Gone Forever

8

Giselle:
The doors swung open, clanging against the wall. A guard jerked her head inside; a gesture for me to follow her. I gulped, frozen in my place.

"Walk or be dragged." she grunted. I walked. The hallway was lit with ornate bead lamps of various sizes. There were crystal bowls filled with lilies lining the walls. Exquisite crystal chandeliers glistened overhead, revealing Strahan in a frock coat made entirely of black PVC. Jerome's goth sister would've drooled over those. Okay, I looked like a bloody pink poodle in the 'attire' given by Strahan. As they sat me down, every delicacy was served before my eyes.

"Eat up." Strahan smiled; the ugliest smile which would fit perfectly on a snake. I kept my hunger in as I eyed all the food: strawberry croissants, Caesar Salad, deep fried prawns and roasted turkey. My mouth screamed for the mouth watering fruit punch before me but I just couldn't.

Screw you Kat.

"Much better." he said, giving me a once-over. "Can't do much about your hair, I suppose, but it's not so ghastly as all that." he continued.

I just glared at him. I was so out of my depth it was ridiculous. He just kept smiling like a proud host. His harem of ghostly ladies floated behind him. "You've met my dear Grey Ladies. Now, do sit down." he said. The cheek-molesting women all cackled at the word 'dear'. His genteel manners were starting to get as creepy as the rest of this nightmare. I sat in the chair he nodded to, mostly because the guard shove me into it.

"Please let me go." I whispered. Strahan waved that away as if I just pleaded for a human to lay an egg. The Grey Ladies laughed, like the sound of ice cracking on a lake.

"We've a ball to look forward to," He said. "It's barely a week from Samhain and we must celebrate. Your aunt wouldn't miss it. She'll think to gain her croon back, wouldn't she?"

I'd seen my ain't in ripped jeans, baggy shirts and ropes of crystal beads, but never a crown. "Bring the others in." Strahan ordered to no one in person. The doors at the end of the hall were held open by the guards as creatures of all shapes and sized marched in. The courtiers stopped talking for a while, and a silence slid into every available space, like water, cold, soft, dangerous.

All the creatures were chained to the wall. Iron touched fairy skin and the smell of burnt sugar mingled through the air. Some walked proudly, some were dragged, wailing. Some were beautiful, some were bizarre. However, all were bruised or cut dead-eyes. There was a man with birch branched in growing out of his head, as if they were his hair; he was bleeding a whit liquid of what looked like sap. There also was a beautiful lady, with a bleeding, peeled mermaid tail. And of course, Winifreda with her innocent, dirty face and her bleeding torn wings.

"This will never do." Strahan clucked his tongue. "They're tattered and hardly impressive. After all, I'm known for my Collection." I could practically hear the capitalization of the C in collection. "Heal them, clean them up, and for the love of God do something about that fish smell."

Several guards bowed in unison. A young man began to walk the ought the crowd, towards our table. Strahan lifted his head, like an animal testing the air before a hunt.

"Ah, Eldric. Home at last, aren't we?" Strahan menaced, satisfied. Eldric was about my age, maybe a couple of years older, with a lean, handsome face. He looked human, with a kind of fierce dignity plastered on his face.

Strahan scrunched his nose. "You stink of them."

Eldric just shrugged. "You were the one who sent me up there." He eyes caught mine and he stilled. "Who's she then?"

"Who do you think?" Strahan said with a hint of warning and something else I didn't recognize. Eldric put his hand on his chin as if in deep thought and nodded, as if a puzzle piece has taken its place on his mind.

"She doesn't look a dot like her." Eldric chuckled. A guard handed him a cup. He drank it up and handed it back to him. "Thank you, Malik." he said as he leaned over to me, our faces hardly inches apart. I smelled honey and wine. There was something not quite game in him, like a wild dog which could bite off your hand any second you try to pet it.

"Back off." it would have sounded more impressive if my voice hadn't given out a pathetic croak. He just smiled at me menacingly.

"She reminds me of that pet ferret I had once." Eldric started. "until you drowned it." he turned to his father.

"I'm telling you Helen did it." he chuckled.

I just shrank in my chair as I heard all this talk about my aunt, not knowing what to do.

✖️🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸✖️
A/N :)
Hey hey! So school holidays just started! And I sincerely apologize for not updating for ages. So yeah, no Katrina's POV here! So picture Eldric as smoking hot as you read, because he is hot! So that's all for now! Bye!

❤️ Stephluffy.