Page 9 of Beyond the Darkness

The voice slithered through her mind, making her entire body go frozen. Her mind screamed and begged to fight it, but there was no escaping a Neuro’s power. The mental hold was too strong to fight against. The only thing she could move were hereyes. She kept her gaze locked with Everett’s seeing the fear that also resided in his own eyes. They were completely and utterly fucked.

Chapter Fifteen

Aerilyn

Aerilyn had never felt a headache like the one she had then. Her temples pounded in pain as she forced her eyes open. Her entire body felt stiff as if she had been frozen in the position for too long. The air around her was cold and felt heavy with the scent of dirt. She slowly felt her consciousness continuing to come back to her, each sense overwhelming her as she did. The room she was in had minimal lighting. The darkness only had a few torches to light the area enough to allow her to take in her surroundings. She was lying on the flat ground, dirt beneath her. She slowly sat up, allowing herself to adjust to the position change. She felt a heavy weight around her wrists and looked down to see the same cuffs that had been placed there before. Now, there was a long chain attached to them. Her eyes followed the length of the chain, noting how the end of it attached to a hook on the floor. She swore under her breath, giving it a pull with any strength she had left. The sound of the chain clinkingechoed through the space, breaking the silence that had filled the air around her.

“Aerilyn?” She heard Everett’s hoarse voice coming from the darkness beyond the bars of the cage she was trapped within. She didn’t have the strength to stand, crawling towards the metal bars that enclosed her away from everyone else. She grabbed a hold of the bars, pressing her face to them as she searched for Everett in the dim lighting. Directly across from her in his cage was Everett. His wide eyes were on her, trying to scan her for any damage. He seemed to care about her wellbeing which made her feel a bit safer around him.

“Are you okay, darling?” He whispered, his forehead pressing against the bars, not looking away from her once. “I’m okay, Ev. I want to understand what the fuck just happened,” she let out a small sigh, trying to recall the detail of the events that had happened before she lost consciousness. “I don’t know how any of this is possible. Nobody else is supposed to be alive. Maybe they’re from Orissia. They could be others from past groups who have survived?” He suggested, trying to also find reasoning for what was happening.

They were obviously in some sort of dungeon. She’d never seen the dungeons back in Orissia, but she knew a place like this wasn’t supposed to be welcoming. They were prisoners here. Too many questions ran through her mind to process. It was all too much to take in at once. She wanted to find an explanation as to how they’d gotten themselves into this position. She had no idea who these people were. After they’d taken them hostage from where they slept, she assumed they weren’t very kind. The image of the figures dressed in black washed across her mind once again, reminding her of the level of danger they were in.

Aerilyn heard a group of footsteps along with the sound of keys rattling with movement. Her eyes went wide as she glanced towards where the sound was coming from. She quickly backedherself away from the bars, putting space between her and whoever was approaching. A group dressed in leathers appeared before her cell, four people in total.Three of them had a hand on their sword that was attached to their hip while the other unlocked her cell. The one unlocking the cell had a hood over his face, concealing his identity from her. “Stay the fuck away from me,” she spit out, forcing herself to her feet. The action alone made her body ache and her head spin. Something about the cuffs around her wrists was draining her more than she had realized. She staggered on her feet, leaning her back into the wall for the support she now needed.

“Now, that’s not the way to treat a stranger, is it? How unkind of you,” the man scoffed, stepping into her cell along with the others. “You have me in chains. You deserve none of my respect,” she snapped in return, trying to get herself into a fighting stance. The man let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes, examining her from across the cell. “I’m going to give you an option here. Come with me without a fight or make this more difficult for the both of us and require me to use force. Which will it be, my dear?” He proposed, cocking his head to the side like a predator watching the prey. She debated his offer, wanting so badly to fight the group. She knew her odds were almost impossible. They were all armed and she had no weapons. She had nothing to defend herself against them.

“Fine.”

“Good choice, my dear,” he used the nickname again as if it were endearing to do so. He held his arm out towards her, motioning with his head for her to join him. As she approached the man cautiously, one of the guards unlocked the chain that kept her held to the ground of the cell. The figure held the chain within his fists, able to control just how far she could stray away from him. She stood beside the strange man, refusing his offer to link her arms to his. He took the hint and dropped hisarm before stepping out of the cell. The guards huddled around them as they walked in silence to somewhere unknown. Aerilyn didn’t stop her gaze from taking it all in. Any information on how this underground area was laid out could help them escape later on. “I know what you’re thinking and there’s no easy way out of here. Our king ensured that criminals wouldn’t run loose around our kingdom,” he snapped, his voice void of the previous kindness. Her mind began to whirl with questions once again. There was another kingdom besides Orissia. That she now knew from the man’s statement.

“Criminals?” She questioned, her brows pulling together in confusion. She didn’t understand anything that was happening, but she did know that none of them did anything to be considered criminals. “You and your friends entered our land without permission. You come from Orissia and that makes you an enemy,” he didn’t look at her as he spoke, still leading her through the twists and turns of the underground. She felt like she was going to be sick.

The man stopped before an iron door, pushing it open easily. Within the room sat a chair with straps along the armrests. She would have to be a fool to not realize what was about to happen. She quickly turned to run before she felt the strong tug of the chain that connected to her wrists, jerking her body back towards the dimly lit room. She began to scream as the guard forced her into the chair. The man who had been speaking to her stood beside the chair, rolling his sleeves up as he watched the guards restrain her. “Relax, my dear,” he cooed, running his hand over her cheek. She tried to jerk her face away from his touch, but her entire body was frozen in place. She looked up at him as he moved to stand in front of her, his hood now pulled down. His head contained no hair, the bits of light reflecting off of the bare surface. His face was old with age, probably around the age her father would’ve been.

“Leave us. I’ll retrieve you when I’m finished,” he waved the guards off who then exited the room, leaving them alone. He clasped his hands together, watching her before he began to speak. “I want to keep this easy. I need to look into your mind and determine if you have any memories that can be of use to the king. I can’t say this won’t hurt,” a small smile formed on his lips, exposing his damaged teeth. He placed his fingertips against her temples, pressing them down into her skin. She gasped as she felt a heavy weight fill her mind. It felt like something was stepping on her brain and crushing her from the inside. She let out a scream, her body thrashing against the chains.

Don’t move.

The voice whispered into her mind, causing every inch of her body to freeze. It felt the same way as it did when the figure in black had forced her to her knees. The pain within her mind didn’t let up, his fingertips feeling like they were burning her skin. She continued to scream, praying for the pain to stop. She’d had a Neuro in her mind when she was just a child. The boy didn’t know what he was doing when he accidentally slipped into her mind and began to tell her to slap herself repeatedly. The boy’s mother had found them like that, the poor child unable to reverse what he had done. His mother had also been a Neuro and was able to force her to stop harming herself. That experience hadn’t caused her pain the way this did.

Aerilyn was unsure of how much time had passed. The pain became unbearable. She prayed for it all to end. Every scream that had escaped her made her throat feel more raw. At some point, her vision seemed to become limited. The pain within her mind had spread into her eyes, making them ache with excruciating pain. When the hands finally left her temples, her entire body went slack. She let out a sob of relief, her shoulder sagging as she tried to recover from what she had just experienced. Her head ached, but the pain was manageablecompared to how it had been just moments prior. “Nothing useful,” he sighed, examining her once more before he turned to the iron door as he knocked on it a few times. One of the guards peeked his head into the room, looking between her and the Neuro.

“Take her back to her cell, I’m done with her.”

Chapter Sixteen

Aerilyn

The time that had passed was unknown to Aerilyn. There was no way to tell time in the cold darkness that surrounded her cell. It could’ve been hours or days, but it felt like forever in her mind. She had scattered conversations with Everett who sat against the cell bars across from her. They tried to keep each other sane, but it was a difficult task not to panic. She was thankful that the Neuro had never returned after that day. Each of them had been escorted to the same room meant for interrogation, all returning in the same amount of pain.

There was one thought that continued to pull at her mind. This wasn’t supposed to be possible. There shouldn’t have been anyone else alive, even more an entire kingdom. Throughout the duration of her life, she had been taught that the rest of the human race was within the walls. There was no one left beyond their protection due to the hounds killing any other forms of life. Aerilyn had seen both animals and humans still livingbeyond Orissia. She now questioned what all had been lies from the king. He had taken hope away from hundreds of citizens, convincing them that they had no choice besides living the life they were assigned from birth. She could only wonder if Everett knew these details. By the look on his face, it seemed he was just as surprised as the rest of them.

A loud pair of boots hitting the cement floor of the dungeon echoed through their silence, pulling Aerilyn from her thoughts. She moved her body off of the cell door, exchanging a look with Everett before backing away from it. It felt like a repeat of the day the Neuro had come for her. Her hands quivered at the thought of going through the mental torture again. She had never experienced something so awful, going through it again just might break her. The steps got louder as they approached until they stopped entirely. She saw the pair of black laced up boots before she saw the man’s face. Her eyes ran up the height of him, surprised by the new face appearing in the dungeon.

His gaze was piercing with green eyes that reminded her of the plants she’d grown back home. Though, there was no kindness in those eyes, darkened by the thick lashes, as he stared right back at her. His jaw was sharp and his cheekbones high, the type of features most men would kill to have. Along the left side of his cheek stretched a raised scar from the corner of his mouth up to his jaw bone. His blonde hair was pushed back in a slicked style, though a few pieces fell around his face. Her gaze wandered to the large silver crown resting upon his head, still sparkling even in the darkness around them, marking that he was some sort of royalty.

She had too many questions running through her mind, attempting to sort out the lies and truths. She realized that she wanted answers, the truth this time. Aerilyn began to question everything that her life had been before as the man stoppedoutside of her cell, meeting her gaze. The eye contact alone made her want to shrink back in fear, but she refused to do so.

“What might your name be?” The man’s voice was deep and enticing, making goosebumps form along her pale skin. He cocked his head slightly, a lock of his blonde hair falling into his eyes, expecting her to reply. She couldn’t find her voice. He seemed to be impatient, annoyed by her silence.

“Well?”

“Aerilyn,” she whispered, her tongue feeling odd in her own mouth. The time without food or water really seemed to be getting to her. “Aerilyn, what a pretty name,” the left corner of his lip twitched as if attempting to hide his expressions. She couldn’t mistake the small dimple that formed with the movement. Before she could say anything, Everett was on his feet with his hands wrapped around the cell door’s bars. “Who are you? Why the hell are we still here?” He began to throw the words at the stranger. She understood his frustration. All they wanted were answers.

The man turns his attention to Everett for a moment, making a show of looking him up and down before crossing his large arms over his chest. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” the sarcasm pinched in the man’s tone. “I’m Azazel, the one who is going to help you get out of these cells. Well, if you decide to accept my offer that is,” his gaze flicked back to Aerilyn once more before he strode deeper into the dungeon. She watched as he examined the three others that were in their company, a soft hum leaving him as he stood in the middle of the hallway so that everyone could get a glimpse of the stranger.

“Welcome to Korth, I hope the Jaque wasn’t too unpleasant,” the words made Aerilyn snort. “Is something funny to you?” He paused, turning his attention back to her. She almost stayed silent again, but she couldn’t hold her tongue. “Pleasant? The fucker tore my mind apart and brought meworse pain than I’ve ever experienced. Pleasant is the last term that should be associated with that asshole,” she snapped in frustration, already finding a dislike for the man. “Hm, I’ll have a discussion with him about being kinder next time, doll,” her stomach twisted at the nickname he gave her that would normally be endearing. He was anything but that.

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