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
The small group of people trudged through the short savanna in which they found themselves. Michael carefully avoided Sophia’s gaze, even though it was very difficult to do so. He was acutely aware of her and her every move, as he was sure she was with his. She wasn’t even attempting to hide it.“Although this place does not look like the best place on earth by any means, I don’t think it’s as bad as we thought,” Toby said, breaking the silence that they were walking in.No sooner had he said that, than an arrow came flying out of nowhere in the growing dusk to land at Sophia’s feet, startling the living daylights out of them all. Michael immediately sprang to attention, growling at the growing shadows and all but ready to charge at whatever it was that had thrown the arrow.“Shhh!” the old woman - Sally whispered fiercely and urgently. There was a rustle in the shadows, and then out stepped three creatures who looked like human beings, except for the snouts on their faces and the thi
“What the hell?” He began but stopped short when he saw that the other soldier was dead too, along with two others whom he hadn’t even noticed, that had been running over to join the fray. Sally was standing still a few meters away with her eyes closed, chanting stuff under her breath.“Come on, quick! Gather the bodies. They must not be found, otherwise, we’ll be in serious trouble. It is a crime to kill soldiers in these areas, but they left me with no choice. Damn! This is a mess, and I hate this, but what’s done is done.” Sally said hurriedly, opening her eyes at last.“How did you manage to do that?” Sophia asked in wonder.“I’m a sorceress, and I used a very strong and terrible kind of magic to kill them, but we have to hurry, otherwise, more of them will soon be on the way here, and I’m already drained of power. Even if I wasn’t, I’m not sure that I’d want to kill any more of them, because the killings will be easily traceable to me. Now, Michael and Toby, pick up those bodies.
"What the hell just happened here?” Toby breathed in amazement. “It’s called a disappearing spell. I had Sophia do the spell so that their bodies will vanish without a trace and it will look like they absconded from their duty post. That should distract anyone who might be searching for them for a while. I can’t bury them in the backyard in case someone comes looking for them.” Sally told them all. “That makes sense,” Sophia said, trying her best not to stare at Michael, even though it was very difficult not to do so. He was all that she could think about. Now was not the time to be lusting after her mate, though, as they had more pressing matters to attend to. Take for instance, they still didn’t know how Duncan planned to rescue his fiancée from Damien of Monstergate. He kept changing the topic stylishly any time they asked him, causing Sophia to suspect that his strategy was not something that they were going to like at all. “What kind of creatures were those? I don’t think that