The train kept moving through the night. Most of the travelers were in a deep sleep. Domi has been used to keep himself in solid sleep in the most peculiar of circumstances, meaning that you can't purposedly wake him up.
No, not a heavy dreamer, in that sense, just trained to wake up only when he kicked himself out of the dream.
His body was in the most uncomfortable position since he fell asleep due to the motion of the train. It still seemed to be the perfect timing since he found Belle at the right time at the store.
After rushing her out before she mentioned the measures he had to take to get them out of the first mirror, they got to the city and walked all the way to the outskirts, where the portals were.
The first thing he had to teach her, so she could understand how to get out was to control the strong energy of the portals. It, same as the experiences within the mirrors, was different from person to person and from occasion to occasio
There was this group of people, way before, when we got a lot of visitors. Some people found friends or even family here because it seemed like people believed more in places like these, but at some point, they stopped.Anyway, one day this girl arrived. She came to the store, as you did. I was a teenager, so I noticed how pretty she was and how sad I felt her.She moved around the store, trying clothing and laughing, but she didn't feel happy to me.She came with just one friend of hers, one she called "sister," but was surrogate, just like my siblings are.I overheard them talking about going to the mirrors. I mentioned to Raq, who was in charge of equipping visitors, just as she did with you, but when she saw that girl, she was worried."I don't think you should go into the mirror, Pretty Cat," she told her,"Why not?" she answered with a puzzled smile."Because you're too sad. You might be in danger if you go in like t
"So, what happened when she woke up?" Belle's cotton candy Ice cream cone was gone, and she was now trying a new flavor that she was enjoying a lot more, Taro.It was purple and tasted like nothing she had tried before, which got a lot more looks from her companion than she noticed, but so many that she asked him why he was looking at her like that."You're making funny faces to your ice cream," He said, chuckling."I thought I had filled my face with purple," she giggled too.Belle knew she was making faces. That was her thing when she liked her food, or in general, when she felt happy or excited about something, and that something right there and then was the new flavors she was tasting.Onerea was paradise. If she died, she thought, it was probably the closest place to heaven she could think of."But stop laughing at me, and continue the story. The girl was just awaking, and his house just appeared, so he was supposed to try and make her fall in love with him, as a way to make her f
"So, he was in love with her as soon as he saw her?" Belle asked him curiously.She had eaten two ice creams already and was full, happy, and energetic like a kid after getting that much sugar in their system.Domi ate just one himself, and after they were done, he thought it was a better idea to go and walk a little around the city.A stroll after eating was always good. He, as a doctor, knew it, especially since, as I mentioned, they had plenty of sugar and energy to consume."First, why don't we go for a walk while I continue the story?""I think it's a great idea. I never thought you could be a good storyteller, you know?""How so?""Because you were so grumpy. All the storytellers I've ever seen are happy people, comfortable with others, and friendly. Those were boxes I didn't think I could check with you at first," She said with a laugh," And yet, here we are."She stood silent for a second, and every time she react
"And yes, you asked me if he was in love with her as soon as he saw her. I asked him the same, and he, completely sure, said, "Yes. It's a wolf thing.If you knew that there is a person, only one, in the whole world destined for you, so only you can make her happy, and only she can make you happy, and you believe you'll never find her, but then one day she shows up in front of you, what would you do?It's your gift, dude! And you'd be hers! That's what means when we say Mine!" He said, and I didn't know how to feel, especially because until then, I had never seen anything like that.""It's very romantic, but... a little... surreal. I don't think I could be anyone's gift anyway."Annabelle said as her mind got lost in the people that came and went in front of them. How did this dream feel so real? She thought for a second.She stopped for a moment, thinking about how the girl could have felt if she fell in love with someone that lived in a dream.
Domi and Belle were still sitting at the park bench, people watching and relaxing in the fresh, sunny day that was typical of Onerea's weather. They stood silent for a few minutes after Domi finished his story.Although Belle really liked it, she kept wondering how it was for a girl in a different dimension to have a relationship with someone in a dream. Could they really feel each other? Could they have a family?"Hey, Dom?""Yes, tell me.""How are your friends doing after the wedding?""Oh, I don't think their life changed much. You see, werewolves are pretty different.They have the mate bond that we talked about, and I didn't know, but they also have the marks, which are pretty much like a marriage, just that they exchange part of themselves with it as well.He wanted to get married because he had that mindset, but they were pretty much married since they marked each other.""What do you mean marked?""They have som
Dominik was knocking at her door early in the morning. It was too early to be so awake."Come on, Annabelle, we gotta go.""I'm coming!""Why does he want to go so early now?" She thought. "Yesterday, he wanted to take his time, and now he wants to get there before the sun rises?""I'll wait for you downstairs," he said.Annabelle got ready as quickly as she could and got where the guy was waiting for her. Her hair was slightly messy, and her clothes, not her usual tightly arranged, but she was there. He looked at her, smiling."Don't you dare laugh at me, ok?" She said, still tidying herself up."I won't. I won't," Dominik said, holding his laugh, not for her looks but for her funnily morning grumpiness.They left the place and walked in the fresh morning towards the portals. It didn't take that long for them to get back to the gates.The energy there was still dense, but Belle didn't feel as compelled to run towa
Finally, the train had arrived at the station at Burgas. The handsome doctor swiftly moved among the people that filled the station, grabbing his luggage and then quickly getting a carriage to get to the ship.He hoped to get the ones that were leaving early during the day, which were mostly merchant ships. Even if they made a few stops, they were his best bet to get on time to his destination. Also, he compromised with Mr. Archer to keep writing to him while he traveled.He expected to be out in the sea for a few weeks, depending on several things, like wind, weather conditions, and tides, it would be about a month to get there.Every second closer to this one destination was one second closer to help his pretty girl, the one he couldn't even tell yet about his plans, and he was growing so excited about it that he didn't see any problems in accommodation on the ship, or whatever option, for uncomfortable that it was.The Black Sea was the first par
Annabelle's worst nightmare was standing right in front of her, and still, she could not see his eyes. The snake in his staff moved back and forth towards her, flicked her metallic tongue to her, and Belle couldn't move.The Man From Hell, of the legends of Onerea, had crossed to her dimension, and she wasn't sure if it was real or a hallucination. The scream still didn't find a way out of her mouth or any word for that matter.The door suddenly open behind her, she quickly turned to see who was there, and Anna, one of the helpers, was standing there, frozen."I'm very sorry Miss. I didn't mean to scare you."Abbie turned again to see in front of her, was the monster still there, and Anna couldn't see it? But no, he was gone."I- It's ok, Anna, thanks for coming," was the only thing Abbie could say.The house helper came inside the room and waited for Annabelle to sit in her bed, then put in front of her the small bed table with
It all came down to this moment. Annabelle had been unconscious for almost an hour when Dominik and her family arrived at the clinic, and he quickly met with the parents to get their consent for the intervention, that now was a matter of saving her life or not.“Your daughter seems to have been born with a small hole in her heart. If you try with the stethoscope, you can hear the peculiar sound it makes, very characteristic to the illness. As she grew older, the small hole got bigger, and at the point that we are, if it grows any more, it will be fatal. Besides that, her body is weakening by the minute, so the surgery is a very urgent matter now. We need to operate swiftly and carefully.”He explained the parents, and they, as the last chance, agreed, knowing that if they didn’t accept, their daughter would die any minute, if not that da
“Oh it’s true… For some reason, I thought I told you before. My name is Annabelle Archer, pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dominik Stoev,” she said, giggling and still trying to swing to the edge. “I believe, though, that we should still try to get to the edge. Do you mind if we leave the presentations for later and get out of the mirror?” Dom couldn’t believe it… And wasn’t sure if the present news was good or not. He was on the ship and less than a day away to possibly save the girl’s life. Fear was, at least for the moment, transforming into great, big hopes, and Dom was shining bright, excited and with renewed strength. “Know what? Yes, let’s try your plan, suddenly I have a feeling that it will work.” His smile
“Captain Nankov, I found him!” Lazar yelled from one side of the ship’s deck, near the stern.In front of him was Dominik, sleeping like a log, in a half-sitting position.“I don’t know how he does it. The last few days, he sleeps wherever he falls, and not even an hour later he’s walking around again… Come on guys, I think this is the good one, let’s take him back to the cabin!”“Do you think this time he’ll sleep for longer?” Lazar asked, looking at the man deeply breathing, and now frowning.“I believe so. And I hope, because we’re soon to arrive at our destination, and what he said he had to do, will need him to be awake and ready. He’s saving a girl’s life yo
The Man From Hell finally appeared near Belle. He was standing right next to her body, intently looking at her, while Dom looked at him as if saying “I’ll kill you if you do anything to her,” and, as if he knew, the Man looked up and smiled widely, showing all of his needle-like teeth. “Calm down a little, my dear, it is still good that we can see him. I tell you again, he is not what people think he is…” Onia reassured Dom, who took a seat and watched, compass still in hand. “I’ll just feel better when she’s out of that place.” “I believe that she will be very soon. Although, remember, he might be protecting her from something else, so when she’s out there, make sure that her condition hasn’t worsened.” Onia’s words hit Dom hard. He really wanted to go look for her
Belle knew that the intentions of the Wishmaster couldn’ have been for her to die trying. If anything it was part of her test.Finally it was looking like a trial, and she kind of regretted not taking her weapons with her, but maybe she was not supposed to kill the creature that was now moving fast towards her.Then, she felt something grabbing her and pulling her strongly, just in time to get her out of the water.Her body slammed against the floor as the force used to take her out of the pool was that much, and right after she fell, she saw the white-rainbowy scales of the large, round monster that closed its mouth with a loud snap up in the air and fell back to the water.“I have to say, I am impressed,” the Wishmaster said, and the smile on his face
“Possibilities and fears don’t make life. Life is made of choices,” suddenly Annabelle said.“True… Partially.”As the very, very big, white fish swam slightly closer, a white mist could be seen swimming, or maybe, more like floating, around the young woman, that could easily go unnoticed. It had not been noticed by Annabelle herself, since it was not exactly physical, but…Could a shadow be white?“But you can’t tell me, that I have known you for so long that you don’t want to take what has been offered to you. Make your family happy, and be happy yourself,” the voice said once more, and then, Belle noticed something very interesting…That thing that
Belle closed her eyes. It was not the first time that she heard the voice in her head telling her all the things that could go wrong.But now, she didn’t care much about what could happen, mistakes were made and trouble happened as part of life. Her new life in Onerea had taught her that, and, maybe her physical heart was getting weaker, but her will and character were getting stronger.An image started showing up in front of her eyes.“Do you remember, dear, when we were kids, and you met the son of our governess? I remember you liking the boy, and that boy liked you too. It took a lot from you to forget about that, even if you were just a kid.”Annabelle sat in one of the chairs of the library, where she was taught every day by her governess, a
Belle was sleeping. Her breathing was deep and calm. Her chest raised often enough, and not even the disturbances around her, people talking or even accidentally moving her, thinking that she was awake, had changed that.It was many, many hours already too, that she had been asleep. More than twelve. Almost a day, actually, of continuous sleeping, and she didn’t seem to be close to waking up. A few days before, her father received a telegram from Dr. Stoev, letting him know that, if everything went well, he’d be arriving in a week and a half to two weeks, from the day he sent the note, that was about three, four days before.Being too optimistic, in a week the doctor, specialized in his daughter’s disease, would arrive…But was it possible that she resisted for that long?
Belle felt herself falling, and falling, for quite a while. Around her, growling could be heard, but nothing could be seen. The pitch black space that surrounded her made her unsure about the speed in which she precipitated, and where she was precipitating into.“Remember what I said,” he told her, and she remembered indeed.“Eyes wide open, be ready for whatever it is,”she said to herself. “Weapons,” she remembered, checking the different places where she got the holsters, back then at the store.Happy to see that everything was in place, she wondered if that was a mirror.“He said it would be a trial… and to remember what I believe in… cryptic crazy guy… I like him haha.”