Nadia swore she would never be like her mother - running from a past that is as dense as the fog that rolls into the strange village of Fisher's Bay. And yet, here she is. In a town that she's never heard of, clearing out the house of a grandmother...
Nadia groaned, her head pounding as she slowly came to. Shit. The air conditioner must be out again, because it was far too hot in her room than it should be. She hated dealing with maintenance. Maybe Lara could do it this time.
Ugh, she'd make them do rock-paper-scissors over it and Nadia would likely lose like she always did.
"Fuck, I really should stop drinking," she muttered. These hangovers were going to be the death of her.
She stretched out, her back aching from the horrible mattress she was sleeping on. Maybe she should get a new bed, because this was just painful. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open, the room dark around her and everything blurry. She froze when she realized she wasn't staring at the ceiling of her bedroom.
She was pretty sure her bedroom didn't have stalactites dripping with water. Last she checked, her apartment in downtown Boston wasn't a cave, though it definitely wasn't a palace by any means.
Nadia sat up and looked around, finding herself in some sort of cell that looked as though it was carved from stone. Solid metal bars separated her from a passageway so dark, she couldn't see anything. It was hot - sweltering. Sweat was already pooling in her bra.
Holy shit, where was she?
It was then that everything came pouring back into her memory, smashing into her much like the waves smashed into the shore along Fisher's Bay.
Nadia doubled over, feeling like she was about to vomit.
"Traveling by portal does that to you. You'll get used to it and it won't make you sick after a while."
Her head snapped up as she looked towards the bars, now seeing a young man about her age standing there calmly. He was tall, dressed in a sleek black suit. He looked slightly broody with his dark hair and eyes, his skin slightly pale. Yet there was something about his features that looked familiar.
And there was something about him that put her off.
"Where am I?" she asked, wanting to walk over to him but worried at the same time she'd fall flat on her face. Her legs were still shaky.
He smirked, glancing to his left.
"You're home, of course," he replied. Nadia snorted.
"Yea, I think not," she said, looking around the cell.
"We'll move you to better accommodations more fitting of your station once we're sure you won't create any issues," the man said boredly. "And well... once it's finished."
"Once what's finished?" Nadia asked looking back at him.
Yet again, he looked over to his left.
"Your unbinding, dear daughter," a voice said, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
It sent shivers down her spine as Nadia looked around. She gripped the bed as her heart rate picked up.
It was the voice from her nightmare. The one that had filled her with terror. Much like it was doing right now except this was worse. Because she knew she wouldn't wake up safe and sound in her grandmother's cabin in Fisher's Bay.
"No daughter of mine is going to sit and wait for her full potential to come to her. She will grasp it," the voice thundered.
Nadia bent over, her hands covering her ears as pain slashed through her head.
"STOP!" she shouted.
"No."
Nadia began to convulse, the pain building and spreading. She fell to the rock floor, shrieking as the voice chuckled and the man smirked down at her, calmly watching. She screwed her eyes shut, a white hot pain spearing through her brain. It felt like everything inside her was being ripped apart and then quickly knit back together with rusty needles.
She clawed at her clothes, everything inside her begging for the pain to stop. She got glimpses of her mother. Chloe. Tate. All them smiling at her. Begging for her to come back.
Last she saw Remy, his hazel eyes blazing down at her in adoration.
"Stay with me. Forever."
Suddenly, everything stopped.
The pain was gone. Her screaming cut out. She didn't see Remy anymore. Nadia didn't know who she was as a weird calm settled into her bones. It was the strangest feeling. Like she was no longer in control of her body.
Nadia caught her breath and slid open her eyes.
Eyes that now glowed red.
"Welcome home, Nadia."
"Thank you... Father."
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Author's Note: And here we are at the end. I'm now focusing on getting work done on Book 2. I can't promise a timeline because I have two other projects that I'm working on - a new novel and rewrites on "The Whitehall Affair." But I will try to get something up in the next month or so.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story!
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