Demons Make For Odd Kidnappers

Victor groaned as he regained consciousness his head throbbing as if someone was taking a spear towards his temple. He blinked blearily as he fully awoke his eyes going to an elegant architecture that had seen better days. He sat up looking around wildly and realized he was on a platform surrounded by wide majestic gothic looking staircases. Victor looked around and saw archways and balconies of some building that was unlike any he had seen before.

"What the hell?" he muttered. He heard a groan beside him and turned to see Charlotte on the ground beside him. "Charlie!" he whispered brushing her hair out of her face as he leaned over. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing that tylenol won't fix." she said raising on her elbows as she looked around. "What new hell is this?"

Her words echoing in the vast stairwell. Somewhere in the bowels of the building she heard laughter. Victor got up, and helped Charlie stand. The two of them moving so they were back to back, circling the area. "All I can see is stairs everywhere." Charlie said.

"Stairs. And a lot of hallways." Victor said.

Charlotte reached into her pocket pulling out her phone and scowling. "No service." She muttered. "Figures."

"What do we do now?" Victor asked. Charlotte glanced at her brother for a moment, before she turned leaned over the rail of the staircase and started to scream.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?!"

They heard some more laughter as Charlotte's screech seemed to echo around the area. "Now where's the fun in just telling you?" The voice said.

Charlotte studied the stairs before she nodded to the south. "Let's go." Charlotte said climbing the stairs.

"Are we sure following the voice is such a good idea?" Victor asked.

"We don't exactly have a choice." Charlotte replied.

"She said she was a demon." Victor said a question in his voice.

"Demons aren't that common, but they are around in the world." Charlotte said.

"And how would you know that?" Victor asked.

Charlotte turned slightly a smirk on her face. "When mom and dad finally told me that all those family tales about Knights and cursed Queens was actually true, it made me curious to see what's out there, hiding in the dark."

"What did you find out?" Victor asked curiously, as the stairs leveled out to hallways.

"That they aren't just in the dark. The supernatural community is much larger than any human could even comprehend. And to Quote my favorite TV show. 'all the stories are true' . " Charlotte said shoving her hands in her pockets, as the dim hallway made way into a windowless hallway marked by arched columns. He walked up to the empty expanse, his eyes wide as he looked at a huge courtyard, and a forest as wide as his eyes could see.

"I don't think we're in New Orleans anymore." he said with a gulp. "Where the hell are we?"

"I think the better question is when." Charlotte pointed out.

"Clever little girl." A voice said from around the corner.

Charlotte exchanged a worried glance at her brother as they made their way around the corner where through an arched doorway their kidnapper sat in a high backed chair idly flipping though a thick gilded book. "Smart, and clever." the girl said.

Charlotte sighed. "Who the hell are you, and what do you want from us?" Charlotte said making Victor's eyes go wide.

"Did you miss the part where I said she was a demon?" he hissed.

The girl smirked. "Atleast one of you are afraid of me." She said closing her book, and resting her hand upon it. "To answer your earlier question. My name is Helena. I have walked this earth and others for centuries. I've seen regimes fall and Castle's crumble to make way for concrete structures that only a handful of people dare to go." she said. "I've lost people I've loved to crueler monarchs than you can even comprehend, or to even darker fates. I've known my share of pain and suffering. And I do not wish for anything but for this curse to stay it's course. No good will come from Freya breaking it." She said turning to face Victor as she spoke. "Her Kingdom is lost to her. So are her people. If you continue on this course, Freya might very well be the next to become lost."

"That is not your choice." Victor said quietly.

"And yet. It could easily be thwarted, by your sudden disappearance." she said with a smile. "I have no wish to make the breaking of the curse easier on her."

She rose from her chair, smiling wider as Victor took a cautious step back at her sudden movement. Helena looked at Charlie with a curl to her lips. "You and I both know if I was purely evil all I would have to do, to fully end this curse would be to snap his neck. Humans are extremely fragile creatures, after all."

"Instead you brought us here." Charlie said. "Which is where exactly?"

"Castle De Mort."

"The Castle of death." Charlie said her face paling.

"Well that doesn't sound good." Victor said.

"It's fine." Helena said. "This castle was given to me a long time ago, after a King broke a promise he had made for me. In retaliation, I used this castle to torture, maim, and potentially murder his many lovers, and courtiers."

Victor and Charlie blinked at her, unsure of what to say.

"The staircases are lovely aren't they?"