Chapter 1
"She's a cock sucker and a cunt." That's what my mother called her. I always called her my neighbor though, despite my mother trying her hardest to ingrain that into me. It wasn't until I got older that I finally realized who she was. My mother wasn't cruel, but she was the jealous type. She had this sort of weird claim to anything that she remotely felt belonged to her, and if she felt threatened in any way, she would spare you no mercy. My mother would always say I was empathetic like my father, which I never considered to be a bad thing, but the way she would scowl at me whenever I would defend those she would insult said otherwise. When I got older, I finally decided to move out and changed my name to Gabriella. It was the middle name that my father chose, and the name he would refer to me by whenever my mother wasn't around. The name sort of stuck with me, and in a way, it felt like home just like anything that even closely related to my father.
When I moved out to the big city, he was the only person I really truly thought about and missed. I still contact him occasionally, and as far as he knows I'm in Canada going to college for engineering. Red flag number 1. I'm not smart enough for that shit, but it was the only way I could convince him I was fine.
"Are you done using the water?" Jahreed, my really annoying but also really attractive roommate, walks in, pushing the door so hard it bangs against the wall, completely disrupting my meditation.
"What did I tell you about coming in my room." I hiss, keeping my eyes closed and head forward.
"I know, I just need to know if you're done with the water so I can take a shower." He replies, I hear the bite of annoyance in his tone, and I turn my head to face him, finding him half-dressed and sweaty. His golden bronze skin glistens from the sun light beaming in through my window. I stare down his shining abs, drawing my lower lip between my teeth. "Could you stop checking me out, it makes me feel weird."
"Could you stop coming into my room shirtless. You're practically begging for attention." I smile deviously and wink at him. The poly works and Jaheed finally closes the door, leaving me to my thoughts.
Jahreed and I met each other at a club one night while I was celebrating my best friend Chanel's birthday. I was looking for a roommate at the time since I had been living in the city for less than a month and was struggling to keep up with the rent. Surprisingly he was too, and it's been almost a year of us living together. Maybe if I stopped being so weird, he'd actually take me out on a date. It's been so long since I'd been on any date, and the last date I was on ended with me realizing that I'm not that into bad boys and I that I have a strong distaste for calamari. I reach for my phone, for the first time since I woke up this morning and open up my message's app, hopfully Chanel finally got back to me about that damned party she invited me too. She came up to me all excited and rambling to me about a job opening at her company and begged me to apply. I obliged of course, I do need the money, and she later told me that her job would be having a 20-year anniversary party. Chanel invited me in hopes that maybe I could sweet talk her boss into considering me for an interview. At first, I was a little hesitant since I don't really have much office work experience but, as my dad would say "you have to start somewhere".
I scroll down my contacts list and stop when I see Chanel's name, a small green icon in the corner indicating that she sent me a message. I click on her name and immediately start reading her message.
Channel: So, about that party.... it's at 9:30pm to 11:30 and a whole bunch of rich people are going to be there so dress hella nice.
Channel: If you don't have anything I have any extra dress, you can borrow.
Channel: Also, I told my boss you were coming and that you just so happened to be looking for a job. He said that he's excited to meet you, so please don't try anything stupid.
I close out of my messages and stretch my back before rising from my very cheap yoga mat. Well great I have an oppurtunity to put myself out there and be a rich bitch. When Chanel told me there was a secretary position opening at her job, I practically jumped at the oppurtunity. After I got fired from my old job for yelling at a really irritating client, it's been almost impossible to find another job that would pay half as good. Not only does this job have way better pay but after doing some brief research the boss is an absolute catch. I toss my rolled up yoga mat in the corner of my room and open my bedroom door. Jahreed's cat scurries pass me, and I jump so hard you'd think I saw a goddamn ghost.
"Fuck!" I say turning back into my room. I chase the cat underneath my bed and find him scratching one of my shoes. "You horrid thing." I reach for his tail dragging him from under my bed. "You need to be put on a leash..." I pause when I see a shinning object caught in between his paws. I snatch it from him before tossing him out of my room and slamming the door behind me. I look down at the shimmering object in my palm, I realize it was a necklace, the necklace my father had given me as a birthday gift before I left for New York. I had almost completely forgotten about it. It was a deep crimson ruby gem attached to a gold chain. The ruby seemed to glow in my palm. At first, I thought it was the sunlight reflecting off of it but then the glowing increased as the crystal seemed to pulse in my hand almost like a heartbeat. I bring it closer to my face as silent whispers start coming from all around me. They sounded distant. So far yet just out of arms reach.
"What the hell?" I bring my head closer listening for those whispering voices. Until I feel myself being pulled. Closer and closer until the whispers sounded as if they were all around me and inside me. "Help!!!" I yell. I forgot Jahreed was in the shower fuck I feel myself get pulled in closer and closer until I'm consumed by crimson, then everything is black.
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When I open my eyes, I'm no longer in my bedroom. I'm no longer in my apartment. I scan my surroundings astounded by the sheer beauty of wherever the fuck I am. The trees aren't like the trees at home, instead they are a magenta color with a bit of a white hue in the center. And the grass is a lighter shade of green almost like fresh limes. I run my hands along the blades shocked at how soft they are. Everything about this place isn't real, it can't be real.
"Who are you?" I practically jump out of my skin at the deep voice that came from behind me. I jerked my head towards the source ready to cuss out whoever the person was for scaring me, but I'm stunned speechless. Long platinum blonde locks, fell over broad shoulders that looked as though they could hold up mountains. Sharp brows stood atop crystal blue eyes and a triangular shaped face with a perfectly round nose that complemented his heart shaped lips. His skin was so pale he looked like a walking corpse. "Hello?"
"Gabriella." I reply keeping my eyes glued to his face. The man holds out his hand to me and I stare down at it curling my lip at his perfectly manicured fingertips.
"Do not worry yourself woman my hand will not kill you." The man says. "I only intend to help you off of the filthy ground." I glance back up into is crystal blue irises as I place my hand in his. He yanks me off the ground and I fly up landing into his hard chest causing me to stumble a bit. "You are quite scandalous aren't you woman?"
"Let go of me asshole." I snarl pulling myself away from him.
The man cocks a brow at me, "Asshole?" I blink at him unsure of whether or not he's pulling my leg or if he is generally unsure of the word, I just used to describe him.
"Don't worry about it." I say dusting the dirt off of my leggings. "Where the hell am I?"
"Myreah land of the chosen." The man replies. I blink at him before bursting into laughter. Obviously, there were drugs on that necklace, and I must've passed out after inhaling it. But then again why would my dad put drugs on a necklace meant for his daughter. "Why do you laugh, being brought here is a blessing. It is a sign from the gods that you have been chosen for greatness."
"First off, my name is not woman. It's Gabriella and two what the actual hell is going on?" My eyes are glued to the blue-eyed vampire before me, and my frustration starts to flair deep in my chest and in my bones.
"You are not in hell Gabriella quite the opposite really. Myreah is heaven to the vast majority." The man continues, "I've been an inhabitant of the region since the day I was conceived. I was born, chosen and have devoted my life to the very gods who have created me."
"That's all fine and dandy." I start my patients wearing thin. "But that doesn't explain how I got here or why I'm here."
"Well, I could take you to the king maybe he will know how to assist you with your questions." The man suggests, eyeing me up and down.
"That would be perfect." I respond. The oddly tall man starts walking in the direction of where I hope the castle would be. Not even sparing me a glance. It wasn't until my feet started aching that I considered if he was pulling both my leg about this whole castle thing. I glance up at the back of his head trying my best to remember what his face looked like from the front. "What is the king like?"
"That is for you to decide. "The man responds not even bothering to face me. I cock my brow and I swear I hear a chuckle from him. We continue walking until I could see the top of castle he had spoken of coming into veiw. It was absolutely enormous, the tallest tower reaching up to the clouds. The structure was made completely by stone that looked almost reflective in the sunlight and I started to wonder if it was actually stone. "Welcome to the palace of Myreah."
"I have a question." The man turns to me this time, smiling so wide it almost looked goofy.
"What question do you have?" The man asks, his gaze meeting mine.
"What is the castle made of? It doesn't look like stone." The man blinks at me.
"Actually, I don't know what it is." He turns towards the castle looking it up and down. "Maybe the king will know." He doesn't waste any time before he continues walking down the stone path. I trip, and stumble over my feet trying to keep up with his long strides.
"Sounds to me that this king is a know it all." I mumble. I trip over my feet again and I groan in annoyance. "Could you slow down?" I shout tripping over my shoe for the seventh time.
"Apologies." He starts to slow down, and I finally start to catch up. Well slightly catch up with him. "I forget that you are human and cannot keep up with Faye steps."
"What steps?" I cock my brow at the back of his head.
"A Faye. That is what I am, and it is what our king is." He says casually. We continue up the stone path and through a garden of some sort. It was filled with what I suppose were flowers, but they took the shape of purple, hearts and crimson red spikes that poked out from the center and flared out beautifully.
"Is everyone here a Faye?" I ask. Watching the flowers closely as a creature that resembled a bee but had wings of a moth, pollenated from the flower.
"Some, but not everyone is a Faye. We have creatures as well some that reside on land and in the sky and others that reside in the sea. And the Darken. I believe they reside in Tarturus and Thayle, and we are a long ways from there so you have nothing to fear." My ears perk at the former.
"Hades exist!?" I exclaim, practically shouting in excitement. This has to be heaven. The man bursts into a deranged fit of laughter my smile drops. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry but Hades does not exist. Is that what they say in the human world?" The man leads me up a stone staircase and I follow behind him to a large set of silver double doors.
"Well, I don't necessarily think he's real." The man turns to face me now and weird quirky smile graces his lips. "He's a part of Greek folklore and I've been obsessed with him, have been since I was a kid." I smile to myself at the memory of the Wattpad stories I would write of me and Hades being in love. Some would be considered inappropriate to some, but I didn't care it was my form of escape in a way.
"We are here." The man says stopping in front of the humungous doors. On either side were two men I assumed were Faye since they were almost as tall as the man beside me. They were dressed in what I could best describe as the uniforms that medieval guards would wear. It was odd seeing some aspects of the real world in this imaginary one. The man says something in a language unfamiliar to me before both doors open on their own. My mouth hangs open like a fucking idiot as I watch the doors open completely revealing a ginormous foyer. "Follow me." The man says leading me inside with those quick long strides. I have to practically jog to keep up with him, and when he realizes, he slows down.
"How'd the doors do that?" I ask. My eyes drift through the expanse of the castle. There's a grand staircase in the center of the foyer that leads to two separate hallways. And if my knowledge of the castles of Bridgerton have done me any justice that means there's an east wing and a west wing.
"Magic." The man says casually. I turn to him.
"Magic?" I cock a brow. "There's magic here?"
"Yep, courteous of the magi." He turns down a hallway that branches off of the foyer and I follow closely behind. As we walk the torches on either side of the hallway light up on their own. I assume that it's because of the magic that he spoke of. "The magi control all the magic in the realm. They ensure that those who have magic wield it correctly and do not abuse the power they have been gifted."
"Is the king one of those people who wield magic?" I ask.
"He is. A good some of the Faye are. Some can read minds, some control the elements it all depends what you are blessed with." The man says. We continue until we reach another set of double doors at the end of the hall. These aren't silver though, instead they are brown with long black handles. "This is the throne room. The king currently isn't here. He had some prior arrangements that required his presence, but I will see to it that he arrives quickly." The man says before saying that unfamiliar word again. The doors creak open and the man steps inside, I follow.
"You're leaving me here?" I blink at him pointing at the floor. "Unattended?"
"Do I have a reason to be hesitant in leaving you alone for a couple of minutes?" The man asks his crystal blue eyes locking on my mine. My throat starts to constrict, and I swallow hard.
"I don't think so." I shake my head.
"Good." The man smiles and it's the same as the one he showed me outside wide and sort of creepy. "Feel free to explore, but don't touch anything." With that he disappears out of thin air. I gawk at the area he had just occupied. If he could do that what was the point in walking.
"Curse you strange man." I say shaking my fist in the air and I swear I could hear a low chuckle from behind the doors.
It wasn't until I turned around that I realized the true grandness of the throne room. On the floor was a long red carpet that trailed from the entrance to a dais with a throne placed directly in the center. I couldn't help but notice there was only one. Does the King not have a queen, and if so, who is the other wing of the castle for if not for a consort? The throne was carved of a silver material that made it shimmer in the sunlight that of which peered through the floor to ceiling, arched windows. My gaze travels throughout the room, and I don't realize that I'm moving until I'm standing directly in front of the large silver chair. I notice the velvet cushions that are the most beautiful shade of midnight black. I run my hand along the material, surprised at the warmth. He must've not been gone long if the cushion is still warm. I take a seat in the throne, leaning back slowly into the warm cushions. It's no wonder why royalty sit in these all day. I slouch into the comfortable velvet cushions letting muscles relax I hadn't even realized were tense. I felt the sudden stiffness leave my back and shoulders. Who knew that yoga could absolutely destroy your body. I close my eyes and let out a long exhale, then one long deep inhale. I continue to do this until I hear a deep, warm chuckle from directly behind me. My eyes shoot open, and I practically jump out of the throne, as I come face to face with the most shockingly handsome male I have ever seen in my entire fucking life.
