They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 17: Nothing Like You

Stella POV

"We will walk through the city," Graywick said as he turned the car off in front of a walled city.

I nodded silently as I got out of the car to stare at the enormous stone wall in front of me. It stood with such grandeur, as if it was designed to things out of whatever was inside the walls.

My mind went back to the drive I just had. It felt short, but as the sun started to set, I realized it was longer than I thought. I was just too focused on taking in my surroundings, trying to remember every turn we took, just in case I would have to travel back without him.

I had been nowhere besides the school, so I didn't know Churchwell outside of that. But as we passed small towns of cobblestone roads and old looking houses, rivers and forests, it was clear that Churchwell was not much different from the European countryside.

"Where are we?"

He smirked as he got out of the car and walked towards a pair of large wooden doors to enter the city. "This is my home."

I thought Graywick was an enemy of Churchwell. I never thought he would claim a city as a home. For some reason, I thought he would live in the shadows, not out in the open like this.

With wide eyes, I followed Graywick through a broken set of doors. On the other side lay a town made of beige stones and sand colored cobble stones. It looked like something from a travel magazine, but as I paid closer attention, I saw crumbling buildings and blood-stained walls. The deeper we walked into the city, the clearer the image of bloodshed was apparent.

There was a war here, and it was recent.

I couldn't help but wonder if it was related to Graywick.

Graywick walked with such confidence down the road. It was as if he didn't care about the state of this city. Or he just chose not to see it. However, that was all I could focus on.

"What happened here?" I asked as we walked up a pair of stone steps.

"What do you think happened here?" he replied.

"A war."

He nodded in silence as he stepped over a strained red cobble stone.

"And it was because of you?"

He smirked at me. "What we want most in this world always needs a little sacrifice."

His comment made me feel sick to my stomach. Everything about this told me I should stop and run away. But yet I couldn't. I could see there was something he knew about the monster in my dreams, and I would do anything to get that information out of him.

As I looked around, I caught sight of a mother and child running into a small house down the road. That was the first time I saw people within this city. I wondered how many people stayed after he claimed his throne.

Silently, I followed him through the massive front doors of a castle. I wondered if this was the royal family's home before he murdered them.

"Are you king now?" I asked as I followed Graywick deeper into the castle.

"I'm not one for titles, but it's something like that."

"And what are your plans now?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Aren't we here for you?"

I nodded in agreement.

"And tell me, how are your dreams?"

"What do you know about them?" I snapped.

He chuckled as he walked into an extensive library full of rows of old leather books. "I know a lot, but what is interesting is I know little about your case," he mused as he pulled out a book and dusted it off.