Demon in Ruins

Chapter 4

“When losing his hope and purpose a person slowly becomes a monster.”-Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Chapter 4

I had never thought I would ever get in a life-threatening situation. Let alone on my birthday. For an ordinary teenager who was about to step into the adult world (which sounded like a nightmare in itself), the trouble I was in right now was one of the most unexplainable ones; it defied the laws of physics, introduced me to freaky people, and was scaring me shitless. All of it seemed like a dream. A nightmare I couldn’t seem to wake up from.

Of course, I spent a lot of time watching the Discovery Channel or studying or reading novels and expected my parents, my friends to gift me with books on the occasion of my birthday. This time was different. This time I wanted a photo album to capture and store all the memories in it. You can only imagine my parents’ happiness when the realisation that their daughter had asked for something not related to books dawned upon them. They brought a photo album for me and asked me to click their photographs first.

I did.

The camera in my pocket had their photographs in it. My hands were aching to get the camera out and check their photo once. I didn’t care what photo it was gonna be. I just wanted to see them; smiling, laughing, making funny poses. On second thought, I was afraid if the camera had broken because of the fall.

Broken like my hopes of waking from this nightmare and meeting my parents again.

Jon and I stared at Lady Adeline Escoffier with our mouths wide open. Meanwhile, Victor was still scowling in anger. What was his deal? His fingers were clenched in tight fists. He looked like a predator but Lady Adeline wasn’t less than him.

The portrait was an injustice. She was more beautiful in reality. Her face was fierce which added to her unearthly beauty. She was wearing a white gown, not the princess type but the one her mother would wear. I couldn’t blame Jon for watching her like he was going to faint. He seemed like a love-struck boy.

She was full of fury. She quickly moved in front of Victor, making him take some steps back in order to maintain the distance. The speed at which she moved was inhuman. I had seen no one move that fast. Not in real life, I’d like to add.

“How dare you to touch her?” She asked furiously. “How many times are you to be told not to cross your limits? Have you forgotten what the punishment is?”

I saw her teeth as she spoke. They were too pointed for normal ones. Was I imagining things now? What next? Santa and tooth fairy are real?

“I thought you weren’t interested in checking on our guests,” He rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I entertained them for a while.”

“What were you doing?” Lady Adeline or her lookalike asked in hushed but angered voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Am I not supposed to be here?”

Lady Adeline glared at him. “I cannot tolerate this resentful behaviour of yours.”

“You call this resentful?” Victor glared back. “You consider him better than me. He is younger, and still, you think he is more deserving than I am.”

“Get out of here, Victor.” She commanded.

“Mother—” He started.

“I order you to get out. Now.”

Victor did as he was ordered. He stomped his foot and walked out of the large room, his footsteps no longer heard. Did he just fly or what?

“Pinch me.” Jon came close to me and whispered in my ear. “Are we transported back in time?”

Before I could say anything Lady Adeline spoke.

“I’m sorry you had to meet him. He isn’t the best person to cooperate with anyone,” She said softly. “I know you have a lot of questions in your mind and I promise they will be answered soon.”

I swallowed hard. This nightmare was getting creepier.

“Until then you both follow the guards and they will show you the rooms.” She gestured her hand.

Wait, What?

We saw two girls walking towards us. The taller one had red hair and brown eyes. Another girl was a blonde with blue eyes. The sadness on their faces radiated in the room. They were definitely hostages in this place. Like us.

“Chelsea and Mary, it is your responsibility to show them their rooms.” Lady Adeline said smiling warmly. “Please do not take care of our guests.”

“I’m sorry to intervene but I think you have mistaken us for someone else. And you look like a person,” Jon stopped to look at me, searching for the next word, “we know—kind of. But I’m sure we are not the people you want. We would like to be shown where the main door is, so we can just leave.”

Lady Adeline smiled. “You are exactly the people I was waiting for.” Okay, I wanted to wake up now. “You must be tired. Get some rest.”

“Come with us.” The redhead said in a cold voice.

We had no choice but to follow them.

They led us to a long hallway. The hallway had lamps and paintings hanging on the walls. There were statues of Angels, and soldiers with shield and sword everywhere. I was pretty sure that I was never interested enough in history to dream everything in this detailed version. What if this wasn’t a dream?

Shit.

“That one is hot,” Jon said pointing at blond girl.

“Seriously?” I narrowed my eyes at him. My mouth felt so dry, and a headache had started to form. “We need to get out of here, Jon.” Desperation was evident in my voice now.

“Relax. This is just a dream. I’m sure I’ll wake up in my bed with my cute shorts on, and I don’t wanna waste my time worrying about being a captive here when there are so many pretty girls around,” He said, looking calm as always. He still thought we were in a dream. “What? Why are you looking so freaked out?”

I gulped. “Jon, we’re not in a dream. This is real. I know there isn’t a logical explanation for the fall and being transported back in time but I’m sure it’s not a dream. What are we doing, group dreaming? Because I, sure as hell, know that I’m real and so are you, and so is this place.” I watched his smile disappear. “This is not a dream. We need to get out of here before they—I don’t know, what do these people want from us?”

“Karen,” He put his arm around my shoulder as we continued to follow the girls. “I think you are thinking too much in my dream. Well, that won’t be new because you are like this in real life. You need to calm down and wait.”

“You don’t understand, do you?” I asked irritated. Why was he acting so casual about this? I remembered him freaking out when we got here. Did Victor do something to his head?

“Come on!” Jon nudged me with his elbow. “I’ve accepted that I’m in a dream. And since it won’t have any consequences, I’m gonna ask the blonde out on a date.”

I sighed. He had to be unbelievable and extremely stupid at a time like this.

“Are you jealous?” Jon asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

“You wish!” I snapped. “Were you a jerk since birth, Jon?”

“The only thing I’ve been since birth is sexy.” He smirked. “Dear, I have a charm that’s hard to resist. You’re the only girl who bypasses it.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “If anything happens I don’t know you and you don’t know me.”

“You know, sometimes you can be so insensitive.”

He quickened his pace and tapped on the shoulder of the blonde. I expected her to turn around and slap him. When Jon tapped, the girl stopped and turned around. Her eyes were cold.

“What is your name?” Jon asked.

Slap him.

“Chelsea,” She answered without any emotion on her face.

“I’m Jon Carlton.” He proceeded. “Do you live somewhere around?”

Slap. Slap. Slap. Do it already so he can know this not a freaking dream.

“I live here.” She said. She turned around and started walking again.

Why didn’t she slap him?

“Why she got to be so rude?” Jon asked me.

“You deserve it.”

“Are you really my best friend?” He raised his eyebrow.

“This is your room,” Chelsea said robotically.

“Mine?” Jon and I asked simultaneously.

“This boy’s room is on the other side.” She said.

Jon winked.

“Take care.” He said to me then lowered his voice. “I told you she likes me.”

When had he told me that? How could he leave me here?

When I entered the room, against my wishes, the smell of lavender filled my head. It was so pleasant that it acted as sleeping drugs to me. I was tired. I felt sleepy by looking at the king-size bed and the soft sheets. The moonlight came in through the window. The curtains flapped in the wind. The room had a calming atmosphere. Flopping on the comfy bed, I closed my eyes. I wanted to wake up at my home with my parents around. I wanted to wake up. If this was a dream. This was the only hope I could hold on to. I hoped Jon was right. Maybe the part of my subconscious brain had created Jon to give me hints about the dream.

Sleep came to me faster than I had thought.

I woke up abruptly as a knock on the door came. I sat up straight on the bed. Afraid of finding out the truth, I started opening my eyes slowly. I opened my right eye first and then proceeded to open the other one when feared gripped at my heart. I felt unable to breathe suddenly.

I was still in the same room.

It wasn’t a dream.

I tried ignoring the headache and got up on my trembling legs. I opened the door wide.

“It’s time.” Mary was standing at the doorway like a dead person. “Follow me.”

Now that it was established this wasn’t a dream, I was feeling everything and nothing. Was there any way I could say no to her and run away? What was going on? We were captives here and I had to follow her. My gut feeling said the real trouble was about to begin.

Where was Jon when I needed him?

“Where are we going?” I bit the inside of my cheek.

She did not reply.

“Where are we going, Mary?” I asked again, raising my voice a notch. My hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

She flinched at her name and stared at me for a moment before speaking.

“He is coming back.”

He? Who? Did she mean Jon? Why were she and everyone talking here in a mysterious way? Can’t they speak in an understanding manner? I didn’t ask her anything after this because that would only give me more headache than I already had.

We walked down the stairs and we reached a place that seemed like a basement. The lamps were lit there like in the other rooms.

In the basement, Lady Adeline stood near a box. Her eyes were closed and she was murmuring something under her breath. Her lips moved fast. I realised the box was actually a casket.

Next, to her, Victor was standing so still anybody could assume him for a statue. His eyes were on the coffin, and there was disgust written over his face. It did not take me much time to realise he wasn’t happy with whatever was going on here. It was like he never wanted this to happen.

What the hell was going on here?

Lady Adeline opened her eyes. Her emerald eyes shined brightly in the lamplight.

“Chelsea dear, bring her close to me.” She said.

I saw a sad Chelsea move out of the darkness towards me. She gripped my hand tightly and I let out a small cry of protest. She didn’t seem to care, and her iron grip had the power to break my bones. She dragged me close to Lady Adeline.

My eyes went wide as Lady Adeline took out a dagger. Its blade gleamed.

“What are you going to do?” I asked out loud. These people were batshit crazy. “Are you guys going to sacrifice me?”

Unsurprisingly, she didn’t answer my questions. The sadistic look on Victor’s face reflected on her face too. She wasn’t the same person I had seen earlier. Somehow there was cruelty in her features now.

She took my hand and examined it.

“You have what we need.” She whispered. “Do not move.”

As she commanded, my legs went limp, all the movements in my body stopped. I could feel my legs but they weren’t in my control. My body wasn’t listening to me. My brain was the only part which appeared to be mine. I couldn’t run away.

This was it. My end.

I opened my eyes wide as she made a deep cut on the palm of my hand. I winced in pain. Thick blood poured out of the cut.

Victor opened the coffin and Lady Adeline took my bleeding hand just above it.

I couldn’t see anything in the coffin because of the darkness in it. There was somebody in it but for me, it was one silhouette of someone.

The blood drops made their way to the coffin and Victor let this happen until we all heard a groan. It was faint but that was enough to increase my horror.

Lady Adeline let go of my bleeding hand. Her features were now calm and somehow she looked pleased. Victor was still carrying the sullen expression.

I could move once more although the pain did not go away. I inspected my hand, the cut was still there and it was bleeding. Next thing I knew was I was pushed against the hard brick wall by someone. Strong hands held me still.

“I need more of it.” A deep voice demanded.

If I would be in a normal condition I would have thought the voice as really charming and alluring. At this moment I could think of one thing and that was—I was going to die soon.

His face came into light as he moved closer to me. The eyes were same green as the Lady Adeline’s were. They were exactly the same. His black hair was sticking to the nape of his neck. It was a handsome face with almost perfect features. Pale and beautiful.

“Who—who are you?” I uttered.

A lopsided smile came on his face. There was blood on his full lips. I gasped as the fangs protruded from his mouth.

“What century is this?” He asked huskily.