Chapter 17

I felt like I was riding one of those rides at the fair that spin in place and goes in a circle at the same time, only it felt like it was moving in slow motion. The world was titling one way, while I was slowly spinning in the other direction, I had the strange sense that this must have been how it felt when Alice fell down the rabbit hole. I was light headed, and felt nauseous, my head was pounding fiercely and my stomach was churning. I was hanging on the verge of puking, but never gaining the extra inch of relief.

Most people cant stand puking in general, they absolutely hate it, but I always thought they looked at it the wrong way. To me the actual action of throwing up is a godsend compared of the feeling you get leading up to it; Where your mouth repeatedly foams and dries up, the burning sour feeling in your esophagus, and the constant turmoil in your stomach. Tensing up when you think you might finally puke, then turning to mush when you realize you not quite there. I cant stand the gut wrenching symptoms, I would prefer throwing up all day instead of feeling as if you are going to throw up all day; Then finally, when you think you can just go to bed and sleep it off it finally comes.

That's how it felt right now, like I would be feeling this way all day and night with no release. I felt so sick, so utterly nauseous that I didn't even remember the car accident at first. My eyes had been closed the entire time, trying to will myself back to sleep and away from the terrible feeling, I had not even realized that my arms were chained above my head, or felt the cold rough stone at my back. I had been completely oblivious to my surroundings until a pause came, the world stopped spinning, my stomach stopped clenching and all torture seized for a handful of blissful seconds.

Slowly I pried open my tired eyes, I felt like I had been drugged my lids felt so heavy. My left eye felt sticky, the upper and lower lashes feeling as if they had been glued together as I tried to blink them apart. Next I licked my dry, cracking lips, the left corner having the same feeling as my eye. As if something had been spilled down one side of my face and had dried everything together as I slept; Tasting something salty and metallic as my tongue brushed over the area.

It was when I tried to move my hands to wipe whatever it was off my face that I noticed they were chained above my head. My stomach clenched in fear, bringing all the nauseating symptoms rushing back. I tried to calm myself down, taking slow deep breaths. My wrists ached from the pressure of the metal, my back being poked and pricked my the rocky stone wall behind me, cold as ice. The room I was in was dark, except for a flickering orange glow, like there was a fire going nearby. The strong scent of sulfur and something burning laced the air, making me gag and wishing for fresh air.

Despite the fire like glow and the burning stench I was freezing, making me shiver in a cold sweat. Then the world started tilting again, my vision swimming, holding me on the verge of passing out but keeping me from the pleasure of sleep. Memories started flooding my mind, Emrys and Kieran telling me I was beautiful, my rush to get out of the house, the car crash, then total darkness. None of which helped me figure out what exactly had happened after I passed out or where I was now.

"Valery, whats going on?" I turned my head at the frightened voice, gasping when I saw David standing in the corner, eyes wide with fear.

"David get out of here now!" I screamed at him, tears starting to form in my eyes.

I had no idea what was going on, or how either of us got here, but I had a bad feeling. Not just any ordinary bad guy would chain a girl up in a place like this, and who knows why David was there. I had the terrible feeling that this had something to do with finding the fountain, I didn't know how I had been found so quickly, but it was the only reasonable explanation. Of course, that still did not explain why David was there, he was the last person I expected to see.

"David you have to leave, don't worry about me just get yourself somewhere safe!"

"I don't even know where I am, I am not even sure how I got here," he was in so much shock that the urgency in my voice did not register in his mind. That his words were calm and smooth, almost void of emotion, empty.

"David, is that you?" Another familiar voice came from the other side of the door way, my dread intensified.

"Josh?" Dived turned to call down the hall, sure enough Josh came into view looking confused as he glanced around the room, his eyes widening as he saw me chained to the wall.

Despite his confusion and fear he came running to me, instantly going for the chains and tugging on them, trying to free me. It was no use though, the bolts on the wall would not give and the chains were too tight for me to slip my wrist through. Bless his heart though Josh did not give up, he might have been scared but unlike David he was immune to shock.

"Josh you and David have to get out of here, don't worry about me I will be fine," My voice wavered as more tears threatened to take over.

"No way, Val, I am not leaving you here,"

"Damn it Josh listen to me, for once, please! I will be fine, there are people who will help me, I promise you," But as I talked there was a tremor that ran through me, wondering why Kieran and Emrys had not come for me already.

To me relief Josh began backing away, he looked rather pissed about leaving me behind, but he trusted me. I didn't know what possessed him to pick this one time to listen to me, but I was thankful none the less. They gave me one last look, David a one of terror, and Josh a one of raw anger, concern, and fear. Then slowly they began to back out of the room, looking captivated by the sight of my chained there.

"Leaving so soon?" The dark voice seemed to echo through the room, and I had to swallow a scream as a man appeared int he door way behind the boys, blocking their way out.

He clamped a hand on each of their shoulders, holding them in place as his dark eyes twinkled in delight as he watched me. He was tall, dark, and handsome, no matter how much it pained me to admit it he was beautiful. Dark tanned skin, tawny with muscle, long black hair falling around his face, and eyes like black pools of water; They were what I imagined the devils eyes would look like, soulless, selfish black diamonds.

Without having to ask I knew he was a demon, because there was a darkness rolling off of his, a heat of masculine power and authority that Kieran possessed. Only Kieran was different, Kieran was not overcome by that darkness, Kieran was not all bad; The man before me was every evil intention and then some, there was not a spec of light of goodness in him. He was just the kind of man to kill an innocent and leave him to die, alone, in an alley.

"Let them go, please I will do whatever you want, just don't hurt them,"

"Anything?" His dark voice ebbed through the room, seeming to travel from his lips and caress my body.

"Yes, please let them go!" I struggled against the chains, tears falling freely from my eyes now.

"Tell me where I can find the River and they can live,"

I opened my mouth to answer him but words failed me. I didn't know where the River of Life was, sure I had the map printed on my very body, but I had no idea how to read it. The River of life was made by the Gods, there was no guarantee that it was even on earth, or even in this galaxy; For all I knew the River could be in Haven, or on another planet, there was no telling where it could be.

"I don't know where it is, but-"

I didn't have time to explain before a knife appeared in his hand and plunged it into Josh's side. Josh stood for a moment, gasping when the knife cut through his chest for a second unaware of the damage that had been inflicted on him. Then in horror he coughed, blood spurting from his lips, grabbing at his side when the blade was yanked from the wound. He took one shaky step forward, moaned then fell to his knees.

"Josh!" I cried, trying to slip my hands from the chains to run to him, "You b*****d, I don't know where the River is but I have the map! Damn you," I sagged against the wall, crying as I watched Josh bleed in horror.

"Give me the map, and I might let him live,"

"The map-"

"Don't, Valery," I was cut off my the rough command, the voice registering in my mind as Hevan, though Emrys was no where in sight.

"Emrys!" I glanced around the room teary eyed, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Hold on just a little longer, Valery," This time the voice belonged to Kieran, though he too was hiding out of sight.

"Show yourselves or the boy dies!" The evil man shouted, grabbing a fistful of Josh's hair and pulling him up, placing the knife to his throat.

"No!" I screamed, then gasped as a flash of light filled the entire room, breaching ever corner of the cave. When the light faded away Josh and David were gone, the man holding the knife up to thin air, looking as confused as I felt as to what just happened.

He came at me, knife raised in the air and the look of certain death on his face; I didn't think he would kill me though, he needed me to get to the River, there was no doubt about lashing out with a little torture though. Before he could reach me though Emrys appeared in front of me, blocking me from any harm. There was a second where nothing happen, then the moment passed and they were at each others throats, Emrys just barley dodging the angry slashes of the knife.

I was watching with growing fear, because Emrys was doing nothing to defend himself, only moving out of the way just in time, barley. Not once did he lift a hand to fight back, and I was stuck watching Emrys come closer and closer to death. Suddenly I was falling to the floor, the chains releasing me from their hold, I wasted no time in running to Emrys. The knife came slashing again, too close this time giving Emrys no time to move away; Without another though to threw myself between them, gasping as the blade sliced across my back.

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me backwards, tossing me aside like a rag doll. Kieran was suddenly in the room, kneeling at my side and scooping me into his arms. Emrys stood rigid as he saw blood soak through my shirt, slowly he turned back to my attacker, a deep growl escaping his lips as he spoke.

"You would have lived much longer had you not touched her, Maulice" Then the fight started again, this time Emrys using all his strength, fighting back and slamming his fists against his body without mercy.

In a rush of fury, Emrys grabbed Maulices arm and twisted, the bone snapping with a painful sound. He shouted and stumbled away, hissing at Emrys where he now knelt. Holding his now broken arm he started chanting, and with his words a dark smoke began to fill the room burning my lungs as I breathed. There was a gush of air that swirled the smoke around and the chanting began to fade. As we watched the smoke began to clear, Maulice was no where to be found.

As the presence of danger fled with the smoke my mind replayed everything back to me. Maulice had killed that man in the alley because of me, and now he knew who I was and where he could find me. He had involved Josh and David, who were both gone now, and Josh was wounded, maybe even dieing. I was aware that I was bleeding, and losing blood fast, my vision began to blur dotting with black masses. Emrys and Kieran spread their wings out and began to carry me away, letting me know I was now safe. How long would I remain safe, though? How long were the rest of my family going to be safe, and who would he go after next?

I was a walking target, a death sentence to everyone I loved and cared for. All the bad and danger that would come was all because of me, everything that has happened, and would happen from this point on would be my fault. All because I was the offspring of an unbelievable relationship, a hybrid masked as a human, a map to eternal life. All I had ever wished for was for my life to have meaning, to be something unique and special, not that I had gotten it I wished I had never been born at all. That was the last thought than ran through my mind as I lost consciousness, and I hoped that I never woke up. I didn't want to be the reason someone else died or got hurt.