IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 8

Axel

When we finally arrived at Dire Mountain, it was late. Too late to exchange pleasantries, and too late for any discussions on pack matters. Therefore, after a brief greeting with their Luna and Alpha, we were showed to our respective rooms and informed that we would be formally greeted in the morning, during a private breakfast.

Two warrior wolves were asked to escort us through their packhouse, which seemed more like a tightly-knit little town, than a single building.

Dire Mountain was impressive, to say the least. The entire town screamed Roman architecture with its tall white pillars, elaborate chandeliers and large, beautiful sculptures of various strange beings guarding the archways and halls, all of them looking like they could turn to life any second.

There was a large building in front, the main building, with spectacular figures and images of fairies and wolves carved into the pure white marble walls. Around it, arching towards the back of the main building, were smaller, white stone buildings of similar style, all linked together with beautiful porches, crowned with pergola structures overgrown with Jasmin creeper vines.

As we walked in silence, taking in the wonders of Dire Mountain, I was relieved to replace that SHE was not among our greeting party and I did not bother making eye contact with anyone else.

After making our way up a flight of stairs in the guest court, my room came first and I entered, shutting the door behind me without so much as a word to my brother, who were escorted further down the hall to his own room.

Our lodgings were located on the first floor, overlooking the communal courtyard in the heart of the pack. It was clear that these rooms were allocated for accommodating guests. Heavy, cream-coloured curtains were draped along the entire length of the room and pulled aside in the middle to reveal large glass doors opening to a private balcony.

Everything seemed to be either made, or carved out of white, polished stone. Even the intricate four pillars towering from each corner of the bed, stretched up to the high ceiling with grace, complimenting the glorious headpiece of white marble, portraying a deadly battle between wolves and fae. It must have taken years to perfect such carvings. The headpiece was no doubt hand-carved, much the same as the images carved into the walls of the main building.

I had no words to describe the feelings I felt as my eyes scanned the immaculate room. From the plush grey carpet, I stood upon, to the grey and cream decorative bedding, crystal chandeliers and elaborate cornices lining the high walls, it all seemed so unreal. Like I had stepped into a different world, entered an entirely different timeline.

The only thing that stood out, looked completely out of place was me and of course, my pitch-black suitcase. As black as the empty hole inside my chest. It glared at me from the pale-grey wooden low table sitting against the wall. Its harsh blackness contrasted against the white, grey and cream colour scheme, sucking the life out of the room with its eerie presence, much like myself.

If I thought I didn’t belong in Hollow Stone with its dark ancient mid-evil castle, I sure as hell did not fit in here. I was like darkness infiltrating harmony. Like a shadow lurking dangerously in the belly of a weightless, formless cloud.

I was demise and I did not belong in light.

~

The next morning, I woke to a symphony of birds, chirping happily in harmonious melodies. The sound filtered through the cream-coloured curtains, along with soft rays of sunlight, that danced effortlessly with tiny flecks of dust just above the bed. My clothes lay crumpled in a scattered mess over the floor as I had simply peeled them from my skin the night before and crawled into bed, leaving only my boxers on.

With a groan, I sat up, rubbed my face and laid my eyes on the thick black suitcase, once again glaring at me from across the room. Its evil presence, summoning old feelings of guilt, loneliness and heartache.

“Get up, we are meeting Alpha Blake and Luna Enola for breakfast,” Cassius’s mind-link obnoxiously filled my head.

Another groan reverberated in my throat and I felt annoyance instantly wash over me.

“Great,” I linked back, dry and sarcastically.

“Twenty minutes,” came the reply and Cassius closed the link between us, shutting me out from saying anything in return.

Bastard.

I sauntered across the room and flung my bag onto the bed, zipping it open in one, swift move. The first thing I saw as I lifted the top was a familiar golden frame with a photograph of me and Lily inside. The picture had been taken only a few months before she had gone missing. We looked so young then. Carefree and unspoilt.

It was the same picture I had taken from Lily’s room after her disappearance. I never really understood why I did it, but I couldn’t get myself to give it back and had kept it on my bedside table ever since. It was the last thing I saw before I went to sleep and the first thing I laid my eyes on every morning as I woke up.

In the picture, Lily was wearing aviator sunglasses, laughing brightly as she always did, and I had my arm draped over her slender shoulder, my mouth pulled into a silly pout.

As I stared at it, my fingers felt cold and lifeless. I picked up the heavy frame and gently placed it on the table, ignoring the painful sting it created in the abyss of my darkened heart.