Hellfire - The Awakening (Complete)

Chapter Eighteen *

I looked at Evangeline, “What are we going to do in the meantime?” I asked.

It was all and well and good with Evangeline promising to uncover the meaning behind the poem, but we couldn't just sit on our asses and fret about how terrible this whole things was, we needed to be prepared for attack.

“How about some training?” Cinder suggested to us both.

I nodded, “I think we need to do everything that we can,” I replied honestly.

“I think that's all you can do at the moment Ebony, leave the poem to me and focus yourself on preparing yourself, do not forget that you swore an oath of protection, you cannot fulfil that duty in your current state,” Evangeline added.

I nodded firmly, “Let's do it Cinder,” I agreed.

Ten minutes later we were inside the gym and training. It was intense, but I wouldn't expect anything less, despite everything I'd been exercising whenever possible to prevent myself from losing my fitness. We had now progressed onto fighting each other without holding back and I had quickly become accustomed to the extra strength which I had due to the rogue blood flowing through my system.

“Are you ready to use weapons?” Cinder asked once I'd knocked him to the ground for a third time.

I nodded and he retrieved two silver stakes from the cabinet. Without being wrapped in wolfsbane they weren't lethal enough to kill but the mere sight of the sharpened end, the grip which had been moulded to fit a hand and the reflection of the light from the tip was enough to make me shiver; things were getting serious.

“I want you to fight me with everything you have, treat me as if I am the rogue, aim for my heart and attack, you won't kill me and there's holy water in the cabinet which will help it heal, so do your best okay?” Cinder questioned.

I gulped, “Okay,” I replied nervously.

He handed me one of the stakes, my hand fit in the groove perfectly, I gripped it tightly in my right hand.

“Are you ready?” Cinder questioned.

I nodded again, and then we charged... Cinder was fighting full strength and I gasped as I deflected his blows; he hit like a truck. I brandished the stake in my right hand, and blocked his punches and kicks with my left. I never once took my eyes off of the stake in his hand; I did not want that in my heart fatal or not.

I spotted an opening and thrust my stake forward, Cinder jumped back avoiding the full force of the blow but his shirt was torn and a thin stream of blood oozed out of his chest; I'd grazed him with the pointed tip of the stake. I dashed forward whilst he was off balance and he rolled back on his feet and sidestepped me. Unable to stop myself I continued to barrel forward, there was a whooshing noise as Cinder swung for my back with his stake and I dropped to the floor to avoid the hit managing to strike his knees with my foot.

His legs buckled and he dropped to the floor, in a flash I was straddling him, I raised my stake and brought it down...

There was a terrible, grinding sound as he brought his stake up to block mine and he used his surprise block to push me off of him and scramble to his feet. I leapt up; we were nose to nose, face to face and stake to stake.

Cinder aimed a kick to the side of my head, I sidestepped it only to find his stake to my neck, damn it he'd feigned. He didn't stab me but I could feel the cold, sharp tip against the thin skin of my neck. I was reminded of the night of my death, the room rotated and suddenly everything went blurry. I swayed on my feet until there was nothing but darkness, I was dying all over again...

I was in a dark room and I couldn't move. My wrists were bound behind my back and my ankles were tied together. I shifted slightly and pain erupted in my wrists and ankles; the ropes were soaked in wolfsbane.

There was a shadow at the opposite end of the room, I couldn't make out the features of the shadow or identify who it was but it reeked of evil...The shadow moved in front of me and I strained to try and identify the person, a simple lock of hair or the shape of the cheekbones would be enough but whoever it as wasn't stupid, they wore a black cloak with a hood and a mask, I had no idea who it was.

I struggled to get away knowing that whoever it was couldn't have anything nice planned, there was an eerie silence and then a scream as another person entered the room. The second person also wore the same black clothing and mask, clearly these two rogues were working together.

They were pulling a young girl forward, she had long, auburn locks and blue eyes and judging by the heady smell of blood in the air she was also human. I tried to move away and the pain in my wrists and ankles flared again, my eyes blurred with tears.

They dragged the girl closer, I could see the veins throbbing in her neck, hear her erratic heartbeat, sense her fear. The second person held her still and the first person stepped behind her and placed their hands on her neck. She squirmed to try get away but her fate was sealed, there was a distinct cracking noise as the first person twisted her head and snapped her neck.

She fell to the floor in front of me, her eyes wide open and glazed over and her mouth was frozen in a permanent scream.

The second creature knelt beside her and sunk their teeth into her neck, there was a gurgling and then a sucking sound and it drained the blood from her. The first creature walked towards me and I desperately tried to slide away. The creature placed their foot on my hand to prevent me from moving and dug a hand into their pocket retrieving a silver stake rapped in the deadly, green plant which I knew as wolfsbane.

My eyes widened in fear and I tried to move but was rooted in place, the cloaked figure raised their arm and then plunged the stake down towards my heart. The skin punctured and the stake embedded itself into my heart, I screamed...

“Ebony, open your eyes!” Called a voice.

I opened my eyes slowly and waited until everything came back into focus, I groaned signalling to whoever was there that I was conscious. My vision cleared fully and I saw a worried Cinder, bent over me his hands digging into my shoulders.

“Are you okay? What happened?” He asked concerned.

“I had a vision, there were black, cloaked figures...rogue and a girl was sacrificed and they killed me...” I tried to explain what had happened but I was so worked up from what I had just seen that the words came out all jumbled.

He loosened his grip on my shoulders, “Slow down Ebony, it will be okay, just take a deep breath and then you can explain,” he soothed.

I took and deep breath and released it quickly, I gasped trying to suck in more oxygen, but my chest felt tight, my lungs burned, I felt sick and I couldn't breathe...

“Slow down Ebony, take a deep breath and hold it this time, come on I'll do it too” he said.

Slowly Cinder's words managed to calm me down. I took a deep breath and held it in for six seconds then released it. Slowly the tightness in my chest eased, my lungs felt alleviated and the sickness faded.

“Thank you,” I said once I could speak properly.

“It's okay, can you tell me what you saw?” He asked carefully.

I explained the vision to Cinder, by the time I'd finished his eyes were amber and his hands were clenched into tight fists, “Have these dreams happened before?” He asked.

I nodded, “When I was attacked in the ballroom...I dreamt it happening before it did, that's how I knew the rogue's name,” I explained.

Cinder frowned, “So your dreams are prophetic,” he said woodenly as he headed towards the door.
I paused shocked at his theory, “Wait, where are you going?” I asked.

He didn't look back, “We have to see mother immediately, you dreamt of me killing a human then Belladonna was attacked, you dreamt of that rogue killing you and then you were attacked and now this, I don't think your dreams are coincidental and if I'm correct that there's going to be another attack and soon,” he replied anxiously.

I didn't respond and focused on catching up with Cinder; we arrived at the throne room in a matter of minutes.

Cinder didn't bother knocking but Evangeline was thankfully alone in the throne room, she looked surprised to see us both again so soon. Cinder launched into detail about my previous visions and what I had just seen. As he spoke Evangeline pressed her fingertips to her temples, for the first time she looked truly overwhelmed.

“I see,” she responded quietly once he had finished speaking.

“Well what are we going to do?” Cinder asked irritably.

She sighed, “There's nothing much that we can do at this point. I have ordered someone to analyse the poem, for now I think would be better for Ebony to stay in your room hopefully that will throw any rogues off of her location, both of you need to rest, this is a stressful time and you need your strength, I will send for you when needed,” she replied.

“We need to formulate a plan of attack!” Cinder yelled.

Evangeline raised her palm in the air to silence him but Cinder continued to shout, finally Evangeline snapped.

“Enough!” She roared shocking Cinder into silence.

“I will not have you question my authority, I am doing what I can. I wish both of you to take the rest of the day off, you are dismissed,” Evangeline finished.

Cinder opened his mouth to argue, but Evangeline shot him a frosty glare and his mouth snapped shut, one look at her eyes was enough to deter me from arguing with her, she was so angry that they had darkened to red.

Cinder stormed out of the throne room and I curtsied to Evangeline before scuttling after him, “What do we do now?” I asked wondering if Cinder was planning a mini rebellion.

He sighed in defeat, “Mother will not listen to us until she has calmed down, she will probably take a walk outside later to ease her nerves. For now we will do as she says, we'll go my room and get some rest, will continue everything else tomorrow,” he replied.

“Do you mind if I pop to my room to get a few things?” I asked.

He shook his head, “I'll accompany you, but only bring what is necessary it will look suspicious if we are seen carrying things from your room,” he replied wisely.

I didn't reply, knowing that he was right, we weren't far from my room and so the journey didn't take long. When I stepped inside I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised that everything was exactly how I had left it and that there was no sign of any black orchid flowers.

I packed in a hurry stuffing clean underwear, deodorant, the journals and some toiletries into my messenger bag. I seized a pan and a few novels to read and was about to grab my laptop when Cinder intervened.

“Packing lightly does not include the laptop,” he said sternly.

I groaned, “I need something to entertain me, seeing as I'm pretty much in confinement!” I argued.

“I think I can manage to keep you entertained,” he replied dryly.

I sighed, but left the laptop and prepared to set off. As I looked out of my window before we left I saw the sky darken to a mixture of tangerine, violet and grey as the sun began to set. I shivered; monsters could easily use the darkness as cover.

“Are you okay?” Cinder asked as I finally stepped out of my room.

I shrugged, “What are we going to do for dinner?” I asked.

“I'll have one of the waiters deliver some food to my room, the last thing we want is for people to notice that you're staying in my room,” he answered.

“But won't people notice our absence?” I wondered.

He shook his head, “In times like this, people are busy. Desdemona and Velvet will be shut away working with herbs, Shade and Thorn will help the guards check the security of the manor and people will assume that we're doing something similar, I wouldn't worry,” he said.

I didn't reply and we remained silent for the rest of the trip to Cinder's room. When we reached it he unlocked the door and waited for me to enter, before locking the door behind us.

I set my things onto the ground, “What are we going to do about the sleeping arrangements?” I asked.

“Well we could share my double bed or I can sleep on the floor...” He started.

“The bed is fine,” I replied quickly.

He smirked, “That works for me, now I'm ordering us a pizza each, is that okay?” He asked.

I nodded, Pizza is fine,” I answered as I sat on his bed.

He made a quick call on a phone I hadn't noticed before then sprawled across his bed. He growled playfully and pulled me into a hug; I didn't object.

I shifted position and then turned to check that I wasn't hurting him. What I didn't expect was for us to be nose to nose, he moved closer and I gazed into his hypnotic eyes, he leaned forward and our lips finally touched. Electricity jolted through my veins as our kiss deepened. He moved one hand onto the small of my back, keeping me pressed close to him, his other hand trailed down the side of my neck until his fingers were tracing the shape of my hip bones. He broke off our kiss and moved his lips down until he was kissing the hollow of my throat. I didn't want him to stop...

There was a knock at the door and we both jumped, feeling very much like a guilty teenage caught in the act I allowed Cinder to answer the door, it was the waiter with two pizzas, a steaming portion of chips and a bottle of alcohol laced blood which was comically named Bloodweiser.

We thanked the waiter and polished off the meal and the blood quickly, both of us eager to finish what we started. We were in the middle of an embrace, when there was a pounding at the door, we considered ignoring it, but the hammering became louder and more insistent.

“Cinder! Please tell me you're in there with Ebony this is urgent!” Desdemona called.

Cinder all but jumped off of the bed and answered the door, revealing a dishevelled Desdemona. Her hair was stuck outwards as if she had been running her fingers through it, her skin was ashen and tear tracks marked her cheeks. Sweat dripped from her chin and her expression was wild.

“Calm down, come inside and have a drink, we can talk...” I started.

She shook her head, I paused and a chill ran down my spine, I had never seen Desdemona like this and that could only mean one thing; something bad had happened...

She finally managed to compose herself enough to speak and I held my breath as words tumbled out of her mouth...

“Cinder, Ebony, it's her royal highness...She's been attacked...”