The Woods

Chapter Forty-One

The room I awoke in was dark and smelled like mildew. I crinkled my nose and tried to let my eyes adjust. As far as I could tell, the room was empty, save for the metal chair I was sitting on – or, well, tied to. Rope held my wrists and ankles tightly enough that I knew it would bruise.

I let out a yelp as the room was suddenly lit up, blinding me for a few moments. When I could finally see again, I found Casper standing in front of me.

"Fida," he said quietly, "say something."

To my surprise, I found I had control over myself again. "What happened?" I asked, glancing at the room around me. I didn't know why I asked that – I remembered what had happened and my heart pounded at the memory. Would Cain ever trust me again? Would any of them?

"I found you on the fourth floor in a locked-off area," he said. "I don't know how you got there. But when you saw me, you attacked me."

I closed my eyes for a heartbeat. "I saw the creature and I think it . . . controlled me," I whispered, my lip beginning to tremble. He wouldn't believe me; I knew he wouldn't. And from the look in his eyes, I was right.

"When Cain wakes up, he can deal with you." Casper's voice was flat and I couldn't tell if he was upset or furious. He was just . . . emotionless. But before I could say anything else, he was gone, leaving me in the room alone.

I didn't know what to do – after all, I had no way to prove I was under someone else's control. To them, it looked like I did exactly what Dimah did years ago.

For hours, I sat alone in the room. I was sure I drifted in and out of sleep, but there was no way to tell if time had passed, so it was hard to tell. I eventually ended up counting the bricks of the stone walls to pass the time, and by the time I reached two hundred and twenty-one, someone finally entered the room.

I turned to see Cain enter the room. He looked even worse than before – even though the rings under his eyes were almost gone. I expected to see rage against me, perhaps even disgust. But all I saw was exhaustion. Not physically, but mentally.

"You wanted to kill me." No. No, I didn't. I shook my head but he raised a hand before I could speak. "You told Casper you were being controlled."

"I was," I said, my voice wavering. "I tried to stop it."

He silently watched me, perhaps using his Fae senses to monitor me. "Do you have any way of proving it?"

I went to shake my head but paused, remembering something he had told me a few days prior. "You said that you used your magic to see if Maalik was lying. Why not use it on me? Or use that memory spell you used when we first met."

He was silent for a few minutes. "The spell we used on you would only show your actions, not reveal thoughts and intentions. But I suppose . . . I could use the truth spell on you. But I must warn you, Fida . . . if you lie, the spell will be very painful."

"I'm not lying," I assured, even though nerves made my stomach churn. He slowly nodded before pulling up a stool and sitting opposite to me.

Cain raised a hand, his palm facing me, and began to speak in a foreign tongue – not the old language, but the one he spoke the first night I stayed. It still sent a shiver down my spine and I fought to keep a straight face.

"Fida, tell me what happened the night you attacked Casper." I let out a gasp at the sudden tug at my gut. Like something was tethered to me and was pulling. I found myself speaking without even thinking.

"Soon after you left, I gave up on trying to sleep. When I looked up, I saw the creature again." My voice wavered slightly and I cleared my throat in an attempt to fight off the fear. "It just . . . stared at me. And then it felt like I had been shoved to the back of my mind. I had no control."

For a few moments, he stared at me with a frown. "Did you understand what you were doing? Or, to rephrase, did you understand the intentions of the person who controlled you?"

"Not at first," I replied, nibbling my lip. "I knew they wanted to do something bad, but it was only when I reached the door and heard you and Casper talking that I understood."

"Could you hear their thoughts?"

"No."

He continued to ask questions for the next few minutes, focusing on what I knew and whether I had any idea who the controller was. The tugging grew stronger each time, and by the end of it, it almost hurt.

"One last question," Cain said, staring at me intently. "Do you want me to die?"

My lip almost trembled as I answered. "No."

He dropped his hand and ran a hand through his hair. "I . . . am very glad, Fida. And I am sorry that such precautions needed to be taken."

"I understand," I murmured. "But . . . how do we figure out who did this? Do we assume it was the same person who attacked?"

He began untying me, apologising as I rubbed at my sore wrists. I shook my head, waiting for him to answer. "There may be a way to trace magic, but I would need to do some research. It might take a few days."

We walked out of the room once I was untied, and I realised we were in some sort of basement. I hid my cringe, knowing that they certainly had reason to believe I acted of my own accord. It didn't stop me from feeling upset.

"When you left, you said you needed to look into something," I commented, frowning as he looked almost . . . guilty.

"I will admit, I did guess that the attacker wanted to use you against me." He slid his hands into his pockets, staring at the ground. "When you mentioned them getting into your head, you, of course, were referring to them scaring you. It just made me think of it literally. I just wish . . . I wish I thought of it sooner. Then the past day wouldn't have happened."

I didn't have a response, so I ducked my head and remained silent. How could I respond? He was blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault, and I knew telling him would do nothing.

"Do you think Casper will . . . accept that it wasn't me?" I asked. "He seemed so cold when he spoke."

"With time," Cain sighed. We turned a corner and I realised we were heading towards the library – perhaps to find some books for researching. "Casper has always been . . . protective. To the point that he becomes violent when someone he loves is threatened."

But he hadn't acted violent with me – save for when I attacked him. He just seemed . . . distant towards me. Almost as if he was disappointed or ashamed. It was an odd thought, and I could think of no reason for him to act such a way. I committed treason – or, the person controlling me did – so why didn't he act angry?

Cain changed the subject before I could say anything, and I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not – did I want to know Casper's reasons, or was it something I didn't want to know? "Before I find books on tracing magic, I need to cast a spell on your mind – to ward against any further attempts to control you."

He opened the door to the library and walked inside, aiming towards a bookshelf at the back. He dragged his finger along the book spines until he found the one that he was looking for. In just a few minutes, the spell was cast.

"You said that the warding spell on my room was dented," I said quietly. "Does that mean this one might also be broken?"

As he set the book back on the shelf, he was frowning. "No magic is perfect, Fida. All we can do is hope this spell is strong enough." He began to walk towards another shelf, likely where the tracing spell books were. "And even if it isn't . . . I wouldn't want to die by anybody else's hand."

I didn't know whether to feel relieved or anxious.