Argent Eye IV

43

The next couple of days at work were quite uneventful compared to what had happened during the days before- of course, there was all the report writing that had to be completed, and because of the nature of the incident, there was a lot to write about. I also had to write a witness statement about what had happened with the vampire bite. People were still a little on edge, but not as much as they had been before, despite the fact that Haydn was still out there looking for the darkness.

Something I'd learned was that if Haydn and I did have a physical connection to one another, he didn't know about it. After all, he'd tried to kill me. Surely he would have felt my vampire bite the other day, though? If he hadn't felt that, then it was confirmed that we didn't share that kind of connection.

The only connection we had was through the darkness.

I was just finishing my report when Stark walked into the room. "How's it going?" He asked.

"Nearly done, sir." I said.

"Very good." He said. "When you're finished, meet Tina and I in the training room. The fighting one."

I frowned, but didn't ask questions. "Okay." I said, and finished up the last few bits of the report before making my way over there.

Tina, Stark and Penelope were all standing in the middle of one of the fighting rings, talking- they looked up when I walked in.

"Ah, Millie." Stark said, walking towards me. "We have something we'd like you to try."

I stepped into the ring. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." He said. "We want you to see if you can access your connection to Haydn. That way, we might be able to figure out where he is."

I nodded, having thought about doing this myself. I guess it was better doing it here, just in case things went south. "Okay, sure." I said. "I'll give it a try."

Not really sure where to begin, I decided to sit in the middle of the squishy floor and cross my legs.

"Should we do anything?" Penelope asked.

I shrugged. "Make sure I don't die, I guess."

Tina chuckled, but didn't say anything.

Again, I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing. I thought that accessing the darkness would be a good start, and so I awakened it from the depths of my belly, letting it fill my veins without allowing it to take over completely. Immediately, I could feel my strength grow- it felt like someone was pumping adrenaline through my system. My senses all sharpened, and even with my eyes closed, I knew exactly where Stark, Penelope and Tina were sitting. I could hear their heart beats- even Tina, being a vampire, had a heart beat. It just went way slower than normal. Aside from that, I could sense the energies running through their systems. Their fears were beginning to tickle the tip of my tongue.

Instead of actually bringing the darkness out, though, I thought about Haydn. I thought about how I felt last night, when his darkness seemed to fuel my own.

I then felt myself fall backwards, but instead of landing on the soft floor of the fighting ring, I just kept falling, before suddenly stopping.

I opened my eyes, and found myself in the strange, black desert I'd been in before- the one in which the darkness had greeted me.

"Well, well, well." I heard a voice behind me say, and turned to see Haydn standing there. And it wasn't the guy I was battling the other night- this was the real Haydn. The one I'd supposedly killed two years ago. He hadn't changed a bit, save for the lack of yellow eyes. His dark hair was cut just above his shoulders, and he had a small amount of stubble decorating his face.

"Haydn." I said, slightly surprised. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see from our connection, but I thought that perhaps I'd see things from his eyes, or something like that. I didn't think we'd meet in the middle like this.

"I'm glad you finally came." He said. "I was starting to get impatient."

I frowned. "You've been waiting?"

"Well, yes." He said. "How else was I supposed to figure out where you were hiding?"

My heart rate started to pick up pace, and I didn't know what to think. How was it that he could figure out where I was, when I couldn't do the same to him?

Haydn laughed. "Oh, Millie." He shook his head. "I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised by your lack of knowledge and experience when it comes to the darkness. I have been studying it for years. Its uses. Its power. You've hardly known it. Unfortunately for you, I was the one that established this connection we are now sharing. I brought you here, not the other way around. That gives me the upper hand." He paused. "It also gives us a chance to speak, whilst you fight your friends in the real world."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He laughed again. "Well, whilst you're down here, I am actually up there." He pointed upwards. "Controlling the darkness within you, to control you."

I frantically looked around, as if expecting to see some kind of doorway to leave. How was I supposed to get out of here? If Haydn wasn't bluffing, he could be killing everyone back at the base. Not to mention the fact that afterwards, he'd always know where the SED was.

I charged at Haydn, thinking that the only way to get him out of my body was to knock his lights out.

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