Chapter Sixteen

"But what about my Dad? Will he be safe?" I asked.

"I'll make sure he's protected, but once you leave this house you cannot come back so quickly," she replied, "Now shall we go?"

With her hand still tightly gripped into mine, Rhea closed her eyes. Confused, I stood there staring at her perfect formed face. I was about to say something when the room shook and contort into strange shapes. The surrounding walls crumbled away, and the floor exploded from our feet, leaving nothing but emptiness. My home vanished, leaving Rhea and I suspended in air. The world spun around us, shooting colours and shapes into my view. I felt as if I was riding a rollercoaster, riding up to the top and then shooting straight to the ground with powerful g-force. The world snapped back to normality as I slipped from Rhea's grip and rolled on what felt like soft ground. As soon as my vision cleared, I threw up the contents of my stomach all on the carpeted floor. I wiped my mouth and sat up, looking around.

I found myself seated in a woodland area. There was tall thick grass all around me with trees mighty high. Looking up, I could hear singing birds chirping their sweet tune while they flew around in the air.

"Rhea?" I called out.

I got to my feet and looked around. There were no roads, no houses, just empty land as far as the eye could see, and I was lost in the middle of it all.

"Crap!" I said to myself. "Rhea, where are you!"

"I'm here, Ellie." Rhea called out.

She came walking over to me, watching where she stepped in her expensive high heels.

"I thought you left me." I said.

"I would never leave you," Rhea said with a smile.

I rushed towards her and embraced her with a hug. "What the hell happened?" I asked.

Rhea gave a brief chuckle. "Ellie, it happens to those who are new to teleportation." she said.

"Teleportation?" I asked.

"Yes, it's like going from one place to the next without having to walk." she explained.

I pulled away from her and stared up at her beautiful sculptured face. She truly was a goddess.

"Let's go." Rhea said.

I looked around again. "Where? Did we stop at the wrong place or something?" I asked.

"Over there." Rhea pointed out into a dark park of the woods.

Rhea walked in front and I tried to keep up. She was much quicker and light on her feet. The ground was uneven, and I slipped a few times on some slight rocks. (Plus trying to carry a full backpack did not help). Fly's buzzed around my face while we walked deeper into the woods. It felt like we had been walking for what seemed like an hour when Rhea stopped and pointed out. Looking where she was pointing, I could see nothing but more trees and long tall grass.

"Rhea, there's nothing there." I said.

Rhea looked back and smiled. "Oh, but there is, don't you see it?" she asked.

She waved her hand and before me stood a three-story house. Decorated beautifully with elaborate wood carvings around the length of the room, along with clear glass pristine windows. The house coated in black and white with a modern touch mixed into it. Gargoyles stone statues decorated at the sides of the house, giving it an old gothic, yet new feel to it. I followed Rhea, who opened an enormous metal gate showing her lavish garden. It looked like something out of a film. Red roses filled her flowerbeds along with many other types of flowers I had never seen before. Perfectly sculptured garden hedges stood along the stone path, and in the middle of the garden stood a high water fountain, shooting jets of water into the air. I stopped and looked in awe. I've never seen such beauty before.

"Lovely, isn't it?" she said.

Rhea ushered me to the front door before I could explore more of the garden. A giant gold lion knocker attached itself to the door. The door looked hand crafted from the darkest wood from an enchanted forest.

"Shall we go in?" she asked.

Rhea pushed open the door, showing the inside of her home. I stood there, with my mouth wide open. Rhea's room decorated in shades of black and white. The floor was black marble and polished to a sheen. At the back there was a white grand staircase. It made my house seem like a small box. In the middle of the hall was a gigantic round table, sitting on top was a large crystal vase, showing the blackest roses I've ever seen. Paintings and hanging tapestries from a famous artist covered the marble walls. I've only seen in books. At the sides of the grand hall were two doors that were white, with embroidered gold motifs weaved around the door's frame.

"What do you think?" asked Rhea.

I was speechless. I'd never seen a house so grand in my entire life. "It's amazing." I could only say.

"Thank you, yes I like it very much and have been living in this house for many years now. Oh, that reminds me." Rhea said.

"Sophia," she called.

Rhea called out and I could hear footsteps deep inside the house. One of the white golden doors opened, revealing a youthful girl came out. She walked towards us with her head down, her white hair covering her face.

"Sophia, this is, Ellie." The young woman's head rose to look me in the eye.

Sophia's face was angelic and innocent, her face resembled a china doll. It was perfect. Her lips were the perfect shade of pink, and her skin was the colour of snow. Sophia had sparkling bright blue eyes that lit up her face and hair that was white and styled into a cute bob. Her choices of clothes were strange. She wore a black knee top ruffle skirt that came out at the hips. High black boots with many laces attached, and a red and black corset that tightly pulled her in. In her corset, she wore a big red bow that attached just below her breasts.

"Uh, hello," I said shyly.

She nodded and reached out her hand. I stared down at her outstretched hand, not knowing what to do. I did not find out if she wanted to shake or my backpack.

"Um no, it's OK, I can carry it." I said, hoping not to offend her.

"Show her to her room please, Sophia," Rhea asked her.

We left Rhea in the main hall while Sophia showed me to my room. We walked up the grand white marble staircase and I followed behind her slowly. She didn't talk once, and it felt awkward. At the top of the stairs, I followed Sophia. To the right, the upper hallway walls were decorated with more painting of artwork and a statue of a beautiful woman carrying a shield. In some simple glass cases were artefacts of long-forgotten eras. One of them seemed to catch my eye. Sitting on a pedestal protected by a thick layer of glass, the display case laid a large battered brown book. It had no writing on the front or the binder, just the thick leather binding. Below on the plaque it read: The book of Thoth. Ignoring the display, I caught up with Sophia.

Sophia opened one door, and I stepped in behind her. In the middle of the room was a four-poster bed, along with a luxurious sofa in the chamber's corner. The thick cream carpet matched the house's colour scheme. Once inside the elegant room, I noticed there was a floor-length mirror with gems encrusted around it. Looking into the mirror, I saw I was still wearing my pyjamas. I looked awful. While walking through the woods, my clothes had tears and my shoes were black. Looking behind me, I noticed that I was trailing in mud. The cream carpet become thick with muck that I accidentally brought with me. I felt the colour drain from my face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I immediately pulled them off and held the discoloured shoes in my hand.

Sophia just stared at me with no emotion. She turned her back and continued her tour.

There was another door inside my bedroom that stood against the inner corner wall, and inside, was a room filled with many wardrobes.

"That's your dressing room." said Sophia.

I jumped when I heard her voice from behind me. It was so soft and child-like. I entered the dressing room and opened up one of the many wardrobes. They were cluttered with various types of clothes, from designer to regular plain old t-shirts. At the bottom were arrangements of various kinds of shoes. Some I'd never seen in my life, but they were beautiful. I wouldn't like to think how much their clothes cost.

Sophia walked passed me and opened up another door was beside the tall wardrobes. I peeked inside. The adjoined room was a toilet and a shower area. The tiles on the walls were glowing white, and the floor was shining black marble. It was so posh. There was a lounge bath in the middle of the room with different buttons attached to it. On the opposite wall, there was a large flat screen TV mounted on the walls.

"How did Rhea afford all this?" I asked.

"She has lots of money," Sophia said sweetly. "I'll let you set up. When you are ready, please come downstairs, Rhea wants to talk to you."

Sophia turned around and left the bedroom. I was finally alone. I dropped my backpack onto the floor and sat down on the bed. I contemplated what would happen to me. I thought about my friends and Dad, would I ever see them again? Would Rhea keep me locked up here like a prisoner? I broke down into tears.