Seven

Ava's

POV:

I didn't come out of the room for the next two days, I stayed inside. Unfortunately, there was no lock on the door. Fortunately Hayden, the mysterious guy who'd kidnapped me, knew how I didn't want to see his face.

So, he stayed away.

"The breakfast, miss." I heard the voice from the other side of the door. Pulling the sheets over me, I sat up on the bed.

The door opened and a woman came in. She was almost mom's age. From the first day, she had been coming in either with food or clothes. I had rejected both of them.

Because either time when my stomach had grumbled with hunger, I had remembered grandma's words. If this place, by any chance, was Underworld then I wasn't supposed to eat the food.

The legend said how Persephone got stuck in the Underworld just because she ate few pomegranate seeds there. She had no way out.

I

sounded

so

crazy.

And I missed grandma so much.

"Do you want new clothes?" Her pale skin was hard not to notice. It was paler than Hayden's, more translucent. But she seemed polite.

How

was

she

even

living

here? Did

Hayden

kidnap

her

too?

"No." I whispered, eyeing the tray of food. I felt like throwing up.

"You really should eat some food." She said in a small voice. As if she was scared on sharing her opinion.

"Do you know any way I could escape? Runaway from here?" I asked instead.

She gave a slow, sad smile.

"I'm sorry, miss. I can't help you on that matter."

I blinked and looked away. They were all crazy. Things like Underworld did not exist. They were just stories. Legends.

"Maybe, you can take a walk around the gardens?" She suggested. A small, strange feeling bursted in my chest. Maybe it was relief.

"There are gardens here?"

She nodded with a smile. "I'll bring you some clothes first. And then we can go to the gardens."

ו•————————••×

Once I was changed in a surprisingly soft silk dress, I was glad to leave that room. For some reason, I was looking forward to those gardens.

Maybe

that

place

wouldn't

be

so

creepy.

Surprisingly, my hunger seemed to fade away too. I didn't feel hungry like I should've. A normal person might've died without eating anything for days.

I didn't die.

You

are

already

dead.

"There are the gardens." I couldn't help but shiver at the aura around that lady. Something was definitely wrong with her. Or maybe it was just this whole place.

"Do you want me to accompany you there?" She asked before we stopped near the gates. I just shook my head which she responded with a nod.

And then I went inside.

Saying I was surprised would be an understatement. I was beyond surprised when I saw the gardens. Fresh air hit me so hard, that I found it hard to breath for a whole wide second.

The sky was still grey. I couldn't make out any hints of the sun. Maybe it was just stormy out here in this place. Below the sky, the ground was filled with roses. And tulips. And lilies. And orchids. And pansies. And irises.

But

they were all black.

I couldn't help but feel a heavy feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. As if I was sick. Or going to throw up any second. Moving closer towards the nearest flower, I touched its petals lightly.

At least, it felt like a flower.

What

kind

of

psychopath

only

plants

black

flowers?

Deep down, I knew how this wasn't just the flowers. It was everything about this place that was dark. And dangerous. This place was strange. Not like any normal places.

Maybe

Hayden

wasn't

lying.

I sat down on my knees, the soft soil grazing against my bare knees. I wanted to see the sun. Any color. Whatever this place was, it was horrible. I missed my home so much.

Why

was

this

happening

to

me?

That's when I heard the voices. Not voices of people talking. Instead, they were hushed whispers. Hissing sounds. As if millions of people were hissing at each other angrily.

Even if that creeped me out on a whole new level, I still went towards it. Getting up, I followed the direction and found myself clinging to the fence. A dark black, old fashioned gate all around the garden. Keeping me from going out.

But the small gapes between it were enough for me to make out the view outside. And it was nowhere near a normal street. Or houses. Or forest, like I had been expecting.

Instead, all I saw was a vast deserted land down below. This palace looking house was built on a mountainous terrain. I could almost make out the stormy grey clouds in front of me.

And down below, it looked like a beach. A dull grey beach. All I could see was grey sand, millions of fragments of stones on the ground. The dark sky made it look creepier. I realized how I was right when I saw the shoreline, a little far away.

Even

the

water

looked

murky. Dark.

But that wasn't what horrified me.

The mere fact that thousands–no–millions of people were crowded near the shoreline was enough to make a gasp escape my lips. That crowd was so huge, that it was hard to focus what was actually going on there.

I tried squinting my eyes for a clearer vision, but it seemed like they were all going far away. On purpose.

A frustrated groan escaped my lips.

The hissing voices were still there. But harder to understand. I tried moving towards the other end of the fence and pressed my ear against the cold, metal.

"You

want

to

escape."

"We

know

how

you

can

escape."

"It's

her

soul."

"He

has her."

"Escape!"

I pulled back abruptly in clear shock. All those voices were mixed up together. Repeating those words again and again. As if talking to me.

That's

crazy.

Nobody knew how much I wanted to escape. More importantly, what was this place? Who were those people crowded at the shoreline? What were those voices?

"The

Underworld."

"He

trapped

you

here. All

for

himself!"

"You

need

to

escape!"

"Foolish

mortal! You

need

to

escape!"

My eyes widened in horror when I realized how I could still make out those hissing voices. My ear wasn't pressed up against that fence anymore. How the hell was I still hearing those voices?

"The

Lord

of

the

Dead

will

never

let

you

escape!"

"He's

mean. He

will

destroy

you!"

"You

need

to

escape."

My legs worked themselves and I found myself stepping back. This was all too much. It was freaking me out.

"We

know

the

way

for

you

to

escape!"

"Fool

him

to

take

you

back

to

the

Earth."

"Fool

him

and

betray

him."

"You

shall

escape!"

I covered my ears with my hands at that moment. And ran towards the doors. As if on cue, when I closed the door behind me, all I heard was silence in the long hallway.

My ears were still ringing from those voices. They had sounded so shrill and quiet at the same time. As if some silent force was screaming in my ears.

An involuntary shiver escaped down my body.

I just knew one thing.

I

needed

to

escape

this

place. This

horrible

place.