Hybrid

Chapter 19

As I was settling into sleep, I noticed a dark cloud of shadows staring into me. My heart raced, pounding against my chest like a trapped bird. The world around me shifted, a blur of darkness and disorientation as a strong, cold grip closed around me, wrapping me in an unyielding embrace. Panic clawed at my throat as I tried to scream, my voice caught in my throat as if some invisible force had stolen it away.

The room materialized around me, a stark contrast to the corridors and chambers I had grown accustomed to. Rich velvet fabrics adorned the walls, casting an eerie and opulent glow in the dim light. The bed stood as the centerpiece, its covers smooth and inviting, yet the aura of the room sent shivers down my spine. The shadows seemed to dance with a life of their own, undulating like living entities, twisting and contorting as if they held a willful intent.

Fear clenched my heart, its icy fingers squeezing tight as I struggled to break free from the hold of the shadows. My body felt heavy, as if gravity itself conspired against me. I strained against the invisible restraints, my breaths coming in rapid, shallow gasps. But the more I fought, the tighter their grip became, until it felt as though the very air had turned against me.

Desperation welled within me, my mind a whirlwind of frantic thoughts. Who—or what—had brought me here? What did they want from me? I strained my ears, hoping to catch the faintest sound, a hint of an explanation. But the silence was suffocating, broken only by the erratic thudding of my heart.

As my attempts to break free grew increasingly futile, a sensation of resignation washed over me. It was as if a realization had dawned: I was powerless in the face of this unseen force. The shadows held dominion over me, their will bending mine to their whim. The fear that had initially gripped me was slowly replaced by a heavy weight of acceptance—an acceptance that I was trapped, at their mercy.

I scanned the room once more, searching for any sign of an exit, any glimmer of hope. But my surroundings seemed to stretch and warp, as though the very space itself defied my attempts to make sense of it. A sickening realization settled within me: this was no ordinary room, no ordinary encounter. It was as if I had been pulled into a realm that defied the laws of the world I knew, a realm where shadows and darkness held sway.

The minutes ticked by, each second stretching into eternity. My heart's frantic rhythm gradually gave way to a numb acceptance, a resignation to the fact that I was trapped, isolated from the world I understood. And as the shadows continued to hold me in their unrelenting grip, a voiceless scream echoed within the confines of my mind—an expression of fear and helplessness that remained unheard, lost in the boundless expanse of darkness.

Just then, a voice broke through the silence, a low and resonant sound that sent shivers down my spine. "Elvira," it called, its tone laced with a potent combination of warmth and longing.

I turned towards the source of the voice, my breath catching in my throat as I saw him—Auzrael. He stood before me, his presence commanding and magnetic. His eyes held mine, a connection that seemed to transcend time and space.

"Welcome," he said, his voice a caress that echoed through the room. "I've brought you here to escape the constraints that bind us in the realm of daylight, to exist in a moment untouched by the outside world."

His words hung in the air, weaving a spell that seemed to draw me closer to him, erasing the boundaries that separated us. But before I could fully surrender to the moment, my instinctive reaction took over. In a mix of surprise and frustration, I slapped his chest, my palm connecting with a resounding smack.

"What the hell, Auzrael!" I exclaimed, my heart still racing from the shock. "You can't just drag me into a room like this without any warning. You scared the living daylights out of me!"