The Vortex: Killjoys, Book 1

Chapter Nine.

Hot. That was all I felt when I regained consciousness, once again. I expected to be greeted with unwelcoming monotone shades and tints of black and white, maybe cushioned walls and a ceiling, even a door as if I were in an insane asylum.
That wasn't what I saw when I opened my eyes.
This heat was humid and drenching my face in sweat. My jackets had been removed I realized as I looked down, now feeling extremely exposed. I groggily began to take in my surroundings. My hands, torso, and legs were bound by chains, but I wasn't in a room. I was in what looked to be a forest.
I must be dead, or dreaming, I thought to myself as I began to piece the events together from last night. My hearing felt like the last sense to kick in as I realized I could hear multiple voices around me, coming from every direction. Children, adults, elderly people all speaking at once, but then I wished I couldn't hear again. The voices had been speaking to me. They were all the same voice.
"Ask your questions" the entity spoke all at once.
"What?" I breathed out as a chuckle rang out around the forest, echoing all around me.
"You have questions and I have answers, child," the voice answered, because that's what it was. One entity, one voice. Chills began to creep up my spine as I felt something watching me through the dark, impenetrable tree line. Looking around I saw that I had been placed in a clearing surrounded by trees in a circular prison, the voice my jailer.
"What happened to me last night?" I asked, now deciding it was best to keep my eyes down at my feet. "The man that took you brought you into a makeshift camp he had made in these woods," I felt myself stiffen. "Do not fret child he has already been, dispatched," the voice said. As if on command to my left what seemed to be a perfectly normal tree hung the mutilated body of the man from last night. I averted looking that direction but I knew that image would stay with me.
"What did he do to me?" I asked, tearing up, almost afraid of the answer.
The voice began to circle again, "It was what he planned to do, my dear. I wouldn't see it happen. He did nothing other than tie you to that chair," it responded.
"So you saved me?" I asked.
The creature began to chuckle once more.
"I suppose so, but I unfortunately cannot cross the clearing line to unchain you. For that, I am sorry," it spoke. I felt a pang of sadness flash through me that I knew wasn't my own.
"Why did you decide to save me?" I asked.
"We are kin, creatures born anew from the spark within. I would also rather not see an innocent harmed within my domain. I may be monstrous but I am not a monster," it spoke.
I lifted my eyes and saw two staring back at me. They must've been eight feet above the ground.
"Why can't you come undo the chains?" I questioned.
The wave of sadness again pushed through me like a wave.
"I am cursed to never step foot outside of these woods, including into the Dreamweaver's Ring, where you sit, then I would completely lose my humanity.
"Is there a way I can get out of these chains?" I asked.
The calm that set over me  in another wave told me it belonged to the creature as well.
"Yes, but you must use what you have, and once you are out I ask that you allow me to ask you a question," The voice said, and I nodded.
"The chains were not tightened enough to account for the perspiration your body has been experiencing while you've been unconscious, using it will aid you. Start with your wrists," the voice said. I realized the calm that had been setting over me, allowing me to converse with the entity rather than panic was not my own. The creature had been pushing the sensation over me since I'd woken up. Part of me wanted to ask what allowed it to manipulate emotions as such but the other part of me thought it best to focus on the task at hand, and I settled with the latter.
With every twist and strategic shift of my sweat-soaked wrists I could feel the chains subtly loosening the grip they held around them. After what felt like ages the chains finally slipped over my knuckles and I pushed them off of my other hand.
"Thank you," I said, to the eyes that stared back at me through the brush. They were golden, and I realized that any human in their right mind would've been terrified, but even with the wave of calmness over me, I knew the creature could've killed me if it wanted to, but it hadn't.
As I worked on the chains I decided it were better to ask my question while still in front of it.
"Will you harm me once I step out of the clearing?" I asked, and immediately felt stupid. It would kill me if it wanted to, but it hadn't, that had to mean something, right?
The creature seemed to laugh, but it was strained and unnatural.
"No, child, I do not harm the innocent," it said.
"But I'm not, I kill people," I said as I loosened and threw off the last set of chains on my legs.
"Sometimes, there is justice in murder. You do not kill, you set them free," it said moving slightly closer.
"Now, it is my turn," it said. I nodded.
"Ask your question," I said.
"Why do you smell of the afterlife?" It asked. I felt myself go rigid. I didn't know the answer to that question other than explaining how I was brought back, and so I did, briefly.
"My my, a hard life for a young one such as yourself but I imagine it is hard for many humans such as yourself," it said.
"Humans? You're not human?" I asked.
The voice laughed once more.
"I haven't been human for many years," the voice said before continuing.
"The way out is to your right, there is a trail along the way that will reveal itself to you, do not stray from it. You will find your items taken from you on the left side of the trail," the voice said.
"Can I see you?" I asked.
A sense of amusement rushed over me.
"Childlike curiosity is such a wonderful thing, but I would rather you did not. Just remember that there are those out here who wish to bring you harm, but I am not one of them. I ask this to preserve your image of me, I am no longer the human I once was, and what you see would create a terror even I cannot settle," the voice said as I heard footsteps walking away from the clearing.
"Thank you, again, at least tell me your name"
"My name is Nyx, child, I hope one day I may serve you once again," and with that, the wind picked up around the clearing and the voices faded along with the wind. The sound of animals returned too.