The Star Maidens Curse (A Dark Adventure)

The Star Maidens Curse Chapter 10 (Dark and Gripping)

 I tossed and turned. Phantom images pursued me and taunted me with images of Donte and my family so vivid that I felt I could reach out and embrace them. Voices spoke, but I couldn't comprehend the words. I felt the fleeting touch of hands as I stumbled along a misty realm of light and shadow.

I awoke with a start among luxurious silken sheets and ruffled down covers swathing me in veils of white and gold. Cradled in a soft nest of pillows, I stared around in confusion. Where was I? This wasn't my room. I couldn't even remember falling asleep. Had the night passed?

Then I remembered where I was. This wasn't a dream. I was awake. Unlike a nightmare whose images faded, no amount of opening or closing my eyes would banish the walls of the room that rose solidly around me.

I remembered speaking to Seraphina, but everything else had faded into blankness. Gazing at the ethereal light filtering into the room, I watched golden motes dance in the air. A warm, fragrant breeze wafted in from the French doors. Roses. Their perfume filled me with pangs of longing. Gurgling water accompanied the serenade of birdsong, and somewhere in the distance, wind chimes tinkled.

Gradually, the memories of my abduction surfaced. I was in Seraphina's room, trapped in a situation from which I could see no escape. I tried to take comfort in her words, but it appeared my fate was to be no different from hers. What was I supposed to do? Choose someone I didn't know to become... what? What would happen to me if I chose one of the brothers? What would happen if I refused to choose one of them? Would I die or worse?

Then I thought of the Gatemen, and a fear far worse than what I'd experienced during my abduction seized me. I could only imagine who they were and the kind of world they called home. It seemed that magical powers did exist, and everything I had ever considered fantasy was, in fact, reality. The Gatemen seemed to have appeared with the intention of helping me, but how could I be sure? Perhaps they just wanted me for their own amusement.

After all, Cillian and the others had warned me that the Gatemen weren't to be trusted, but then they would say that, wouldn't they? There was much I didn't know and so many answers I didn't have. I knew only one thing for sure – I had to find a way to escape.

My temples began to throb. So many things ran through my mind and, despite myself, I couldn't stem my rising anxiety. My only consolation and hope were that Cillian and Seraphina were my protectors, at least against those that would seek to take me from them. A part of me knew this wasn't as reassuring as I wanted it to be; they may be less cruel than the other brothers, but they were still holding me here against my will, still demanding I make a decision that would have consequences I was unaware of.

The more I dwelled on it, the more I understood that I was a pawn in a game I didn't understand, and whichever choice I was forced to make would inevitably come at my own sacrifice. With the clarity of understanding came something else; a streak of rebellion. A part of me was determined to get out of this, go home, and forget any of it ever happened.

I forced myself to forget the enormity of the decision and focus on something else. The magic that Seraphina and the brothers seemed to call to their fingertips easily. Magic was romantic or intriguing in a book or film, but in reality, it was a completely different story. It was being used to keep me afraid and control me. But as much as Seraphina insisted it wasn't something humans could tap into, I wasn't convinced that was true.

Magic was something I had always seen in my visions. I'd always questioned if magic could exist in my world, and now it seemed that it did. If I could find a way to tap into the powers that the others did, I could use that to my advantage. It wasn't a great leap to make – my visions had always shown me that there were more layers to the world than we truly saw, and all I had to do was remember how it had all worked as I watched.