Lager pushes aside a huge Bush to reveal the volcano, which I hadn't realized in my drunken state we had been approaching.
"You guys live in a volcano?" I ask, very confused. "Are you nymphs?"
Lager smiles shaking his head. "If you're referring to the creatures from Greek myths, unfortunately no, we are not."
I look back at the volcano, when something catches my eye. At the base of it is a structure built into the side of the volcano. It must be the entrance. Now that I pay more attention, all along the side of the volcano is random places are huge Windows and balconies. It's very stunning, and I would have probably stared at it in awe for hours if I wasn't drunk.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I exclaim, grabbing his hand and trying to tug him along. He walks forward at his own pace though and my relentless tugging does nothing. Finally, I let go of his hand completely and surge forward, only to almost run into a brick wall.
I stare at it in confusion. How did that get there?
I turn to the right to go around it, but another wall appears in front of me. I look back and discover the first wall I had nearly run into has disappeared.
Frustrated, I try again to make a move towards the volcano, but a wall yet again appears out of thin air. I hear a very soft chuckle and glare over at Lager.
"This is your doing." I accuse, crossing my arms and pouting. I thought friends were supposed to be nice. Why isn't he letting me go?
Then, an idea pops into my head.
"Darklings create illusions, right?"
"That is correct." Lager nods, watching me intently.
I smirk, before taking a step back and running straight for the wall, imagining how I would go through it like it was air, only that doesn't happen.
Instead I slam into the wall, which is very much solid and a bright light flashes behind my eyes as I crumble to the ground.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch." I moan, rubbing my head.
"Idiot." I hear Lager mutter as he jogs over to me. He kneels down, pulling my arms away gently from my head. "Are you alright?"
I jerk my right hand out of his and try to slap him, but he dodges, grabbing it again in a firm grasp. "What was that for?"
I grunt, kicking my legs and struggling to break free.
"That was for calling me an Idiot! And letting me run into a solid wall! I thought it was an illusion!" I yell, still struggling.
"Can you-argh-stay still for-oomph-one second!?" He nearly growls at the end as I continue pushing his face away with my foot.
"Let. Me. Go!" I scream like a little girl. Finally he released his hold on me and I scramble away, baring my teeth at him like an animal. He sits back on his feet, rubbing his face with both hands in an exhausted way.
"Let it wear off soon, I beg you." He utters, looking up at the sky.
"Hey I'm down here." I retort, watching his golden eyes snap to me. "Now why weren't those walls illusions?"
"They were," he says, dusting his black shirt off. "Until they weren't."
"That doesn't make any sense, and I should know, I'm drunk." I whine.
You really don't know much about our kind, do you?" He asks, before sighing. "I'm Darkling High Commander for a reason you know. My abilities exceed those of the other Darklings. A regular Darkling can create illusions, just like I can, but something they cannot do that I can if I may wish to, is turn those illusions into a reality."
"So you hurt me on purpose?" I accuse, that being the only thing I got out of his whole speech and not the fact that he's the most powerful Darkling alive at the moment.
"I never told you to run at the wall." He retorts, taking my hand and pulling me up with no effort at all.
"Hey." I say, turning around in a few circles. "Where did my friends go?"
Lager waves his hand. "You'll get to see them when you wake up."
"Wake up? What do you mea-"
"Would you like to see a trick, Ashley?" He interrupts, sidetracking me.
"Of course!" I say enthusiastically.
"This ability is again only something I can do and not the other Darklings. Are you ready?"
I nod excitedly, my eyes two huge moons.
Lager raises a hand and snaps his fingers.
"Sleep."
The world goes dark.
* * * *
Pain and heat.
That's all I feel. There's also darkness, but it's hard to pay attention to over the pounding of my head and the terrible waves of humidity hitting me.
I hear a noise, like a groan, and my chest is rumbling. Am I making that sound?
Wait a minute, am I sleeping?
I test the theory and try to open my eyes. I feel my eyelids lifting, only to stare into more darkness.
I try to sit up, because it feels as if I'm laying in a pool of my own sweat and wince at my pounding headache.
Is the headache from a hangover, or is it because I'm dying? It's really hard to tell presently.
The moment I sit up bright lights flash on and I cry out, hands raising to my aching eyes. I sit for a minute, seeing red with black dots, and when I finally think my eyes have adjusted, I force them open. I have to blink a few times because the light is so bright, but eventually I can keep them open.
I'm sitting in a room with lights that appear to be motion sensored. Yipee.
I was laying on a huge white bed which is indeed covered in my sweat. There's a nightstand table and lamp beside the bed, and a door which is opened to reveal a huge bathroom. Huge floor to ceiling Windows take up an entire wall, and I have a view of the huge expanse of jungle. Right by a closed door which I assume leads out into a hallway, is a sitting area with a small couch and a few white fur chairs.
Oh my God, is that lava?!
There's a fireplace by the sitting area, but behind the glass where fire should have been, is actually a waterfall of lava.
Where am I? I think, gazing around the room again.
Then like a huge tidal wave memories hit me, and I nearly choke from shock.
I'm in a freaking volcano?! And I voted like best buds with the Darkling High Commander?!
Zero's gonna kill me.
I'm going to kill Max.
Becky is going to kill all of us.
I shiver at the thought of her wrath. Which reminds me, when we first encountered the Darklings, she greeted Lager like she knew him well. Why is that? She is a Lightling after all, so why would she know the Darkling High Commander?
My head pounds, reminding me of the pain and heat I'm in.
I have to find my friends.
With that incentive, I carefully climb off the bed and walk over the white fur carpet to the door which I assumed before led out to the hallway. Which makes me think. Why is everything white? I thought we were in the Darklings main base. I would have pictured everything to be black, dark, and creepy.
Okay, so like all classic kidnapping movies, the door is most likely locked, I think, getting down to business. So how else am I supposed to get out of here?
Maybe the Windows.
I walk over to them and peer out, only to be greeted by thousands of feet of distance from the ground. It's not like I could break the Windows anyway, they're huge.
Is there a vent anywhere in here?
I look around, but can't find any. I should have expected there would be no air conditioning. It's about one hundred degrees Celsius in here. At least that's what it feels like. That might've been a slight exaggeration How close are we to the volcano's core?
I go over to one of chairs and sit down, putting my head in my hands. What is happening to the others? I'm going out of my mind in worry, and the berating heat isn't making things better.
Suddenly, there's a slight breeze that hits me, as if somethings moving in front of me. I slowly peek up through my fingers and jolt back, nearly falling over the chair.
A figure stands there, completely made of shadow.
It seems to have the shape of a man, with the broad shoulders and tall stature.
Part of me is confused, because this living shadow seems strangely familiar. Where have I seen-oh! I remember!
I remember in my drunk state seeing this exact shadow and claiming him as my friend. What shocks me even more is how remember he caught me. Is he solid then?
I look back up at Shadow man who has raised his hands to show he comes in peace. He takes a step forward.
"Stay where you are." I warn, scooting even more back into my chair. He freezes, waiting.
"I remember you." I admit, and I would have never believed a month ago I would be talking to a living shadow. "I thought you were something my drunkenness conjured up. Am I still drunk?"
The shadow man shakes his head in the 'no' signal.
I still stare skeptical at him, before slowly inching forward.
"How are you alive?"
He shrugs.
"Can you speak?"
Shakes his head 'no' again.
"Are you solid?"
He holds out a shadow arm and I hesitantly raise a hand to it. I take a breath before reaching out and feeling a surface. It feels almost exactly like skin, except it has a coolness to it where there should we a warmth. Eyes wide in awe, I retract my hand, but then change my mind, wanting to feel again, only for my hand to go right through his arm and into darkness.
I shriek, jumping backwards and knocking the chair over. My head hits the huge wooly carpet and I groan, rubbing it. The shadow man is instantly by my side, crouched down.
"I'm fine." I say, wincing as I sit up because the head bump made my hangover headache worse. "Your arm though. It was solid, but then it wasn't. What happened?"
The shadow man's shoulders heave, as if he's sighing. He stands up and walks over to a wall. His head turns towards me, making sure I'm paying attention, before he raises his hand to the wall.
His hand presses against it, meaning his hand is solid. He retracts his hand and again moves it to the wall. This time it goes straight through, like he really is made of shadow. He retracts his hand and presses it against the wall a few more times, each time his hand switching off from solid to shadow, while I watch in wonder.
Finally he stops, walking back over to me. I shake my head out of my daze, standing up so I'm not so much beneath him.
"Let me get this straight. You can turn solid or into shadow at the snap of your fingers?"
He considers for a moment, before nodding.
"Wow." I breathe. Just then my brain recalls again how he caught me, and how I declared him my friend. I flush, not looking at him.
Wait a minute......friend.
My other friends!
How could I have forgotten about them?
I curse myself mentally, before pacing the floor. What to do? What to do?
Something moves in front of me, and I stop myself right before I'm about to crash into the shadow man. He clocks his head to the side, questioning.
"I need to get out of here." I explain. "This heat and headache are killing me and I need to know my friends are safe."
The shadow man nods, showing he understands, before walking over to the door.
"It's locked." I say, but then I realize something. In my haste to get out, I assumed it was locked and didn't even try it. What if it's open?
The shadow man answers the question by pulling on the handle. The door swings open, unlocked and probably has been unlocked this whole time. He holds it open for me, gesturing with his arm for me to leave.
I storm past him, my face red as his shadow shoulders shake with laughter.
The room leads out into a huge hallway, that's curving slightly, as if the hall is the circumference of a circle. On my right are huge Windows, like the ones in my room, and on my left are white walls. Wasting not time, I start walking, shadow man trailing behind.
A thought comes to mind.
"Do you have a name?" I ask, glancing to the side to see him. He shrugs.
"Hmm. Well for now on I'm going to call you End."
End stops halts his movements and just stares and me, and my face slowly heats up.
"Don't give me that look. Its just you're like a friend and End is the last three words of the word 'friend'. It just sounded cool in my head okay?" I snap, defending my name. I've always been told I'm terrible at naming things. My dad even said he feels sorry for my children which I'll one day have to name.
Dad....I wonder if he's safe now.
That thought strengthens my resolve. I need to get to my friends and get out of here as quickly as possible.
I start walking again, sweat dripping down my neck and face. I wipe it away letting out a breath of air.
"Is it always this hot here?" I ask End. He nods, and I sigh, thinking about ice cream, frozen lakes, and blizzards.
We follow the curved hallway, and it feels as if we're walking in a circle, which we probably are.
Suddenly, I feel footsteps coming our way. I look around for a place to hide and realize End has dissapeared, probably blending in with the other shadows.
Muttering curses I face the person who's getting closer.
The round the curve to the point where I can see them and stop, placing a hand on their hip and smirking.
My eyes wide with shock, I take a tiny step backward.
"Hello, Ashley." She purrs.
"Sylvia."
Dear readers, here's another update! It's a little longer than usual, but I hoped you liked it. What do you think about End?
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION.
What would you guys think if I wrote another book after this one? A more romance based one. How many of you would read it? I would only write it after this book has been completed of course. Tell me your thoughts.
Vote, comment, and com's up with ship names for all the characters. It can be whoever. Zero and Ashley, Ashley and Max, Max and Becky, Lager and Becky, Lager and Ashley, End and Ashley. Whoever you choose.
Lots of love,
Dangeroustoken.