Chapter 9
*Baelfire*
Noises. Shadows. Darkness. Murmurs. Nothing made sense in the black void I was trapped in. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I couldn't even blink. My eyelids felt as if they
"Don't be stupid." I heard a far off voice in the midst of the hazy darkness. Pain stung my head as I tried to listen to what the voices were saying. I tried to open my eyes but my body wouldn't allow me. I attempted to move my arms but they were like rocks—heavy as iron. I tried my legs but they felt as if they'd been nailed to the floor. I tried again to move my body but nothing worked. My mind wouldn't make the connection to tell my muscles to move.
It was odd because I felt awake yet I was separate from reality. I was in utter darkness with no chance to escape.
"Has he woken up yet?" A different far off voice asked with authority.
I didn't understand what was happening. I remembered Solstice blowing up in my face and—dust?
I remembered Sol blowing dust in my face and then I suddenly end up in darkness. What did she do to me—?
As if one cue, I heard Sol's voice; it sounded as if she was talking underwater. "Is he awake yet?" She sounded annoyed and short tempered.
I remembered what she was like when she got mad and ended up using magic. Her skin would glow a bright blue along with her eyes; she never could control it properly because she never had the chance to. Pan offered to teach her but she never fully trusted him, which was definitely a good thing. Shine could've taught her if Pan hadn't ripped out her heart. My point is that Solstice hasn't gotten the chance to learn how to wield magic properly. To my knowledge of what Solstice told me back at Neverland, her and Shine were the only Blue Stars left. But since Shine is dead, it would make Sol the last surviving Blue Star. I wondered how it felt to be the last of your race. I wondered how Solstice was dealing with being the last Blue Star; but she probably hasn't given it much thought considering she's being hunting me down ever since she left Neverland.
Suddenly I heard a sharp creak in back of me. I tried to open my eyes again but I failed. My body still wouldn't cooperate.
"What shall we do with him?" A man's voice asked with caution. I was guessing it was a palace guard or a servant.
"Leave us." Sol ordered. Apparently the guard obeyed because I heard heavy footsteps leave the room. The door creaked shut and I assumed we were alone in the room.
"Hello Baelfire." Sol's voice was light but haunting. Something about her tone scared me. I panicked. What would she do to me?
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*Solstice*
~ONE HOUR EARLIER~
I walked along the halls of my castle as I got back from London. The guards took Baelfire to a holding cell until he wakes up. When he does wake, I'll have my fun.
Except I was too tired to think much of anything besides sleep. I continued walking until I reached my chambers and opened the door to find my big bed waiting for me. I instantly shut the door and dove for the bed. Sleep instantly took over me.
Dreams came into my mind. Visions of some sort. Everything was blurry; nothing was clear. I could only hear voices. One sounded like mine, but the other I couldn't decipher.
"I love you." The mystery voice said.
"I love you too." My voice was full of happiness.
Our voices suddenly started to drift away and I fell back into a void.
"I hate you!!!" I could hear my voice shriek at someone. "I thought you cared about me."
"What? Do you really think that kiss actually meant something? You're more naive than I once thought." The voice sneered, filled with venom.
"I loved you once." My voice faded away again, and I felt myself drifting from the dream.
My eyes snapped open. I sat up quickly to see I was in my chambers. The familiar room and scent flooded my memory and I started to relax. It was only a dream. I laid back down and wondered who those voices could've belonged to. I had a nagging feeling that those two different voices were Baelfire's and Pan's. But which was which?
Getting irritated with myself, I shook my head and I got up from my bed to read a book. I had rather a large collection ever since I was little before my parents died from The Fever. My mother loved to read which made me want to read too. She's been my roll model from day one. Even now I still look up to her and the memories I have of her. When she died I kept all of her old books. It somehow made me feel closer to her.
I crossed over the room to the mammoth sized selves where the books sat. I stared at each of them for a moment until I finally made my choice. I selected a dark blue covered book entitled The Wishing Well.
This book was about a girl who ran away from home. Her father was abusive, who ended up killing his wife from the beatings. The girl couldn't take it anymore so she ran away to find a wishing well. In the story this girl is told that a special wishing well could grant any wish—good or bad. She wanted to wish her father dead, but the girl ended up meeting a boy along the journey. They start to create feelings for each other and in the end, when they find they wishing well, the boy convinces her to not kill her dad. It's truly a love story, something that I don't know much about.
I opened up the book to a random page and saw one of my favorite parts in the book;
" 'I can't do this anymore. I-I don't know what to do.'
He wrapped her up in his warm embrace and held her close. He shushed her as he wiped away her tears. He lifted her chin so he could see her brilliant purple eyes. 'Don't think I don't care about you. You're my whole world. You've showed me what love means. I'll always be here for you, even when everyone else is against you.' . . .—"
A light knock on the door made me look up from the book. I shut the book and began to walk toward the door. Once I opened it I found dark haired man standing in the threshold.
"Cyrus?" I questioned, "what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you." His rough voice sounded concerned. "May I come in?"
I nodded and moved away from my door to let him pass.
Cyrus was an old friend of mine who was like a protective older brother. He and I knew each other ever since we were kids. Us being kids, Cyrus and I would play house. We pretended we were married and we would boss each other around. My favorite part of that game as a child was yelling at him to pick up his stuff he left on the floor. But come to think of it, he never told me what his favorite part of that game was, but I guess it didn't matter now since it was just a game.
"What's the matter—" I couldn't finish my sentence because Cyrus came over and enveloped me into a gigantic hug.
"Are you alright? I heard you caught that scumbag." His rocky voice was calm and genuinely concerned.
I wrapped my arms around his muscular build and sighed loudly. "Honestly I don't know. I still need to question him."
Cyrus let go of me and looked at me carefully; his gold eyes blazing. "Do you need any company? I'd be happy to come with you for the interrogation."
I thought for a moment, but ended up shaking my head. "No I'm sure it'll be fine."
"But—"
"It's not like he has magic." I cut him off, not letting him protest.
"Yeah but neither do you." He slightly chuckled and scrunched up his face to get his point across.
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. It's not like I can't take care of myself. I survived Neverland remember." I gave a teasing smile.
Cyrus's expression turned serious, "I never said you couldn't handle yourself. I'm just really worried about you. You were obsessing to finding Baelfire and now you've finally found him. What are you going to do with him now?"
My eyes narrowed sharply; "well stop. This is my affair, not yours. And I just want to talk with him, to get more information out of him." I walked past Cyrus and was about to walk out the door until he called out after me;
"What then Solstice? What are you going to do with him after you've talked?"
I paused at the threshold and turned around to face my friend. "It's simple, I'm going to kill him."
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Voices echoed throughout the prison's walls. The smell of unclean bodies stunk the air as I was down the spiral steps. As I descended down the stairs, the darker it became. Candles hung from the stone walls as I continued my path down. But after a few minutes past, I arrived at the right dungeon door.
Two guards were standing outside the doorway looking sharp and more importantly, awake. Too many soldiers fall asleep on duty these days.
As they saw me coming they unlocked the large wooden door to the cell. The door opened with a loud creak. But before I went inside, I looked over to one of the guards; "is he awake yet?"
"He should be majesty. He might be a little out of it though. The Star Dust is powerful stuff."
"Yes, I am aware." Without another word I walked into the cell.
A chair, and someone sitting on it, faced away from the entry way. I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves. I began to walk around the chair to come face to face with Baelfire who was sitting there with restraints around his wrists, ankles, and chest.
His eyes were closed but I knew he would be coming around shortly. I took out a small glass bottle with clear liquid inside. It was something to help him wake up. Star Dust is used for many things, not just knocking someone out. I opened it up and put a few drops in my hand and walked closer to Baelfire.
I hesitated before touching him to put the antidote onto his skin. Something told me I shouldn't do it. But I needed to talk to him; so I shook away the thought and placed my shaky fingertips on his face.
I touched his temples with both hands and I traveled down to his cheekbones underneath his eyes.
I examined him thoughtfully as I continued, noticing his features; His long eyelashes, his fair skin, his lips. I found myself staring at his lips as I let one of my hands fall away from his face while my other hand traveled down to his jawline.
I felt a familiar twang in my heart as a stared at Bae. It was familiar yet I couldn't place what I felt. I knew I felt sad but there was something else besides sadness, something I couldn't decipher.
But just then I saw his eyes flutter for a moment. I quickly retreated my hand away and took a few steps away from him.
He groaned as his eyes slowly opened. His expression was confused, but he also looked as if he would hurl at any moment. Just one other side effect of Star Dust.
He squinted as he caught sight of me. "Sol?" His voice was gravely and sleepy.
"Hello, Baelfire."