Being locked up here with Luca after he finally revealed his true identity was both a dangerous game and an interesting one. To my advantage, I've learned a lot of spells from him, including most of which would be very useful in defending an attack from him.
He stood in front of me to do the normal before getting to work. He'd observe if I were awake, and when he started out with the technique, he'd hit me hard until I had literally passed out before he resumed his work. However, it was no longer the situation when I got to know exactly what he was doing.
I pretended that I was asleep, and even though he'd hit me, I had learned to use a numbing spell on myself to make all his attacks on me feel like nothing.
"Hey there," he called playfully with a dirty smirk on his face. He knew I was awake, and this was usually the time when being awake wasn't a big deal to him, so I didn't bother trying to pretend.
I didn't respond to him though. I only stayed put, waiting and watching to see what he was up to this time.
"You don't look so healthy, Elaine, and it looks to me as though you need extra company aside from the walls enclosing you, hmm?"
"I don't need you to be around me."
"Oh right. You might not want that, but I do, and I want it so bad right now that it may end up benefiting you. Think about it…" he trailed off while moving in slow circles around me. "Just in a bid to have a conversation with you, you can get any information you want from me. Fair, right?" He stopped directly in front of me, though I didn't like it one bit because of how close we were.
"What's in it for you, because you obviously wouldn't let me have something meaningful without trying to get something yourself?" I told him flatly, making him furrow his brows in surprise.
"Impressive. Then you must be really smart to have noticed, Elaine, that mentoring goes for nothing," he smiled.
"Nothing goes for nothing, but there's also you, who is both greedy, selfish, and self-centered, and that, Luca, makes a whole lot of difference if you know what I mean," I answered back, making him withdraw from me.
"I'm guessing you have no interest in having to gain something from me freely, and it's alright. I just thought that maybe I could give you a little clue on what the full moon would look like," he shrugged.
His words made me shudder slightly. It made me recall all of the times Kai talked about how extremely painful and bloody the other times it had been for him, and though it didn't relate to the subject of the full moon, I couldn't help but wonder if Kai went through the same pain I went through when Luca broke our bond.
"Just one question," I stopped him halfway to his usual position, in his study area.
"I bet you have more than just that, Elaine," he smirked as if he already knew what I was going to ask.
"Does Kai know that the bond is broken?"
"No, he doesn't," he answered simply without any form of argument owing to what he did to be as intentional as ever.
"You intend to hurt him during the full moon, don't you?"
"I'd be lying to you if I said that it was what only I wanted though, and no. I don't just want to hurt him, he has to step out of the way for good this time," he smirked.
"An entire army is waiting, Elaine, and you can imagine why I'd freely give such information to you. Because even if you would do something, you are already outnumbered in every way possible, so I didn't even tell you a whole year to the actual event."
I didn't say a word to him, nor let him get a single reaction from me. I just stared at him blankly, even though I had an unending urge to snap his neck and bring him to an end.
"Don't be too confident until it's over, Luca," I said simply, making him chuckle mockingly.
"Of course, I'd have to watch my back and make sure that you don't outrun me in any way, right?"
"What makes you think that you'd be so successful and that nobody would be able to do anything about your plots?"
"Because it is exactly how I plan it to be, and anyone who dares to get in my way would be indifferent from the dust of this earth."
With that being said, he clapped his hands with a smirk playing on his lips while taking a few steps back. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't moved by any of his intimidating actions. On the inside, I was burning with a new passion, which was nothing but to fight until I get the victory.
"I also thought that you might want to ask questions about the prophecy, which I'm sure that you must have heard. However, you obviously haven't figured anything out yet, so I'll let it slide until you make out something new, and if you're right, you earn my explanation without having to give out a dime."
"No matter what you do, Luca, just know that you are never going to win this battle. Never."
He acted so cold and turned to leave immediately, as though he got a signal from somewhere. I watched him pick up his cloak before saying he'd see me later, then he left.
Recognizing this to be my only chance of escape, I said the reverse spell which he used to put me in this awful bondage. I was more than happy to know that I had truly learned something.
Without wasting much time, I went straight to where he studied about spells and cast them too, grabbing two books of which I didn't have the time to read the title but was instructed by my conscience to pick them up. Without wasting more time, I ran for the door, making it out of his compound without looking back to know if he had seen me or to know how far I was from his abode.
I sprinted through the woods with something new that I had learned without anybody having to teach me. It was to keep my mind at peace, focus on something, and let my instinct direct me on which way to go. It always worked, and this time, I was wishing for nothing different, especially because I knew how unfamiliar this place was to me deep down, and escaping wouldn't make sense if I only escaped for Luca to catch me again.
Looking really ahead of me, I was able to sight someone running toward my direction. I braced myself just in case it was Luca, only for me to bump into this person to realize that it was Damien.
He pulled me into an embrace without warning, and even though I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't Kai, I returned the hug, genuinely appreciating the fact that he had stepped out of his comfort in an attempt to find me.
"Where is Kai?" I rushed to ask when I had not seen any sign of Kai following him all the way to this place.
"He is on his way, but I had to start. King because I was dead worried. I thought something really bad had happened–"
"Liar!" I hissed, not believing the words he said.
"Whatever it is, can we just focus on going back home at least before Luca shows up?"
"Not until you tell me how you knew where I was," something in me knew that I was taking a risk by wanting to find out the truth in the middle of the woods with no form of coverage in case something happens, however, it still felt to me that something was really off.
"Fine. I knew you were here because even the day you left with Kai, I had to follow you just to know where you'd be staying. When I felt like something was wrong with either of us or both of us, I wondered what it would be like if you were just there, and when those imaginations came, I didn't just let it end there. I left Raven Hollow in search of you," he explained with so much feeling of longing.
"So you have been following me all along?"
"Yeah, I have, and honestly, I did see you when Luca took you, but I don't know… perhaps I was too scared to even speak or do something to save you, even though I swore in my heart that I would definitely rescue you someday."
"Since when did you become scared of Luca?" I questioned because I wasn't going to buy that idea too easily.
"Because, believe it or not, Elaine, any decision of mine that had the possibility of causing you pain or hurting you in any way makes me weak to my bones," I watched as he kept struggling with words. "I was scared that trying to rescue you in the middle of nowhere could be more dangerous than letting you go with him while I devise a foolproof plan to get you out.