Hiddens [Old Version- New Coming Soon]

Chapter 13- Craig

The blonde boy sat with his head down, hands folded in his lap as he sat in the dim cell. A few bars of filtered sunlight reached through the slim bars of the window and highlighted the small motes of dust floating in the air. The room was absolutely silent, and that was how Craig liked it. He had been a big fan of order and discipline before the Dead Eye had overtaken him and completely changed how he saw the world.

A knock on the wall in front of him made him look up. A young boy with a mask pushed to the top of his head was standing there, fear clouding his eyes as he looked at Craig.

"S-sir, Mistress Ophelia would like to see you. Um, right- right now, if it's not any trouble," the boy stammered, clearly wanting to be anywhere at that moment but near him.

Craig stared at the boy in a way that mimicked a predator looking down upon its prey. The boy stiffened as he got up and walked over to the entrance of the cell while dragging his white gloved finger across the dirty cement wall. His eyes focused sharply on the boy, and he nodded in one quick motion. The boy took the lead and started walking down the long, dingy hallway with Craig following just a few steps back.

They passed by many different cells with barred doors, which was the only thing that set them apart from Craig's cell. His had no door, because no door was needed. He may be down in the depths of the facility with the most forgotten of prisoners, but he was anything but forgotten. He was the monster of the facility, and no one wanted to deal with him so they kept him down in a place where no one would have to.

The boy in front of him was shivering even though the dirty stone walls were lined with oily torches that clogged the hallway with an unpleasant scent. Craig didn't find it cold himself, but he supposed that anyone not used to the seeping chill of the dungeon would be shivering.

After walking past a few more locked cells, the boy stopped at a large closed door and pulled a ring of keys from his pocket. He took a small brass one and unlocked the heavy door which lead to a narrow winding staircase. Without looking back at Craig, he started up the stairs.

Craig followed behind, not even blinking as the door behind him shut without anyone touching it. They walked up what seemed to be a never-ending flight of stairs, passing many doors leading to other hallways, as the staircase wound up and up until it touched the clouds, which wasn't a lie.

The boy unlocked the door at the top of the stairs with a bone white key and pushed open the door, revealing a long hallway with glass walls. All Craig could see out of the windows were peaceful white clouds as they drifted around the top of the tower. It was just like Ophelia to show her power and intimidate anyone meeting her by keeping her room so high up in the sky.

Making a gesture to the door at the end of the glass hallway, the boy quietly retreated back into the staircase, shutting the door behind him with a weighted thud. Craig didn't even glance behind him. Instead, he walked forward towards Ophelia's room, not wanting to waste any time.

He knocked on the door, and a tiny girl in a white maid's outfit opened it. She bowed to him with an expressionless look that matched his own and turned, saying, "Mistress, he's here."

She led him into the room where everything was as white as a feather except for the windows on the back wall that showed the pure blue sky. "Come. Sit, Craig Miller," Ophelia said from a huge feathery couch, her silver eyes holding something wicked.

He sat in a way comparable to the way a robot would, legs and arms stiff. Then he turned on his smile as he got himself situated.

"You did something wrong," she said, her eyes sharp and her expression faintly annoyed. "What were you thinking, using the Eye and summoning phantoms with it? Not only that, but you got out of control because you used the Eye and then you were completely useless to the mission afterwards. You were a hindrance because you made a foolish action that could have compromised the entire plan."