Avelyn POV
Everything after the principal's office is a blur.
One minute I was standing there. The next… nothing.
And now I'm awake.
Avalon is in his real form.
Lilian is standing across from us.
And this place…
This place looks like nothing I have ever seen before.
The sky feels wrong. The air feels heavy. The floor beneath my palms feels thick.
I slowly push myself up.
Is this floor sticky?
What the hell is this?
My eyes snap back to Lilian.
Why is she not in a hospital bed?
Why does she look perfectly fine?
And why does Avalon look like he's afraid of me waking up?
That's what unsettles me the most.
Not the creepy environment.
Not the fact that I blacked out.
Him.
"Avalon?" I say slowly.
He doesn't move closer.
That alone tells me something is very wrong.
So I turn to Lilian instead.
"Hey, Lilian?"
She smiles at me.
And for a split second, I almost relax.
"I brought you—"
The voice that comes out of her mouth is not Lilian's.
It's thicker.
Deeper.
Husky in a way that does not belong to her body.
My spine straightens instantly.
Every nerve in my body goes on alert.
"Who the fuck are you," I ask sharply, pushing fully to my feet, "and what have you done to my friend?"
Lilian tilts her head slightly.
Then she laughs.
This time it sounds like her.
"You dear are such a good observer."
No.
No, no.
I am not falling for that.
"Well duh," I snap. "Now answer the fucking question."
Her smile widens.
"That's no way to speak to an elder. But you brought me here, so I suppose I owe my favorite great grandchild some grace."
I blink.
"The fuck?"
I let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"Okay now I'm really interested. Who the hell are you? And why are you inside my friend? Show me your real self and tell me what I'm doing here."
She watches me carefully.
Calculating.
"Tempting," she says softly. "But I'm not here to reveal myself. I'm here to tell you a story."
"You have to be joking."
Her expression does not change.
Not even a twitch.
That's when I glance at Avalon.
And he looks like he's seen a ghost.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Haunted.
"Hey brother," I say slowly, irritation creeping in. "Cat caught your tongue?"
He blinks like he's just been pulled out of water.
"Sorry, Vee. I was thinking."
Thinking?
That's not like him.
Avalon is never this quiet.
I narrow my eyes at him.
"I couldn't hear your thoughts," I say carefully. "Since when are you that silent?"
There's a reason.
There's always a reason.
"It's where we are," he replies, and there's something nervous in his voice that I've never heard before.
I don't respond.
Because my focus is back on Lilian.
She turns and starts walking up a set of stairs that seem to grow out of the translucent wall itself.
"Lili," I call out sharply, my voice echoing in the strange space. "Or whoever the fuck is in there. We need to talk."
She stops.
Slowly.
Her shoulders stiffen just a little.
Then she half turns her head.
"Let's settle in," she says casually. "We will talk over dinner."
Dinner?
I stare at her in disbelief.
"You can't be serious."
But she doesn't answer.
She continues up the stairs, her figure growing smaller as she disappears deeper into the mansion before I can say another word.
Silence settles around us.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
And that's when it hits me.
This is not some random kidnapping.
This is not some accident.
This thing inside Lilian knows me.
Called me great grandchild.
And Avalon knows more than he's saying.
I slowly turn to him.
My jaw tight.
My patience thin.
"Start talking."
Because whatever story that thing wants to tell over dinner
I have a feeling
I'm not going to like it.
"I don't know what to say, Vee," Avalon admitted quietly.
That alone unsettled me.
Avalon always has something to say.
Always a plan.
Always an angle.
The fact that he sounded unsure made the air feel heavier.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, my voice sharper now. I needed facts. Something solid.
He exhaled slowly before answering.
"Drasos brought us here. He called it the in between. And…" He hesitated. "He says he's our great grandfather."
I stared at him.
"I've never heard of anyone named Drasos."
"Neither had I," he replied.
That did not comfort me.
I crossed my arms, pacing a little on the sticky floor and instantly regretting it. It felt like walking through syrup.
"Why is he saying I brought him here?" I demanded. "What does that even mean?"
Avalon ran a hand through his hair, frustration clear on his face.
"I don't know. But I think it has something to do with Lilian. And you."
"With me?" I snapped. "I've barely even talked to her."
"That doesn't mean you didn't do something," he said carefully.
I stopped pacing and looked at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not accusing you," he said quickly. "I'm just saying maybe something triggered him. Maybe you opened something without knowing."
That word again.
Opened.
Like I was some kind of door.
My stomach twisted.
"We need to do something," I said firmly. "We can't just stand here guessing while some unknown creature claims he's family."
Avalon nodded immediately. Good. At least we were aligned on that.
"Why did the principal call you in?" he asked.
I frowned, thinking back.
"She asked about my health," I said slowly. "Kept insisting I didn't look well. Then she suggested I go visit Lilian."
My eyes widened slightly as I replayed it in my head.
"I refused," I continued. "And the next thing I know… everything went blank."
Avalon's jaw tightened.
"So you were brought to him," he murmured.
"To who?"
"To Drasos," he replied. "If he's inside Lilian now, that means he was probably somewhere else before. The principal definitely knows what's inside her. I'm guessing you were taken to him first."
A chill crawled up my spine.
"So this wasn't random," I whispered.
"No," Avalon said flatly. "It wasn't."
I blew out a slow breath, trying to steady myself.
Okay.
Possessed friend.
Corrupt principal.
Weird black desert dimension.
Great grandfather apparently.
Perfect.
I looked toward the stairs where Lilian had disappeared.
"Okay," I muttered. "Now I need that dinner to come fast."
Avalon raised a brow slightly.
"I've got loads of questions to ask," I said, my eyes hardening.
And this time, I wasn't waking up confused.
This time, I was going in prepared.
Because if Drasos wanted to tell a story
Then I was going to make sure
He told the whole truth.