Chapter 17: Just One Yesterday
I don't know how long I was unconscious. I just remember the throbbing pain radiating from the top of my head as I came to. At least thanks to the pain, I knew for sure I had been hit in the head. My eyes fluttered open, but I was met with darkness.
I looked around, somewhat confused and rather disoriented, but it was too dark wherever I was to make anything out. I tried to move, get up, only to find that I was tied to something, most likely a chair. I growled, annoyed, pulling against the ropes tied around my arms and legs, unable to break them, eventually giving up and leaning back, defeated.
"It's always me," I sighed tipping my head back, almost bored, but instantly regretting it as pain split through my skull. I cried out, swinging my head forward, tucking it against my chest, hoping for some kind of relief, and eventually the pain faded to a gentle throbbing again.
Slowly lifting my head this time, I began trying to make out my surroundings and trying to decipher what was going on. Although I couldn't see anything, I could hear the pitter-patter of what sounded like rain on the roof, and the howling of the wind-the beauty of fall storms. Otherwise, all was quiet.
Now, as for all that has happened, I knew something weird was going on with Dr. Moss from the beginning. I knew something was off as soon as we had stepped into her office-- and when she said the bodies had already been shipped off. My suspicions had peaked at when she said we couldn't look at the reports because they were 'classified'. Now, sitting here in this chair, I could confirm, that something, indeed, was up.
I sat in silence for a while, left to my own thoughts. I tried to devise a plan, but I knew so little about where I was and who had really captured me that there were too many variables to consider-- looks like I would have to make it up as I go. All was relatively quiet.
I stated to doze off, wondering if Dean, Sam, and Cas were searching for me. Wondering if Garth was even concerned even though I had just met him. It didn't seem likely. Ever since I'd first met them all I had ever caused by as trouble and a lot of unnecessary worrying.
I was jarred awake a few minutes later on a loud banging on the door. Electricity crackled through the air. My head shot up, my eyes widening.
The door flew open, and a tall, heavily built, muscular man with dark burgundy hair walked in, his piercing blue eyes glowing in the darkness.
"I take it you're Thor," I said as he approached me. "Or rather, the God of Thunder in a vessel."
"Indeed, I am, weakling," he snarled, his brows furrowing. "And you will address me as such." I raised an eyebrow.
"Don't go getting your panties in a bunch," I replied. "You seemed a lot friendlier in the movies."
His eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he was about to lunge for me, but stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder.
Dr. Moss, or rather, a God in the doctor's body, stepped around the God of Thunder.
"And which Norse goddess are you," I asked, my eyes narrowing. "Since obviously you're not who you look like you are."
"I am Sif, Goddess of the Earth," she replied bluntly, her eyes dead set on me. There was a long pause as the goddess and I glared back and forth at each other.
"Are the preparations for the ceremony complete," Thor asked, interrupting the silence.
"Almost, darling. Patience," Sif replied, not taking her gaze off of me. "The time will come. The sun has yet to rise." my eyes narrowed.
"That explains why we found the symbol Dagaz in the victim's houses," i hissed under my breath. I saw Thor's eyes narrow.
"I see, you saw those-- yet you walked right into our trap."
"Just because I know what it means doesn't mean I knew what was coming," I retorted. "But, what I want to know, is what exactly is going on within these ranks of yours."
"I do not understand why you would ask something like that," Sif replied harshly, taking a step towards me. I smirked. Looks like something was going on.
"Dagaz, besides the fact that it's a symbol for day or dawn, also indicates that there's been a significant paradigm shift within a group. And now that I know the symbol was meant as a warning, then obviously it had a deeper meaning."
The husband and wife both started for me, anger reflected in their eyes, their faces reflecting their seething attitude. I braced myself, expecting heavy blows. Yet, none ever came.
A sudden chill enveloped the room. I opened my eyes slightly, expecting some sort of ghost to appear. Thor and Sif had stopped in their tracks, their eyes narrowed, their gaze directed over my shoulder. I glanced back.
A tall, lanky, dark hair figure stood in the back corner, a crooked grin spread across his face, his striking green eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Come forth, Loki," I said, smirking. The God's crooked grin turned to a smirk, and he nodded towards me.
"You are clever, are you not," he asked, stepping further into the light, towering over me.
"I just figured, wherever your brother is, you always walk in his shadow," he replied smoothly. This seemed to strike a nerve, and the trickster god's eyes narrowed, anger sparking in their depths. He started for me, but stopped himself, tipping his head up pridefully.
Neither Sif nor Thor had moved during this exchange. That's when it hit me.
"I see, he's the cause of this disruption," I smirked. Thor stiffened, and Loki rested his hand thoughtfully on my shoulder, gripping it tight, his nailed biting into my jacket.
"Indeed, I am. Why don't you tell him what happened," Loki hissed. Sif glanced at her husband, but nodded, stepping back, knowing she couldn't stop him.
"Ragnarok is upon us, and, keeping true to the mythology, Loki is to blame."
"The Norse apocalypse, I see," I whispered, almost amused. "What a tragedy."
"It will be for you, as well, soon. You are going to be one of our last sacrifices."
"Sacrifice to who exactly," I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Our allfather has abandoned us. We are trying to regain his favor and hope he will come back us," Loki replied stepping past me from where he had been standing. "Although, rather than 'us', 'our', and 'we', I should say 'them' and 'theirs'."
I saw Thor's eyes narrowed, and he lunged for his brother. Loki disappeared in midair, and the God of Thunder went tumbling through the air.
There was a bright flash and a hammer appeared in the blonde’s hand. Lightning sparked around the room, striking the ground and the walls. The hair on my arms rose as one bolt barely missed me. Sif reached for her husband, but he pushed past her, bolting out of the door, his heavy footsteps eerily echoing through the room.
The Goddess of the Earth looked distraught.
"Even you know it's far too late to change anything," I said looking up at her. She nodded.
"Even if our father comes back, he cannot change anything. They just do not want to be alone." There was a long pause. Sif stared into the darkness, distress lighting up her eyes.
“Why exactly did you choose me to be your last sacrifice,” I asked raising an eyebrow. Sif closed her eyes, her formally stone cold expression cracking slightly.
“We’re hoping someone of your caliber might convince our father to return to us,” and with that, she turned, exiting the room, slamming the door behind her. I sighed.
“My caliber? I’m a simple hunter,” I hissed under my breath. “And she makes it sound like it’s actually going to happen…”
You could ask what I meant by ‘it’. The return of the all-powerful being presiding over these realms seemed very unlikely. My sacrifice; however, was still very prevalent. Or, at least I thought it was, until I leaned back, and felt the bounded on my wrists loosen.
Glancing down, my eyes widened. Part of the rope around my wrists had been burnt away, probably by one of Thor’s stray lightning bolts. Smirking, I wrung my wrists free. The burnt rope fell to the ground. Now all that was left to do was to get my ankles free. Feeling around my shirt and my ankles, I cursed. They had taken all of my weapons, everything from the gun in my jacket to the small Swiss Army Knife I kept in the heel of one of my boots. They had gotten clever.
Looking around, almost desperately, I tried to think of another way to cut the rope. Then I noticed the broken shards that had come raining down from the ceiling during Thor’s rampage earlier. Looks like the God of Thunder’s anger was working to my advantage.
Extending my arm towards one of the smaller shards of the ceiling, I grasped it, picking it up and reaching down to the rope wrapped around my ankles. Although thick, it wasn’t very strong. The rope looked to be old, and the sharp edge of the stone cut right through its tiny strands like a knife through butter. Eventually, that rope too fell to the ground. I was free.
Quietly jumping up, I slid towards the door, stretching and brushing myself off as I went. It was nice to be able to move again. As many times as I had been tied to a chair, this was one time I hadn’t enjoyed it.
Pressing my ear to the door, I listened. All seemed quiet. Peering through the crack under the door, I couldn’t sense any movement or see any shadows—looks like they had left me all alone. Big mistake. Standing up, I rested my hand on the door handle, making an attempt at turning it, but it was locked. Of course it was.
Letting out an annoyed huff, I reached down into my shirt, pulling a bobby pin I had pinned to my bra out. Looks like they hadn’t taken all of my tools from me. Popping the bobby pin in the lock, I jiggled it around. Eventually, there was a satisfying clicking sound as the lock popped out of place. Smirking, I put the bobby pin back in its proper place, slowly turning the handle on the door and cracking it open, peering out cautiously. As I had inspected earlier, the hallway was empty. I crept out, staying close to the wall.
Traversing the dank, damp and rather dark hallways was no easy task. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. I made it pretty far before there was really any kind of action. I slipped in and out of rooms, down long halls until I finally hear footsteps echo above me.
Someone or multiple people by the sound of it, were moving above me. I could hear glass clanking against glass and the sound of people back and forth was very prevalent.
That was when it hit me that I was below the bar that Dr. Moss, or Sif, if you will, had knocked me out. Looks like there really was something suspicious going on around, or rather, under here after all.
Just then, the door at the end of the hall swung open. I ducked into the small utility closet located on an adjacent hallway, sinking back as far as I could into the corner, suppressing a cough as dust swirled into the air, holding my breath instead. Many of the rooms I had traversed looked as if they hadn’t been touched in decades, this closet included.
A shadow passed the door, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Opening the door again, I peered out, quickly slipping out and peeking around the corner, spotting the door where the shadow had just come from. I could see people moving on the other side.
Glancing the other way, I could see someone moving at the end of the hall. Whoever it was looked to be in a hurry. The shadow turned the corner—and I realized he was probably heading towards where they had been holding me. And boy, was he gonna be upset when he found that I wasn’t there.
A/N: *looks around tiredly* *sighs* *hides* I'm so sorry. I've been crazy busy, so I'm kinda amazed that I managed to finish this. I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing excuses, so I won't give any this time. One day I will finish this story, I promise. So, don't worry. Hopefully we'll all make it through to the end. I'm sorry I couldn't get this to you all sooner. I tried, but couldn't find the time, so I hope this makes up for the long wait.
This chapter is dedicated to imaskier12345 for being the first to guess what episode I was referencing in the last chapter.
Anyway, as usual, more so earlier than now, don't forget to vote and comment ;u; Constructive criticism is always welcome. ^^
~SilverRaine/Hannah