9. Twisted Blood
Twisted Blood
Rez
Whispers caress my skin, awakening me from my sleep to find myself in a darkened hallway. It would be deja vu if Lynx were missing again, but this time I can see a bit better due to the low-lit sconces on the wall. Looking down at myself, I look more like a corporeal shadow floating in the air.
Trying to find someone I know, I call out, but my voice doesn’t work.
That’s interesting. I wonder if I can move.
Not really having a body, I’m able to direct myself by thought and glide down the hallway to my right a little bit, but before I can go further, something calls to me, halting me in place.
‘Nerezza.’
Yeah, okay. I’ve seen enough scary movies to know you don’t go towards the lone scary voice. I don’t know what Hitchcock or Stephen King movie I woke up in, but I’m opting out of it.
Attempting just to turn and look in that direction, I find the sconces darkening as shadows dance closer to me.
Yep, I knew I was doomed. I don’t know why, but dread fills me, and if I had skin, I know it would be covered in goosebumps.
This would be my nightmare; way to go, Rez.
You can’t have just a normal dream after Hell.
You had to have this piece right out of a horror movie.
‘Who are you?’ my dumbass answers, my voice finding the strength to work now.
I really have no choice. I don’t know if this is a dream or a vision, or if what I’m experiencing is real or fake. What did Desar call these things again? Fuck, why can’t I remember? I’m not even sure how the fuck to wake up, if this isn’t that— Dreamscape! That’s what it’s called!
As the shadows creep down both sides of the hall, I begin to see a shadowy form take shape on the left.
Naked sepia legs, a shade darker than mine, begin to emerge out of the shadows, long, lean, yet walking with a powerful intent.
Woah! I’ll just pass over that monster between those thighs and skip up to his definitely male narrow waist. His broad chest comes next, along with a thick neck and a strong jaw, with a wicked smile.
“Ahh. There you are, little mouse,” a low masculine voice purrs out of the dark. “For something so small, you’ve caused a huge mess in someone’s plans.” He chuckles right as he leans down to bring us eye to eye, right as the room plunges us into darkness.
Fear grips me, cutting off all rational thought as I feel his hot breath on my cheek in the darkness.
As his breath feathers further up my cheek, I can barely make out his outline.
Wait! When did I get a solid body? As soon as the thought hits me, my body goes stiff when his hand reaches out and caresses my lower jaw, shocking me.
His touch is ice cold, and my jaw clenches as his fingers feather across my cheek towards my hairline.
The mixture of his warm breath and icy touch wages war over my sensitive skin, but it’s the frozen ribbons of darkness that have reached deep within my skin and have stopped my veins from flowing.
“I’ve heard so much about you. What is it that makes you so important and irresistible, hmm?” Shadowman wonders as he gently moves my face back and forth, seeking something I am unaware of.
“Who are you?” I ask, reaching up and knocking his hand off of me.
I hide the fact that I’m pleasantly surprised that it worked. Before, I couldn’t physically move any portion of myself. Now, it seems I have my control back.
He chuckles as a faint glow blooms from the floor between us, highlighting the movements of the man in front of me as he moves back slightly.
The light barely reaches his jaw, and I manage to get a few glimpses of his eyes, which seem to change color, right before the room goes sideways and I become disoriented.
No, I don’t need this right now.
Blinking furiously, the room straightens back out after what feels like hours, but realistically, I’m sure it’s only a few seconds, but it’s enough to cause my body to react.
My heart races against my chest as his piercing gray eyes stare me down as if I’m the prey he’s been hunting for ages, and he’s ready to devour my soul.
The pride and cruelty in his smile are enough to make anyone pause to rethink their choices in life and wonder whether blindly following this man would be the better choice.
The glow around us flickers once more, and it seems as though his eyes change color once again, but this time to a blood-red. I have yet to see anything above those eyes or catch any hair color. For all I know, he’s probably bald.
“I go by many names,” he says as he starts to circle me. Even though I am magicless—and weaponless—we can obviously touch each other, so I choose to keep him in my sights and turn with him.
“Care to share one of them?” I growl out, getting annoyed that I’m stuck here with this inconsiderate fool. He’s ruining my beauty sleep.
“You would know me best by Entity.”
I stop in my tracks as his words reverberate through the space, and it clicks for me.
Entity. Zeke’s Entity? I see a flash of red as I realize that this man or creature before me is the responsible party for the girl's death by the Deathweaver. He’s the reason Zeke has been doubting himself all those years.
Hell, I almost lost Zeke because of this fucker.
My body starts to vibrate as my lips curl back into a snarl. A sly smile slowly appears across his face, and I desperately wish one of my powers were the ability to shoot lasers out of my eyes.
“Aww, did the mouse’s feelings get hurt?” he mocks, and I lunge at him, arms outstretched and aimed at his corded neck.
He easily side steps me and grabs my arms, spinning us and pinning me up against the wall, one hand trapping my hands above me, and the other wrapping around my throat. But I don’t wait for him to say to relax, I kick out, hitting him in the crotch, and he releases me as I expected.
I don’t know how in the hell my shadowy figure can penetrate his form, but I figure if he can affect me, then I’m able to do the same to him in this plane.
“So you do have some claws on you,” Entity grunts out as he uncurls and regards me.
“Who said I didn’t?” I question him, keeping my hands loose by my sides and remembering what Astaroth taught me. His dark chuckle brings chills to my arms and runs down my spine.
“Oh, I would say your enemies.” He smiles. “You have quite a bit. Did you know that?” he taunts me.
“How about you tell me something I don’t know. Like why I’m here, or what this place is,” a scathing tone falls out of me.
“Fair enough, little mouse,” he states as he circles me again, looking for any weakness as I do the same.
“Welcome to Tzal.” He spreads his arms wide, indicating nothing but the shadows dancing around us.
I make the mistake and take my eyes off of him for a split second, and suddenly I feel my feet leave the floor and the air explode from my lungs as my back slams into a wall.
I have no time to cough as my windpipe is cut off from its air supply.
My hands claw furiously at the meaty palm and arm that’s suspending me up against the solid wall.
Those dark eyes hold no feelings, no remorse, not even curiosity, as black dots start popping up in my vision. I kick out, trying to hit anything, but he side-steps and pushes his hip against my side, pulling his body out of the danger zone.
Is this the end of me? Is this the way I was supposed to die? I get sucked into a vision and die at the hands of a shadowman? Fuck, this life sucks.
My lungs burn as my body grows heavy, and my vision turns black when I see a flash of bright white. Suddenly, I’m dropped onto the floor and take in gulping breaths. Blinking rapidly, I wonder if I’ve already died because I can’t be seeing what’s playing out before me.
In a flurry of parries and blocks, Knots and Entity are sword-fighting at the speed of mock Jesus. It’s blatantly clear that Entity was playing with me earlier with how fast he’s moving now. I really was a fucking mouse, and he was the ultimate predator.
Time seems to slow down as Knots’ sword highlights Entity’s face enough that I catch a brand or mark on his forehead and a cocky wink he sends me before Knots decapitates him.
Was that always there? Is that why the shadows clung to that area, and I couldn’t see above his eyes?
Or did he have control over that for our interaction?
Those dark eyes still have their smirk resting in them for a brief second before his body disappears, and Knots replaces the view.
“Rez, are you okay?” he asks, scooping me up, not waiting for an answer.
Resting my head on his shoulder, I take in his warmth and thank the fates I have an angel in my corner.
Coming to this time, I find myself in the living room lying on Knots.
“Hey, there she is. You okay?” Chester asks, holding a very blue-looking Moni. The rest of the group isn’t much better, each in different degrees of worry and distress.
“Um, I think I’m okay,” I tell them truthfully. I honestly don’t know what the fuck happened. Hell, I don’t even remember falling asleep.
“You must have drifted off to sleep,” Knox says, feeling my confusion through our link. “Here.” He passes a blanket to me, which Knots wraps around me as I sit up and thank him. I’m shivering despite the leggings and sweater I’m wearing.
“What happened?” Moni asks. “You were sleeping soundly one minute, and the next you were gasping and turning blue,” she recalls for me as Reaper crawls out of Zeke’s lap and comes over to me.
Pulling him into me, I wrap the blanket around us and instantly melt into our little inferno cuddle bundle.
“I’m not sure. I would have thought I was in another Dreamscape, but this was different. I wasn’t solid like normal when I was looking for Lynx. I was in a shadow world, and I was there with—” I pause and look at Zeke to gauge his reaction. “Your Entity.”
As expected, he freezes up and stares at me.
“What?”