Desire (On Hold)

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

After hours of struggling with my mind and mentally begging Asteria to release me from this spell with no avail, I finally accepted the fact that until I did… well whatever it was Asteria wanted me to do, I would not come out of unconsciousness.

Just as I had come to this mind frame, the same hallway as before appeared in front of me. But it was somehow different. The nonstop walls were not so high and it was only short.

I stumbled to my feet and ran to the end of the hallway. Moulded into the wall was a door, but it was the opposite was around. The entrance was on the roof and I couldn’t reach up to it. I frantically searched the wall, running my fingers over the smooth surface until I found a small indent, much like the one in the other hallway. I traced it lightly with my finger and the room began to shake.

I screamed as the floor disappeared from underneath me and turned slowly clockwise.

“Help!” I cried desperately, even though I knew nobody could hear me.

Samara had secretly lent me some books once and the main characters occasionally stated ‘their world was turned upside down’, usually about some boy they had fallen in love with. With me, however, this seemed to be literally happening.

“Calm down, Elle,” Asteria’s voice reverberated throughout the room. I searched for her, but couldn’t see any hint of another person.

“Asteria!” I screamed, my voice breaking the silence and seeming louder than usual. “Please help. I’ll do anything!”

Asteria’s cruel laugh echoed loudly. I covered my ears with my hands to try and block the merciless sound.

“You know, that was one of the last things your father said to me,” Asteria stated thoughtfully. “’I’ll do anything’. What a foolish man he was.”

My breath caught in my throat. It was the first time Asteria had ever mentioned my father. “Please,” I begged, my voice sounding heartbroken and pitiful even to my own ears.

“Very well then,” Asteria gave in.

The room moved faster and for a moment I thought Asteria was trying to torture me even more, but then it stopped. I stood up, tripping over my feet in dizziness, and moving towards the door, which was now the correct way.

I twisted the doorknob and gave it a shove. It swung open, showing a circle room with two red settees in the middle. Asteria – in all her elegance – was sitting in one of them, her ankles crossed and her hands placed neatly in her lap. Her golden dress shimmered like the sun, contrasting wonderfully with her red hair.

“Sit down,” Asteria ordered. I sank gratefully into the empty settee. “Now do you know why I have done this?”

“So you admit it?” I accused. “You admit that you are the cause of my illness.”

Asteria laughed. “Oh, my dear! It is not an illness you have, it is a curse I placed on you. And yes, I put it on you and I’m not ashamed to admit it. You need to learn.”

Unexpected tears sprung to my eyes. My own mother put a curse on me. “Why? What did I need to learn?”

“I watched you with the diary. I watched your constant growing obsession and it… it made me anxious. I know what obsessions can do to someone; I’ve seen it firsthand. My brother Henry was obsessed with becoming king and he would stop at nothing to get his way. Elle, my daughter, if I teach you nothing but this, I will be a happy lady; getting attached to an object – any object, living or nonliving – it will only end in hurt for you.”

“I understand,” I promised, finally getting why she was doing this. It was to protect me.

Asteria’s genuine smile lit up the room. “Very well. Now you may see what is in the diary.”

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