Hell Castle
Chapter Four

I must have sat there all day, and before I knew it, the sunset and the temperature dropped very quickly. I didn’t want to go back to the castle. But I didn’t want to admit that I never really had a home and that Loki’s castle was the closest thing to home I have ever felt. I have never been one to admit when I’m wrong. My aunt said that it was something I definitely got from my Father because my mother never acted like that.

“Well, hello.” I heard a soft voice call out. I looked up a tall, pale woman with long, blond hair blowing in the brisk wind, and her eyes were a vibrant blue. She was wearing a bright yellow dress stood looking down at me.

“Hi,” I replied solemnly.

“What is a good looking girl like yourself doing out in this cold?” she asked, concerned. I told her that I deserved to be out in this bitter cold for how insensitive I was to my Father. “I see”, she said, “how about I help you with that? Shall I?” the woman leaned in close to me. She seemed harmless, a lady not much older than I. Her choice of clothing in the dead of winter was unique. No coat or jacket to shield her from the bite of the cold.

My stomach started to ache. I felt cold. Maybe I’m hungry. Suddenly I felt a hand grip my hair. “Hey, what are you doing?” I yelled in a panic, the woman had my head by the hair.

“Don’t squirm brat! It will only hurt for a moment” She assured me, she gently smiled and a set of fangs dropped down from her canines as she inched closer. She jerked my head over to have an open view of my neck.

This crazy lady is going to bite me. What should I do? I let out the loudest scream I could. The woman recoiled a bit then smiled. “No one is going to come to save you, child. You are free game. You should be thanking me. That castle belongs to Demons. They would do worse than what I have planned for you. Now be good and I might keep you alive to feed off of.” The woman leaned in once more. I can feel her breath on my neck as she got closer. I’m going to be bitten by a vampire. Holy hell! Someone help me!

Abruptly, like a flash of lighting, she disappeared. Suddenly, I could see her being flung away and hitting a nearby tree, bouncing off and hitting another tree. She appeared to be angry and confused. “Who the...Oh.”

That’s when I noticed Loki, Eliot, and Carter all surrounding me.

“Go find your dinner elsewhere,” Carter ordered.

She got up and laughed. “I don’t take orders from slimy demons. Besides, I found her first. She’s mine.”

“She’s not for you. So be on your way or else,” Eliot hissed.

Carter turned to help me up. I smiled to thank him.

“So you are going to try to take my meal away. You know a human is not worth it. Hand her over or I will start trouble for you.” The woman hissed, extending her hand. She was apparently waiting for me.

“She is no ordinary human.” Eliot snapped back.

The woman smiled. “Oh, really? Well, all the better for me to take her off your hands. Tainted blood really should be kept out of your way. So get out of my way or I will report this.”

I have no clue what is going on. Why don’t they just say I’m the Princess already and shut up this crazy vampire? Gosh, she’s persistent. A hand grabbed my arm abruptly, pulling me to Loki. “Enough of this,” he hissed. Loki turned my chin to face him. He leaned down and kissed me gently on my lips. My heart started racing like crazy. My ears began to burn. Is this really happening?

He pulled back with a smile then looked at the woman. “This girl is now mine. Do you wish to continue?”

In shock, I looked at the woman. Growling, she left. Loki wasted no time; he swooped me up in his arms and flew back to the castle. He set me down in the grand entrance, pulling my cloak off and ripping open my jacket. “Are you all right? Did she hurt you?” Eliot and Carter were close behind, joining in the search. They checked my fingers, arms, and legs thoroughly, giving me a pat-down.

I came back from the shock and I yanked my hands back to my body and away from them. “What the hell just happened?” I yelled.

Loki looked at me sternly, then started silently taking his coat off.

“That woman was a vampire,” Eliot said, folding up my cloak.

“Yeah, I gathered that the moment she tried to bite me. What was she talking about, cause trouble?” I asked, looking pointedly at Loki. “Why didn’t you just tell her I was the Princess and make her leave?”

Carter picked up my ripped coat off the ground. “It’s not that simple. Everyone thinks you’re dead. If they knew you were alive, they would come after you all over again.” Eliot walked over and handed me my cloak. “Demons are not supposed to interfere with vampire affairs and they don’t interfere with demon affairs. If one does then they can be punished or even killed for breaking the law, so to speak.”

“And that kiss? What was that?” I demanded, looking at Loki.

“Calm down, Princess. Being as she had not tasted you yet you were still fair game. So all Loki had to do was be the first. She knew we had the right, you were sitting on our land.” Eliot informed me calmly.

“Ugh. Stop. Just stop everything. Most of all, stop calling me Princess! And these rules or laws you people have are right from crazyville. I’m going to my room.” I am too frustrated to just stand around. I walked halfway up the stairs, then stopped. I looked over my shoulder. Eliot, Carter, and Loki were still down by the door, watching me leave. “Thank you, for... Yeah…”

“What would you prefer we call you If you dislike ‘Princess’ so much?” Loki inquired.

I smiled a bit, glad he was actually listening to me. “Rori. Just Rori.” I continued up the steps. “Someone should fill me in on all these secrets so I don’t mess up and let something accidentally slip.”

I sat in the window seat on top of a plush cushion gazing out at the garden below. A soft consistent rapping at the door alerted me to another presence. I watched Eliot walk in, “Rori? You missed dinner, are you hungry?”

I leaned my head on the window. It was such a beautiful night; too bad it had been spoiled by that vampire. “Uh, no. No thank you, Eliot.”

Eliot walked over to the window. “When we heard you scream, we had just gone out to look for you. Loki thought that if we let you stew for the afternoon you would come home. Looks like the Infamous General Fyrn can be wrong. You didn’t come back as he thought. Making us all worry.” He picked up a glass doll off a shelf.

“You all knew me when I was little?” I asked.

Eliot examined the doll. “Yes, we did. You were full of spit and fire back then too. I was your doctor. Loki was in charge of checking up on you guys and taking care of you when Meditris was away. Carter came to be your private guard.” Eliot smiled as he put the doll back.

“Why did I survive?” I asked. I looked at Eliot.

He looked back at me. “No one knows. The only people who know are you and him.”

I spotted a shooting star darting across the clear night sky. “I wish I knew,” I whispered.

“Be careful what you wish for.” Eliot started to head for the door.

“Eliot” I called.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Loki could have just pretended to bite my neck that would have been enough to send that woman on her way, right.”

Eliot nodded, “Now you’re getting it.”

“Why did he go so far as to kiss me?”

Eliot opened the door “That’s something you will have to ask him.”

When the door closed I cringed. Loki was proving to be an odd demon. Was he just trying to leave no room for error, or was it something else? He acts so high and mighty, but at the same time he has a soft spot for me, he is proving hard to peg.

I could not sleep a wink. I kept thinking about everything that had happened today. My mind was not allowing a moment’s rest. Around midnight, I got thirsty. Instead of waking Hidi, I got out of bed and went in search of the kitchen myself. I started off by looking at the rooms by the dining hall. When I opened the door next to the dining hall it led me to a bathroom. Kind of odd. I moved on to the next door. That door leads me to the kitchen. I opened the fridge. It was full of food and drinks. I grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice. This was hitting the spot. Very yummy too, must be fresh. I finished my glass and put my cup in the sink.

Walking back to my room I noticed a light on in the Library. What is this on for I wondered? I walked in to shut the light off. “Oh,” I said startled. “Loki, I didn’t know someone was up.”

Loki looked up from his book surprised to see me. “Well, this is my castle. I can be up as late as I see fit. Shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s late.” he put his book down to look at me.

“Uh, ya. I got thirsty. Then I saw the light on so I...”

“So you were going to go walking around the castle and get into mischief,” he interjected.

“No, I was going to shut the light off. I didn’t realize anyone was up.” I really don’t like this guy. He keeps giving me reasons not to like him.

“Is that so? Well, now you know. I’m here, so you can go to bed.” he shooed me and picked up his book.

What a jerk. I started to walk back to my room and then stopped. “Loki, why did you kiss me if a pretend bite would have sufficed?”

Loki slowly put the book back on the desk. “Is this why you are up?”, he questioned.

“No, I told you, I was thirsty; but being as you are here, I think I deserve an answer; after all, it was my kiss you stole.”

Loki chuckled “You gave Cater a kiss without a second thought. What is the big deal? It was necessary to prevent her from being too suspicious.”

I looked at him stunned. “You were jealous because I gave Carter a kiss weren’t you; so you wanted one too. You had the perfect excuse to do so and you did.”

Loki forced a laugh. “What do I have to be jealous of Carter for? I have no reason to be jealous of him by any means.” Loki’s white brows knitted lines as he pretended to laugh at my accusations.

I nodded slowly “Sure. Even Eliot was shocked you did that. For someone who does not want any physical contact between me and any of you sure are trying hard to place your hands on me.”

“Nonsense. Now go back to your room and back to bed with you,” Loki ordered.

I gawked at him “Did I hit a nerve?” I asked as I turned to leave the room. Wow, I am on to something. I let it go for now and let Loki think he had won by going back to my room without any more fuss. I quickly walked up the stairs to the second floor. I started to walk toward the hall to my room when suddenly something caught my eye in the other direction.

There seemed to be something in the dark. I could not put my finger on it. But I felt that something was there. I walked over to the dark hall. This is just why people in horror movies die. They go toward the evil creepy things instead of running away. I know better; but, still, I want to know what it is. The closer I got to the darkest part of the hall the more uneasy I feel. I stopped in the middle of the dark hallway. My stomach started to turn and hurt. Something is definitely wrong here. This is the same feeling I got at the party, even with that vampire. It’s different from being hungry as well. It’s dull achy pain.

A pair of yellow eyes popped out of the darkness. I felt my heart drop. Instantly goosebumps flooded my skin. “I see you Kiddie” a gruff voice called. My head became dizzy; I recognize this voice. I have to get away. This is not safe. Move legs, run, anything. Please, legs run. They aren’t moving. The eyes started to get closer. Surprisingly I heard a laugh. My skin became hot. The eyes, the laughter, and the voice came from those eyes. That laugh was the same as the demon. No. No. This can’t be.

“I’m going to get you kiddie” the voice called.

“NO” I screamed at the evil eyes.

A flash engulfed the hallway for a moment. just as suddenly as the flash engulfed the hall it vanished, now in its wake is emptiness. No eyes. No darkness. Little bits of the hall on fire. I felt sick and weak now.

“Rori” Loki called

“Rori” Carter yelled running up to me.

“What’s going on,” Eliot asked joining us.

They came to my rescue a bit too late. “I, I feel sick” I mumbled my vision becoming fuzzy. My legs gave out from under me. My body went limp. Hands caught me.

“What? Her clothes are burnt.” Eliot stated confused.

“Carter cover her with something. She’s barely clothed.” Loki remarked. Within a second I was covered with a fuzzy blanket. “She has just clothed and fine a few minutes ago” Loki pointed out.

“What? You talked to her” Carter asked.

“Loki, what caused this fire, her clothes, the floor, and walls are all charred with a smell of sulfur left behind. What caused this?” Eliot asked.

“I don’t know. The only one who can answer is currently incapacitated. Let’s get her to bed.” I was carried to my bed. My body too weak to move or respond. I wanted to tell them what happened. I’m so scared. He was here. But my body didn’t respond.

“She looks dead to the world. If it was not for her breathing, I would have thought she was dead.” Carter whispered fretfully to the others.

Eliot did a quick exam. “Her body is completely exhausted. If she was even awake I doubt she would be able to talk much-less move.” I listened as Eliot put up his tools. “You two go to bed. I will stay here to make sure she is safe.” Loki spoke with a concerned tone.

“Loki are you sure?” Eliot questioned him. “That was an order, not a request” Loki ordered.

“Yes, General” Eliot responded. And left.

“What are you still doing here Carter?” Loki questioned him.

“I sense she’s scared, Loki. She can’t move but I can feel her fear.” Carter brushed my hair back.

“Hm. So what should be done?” Loki asked.

“Someone needs to comfort her” Carter suggested.

“I will be over here, problem solved.” Loki sounded pleased and confident in his decision.

“No, you don’t get it. She needs a physical presence of someone beside her, to hold her.” Carter got off the bed and walked over to Loki.

“Like with the nightmare” Loki recalled.

“Yes. I didn’t think you would want Eliot chiming in, so I waited until he was gone. But nonetheless, what do you wish to do.” The room was quiet for a time.

“You do it. I’ll wait right over here.” Loki ordered.

“Whatever you say General” Carter crawled in bed by me.

I felt his hand holding mine. With Carter holding my hand to comfort me, and Loki in my room. I was sure I’m safe; so, why am I still scared? I kept seeing his eyes. Hearing that voice. That laugh. It came back for me. Did it try to kill me? Why now? Why didn’t it kill me before? So many questions that needed answered. Here I lay unable to move or speak. How useless. The utterly useless body of mine. If I can’t even use it when I need to the most, what good is it?

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