Swan Song || The Lost Boys - & The One Who Found Them...

Chapter VIII ~ ᚹ ( Wunjo ) Part I - [Un]fulfilled Desires & A Fiery Dawn

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" Eg hugsar når du jaga fritt,
         eg hugsar når me jaga saman..."

[ I remember when you roamed freely;
      I remember when we roamed together... ]

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My eyes flung open for no reason other than me finally finding a way out of the darkness, my head still spinning & aching, a dry pain similar to a needle piercing both my temples to the rhythm of my heartbeat. I blinked the stains of sleep away, the mere fact that they existed at all quickly leading me to the conclusion that I had been unconscious for quite a long time. I struggled to open my eyes due to my crumbling mascara & eyeliner, my lashes literally sticking together & keeping my vision blurred.

I lifted a hand in order to rub my eyes only for a sharp pain to shoot through every single finger, helping me refresh my memory the rather unpleasant way.

My hand dropped back, landing on something surprisingly soft & I blinked again, letting my fingers explore around without straining them all too much. I was still able to bend my knuckles which I considered a good sign, nevertheless the pain was excruciating enough to keep me from moving my hand more than necessary.

Slowly but surely my eyes began to adjust, revealing the first images of my apparently new environment which was rather dim but welcoming, several white candles as well as small oil lamps illuminating the big yet still cozy room with a high wooden ceiling & walls covered with what looked like red velvet drapes. I peered down at my body to find myself in a large bed covered with black sheets made of satin, allowing me to flip around with ease to examine the opposite side of the room. There was barely any furniture except for a quite damaged commode in front of the bed & a small dark-brown table in the centre of the room with even more candles on it, right next to what seemed to be a large cheval mirror, although with a huge blanket covering most of the glass. There were no windows on either wall, however upon peering up a second time I noticed an unusually located & oversized opening in the ceiling through which a cold breeze blew into the room, causing the flames of the candles to flicker.

From outside I could hear the faint chirping of crickets as well as the distant sound of waves; noises that promised a peaceful night despite the awful storm Santa Carla had witnessed a few hours ago.

I took a deep breath, the scent of old timber & pine streaming into my lungs when I carefully sat up on the bed, wincing at the paralyzing pain in my hand. Now that I was finally coming to my senses I realized in what bad condition it actually was, the light of the candles & lamps revealing a gigantic dark-purple haematoma stretching from my fingertips across the back of my hand all the way down to my wrist, my ring & middle finger oddly lacerated but luckily no longer bleeding.

I looked down only to notice that on top of it all my hoodie was gone. My white summer dress was almost completely dry again which I deemed quite the miracle given how soaking wet it had been after today's thunderstorm.
However the more significant question on my mind was: who had taken it off without waking me in the process?

My eyes went to explore around the room a second time, this time taking the floor into consideration where I soon spotted what looked like a trapdoor next to a large black carpet. It seemed old & partially corroded, abandoned even, & the antique lock had long gone rusty.

I skittered across the satin sheets towards the edge of the bed, on high alert the entire time & checking my surroundings for any kind of movement after literally every single inch. The fact that I was entirely alone after being hunted down by three vicious vampires & obviously carried to an unknown location by one of them while being unconscious for hours was unsettling beyond comprehension. Moreover, where were they now? Were they perhaps watching my every move without me being aware of it, curious how I handled the situation & how far I was willing to go in order to escape?