Kidnapped|Book 4|A novel in the Blue Moon series| An Avengers fan fiction series|

45- A Father's Strength

The door is locked, but after Wairua reports that there is nobody near, Videl breaks down the door. The crashing noise is perfectly in-sync with the first boom of thunder, masking the sound. I wonder if Velah have storm senses. If we get out of this alive, maybe I'll ask.

As Videl strides through, I hesitate at the doorway, swallowing hard, remembering all the terrible memories from this house.

Videl looks back at me, and gestures silently and impatiently. I push back my shoulders determinedly and walk inside the house, Wairua floating behind me like a whisper.

Wairua leads us around the other side of the house, where I haven't been before. Neidra's whole decor has always been dark, but this place is darker still, full of weapons. Why does she need all of these swords, all of these daggers, all of these crossbows? Videl, who is walking behind me, glances around, his eyes darting, his nostrils flaring, trying to sense if we have been discovered yet.

We do pass through one room that I know well, and I stop short, causing Videl to run into me from behind. It's the sitting room where Loki had first seen my short hair. There is no fire in the hearth, no movement from adjacent rooms in preparation for the dinner party, but I do see the velvet chair that Loki had risen from.

He hadn't exactly been kind to me then, but he had kissed the top of my head and held me close to him while I cried. When I cried, which seemed like lifetimes ago. Had Neidra's spell worn off slightly then? When had the spell taken place at all?

Videl shakes me, and I realize I've been staring at the velvet chair, not moving. His forehead is wrinkled in concern, a question in his eyes. I take a deep breath, and shake my head. He looks up- Wairua has flown out of the room, making a sharp left.

He nods to me in a way that is slightly assuring, and takes my hand. His fingers are long as they wrap around mine, and the glittering rings rub against me as he pulls me out of the room. I don't know why I'm letting him do this, but his hand around mine is admittedly a comfort to me, especially since I'd begun to shake.

Wairua flies down a flight of stairs that goes twisting downward. It's dark, and although I know Videl can see perfectly fine, I can't. I hold up my other hand and let a small flame lick my fingers, throwing the stairway into an eerie glow. Videl glances back at me, but doesn't say a word, leading us down the wet stone stairs. It smells damp, but also smells like herbs and something I can't exactly place, but there are two scent that I know for sure: smoke and blood.

Videl evidently thinks the same, because his eyes narrow even more, and he tightens his hold on my hand.

There is no furniture down here, only a single corridor with low lights and a few iron candelabras that, when thunder rolls through, rattle. It reminds me of the Haunted Mansion. There is a giant wooden door in front of us, where Wairua lands on Videl's shoulders and hoots very softly, and then the corridor continues down into blackness- the candelabras stop here. I wonder where this corridor leads.

~Nobody's POV~

"Did you know, Loki," says Neidra, smiling evilly, "That your daughter is right up this corridor?"

Loki hisses at her. He is against the wall again, his eyes flashing between silver and green, between psychotic insanity and desperate worry. "If you think for a single moment that I will-"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you killing her," says Neidra smoothly. She steps towards the doorway, where there is a crossbow suspended by a long string that is also attached to the door. It's tripwire. Anyone who walks through the door now will have an arrow launched through their unfortunate chest.