Enter the Shadows: Book One of the RTS Series (First Full Draft)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Robin

It was voices that Robin first heard when he came to. They were familiar, but it took awhile for him to put together where he'd heard them before. Immediately, he registered the throbbing pain in the back of his head, and his concern was focused on the concussion he received less than a week ago.

"Ah, I see you're coming to."

Robin pried his eyes open, and saw that he was on the floor in what looked like some kind of well-furnished living room; tables and chairs crafted from dark oak, a red cushioned couch in one corner, the smell of roses and old paper prominent. Though Robin also immediately noticed two things; the first were the walls, as they had portraits hung up. Portraits of the Nadirs he had seen; the garden monster, the charcoal beast, there was even one of a half-mannequin, half-metal spider Nadir that Robin assumed was the monster Leala had first seen. All of them painted against backgrounds of flowers, trees, blurry backgrounds and hung up on the walls, and seemingly so carefully displayed as if they were pieces in an abstract art museum.

The second thing? That same man, not Demarcus, sitting in one of the red chairs and watching Robin as he started to come back to consciousness. His hands were absent-mindedly braiding some kind of string and pulling them back apart, but other than his hands he sat perfectly still. Unnaturally still like a statue.

Robin bolted upwards, feeling that pain grow worse. His heart was pounding. "Wh-Where am I?!"

The man didn't move. "I was told by the lady of this place to bring you here to wait."

Robin saw a door to leave, and leapt to his feet and tried to run to it. The man didn't move as Robin grabbed the doorknob, only to find it locked. And no matter how much he pulled, the door wouldn't open. As if something on the outside was keeping the door in place. Then Robin saw the symbol carved into the door, some kind of intricate circle with smaller circles and triangles in the center of it.

"You cannot leave this place." The man responded. "You can try, but the door will not open unless I open it for you."

Robin turned to him. "Where's Leala and Daniel?!"

"The Esoteric is elsewhere. The lady of this house is speaking to your friend."

"Let me out of this place, now!" Robin demanded, reaching for his kubotan. He found nothing, the kubotan wasn't in his pocket anymore.

The man pulled the weapon from a pocket in his jacket, and held it in his palm out for Robin to see. "You will not need this anymore." And right as he said that, the man closed his hand over the kubotan. There was a crushing sound, and the sound of something cracking so sharp it made Robin cringe. When the man opened his palm again, the kubotan was broken into pieces that he let carelessly fall to the carpet.

Robin was shaking. He had lost his weapon. "Wh... Who are you?"

The man stood up, putting the braid in one of his pockets. "I am the hunter to the lady of this place." He looked to Robin, eyes empty. "The lady of this place gifted me the name Yaeger, so that is what you will know me as."

As terrified as Robin was, he couldn't help but think that such a name was a bit on-the-nose. But just as fitting for such an efficient monster. "Are you going to kill me?"

Yaeger's mouth twitched. He almost smirked. "If I am told to, I will. But no until the lady of this place tells me to."

Robin registered the pain in his head again. His eyes scanned the room, desperate to find some kind of weapon to fight this man off if it turned into a fight. Instead, his gaze fell on an easel in one corner next to a fireplace. It was unfinished, but he immediately knew that the Nadir in the portrait was a mid-transformed Arthur. The long limbs, the stain-glass wings, face contorted in pain, just looking at it made Robin's blood boil.