feathers ↣ w. worthington iii

(2) Tight Spaces Suck

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" (The Summer Day by Mary Oliver) 

Lilli's jaw dropped and she momentarily forgot all about how she had been kidnapped as she stared at the boy she had once loved. She hadn't seen him in a while, but not much had changed. He looked the same. Granted, the circles under his eyes were darker than they had been before, but it was still the boy she had fallen in love with. That's not what he even really looks like, Lilli thought bitterly, remembering how he looked like a mini Warren.

He was half sitting up, with one arm free and the other still strung up above his head. Cas' wild, confused, and scared eyes were taking in Lilli as well. Although he made himself look different physically, his facial expressions were identical to Warren's. It was scary how similar they were when Lilli took at step back and thought about it.

"Alright, you two are coming with me," the big man said, interrupting Lilli's thoughts. 

"That's not happening." Cas said, glaring at the man as he finished searing the rest of the ropes off his arm. 

"Oh, yes it is, little Kezing boy," the big man replied, laughing. "It's time to go."

"Go where?" Lilli asked. Where even were they?

"To meet Chaos. We're already late, let's go," the man said in exaggerated annoyance, gesturing towards the door. Lilli and Cas had no choice but to follow the man out the door and into the depths of a very fancy house.

The trio passed rooms and rooms and rooms filled with fancy furniture, high ceilings, old artwork, statues, and books. Lots and lots of books. There wasn't a single room they passed that didn't have a huge, ornate bookshelf in it. Many of the rooms had a whole wall devoted solely to books.

The man, whom Lilli referred to as Tree, turned them from the more modern looking part of the gigantic mansion into a wing that looked more medieval. The walls were made of stone and there were fewer rooms, with different decorations in them. Tapestries hung from the narrow walls of the hallway and the distances between the rooms kept getting larger and the hallway darker. Lilli started to panic. Was she and Cas being led to their deaths? 

And why was everything getting smaller? And darker? Lilli's claustrophobia started to return and her breath came quicker as her palms began to sweat. The hallway was so small now that Tree was crawling on his hands and knees and Lilli and Cas were bent halfway down. The only light came from far behind them from the lighter halls.

Lilli started to really panic when she could no longer walk and had to crouch down. She couldn't see anything, not even Tree in front of her. Her breaths came fast, and her eyes started watering in fear. Her mind was moving at a million miles a minute and she couldn't focus on any one thing.

All of a sudden Cas reached up and touched her back from behind. "Lilli, take deep breaths. It's okay, we're almost there," he whispered.

Lilli suddenly remembered Cas could feel her emotions and hear her thoughts and therefore knew her panic. He also most likely could sense Chaos and knew they were near their destination. 

None of that helped Lilli stop feeling like she was being crushed.

"Cas, help," Lilli gasped. Cas didn't need an explanation and quickly pacified her using one of his countless mutations. Lilli took a few deeps breaths, feeling calm despite the fact that she was crawling, possibly to her death, through a pitch black tunnel in the middle of nowhere.

"Y'all coming?" Tree called from up ahead. 

Lilli started moving again, and within minutes she saw a light up ahead. The hallway slowly started getting larger, but it was still a tight fit.

She finally walked through the end of the hallway and into a small, bright room with a very low ceiling. There were small windows that let in a lot of light and a handful of small chairs were sitting in a circle in the center of the room. There was no one else in the room bar a small cat asleep on the windowsill.

"Well, take a seat, he'll be out in a minute," Tree said, sitting down uncomfortably on a chair. His head brushed the ceiling and the chair buckled under his weight.

Lilli looked at Cas, who shrugged and took a seat. Lilli followed his example, but sat a few chairs away from him. She didn't want to be nearer to him than she had to be.

After a few moments, Lilli was wondering where in the world Chaos was. He definitely wasn't coming the way she had. No one would willingly put themselves through that tunnel. But there was nowhere else to come from, other than the windows. She quickly gave up theorizing how Chaos would come through the window right above her after a horrible image of a hairy man landing on her passed through her mind.

Lilli was just wondering if they were in group therapy when she noticed a small, four foot tall door on the wall across from her. She wondered if that was where Chaos was. Was he a midget?

As she was staring at the door, it suddenly burst open and lo and behold, out walked a tiny man in a crisp black suit and tie. He hopped up onto one of the chairs and looked at Lilli and Cas expectantly. "Sei in ritardo."

"He said we're late." Tree said to Lilli. 

"Cosa intendi?" Cas said angrily. "Eravamo qui prima di te!"

"'What do you mean? We were here before you!" Tree translated.

"I know Italian," Lilli interjected. She turned to the man. "Tu chi sei?" Who are you?

"Sono Chaos." The man said. I'm Chaos. "Grazie per avermi incontrato." Thanks for meeting me.

"Cosa vuoi?" Cas asked. What do you want?

Chaos smiled and settled into his chairs. In a heavy Italian accent, he said: "I want you."