis warned her and she looked at him crossing her arms on her chest  as if suddenly she had gathered this super power to face those two unknown men.

'Listen...if you were not valuable for something, your blood would have splattered on the wall adding to the stains already there. So do not  bring your Taurean attitude inside my Kingdom , my people does not need those negative energy, they have suffered enough from your kind !', the hooded man said in a calm tone much to Memphis's surprise.

His words confused Ella even more and she wondered what language was he speaking . Though she could clearly  understand him , he was  making no sense at all! She wondered what he meant by Taurean attitude and what Kingdom he was referring to. Ella was tired ,her whole body was sore  and she was  getting really fed up, but after what he had just said ,she could not snap at him again. She was thinking about changing  her approach, by trying the nice and sweet strategy.

'Please let me go home. I'm tired and I need to rest', Ella said in her best angelic tone.

' You are home!..There is nothing that I hate the most  ...a woman who whines!', the hooded man arrogantly said and then turned his head to look in  Memphis's direction.

' Take her to her room.  Get  someone to bring her some descent clothing', the hooded man ordered Memphis , then he turned his gaze towards Ella,  looked at her from her head to toe, then turned and  walked away.

' Whats wrong with my clothes ...I am already decently dress.. but what do you expect coming from someone who is  ashamed to show himself?', Ella blurted and then she wished she could have held those words from rolling off her tongue as the arrogant man stopped walking.

He did not turn to look in her direction, with his back turned towards her ,he laughed softly. Ella breathed a sigh of relief that he laughed instead of turning back to insult her.

'Here it's different from your world . The groom cannot reveal himself  to ..his  bride to be!', he said and his words echoed in her mind as her jaw dropped in shock.

' Bride?!', she  softly said   .

' And Memphis , you can now change back to your normal self  .The lost princess has been captured... now we prepare for the wedding..!' the hooded man said and then he walked down the passageway .

Ella was still standing there in shock as she wondered what he meant by his bride, she was still hoping that she was on some Television show and hoped that soon this prank will be over ,but  she clearly lost all hope when the old man standing in front of her changed into a young man who resembled a character she would read about in mythological stories. He had very bright yellow hair, it was so bright that it hurt her eyes and  she had to look away. Ella looked at his face and the first thing she noticed were his blue eyes , the same color as sapphire.  She was taken aback when he walked towards her  revealing a pair of long white wings.

'Wait! This is for real...You... are not human.. ! That means he ..he is not human as well...and he said I'm going to be his bride !Why are you doing this to me ...', Ella stuttered and she did not finish her sentence as anxiety took over her body and the next thing, she collapsed to the floor.

'I was kinda  enjoying being in that body!', Memphis said as he looked down at Ella lying on the floor.

'I think I like  her better when she's like that...she's quiet!', Memphis said as he picked Ella up to carry her to her new bedroom, in her new home ,in the Kingdom of Zodiac.