The Alpha's Eden

Back here again

Jace PoV

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you know from the very moment you stir from slumber to being awake that something is just not quite .... Well that's the thing, you can't even give it a word because you just don't get it but everything just feels ever so slightly 'off'.

In a sleep induced daze that makes time seem to be in a super slow mode, the hairs of the back of your neck stand up one by one.

You swallow hard to remove that lump that got built up in your throat overnight and you give your head a good shake to clear your dreamy thoughts and return you to reality.

But then it suddenly hits you like a freight train that completely knocks the wind out of you and leaves you doubled over in shock.

My eyes opened as wide as I could get them and I darted my head around in all directions in a pointless search for a clue to where the hell I was. But there was nothing but a vast, dark and endless emptiness that felt similar to my soul in that moment. I cursed under my breath before I got to my feet having heard a scuffle of feet somewhere nearby. Today was not the day to attack me in the dark because my tolerance for bullshit was less than an inch long now and shrunk moment by moment.

"Jace, is that you?" A voice called out from the same direction the prior noise had done and relief hit me at the familiarity of the voice. "Jace?" He called my name once more.

"Hayden, stay still and just keep on talking. I'll find you" I advised him with the knowledge that he was bound to be pretty freaked out right now.

"I'm freaking out, where the hell are we?" Hayden sounded panicked and I couldn't blame him. But I was getting closer when another noise came from close by him but it wasn't him.

"Hell sums it up about right" Blake chuckled darkly and flashed his purple vampire eyes like a beacon in the black.

"Blake?" Hayden questioned in shock.

"New plan. Go to Blake" Blake's bright eyes were the only one hung we could see so it made sense to go to him as opposed to us all getting lost as we tried to find one another.

A minute or two later we were all together, albeit in the dark.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what's going on and where we are?" My brother asked in a tight tone. He tried to hide the fear but I knew him too well not to hear it.

"Welcome to The Void" Blake said with a sneer.

"The What now?" Hayden was beyond confused. Poor dude had a lot to catch up on.

"This is where we found out about Mia and our fathers. It's kinda of like a space that exists between time and can act like a portal of sorts too" I tried to provide the Cliff notes version. "If it wants to, it can show you things. Memories or events that happened in the past" how crazy did I sound? Fucking hell.

"So what, it just brings you here wherever it wants?" Hayden asked and even in the darkness I just knew he was scowling  hard.

"No, it doesn't work like that. Shit. Shit. Shit" I suddenly realised what we'd been told the last time we'd be here and about how you got here in the first place.

"Huh?" Hayden grunted in utter confusion at my outburst.

"There are only certain ways you get here....-" and I couldn't tell him the reasons , I didn't have the guts. Thankfully Blake sensed my struggle and finished explaining it for me.

"Our bodies aren't here. They are wherever we last were before our spirits were pulled into The Void. Magic can send our spirits here, that's how Jace and I got here last time. The same with Eden. People in transition come here too, their spirits linger as their bodies change" Blake explained cautiously as if he wanted each word to be clear and sink in for Hayden which I appreciated.