The Enchantress's Dreamweaver

Chapter 4: The Rabbit Hole Garden

The Immortals were on their feet in an instant. The heroes were dumbfounded. There were two people on the team capable of emitting a scream like that. One of them had been laughing and smiling mere minutes ago while she was assisting the team in setting up the rooms. The other, well, the other never screamed.

When the Immortals heard the scream, all eyes turned to WIllow, but a slow shake of her head told them all they needed to know.

The heroes raced out of the room, following the echoes of the ear-piercing scream, and found themselves in a dark, musty stairway.

The team looked down into the endless darkness for what seemed like forever, before Adrian broke the silence.

"They have to be down there," He stated, not waiting for an answer as he stepped onto the first step. After deeming the staircase 'perfectly functionable', the Immortals slowly made their descent, concern for their teammates blocking out all the warning bells going off in their heads.

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"Irina, Irina!" The familiar sound of Chris's voice was what finally made Irina's eyes fly open. After quick observation, she realised with a start that they were trapped in a small, damp room.

Tugging at the bonds on her wrists, she realised that there was no way out except with a key.

"Chris, are you okay?" She could hear her partner's uneven breathing and needed some reassurance.

"Hey. I'm alright, just a little banged up. You took one to the back of the head, knocked you out almost instantly." At this, Irina cycled back, trying to remember who has them.

"This place gives me the creeps." Chris walked down the hall, years of sneaking around masking his steps.

"Yeah. It's as if everything in the castle is telling us to leave." The pair turned

down the hall and found themselves in a dark room. Looking at each other, they stepped into the room.

Instantly, the sound of clanging metal echoed around the room and the last thing Irina remembered was the scream that tore from her lips as she felt pain explode across the back of her head.

"Who took us?" Irina wondered aloud.

"No clue." Irina bit back a snappy retort about Chris's unhelpfulness just as the door opened.

A dark-haired, pinch eyed woman walked into the room.

"Hello Immortals," She said, in a clear voice, "My name is Ridley Skinner." Understanding dawned on the Immortal's faces, along with fear as the Enchantress's warning flashed through their minds.

"By the looks on your faces, I take it you know me." A small nod and a fierce glare were the only responses.

"Well, if you know me, you know that I have a strict policy with what I do to trespassers, but it's been so long since I've had any visitors, I think we ought to have a little fun first... "

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Back with the Immortals in the castle,