Chapter 19- A Touch Like Fire

                                    

                                          
Q: What are you doing for New Year's Eve?
                          
Have fun reading my chapter!❤️
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🎧: Arsonist's Lullaby - Hozier 
                          
After reading the page, another glowed oh so brilliantly. I snatched it as fast as I could, but the page seemed empty. "What the hell? How is it blank?" I groaned. Suddenly a vague memory crossed my mind. When I was a child, every birthday I had up until I turned 7 was a quest, Sister Elizabeth used to prepare secret messages hidden with invisible ink, they used to always lead me to my gift at the end of the day. I smiled at the memory. The only way I used to read the messages was through a candle. 'Red and orange it burnt, grey and black it left.' I ran across the room to the dressing table, grabbed the melting candle and hovered it across the page until the cursive letters started appearing gradually. The page held the title 'The Barrier'. Perfect! 
                          
There exists a barrier to separate the Daemons from the in-between, one even more dangerous, and it separates the Lost Souls from the in-between, this barrier created the World of Shadows, where the Lost Souls shall stay trapped forever. The barrier was initiated by the 'Diammone Coven', the most powerful of all, and the key to open the barrier lay in the box of wonders and to open the box, you must find the rose whose thorns poison you and whose petals heal you. 
                          
Thorns poison... petals heal. A thorn makes up a rose and so does a petal, my parents are an angel and a devil. I am the only one that can open the box!
                          
Suddenly all the puzzle pieces started to form in my mind. The box has in it a bloody knife, Drakos mentioned that the barrier was made of my mother's blood. That dagger was used to kill my mother... and only her blood can open the barrier, no one else's. That's why they've all been after me, they knew that I was the only one capable of opening the box, but this means they had help on the inside... there is a mole in the in-between. 
                          
My mind drifted back to my life in the mortal world. I was surrounded by Daemons... Almost all the people in St. Mary were of high ranks and had loads of money and according to Drakos, they took control of all the mortal world's money and power. 
                          
After reading the manuscript, the pages dissolved into thin air and I could not find it no matter where I searched. "This is so fucking frustrating." I groaned and plopped down on the arm chair next to my bed. The wooden armoire with glass doors caught my eye and I immediately stood up and walked towards it. Tens of books were perfectly organized next to each other, calling whoever set eyes upon them. Ironically I grabbed Bram Stoker's Dracula. This book just screams this place. Dark castle, gothic setting, woods, cold weather... I settled into the silk beige duvet and started reading.
                          
I was halfway through the book when I started getting drowsy. Ironically, the last sentence I read was, ' I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul.' 
                          
*dream*
                          
I was sleeping in my room. It was as if my soul was out of my body, watching myself as a third party. My skin was glowing under the moonlight and looked so delicate. A cloaked male entered the room. I couldn't see him but something inside me made me feel like I knew him. I maintained my sleeping state. 
                          
He took off his cloak but I fought with my vision to see him. Everything but him was clear. It's like he was preventing me from seeing him. His hands found their way to my duvet. He ripped them off me. I was wearing shorts and a camisole. His hands trailed on my thighs then to my arms and finally landed on my lips. Every stroke of his fingers left a trail of fire behind. Almost as if it was a touch of fire.
                          
*end of dream*
                          
I woke up panting, the room was freezing. I turned to my left to see the large windows were open. "The wind must've blew them open.." I whispered. I stayed in bed for another minute trying to fathom the dream I had. His touch still lingered on my skin and it made me shudder. I slipped out of bed gracefully and shut the windows closed. I also snatched the book from my bed and just as I was about to put it back in the armoire,  I heard voices outside my room. I dropped the book to the ground but quickly retrieved it and put it back. I heard a creaking sound from the bathroom. I spun my head hastily to the bathroom door. I inhaled a deep breath and tiptoed to the bathroom. I touched the door handle and turned the knob, opening the door slowly. 
                          
I entered the bathroom and studied my surroundings. No one was there. I heard the creaking sound once more. "What's going on with me?" Whispers echoed through the bathroom. It was all indistinct, the whispers started increasing and my breathing became heavy. "Who-s th-ere?" I said waveringly. The whispers amplified, my head was throbbing by now. "STOP." I screamed.  It all swiftly came to a halt. My breathing was ragged and my body was shivering. I turned back to look in the mirror and saw something written with blood. Bleeding scars, heavy hearts and on your hands, a bloody past.  This is when I let out an earth- shattering scream.
                          
I started hyperventilating and thrashing around, screaming. I heard the door burst open and both Maeva and Drakos stood with paled faces. "Thana!" Maeva shouted. "It's worse than I thought." Drakos whispered. "If they can penetrate my castle, then Lucifer's Palace is doomed." Drakos paced around the room. 
                          
My frail frame was sprawled on the bathroom floor. My mouth was sealed shut, not one word emerged. Maeva stared worriedly at me, hiding the chill in her bones and the fearful speculations in her mind. "She needs power, Lucifer. The solution we discussed is the only way. He has strong alliances, and after all he was to be the successor." Maeva hesitantly said. I knew exactly who they were talking about. Erebus. "She must make peace with him or we're done for." Drakos added. My throat became parched. I didn't mind making peace with Erebus as long as it protected the people I love, but an unsettling feeling resided in the pit of my stomach and my head spinned. There is something about Erebus that seemed a mystery to me, and his desires are more than just the throne of hell. 
                          
A certain sentence I read last night engraved into my mind. "God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me." were the only words that escaped my lips. "Bram Stoker, a wise man." Drakos said.