Seventeen

KELILAH'S POV 

I groaned, my head pounding as I slowly opened my eyes. I was lying on a familiar couch, the soft glow of early morning sunlight filtering through the curtains. Blinking to clear the fog from my vision, I realized I was back in Tyra’s house. Confusion filled me, but before I could gather my thoughts, I saw Tyra standing nearby, my face tight with worry.

“How are you feeling?” Tyra asked softly, stepping closer.

I forced myself to sit up, my body still heavy and sore.

 “What... what happened?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Tyra took a deep breath, her gaze steady but laced with concern. 

“I’m sorry, Kelilah. I had to knock you out. It was the only way I could get you out of there safely.”

My eyes widened.

 “Why? What were you even doing there?”

Tyra sat beside me, her expression growing serious.

 “On my way back home, I saw a group of men. They had your picture in hand, Kelilah. I overheard them talking about abducting you, and I tried calling, but your line wasn’t going through.”

My heart raced.

 “They were trying to kidnap me?”

Tyra nodded. 

“I followed them, hoping I’d get some clues, and I saw them heading to the club. By the time I got inside, I spotted you sitting by yourself in a dark corner. Just as I was about to reach you, the lights went out. I was afraid they'd find you before I could get you out safely, so I made you fall asleep and carried you out before anything could happen.”

I swallowed, absorbing everything Tyra had done. But one detail gnawed at me. 

“What happened to those men? Where they on black suit” I managed to ask 

Tyra’s eyes darkened.

 “Yes, they had a black suit on. And if course, they didn’t leave empty-handed. I saw them dragging someone else into their car, thinking it was you. It means they took the wrong person.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine. Whoever the men were, they were after me—and they wouldn’t stop until they found me. They were certainly going to figure out that the person they had taken with them wasn't me. So they were definitely still going to come for me.

For the meantime, I was going to prepare myself for Tyra's tough questions.

**LOVETH'S POV**

I groaned softly, my body stiff and aching, as I tried to adjust to the cold, damp surface beneath me. 

My elbows scraped against something rough, and I winced as my eyes flickered open. The familiar warmth of my bedroom was gone. In its place was the stifling, putrid air of a dungeon. 

Where was I? How did I end up here?.

I struggled to recall the events that led me to this place. A sharp memory surfaced- Seeing Kelilah at the clubhouse and trying to make my way to her, then deciding against it and trying to turn around and continue my journey out of Astral for good. The lights in the club flickering, the sharp prick at the back of my neck. Then, darkness. A man had caught me before I could fall completely unconscious.

Wait. Have I been abducted? Have the kingdom of Bazil finally claimed me as theirs. I already on my ride away from Astral, when I saw Kelilah walk inside the clubhouse. I thought of saying my last goodbye to her, but then decided against it and was on my way back to the car, when I got pricked by an unknown stranger.

The thought made my pulse quicken. But who were they? And why me?

I cursed under my breath. Faith had warned me about going to that club, and I hadn't listened. Now, I was paying the price.

The darkness around me seemed almost suffocating, and the foul stench of filth clung to the air. My stomach churned as I gagged at the pungent odor of excrement and urine. My neck throbbed painfully from the needle's prick, and a wave of nausea washed over me.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I saw it. A faint glow-just a sliver of light leaking through a tiny crack in a heavy, wooden door.

I crawled towards it, but a sharp tug on my ankles stopped me. I was chained to the cold, damp ground by rusted shackles. 

Panic surged in my chest. I pulled against the chains, but they held me firm. Suddenly, the acrid scent of burning flesh filled the room, making my body freeze with terror. 

I sprang to my feet, my heart pounding violently in my chest. I approached the door, desperately searching for a way out, but it had no handle-no way to escape. I could feel the cold, oppressive weight of the chains around my ankles, a constant reminder of my helplessness.

Cautiously, I pressed my face against the small crack in the door, peering through it. A flickering light bulb dangled from the ceiling, its intermittent glow casting long, haunting shadows on the floor.

Every time it flickered, I saw more and more signs of horror around me. There were four other doors that connected to my cell.

"Hello!" I called out into the darkness, my voice trembling.

There was no response.

"Is anyone there?" I tried again, but the silence was suffocating.

The air was thick, heavy, making it hard to breathe. I felt as if I were suffocating, trapped in this hellish place.

Tears welled in my eyes, and I could no longer hold back my desperation.

"Please... can anyone hear me?" | whispered, my voice breaking.

I stood on tiptoe, trying to get a glimpse of whatever lay beyond the door. The pain in my feet was unbearable, but the fear of what was out there pushed me to ignore it. 

I stretched higher, my hands trembling as I reached for the crack,

only for them to brush against something sharp.

"Fuck!" I cried out, pain shooting through my hand.

"Are you alright, my dear?" A voice suddenly echoed from the other side of one of the doors, soft and weak.

My heart skipped a beat. 

"Who's there?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper as I limped toward the door, trying to peer through the crack once more. But l saw nothing.

"Are you still there?" I asked again, my voice more desperate now, hoping I wasn't imagining it.

I strained to see, rising on my tiptoes once more, pressing my face against the door. And then, I saw it-a single eye staring back at me from the opposite cell.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, my voice tinged with both relief and fear.

"Alright?" The voice responded, dripping with sorrow.

 "Nothing is alright here. The others can tell you that."

It was a woman, though I could barely make out her features through the slats of her door.

"Other people? Who else is here?" My pulse quickened.

"There used to be.." Her voice trailed off. "But not anymore."

My heart sank, dread pooling in my stomach.

"What do you mean? Where are they? What happened to them?" I asked, my voice shaking with fear.

The woman's sobs grew louder, and she crumpled to the floor, her face disappearing from my view. 

My stomach churned, and a cold shiver ran down my spine. I had a sinking feeling that I was caught in something much darker than I could have ever imagined.

Suddenly, I heard the distinct sound of footsteps approaching. The woman's cries escalated into frantic screams, her breaths shallow and erratic.

"What's happening?" I asked, my

voice tight with fear.

But she didn't answer. Her sobs grew more frantic, and her breathing became labored.

"Take care, my dear" she whispered through the bars, her voice barely audible.

What did that mean? What was she trying to tell me?

The footsteps grew louder, and the woman's cries turned into something worse-something animalistic. 

I couldn't make sense of it. Was she losing her mind?.

"Please, speak to me! What's going on?" I begged, but she only screamed in response, her voice cracking with terror.

Then, the sound of a door creaking open sent a fresh wave of panic through me. I ducked instinctively, pressing my body against the cold stone floor, desperate to remain hidden.

The woman's screams intensified.

"No! No! No!" she shouted, her voice raw with fear. "Please, no! Bloody murderers!".

I could feel my own heart pounding in my chest, as though it would burst. My breath came in short, shallow gasps.

 I dared to peek through the crack in the door, my pulse racing as I braced myself for what I might see. And what I saw froze me.

The woman.. her face was unrecognizable. Half of it had been burned beyond recognition, and one of her eyes had been ripped from its socket. Her hair was in tatters, and patches of it were missing, exposing the raw, pale skin beneath. She looked like something... like something infected, twisted, and broken.

Her jawbone was exposed, and I could see the veins bulging in her neck. Her face twisted and contorted as she screamed, her mouth stretching impossibly wide.

The sight of her was too much. I collapsed, my knees buckling beneath me. My breath hitched in my throat, and I had to close my eyes to block out the horror. 

Her screams continued, but they grew faint as she was dragged away, her cries slowly fading into the distance. Then, silence.

The door slammed shut with a deafening crash, and the flickering light bulb above me shattered, casting the room into complete darkness.

I was alone again.

The footsteps retreated, and the door was sealed with a finality that made my blood run cold. The only sound now was the pounding of my own heart, a steady drumbeat in the oppressive silence.