Dizgaia ~ The Dreamfinder's Daughter

Chapter 30 ~ The Seas of Heartache

It was very late at night or perhaps in the early morning hours before dawn when Mia awoke. The lanterns had burned down and the cabin was black as pitch. The only sound to be heard was Hook's snores from across the room and the waves lapping at the hull of the ship. But then, there was something else. Mia sensed movement on the other side of the cabin. Alarmed, she quickly sat up. What presence was here with them?

"C-Captain?" she said tremulously, but he continued to snore. "Hook!" she hissed. But still he did not awaken.

She heard a scream, one which sounded frighteningly familiar.

"Mom?"

How had Hook not heard that? Heart pounding, Mia walked barefoot across the cabin, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Something was very wrong. There should at least be some  light source, whether it be the shine of the moon or the stars coming in through the windows. But there was nothing. Nothing but a dull green glow coming from the corner of the cabin.

Tentatively, she stretched out her arm and reached towards the green light. Her fingers brushed against a sheet and it fell away, revealing the bird cage. With a furious squawk, the parrot beat its wings against the bars of the cage until it fell to the floor with a crash. The cage door broke on impact and the parrot flew out, hovering in front of Mia. She stared, as though hypnotized, into its glowing green eyes. Suddenly, she knew where she'd seen a green glow like that before.

Then, something very peculiar happened. The two glowing eyes seemed to draw together into one and the bird was no more. Instead, a single orb, like a toxic green fireball, hovered in front of her. Although Mia knew what was about to emerge from that green glow, she was frozen in place, unable to move. Slowly, the green glow expanded until it took the form of a beautiful yet terrifying woman with curving horns dressed in a cloak of pure shadow.

Mia finally found the strength to take a step back. She opened her mouth, but was so frightened that no sound emerged. When she opened her mouth a second time, another voice spoke, but it was not hers. It came from behind her.

"You!"

Mia spun around to see the Dreamfinder pointing a trembling finger at the horned figure.

"Dad?!"

What was he doing here? How could he even be here? But that didn't matter. All that mattered was he was here to save her! To protect her!

"Dad! Thank God!" She ran to him, but he did not open his arms to her. In fact, he didn't even seem to see her. And most alarmingly of all, Mia ran right through him.

What the...? Is he a ghost? Or am I?

A second voice drowned out her thoughts, crying out into the dark cabin.

"Blair! The baby!"

Mia knew that voice, just as she had known the scream which had drawn her from the lounge. Although she glanced all about, Mia could not see her mother. But in the direction from where the voice had come stood a cradle with a tiny bundle inside. Mia approached as though in a trance. She recognized the crib all too well. But who or what would she find inside it? As Mia peered into it, she felt very foolish. What else would she find in a cradle but a sleeping baby?

Still in a trance-like state, Mia felt compelled to reach into the crib and pick up the baby. But as she leaned over the crib, the world suddenly flipped upside-down and she was falling... falling, falling, falling into the crib. She landed inside it with an echoing bang as though someone had slammed a large dungeon door shut. The baby was gone and she remained in its place inside a crib that was suddenly far bigger than it was before. The bars of the crib became like the metal bars of a cage, and as Mia scrambled to her feet, they grew taller and taller until there was no way out. She was trapped!