All Your Fault

Chapter Fifteen

They left the room, ordered by Dorians gruff angry voice; I stared at the ceiling. It was dome shaped, the four elements swirled around each other, I winced as my head began to pound once more. My body ached with the lingering phantoms of pain, pain that he brought on. A flash of bright light startled me, I struggled to stand shakily.

"Well hello," a rich, smooth voice echoed off the walls.

My head snapped towards the voice, a tall lanky man with golden waves of hair and violet eyes smiled suavely at me.

"I am Henri Dubois, and you," he paused, "are coming with me." he held out a hand, I stared at it, backing away. Panic was currently attempting to claw into my rational mind.

"No," I began calmly, "I think I am going to stay here." I continued to back away.

A flash of annoyance crossed his inhumanly beautiful face, a face that belonged to the poet's imagination and a sculpture's creativity. He again flashed a disarming smile, another flash of bright light and I moaned in pain, sinking to my knees with my head in my hands. My ears rang and my vision wavered.

"You no longer have a choice in the matter I'm afraid," he drew closer as he said this. Panic was rushing full force through my veins, my heart thudded against my rib cage in an uncomfortable cadence that brought pain, and a scream built in the back of my throat. I knew I was supposed to be sweating in fear, I didn't know how or why, but I could feel it in my bones

Standing and turning, I bolted out the door and down the hall, "elementalists are so hard to tame." I heard him mutter closer than I expected. A shadow stood towering at the edge of the hall, his muscular frame dwarfing the wall behind him, his eyes narrowed in on me.

"Girl?" he questioned in confusion at the panic laced with fear spreading across my face.

I reached out towards him, a flash of light, and I was being dragged backwards; the breathe whooshing from my lungs. I screamed, it trailed off into the nothingness.

I slipped into a desperate unconsciousness; the place where my nightmares had once roamed freely was now engulfed in flames, burning the remnants of my past life. I watched numbly as my kidnappers face's burned, their skin melted from bone in silent grins of maliciousness. My mother's face flashed before my eyes, her cold smile, arms cross, she shook her head and disappeared; the white door of her room slamming shut behind her. My father's face followed a leer plastered on his once kind face as he kissed his secretary passionately, then he too vanished behind the flickering of a motel sign. So alone, the empty void of nothing surrounded me, I wanted to scream, nothing came out.

The black void shifted, shimmered into another image, an image of a forest. Tall trees stretched towards the sky like wooden arms, the loamy smell of the earth surrounded me. A pathway lingered before me, a silent voice beckoning me. I followed it, my hands fisted tightly at my sides, it wound towards a cottage; a cottage made of crumbling stone. Ivy vines wrapped around it like green spidery veins.

"Welcome Elementalist." A soft feminine voice whispered through the trees, a figure appeared at the door. I looked down, my hands were once again in black gloves, a cloak swirled around my knees, my boots bit into the soft earth beneath my feet.

"W-who are you? Where am I?" I questioned relentlessly.

"I am Ninanya, please come in." Her white hair flowed around her waist in an invisible breeze; her golden eyes glowed against her pale skin, a slender hand outstretched towards me.

A dark shadow flickered behind her and started, shaking my head, I attempted to claw my way out of my dream. Gasping, I sat straight up, immediately aware of my surroundings. The blonde man was gone, I was unsure if he was a figment of my imagination or a cruel reality. I looked down at my hands and found them shaking, my whole body was shaking. My nerves were frayed, tears were pooling in my eyes, I pushed them back with a raw throat.

I rushed out of the room, slightly afraid I'd run into another person out for me. I ran blindly down the dimly lit hallways, my bare feet bit into the cold hardwood floors. Dreary painting leered at me as I ran past them, the lights flickering; my chest heaved painfully. Fear and nervousness rushed together and poured through me, fighting against the adrenaline.

I ran into a hard towering object, the smell of mint encompassed me. The warmth of muscle pressed against me, I pressed my face into his hard chest, breathing him in before my composure broke.

"Kasey?" his deep Russian voice lilting my name broke it; it was like torrent of emotion.

I sobbed into his chest, my arms wrapped around his lean middle, my hands clutching at the back of his shirt. Several moments went by before a hand wrapped around my neck, threading through my hair, and a massive arm went around my middle.

Mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion wrung me out; I fell asleep slumped against Dorian. My dreams were empty, my muscles slack. A Russian lullaby whispered along the edges of my unconsciousness.

I wore slowly, peeling my eyes open, sore from pouring tears out, my throat was raw and parched, swallowed painfully. I was wrapped once again in the blankets from before, the scent I could not place before was clear now; mint and the scent of Dorian- his scent.

I selfishly inhaled, breathing in the scent that held an odd calming control over my edgy emotions and jumpy nature. I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling, a dark blue ceiling, a chandelier much like my own hanging down. I rolled to my other side and froze, my muscles stiffening. Dorian lay next to me, on his back, arms crossed over his chest in a familiar pose. His dark penetrating eyes were closed, his hard face now softened, his lips slightly parted; a white strand of hair was in his face.

I decided to savor my life and rolled back over, the clock on the side table blared 3:49 a.m, I closed my eyes, breathed in once more, and forced myself to sleep. Ignoring the heat emanating from the massive body of muscle lying inches away from me.