Book: The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Song: I did it for Love by Harlequin
Nico's PoV
"This is a load of crap," Caden said lazily and fought against the restraints of the chair she was tied to.
"It's true!" I insisted.
"You're lying!" She yelled back.
"I'm not-" I stopped and took a deep breath, pinching my nose to ward off a headache. It had been this way for the last 2 hours.
"Dude, we're getting nowhere. Just take a breather. I'll watch her," Aaron said quietly to me. I nodded and left the room.
"How'd it go?" Juliana asked me sympathetically.
"Guess?" I said sarcastically and she gave me a look, "Sorry." I mumbled. I had been really snippy lately, snapping at anyone who tried to be nice or do anything for me.
Hey, can you blame me? It had been three days and Caden hadn't budged. She was convinced that her and Andy were on the same side and that we were the bad guys. The only time she had hesitated was when I had asked her who she thought I was. She insisted I was bad though.
"This sucks," I muttered weakly, resting my head against a pillar.
"Hey, it'll be okay," Juliana said with a sad smile. She handed me a water bottle and I accepted it, swallowing half it's contents.
"EVERYBODY SAY HEYY HOOOO SAY HEYY- oh!" Asher came in singing. He stopped when he saw the looks he got, "Not good?"
"Not good," I said.
"Sorry man," he sighed, clapping me on the shoulder.
Suddenly the door to the room where we were keeping Caden flew open and out came Aaron.
"Guys!" He yelled sounding panicked.
"What?!" Almost all of us yelled.
"She just- she started freaking out- I couldn't do anything- I don't know- she's-" Aaron panicked, breathing heavily.
"What? What happened?" Jake asked as him and Amy as well as the wizards came into the room.
"She knocked herself out!" Aaron blurted.
Silence.
"She knocked herself out?" Harry questioned.
"See for yourselves," Aaron said, still panicking but having calmed down considerably. I walked over and opened the door to see Caden slumped down in the chair she was tied to. She was definitely not conscious.
Well this is just great.
~~~
Caden's PoV
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the bright lights and voices. I groaned and shut my eyes. Instantly, the voices stopped and I slowly opened my eyes to see a bunch of people staring at me.
I tried to slide away but I couldn't move. I looked down and saw that I was still tied up.
"Seriously?!" I groaned, pulling at the ropes. Somebody chuckled and I glared in their direction, "Something funny?"
"No. Just uh... Just that you don't recognize me," the guy said. I narrowed my eyes at him and he smiled.
"Hey Cade. I'm your brother Aaron," the guy said.
"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked him, not lessening up on my glare.
"Trust me," Aaron said. His voice sounding pained.
"I can't," I said coldly. You could amlost feel the tension in the air when those words left my mouth.
"Why don't you believe us?" Aaron asked me, sounding hurt.
"Why don't you believe me?" I shot back.
"There's lots of us, and only one of you. Do you blame us?" Some dude deadpanned. Jack, I think they'd called him. No, Jake. Definitely Jake.
I never replied and just stared blankly at all of them for a minute. I noticed a few of them kept glancing at one boy who was dressed in all black. He was staring at the ground then he'd glance at me, frown, then go back to staring at the ground.
"Let me go," I demanded after a solid five minute staring contest.
"No," They all replied at the same time.
"Plea-" I started but a searing pain ripped through my skull. I screamed and they all start panicking except one, she just looks at me in sympathy.
Once the pain is gone, i lay my head back and sigh.
"What was that?" I heard atleast two people ask.
"That was good. It means the effects are wearing off," I hear a girl say and I look to see the girl who was staring at me with sympathy, "I'm Julianna, by the way. I'm your sister," she nods towards me then pushes open the door and leaves. Immediately, Aaron and another guy, Ashton on Aurey or... Asher... That's it, go after her.
"Well, let's go find out what that's all about," Amy said, standing up and taking Jake and the rest of them with her. Soon it's just me and Death-Boy.
"SON OF A *****!" He yells and slams his fist into the wall. Some plaster falls off the wall, there's a hole, and his knuckles are bleeding but I don't think he cares.
"You're bleeding," I state matter-of-factly. He glares at me and I swear the room dropped a couple degrees.
"I noticed," He said cooly and I wanted to shiver at his voice.
"Whoa there Death-Boy. Don't go getting all grumpy at me," I smirk, knowing I'm pressing his buttons.
"Don't call me Death-Boy," He glowers.
"Okay Mr. Grumpy Pants," I quirk an eyebrow in satisfaction.
He yells a word that's not very nice and I hear the seriousness in his voice.
"Why?!" He yells at the roof. I frown in confusion.
"Say what now, Senior Darkness?" I ask, confused as all get out.
"You guys are ridiculous, do you know that?" He yells at the roof.
"What are you on about, Ghostie?" I ask.
"Do NOT call me that!" He roars, turning to face me.
"Okay. Sorry, Sir Pale-ness," I say flatly.
"Caden, this is serious!" He says angrily then sighs and closes his eyes, pressing his knuckles to his mouth.
It's quiet for a while and he's just watching me.
"I love you, okay?" He says seriously, staring at me.
"What?" I ask blankly. My brain suddenly feels wiped and I have to struggle to remember my own name.
"I love you, dammit. I love you and my life sucks," he says.
"I don't think those words go togethe-" I start but he cuts me off.
"Shut up," He groans, exasperated. Very condescending words to someone you just proclaimed your love to, but hey, I'm not judging. "I prefer rain to sun, and Raisin Cookies to Chocolate Chip ones, and maybe thats why I'd pick you over and over again and I'm sorry I smell like cigarette smoke and I look like death and maybe you don't feel the same way I do. I don't care if you think you're worthless because nobody else has ever been so beautiful to me. Sometimes, when I'm around you, I get so cripplingly shy and my heart starts racing and my palms get sweaty and my words are drowning and I swear to the Gods I'm trying but the words can't fight their way out. If the fates want my life to be similar to the underworld, I guess thats how it is but I'm not giving up on you. I promise."
Before I can comprehend whats happening, Nico's face is right in front of mine then suddenly... We're kissing.
I swear, if we weren't indoors, I would have told you that fireworks were going off.
It was magical.
Until a searing pain ripped through my skull. It felt like a million jackhammers were pounding in my head.
I jerked back from him with so much force that the chair tipped over. I couldn't stop myself from banging my head on the ground as I fell but that pain was minor compared to what was already happening in my head.
Someone was screaming, maybe it was me, as Nico's worried face popped into my vision. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Or maybe they were and I just couldn't hear.
Pain, worse than I've ever felt, ripped through my entire body then I blacked out.
~~
I'm five years old.
I don't know how I know that, but I do. Just like you know you should breathe but you don't have to think about it.
I'm in an old house. Just looking around, I can tell that much.
I feel weird though, like I'm walking waist deep in syrup.
I see five-year-old-me playing with a couple screws and some scrap metal in a dark corner and there's shouting nearby. Dream-me looks around for the source and my eyes land on a door with a crack of light underneath.
I glance back at five-year-old-me and see that she's unaffected by this. That means it's a regular thing. I shake my head and try walking towards the door but it takes more effort than normal. I finally make it to the door and place my hand on the knob, getting ready to open it.
The second my hand touched the doorknob, the voices inside became clear.
"-sick and tired of this Harold! You come home drunk every night, sometimes with a woman! Do you even care anymore? Do you still love me?!" A woman's voice yells and I immediately tense up.
I haven't heard that voice in years.
"Mommy," Dream-me whispers.
I try to open the door but my hand goes right through. The voices become blurred again so I quickly put my hand on the door, trying to see if I could walk through it in my dream state but I couldn't and the voices were blurred so I put my hand on the doorknob again.
"Of course not!" A mans voice yells back. It was Harold... AKA my dad... Fake dad, I guess. Hephaestus is my real dad.
There's a smacking sound and my mom screams. I tried the door again but got the same results.
"The only reason I'm still with you is because of THAT little brat out there!" Harold yells back, "You've seen what she can do! We need to beat it out of her!"
"That is your daughter, you monster!" My mom yells back. She's crying, I can tell.
"She uses words to get inside your head then she goes ahead and does THAT! How can you not see it?! If she couldn't talk, we wouldn't have this issue!" Harold roars. I hear cupboard doors opening and closing.
"What are you doing?" My mom demands, still crying.
"Something I should have done long ago," Harold roars.
"Harold! Harry, stop! Put it dow-" she's cut off as a loud bang rings through the house. I can instantly tell that it was a gunshot.
I look back at five-year-old me to see that she is unaffected by it. The door moves and instantly, I whip my head back to the door to see someone I haven't seen in a year.
My step dad.
Frozen to the spot, I stared at the man who single handedly ruined my life and haunted my dreams for years.
I expected yelling, hitting, anything. Except instead of that, he looked behind me and I could tell his eyes settled on five-year-old-me. Then, and I shit you not, he walked right through me.
I felt like I had been nominated for the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' by force, my bones were even cold. The second he passed completely through me, I warmed up but something told me that I would not be forgetting that feeling for a long time.
Harold walked over to five-year-old me and five-year-old me looked up in curiosity. I wasn't even shocked to find a bruise covering the entire side of her/my face. I tried walking towards them but it was like every step I took forward, I was dragged back two.
"Let's go," Harold said gruffly.
"Where are we going daddy?" Five-year-old me asked.
"To visit someone," Harold grunted.
"Is mommy coming?"
"No. You won't be seeing your mom for a long time," Harold said.
Suddenly I'm being yanked forward through time. It's like I'm being pulled down a long hallway with scenes from throughout my life displayed on the walls.
I'm stopped in front of one giant mirage then suddenly plunged through it.
"What do you want me to do, Harold?" A woman is asking my father. She looks familiar but I can't quite place a name to her face.
"Make her stop talking!" Harold hisses. He's mad, I can tell. I try moving towards them but I can't. My feet are glued to the ground. I look around for a younger version of me and see me playing with Legos in the corner.
"You know I can't do that! She's just a child!" The woman says back.
"I know she's a kid. That's why I want you to make her shut up," Harold says.
"That curse is irreversible. I wouldn't do that to her. She's family," the woman says. I still can't remember her name.
"She's not your family anymore! Not since she left the brat on my door. Artemis, if you can't, I will. And I won't use the most... Conventional methods," Harold threatens and dream-me gasps.
Artemis? Like, the goddess?
"Shhhh Harold. We have a guest," Artemis smiles softly towards where I'm standing and for a second I think I'm busted but then I remember that these are memories, I shouldn't be too worried.
Artemis waves her hand and the door opens. There stands another woman who is insanely beautiful. She has brown... No, blonde... No, red hair and gorgeous eyes. They seem to change colour in the light... Or maybe they actually are changing colour.
"Auntie Aphro!" Little me says happily and runs over to hug the gorgeous woman that just walked in.
"Hey, Caden. how's my favourite little one doing?" Aphrodite says and she ruffles my hair. Somehow, instead of it getting messed up, it looks better.
"I'm good auntie. my mommy fell asleep and she hasn't woken up yet. She must be really tired," little me says.
"Oh yeah? When did your mommy fall asleep?" Aphrodite asks me and I detect a hint of Charm in her voice.
Apparently, little-me didn't even need the charm because I was talking before Aphrodite had finished her sentence.
"About one... no two... four days ago!" Little-me says and holds up three fingers.
"Okay, thank you sweetheart. I can't stay long," this is followed by a groan from little-me, "but I need to talk to your dad. Here's a new toy for you!" Aphrodite continues. She reaches into her bag and pulls out two toy cars.
"Thanks Auntie!" Little-me grins and bounces off.
Aphrodite walks towards Harold and Artemis and they start arguing in low voices.
I can only catch a few words like 'Absolutely not.', 'Won't do it.', 'You're crazy Harold!', and 'Can't do that to her!'.
Suddenly Harold stands up and roughly grabs my arm.
"Let's go," he says gruffly, pulling me along.
"Harold!" Aphrodite says warningly, putting a hand on my fathers arm, "don't do this."
Harold doesn't say anything. He just rips his arm out of her grip and pulls me out the door.
In the next memory, I'm ten years old. At this point, I know I can't talk anymore. We're sitting in a dingy bar, hidden in a corner booth in a dark corner.
Dream me looks around and sees a lot of sketchy looking guys sitting at tables drinking and I see a sign, almost falling off, that reads 'The Leaky Cauldron'.
"Remember, if anyone comes over, you don't make any effort to look at them or talk to them,not that that's a problem anymore," he grinned sickeningly and 10-year-old me shrunk away.
Suddenly the door to the dingy bar opens and in walks a woman. Well, you can't see her face, but instantly I know that she is gorgeous. She carries an aura that demands attention and instantly, all heads in the bar turn to face her.
She does a small wrist flicking motion. So small that if you hadn't been looking for it, you wouldn't have noticed. Somehow, I know what to look for. And I knew exactly what she had done. She had made herself invisible, except to a few chosen people, like Harold and I.
Sure enough, everyone looked around confused then shook their head or blinked a few times, slowly turning back to their own tables and conversations.
"Harold," the woman greets, sitting down opposite Harold and I. Harold merely nods in acknowledgement.
It's quiet for a while then her head turns towards me, then towards Harold. Her hands slowly reach up to pull back her hood and my jaw drops, both dream-me and real-but-not-quite-existing-me.
She. Was. Gorgeous.
Not quite as beautiful as Aphrodite but gorgeous nonetheless.
"You are difficult to track down, Harold," she says after sitting down across from Harold and I.
"That's the point, Hecate. You wouldn't have found me, had I not contacted you first," Harold says lowly.
Hecate stares at Harold for a few moments then her gaze slides over to me, huddled in the dark corner of the booth.
"I see you did what you planned then," Hecate sneers towards my father.
"I told you. If none of your kind would do it, I'd find someone who would," he sneers back.
"And who might that have been?" Hecate demands and I instantly know she's out for revenge.
"Nice place I chose for a meeting? Don't you think?" Harold says nonchalantly but grinning evilly.
"You- you wouldn't have," Hecate says, suddenly pale and shocked looking, "You went to the wizards for help?"
"I was made an offer I couldn't refuse by a certain someones aunt. It all played out perfectly," Harold grinned like a crazy person.
"You went to her mothers sister to- to-" Hecate starts, so filled with rage she couldn't finish her sentence.
"That's right. And it was all too easy," the grin hasn't left Harold's face once.
"Just wait. Someday this will all catch up to you and I will make. Your. Life. Hell," she threatens. There's not a single doubt in my mind that she will follow through.
Apparently Harold feels the same way because his grin wavers for the first time since this conversation started.
"You'll have to find me first," he says, and the grin is back, like nothing ever happened.
"She knows what she is capable of and she will get out of whatever you have planned," Hecate says lowly. I notice that her hands are crackling with power and the lights in the bar (even though there aren't that many) are being pulled towards her.
"I have a, um... appointment, shall we call it, to make sure that doesn't happen. Say goodbye to your apprentice, Hecate, because this will be the last time you see her for a long, long time," Harold smirks.
He roughly grabs my wrist, then slams this orb-like thing on the table and he and I are engulfed in this cloud of purple, transporting us to who knows where.
~~~~~~~~~~
HHHHHOOOOOLLLLLLYYYYYYY SSSHHHHHHHIIIIITTTT
I THINK ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE I UPDATED AN ACTUAL CHAPTER.
I AM SO SORRY
I've been super stressed out and busy lately. Like, I literally have 1 free day a week between dance, work, school, volunteering, and doctors appointments.
Sooooo I tried to make this chapter extra long, hopefully it worked..?
Let me know whatcha think!
<3