(Well... it was a long time in coming, but here it is. (Forgive me Kris!)
Let me know when you have some free time, Lex. ;) )
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Two weeks... It's been two weeks and you haven't found a thing? Not one
clue?" Jolene Dureau stared at the guard across the desk incredulously.
There was no one else who had lifted a finger. Of course Caelan Rainier's
brother Garrad was concerned, and Fox Asli was intent about finding the lost
lady in waiting. But both only had so much time of leave from the castle.
"I-- I'm sorry, m'Lady," he was a young guard, and he stammered and shifted
under the hard stare of the petite young woman.
"Sorry isn't going to get her back!" there weren't many else that seemed to
care, and it frustrated Jo to no end. "A young woman goes missing, and
you've done nothing about it?!" the poor man was getting the brunt of her
anger. "We filed a report two weeks ago with you! Who knows what's happened
to her since then!"
"There... there are posters out with Lady Rainier's picture--"
"But what else? Are there guards out asking questions? Searching the
Square?"
"I... well..." the young man had to look away from her, and he fidgeted with
a quill in his hands.
"Hells!" her fist pounded the edge of the guard's desk. "What the bloody
hell are all of you paid for?!" She rocketed from her seat, and snatched her
cloak from the chair. "If I have to put out a reward to get someone off
their arse, I will. Even if she's dead... at least find a body for us!"
"Yes--yes, Ma'am," the young guard could only stammer, and gulp as the
furious lady-in-waiting stalked from the Mysthaven Guardhouse.
~*~*~*~*~
"They don't care about you."
"They do... They just can't find me... That's all."
"Naaaahhhhh... They couldn't give a rat's ass!"
Nasally, weezing laughter filled the small, dark room. The room that Caelan
Rainier had been confined in for so long that she couldn't tell time any
longer. Four, cold stone walls, a floor scattered with straw, and a thick
oak door. All the light that she had came from under the crack in that door,
and it cast dim, flickering shadows. It was one, long, horrible nightmare. A
nightmare where the shadows threatened her and this rat taunted her.
"Do you get it? Rat's ass?!"
"Funny," Caelan sneered at the thing and kicked her foot at it. Her vision
blurred, and the one rodent became three. Three muddy brown creatures with
pink, hairless tails and long, crooked noses with bent, frazzled whiskers.
The oddest thing about them was that they all had a tiny pair of spectacles,
each with the right lense cracked, and each had a striped, tattered scarf
wrapped about it's neck. She wished she could choke them with it.
"It's been a month, you know," the three became two, and then there was only
one, "I bet they gave up. If they had looked at all," it was even possible
for this rat to sneer. It tilted it's ugly head, and it's lips peeled slowly
back to reveal it's rotting, pointed teeth.
"Of course they've looked! ....They've tried. They wouldn't just leave me
down here... they wouldn't," she rocked back and forth, sobs rising
helplessly in her throat, but her eyes were too dry to shed any tears.
"Looked... Not looking! Tried... not trying! ...They did, and they aren't
anymore! You've said it yourself!" the nasty little thing danced about in a
circle, chanting. It's nasally voice reverberating off of the stone walls
and ringing in Caelan's head. "They're leaving you down here! You're going
to die down here! You're going to die!"
"Stop it!"
"You're going to die!"
"Leave me alone!" her weak body convulsed with the sobs that couldn't be
released in tears. She threw her head back against the cold stone wall, and
rubbed at her face. "Go away!" she cried pitifully, sinking along the wall
to her right to lay upon the hard, straw floor of her cell. She groaned as
she hugged her arms tight about her middle.
"You're going to die down here!" the horrid little rat cried gleefully,
spinning about once more. "Looked, not looking! Tried, not trying!" it went
on, skipping towards her, till it's beady black eyes were peering directly
into her face. "They did and they aren't anymore!"
"Nooo..." she moaned softly, her head swimming, her vision blurring. "Go
away," she muttered. She felt so weak that she didn't even have the energy
to swat at them, "All of you..." one face had now become four. "Leave me
alone..." her fingers and her toes were numb. At least she was no longer
tied, and she had been thrown in here with her cloak. She tugged the woolen
article up over her shoulder like a blanket, and pulled the hood beneath her
head like a pillow.
"They're coming!" the rat hissed.
Caelan's eyes shot wide open in alarm, and she drew a sharp breath as the
sound of marching began to echo in her ears. Stomping feet, stepping in
time. Moving closer... and closer. Her heart was in her throat, and her eyes
moved frantically around her room. "Oh no... No... Stay away.." she mumbled,
jerking upright as the rat scurried away, snickering, and disappeared in a
dark corner. She crawled onto her knees and scrambled quickly into the far
corner of her cell, relentless, unwavering footsteps in pursuit. "No... go
away," she whimpered, drawing her knees close to her chest and burying her
face in her arms. Don't talk, don't move... and don't breathe, maybe it'll
go away.
The lock sounded, and the door swung wide open, flooding the dark cell in
firelight. Caelan cowered in the corner, her breath caught in her throat,
her eyes squeezed tightly closed. If she can't see them, maybe they can't
see her. She was irrational with fear. Straw crunched under booted feet,
feet that stopped directly in front of her.
"Ah!" she cried in pain, a hand gripped her hair roughly, and jerked her
head upright. Her eyes flew wide open and she found she was met with the
very spector of death itself. A painted white skull floated before her eyes,
it's claws holding her head. She struggled and squirmed, but her attempts
were futile. She was too weak, and she had backed herself into a corner. Her
heart was in her throat, and hoplessness seized her, "I don't want to die,"
she pleaded, her blue eyes glazed and shot with red. "I don't want to die...
Please..."
"If you don't want to die, you'll drink this," the spector replied gruffly,
jerking her head roughly back once more. A thin vial was lifted before her
eye, and it seemed to glow green in the dim light.
"I don't want to die..." her thin form shook with the force of her helpless
sobs. Her vision swimmed, and dazed she stared at the glowing green vial as
it wavered and became two. The hand in her hair forced her head back and the
contents of the vial were poured down her throat. She coughed and sputtered,
choking on the vile, horrid liquid as her tormentor released her, jerking
her head back into the wall.
The room spinned as she collapsed upon the floor, coughing, her hands
splayed within the straw. She was so weak... just on the verge of starving,
she could barely stand on her own two feet let alone fight off a demon. Her
head burned. It ached. It felt like it was on fire. Her vision hazed, and
she groaned as she clutched her head. "Make it stop... stop it.." she
whimpered, fingertips digging into her scalp. It was only growing more
intense, a raging, white hot blaze in her head that was roaring in her ears,
and baking her mind. Until it was unbearable, and everything went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sarah
_________________________________________________________________
Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com
--
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://islesofmyst.com/lists.php3
