"Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies.
So I don't know what's real and what's not.
Always confusing the thoughts in my head.
So I can't trust myself anymore."
Chapter Twelve - "Going Under"
IMMI
Sitting in Gustav's “car” - that was what this big metallic box was called – I started to feel giddy. There was a chance I could get my memory back! Although, we were waiting for Gustav to come back. He'd said he needed to get some appropriate footwear. I had no idea where we were going.
He'd told Marcus and Balt where we were going, and we were supposed to meet them there. Apparently, we needed Saria to come. I was quite scared, she didn't seem to like any of us.
Hearing the car door open, I turned to see Gustav struggling to hold some bags. Frowning, I asked him:
“What are they for?” He chucked them at Harmony, who mumbled angrily at him.
“Those are for you guys to use. Where we're going, you won't be able to wear heels.” I felt the car vibrate and grumble before roaring. Jumping, I found I wasn't the only one who was weirded out by this. Emily didn't look comfortable. “Buckle up!”
Buckle up? What did he mean by that? I heard Caroline growl slightly before grabbing something next to me.
“This is a seatbelt, dummy. He means for you to put it on.”
“Caroline.” Harmony warned. Caroline huffed before turning back to the window. Looking to Emily, I saw that she had some black material crossing over her chest. I think that was what Caroline meant by a “seatbelt”.
“Em...” I started to whisper. She turned to me with a raised eyebrow as if to say “I'm listening”. “Do you know where we're going?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, but I'm pretty sure we'll be safe. I mean, Gustav wouldn't do anything irrational...”
No-one spoke during the car ride. I was left to my thoughts. The car was weird, my stomach made funny turns whenever Gustav went over a bump. It looked quite complicated to drive too! Gustav kept having to use the two sticks in the middle of him and Harmony, and use the wheel in front of him.
We whizzed past trees and lots of green fields. The skies were grey and I could see droplets of water pouring out of it. I had the sudden urge to dance in this fallen water. I noticed that Gustav pulled up into a place where there were other cars parked. I had a hunch this was called a “car park” - there were cars parked everywhere!
The car became lifeless when Gustav took something out of it. I was intrigued! It was like... magic!
“All right, everyone out.” He told us, swinging open his door. “Oh, and Harmony, pass over some of those bags?” I watched as Harmony passed over some bags and waited for either Caroline or Emily to leave the car. I couldn't really get out otherwise.
As soon as Emily moved out of the car, I clicked a button to let my seatbelt go and sidled out after her.
Standing on the ground, I felt a little unstable. I saw that I was standing on... branches? There were leaves and twigs surrounding the floor, not like when we were by the house. Stepping over to Gustav, I wobbled and almost lost my footing. How did Gustav expect us to walk around here in heels?!
As soon as we were all around Gustav, he smiled at us. It was a small, mischievous smile. He was hiding something.
“Ladies! Whilst we wait for the d- the rest of the crew, you might want to put these on.” Handing us each a plastic bag, I peered inside mine. There were boots.... Pulling them out, they felt weird. Like rubber. I heard an annoyed groan.
“Seriously? Wellington boots?” Caroline's voice moaned. It was clear she didn't approve of them.
“Yes, Caroline.” Gustav replied simply, not expanding on his answer.
“Why?”
“We'll be walking through the woods. Heels aren't the most useful.” I noticed that Gustav was wearing flat shoes. Trainers, I recall Marissa telling me. Apparently they were good for grip...
Unstrapping my heels, I slipped my feet into the boots. They came up to mid-calf and felt way too big for me. They weren't the nicest looking either. An ugly green. Not a green like the bright summer grass green but not dark like moss.
The insides felt hard and hurt my feet a little. I suppose these were better than the heels though. I was sure I would be able to walk in them.
Hearing the rumble of another car, I turned my head slightly and saw that a familiar car had turned up. The black, shiny, jeep. Saria, Balt and Marcus stepped out. Each wore some form of coat or jacket and they all had boots on. It seemed they were more prepared than we were.
They marched over to us. Saria didn't look happy at all, more like she wanted to murder us. She instantly burst into laughter when she saw us.
“This, is the best damn thing I've seen today!” She ended up holding the side of her stomach from laughing so much. “You... look... ridiculous!” Her laughter was slowly turning into cackling...
“Saria, stop it.” Marcus snapped at her. She groaned and shot a dirty look at Marcus before erecting herself back upright. Sighing, she glanced at us, sniggered and picked at her nails.
“So, why am I here?” She asked, sighing. She had a thing about sighing in boredom around us. We weren't that bad – I didn't see her problem. Maybe she was just a person who was extremely picky with who she hung out with?
“You,” Gustav started, pointing at her, “are here to help us. Like it or not, you have to. We're going to, er, I'll tell you when we get nearer actually.” He seemed nervous about where we were going. Harmony shot him a suspicious look. “Anyway, we're pairing up. I'm with Harmony, Marcus and Emily, Saria and... Caroline and Imogen and Balt. Right, ready? Let's go!” Gustav said it all in one breath, giving no-one a chance to move.
There was a short scramble before everyone was paired up. I was still frozen as everyone followed Gustav. Only when Balt tugged my arm, did I start to move.
Wherever we were going, was somewhere that was hidden. Everywhere we hiked was filled with trees. Well, forests were filled with trees anyway (I'd seen pictures when Caroline had tried to teach me) but the trees started to stand closer to each other and the light was closing off. It seemed that the further we were going, the darker it became. It was quite scary, actually.
As we started heading up a huge hill, I realised that there was a slight problem. There was slippery mud everywhere and I was in “wellington” boots and a dress. A cream dress that would show up even the lightest of stains.
“You alright?” Balt asked me as I stared up the mountain. It seemed like a mountain rather than a hill. Gulping, I turned my head to answer him.
“Yeah. Alls good.” I grinned at him, hoping he'd believe me. I sucked in a breath and started to walk up the mud dune behind Balt. It was tough and I occasionally slipped but I managed. Well, until we got to the top. I must have stepped on a stone or an extremely slippery puddle of mud because in that next moment, I found myself slipping forward and down the hill. My knees hit the mud, but Balt was holding onto me. Pulling me up, I thanked him.
Before letting me go, he made sure that I was standing firmly on the ground. I looked down and saw that my knees were covered in mud. I groaned. There were splotches on my dress too!
“Aw man.” I moaned. “I liked this dress too!” I heard Balt chuckle.
“Mud will come out. We'll just wash your clothes when we get in. You can do that.” He turned to walk before grabbing my hand. I smiled internally, but shot him a quizzical look. He grinned before saying, “Just incase you fall again. Wouldn't want you to ruin the dress completely would we?” I giggled and rolled my eyes.
In the distance, I could hear Gustav telling us to “move our butts”, so we slid skillfully (thanks to Balt) down the hill to meet them. We walked along the mud, but I could see that less and less mud was appearing. Balt hadn't let go of my hand either, and it felt nice. Somehow, it felt like our hands were built to fit each other... which frightened me slightly. I mean, I could still see the gold thread connecting us. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone though. They'd think I was crazy.
The path we were following, slowly turned into a wooden path. Leaves were still littered everywhere but there were only muddy footsteps from us... or what I hoped were us. I heard Harmony gasp before screaming at Gustav.
“Here? Here, Gustav? What in the name of God were you thinking?” Birds flew out of their nests, in the highest trees, to run from her screams. I clung to Balt in fear. Surprisingly, he didn't mind. It was almost like he welcomed it.
I had no idea what Gustav was saying to Harmony, but by the time we got there, she'd calmed down. Saria turned and stared at our intertwined figures. She shot me a disgusted, and hate-filled, glare before turning back at around. Her face was still sour. What crawled up her butt?
Harmony looked fuming, like she didn't want to be here. It seemed that Gustav always pushed her to her limits. Gustav was looking hopeful though.
“All right. We're going into the house now. Balt, I want you to take Immi to the basement, and just stand there for a bit. You can come up whenever you want. This is just to make sure of something.” He told us before turning to go into the house.
I, on the other hand, was freaking out. The house didn't look welcoming, and looked as if it were about to fall at any moment. Mould and moss was covering the house, and the windows had been boarded up. It had an eerie feeling to it. Gripping Balt's hand tightly, I forced myself to walk into the house.
The inside was worse. It smelt disgusting. Like, rotting meat. Standing in an empty room, I wondered what we were meant to do. I could feel something crawling on me, swatting my hand on my shoulder, the crawling still continued. I could see the same thing happening to Harmony, Caroline and Emily. Marcus, Saria and Gustav didn't seem to have the same response as we did. I had no idea how Balt was reacting. I couldn't see him because he was next to me and I was focusing my attention on the room. Cobwebs filled the corners. Something told me that it hadn't been used in a long time.
I saw Gustav nod his head and I felt Balt guide me somewhere. I didn't want to go anywhere. I was scared. Although, Balt's fingers caressing my hand made me feel better... safer.
As he pushed the door, I felt even more uneasy. Something was down there, and I didn't think it was going to play nice. Following Balt down the creaky stairs, I gulped. It was really dark down here.
We stopped after taking a few steps from the stairs. When a cool breeze passed by my hand, I knew Balt had let go. I involuntarily whimpered from the loss of contact.
“Immi, I'll be back. I'm just going to find a light.” I heard his voice say, to comfort me. It was like he knew how distressed I was feeling. I nodded, and then realised he couldn't see me.
“Okay.” I whispered. Scratching at my neck, I felt weird. The itch wasn't going, so I scratched even harder.
“I think I've got it!” I heard Balt shout. As the lights flickered on, I staggered back as some sort of “vision” hit me.
Three angels were caged, screaming for help. All around the room, was splattered blood. Their wings were covered in blood, and pieces missing. Their cries were like cats mewing. A man in a clean, black suit walked in. He looked extremely important.
“Ladies,” his deep voice rumbled throughout the room, “who's going to be our first donor?” A sadistic smile appeared on his face. I heard whimpers from the angels, who had shuffled back from the bars. They were all petrified of this man, and I didn't blame them.
Four men appeared behind him, each holding a chain and some sort of weapon. One of them had a carving knife, another a sword. They all looked razor sharp.
“Shax, bring one of them to the table. I couldn't care less which one of them it is.” The man, who I suppose was in charge, snarled. He turned his back to the crying angels and walked towards the stone table. It was stained with dried blood. Gold chains were attached to the table.
The sound of screeches and thumping caught my attention. One of the angels was struggling to get out of the man's arms. Her screams did nothing to them. The man carrying her acted like she was piece of paper, easily breakable and light.
Throwing her onto the stone slab, she quietened down as she saw the gold. Her eyes were trained on the gold like nothing else mattered. Even as they lay her down, her eyes did not falter from the golden chains. It was like they'd hypnotised her.
I wanted to scream out – to help her, but I couldn't. I couldn't move, couldn't speak. The poor angel didn't even notice when one of the other men brought up a knife. The first man held up his hand, to stop him.
“First, we collect the blood. Then we kill her.” He brought out a small vial. “Make sure the other two know what will happen to them. Make them watch.”
The angel didn't notice what he was doing, not until she felt the blade slit her wrist. She gasped and looked at him. Her eyes were fearful. I felt sick. What were they doing? What sort of twisted... men were they?
The man smiled as he watched the red liquid seep out of the cut and into the vial. “That won't kill me.” The angel's sweet voice snarled. She still had a fight left in her!
“I know, but this next one will.” He smiled and motioned some sort of sign to the man holding the sword. I watched as he brought it down, fast and hard, to her stomach. I felt a slicing pain in my own stomach. Holding it, I gasped. What happened?
Pulling my arms back, I noticed I was bleeding... but I shouldn't have! This wasn't real! The angel's scream pierced through me. The men were laughing.
“It seems we forgot that one little ingredient. The one which kills you. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?” He grinned maliciously. She gasped.
“There's... none left! It was all destroyed!” She managed to pant out.
“We have connections. Just watch it.” They brought out a red bottle. They forced her head to face where the knife was being held. I watched their grins grow even bigger as they delicately poured the clear liquid over the sword, none spilt on the floor. It looked like water, but I knew it wasn't. It smelt so alluring!
“No! No!” The angel started to struggle to get out of the chains, not caring how she looked. Not caring that the gold chains were starting to cause her to bleed even more.
“Say bye-bye.” He grinned before the executioner brought the sword over her heart. I screamed as it pierced through her body.
“No!” I screamed. Struggling, I tried to get out of the grip. Someone was holding me – it could've been that man! I wasn't going to end up like her. My body was already burning, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt water drip down my cheeks – what was happening to me!?
“Immi, calm down!” I heard someone speak but I was too far gone to realise who it was. I could just see them in my mind. Her body on the slab, which was behind us.
“Get off! Get off me!” I shrieked.
“Immi, it's me Balt. Calm down. Please, baby. Just calm down.” I stopped struggling when I heard Balt's voice. Panting hard, I looked at him closely. He looked pained. I felt his rough fingers smooth over my cheeks, wiping away the liquid that had fallen on them.
“They killed her, Balt.” I whispered to him. He hadn't let go off me, and I was thankful for that. It was soothing being in his arms. I felt safe. I could still feel the drops on my cheeks and I had no idea where they were coming from.
“Shh, baby, it'll be okay.” Again, he wiped away the liquid which had reappeared. He rested his forehead against mine and I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. I didn't want to look around the room, I didn't want to be here. Not after that... thing.
Re-opening my eyes, I saw that he was closer to me. He leaned in even further, and I did the same to him. My lips were parted and I could feel his breath on my mouth. One of his arms snaked down, to wrap itself around my waist and press me to him even harder. Like I couldn't get out. It felt good, it felt right.
Trusting my instincts, I pressed my palms to his chest. His other hand was still resting on my cheek. I could swear that his lips were getting closer to mine and I followed his lead.
Just as they were about to meet, there was a massive crash upstairs. Glancing up, I wondered what was happening. Hearing more crashes, I started to worry. Looking at Balt, I saw he was looking around the room, but what for?
And then I really started to panic when I heard Caroline screech, “Run!”