Sophia was awoken from her deep sleep by Michael around seven that night. She opened her eyes groggily to see that it was quite dark in her room now, whereas it had still been daylight when she went to sleep. It meant that she had slept for hours. There was no sign of Toby, who had slept with her, in the room. Her things, of which she did not have much, were already packed and were at the foot of the bed. Yawning widely, she sat up on the bed and saw the amusement in Michael’s eyes as he looked at her and spoke. “Come on, it’s high time we get going. You enjoy sleeping too much.” “Where’s Toby?” “He’s downstairs with Duncan. They’re already set, and so am I. It’s you whom we’re waiting for.” He told her before picking up her already packed bag and taking it out of the room with him. Sophia had already placed the cloth that she was going to wear on a chair by the bed, so she just had to get into it, and then she was ready to go too. She met the men waiting for her downstairs, but the
Perhaps, there was an element of truth to what her mother and Duncan believed about her. After all, Jonas had had a good eighteen years to kill her, but he hadn’t done so. Was it that there was something about her that prevented him from killing her? Her so-called powers, maybe? In the next instant though, she was dismissing the thought. Jonas had meant to kill her that last night before Duncan and Michael came to rescue her. She knew it very well. Perhaps it was only the fear of his father and grandfather that had kept him in check while she was growing up. Michael must have felt bad about yelling at her and probably thought that her continued silence was because she was mad at him, which was partially true anyway because he spoke into the thick silence that was interrupted only by the purring of his vehicle. “Look, Sophia. I’m sorry that I yelled at you, okay? It’s just a touchy topic for me, and I don’t like to remember that day at all, but that was no reason to yell at you.” “It’
Every day was the same, or if one was being totally truthful, each day was much worse than the previous one. There was no end to any of it, that is the whippings, stench, and hopelessness, but worst of all was the heartbreaking cries of despair that came from the mouths of the young children. Girls who were as young as thirteen, or even younger, by the looks of some of them, were packed in the same stuffy, dingy cell as older, worn, and tired women. In the cramped, filthy cell, giant rats roamed about freely, clearly not afraid of the humans who abode there, and for good reason too. After all, the women were totally helpless and were tied up so securely that they could only dream of escape, and not even fantasize about it. Therefore, the rats, and whatever other vermin, of which there were quite a few, moved about as they wished, feeding on whatever scraps of leftover food they could find, and when scraps of leftover foods were scarce, which was more often than not, these vermin bit
The occupants of Michael’s car were silent as the car moved steadily on the long and lonely night. Michael, who was driving, hummed steadily to himself as he drove, taking care not to meet Sophia’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He found his eyes straying to the mirror on occasion though, and most of these times, he found her staring at him with a sort of puzzled look on her face, as though she couldn’t quite figure him out. Michael didn’t blame her. He could hardly figure himself out too. Duncan sat in the passenger side with Michael, his brows furrowed, as he tried his best not to think about what his fiancée must be going through right this very minute, but it was impossible not to do so. If only Vanessa had listened to him, he would not be in this mess at all. “Yeah, right.” A voice inside his head told him, but he tamped it down effectively and looked resolutely out the window. He had to do what he had to do, and that was that. Toby was fast asleep with his mouth wide open, having
Sophia followed Duncan into the sparse bushes silently, her heart beating a mile a minute as she did so. If she failed to gain her powers, of which she was seriously beginning to doubt that she indeed had any, they were certainly going to be doomed. Duncan did not look like he had any intention of abandoning his fiancée in the other dimension, and neither would she want him to. Michael had promised to help him, so he had no choice but to do so, but aside from that, he did not strike her as someone who would abandon a mission all because he was afraid. From the little that she had seen of him, he seemed to be someone who thrived on dangerous situations a lot. Toby did not have where to go and was willing to follow the two men and do whatever he could to prove himself, and probably earn some money while doing it. That left her, who had gotten an escape route because of Duncan's fiancee, at least in a roundabout way, and there was no way she was not going to do everything she could to sa
Michael had Duncan by the lapels of his shirt and was growling fiercely, while Toby tried unsuccessfully to pry him off poor Duncan, who was sputtering in indignation and trying in vain to free himself. Sophia could see why Michael was so distraught. She was still kneeling down in the same position in which she had been before her trance, with her eyes tightly closed as she remained unaware of her surroundings. “Make her normal this minute, or I swear to God that I’ll rip you into tiny pieces,” Michael yelled, not caring that he was practically choking Duncan, who was trying to convince him that he wasn’t responsible for what was happening to Sophia in vain. “Wait. Let me try something else. I swear I didn’t do anything to her. I don't know why she's like that. Please, let go of me.” Duncan managed to ground out. “Oops. I thought he didn’t like me or want me as his mate. How come he cares what happens to me and what doesn't?” Sophia told her parents. “Even if he doesn’t care, he ca
They got to the portal around two in the morning the following day. Nothing eventful happened on their way here after the events of last night, and Sophia had not had a chance to use or test her powers again. She still felt the same, something that was quite disappointing, as she had thought that there would be something to show the fact. She was fast asleep, and so was Toby who was sitting beside her. “Alright, guys, we’re fast approaching the portal now,” Duncan announced loudly, waking Sophia up. Toby still slept peacefully, and as usual, was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Sophia wondered how she had managed to sleep so soundly with him snoring right into her ear and then realized that getting her powers must have somehow drained her of energy. “Hey, Toby. Wake up.” She said, shaking him awake and looking around as she tried to clear the sleep from her eyes. They were driving along a very high fence that seemed to go on for miles before they finally arrived at a large gate
“What the hell?” Michael began as soon as they stepped to the other side, his facial expression showing utter disbelief. The expression on the faces of the others mirrored that of Michael’s as they all looked around, hoping that they were dreaming.“I don’t understand … how come we’re back exactly where we started?” Sophia asked no one in particular.“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I can’t believe it. What a waste of time! Duncan, what’s going on? Care to explain?” Michael asked, his tone suggesting that Duncan had better have a good explanation for this.“We have to go through the tunnel seven times before we get to the other dimension.” Was the nonchalant reply.“Whaaaat?!!” The other three chorused.“I’m sorry, but the rules guarding this particular portal are very rigid. I think it’s to deter nosy humans who manage to sneak past the security from entering into the other dimensions. It’s a shame it wasn’t enough to deter Vanessa from going there.”“So, what you’re trying to