Bloodstream (#2 Blood Series)

Chapter 1

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Three months ago

I am falling. All that I see, all that I know is a swirling darkness around me. And the cold. Icy cold mist creeps into my very soul and the only thing keeping me warm is Oliver's hand in mine.

I try to shake him off but he only hangs on tighter and we play a round of tug of war until he nearly cuts off my circulation and I give in. Letting go in this darkness doesn't really seem that good of an idea anyway, so I hold onto Oliver, for now. We spin around in a weightless state, dropping further and further down. I don't how long it has been. We could have fallen in only few seconds ago but to me it feels like it has been hours, just free falling through darkness without knowing what lies in the bottom or if there even is a bottom. I squeeze my eyes shut because I remember what Nietzsche said about the abyss. I don't want it to start staring back at me. 

After a small eternity of me fretting we'd never stop falling we finally hit the ground and if not for Oliver's tight grip on me I would have landed face-first. I start to lean forward but he yanks me back up. I stagger but manage to stay on my feet. When I realize that my feet are on solid ground I try to run off but I have barely taken a step when he grabs my waist. Feeling afraid and frustrated I bite the hand squishing me to him. 

"Bitch", Oliver mutters as he lets go off me with a hiss of pain. "There's nowhere to run, idiot. But go ahead. Try. I know I did. Many times. There's no way out." 

I glare at him in response but there's no malevolence in his voice. He just sounds tired, like he has roamed these halls a million times before and would give anything to go home but knows that there is no way home. I look around a bit and notice that we are in a hallway scoured inside a rock. There is not much light but around us floats weird blue mist that makes me feel like someone has trapped me inside an aquarium. 

"Now, let's get fucking going. The queen wants to see you", he says impatiently and nudges me to move. I shove him away from me and then back up a few steps myself. 

"Stay away from me!" 

Oliver sighs. "Don't be so dramatic, Haley. I told you there's nowhere for you to run so you just as well might come with me without any of your usual tricks. I'm really not in the mood to listen to a fucking whiny little girl", he says grumpily and I open my mouth to cuss him out but I'm cut off before I can even begin. 

"Manners, Oliver!" a young beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere before us scolds him. Then she turns to look at me, frowning. "You'll have to excuse my son's bad manners. He seems to never learn the etiquette, no matter how hard I try to teach him. My name is Mirabelle. I'm Queen of Underworld and I welcome you, Haley Roberts." 

Her son? I glance at Oliver who looks at the ground. I'm a little confused. I thought Oliver was an angel. Well, a fallen angel but an angel nonetheless and I didn't really picture angels having parents. And the girl ahead of us does not look a day over thirty so there's no way she's really Oliver's mother unless she has insanely good genes. She has golden hair braided to her back, pale skin and turquoise eyes that shine with strange light in them.