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Dreams True Form
by Jessie Duncan
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Chapter 6
"Mmmm." Kaidence heard herself moan as she woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, stretched lazily and then gasped at the naked chest that greeted her vision. She looked and saw her arm and leg draped over this naked body, with a hand laid possessively on her thigh and a protective arm draped across her shoulders. She looked up and saw Hadrian's sleeping face and then down and saw their naked, intertwined bodies.
"Oh no, no, no, no." Kaidie said as she shook her head in denial.
"Oh tell me this did not happen, tell me I didn't-." she couldn't finish the sentence. But she didn't have to because the memory of what had occurred flooded back to her in a sudden rush that made her dizzy. She looked back up to the slumbering dark prince and continued to shake her head in denial.
"Oh god I-we-did-." She was losing it.
She had to get out of here, now!
She slowly sat up, letting the arm on her shoulders gently slid onto the mattress. She then lightly picked up the hand on her thigh and placed it on his chest and then very slowly moved her leg off his stomach. She paused a moment to stare at her sleeping lover. His face looked so peaceful, uncomplicated with cruel smiles and jagged gazes. She felt her heart lurch painfully at the thought of leaving him and before she knew it she leaned in and softly kissed his mouth relishing in the tenderness of the moment and storing it away for a lonely night. But she knew she couldn't stay, she couldn't be with him. He would eventually tire of her and kill her and Brenna, and she had to rescue Lucas. She was surprised how much it hurt to realize he would never care for her or think of her as anything other then a plaything. She allowed herself one more moment of affection for him and then threw up her walls of stone and steel around her heart. She would never let it betray her against him again. As softly and quietly as possibly she inched her way off the bed trying her hardest to not wake him up. She made it to the floor and then scooped up her dress only to throw it back down because it was beyond wearing.
"What the hell am I going to wear?" she thought starting to panic, he could wake up at anytime.
She glanced frantically around and saw his clothes lying next to the bed.
"Well hey its better then nothing." She thought shrugging her shoulders. She pulled on his black leather pants and was glad he had a belt or they would never have stayed on. She then pulled on his black, sleeveless tunic and decided against the boots since they would be entirely to big for her and would end up tripping her on her face if she was forced to run. She hurriedly made her way to the door but tripped over something and fell to the floor muffling her yelp so as to not wake up Hadrian. She looked and saw she had fallen over Maura. The unconscious witch's face was bruised and a cut lay open her cheek.
"Damn, Brenna would be impressed." Kaidie thought with a small smile. But the thought of her friend snapped her back to reality. She pulled herself up, and with much effort but surprisingly little noise managed to pull open the large wooden door. The hallway was lit with torches that lined the walls.
"Which way?" she thought. Following her gut instincts she ran to her right looking for a door or stairway that would take her to Brenna. At the end of the hall she did find a stairwell and ran as fast as she could up them. Two doors lined the left side of hall and three doors lined the right side.
"Damn it!" she cursed under breath. How on earth was she supposed to know were Brenna was? As if an answer to her prayers and fuel for her nightmares all at once she heard a scream that reverberated down the hallway. It chilled Kaidence to the bone, she knew without a doubt it was Brenna's. She bolted to the end of the hallway and listened intently and was quickly given the direction by the piercing scream the emanated from the room on her right. She threw her weight against the door but it only slightly moved.
"Brenna!!!!!" Kaidence screamed.
She rammed her shoulder repeatedly against the door, ignoring the shattering pain that coursed up her arm.
"Brenna I'm coming!" she yelled when another scream erupted from the room.
With much slamming into the door it finally moved enough for Kaidie to slip in. Kaidence found her friend pinned to the floor by Orion who was holding her by the neck, her clothes were in tatters and she was about two seconds away from being violated in the worst way. He laughed at her struggles and slapped her when she fought against him. Kaidence didn't even think she ran and threw herself onto Orion knocking him on the floor and began to punch him with all her strength.
"What in the--!" he yelled as Kaidence slammed a fist into his face. He brought his arm up and with a forceful blow that sent Kaidence careening to the floor. Brenna was already up though and with a candelabrum she found she crashed it over his head knocking him to his knees. He looked up at Brenna, teeth bared, a deep growl issued forth from his throat and he lunged at her like a wild animal.
"NO!" Kaidence screamed reaching out her hand toward him, a blast of piercing white light exploded from her palm slamming into Orion's back. He landed on the floor unmoving in front of Brenna's feet. The two girls stared at each other in total shock over what had just happened.
"How did you do that?" she barely whispered.
Kaidie gawked at her hand.
"I-I don't know."
Brenna came over and helped her up and the two girls embraced each other grateful that the other was alive.
"Lets get out of here girl." Brenna said as she pulled up what remained of her shirt.
They squeezed out of the opening of the door after making sure the hall was clear and ran down the steps and past the room Kaidie had left Hadrian sleeping in.
"Were are we going?" Brenna asked as they continued running.
"I have no idea. We've got to figure out how to get out of this place and to the woods, but I don't have a clue were the front door is."
They continued blindly running taking various flights of steps that led down and choosing doors based on gut instincts. Kaidence felt Brenna tug on her arm and they stopped both winded.
"We're---we're going-in circles." Brenna panted grasping her side and wincing. Kaidie gasped for air and looked around, it looked like every other hallway they had run through, same number of doors on both walls, Kaidie could swear the pictures that hung on the stones were the same.
"No wonder he doesn't have any guards in here, no one can find the way out."
Brenna grabbed the door in front of her and flung it open revealing another set of steps leading down.
"I've got an idea." She said and went back up the hall to the first door on the hall and opened it, Kaidie quickly followed.
The room was furnished in a gaudy show of fortune, with furs thrown on the floor, an enormous wooden canopy bed covered in a massive white fur. A fire blazed in the giant stone fireplace. Brenna ran to an open window and looked out.
" C'mon, we'll never find the way out of here running around like a bunch of rats in a maze, we'll use our gymnastic talents, or at least pretend we have some." She said smiling. Kaidie smiled at Brenna's attempt to lighten the dangerous situation they found themselves in. Brenna flung her leg over the windowsill and prepared to drop to the roof.
"Whoa, hold on girl, let me go first." Kaidie said pulling her back into the room.
"Ok why?"
"Because, in gym who climbed the rope to the top and did 15 pull ups while the other said I don't think so? Hmm...all right then. If I slip I can Bre myself and pull my body back up, if you fall...well you fall."
Brenna stuck her tongue out but stayed in while Kaidence climbed onto the window ledge and let herself down onto the roof below. She inched her way on her knees to the edge to see what lay below. The roof below angled sharply and would take some careful maneuvering to make sure neither of them slipped and fell to the courtyard. In the yard there was a small group of patrol soldiers milling around some ways from the open gate door. That was in their favor, however, the courtyard was wide open, and nothing for them to hide behind if the soldiers looked their way.
"Shit." Kaidence mumbled. She turned and motioned for Brenna to come out onto the roof with her, she came quietly and crouched down next to her.
"Good news or bad news first?" Kaidence whispered.
"Good news, the soldiers are not close to the open door, bad news, we'll be sitting ducks once we reach the ground. Correct?" Brenna whispered.
"Yeah that about sums it up. Be really careful on the roof below, it angles really bad." And with that Kaidie lay on her stomach with her legs dandling over the lip of the roof, and slowly lowered her body onto the dangerous rooftop. She tested her footing making sure it was as secure as she could make it and gestured for Brenna to follow. Brenna mimicked Kaidence dismount onto the roof but lacked her arm strength and fell instead of lowering onto the cover.
"Brenna!" Kaidie whispered loudly and fumbled for her friend's hand as she slid down to the edge.
Brenna snatched her hand and Kaidence threw herself backwards with all her weight pulling her friend to safety before any of the men on the ground below noticed. The two lay panting for air and clutching each other tightly.
"Guess it was good you went first huh?"
Kaidie managed a weak smile. Carefully the two, hand in hand, inched their way down the sloping roof to the edge. Kaidie leaned over to see how far the drop would be and felt slightly ill. The drop was a good three stories, not good, however, as if fate were smiling on them, they would be able to break the fall by falling into a large stack of loose hay the lay piled up against the castle wall. The only problem was that the soldiers would most assuredly see them when they fell.
"Damn it!" she muttered, how were they going to get to the ground without being seen. And as if her question were being answered a thunderous howl echoed throughout the entire castle almost shaking loose her precarious grip on the edge of the roof. She gritted her teeth as she dug her fingers against the stone fighting her swaying body back to a steady position.
"Kaidie, you ok?" she heard Brenna softly ask.
She nodded and looked back down to the earth in time to see all the soldiers rush into the castle. She wasn't a betting kind of girl, but if she had to gamble on what that howl was, she would have staked her life that it was Hadrian finally waking up and realizing that not only was she gone but so was Brenna. What she also realized was that now was their chance to make a run for it.
"Brenna c'mon hurry up!" she called out frantically. Brenna crouched down next to her and taking Kaidence's hands she swung Brenna off the roof so that she was dangling over the pile of hay.
"Ok now I'm going to drop you onto that pile, don't tense up and don't yell ok? As soon as you hit run out that gate and into the woods I'll be right behind you ok? Don't wait for me, I mean it, run for all you're worth you got me?" Kaidence gritted out as she felt her footing slip slightly.
Brenna looked incredibly frightened but Kaidie saw her swallow it down and nod her understanding.
"Ok on three, one...two...THREE!!" and with that she let Brenna go and watched as her friend plummeted down three stories to fall with a whoosh into the hay pile.
Brenna nearly screamed as her friend dropped her off the roof, but she landed, unhurt, in the somewhat soft hay and quickly rolled out of the pile. She looked up to the ledge she had just fallen off of and saw Kaidence motioning like a madman for her to run. She couldn't just leave her!! She had to wait!
"Get out of here! NOW!" Kaidence said as loudly as she dared. Brenna stared at her a moment longer before running as quickly as she could out the gates to the woods just a few yards ahead of her. Kaidence stood up on the small ledge, took a deep breath, and jumped. She landed with a quiet thump, and shaking herself off, she quickly ran toward the open door to her freedom.
"STOP!!" she heard a voice boom across the courtyard. She skidded to a halt and turned to see hundreds of troops pouring out of the castle toward her. They lined up in columns making an open walkway in front of the large door that led into the castle. She saw Hadrian stalk out the door with his cape billowing behind him and lightning flashing in his eyes. Kaidence turned and ran for the door as fast as she possibly could. But the doors were swinging shut; she wasn't going to make it!! She leaped for the opening and flew through just as the doors slammed with an earth splitting thud, shut, snagging her pants. She ripped them away and flew toward the open forest.
"NOW!" she heard a scream from the top walkways of the castle. She turned and saw archers poised ready to shoot, and shoot they did. Arrows hissed like angry wasps all around her. She couldn't stop; if she did she would be a sitting target in the open field. Then like an enraged hornet she felt something slash across her exposed arm. She stumbled and fell clutching her injured arm. She looked and saw blood smeared on her open palm; an arrow had laid the flesh on her arm open. She felt incredibly faint from running and now loosing blood. She pushed herself to her feet and with a quick glance over her shoulder she ran to the woods, feeling relief as she entered the shelter of the tall trees.
"You can not hide from me for long little one, I will find you soon." Kaidence froze as she heard his voice plain as day in her mind. She turned and looked at the foreboding castle and saw its master standing on the up most wall looking right at her, she had never seen a more fearsome person in her life. His midnight black cape billowed in the wind, his face was rigid with anger but the steely glint in his eyes left no doubt in Kaidence's mind that he would be keeping her on the run. She turned away from his piercing glare and ran into the welcoming darkness of the forest.
