MIA
I had been sitting in a puddle of freezing cold musty water for hours now, the ceiling above me beginning to drip at a more frequent pace, indicating to me that it was most likely raining outside and the water was getting through somehow.
I was shaking, the temperature dropping in the cellar dramatically, goosebumps arising along my skin, and I had to curl my body up in an attempt to keep warm.
Lorenzo and I were currently waiting for Ophelia to come and see us, the witch Greg left with earlier having said she would be down.
By now, I was hoping that the witch who had accompanied Greg was dead, or at least unconscious, and Greg was on his way back from receiving our pack. But, a part of me was terrified that he had failed his mission, and had been killed by the witch.
If she returned, claiming to Ophelia that Greg had attempted to murder her, I knew I would break, all hope of escaping being lost instantly.
The sight would most definitely entertain Ophelia.
I bit down on my bottom lip as the creaking of the wooden door up above us echoed throughout the room, and Lorenzo nodded at me, reassuring me it was going to be okay. We just had to stick to the plan.
I nodded back, quickly snapping my eyes away from him, settling them on a tired looking Ophelia, dark bags under her eyes, her skin pale and gloomy looking.
"I apologise for my disappearing act," she said, her face laced with humour. "I've been working on a spell for your little heartbroken friend so I can get him off my back. He's quite persistent."
I knew that she meant Caspian, and I gulped after hearing his name. I hated how she used him to torment us. She knew how much it meant to us that he had betrayed his own.
Ophelia had clearly been practising her dark magic over the past couple of days, it looking as if the spell wasn't going the way she wanted, and I wondered if she had promised something to Caspian that she couldn't actually provide.
"You look like shit," Lorenzo spat, his mouth turning upwards into a smirk, and Ophelia glared at him, shaking her head.
"Well that's what practising magic does to you," she jeered back, her voice venom-like.
"No, that's what practising dark magic does to you," Lorenzo corrected her, and Ophelia shrugged, turning away from him.
"Well I'm still stronger than you right now."
My mate cocked his head, scoffing, causing Ophelia to arch her eyebrows at him, not enjoying the attitude he was giving her.
"You know, I liked you better when you were on the brink of death," Ophelia snarked, shuffling herself along the floor so that she was a little bit closer to Lorenzo. She attempted to peer down to have a look at his wound, but it was covered by his blood-stained shirt.
"It's not oozing pus anymore if that's what you wanted to know," he said, kicking his legs out in order to try and shoo her away. I could tell that he hated her coming near him.
"Charming," Ophelia muttered, shaking her head, clasping her hands together and making her way towards me. She sat cross-legged on the floor, making me furrow my brows at her.
I wanted to speak to tell her to piss off and leave us alone, but Greg was due back any minute, and we needed Ophelia down here in case she heard or spotted our pack approaching.
We needed the upper hand of surprise, so Lorenzo and I needed to keep her distracted for as long as possible.
"How did you find Caspian and what did you promise him?" I asked, and I saw Lorenzo nod at me from behind Ophelia, encouraging me to question her. We were hoping that she would decide to tell us and waste her time reciting a story.
"Gosh, you are nosy," she mumbled, scraping out the dirt from under her nails, picking at the surrounding skin, and I nodded once at her, letting her know that I wanted the information and would continue to ask until she told me.
As much as I was using the topic to try and distract her, I really did want to know what she had promised Caspian. It was more than bugging me.
"We're interested to know why our third in command turned on us," Lorenzo spoke up after about a minute of silence, a part of me thinking that Ophelia was never going to spill. She was a closed book and liked to keep her plans secret, which of course, made a lot of sense.
Why would you tell your captives your plan?
I was anticipating that she had let her guard down just a little since she was weaker, but it seemed that was not the case.
"Well, this has been fun, but I just came down here to tell you both that we're moving on tomorrow," Ophelia spoke, standing up, gaging my reaction, my eyes wide.
"What do you mean moving on?"
"We can't stay here forever. This is a temporary accommodation. You both need to be in top shape to make the journey, so get some rest," Ophelia said, turning on her heel, making her way towards the stone steps, causing me to panic.
"Have you promised Caspian something you can't actually give him? Is that why you've been practising your magic? Because you don't want to have to go back on your word?" I called after her, and Lorenzo shook his head at me, looking panicked.
Our plan was to try and pry the information about Caspian from Ophelia slowly, as we knew she enjoyed having us practically beg for answers, giving her the feeling of power.
But, she didn't seem to want to stick around, and I knew that I had to wind her up in order to keep her where I wanted her to be, something Lorenzo was not very happy about me doing.
Ophelia chuckled unironically, folding her arms across her chest and storming over to me, running her tongue along the front of her teeth. She looked frustrated as she studied me.
"I already told you, I'm practising," she spat, shaking her head. "There is a distinct difference between not being able to do something and practising so you can do it right."
"Well you certainly need a lot of practise," Lorenzo chimed in, his voice loud and clear. "After looking at the mess you made of the spell you put upon my Mother, I would say you're a pretty pathetic witch."
Ophelia grimaced, and I flinched at Lorenzo's words, knowing that he was trying to take most of the hit from this, hoping that his harsh words would distract Ophelia from my own.
"I'm pathetic?" She laughed, throwing her head back. "I'm the one who's got you chained up here. I'm the one who is winning."
"Maybe, but for how long?"
"Really?" Ophelia smirked, cocking her head at my mate. "You're trying to scare me? After we leave tomorrow we are going to be practically untraceable. You both will be with me for a long long time, until I decide that Mia's life isn't so valuable anymore."
I saw how Lorenzo tensed up at the mention of killing me off, but he remained cocky, wanting to spur Ophelia on, knowing she wasn't going to back down from a fight. This was what we had to do to keep her down here. She always wanted the last word.
Suddenly, a loud scream echoed above us, and Lorenzo widened his eyes at me, smiling, causing Ophelia to gasp. She stared up the stairs, looking panic stricken.
Loud footsteps boomed from the ceiling, causing the cellar to shake slightly, a few stones coming lose and clattering to the floor, landing in a pile.
"What did you do?" Ophelia demanded, her hands beginning to shake, her face even paler than it previously had been.
"I told you," Lorenzo snapped, all of us turning to watch the wooden door fly open, a young witch racing down it, panting heavily, her face red and sweaty.
"Wolves! Ophelia, there are tons of wolves!" she yelled, and Ophelia cursed to herself, pointing in my direction.
"Get them unchained from the wall now! They want them!"
The young witch nodded frantically and raced up to me, closing her eyes and muttering a string of gibberish. Her hands suddenly glowed a vibrant purple as she attempted to pull the heavy chains off the wall.
The spell was taking a little longer than she would have liked, and I could see she that was growing increasingly frightened.
I kicked out at her, grunting in frustration as she side-stepped my foot each time, however, I was making it increasingly difficult for her to concentrate, slowing the process down.
"Thalia! You moron, focus! I taught you this!" Ophelia yelled at her, which only seemed to freak the young witch out even more. Tears welled up in her eyes, causing Ophelia to have to push her aside, repeating Thalia's actions.
The chains eventually fell from the stone wall, but remained on my limbs, keeping me weak and weighing me down.
"Take her out to the truck!" Ophelia ordered, shoving her young witch towards some stairs that led up to a heavy metal back door, gripping onto my chains and dragging me along with her. But, I refused to leave without Lorenzo, digging my feet into the ground.
I didn't know what Ophelia was going to do to him. I wasn't going to leave until he was free also.
"No! Let me go! No!" I screamed as I kicked out, causing the witch to grab me by my hair, yanking me towards her. Lorenzo cursed at her for harming me, my scalp beginning to burn.
"I will knock you out if you don't shut up!" Thalia spat at me, her saliva hitting my face as she pushed the heavy back door open, pulling me out with her, my eyes glued on Lorenzo.
He was snarling and growling at Ophelia as she tried to rip his chains from the wall using her magic.
She was looking weak though, her spells taking a little longer to do than usual, and I was hoping that she would fail with trying to get my mate free, meaning our pack would find him and help him.
Suddenly, Thalia screamed as we exited the door, a loud blast filling the air, causing us to fly forwards and land in a heap on the floor. Brick and stone soared through the air, missing our heads by mileometers.
Thalia was quickly approached by a dark and menacing looking wolf, drool dribbling from its mouth as it stalked towards her, snarling. Its eyes glowed a deep red colour, frightening even me.
It was early morning, the sun having not risen yet, the moon shining up above us, making it difficult to see. But, the eyes of the wolf made it a lot easier to see Thalia's startled expression.
I heard her mumble a load of gibberish as she clutched onto her hands, rubbing at her palm in annoyance in an attempt to get her magic to work.
However, she was too panicked and couldn't concentrate, the wolf ripping her head from her body, causing me to cry out in horror, burying my face into my hands.
Blood pooled into my mouth, and I touched the side of my head, it stinging badly, only to realise it was bleeding. It had trickled down the side of my face, my hands covered in the scarlet liquid.
Looking up through the pouring rain and gloomy early morning air, I saw the dark coloured wolf studying me, it bending down and quickly morphing back into its human form. The sound of bones realigning and ligaments popping caused me to cringe.
My eyes widened when I realised who was standing above me.
Martina.
"Mia, are you okay?" she asked me with panic, taking a hold of my face and scanning my body quickly, nodding to herself when she realised I was pretty much fine.
She was naked, and I averted my eyes, tears clouding them.
"What are these?" Martina muttered to herself as she grabbed my chains in an attempt to yank them off, only to cry out in pain when they singed her hands, her skin suddenly red and burnt. The smell was foul, causing me to almost gag.
"There's a spell on them," I told her frantically, shaking my head. "Don't try and take them off."
"Okay, quick, go over to Lily," Martina ordered me, pointing over to the trees where a muddy brown coloured wolf was standing, her eyes trained on me. "She'll look after you."
"No, Lorenzo is still in there!" I told her, and Martina pushed me away from the door as I looked back at it, shaking her head furiously.
"No, you'll get yourself killed! Go with Lily! We'll get Lorenzo!"
I didn't want Lorenzo out of my sight though, and I turned to make my way back into the cellar, but Martina grabbed me, pulling me back.
I yelled, unsure of what I was going to do when back in the cellar, but I couldn't leave Lorenzo alone in there.
We were supposed to escape together.
"Stop fighting me, Mia," Martina growled, holding onto me tightly as I cried, my feet dragging across the ground as she walked me away from the cellar. She pushed me backwards slightly, blocking me as I clawed at her, desperation flowing through my veins.
"You need to stay out of sight. Getting yourself hurt isn't going to help anyone," she growled at me, taking a few cautious steps away from me, ensuring I wasn't going to try and shove past her.
I was terrified of something happening to Lorenzo while I was out here though, the thought making me shake.
I heard Lily's wolf yelp at me, pleading for me to follow her, but I couldn't move. My feet were glued to the sopping wet grass.
I watched as Martina disappeared through the hole in the wall, dust and rubble blocking my view, stopping me from being able to see what was going on inside.
But, I could hear screaming and grunting, as well as the sound of skin hitting skin, frightening me.
Before I could set foot back into the building, I felt a presence behind me, turning around to see Lily's wolf cocking her head at me. She quickly nudged me away from the area using her nose, my legs weak and wobbly, causing me to fall to the ground.
She yelped at me again, picking me up by the back of my sweatshirt, carrying me away from the building. My chains scraped across the ground as I cried, the sound of screams and howls filling the air, ricocheting off my skull and making my ears ring.
The wolves had found us.
Greg had done it.
He had succeeded.
But Lorenzo still needed help.
He had to be okay.
He couldn't not be.
If he was going to die, we were going to die together.
•••
My heart can't take this.
Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter!