I'm cold.
That's the only thing that registers as feeling starts returning to my legs.
My head feels light and fuzzy, sounds and pictures swim and fade in my mind, faces and hands grabbing me float just out of reach and darkness creeps on the edges.
But the cold stays. Like jagged knives stabbing into my bones.
Then I hear sharp snapping.
My head tilts as I shudder awake. My eyes blinking open slowly, trying to make sense of the blurry lines.
"Wakey, wakey."
A voice floats through the blur, soft and warm.
"Arielle," the voice sings again and I feel something warm press against my forehead.
"Oh, you're cold."
I blink but the lines refuse to sharpen, it feels like I'm beneath water trying to see images above the surface.
Another shudder rocks through my body.
I try to speak but my mouth doesn't open, my tongue feels like lead and no sound even forms.
Where am I?
The thought comes just as a blanket of warmth is tossed over my body.
Heat floods me and the overwhelming sensation knocks my eyes close.
I don't want to drift off but I can't help it. I raise a hand to break through the surface of the water but it falls back down.
"Relax, Arielle."
But I shouldn't be relaxing. Should I?
There's some sense of urgency for something just out of reach but I sink into the darkness before I can get to it.
***
I wake up slowly. Then all at once with a jolt.
The memories hit me like a brick wall, snapping my eyes open and wounding my body up with adrenaline.
Run and don't look back. Run and don't look back.
As the words repeat in my head, my eyes jump around the room searching for dangerous werewolves and…Hugo.
In between my rising panic, anger leaks through the cracks. Anger at myself for trusting Hugo like a fool and believing the bullshit he said.
Of course he betrayed me. Of course all the werewolves were liars and killers even though Liam was saying otherwise.
I groan as pain drives into my head like a drill from where Hugo had hit me.
I'm sorry, Arielle.
Yeah he's sorry alright. After knocking me out and keeping heaven knows where.
What is with Casper friends trying to kill me?
I swear when I get out of here I'm telling everyone who'll listen that there's a town full of monsters that deserves to be locked up and forgotten.
As the pain passes, I blink, getting hold of myself, and focusing on my surroundings.
The first thing I see are the four posters around the bed. Draped in bursts of purple and gold that seem a little too lavish to be a dungeon or a cell.
Huh… I slowly sit up.
There's an armchair sitting under the slanted golden rays of sunlight pouring in from a large window, and a little table beside it.
Across the bed is a beautifully carved dresser with golden handles and a doorless wardrobe beside it. Colourful fabrics peek out from it catching the light.
Off to the side is an arched entryway leading to what looks like a bathroom.
I pause.
"What?"
The walls and floor are made from smooth gray stone, the ceiling is domed and covered with washed out murals I can't make out.
I blink in disbelief.
Am I not in trouble?
What happened to tearing me to pieces and killing me because of Dave's death?
"What is this?" I croak, blinking down at the velvety blanket pooling at my waist and the clean black dress with long sleeves on my skin that I don't remember wearing.
I raise the blanket and pat my body but I don't find my phone.
Next to the bed is a table that holds nothing but a glass of water that I have the sense to avoid.
I'm done with surprises.
"Hello?" My voice doesn't echo.
"Is anyone there?" I try again, facing the door.
I hear nothing.
"Help!" As the word leaves my mouth, pain explodes in my head like a thunderclap.
I wince and bend over, waiting for it to pass and cursing Hugo with every labored breath.
Once the pain passes, I throw aside the warm blanket and slip out of the bed, pushing my feet into the shoes on the floor.
As I take a step, a wave of cold strikes me in the chest and sends me shrinking back to the bedside.
I feel the instant relief of warmth.
Frowning, I put a hand out and goosebumps litter my arm. I draw it back and feel the warmth creep back up.
Magic?
The thought sounds ridiculous floating through my mind. There's no such thing as magic.
There has to be an explanation for this. Seeing werewolves does not automatically mean there's magic.
What next? Teleportation?
I shake my head, regretting it at the last second when a spark of pain echoes in my head.
Ignoring the pain, I step out of the warm bubble and brace myself for the cold but it still hits me hard, seeping quickly into my bones.
"Why is everywhere so cold?" I hiss, rubbing my arms to generate heat.
Not even the sunlight seems to do anything.
My breath starts fogging up when I'm halfway to the door and my body screams to go back to the bed where it's warm and safe.
But I quickly remind myself that nowhere is safe until I'm far away from werewolves and whatever this place is.
By the time I reach the door, my teeth is chattering.
Is this a means of torture? I wonder.
To have me die slowly from the cold in a lavish room?
Rubbing my arms one last time, I place them on the door, looking for a handle. There isn't any.
I push but it doesn't budge. The heavy iron seems to be carved out from the wall itself.
How is that even possible?
"Hey! Let me out!" Pain blooms in my head but the panic already making a hasty return after all my confusion drowns it out.
I don't want to die in here.
"Hey! Anyone there! Let me out! You have the wrong person!"
My heart pounds in tandem with my fists on the door.
"Hey! Can anyone hear—"
"I suggest you stop doing that."
I freeze, my head snapping back so fast that I hear a crack in my neck.
It's the same voice from earlier and it's coming from a figure seated on the armchair.
A figure that turns out to be a girl.
My breath hitches at the sight of her.
Her skin seems to be a collection of fine green leaves and multicolored tiny flowers. The hair growing out of her head falls down her body and spills down the chair to the floor and it is the lush green of an evergreen tree.
Unconsciously, I take a step back, shivering against the door.
She shifts slightly under my wide eyed gaze, observing me with shimmering silver eyes.
She cocks her head to the side, the sun's glow highlighting the sharp cheekbones and jawline, catching on thick brows and fluttering full lashes, and shining on the upward tilt of a boyish smirk.
"I get that a lot," she says and beneath the soft warmth of her voice there's a deep almost masculine rumble.
And I wonder if at all I'm looking at a girl.
There's nothing but flat flowery green skin where her breasts are supposed to be but the curve of full hips is unmistakable.
My eyes trail down the slope of unnatural skin and stop at the waistband of small brown shorts.
There's…no bulge or sign of anything down there.
"Are you done?"
My eyes snap back up to her face.
Is that right?
Her? Or him? Or it?
I've never seen such a thing and for the moment I forget to panic, the cold feels like a distant inconvenience.
And my confusion stumps me.
"Just ask."
"Are you a girl or a boy?"
She (He?) offers me a smile and for a second I'm certain it's a girl.
Then she speaks again with that deep rumble and I doubt that certainty.
"I'm Deiya. I'm a nymph."
I blink, waiting for the punchline, ready to laugh at the joke but she blinks at me, her face serious.
"You are a…nymph?" I ask incredulously.
Deiya nods. "From the way you're staring it seems you haven't met many nymphs."
Many nymphs?
A short laugh escapes me. I grew up on the south side of New Orleans, the only thing remotely close to weird are the "haunted" houses.
"First werewolves and now nymphs?" I shake my head, trying to keep calm at the ridiculous claim. "What's next? Fairies? Mermaids?"
Deiya sighs. "I didn't expect you to be so clueless. Nymphs have been existing as long as the Ancient Im—Why am I telling you this? Look at your face you don't believe me."
"Listen here—Deiya. I don't know what the fuck is going on and I don't care. I've been lied to by monsters, attacked, locked up and knocked unconscious. All I want to do is go home and forget everything like a bad dream."
Deiya tilts her head curiously. "What do you mean home? From the moment you were brought in this has become your home."
Now I laugh. Surely she must be out of her mind. "What are you talking about?"
"You can't leave, Arielle." Deiya's voice turns grave, her eyes softening with pity. "Nobody leaves the Master's Tower."
I feel the cold creep back in like fingers clawing at my insides, freezing everything in its wake.