Fated Connection (Book 1)

Chapter 27

I saw nothing, only darkness surrounded me. I felt nothing, not warmth or cold, no air nor earth. There was no pain nor was there pleasure. This place was nothing. It wasn't empty or full, happy or sad, no anger or fear existed. It was not light nor was it heavy. It just simply… was.. 

It was nothing… I was nothing… 

Was this what it felt like to die? Was I dead? Or had I found myself in some sort of limbo, not dead but not quite alive either? Would I be here for eternity?

Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, I began to be aware of my body once more. A cool, damp sensation caressed the soles of my seemingly bare feet, yet I continued to see nothing. The smell of mildew and wet soil filled my nose as my eyes strained to focus themselves on my surroundings. I blinked several times to clear away the hazy fog that blurred my vision, my head spinning momentarily as I struggled to gain control of myself.

My mind was a jumbled mess, vague memories of being thrown into a tree danced precariously across my thoughts. Looking down, I saw my shirt was stained dark but no injury lay beneath the fabric, my skin still smooth and unharmed. I was confused and disoriented, unable to decipher where I was or what had happened for me to end up in this strange place. 

I knew who I was, which was a plus considering I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was being inside Michael's house and telling Nova that I wanted to leave. However, this bemusing situation was much more preferable to the nonexistence I had just experienced. 

Feeling as if I would no longer fall over, I slowly took in the room around me. It was lit by two lone torches along the wall farthest from me, leaving me cloaked in shadows. The walls were made of stone, moisture gathering in the crevices before slowly dripping down the surface of the smooth rocks. Large wooden crates were stacked around the room, bits of packing straw peeking out here and there. 

Despite my curiosity of the crates, I found myself compelled to venture from the room as my feet moved toward the open doorway. Staying close to the wall, I quietly and carefully inched from the room, finding myself in a stone corridor that stretched out to my left and my right. There were no windows, only several more torches guiding the way in each direction.

Going on instinct, I turned to my right and silently crept down the corridor, listening for sounds of other people as I went. The air was cool against my skin causing goosebumps to pimple my arms. After several minutes of wandering down multiple corridors identical to the first, and passing several closed wooden doors, I began to hear murmured voices somewhere ahead of me. 

Slowing my pace, I glanced around for somewhere to hide, feeling as if I were to be seen that the consequences wouldn't be pleasant. Finally, I spotted a door most cast into shadow and pressed my back against the wood trying to make myself as small as possible. Light bobbed across the walls as the voices grew closer still. 

I held my breath as their footsteps echoed against the stone floor, stopping at the end of the corridor I was hiding in. Risking a look, I leaned my head slightly forward to allow myself to see just passed the doorway. 

Standing at the end of the corridor was a man with a torch burning in one hand facing a woman in a short black dress, with white blonde hair falling down her back which was facing me. The man was tall with broad shoulders, thick muscular arms, and short dark hair. His face was an angry mask as he looked at the woman, even from several feet away there was no mistaking the darkness in his eyes.

"Why do you even bother with that bitch?" the blonde female sneered at the man, her voice holding a melodic accent despite the tone she had used. "She's useless. I can't believe you would touch her!"