Belle had been up and hiding for the last twenty-four hours. Saying she was tired was an understatement.
Saying her parents were worried about her not sleeping was that as well. Her condition was worsened by the effort she was putting her heart into.
Her illness still produced the old and well-known puncture pains in her chest. She almost forgot the pains and the feelings of being sick when she was at the City of Dreams.
But now that she was awake for a longer period, this was taking a toll on her. Abbie was also making sure that there was someone awake with her at all times.
She was starting to go paranoid too. Not only because the Man from Hell was tormenting her every time he had a chance, but also because she was not used to be sleep deprived.
It was true that she normally slept short periods, but not sleeping much wasn't the same as not sleeping at all. Abbie had many ghosts on her own that were never a problem.
But now that she was fol
Abbie woke up in a panic. What she dreamed was even scarier than what was happening in her real life, or even in the Dreamworld.She woke up and noticed that her dream once again had been blank, like the ones she used to have before Onerea, and for a few minutes, she lost it. Her breathing got heavier, her heart ached, and her head pulsed."What have I done!?" she said to herself."I've lost the way! Now I'll never be able to come back!""Wait... And what if all of it was a long dream, as if I was dreaming and waking up, but was only one dream? Is it possible that nothing of it really happened?"She got up in a rush. So fast, she almost fell from her bed.She had to check her notebook, but where was it? Why wasn't it on the usual spot she had reserved for it when she came to the Exeter house?Maybe someone took it? Perhaps she changed its place? Maybe... Maybe...She never started writing it.Her chest
Abbie was in bed. Lately, it was her biggest entertainment. She hadn't been reading or trying to go out. Even the Man from Hell had disappeared now.Where was all the remnant of Onerea in her life? Where were Domi, Myron, and Raquel? She was missing them and seeing what happened as a silly thing now, how could she give so much importance to it that she even lost her way?She had been crying herself to sleep, on and off sleeping for a few days already. Almost not eating.The house had been in calm too.There were no ghosts walking or knocking around. No shadows. It seemed like everything supernatural was turned off.Her local physician, Dr. Stone, visited a couple of times already in that week, and her parents were concerned, even if she kept repeating that she was ok."I want to go back," she said to herself, and once again, the tears fell. Heavily rolling in her cheeks.She had tried the different teas and infusions that
The island of Ylagos was once a beautiful place, green and full of animals and elemental spirits. It was a paradise open to visitors until one day, a guy armed to go into the mirrors came all the way to Ylagos, shot, and killed one of the elementals.The spirits were so enraged that any living human, visitor or not, that was on the island was immediately killed.The island became forbidden for everybody, and the only ones that were allowed to go were experts from the Palace in missions to recover lost visitors or tried to do research on the place. Many didn't come back from the trip.The knowledge they had on the place, after so long, was minimal. They only knew that the place was covered in darkness, it rained black water, and the spirits that lived in there were angry and vengeful. They never left.Domi was getting ready for a war.He arrived at the Palace and went directly to the tea room, looking for his protectors, the Queen and the King
Annabelle waited for them to answer before taking anything from the table. She didn't think the guy was a fae, but the cute lady might be. Belle had to make sure anyway.Many people were not affected by Fae food, like the ones that were already part of that world. They could try inhumanly tasty foods and desserts, as they say, Fae food is, without a problem."Oh, you don't have to worry. I know you can't eat that kind of food without risking your return home. We don't eat it ourselves either, since this is not our dimension."Solen reassured the girl with those few words, and Annabelle, at ease, tried the food, that definitely tasted as good as it looked."As I was telling you, dreams are a dimension on their own. It's true that you can't bring your body as others do, but what happens here and the way to get here is real and can be very dangerous, as it can affect you all the same.That's the reason why it matters that you know exactly where you're
Dominik was asleep. The ship had progressed on its route towards Exeter. Now they were approaching the next stop, Sicily in Italy.After a few days of overactivity and checking twice the whole ship's crew, the Captain had sent Dom to sleep.He wondered what could be related to Dom's mood changes. After he boarded the ship all enthusiastic, energetic, and determined, Captain Nankov had noticed a sudden change, as if he had received bad news.Dom almost didn't sleep or slept too much. Of course, when people asked about it, he didn't mention what was bothering him so much."Ah, my friend. I know what is happening to you," The Captain had told Dominik."Oh, I don't know what you mean, Captain," a haggard, drained, and still standing Dominik had answered.Captain Nankor looked at him, half puzzled, half surprised."Friend of mine, you're missing a lady, but you need not worry. If she knows a man like you loves her that much, sh
Dominik was happy to have his memories of Ylagos still fresh. He wasn't planning to do exactly the same as when Myron and Emory rescued him, especially because he had no idea of where did Belle fall on the island.He would need the time to look for her following the scanner. His idea was to really ask permission from the Elementals to look for her.He would look for the clearing without black rain. That was his chance to survive it, give the offering, that was pretty much a bribe, and if they accepted, peacefully look for the girl.If the elementals didn't agree, then he hoped she fell close enough for him to try and find her as they eat, and hoping they don't notice what he's doing.The first drops of the storm started to fall.Dom moved through the pass between Navaris and Ylagos, not allowing himself time to have second thoughts.Black rain started to hit the thick glass-like material of the
Abbie's parents were worried. First, their daughter wasn't sleeping at all. The uncanny activity in the house, including shadows and noises, was almost not heard or seen while she tried to stay awake.Then, one day, their daughter didn't want to get up, trying to fall asleep the whole time, even having her meals in bed, and getting up only for her baths because they helped her relax to sleep.The activity came back to the house, and it was more evident and frequent than before. Now there wasn't much of a way for her parents to deny what was happening to their employees.Some of them were too used to see what seemed to be directly related to their daughter's illness. But some helpers, the ones that they hired last to attend the Exeter house while they were there, packed and left without accepting any payment or even saying goodbye.Even the parents were scared now. Was the activity produced by their daughter? Was it something feeding off of her while
The door of the cottage opened at his knocking. He was honestly surprised after knowing pretty much his whole life that nobody lived on that island, except for the elementals and their pets.The drops of the storm were hitting his head hard. Large and cold drops of water that announced the coming of something bigger. Something you could hear approaching.Storms in Onerea were not the same as in his dimension, and he knew. That was not the first one he spent there, and yet they were still surprising.The monster in front of him opened the way, and Dom was allowed a peek inside of his house. He was unsure about going in or not.He doubted what he was looking for was within those walls, but the guy's words still hit him."We were expecting you," he said. Dom's mind went to all the unexpected feelings that phrase gave him, still not looking inside until he heard something."Hello, Dominik."He immediately recognized the
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.”