Chapter Four

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My teeth chattered against the billowing freezing cold wind. I bolted my jaw shut to avoid the noise I was unintentionally making. That was all he needed ....a snap of a branch here , a gasp there, and his impeccable hearing would lead him right to me. I pressed my back harder into the rough wall of the cave behind me when a rustle echoed through the confines of the cave.

It'll be morning soon and I'll wake up soon. I kept repeating those words to myself as I tightened my arms around my body to keep myself warm. I don't know how long I sat in the corner of the damp cave with my eyes closed , waiting to wake up in real life. My heart dropped when slow footsteps begun to echo across the stone walls.

No No No No

I hauled myself up, ignoring the pain that shot through my body. I had too many unhealed injuries to be caught right now , I would die this time. I don't know what happened if I died over here , maybe I wouldn't wake up in real life either.

I limped as fast as I could in the opposite direction of where the footsteps came from. The familiar sticky feeling of fear spread from my chest, making it's way into my belly and seizing my heart in it's grip. My hands shook from something more than cold , something my body seemed to recognize . Something my body was oh so familiar with. The feeling of Lucien's shadows licking over my skin , a promise of what was to come.

My steps doubled , running down the winding paths of the cave. All I could do was to hope this cave didn't end with a dead end. Most of the caves here didn't end with a wall, they led to other parts of the forest sometimes. Sometimes.

"Don't try to run Princess" A cold laughter bounced off the walls. His voice triggered my body into an overdrive. My heartbeat doubled and I threw myself into a full run despite the pain that pierced through every inch of my body.

I released a breath of relief when I spotted an opening at the end of the tunnel. I channeled the rest of my energy into making for the exit. If I made it into the forest I could buy myself a couple more hours , I could hide by the lake where he couldn't smell me. I almost sobbed when my foot hit the forest floor with a crunch that was practically music to my ears. My eyes darted around , immediately finding a familiar path that would lead me to the crossroads. I would be able to escape from him just tonight if I managed to get to the crossroads.

My thoughts were halted when a sharp blinding pain sliced through my back right into my stomach. My legs gave out from under me , leaving me crashing on my knees and gasping for breath that burned my chest. My hand drifted to my stomach , wincing when my palm passed over the fresh wound there , the tip of an arrow sticking out of my skin. That bastard drove an arrow into me , not like I was surprised. This all I was to him. Prey. Entertainment. Almost as if he was hunting deer.

My vision begun to blur , raw pain flooding my veins. My body couldn't handle it's weight anymore. I sunk unto the cold damp floor, feeling my heartbeat slowing and my vision turning dark. I watched him approach me through lowering lids. Maybe when I finally died here I would stop having these horrible dreams.

"I told you not to run my love, see what you made me do" He whispered almost soothingly. My eyes were drifting close at this point, my body shutting down.

The last thing I saw was a mass of darkness with magnificent midnight black wings descend on my captor from the crimson painted sky. The thing with wings almost looked like a man. But that was ridiculous... men didn't have wings. I fought through my muddled consciousness to watch my captor struggle against this creature pinning him down. The creature had hands, hands that gripped the hilt of a midnight black sword tightly , ready to sink it into the chest of my captor. But that was all I could see , the large wings had covered most of it's body and face.

Maybe my unconscious state was playing tricks on me.

And maybe men could have wings after all.

***********

"Ellie" My name was pounding against the walls of my brain like a repetitive chant.

"Ellie wake up" Another chant bloomed through my mind. It took great amount of effort to pry my eyes open, squinting against the bright light that flooded me. I involuntarily snapped my eyes close to prevent looking at all the light around me.

"Hey wake up"

I flinched when I felt the cool touch of finger tips across my cheek. My eyes popped open and I scrambled away from the invading touch.

"Hey hey, it's alright"

My eyes adjusted to find Abby and Farren perched on the sides of my bed, a look of concern etched unto their faces.

"Are you okay?" Farren whispered. I drew in a ragged breath , words unable to form in the current state I was in. My brain felt liquified and my body felt drained of every last drop of energy.

"I'm fine" I finally croaked in a whisper.

"You've been shaking and gasping for fucking breath in your sleep for the last thirty minutes. We've tried waking you up the whole time but it didn't work. What the hell was that? " Abby downright snapped at me.

"Abby-" Farren started.

"Don't Abby me Farren. She looked like she was-" She stopped midsentence , stopping herself from saying something." She looked like she was fucking dying" She completed.

"I said I'm fine" I said harder this time, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. " It was just a bad dream, Farren give me a second to freshen up so we head to class"

I didn't wait for an answer before made my way into the bathroom , locking the door behind me.

Well at least now I understood their concern. I looked like shit. Sweat made my nightshirt cling to me and my hair was plastered against my cheeks and neck. Stains of tears streaked my face and my eyes looked hollow. I carefully peeled my nightshirt off , my palm immediately going to my stomach. I stared at the reflection of the angry red splotch on my stomach. The exact place the arrow head had pierced me in my nightmare. My head spun, trying to figure out how the bruise appeared on my skin.

I sucked in a deep breath , willing my pulse to slow down. It was absolutely impossible for the bruise to appear physically from the dream. Right?...

After a full minute of overthinking I finally dragged myself into the shower, turning the temperature up to the highest it could go without burning my skin. The scar was probably a coincident, maybe I bumped into something earlier and the area was now bruising. That was an excellent explanation for it isn't it.

The rest of the day flew by fast and soon enough I was done with class and on my way to one of the bus stops on campus. The dean had sent me an email consisting of the date of the performance and the venue for my practice before the date was due. There was a rarely used theatre in town that had dozens of different instruments to my disposal as the dean had worded it in the email she sent. Hopefully I wouldn't get lost with the aid of the map the filled my phone screen at the moment. She didn't mention anything about the identity of the person I'd be performing with but I hoped the person would be nice enough so we could progress together smoothly.

The cooling breeze lifted my wild auburn locks around my face. I relished the dying rays of the setting sun across my face as the bus I was waiting for made it's way down the street and stopped right in front of the small crowd of students that were in a hurry to go to town.

I climbed on, making my way to the last seats where no one occupied. The wheels of the bus started slowly moving and soon enough the browning leaves of the trees that lined the roads on campus were nothing but a blur. I rested my head against the glass window , drowning out the faint chatter of the students around me as we wove our way unto the main streets. I hadn't been outside campus a lot of times since I started school but the few handful of times made me want to visit more often.

All the coffee and flower shops, people walking their dogs, the light traffic , all of it. It was all very cozy and inviting for some reason, but I wasn't familiar with all the streets and I wasn't planning on getting lost any time soon. Finally the next stop was mine and I wove my way to the front of the bus so I could quickly flash my card and get off despite the bumpiness. The bus drivers usually got sour when you took too long to get off when it was your stop and I was no mood to be at the receiving end of violence today.

The theatre wasn't hard to find , it stood right at the side of the road with all it's gigantic intensity. I made my way through the glass front doors and to the reception where a blond lady sat behind a computer.

"Hi" I greeted.

"Hello, welcome to Bridgeview Theatre how can I be of help" She gave me a well practiced saccharine smile that matched with her voice.

"Well I'm to practice here for a performance"

"Oh you must be from the university just downtown , kindly write you name here and sign " She placed some sort of attendance sheet on the dark brown desk along with a pen.

I quickly scribbled my name and signature as she rattled off directions to me. I gave her a grateful smile and went the way she asked me to. I figured she directed me backstage when I stepped into a familiar setting . A setting I've been familiar with all my life. The calm before the storm , the nerves before walking on stage in front of millions of people to perform what you took to be a little hobby. I halted my fast building musical career to focus more on school and getting a perfect score for uni. All the international contests I had lined up kept me from school most of the time and I had to make a decision to put that part of my life behind me .

But this? , this felt like home. The more I walked through the dark cushioned hallways, the more a wicked melody filled my ears. The notes awfully vicious with underlying notes of soothing solace. It was harsh as it was beautiful , like a taste of honey after a brutal shot of vodka. Like the notes were forcing you to take their punishments , offering you brief sweet comfort until they strike again. Breaking your heart all over , unapologetically. Without reason and without a care in the world.

I halted at the beginning of the stairs that led to the stage...where the music came from. Whoever was playing the piano on stage had a way of conveying every drop of emotion into what he was doing . Something most pianists lacked and even I struggled with doing it, requiring lengthy practice sessions. I didn't even realize I had made my way to the top of the stairs until I came face to face with the door that separated me from the stage.

My hand found the metal handle, a shiver running down my spine. I wondered if the shiver was from the chill of the door or from the particularly alluring note that assaulted my senses.

I sucked in a breath and pushed the door open, coming to face with the incredibly large auditorium and the empty seats that occupied it. My eyes quickly found what they were looking for. A grand piano sat at one side of the stage where the melody was coming from. Played by a man who's broad back faced me , his features hidden by the shadows of the bad lighting at that side of the stage.

The music halted the second my foot came in contact with the smooth wood floor. I watched as the man stiffened , becoming aware of my presence.

"Uhm, hello. You must be my partner for the duet " I swallowed, my feet taking me to him. There was no response from him , no movement either. He just sat there, as still as ever. If this is the person I was going to practice with for months then it was going to be one hell of a journey.

The man sighed and stood from the bench, rising to his full height. My stomach dipped when he spun around to face me. Hell no.

"Fuck no" He grumbled under his breath.

"Castiel" I stated , a bit breathless from shock.

"Surprised, duckling?" He scoffed , turning to grab his black messenger bag from the bench.

"I wasn't aware that you play the piano" I folded my arms across my chest.

"You're not supposed to be " He brushed my comment off as he slung the strap of the bag over his head , as if to remind me that we weren't friends.

Right. We weren't.

"And where do you think you're going to?"

"I'm honored that you think I'd actually do this duet with you duckling, but unfortunately it's not happening. I would have declined sooner if Grace had told me the name of my partner earlier." He begun to walk pass me . " You'll have a new partner by tomorrow"

I stood rooted to the spot as the sound of his heavy footsteps declined until the door banged close. The bitter taste of rejection coated my insides , together with a flame of anger that seemed to be fueled my the rejection that was just thrown into my face. He didn't want to play with me....fine. I didn't need him anyway, I would have a new partner by tomorrow and it would be like I never even stumbled on him today.

I forced myself to take a deep breath in and out to get rid of the sudden tightness that clouded my chest. I made myself comfortable on the piano bench and in the first time in months my fingers danced over the keys , pouring out all my anxiety and anger into the old tune I played.

Once my chest felt light enough I ended the continuous melody and left the stage. I still felt sour from the earlier rejection I had stomached but I focused more on the light feeling of the release I just found for myself.

My stomach immediately curdled when I exited the building, goosebumps spreading on my skin when the chill of the night wrapped around me. How the fuck did I allow myself to lose track of time. The streets were empty , only a few streetlights illuminating parts of the street. The full moon shed it's dim light on the patches of darkness but did nothing to reveal what was lurking in the shadows.

Fear gripped me when a howl whipped through the air, sounding too close for my comfort. I scrambled for my phone, checking the map that gave no guarantee that I'd be back to my dorm safely.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat, standing at the bus stop and praying to God that a cab would roll by. And a few did , none were empty of course. Every passing second made me more scared than the previous. I couldn't even begin to imagine the number of serial killers and rapists that roamed this city .... and I had willingly walked into their grasp by staying out for too long alone.

My heartbeat increased it's pace when a group of men turned the corner unto the street I was on. They looked drunk out of their minds , loudly laughing and chatting amongst themselves. My hands begun to shake from something other than cold when I spotted three of four of them nursing guns attached to straps on their worn out jeans.

They spotted me the exact same time , malicious smiled spreading on their rugged faces. The wing carried whispers of their conversation into my ears as they didn't even bother whispering about their revolting thoughts.

"Look what we chanced upon gentlemen....a pretty present for the night" One chuckled, lust dripping from his words.

My heart quite literally fell into my stomach. Oh God.

My eyes darted around for any sign of help. I swallowed as their footsteps begun to draw closer. Tears pricked my eyes. Maybe I could run ... but for how long against four men with guns.

I sucked in a deep breath, about to bolt down the dark pavement when the headlights of a car illuminated the road. Hoped sparked in my chest as I halted in my tracks , risking my safety for a chance of the car being a cab. Even if there was a passenger I could explain , maybe the driver would whisk me off to safety. If he didn't.....well if he didn't my assaulted body will be found tomorrow by some innocent victim.

The car rolled to a stop right in front of me, the passenger's window rolling down. The drunk men were a hairsbreadth away from me now , if one man just stretched his hand he could snatch me up easily.

Amber eyes peeked out at me from inside the car. " I'm here now babe , sorry for taking so long" His smooth voice rolled over my skin apologetically. I practically shuddered from relief , my knees threatening to give out from under me.

"It's fine Cassy" I played along , not strong enough to hide the way my voice shook.

"Get in" He ordered , before the men could get any closer.

With that I slid into the passenger seat of Castiel's car , locking it the second my ass touched the seat. Never have I been so happy to see this hot asshole.