Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

The Pit

Etheriel

I drive along a deserted road in silence with Malachai sleeping in the backseat. I look in the rearview mirror at him. He has gotten increasingly skittish and it makes me anxious. I look back at the road and begin to think about Trinity. Dominic has yet to come back and I take it as that he is busy with looking for Nathan in Hell and that Trinity is okay. I get caught up in my thoughts so much that I barely register something standing in the road until he is about fifteen feet from the front of the car. I slam on the brakes and Malachai lurches forward in the back. Zerach stands up slowly with his wings out. He stares directly at me and I immediately get out of the car. Something is obviously wrong. Zerachiel doesn't come to the mainland unless it's absolutely necessary. I quickly walk toward Zerachiel and I hear Malachai get out of the car behind me.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I question quickly.
"A Demon showed up late in the night and took Trinity. He incapacitated me somehow and I couldn't sense him ahead of time or stop him. I'm so sorry Etheriel. I'll help get her back." An empty feeling forms immediately from the pit that was there when I first saw Zerachiel.
"What?" Malachai whispers behind me. How could a Demon easily get past Zerachiel? They had to be extremely strong. Dominic needs to come back so I can get him to look into it and find out who it could have been. How did they find her?

Trinity

I trip over my own feet because I can't feel them and struggle to not fall to the ground. It has started to snow and pieces of my hair are frozen from the snow melting on my hair and then freezing. I stumble again and fall. I painfully get up and continue to walk. The path is still the same as it has been the entire time. I trip again and its harder to get up this time. I look down at my palm and its bleeding. I walk to the side of the path and stick my hand into the snow. My blood leaves a stain in the perfect snow. I continue to walk. Where are you, Eli? I walk further and stumble again, barely keeping myself up. I keep my head down against the random bursts of wind. After walking and stumbling for probably another five minutes, something catches my attention out the corner of my eye. I stop walking and look up. A stain in the snow. My blood in the snow. I look around rapidly. I've been looping over and over again this whole time. I feel defeated. I slowly sink to the frozen ground. I can't find Eli. I'm going to freeze to death. I curl up on the ground. All I feel is cold and numbness. I've stopped shivering. My eyes become harder and harder to keep open and I don't even know why I even try to keep them open anymore. My eyes shut and they stay shut. It's over.


"Trinity..." I'm slipping fast into peace. "...Trinity..." Hm? "Open your eyes, Trinity..." I can't. They won't open. My eyelashes are frozen together. "Trinity, Get up..." I can't feel my body. I can't move. "Live... Trinity... Don't give up." My arm moves just an inch and I feel my skin peel away from the stone path. It hurts. "Open your eyes..." I can only open my eyes so much before it hurts because of my lashes being frozen together. I shut my eyes again. I can't. It hurts. I want to sleep. "You can't sleep... You can't give up... Trinity..." I force my eyes open as far as they will go with the lashes stuck together. I see light across the snow field and in the forest in the distance. Flickering light like a campfire. "Get up..." It takes everything I have to move my arm, reaching out toward the fire, so far away. I need to get to that fire. I roll onto my back and stare up at the dark grey sky. Snowflakes drift down onto me. I close my eyes again. "Trinity... Come on..." I open my eyes as much as they will go again and it takes every ounce of energy I have to get onto my hands and knees. It takes a long time for me to get onto my feet. I'm wobbly as I take small steps into the snow. I start toward the forest, toward the fire I know will be warm. I trip over the snow and fall. It takes everything to get back up. On my way, I fall several times and each time it takes everything just to get back onto my feet. I feel the warmth of the fire before I even leave the snow to the area around the fire where the snow has melted. I collapse by the fire and pass out.


I wake up and I have no clue how long I was out, but the fire is still burning strong. For a brief second, I see Eli standing by the trees across from me in the shadows, watching me. I slowly sit up and look around.
"Eli?" I get up and pace around the fire a couple times before footprints in the snow catches my attention. They start at where I thought I saw Eli standing and lead into the forest. I take one last look at the warm fire and start walking alongside the footprints. I feel pulled in the direction that they are going. I look back and see only one pair of footprints. My footprints. I continue to walk, following the footprints. The footprints lead out of the forest and into a town. I look around for the footprints, but they end abruptly at the edge of the forest. In the middle of the town, I see a large clock tower and I am drawn to it so I walk toward it. I open the wooden door of the clock tower and when I step in, I step into a dark damp cellar. I look behind me and the door is gone. I breathe out slowly and I can see my breath. I look around the cellar and find a creaky wooden chest in a corner. It has winter clothes in it. I pull on a heavy coat and I slip on some boots that are strangely in my size. I pull the hood of the coat up and wrap a scarf around my neck. I turn and the basement suddenly twists into snowy terrain again. I look behind me and there is no trace of the basement, in fact, I am standing in a snowy field. I close my eyes and try to really focus on Eli. Where is he? I think about his face. What he looks like. I think his dark hair and his flawless skin except for the scar above his eyebrow that is barely noticeable. His practically black eyes. I think about his voice, deep and slightly raspy with a light accent. I feel no change so I think deeper. I think about his warmth and how his body radiates Hell's heat. I think about how his body felt against mine when he was holding me captive and then my mind wanders to how his body felt against mine while we hugged and then when we had sex. I think about how he treated me. How he cared for me. I suddenly think about his lips; his feverish lips. I feel an ache in my heart. I rest my hand against my chest. I remember how devastated I was when he died in my arms. Feelings rush back and without realizing it tears begin to slide down my cheeks. I feel a pull in a direction and I open my eyes and I'm standing on a curvy path that leads into the forest.
"Eli..." I whisper barely audible to no one and start to walk toward the tree line. The snow begins to come down harder and I am only able to see a few feet ahead of me. The wind is strong and blows against me, making it hard to walk and ultimately slowing down my progress. I pull my hood down further to try and protect my face from the harsh frigid wind. I finally reach the tree line and the trees block some of the wind and the snow so I am able to travel faster. I continue to follow the path until I suddenly feel like I should leave the path. I turn and struggle through the deep snow. I trudge through the snow for what seems like hours until I come across a drop off with a cave. I sit down in the snow and slowly start to climb down the rocks. One of the rocks I put my foot on has a layer of ice and I slip, dangling from the rocks. I struggle to find my footing again and climb the rest of the way down. I walk into the cave for shelter against the wind and snow. I rub my numb hands together and walk a little further into the cave before sitting down. The cave is warmer than it is outside. I feel like I'm close to Eli and I feel myself missing him and looking forward to seeing him again. The warmth of the cave makes me drowsy and I struggle to stay awake. I don't know why I am fighting sleep, I have all the time in the world to find Eli. There is no danger. I drift off to sleep.