The Chronicles of Nia Cicida, Book 1: The Light at the End of the Tunnel [CHAPTER EIGHT ADDED]

Chapter 7- Three Blind Mice

"Shadows linger,
only to my eye."
Haunted, Kelly Clarkson

Beatrice caught her breath, and stumbled back in alarm when his dark blue eyes met her own, light ones. Her foot caught on a root, and she fell on her back, staring up at him with a kind of frightened looking expression.

And he stared back down at her, hands stuck in the pockets of his black jeans. He had his head slightly tilted as he watched her, a curious and almost amused expression on his face. He wore black high tops, with dark-colored jeans, and a black long sleeved sweater. All of this made his skin look only paler than it should.

Beatrice somehow managed to swallow back her fear, and asked him defiantly, "What are you doing out here?" She said, eyes narrowing at him in suspicion. If it weren't for her now-twisted ankle, she'd be running for the hills by now. She crawled backwards desperately, her eyes never leaving his.

Delaney chuckled at this, and knelt down slowly, grabbing her bad ankle with his hand so she wouldn't be able to move. He ignored her question. "Hello, sis." He greeted brightly, almost as if he hadn't just hurt her ankle even more, causing her to yelp.

Beatrice made a quiet growling sound in reply, "Go jump in a well and drown yourself." She replied, eyes narrowing at him murderously. Her small hands clenched into fists, and for a moment, she looked... dangerous. And Beatrice did not have the capability of looking dangerous like now.

Delaney's head tilted, and he cooed, pinching her cheeks in fake affection. "Aww." He said, looking sympathetic [even though she knew all too well that this sympathy of his was completely fake. He was, as her history teacher would say, 'lying by the skin of his nose']. "Love you too, Bee." He ruffled her dark colored hair, causing her to hiss angrily. His hand recoiled, and he made a face at her. "Can't take a joke?" He asked sarcastically.

"Why are you here?" She repeated impatiently, managing to shake his hand away from her ankle. Her nose scrunched up.

"I could as you the same thing." Delaney replied mysteriously, "Father sent me to fetch you back for him. You ran away, remember? He didn't like that." He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "You're in big trouble." He said, voice getting darker. In one fluid moment, he had her slung over his shoulder. But he did so gently, for a reason Beatrice would probably never know.

Beatrice screamed and kicked, trying to free herself, but to no avail. "Let--me--go!" She screamed into his ear, causing him to visibly cringe at how loud her voice was getting to be. "I hate you! Let me go!" She said over and over, smacking him on the back with her fairly fragile-like hands. None of this hurt him, though, so all he did was roll his eyes and tell her that it was for her own good.

"You don't belong in that other world, Beatrice. They will make you weak and soft. You haven't even learned how to use your powers yet; you could hurt someone." He said, but then added quickly when Beatrice looked at him with a shocked face. "Not like I care. I just know that it's the only possible way to get you to stay." He replied, as if reading her thoughts. He also added a roll of his eyes, shifting her weight a little as he got closer to their destination.

And, finally, the young girl gave up, seeing that Delaney was not planning on releasing her any time soon. So, she just went limp, swallowing back her tears. There was no way on this earth that she would cry in front of him; it would not be tolerated-- it could not be tolerated, at all. "Who was he originally planning on sending?" She asked glumly, he meaning their father.

Delaney glanced back at her face, and saw that she was just hanging there like a rag-doll, arms stubbornly crossed. He couldn't help but chuckle quietly at what he saw, and looked back ahead of him, walking in front of a large area surrounded by huge jet black bars for gates. On the inside of them, was a large, stoney and unwelcoming castle, that stretched as far as five acres. Despite the size, the aura it gave off was dark and brooding.

He took in a breath, slipping through the bars and replying, "Simon. Obviously. All he does is nothing but loiter around in the halls and in his room, all day." He stretched out the two words 'all day' just to make his point known. "But he's as slippery as a snake. Might've taken less time to find you, I must admit. But, things came up, and he managed to weasel his way out of finding you." He gave her no time to respond, for he slipped through the front door of the castle, and down a corridor. He opened a random door, and walked into an eerily empty room. It was plain, with nothing but a simple lamp hanging in the middle of the room [it looked to be placed a little too low] and a black chair. In the abyss, a soft dripping sound could be heard, keeping a steady pace.

Beatrice's head shot up, and she looked around the room cautiously. She gulped, and squeaked out in alarm, kicking her legs, "Put me down!" She ordered, trying to jump out of his arms.

Delaney walked up to the chair, and when she ordered him to put her down, he shrugged indifferently. He then dropped her onto the chair, "You told me to drop you." He replied to her angry look. He placed her arms on the arms of the chair, and a lock appeared out from under it, holding her wrists down.

Beatrice stared up at him with wide eyes, "What?!" She said, grunting as she struggled to free her wrists. She kicked her feet, aiming for his shins.

Delaney shook his head slowly, "You could have stayed with your ankles free. But I guess not..." He shrugged, and snapped his fingers, causing locks to wrap around her ankles, restraining her. He held his hand forward, and pressed the heel of his hand to her forehead, pushing her head back so it connected with the back of the chair. Another pair or chains shot out from the insides, and wrapped themselves around her forehead. Not tight enough to harm her; just tight enough so she wouldn't be able to turn her head.

Beatrice screamed, and tried to move. But she feared that the chair would fall over; and it almost did. Finally, she gave up, and sat there, eyes as wide as saucers. She clenched her fists. "What the freak?!" She screeched.

Delaney visibly winced at her screech, and muttered. "I've seen you've picked up on some of 'their' sayings." He rolled his eyes at her, "Silly sayings, they have."

"You can kiss my grits, Yoda." Replied Beatrice defiantly, nostrils flaring, eyes watching him with a sort of murderous look.

"Oh, yet another lovely phrase." Delaney responded sarcastically, standing in front of her, but behind the hanging light. His eyes narrowed, and his hand wrapped itself around the light, and he threw it to the side. It then began swinging, from left to right, over and over again.

Beatrice's eyes widened for a few moments, and she went into what seemed like a trance-like state. Her eyes blinked sleepily, and she remained in this stage for a few moments, before her eyes snapped wide again. She blinked rapidly, trying to close her eyes, but found this impossible. After a few more moments of struggling, she fell back into her trance, her eyes reflecting the color of the light.

"Say it with me, now." Said Delaney, saying his words nice and slow. He held up his index finger, and instructed, "There is nothing wrong in our land."

"There is... nothing wrong..." Beatrice repeated slowly, but then she snapped out of it, and tried squirming around desperately. But she quickly fell back into her hypnotic state.

Delaney waited a few moments, just to make sure that she wasn't going to break out of her daze-like state. He took in a quiet breath, "Alright. Let's try this... again." He said, voice emotionless. "Now, say it." His voice echoed throughout the room, like the faint dripping sound that could still be heard faintly.

Beatrice inhaled, her eyes locked on the moving lamp. "There is nothing wrong in our land." She said, her pupils growing large, so large, in fact, that her iris disappeared in blackness.

"Good." Delaney praised, "Now, say this." He paused, "There is no reason to leave." He made his voice calm, and almost reassuring. But, of course, all of this was lies. "Everything is going to be... okay." He watched, waiting for her to repeat.

Beatrice's eyelids dropped a little, "There is no reason to leave." She said, shaking her head slowly. "Everything is going to be..." For a moment, she stopped, almost as if she were trying to pull herself out of her moldable state. But, she was unsuccessful. Her eyes then completely went black, her pupils spreading their blackness throughout her entire eye, like ink being spilled on paper. "...okay." She finished.

Chapter 8- The Sisters of the White Elf

"As he came into the window
Was a sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She was sitting at the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down
It was her doom."
Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson

The first documentary of Alicia, Sister of the White Elf

"You're right." Sneered a spine-chilling voice, one that seemed to belong to a female. It was unpleasantly shrill. "You can't have enough guts to do what I can do. You were always the weakling; the runt. You were never worth that much..." The voice went on, becoming crueler and crueler with every sentence.

The dim lights to the room seemed to grow a little brighter, but flickering ever still. Two outlines could be made out, one leaning over the other. The lights grew a little more luminous, and their faces could finally be made out. The small, fragile form that was on the ground, was a female. She was slightly curled on her side, trying to stand up. But her arms would wobble, and she would fall back onto the stone cold floor once again, to the other girl's pure amusement.

She had black hair, that reached to her shoulders, and large, black eyes. She looked like she had come right out of a black and white picture; the only thing that disturbed this image was the crimson stuff on her lower lip. She had unusually long, pointed ears, and elfish face features. Her name was Alicia, and she was one of the last surviving sisters of the ancient Elven tribe.

The other one, the one that stood over her; she shared the same black hair, but her eyes had some kind of mischievous look to them, one that made Alicia fidget nervously. Her eyes were a dark brown, unlike Alicia's, whose eyes were black colored. Her name was Alena, and she was the betraying sister of the Elven tribe.

Alena leaned down a little, "Do you think you can fight me, sister?" She asked curiously, her head tilted. Alena gasped in surprise when Alicia lifted her hand, slapping her across the face. Her right cheek quickly reacted to the hard slap, and it began to sting, the area turning red. She clutched her cheek, scoffing at her in surprise.

"You..." She growled, grabbing Alicia by the hair, causing the fragile girl to yelp when she felt herself being pulled off of the ground. She shook her a little, "Don't you dare do that ever again, do you understand me?!" She screeched at her, dropping her, so she landed flat on the stone floors.

And there Alicia lay for a few silent moments, letting her anger built up inside of her. She moved, managing to get on her hands and knees. She shook it off, coughing a sickly cough.

"You pain amuses me." Said Alena, her voice as emotionless as her face. She smirked a chilling smirk, causing Alicia to shudder, even though she hadn't caught a glimpse of it. Alicia coughed into her hand, her lips crimson red. "Just give up before I actually have to hurt you." She threatened, about the kick the girl in the side. But she stopped right at the last second, leaving Alicia frightened and trembling. Finally, the frail thing collapsed onto the floor in fright, eyes wide.

The hood of her cloak fell over her head in the process, causing a shadow to appear on her face. "I'll never tell you where the girl lies, you will never find her." She whispered in a delicate voice, her chest rising and falling as she breathed unevenly. By now, her face was as white as a sheet; she looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"Alicia; truthful! All you're telling me is lies!" Yelled Alena, her patience running low. She threw her hands in the air, an angry look on her face. "You know what I want to know, and you're going to have to tell me, or else." She threatened. It wasn't a question; but an order.

"No!" Cried Alicia, "You can never make me!" And in a sudden rush of adrenaline, she jumped back onto her feet swiftly, and sprinted out of her cell door. She continued running through the desolate hallways of the castle she was in, her footsteps echoing multiple times. But she was in too much of a hurry to try and make her footsteps quiet.

She was anticipating for Alena to jump out of nowhere and grab her again, to drag her back to her cell. But no one came; the castle seemed to be completely empty.

She pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head when it was flipped back. She seemed to blend in more with it on, for it was all black; just like the hallways. The only thing she had to worry about was someone casting a light upon her and recognizing her.

She took random turns, over and over. But just when she thought she was out, she came upon two different tunnels. She glanced at the two, and bit onto her lower lip. She pointed to the right one, and ran through it.

She slowed down a little as she entered, a cold breeze washed over her, causing her to shiver. The tunnel was a bleak, desolate place, that just seemed to scream, 'BEWARE! CRAZY MAN-EATING MONSTER UP AHEAD!' or, 'TURN BACK IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE'. Too bad Alicia didn't listen to her gut, like she should've.

Alicia came from a land full of life; it was beautiful every day, even if it was raining. There, the streets were never empty. Children ran around and played, the place was always buzzing. She missed this place so much.

But now her world was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her whole world went tumbling down once they were born.

The first one was Delaney, and his birth caused all of their flocks to die, the next one to come was Simon-the mischievous one- and his coming into the world caused fires, many, many fires. Then came Dustin, and then Beatrice. Dustin caused many tsunamis and flooding. But the last one didn't cause much; a few of their crops died and that was it.

But Alicia was pulled out of her thoughts when she came upon a dead-end, her heart had nearly stopped. Her eyes widened, and she whispered to herself, trying to reassure herself. "It's going to be fine, all you have to do is turn back and go down the other..." but her voice trailed off into silence when she turned around, seeing that the tunnel she had come through had disappeared. "No." She whispered, almost passing out.

She tried keeping herself calm, but this didn't seem to be working all that well. She lowered the hood of her cloak and had a sudden urge to stare up at the ceiling. And so, she followed her gut, and did so.

She soon regretted what she did, for she was greeted by a pair of bloody red eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back her scream, reminding herself that if she did so, she'd only draw in more attention. More attention than she would want.

"Who's there?" She managed to stammer, trying to put on a brave face, but failing miserably. Alicia wasn't good at being brave, especially not now. Her voice was weak and soft. She almost fell over because of how much her knees were wobbling. This creature-whatever it was- was something Alicia had never seen before. But she had the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew what this thing was. Demons like this one, were very common in this castle. It was a thing Alicia failed to recall when she escaped; and now, she was at the creature's mercy- if it had any. If it had an owner [and she remembered hearing from someone that one of the Dugal children had one] she was screwed.

The creature looked to be human, except she was oddly skinny- almost sickly. Her skin was as white as paper, and her hair was so black that it almost looked violet. She moved like a spider, crawling around on the walls as if she had done this since she was born. She looked down at the frightened Alicia, and smirked at her. Her lips were painted black, and her eyes were large, and a ice blue color. She had her hair up in a perfect bun, and she wore what looked to be a black gymnastic-like outfit.

She let go of the wall, and dropped down slowly, suspended by a single, silky but strong thread. She tilted her head at the frightened elf creature, "Well, lookie here." She crooned, her voice high soprano. "The little elf thing that escaped." She smiled at her, but there was something behind the smile... something murderous.

Alicia tried to speak, but found that her voice only came out in a soft squeak. Her eyes were round, and she was clearly frightened. But this only amused the spider-like thing even more.

"You're looking pale. Almost like you've just seen a ghost!" She giggled, a sweet, and shrill kind of giggle. Her head tilted, and she clapped her hands together when her master, Delaney Dugal, appeared from the shadows, eyebrows raised in amusement. He had his hands folded behind his back as he inspected Alicia.

"Don't touch me!" Hissed Alicia, stepping back a little. "I'll never, ever tell you where the girl is. Not even in your dreams; if you have any." She spat the last sentence, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Good find," Delaney complimented his pet, grabbing her by the hood of her cloak and yanking her upward, painfully. "Looks like we're going to have to force the answer out of this one." He sighed in annoyance, and shrugged. He held his black-gloved hand out, and pointed his two first fingers [index and middle] to her, as if beckoning her forward. He then pointed up at the ceiling, and, before Alicia knew it, she was suspended off of the ground. But it wasn't anything like Peter Pan, for he seemed to be focusing all of his levitating-power on the hood of her dress.

Alicia coughed and struggled, kicking her legs. She could still breathe, but it was still painful. He then let her drop to the floor like a doll, and stood over her, hands stuck in his pockets. His head tilted, and he clicked his tongue. "Shame, really." he knelt down, and sat in a softer voice, "It can be different for you; you don't have to die like your sisters." A smile played at the corners of his mouth, "But... if you don't." He shrugged, and drew his thumb nail across his neck, making a cutting sound. "The price will eventually have to be paid."

"Never." Alicia whispered.

Delaney shrugged, "Oh well." He said, and suddenly, the girl felt her life draining from her, and her eyes seemed to flutter. She felt weaker, and more tired than she had a few hours ago.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked in a weak voice.

Delaney stared off into space, as if pondering. "Just because I can." he replied with a smirk.

"You evil, seventeen-year-old jerk." Whispered Alicia, and then her whole world went black.

The last documentary of Alicia, Sister of the White Elf