The Five Dimensions Part 1: Shadow World

Chapter 61

The devil's eyes were on Alex. Hailey's rage boiled at the sight of it. He was still wearing what he had worn in the war room. Except now, the edges of his cape were drenched in a dark substance that could only be blood. Just like the sword in his hand, which was twice the length of his arm and had a wickedly sharp side and a serrated side, that looked like it might be the most damaging part of the blade.

He was different from what she had seen of him in the vision somehow. A dream couldn't accurately illustrate him, not even one that was nearly indistinguishable from real life. He was inhumanly dazzling. But there was something unnerving about his beauty. It wasn't real, it was an illusion, like a mask over his real face, contorting it into something that shouldn't exist. It was distressing to look at him directly, and yet she was pulled to him at the same time. His face was long, and he had thin lips stretched out over his gleaming teeth. His whole body seemed to be elongated beyond human proportions. His fingers were long and thin, just like his legs and arms. But he was anything but gangly. Even as thin as he looked, strength radiated from him.

He wasn't wearing his crown anymore. Possibly, that was only a show of power during the war meeting. Everything about him screamed death and now that Hailey finally met him in person she wasn't surprised by his deception. In fact, if she had met him before she was sure she wouldn't have believed a word he had said. There was something about his grin that betrayed his trickster spirit.

Hailey had fooled herself to think that she had forced Prince out of Alex's head. He had kept up the pretense so that she wasn't paying close attention to Alex while Prince rooted himself even more firmly in Alex's mind. She should've noticed. She couldn't believe how oblivious she was. She could've prevented this.

"You've got to stop blaming yourself, Hailey," Prince said, demeaning. Hailey was extremely annoyed but not at all surprised to find he was listening in to her thoughts again. "I'm the one who made you ignore all the signs of evilness. So really, you should give me all the credit."

"Thanks, what a relief," Hailey said sarcastically. She had to find a way to get him out of her head.

"If I think about it, though," Prince continued, as if Hailey hadn't said anything. "It is actually all your fault."

"And how's that?" Hailey entertained. She wasn't ready to let him stop talking. Maybe he would even give some information away if she played him right. If that was even possible. "I'm not the one holding an enlarged kitchen knife. You guys got any large tomatoes you can cut with that back at home?"

"Back at home, we've got ways of making human bodies look like large tomatoes and then we can cut them with our enlarged kitchen knives." It was as if Prince was telling them his personal recipe for carrot cake. It shut Hailey up. "It is all your fault, Hailey, because you exist."

"I could say the same about you," Ash intervened. He was holding sharp weapons in both hands. In his dominant hand was his sword ― that looked shockingly small compared to Prince's blade ― and a long dagger in his other hand.

"Indeed, you could, but who would there be to make life interesting, huh? Hailey, however, had so many opportunities to die. A nice hard fall off a staircase or a tragic traffic accident would've perfectly taken care of my little problem."

Prince was pacing around. He was getting impatient. Ash too. They both knew there was a fight coming and Hailey was the only one trying to postpone it. All her thoughts of wanting to help, wanting to fight herself, were gone. And now, she wasn't even sure any of those thoughts were her own or planted by Prince to make her more reckless.

Prince and Ash were starting to eye each other like predators eying their prey. Neither would ever admit they were anything else than the predators. Although now that Hailey was starting to see the limits of Prince's power, she was afraid to think which of the two looked more likely to become the prey.

Alex groaned loudly. He stirred but didn't wake up. It looked like he was having a very bad nightmare. Hailey wanted nothing but to help him, if she just knew how. Prince turned to Alex dramatically as if he had completely forgotten about the unconscious body of his other Connected Soul on the floor besides him.

"Ah, yes, Alex. Don't worry, I'll get to killing you soon enough. You won't suffer much longer, at least if Hailey isn't too stubborn. I think we both know that she is, though. Too bad for you." He chuckled again. He was talking to Alex as if he was awake.

Maybe, for Prince, he was more conscious than for Hailey and Ash. Prince was making him suffer somehow by something he was doing in Alex's mind. Hailey felt nauseous at the thought of Prince hurting Alex.

"Now, Hailey, enough talking. It's time for you to go join your mother." Prince's grin spread even wider.

Hailey was momentarily stunned. What did Prince know about her mother? What made him mention her now? Something inside Hailey stirred that she didn't recognize.

Then something else within her changed. It was like her senses were sharpening. This sensation she did recognize. It was her body filling with adrenaline, readying her to strike. She was just about ready to jump Prince when Ash pulled her back. He was so strong she almost stumbled and fell. Even though she kept herself upright, she didn't like exposing her physical weakness to Prince like that.

"You'll have to go through me first," Ash said. He puffed up his chest, letting out steady breaths. He was presenting a confident front, that even Hailey would have believed if she hadn't seen something shift in his eyes that betrayed his underlying concern. Whether it was for himself, or Hailey, or Alex, she couldn't be sure. She hoped Prince wouldn't notice or read what Hailey saw in her mind.

"I hoped you'd say that," laughed Prince. Then he charged.