3 Cold Steel Frame (Janice)

“The only true monster I’ve ever encountered in life…...is sadly the monster called mankind.”- Bad_Karma

(5 days before the incident)

“I’m starving, Jason,” I grumbled, “It’s been 15 hours since you summoned me here and you still haven’t told me why.”

I looked at Jason. I watched as he stood imposingly in the middle of the mining elevator. His dark black dreads flowed ferociously in the wind as the elevator descended deeper into the dark abyss. Jason was a tall black man with extremely striking features. His eyes were a glowing moonlit yellow that have sadly dimmed over the long stressful years of his life.

He currently wore only a white t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. He wasn’t wearing his normal opened toe shoes; which, I thought was odd at first. However, the more I descended down the shaft, the more I understood.

It was fucking blistering hot. I wasn't expecting to stay as long as I did so I kept all of my clothes on. Suit and all. However, I've stripped down since then as we both have descended down the elevator. I was now wearing only my white button-up shirt with my sleeves rolled up.

I threw the crimson suit jacket to my outfit onto the shaft floor. I slightly unbuttoned my shirt and loosened my tie to give my cleavage some breathing room. I still had on my skirt; however, I'd taken off my high-heels and kept on my stockings. Jason gave me a pair heavy duty protective boots to keep my feet from blistering.

I was still a sweating mess. My hair wasn't any better. I was , of course, very uncomfortable.

"You know what? If you had told me we were going to the center of the damn planet, I would have come more prepared," I joked, slightly.

Nothing. Not a word from him. I watched as he looked onward. His arms were crossed behind his back.

“He’s deep in thought,” I thought to myself.

Of course, this was nothing new. Jason Liverblood was known to be a very quiet man who was usually seen to himself....well except around people he trust like me or his advisors. Every now and again he would burst out into a random conversation, but only when either I or they seemed to be around.

I originally thought that he liked me, but the longer I was around him I noticed that was not the case. He's just super anti-social. A complete recluse. I’m guessing with all of the years of walking the realms of our worlds, the concept of talking to others was something that just didn’t seem necessary.

I mean I get it. In the world we exist in, life can be cruel. Very cruel. We of all people should know. Jason and I were both vampire's after all.

Well..... HE was vampire. I was a mix of both a vampire and a succubus. A hybrid between two creatures that shouldn't be mixed. A hybrid that was, in fact, not supposed to exist.

The elevator came to a screeching halt. Dust and dirt kicked up as the elevator slammed forcefully into the mine floor. Jason didn’t budge and neither did I. I watched as Jason gently slid the gate to the elevator open and walked out.

“Follow me,”was all he said.

His deep, but soft voice threw me off. I stumbled slightly, accidentally tripping over my new shoes on the elevator door. I caught myself and proceeded after him.

I observe my surroundings. We were walking down an eerily, dim-lit mine that looked like it hadn’t been traveled through in hundreds of years. I could easily tell that there was once much more to explore than the singular path that lay before us.

Multiple paths branched out to either side of us, however; those paths were closed off to the world. They were forever buried under the earthly bearings of Mother Nature’s rocky guise. Well, we could probably try to unearth what’s down here. But that all depends on what was already found.

I continued to follow Jason down the walkway. The light in the tunnel seemed to brighten the more we went further and further down. It was hot, heavy, and hard to breath. We were very, very, VERY deep underground. I had estimated a good 35 miles below sea level. Our elevator ride was at least probably an hour long. I had literally stood in silence the entire descent as JASON, as quiet as he was, got sucked off into la la land. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

“Are we almost there yet, Jason?” I asked.

He turned his head slightly in my direction.

“Mm,” was his only response.

“Ok,” I mumbled.

“At least we were close,” I thought to myself.

We continued to go down the man-made tunnel. Whatever was up ahead was close. Recently made tracks marked the dirty cool granite rock before our feet. I could see more construction lamps and wiring laying the tunnel up ahead.

“We’re here,” he said.

We both turned a corner and were met with a pair of large metal double doors. They were extremely out of place, like something that was ripped out of its time. The doors were a modern-make(probably late 2000’s era). There was no sign of rust, wear, or tear, as if they were recently placed before us.

There was an extremely foreboding sensations eroding from them. It was as if whatever lied on the other sides of these doors didn’t want to be disturbed.

“Weird,” I thought aloud, “What exactly am I looking at here, Jason?”

I turned to see Jason behind me slowly pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He kicked a small rock and looked up at me, puzzled.

“I don’t know, exactly.” he shrugged.

He outstretched his arm and pointed at the door, gesturing for me to get closer. His dark ebony skin barely visible in the dim light.

“One of the site workers found this place by accident on his break. Apparently, he would disobey orders and go on walks in the forest on his off time.” Jason unfolds a chair that had been laying against the wall and sat in it.

“Two weeks ago,” he adjusted himself in his seat, “he went off and was attacked by some of the mutated enchanted beasts in the forest. Though severely wounded, he still managed to escape.”

Jason crooked his head and crossed his legs.

“Trying to find a place to tend to himself, he stumbled upon an odd sight. A cavern that seemed to phase in and out of reality. Curious and with naive stupidity, he decided to investigate.”

Jason then looked up and then gestured with his hands at the surroundings around him.

“Which brings us here,” I finished for him.

He nodded slowly. I looked back at the eerily lit double doors.

“Interesting,” I thought aloud.

I glanced back at Jason who was now leaning forward in his chair.

“And what about the young man?” I asked.

Jason looked down at the ground as he started to clean the space in between his nails.

“He was taken into custody and he was questioned,” Jason looked up at me, “However, I’ll let you decide on the course of action needed to deal with him in due time.”

I nodded.

“Of course,” I mumbled.

I remove my long silky black hair from out of my eye. I eyed him.

“Have you gone in yet?” I asked.

He glared at me. “Of course not. Whatever’s behind that door is strong. It would be bad if I stumbled into a trap and died.”

“Mm,” was my only response.

I look back at the double doors and walked forward slightly.

“Do the rest of the High Table know about this?” I continued to question.

Jason stood up and looked at the door. He had his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Of course not. I tend to keep those manipulative assholes away from whatever THIS IS… as long as need be.” He said walking forward. “Besides. If they found out me and you were working together, they’d have the entire galaxy up in arms trying to kill you.”

Jason stopped besides me and turned his head towards me. “And they would have thrown my ass back into a black box…. never to see the light of day again,” he finished.

I looked at him. I glared deep into burning golden eyes. He stared back at me. I tilted my head slightly to the side.

“You understand that they don’t trust me… yet you still work with me?” I asked.

I was confused. Jason turned completely around to face me. His eyes seemed to shimmer when matched with mine.

“The Table doesn’t trust you because they are aware of what you are capable of. The fear that haunts them is the fear that you, Janice, will someday snap and tear the realms asunder like you did so long ago.”

I broke eye contact. A large throbbing headache formed in my mind. Fear and embarrassment flooded my body as I stepped back. I was ashamed. A tense burning heat flooded my chest. I felt uncomfortable. I was about to turn around completely when Jason reassuringly grabbed my shoulders.

“That being said. The world has changed. I’ve known you for the majority of the time I’ve spent in this realm and I can reassure you that all the rumors that they say about you are wrong. You’re probably the sanest one out of all the table, and the people feel that. YOUR PEOPLE feel that. The people like you. They trust you That’s all that matters,” He said.

I look back at him. He released my shoulders and placed his hand on my head.

“Them trusting you speaks volumes; especially with the predicament that they are presently in,” his moonlit eyes resting on mine.

He tussled my long black hair playfully as I continued to stare at him.

“If they trust you after all these years then….” he stopped and shrugged, “then so do I.”

I smacked his hand away and stared at him.

“I feel like you’re trying to butter me up, Liverblood.”

He stood up completely and stretch his body. Releasing a loud yawn, he said, “Well, is it working?”

I rolled my eyes.

“What?” he questioned, “Sarcasm is good for the soul.”

I let out a large sigh.

“Great,” I muttered, “Now you’re a fucking comedian.”

I looked back at the double door and approached them. The miasma flowing from whatever was behind the doors left a brain numbing effect on me. The sheer amount of hatred that eroded from the other side of the door was extremely familiar to me. It was a hatred that I myself produced so, so long ago.

“Magic,” I said aloud. I look back at Jason. “Stay behind me,” I commanded, “If you were to die then we would have galactic pandemic upon us, and there would be nothing we would be able to do about it.”

Jason walked up behind me and sighed. “Yes ma’am,” was his only response.

I placed my hands upon the cold metal frames of the doors. The doors seemed to produce a humming vibration as I applied force upon it.

“A magic barrier?” I pondered aloud, “And an old one at that.”

I looked back at Jason who was eyeing me.

“You said that the cave entrance phased in and out. Of course, it was a spell. What type was it?” I demanded.

Jason eyed the door. “Well. That brings me to why I brought you here, particularly. It was a plethora of spells.” I raised an eyebrow.

“A plethora?” I echoed back. Jason looked scratching his head.

“Yeah,” he said, “If I remember correctly, there might have been like 4 or 5.”

I crossed my arms and turned towards him completely.

“What were they?” I asked. I was beginning to become intrigue.

“The ones from off the top of my head are Misdirection VI, Illusion MAX, and Misfortune V.”

I widen my eyes in surprise.

“Illusion MAX AND Misfortune V,” I was taken aback.

Illusion and Misfortune spells are not easy to perform. They are actually pretty difficult to perform by a normal person because they take a lot of energy to cast. They’re even more difficult to cast on the same object.

So, for such high spells to be cast upon one object such as this and then stacked upon says so much.

“Whatever is behind this door was never supposed to be found,” Jason’s voice deepened, “It actually explains the attack from the enchanted beast that the man encountered. The types of the beast he was attacked by are usually seen as harmless and/or mostly avoid humanoid creatures. However, when they approached the man, they were completely rabid and extremely hostile.”

I turned and glared at the door.

“Interesting,” I whispered.

Unfortunately for whatever was behind this door, magic isn’t forever. Which would explain why the cave seemed to flicker in and out of reality.

“The spells are wearing off,” I muttered, “Give me some space.”

Jason backed up some. I placed the palm of my hand on the seam of the double doors. The humming vibration intensified as I applied more force upon the cold metal.

“They’re old, but still very powerful,” I started.

I looked behind me to see Jason behind the corner watching me.

“Good,” I thought to myself, “He’s out of range in case it backfires.”

I turn back towards the door. The humming was strong now and could now be heard audibly in the mine. It was a soft but forceful buzz that filled my chest with warmth. The buzzing traveled down my arm and across my body. It found its way into my mouth, leaving a sweet taste of honey on my tongue. The aroma of the barrier left an intoxicating smell. It almost smelled like cologne.

“Careful,” I warned,” The door has been marked with a powerful Hypnosis VI spell.”

I could hear Jason shuffling in the back behind the corner.

“Whoever this is clearly knew his stuff. These spells are not only strong, but durable,” he said loudly.

“Yeah,” I said, “These spells are, at a minimum, around a thousand years old.”

I retract my hand and the taste of honey leaves my tongue. The intoxicating aroma that flooded my nostrils left the scene as soon as it appeared.

“Which means they were made by a professional,” I finished. I take a step back away from the door to give myself some room to operate.

“Do you think it was a Warlock from The Last Civil War?” questioned Jason. I took a deep breath.

“Its possible,” I thought aloud, “however these spells wouldn’t still be here if that were the case. These spells, except for the Illusion MAX spell, aren’t built for long term without the physical living host of the caster. As a matter of fact, the spells that aren’t MAX should have vanished HUNDREDS of years ago. How there still here after all these years is what’s bothering me.”

I could hear Jason scratching his chin from around the corner. I could feel his concern. There were somethings that were not right with the situation.

It would be understandable if something from this time had put this here. It would be extremely understandable, especially; in the year of 3137 A.D. The world had changed. Magic was extremely common in this time. However, these spells were over a thousand years. They dated back to a time were magic basically didn’t exist.

I glared at the door. I didn’t like it. My curiosity peaked. This cat wanted answers.

“Get ready,” I commanded Jason.

I could hear the popping of knuckles as Jason clenched his right hand. His left hand cracked the granite corner that he hid behind. I could feel his miasma pouring into the mine behind me.

“When your ready,” he said in a deep voice.

“That all I needed to hear,” I thought aloud.

I walk back up to the door and raised my hand. The muscles in my arm flexed as I cemented my feet into the ground. I clenched my jaw as matter and debris started to float from off the ground around me. The doors began to scream with chaotic fury as the power from within my being licked the surface of the door. The mine began to darken as a red haze formed around my person. The magical barrier finally materialized before me.

A large bright, blue enchantment circle formed on the door. The barrier could feel itself being challenged. I persisted. The haze glowed brighter, but the world grew dimmer.

“Freedom!” I cursed out silently as I gently placed the tip of my index finger onto the force field .

The mine darkened even more as my dark miasma overwhelmed the enchantment circle. The sound of glass shattering could be heard as the barrier from upon the door collapsed onto the ground. A reddish mist could be seen as the barrier dissolved into the atmosphere of the mine. The cold metal door shook violently before stopping suddenly in their tracks. Seconds passed. Suddenly, the doors burst open outward forcefully.