If Lucia was pleased that I was finally able to make small objects fly around the room she didn't show it. She went right on to teaching me the next part of her lesson. She started out with having me move around several objects at once giving me targets to hit to see how well my control is. When she seemed satisfied with what I was doing she moved on to something new. It seemed like she wanted to see if I could do all the basics when it comes to magic. Moving items with your mind seemed like such a very basic thing to do when it comes to magic. Now she was wanting me to create illusions. That proved to be far more tricky than I thought it would be.
Each time I tried to created a mirror image illusion of Lucia it seemed to be fractured and blurred. It felt like I was trying to look at an image through rippling water. This most definitely didn't please Lucia in the slightest. Sure enough as soon as she realized I wasn't doing things to her standard she activated the circle electrocuting me. If I could make the illusion slap her I would. By the time she finally ended the lesson I was very sure that my hair and clothing was smoking slightly. I managed to make the illusion clearer by the end of the lesson but it was far from perfect.
I was feeling quite restless when I finally left Lucia's lessons. Instead of going back to my room I wandered down to the kitchen getting some food. Even though I was up all night I didn't feel the slightest bit tired at the moment. Rather then going to my room where I would lie there staring off in to the distance I began wondering around the castle once again. I just kept walking and walking without really picking any certain direction hoping that I might find something useful around here. I soon found myself walking through the lowest part of the castle that was at least a good couple miles underneath the surface. I very rarely come down here since this was where Charlie kept his prisoners. No matter where I was down here I could hear them moaning in pain. I could feel my chest clench every time someone screamed from behind the walls. I didn't want to see let alone imagine what kind of torture these people have gone through. Every time I was down here I was always tempted to help each and everyone of them escape. The problem was I wasn't too sure how to get myself out of here let alone someone else as well.
I turned around a corner coming to a complete stop when I found myself in a hallway that dead ended only after a few feet. At the end of hallway was a grotesque statue of a skeleton who's broken up armor revealed flesh still hanging on the bone. Held in the skeleton's out stretched hand was a severed head with mouth gaping open and eyes rolled in to the back of its head. Of all the places that I've seen down here I have yet to see any kind of art work down here let alone a statue like this. Why was this one statue down here? There had to be a reason besides it looked good against the decor.
Walking up to the statue I wanted to get a closer look at this statue. I looked over every inch of the statue in hopes of finding some hidden catch that would reveal some doorway. I spent a good ten to twenty minutes praying that I would find something. It seemed like there wasn't a single flaw in the statue that would hint at a possible hidden door. After another thirty more minutes I still hadn't found anything and I wanted to just burst in to tears on the spot. Rather then crying I ended up balling my fist up and slamming it against the stone wall as hard as possible. I was completely started when I felt the stone give underneath my fist sinking several inches in to the wall. I nearly jumped out of the skin when the skeleton statue along with the wall moved back before moving aside to reveal a spiraling staircase. I was so stunned by what I saw that I nearly didn't register what was happening. I quickly walked forward looking up the stair way that was light by flames dancing in bronze brackets.
I steadily began climbing the stairs curious as to what was at the top. As I climbed I could hear the grinding of stone on stone as the skeleton statue slid back in to place closing the entrance. I attempted to count the number of steps I had climbed but I ended up losing count after the two hundreds. The stairs seemed to have no end to them and after a while I felt a little dizzy from walking in so many circles. When I got to the top finally I was surprised when I found myself at a dead end. I was hoping that it would have led outside so that when I could escape I had a way of getting out. All there was in the round room was a painting of a woman sitting in a high back chair with a stern look on her face. What was the point of all this?
I was just about to make my way back down the stairs when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Turning around I got a closer look at the painting hanging on the wall. There seemed to be a fine dust that shimmered ever so slightly in the torch light with in the paint its self. What was the point of putting what looked like either glitter or diamond dust with in the paint? I jumped back when the painting suddenly fluctuated after my fingers ran across the surface. The surface of the painting continued to ripple as if it was made of water the colors blending together till you couldn't tell what the painting had once been. The colors continued to blend till the painting was pitch black before the painting finally stopped moving. With a sudden flash of light that blinded me for a moment the black vanished living the portrait clear. I was surprised when I found myself looking at another room on the other side of the painting. I placed my hand against the painting surprised when I found myself touching what felt like glass.
The room had a fireplace in it with a roaring fire similar to the one back in my room. In the center of the room was a round table with five high backed chairs. Only three of the seats were taken at the moment. One of which was by my so called instructor Lucia and sitting on her left side was Charlie. I felt my jaw drop when I saw one of the seats was taken by Marcus. When had he gotten back?
At first I thought about running straight back down stairs not wanting to find out what Charlie would if he saw me standing there. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him look squarely at me and didn't react in the slightest. Was it possible that this was a one way mirror like the police back home used for interrogations? If so this was going to be an opportunity I might never get again. This might me my one and only chance to find out if Charlie is actually bluffing about my parents being watched or not. I might even learn something that could help me escape from here or even something I could tell Will and Liam that they could use against him.
"What took you so long in returning?" Charlie asked Marcus.
"Between having to travel here on foot and trying to lose Will and Liam in the process was not easy. I assumed you didn't want the two of them finding there way back here so they can take your precious portal maker." Marcus pointed out.
"Fair enough. You've yet to tell me what happened to your partner Gordan that I sent with you through the portal." Charlie said lacing his fingers together watching Marcus expectantly. "I assume you had him stay behind to watch the girl's parents like I ordered."
So he does have my parents under surveillance after all. This only means if I do try to escape or do anything to go against him he'll just have this Gordan person hurt maybe even kill my parents. I was stuck here now whether I liked it or not. The last thing I wanted to do was to get my parents killed because of something I did. I don't know if I could handle knowing that I was the reason why my parents are injured or worse dead.
"That's just something else you need to add to your lists of reasons why you hate Will. Moments after we walked through the portal Will came barreling after us. During the fight with him Will threw Gordan off a thirty story building. Needless to say Gordan did not survive the fall so no he is not doing as you ordered." Marcus explained.
"So at this very moment there is no way to guarantee her cooperation." Lucia sighed.
"I'll worry about that. As far as she knows her parents are in real danger if she goes against me. As long as she believes that she won't be going anywhere." Charlie said without any worry in his voice.
"How much longer will I have to teach that maggot?" Lucia wondered.
"Until she learns to open portals. For my plans to work we need her to create the portals between her world and ours. You will continue training her till that time." Charlie ordered.
"Very well but doesn't mean I have to enjoy it." she groaned.
"You might have her advance more if she didn't have to spend so much time healing from your methods of teaching." Marcus pointed out.
"I have been getting very good results using my methods for centuries." Lucia snapped.
"Like I said just don't kill her." Charlie pointed out standing up. "We'll speak more tomorrow."
With that last comment both Lucia and Marcus followed Charlie out of the room. I stood there for several minutes my mouth hanging wide open in shock. My parents were perfectly safe this whole time and I allowed Charlie to manipulate me in to believing otherwise. I wanted to wrap my hands around Charlie's neck all the more now. I could feel my entire body shaking from anger my fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles had gone white. Without really thinking I slammed my fist against the stone wall. Pain sheered through my hand upon impact. When I pulled my fist back there was blood running down my fingers from open gashes on my knuckles. Being here seems to be bringing out the worst in me. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible before Charlie corrupts me any further.
As I slowly began to make my decent down the stairs I began thinking about possible ways to escape here. Now that I knew my parents were safe I had no reason to stay here any longer. The sooner I got out of here the better. The last thing I wanted to do at this point is become like Charlie or even help him. He's the last person on both worlds that I would ever want to help.
I turned around a corner coming to a complete stop when I found myself in a hallway that dead ended only after a few feet. At the end of hallway was a grotesque statue of a skeleton who's broken up armor revealed flesh still hanging on the bone. Held in the skeleton's out stretched hand was a severed head with mouth gaping open and eyes rolled in to the back of its head. Of all the places that I've seen down here I have yet to see any kind of art work down here let alone a statue like this. Why was this one statue down here? There had to be a reason besides it looked good against the decor.
Walking up to the statue I wanted to get a closer look at this statue. I looked over every inch of the statue in hopes of finding some hidden catch that would reveal some doorway. I spent a good ten to twenty minutes praying that I would find something. It seemed like there wasn't a single flaw in the statue that would hint at a possible hidden door. After another thirty more minutes I still hadn't found anything and I wanted to just burst in to tears on the spot. Rather then crying I ended up balling my fist up and slamming it against the stone wall as hard as possible. I was completely started when I felt the stone give underneath my fist sinking several inches in to the wall. I nearly jumped out of the skin when the skeleton statue along with the wall moved back before moving aside to reveal a spiraling staircase. I was so stunned by what I saw that I nearly didn't register what was happening. I quickly walked forward looking up the stair way that was light by flames dancing in bronze brackets.
I steadily began climbing the stairs curious as to what was at the top. As I climbed I could hear the grinding of stone on stone as the skeleton statue slid back in to place closing the entrance. I attempted to count the number of steps I had climbed but I ended up losing count after the two hundreds. The stairs seemed to have no end to them and after a while I felt a little dizzy from walking in so many circles. When I got to the top finally I was surprised when I found myself at a dead end. I was hoping that it would have led outside so that when I could escape I had a way of getting out. All there was in the round room was a painting of a woman sitting in a high back chair with a stern look on her face. What was the point of all this?
I was just about to make my way back down the stairs when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Turning around I got a closer look at the painting hanging on the wall. There seemed to be a fine dust that shimmered ever so slightly in the torch light with in the paint its self. What was the point of putting what looked like either glitter or diamond dust with in the paint? I jumped back when the painting suddenly fluctuated after my fingers ran across the surface. The surface of the painting continued to ripple as if it was made of water the colors blending together till you couldn't tell what the painting had once been. The colors continued to blend till the painting was pitch black before the painting finally stopped moving. With a sudden flash of light that blinded me for a moment the black vanished living the portrait clear. I was surprised when I found myself looking at another room on the other side of the painting. I placed my hand against the painting surprised when I found myself touching what felt like glass.
The room had a fireplace in it with a roaring fire similar to the one back in my room. In the center of the room was a round table with five high backed chairs. Only three of the seats were taken at the moment. One of which was by my so called instructor Lucia and sitting on her left side was Charlie. I felt my jaw drop when I saw one of the seats was taken by Marcus. When had he gotten back?
At first I thought about running straight back down stairs not wanting to find out what Charlie would if he saw me standing there. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him look squarely at me and didn't react in the slightest. Was it possible that this was a one way mirror like the police back home used for interrogations? If so this was going to be an opportunity I might never get again. This might me my one and only chance to find out if Charlie is actually bluffing about my parents being watched or not. I might even learn something that could help me escape from here or even something I could tell Will and Liam that they could use against him.
"What took you so long in returning?" Charlie asked Marcus.
"Between having to travel here on foot and trying to lose Will and Liam in the process was not easy. I assumed you didn't want the two of them finding there way back here so they can take your precious portal maker." Marcus pointed out.
"Fair enough. You've yet to tell me what happened to your partner Gordan that I sent with you through the portal." Charlie said lacing his fingers together watching Marcus expectantly. "I assume you had him stay behind to watch the girl's parents like I ordered."
So he does have my parents under surveillance after all. This only means if I do try to escape or do anything to go against him he'll just have this Gordan person hurt maybe even kill my parents. I was stuck here now whether I liked it or not. The last thing I wanted to do was to get my parents killed because of something I did. I don't know if I could handle knowing that I was the reason why my parents are injured or worse dead.
"That's just something else you need to add to your lists of reasons why you hate Will. Moments after we walked through the portal Will came barreling after us. During the fight with him Will threw Gordan off a thirty story building. Needless to say Gordan did not survive the fall so no he is not doing as you ordered." Marcus explained.
"So at this very moment there is no way to guarantee her cooperation." Lucia sighed.
"I'll worry about that. As far as she knows her parents are in real danger if she goes against me. As long as she believes that she won't be going anywhere." Charlie said without any worry in his voice.
"How much longer will I have to teach that maggot?" Lucia wondered.
"Until she learns to open portals. For my plans to work we need her to create the portals between her world and ours. You will continue training her till that time." Charlie ordered.
"Very well but doesn't mean I have to enjoy it." she groaned.
"You might have her advance more if she didn't have to spend so much time healing from your methods of teaching." Marcus pointed out.
"I have been getting very good results using my methods for centuries." Lucia snapped.
"Like I said just don't kill her." Charlie pointed out standing up. "We'll speak more tomorrow."
With that last comment both Lucia and Marcus followed Charlie out of the room. I stood there for several minutes my mouth hanging wide open in shock. My parents were perfectly safe this whole time and I allowed Charlie to manipulate me in to believing otherwise. I wanted to wrap my hands around Charlie's neck all the more now. I could feel my entire body shaking from anger my fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles had gone white. Without really thinking I slammed my fist against the stone wall. Pain sheered through my hand upon impact. When I pulled my fist back there was blood running down my fingers from open gashes on my knuckles. Being here seems to be bringing out the worst in me. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible before Charlie corrupts me any further.
As I slowly began to make my decent down the stairs I began thinking about possible ways to escape here. Now that I knew my parents were safe I had no reason to stay here any longer. The sooner I got out of here the better. The last thing I wanted to do at this point is become like Charlie or even help him. He's the last person on both worlds that I would ever want to help.
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