Chapter 147 - 146: The Void (Part 1)

Two white light like eyes were glaring into her soul, as she remained stuck to the ground, frozen in her place from fear. Its eyes glowed and only they were visible, nothing else. There were no limbs, no body and no face, yet it looked like a human figure.

Eleanore was scared, very shaken from inside. If she stays like this any longer, this indescribable thing in front of her will kill her. She knew it and she had to move.

As if her brain had caught this wave, it worked quickly and Eleanore slided far from it. She got on her feet and rushed to the closed high quality wooden door.

Eleanore slammed on those two doors as she asked for someone to open the door. "Help! Is anyone there? I am locked here. Open the damn door!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked it as hard as she could. She threw out the heels she was wearing and started slamming the thick, strong heel of her shoes on the door but no one heard her.

For a split second, she shifted her gaze to that black smoky thing coming out of the bed and she found its eyes fixed on her. A wave of fear passed through her insides. Shiver ran through her spine and cold sweats started to form on her forehead.

She grabbed the edges of her skirt and ran across the room, past the black smoky thing to the window double door. The eyes that moved along with her, made her feel like maybe her death was near.

Eleanore struggled with the knob of that door for a long time, until her eyes fell on a vase on the table. She picked it up and was ready to break the glass for good, however before she could, her legs froze.

It was a vivid feeling, as if they were caught in eyes and the ice beneath her started crawling up to her waist. She turned to look if perhaps the room had frozen or something and there was nothing. There were no ice blocks to cover her feat, holding them in one place or the room.

Everything looked normal, it was just a hallucination but a strong one. So much so that her body had started to shiver from the cold, as if she had been locked into a glacier instead of this damn, ugly room.

The vase in her hand fell out of her grip and crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces, along with her hopes of escaping this monster that had crawled out of that bed.

She enveloped her hands around her chest, while her feet lost their strength on the ground. She cuddled herself into a ball, as she tried to sooth her breathing. Soon she lost her consciousness and slipped into nothingness.

____

Stella looked around for a while but found Eleanore nowhere. It shouldn’t take so long, right? She left the party for about thirty minutes now. As she scanned through the crowd, Hael appeared in front of her. He gently smiled, before sliding his hand down her waist and pulling her close.

"Honey, did you leave you alone for two long?" He gently leaves a smooch on her forehead.

"You didn’t." Stella smiles.

She again resumes her scanning and when it completes, she is sure that Eleanore hasn’t returned yet. Her eyes fall on Adena, and she finds it suspicious. Why on earth would a host leave their guest in their room and come back here.

Just then, Caelestis passes by her side, and he quickly grabs his arm. He turns and finds Stella’s anxious face, then Hael’s jealous one.

"Where is Eleanore?" She asks, making both Caelestis and Hael raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"Wasn’t she with you?" Hael asks Stella.

Stella lets go of Caelestis’ hands and turns to her husband. "She was until a maid dropped wine on her dress and Lady Adena took her to change her outfit."

"She did?" Caelestis was surprised to hear that Adena was interested in helping anyone, especially Eleanore.

"Yes."

"No, she would never do that." Hael adds.

"That’s right." Caelestis and Hael exchange looks, both falling on the same conclusion and before Hael could move, Caelestis dug through the throng of people and walked straight to Adena.

Before she could blow out her candles, stuck on that large, flashy cake. Caelestis pulled her away and asked in front of the whole crowd.

"Where is Eleanore?" He asks.

Adena went blank for a moment. She couldn’t respond and her mouth went shut, even her eyes seemed to have lost life. She stood there like a statue without any life in it.

"Adena?!" He shakes her but still receives no reply. "I’m asking you one last time. Where is my wife?" He shouts and sends everyone in the crowd in awe.

Most of them were confused and had no idea what was going on, while the ladies that were sitting along with Eleanore thirty minutes ago, to be exact, had started to wonder the same thing.

Stella rushed to Caelestis and Hael followed, scared to hell for his sister. His fears were coming true. What if that dark magician has already entered the capital?

"She took Eleanore to her room." Stella informs. "That’s what she told us."

Caelestis shoves away Adena’s hand and rushes upstairs. As if she was back to normal, she moved and was stunned to see Stella and everyone else glaring at her.

"What?" She asks. "Why are you all looking at me?" And everyone turns silent.

"Don’t act like you don’t know, Lady Adena. Where is Eleanore?" Stella asks her again.

Adena looked around confused, and unsure of why she was asked such a ridiculous question. "What do you mean? Where would I take her? Or rather why would I even get involved with her."

Her questions puzzle the audience.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Stella was confused.

However, before Adena could utter anymore words, Caelestis had come, and he didn’t have Eleanore with him. Which means she was not in Adena’s room.

"Lady Adena says she has not gotten involved with Eleanore." Stella reveals to Caelestis.

"Then where did she go?" Caelestis could feel his heartbeats rising at a dangerous speed, he was scared for her.

The fear kept rising until he remembered that strangely cold room. He didn’t think twice before sprinting down the stairs and rushing to the room on the first floor behind those large extravagant stairs.

Stella and Hael too, followed him believing in his judgement.