Baz
I let out a desperate cry for help, aching for oxygen in the depths of my despair. I felt like I was going to be stuck in this place forever, entombed beneath the skin that had become my prison. I would never feel the warmth of the sun on my face again or witness the beauty of another sunrise. Fear and anguish filled me as I thought about my dismal future; it seemed there was no escape from this self-made purgatory.
The stupid monster guffawed aloud at whatever the goddess uttered; her voice distorted. Everything in my world was muffled when he had control of my body. I picked up on some of their distorted words, stringing them together to understand bits of information.
A nightmare.
Trapped in a nightmare of my making. Part of me felt a deep understanding and sympathy for the beast that I had kept in my mind for so long. For many years, I had been medicating him, not realizing how agonizing it was to have no control while being hidden away in the confines of my own mind. Whatever emotions or feelings that I went through, he experienced as well.
But his insatiable hunger for blood bubbled out from the cauldron of our joined souls. When Drea had fed me her blood, she’d awakened him.
And killed me.
The goddess moved closer to me, her hair cascading over her shoulders in a wave like the red sea. She had carefully painted her lips with a glossy hue, and my gaze followed from head to toe. I stopped for an embarrassingly extended period of time, on those extremely long legs of hers; they were mesmerizing. Standing there before me, she was oppressively beautiful — I felt like she could see right through me and into my soul with her piercing gaze.
Ew.
She was a trillion years old. Probably older.
But my own disgust didn’t stop my body from reacting. Nausea boiled in my stomach, and I watched helplessly as my hand caressed her cheek.
“Delicious.” The voice was mine, but it did not belong to me.
Oh, gods. She laughed, a wild and lustrous gaze in her eye. “I prefer you like this,” she said, catching my hand in hers. Her red lips formed around my first finger, and the warmth stirred deep desire.
No, no. I don’t want this. Please.
But he reveled in it, drawing her closer. Her eyes were bright with thirst, and I felt powerless against her. She wrapped herself around me like a snake, slowly but surely captivating me until her body was all I knew.
My heart racing, I begged for mercy in the little space left in my mind — please don’t let this happen.
My finger slipped farther into her mouth, and the goddess moaned as the tip grazed the back of her tongue.
“I’d like to feel your lips around a different erect part of my body.”
Was he flirting with her? I chuckled in response to my own question, pulling out my finger and wiping it on my jeans.
Kill me. For the love of everything holy, kill me.
“Later, beastie,” Drea said, her hand dipping lower, lower until she cupped my throbbing —
Slamming against the mental shields, I grasp her wrist with more force than I’d intended. She narrowed her eyes as she yanked away from my grip. Expecting her wrath, my body seized, freezing in place.
But she only ventured closer toward the pool of water, nestled beneath the shaded canopy. I didn’t recognize my surroundings, yet I knew we were in the Dark Forest by the shape of its gnarled and twisted tree limbs. Its branches hung low over me, like menacing hands threatening to grab a hold of my neck and snap it in two. The further we walked, the more oppressive and threatening this place felt. A heavy air surrounded us that seemed to contain all the fears and secrets of the forest.
We stopped in front of the pool, and I could feel Drea’s excitement radiating off her body as she peered into its depths. The silver liquid seemed to ripple, almost hypnotically, beckoning us closer with some unknown promise.
Killjoy. The beast whispered in my ear. Cockblocker.
I had started to ask what we were doing here, but Drea just gestured towards the calm lake with a quick movement of her finger. Out of sheer interest, my feet moved me closer to the water’s edge. We stopped and took in our surroundings. Ravens flew high above us, cawing loudly with a warning song, and trees swayed softly in the breeze. The sun shone brightly on our faces as we looked out over the lake. It was so still that it appeared like glass, not a single ripple to be seen.
“We’re taking a trip,” she told me, her wicked smile growing.
A ripple formed on the surface and from it emerged a kelpie. The creature’s body gleamed with sparkling water. Moss tangled in its hair. While kelpies were technically Fey, they did not fall under my jurisdiction. In fact, they pretty much followed their own set of rules. Anyone — human or Fey — that set foot too close to their home would be drug into the deep pool of the unknown. They drowned their victims before slicing into their flesh with their razor-sharp talons.
Not wanting to become the kelpies’ next meal, I stumbled back, but Drea laughed aloud and caught my arm.
“Don’t be rude,” she cackled, turning back to the dripping wet monster. Her arm was outstretched to the vile creature, and it placed its hand within hers.
“What are you doing?” I shouted between them. “That thing will rip us to shreds.”
Drea snapped her neck toward me. “Hush. He is our courier. If you offend him again, I will let him snack on your intestines before you have a chance to glimmer.”
The creature flashed it’s rotten, green teeth at me, and my eyes widened. “What do you mean, courier?”
The goddess’s indignation was palpable as she huffed, her eyes rolling with exasperation. “I like the other version of you better. This one asks too many questions.”
When I didn’t break her gaze, she sighed. “If you must know, he is chaperoning us.”
I opened my mouth to ask, Where? But the pieces clicked together. There’d always been a lot of speculation about where the kelpies lived, and how they seemed to be able to live in any type of body of water larger than a bathing tub. One of the many theories was that they could teleport through dimensions, similar to the way our glimmer magick worked, but instead of transporting to specific locations, they could move between realms called the Gray.
My mouth went desert dry. “You’re taking us to Hell?”
She gave a curt nod. “Yes, we are meeting someone very important. I’d hoped to take—well, the more compliant you with me as backup since our magick won’t work there, but I suppose you’ll have to do.”
I shook my head in disbelief, the droplets of sweat from my forehead plastering strands of hair to my face. “Nuh uh. No way.”
I’d seen firsthand the destruction a kelpie could cause, and the sight had left me shaken to my core. All that was left, after it had finished its rampage, was a pool of crimson liquid, along with disgusting remnants of clothing and flesh. I shuddered at the thought of ending my own life in such an awful manner.
“I’m losing patience, little prince.”
A beautiful and serene melody flooded my senses and filled the air with its peaceful sound. I felt my entire being calm as the notes washed over me like a gentle wave, relieving me of all the tension in my muscles. I was unable to resist this sweet spell, almost as if it had cast a kind of silent magick on me. My feet moved unconsciously towards the source of music, wanting to be closer to this wonderful song that brought so much solace. Everywhere it traveled, it seemed to bring joy and contentment, though I was still minutely aware of the danger lurking from its source.
No.
No.
I felt my control slipping away as the beast clawed his way to the surface of my mind. Suddenly, the world around me dimmed, drained of color and life as I involuntarily retreated back into the shadows. In my place stepped forth a creature with a thirst for power and an unstoppable craving for freedom. He had been dormant until now, only stirring in me randomly from time to time, but this was different. Like each time he took power, I weakened, and he grew ever stronger.
Soon, I wouldn’t be able to force him back into the pits any longer. It would be my consciousness taking a backseat to his light.
Before I completely lost consciousness, the water pulled me under its dark and mysterious depths. Everything changed from bright colors above to a murky blue down below. As we sank further and further, the gilded rocks of the forbidden city glimmered eerily in the distance. It was like a dream, with so much beauty and peril surrounding us it felt surreal. Surrounded by this newfound darkness, my legs had gone numb with cold as I continued to fight against the strong currents in an attempt to survive.
I sank further down.
Down
Down
Until everything and nothing was a sheet of onyx.