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 was still heavily raining when they fell asleep. Curiously enough, Dominik, as uncomfortable and cold as he was, was the first one to fall asleep. Belle, when she couldn't hear him anymore, peeked from the side of the bed and heard him lightly snoring.She smiled and decided to throw over him one of the many covers he had made sure she was using since the house might get too cold due to the huge ice rocks falling from the sky.If it was going to be that cold, anyway, how was he supposed to sleep only with that thin blanket he chose? She got up and took the cover on top of her pile and threw it over him, trying not to wake him up.They didn't have a conversation after the kiss. Belle was even thinking it might have happened in the spur of the moment. They haven't seen each other for a while. He thought she might be in grave danger, and seeing her fine, he just kissed her. And she kissed him. Again."Why do I keep doing that?" She wondered, f
Belle remembered the many times that the topic was lightly introduced to her. From Raquel to The Queen, everyone mentioned and talked about the mirrors.But then nobody gave her a real explanation until she decided to run towards it, and Dom had to go in and help her out.She wondered if Dom would need to kiss Melo too to help him out and giggled as quietly as she could so nobody noticed, and she wouldn't need to explain.Dom was giving the usual explanation that he gave to her about being pure energy that connected with the energy of the person."A vortex of dimensional energy that creates a temporary place each time a person or a group of people enters them," Domi explained to the surprised and sleepless people around him."And how would something like that help me?" Melo said, puzzled."Well, they have the peculiarity of being different for every person, every time. They will show you what you fear the most, and the only way out is facing
Solen's body was small and light. Belle could easily hold her in place and try to wake her up."This can't be happening. Solen, please don't do this to me, please... your husband will kill me and cook me for dinner if you so much as break a nail, Solen. Please, wake up!"The scared girl shook the fae lightly, and she didn't wake up. Belle tried a little harder until the other's eyes flickered, and she came back to consciousness.She looked weak, not just tired, but maybe even... sick? Belle would know. She had been in and out of consciousness due to her crisis for all her life. But what was happening to the lady that was just happily eating a few moments ago?"Oh, hello! You have no idea how happy I am to see you, dear Solen. Do you want to get to the couch?""Annabelle, Hi. I do want that. Can you please help me?""Of course. Let's go. Slowly, ok? There is no hurry."Solen surrounded Belle's shoulders with her right arm and let her f
"I'm very sorry, Dr. De Narra. I heard you say my name, and then a question, did I misunderstood?"The older, tall, and well-built man felt his heart racing. The surreal, uncomfortable moment that he was living was close to that dream in which you are naked in front of a large group of people.Id he told her that she misunderstood, he would mess it up and couldn't ask her out, not that day, and not any other. If he said that she was right, then he would have to open up. After all, that was what he wanted. Right?"Come on, Heron!" He thought, trying to encourage himself. "You can do it. You can tell her. You've been trying to tell her for days already!""Miss. I'm sorry that you heard that-" he began, but he noticed that his choice of words was starting to erase the smile the lady of his interest had on her face."Oh, no, Doctor, please. You don't have to worry. If you didn't mean, or I misunderstood-" She was uncomfortable, embarrassed. How could s
A few hours passed since Captain Nankor sent Dominik to get some sleep, and he was surprised that he wasn't already trying to disobey him and check a third time the whole crew of the ship.He was happy that he could make sure all his crew was healthy, but the guy was going to the extent of the irrational.That's why Captain Nankor decided to go and do a round on the cabins and see that he was indeed sleeping, not helping in the kitchen or rearranging a tenth time the small space that was the consultation room.He was surprised that he didn't see Dom in any of those places. Was it possible that he finally was sleeping?Captain Nankor approached the cabin and slowly pushed the partially opened door when Lazar came from behind."Hello Captain, can I be of help? Are you looking for something?"The loud voice and words of the young man startled the Captain."You almost gave me a heart attack! And he didn't even move. He sleeps like a
"Solen, may I ask you something?" Belle was lost in her own thoughts as she watched Melo's wife."Sure, what do you wanna know?" Solen was surprised by the sudden question."What do you know about the island? I mean, have you been further than the fog curtain?""I have only once. It was not long after we came to the island, so we went for a quick exploring, even though Melo had checked it already.There is not much more than trees and some wild, gigantic beasts. There is also the black rain, and we weren't sure if there was somewhere besides here that it didn't fall.I think it marks the places where the spirits are, so at the time, we tried to avoid them.The black rain has a peculiar, not enjoyable smell, and it feels warm when you get close to it. That could also explain why the animals over there have thick skin, and some have weird-shaped shells.They didn't see us as a threat because we're not exact
Dominik and Melo had gone through a few hard tests, and by the moment, Dom was thinking about how good an idea had been for him to get in with Melo. Even if Melo was a great warrior, the monsters that he had inside were very, very dark."Do you mind if I ask you what did you see there that made you run to the middle of the "pond"?" Domi said while they walked."I saw my wife," Melo answered wi
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.”