Carefully, I take another step, well aware that every step I make is leading me farther from the Door I’ll likely never find again without my sight. But I’m drawn to whatever it is in front of me and find myself moving toward it. I have no idea if it’s leading me off to the god that resides in this realm or what it’s doing with me.
“What are you?” I ask, but I hear no response, just the way it moves through the fast-flowing water and the clashing of those chains with each step. Kit chitters uneasily, and her ability to see the world around us makes me question whether I’m making the wrong choice, but I keep pushing forward.
I listen for other sounds, but the realm seems quiet around me. No birds, no animals, just water and chains. The water fights against me, the current fast for such a shallow river.
The noise of the chains grows louder and I realize the being I’m following has stepped out of the water, though the current is still fighting against me with every step.
“What is this?” a feminine voice asks, making chills race through me.
“A little lost bird,” a masculine voice answers.
They sound as if they’re on both sides of me, and I question how I’m even going to be able to fight them like this if they choose to attack me. I freeze, considering my options, before I hear the chains quickly dragging to my left and the woman’s cackle recedes, like she’s being forced back by the chained being.
The clanking chains grow louder while the silent being seems to pick up speed, but though walking with only darkness surrounding me is one thing, running in it is another. Honestly, I feel like I have no choice at all since I now know that others are aware that I’m here.
“He’s going to like this,” the feminine voice says.
“He’s very much going to like this,” the other agrees.
I uneasily question again if I’m being led right to the god. Hell, the god could be watching right now and I’d have no idea.
Kit whines and jumps to my other shoulder while I try my best to ignore the two entities muttering threats as they follow along, close but not close enough for me to feel them. Their voices echo around me, but they seem wary of the being who appears to have chosen to protect me.
“Please… help me,” a woman begs.
My hip slams into something hard and I jerk back, startled.
I feel something brush against my leg, and my skin crawls when I realize that what I feel are fingers.
“Please, let us free.”
I pull away and notice that the sound of chains is getting farther from me. Panic fills me as pleas surround me. Are these humans caught in a cage?
“Who are you?” I ask, torn between following the sound of the chains and dealing with the cries for help.
My hands pat around the metal as I kneel down. “I can’t see; where is the latch?”
“Right there. It’s right there,” a man cries, which isn’t helpful in the slightest. But luck must be on my side because my hand bumps the latch just as the sound of the chains stops. My head snaps to the side, trying to listen for any sign of the being.
Hastily, I slide the latch free, surprised there’s not a lock on it, but when I reach in to help whoever is inside, my hand passes through open air and lands on a small warm orb. I pause and wave my hand inside the cage while I question what happened to the one who’d begged me for help.
“Please,” a woman says. I reach out until my hand smashes into her prison, but when I touch her fingers, they seem to turn into nothing beneath my touch. I stand up and back away as I wonder what the hell I’d done to them. Were they just figments of my imagination? Did I do something to hurt them? Or did I release them from whatever curse they were under?
I feel disoriented, unsure which direction I’d been heading in and which direction the Door I’d come in through is. Kit would know, right? Should I just follow her back? What if Mickey has opened the Door?
But what about Torin? Torin, who has been locked alone with that monster for how long now?
“Where are you?” I ask.
“Who do you want?” the woman who has been following me asks.
“You can come with us. We’ll help you,” the male says. Their voices are almost hypnotizing. And with the confusion I’m feeling, I find myself desiring to follow them. I take a step toward them before I hear the sound of those chains.
It snaps me straight out of the allure they’d drawn me into. I hurry away from them and toward the chains, using my hands tokeep from running into anything else, when I suddenly feel the presence of a Door. It’s so close.
I don’t know whether this is the Door to my realm or even the Door to where Torin is, but it’s a Door, and I want out of this hell. I want out of this world that feels so wrong, despite being unable to see it. I rush for the Door but halt when I discover that I don’t want to leave. There’s a pull that I can’t ignore, no matter how much I try.
“Come with me,” I find myself begging the chained being. It begins to thrash and I can’t tell why until I realize that something is dragging it from me. The chains sound like they’ve snapped tight, and I hear it hit the ground and flail in distress. A part of me wants to go help it, but then I hear three words that send fear ripping through me.
