A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 5 - Control

It was still daytime when Patrick visited Melinda. A few hours have passed since she woke up, but she didn't manage to do much. She spent most of the time thinking about the situation she had gotten herself in, often in circles. Her eyes were fixated on the hole in a wall despite being overly familiar with it. From time to time, she felt the need to glare at it, as if it had done something to her. Perhaps it was there on purpose so the captured ones could be given false hope, but she could only speculate. No matter how much she tried to come up with a plan, nothing of value came to mind. She thought of some possibilities, realizing how ridiculous they sounded only a few seconds later. 

She managed to give her kidnapper a blank stare once he entered the room. The first thing she noticed was that he was carrying a person completely tied with ropes. When he walked over to her, he tossed the body near her. Her fellow victim was attempting to voice all the woes inside of him by letting out even the faintest of screams, which couldn't be accomplished because his mouth was sealed shut. He was moving like a fish out of water, swimming with all the strength it could gather to wage a battle against something much bigger than itself. Although Melinda could keep a stern and unconcerned look, there was not a device that she could use to contain her paranoid thoughts in a jar buried deep within her brain, forgotten and alone. 

"The time has come for your first lesson, Miss Grey," he informed her, staring right at her.

Melinda swallowed. "Shall you tell me what it is?"

"Please don't be impatient. You won't achieve anything in life that way."

"I understand, but I haven't got the slightest clue as to what your intentions are," she remarked, frowning.

"I will show you everything that you need to be shown."

Melinda batted an eyebrow, thinking he would notice that. Then, she began to watch as he drew a triangle in the air with his pointing finger. The curtains were open and the sun's radiance adorned the whole room as efficiently as it could. The shadow of the trapped man was visible in its entirety, turning purple once the shape was drawn. The body twisted itself in angles that would be impossible without magic, especially since nothing happened to the ropes. It formed the closest probable shape to a triangle. Even though she didn't know the spell, she shivered. Every single hair on her skin started to freeze, and what came next didn't help the situation at all. 

His eyes full of undeserved hatred towards the victim, he clenched the same hand he initiated the spell with into a fist. For half a minute, he kept it in the same position, pressed tight. There was a lot of strength put into that one move, and Melinda was astonished. Her eyes moved from one person to the other constantly. Whenever she observed the one she pitied, she saw how much pain he was going through. His blood appeared to have been boiling inside of him, and he could hardly breathe. He was shaking with his whole being, rolling around on the floor, but he was still unable to get out of the position the spell put him in. His whimpers when he was brought there were nothing compared to those he released from within himself at that moment. She couldn't get mad at him. Misery was like a black cloud hovering over him, the rain it released engulfing his soul whole. 

"I hope you understood this well. Now it's time for you to implement what you've remembered," Patrick announced to her once he was done.

"Yes, of course."

His eyes begged her to have mercy, glistening in their woeful shade of blue. Her head was but a mess, conjuring up a million words per second. They were drowning in the deep red shades of stress and hesitation that ruled over the brain. Her life was all about courage, but her heart couldn't help itself. Part of her refused to take action, which didn't stop her from advancing.