The Disorder (Book 1)

Chapter 3

What. The. Hell. Was Aubrey going crazy? Only crazy people hear voices their heads. But then again, crazy people think that they are perfectly sane...

Aubrey look back down at her shard-covered hands and pjs. It couldn't be possible that her dream hadn't become real, could it?

Oh, that is completely possible, said the voice again. She couldn't mistake the voice this time, it was Dogstar from her dream. It must be true, he came out of her dream.

Of course I was right, she heard Dogstar say, but she wasn't paying attention. The shock of the situation had her in a daze, causing her to stumble out of the living room and into the dining room. Out of habit, Aubrey's confused feet clumsily lead her to her seat.

Then she fell, cutting her head on the edge of the table, and seized.

* * *

Aubrey found herself in a strange room. The walls were fiery red and seemed to flicker every time she shifted her focus. The floor was covered in a black carpet-like substance, and the ceiling was peaked. The bed she was sprawled in was more comfortable than any bed she had ever slept in, and she had slept in a tempur-pedic before. There were no windows, so Aubrey had no idea where she was or how to get home. She saw two enormous gold doors and a huge bookshelf that held everything from tiny pocketbooks to 20 pound encyclopedias.

Laying next to her on the bed was a tray that held a plate and an empty glass. In her hand was a small glass vial.

But the room wasn't even the strangest part. Aubrey soon realised that she wasn't actually herself. Her Mickey Mouse pjs were replaced with sturdy leather jeans. Her angry birds t-shirt was now a loose fitting green silk shirt and a brown vest. Her legs and fingers were far too long and her feet were enormous. Aubrey tried to move her hands to feel her face, but she was no longer in control.

What's going on? she thought, since that was all she could do.

"What? You haven't figured it out yet, sweetheart?" She heard Dogstar say, but it was her lips that were moving. "Don't be too upset that it has taken you so long to catch up, this spell is rarely used just because it so complex." Her hands rested behind her head, and she felt silky strands of straight hair. Defiantly nothing like her corse, curly hair. "Here, I will tell you a bit about it. Your confusion is wearing off on me, and I can't have that." He said with a wicked grin. "Here is how it goes: I cast a spell on you."

A spell? You can't be serious, spells are only in stuff like Harry Potter; they are only in stories. She thought at him.

"Just listen will you? The spell I put on you combined our consciousness. Now both of us must be in the same body at the same time."

So I'm IN your BODY? she mind-shouted at him.

"Exactly, aren't you lucky?"

Ew, she thought, but wait a second, if I am here, wherever this is, where is my body? Am I dead? Did you kill me? she thought, scared and a little exasperated.

"Calm down, your body is safe on Earth. They will say you had a seizure, but that is perfectly normal. It was just you leaving your body and coming here. You will be unconscious until we go back. It's the same way for me, so I am putting myself in as much danger as you. I don't tend to do that often, so enjoy it."

On Earth? Are you implying that we left Earth? Aubrey said, her mind buzzing from all of these new discoveries.

She felt him grin.

Oh jeez, Aubrey thought, if we are not on Earth, then where are we?

Footsteps sounded on the other side of one of the giant gold doors. Dogstar quickly hid the tray and the glass vial under the bed then laid back down while Aubrey sat in the back of his mind and watched.

Instead of speaking to her, Dogstar sent her a thought. By the way, my name isn't actually Dogstar, it's Loki.

Loki? Aubrey thought. The name sounded so familiar, yet so strange (well, not any stranger than Dogstar, but strange all the same).

The door burst open and hit the wall with a resounding BANG! Standing in the huge gold doorframe was a tall bearded man that seemed to make the room crackle with energy. His hair was black with random stripes of gray showing through, and his one remaining eye was a electric blue. It matched Aubrey's exactly, even the the rare fiery quality she had only seen in her family and Loki. On the other eye he wore an eyepatch, and a long sweeping cloak made of an extremely rich maroon fabric hung from his shoulders.

"Loki!" He said in a booming voice full of anger. "I told you what you need to do, now why are you laying around? Get to work! You should have been gone ages ago!"

Loki laughed and casually rested his hands behind his head, but Aubrey could feel his fear. "Gone? You actually want me to go to Hela and ask for him back?" He laughed again, this time without humor.

"How else would you suggest bringing him back?" The man said.

"Oh, I have some ideas. In fact, I am already on it and would appreciate some privacy." Loki make a shooing gesture with his hands.

The man chuckled, "I should've known you would try to save yourself. There is no way to retrieve someone from the dead without going to Hel. I know you can do it, cheat death, I mean."

"Look Odin, I know what I am doing, and me going to Hel won't help anything. It will make things ten times worse. If you trust me on anything, trust me on that."

"I don't trust you." The man, Odin, Aubrey guessed was his name, said. "And that is why I must do this."

Odin reached into the depths of his cloak and pulled out a strange shaped silver whistle. Aubrey felt Loki grow extremely nervous. Oh no, he thought. Anything but that.

Loki stood up from the bed quickly. "Now think about this for a second," he said in a low, persuasive voice. "You need me to retrieve Balder for you. Do you really think I will be able to do everything in my power to get him if one of your little spies is watching me all the time? I can find him, in fact, I think I already have, but you won't like how I am doing it. If you want Balder back, my plan has to continue how it is now. Would you rather stay blissfully ignorant and have your son back, or know about my plan, stop me, and never see him again?"

Odin hesitated. "You say that you're already on his trail?" He said quietly. Loki nodded slowly. "Then I will allow you to continue, brother," Odin said, "but if you pull something on me, if I suspect for one second that you are not being truthful, I will have Hugin on your back for the rest of your measly existence."

Loki smiled, "sounds like a deal."

Odin looked Loki over and left the room with a flourish of his cloak.

What was that all about? Aubrey thought to Loki.

Long story, I might tell you later, he thought back.

So he's your brother? But he's all old.

Of sorts; Odin is my blood brother. He took me in, and uses me to fix all of his problems. Granted, I am the cause of most of them. Loki chuckled aloud.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and buried his face in his hands. Being a part of his consciousness, Aubrey could feel everything Loki felt. His skin was soft and warm; she could feel the sharp edges of his cheekbones and jawline when he ran his hands across his face. He rubbed his eyes and she felt Loki's long eyelashes tickle his fingers. He sighed and ran a hand through his long, red hair, which was silky and ran like water through his fingers.

"Well," he said, slapping his hands on his knees, pulling Audrey out of her daze, "time to get to work."

A/N:

Yay! Chapter 3 is up! Thank you everyone for reading y'all are the bestest :) vote and comment if you enjoyed pretty please with cherries on top!