3 Not A Fucking Witch!

The fall was hard and painful as she had never felt her body ache so badly that it felt like she had been beaten up.

Groaning, Aylin tried to sit up, but the pain from her ankle stopped her from moving, so she remained lying down on the cold, hard floor for some seconds — catching her breath before sitting up. She looked around, squinting her eyes, trying to see where she was, but as it was dark, she couldn't see anything.

Light, she needed light.

Her hand flew to the pocket of her jacket, recalling that she had slipped her phone into it, and she quickly pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, but before the phone could turn off, the empty network bar caught her eye and gaze zeroed in on it.

No network? No location? No time? What the h*ll was going on?!

Aylin's brows drew together and her lips formed a thin line as she stared at her phone screen, trying to comprehend what was happening.

Aylin cursed as the pain from her ankle shot up through her and pulled her out of her thoughts. Hissing, she scampered around for her bag. She remembered that there was a pain reliever and an ointment in her bag — it was always in her bag because of situations like this since she gets injured frequently.

Taking the ointment and a handkerchief from her bag, she rubbed the ointment on her already swollen ankle before wrapping the handkerchief around her leg. She removed both of her heels, holding them together, before grabbing her bag with the same hand and standing up, her ankle aching with every movement.

After successfully standing up — with only one leg, she limped around as she took in her surroundings which were pitch dark and quiet, the flashlight as the only source of light.

Where was she? Wasn't she in the parking lot? How the hell did she get here?

These questions ran through her mind as she walked further, using the wall as support. Burning candles were attached to the brick-like wall and the sound of splashing water became louder as she continued walking.

After all the limping and hobbling, she finally saw a bright white light ahead and trudged toward it.

After some time, Aylin halted and stared at the sight in front of her.

Her mouth opened wide as she stared in awe.

Crystal-clear water glittered under bright white light, and water flowed from four different angles into a pool, creating a constant ripple in the green-colored water. There were four pillars on each side with green vines encircling them and various types of flowers, which were mostly black, adorned the walls. It was ethereal. Her jaw dropped to the ground at every turn she took, taking it all in. It was like she was in some fantasy world with the way everything looked.

Aylin didn't know how long it had been since she was standing there, staring at the beautiful sight in front of her, forgetting about the fact that she was in a mysterious place.

Unknowingly to Aylin who was still staring at the pool, a door opened and a pair of feet entered and strode to where Aylin was, the footsteps were silent and firm as they walked towards Aylin, who was standing on one foot, holding her bag and shoes.

"Beautiful isn't it?" A voice said behind her, making Aylin gasp. She whirled around at the source of the voice, but in her shock, she slipped, her eyes widening as she fell back.

Screaming, Aylin extended her hand, trying to find something to hold on to even if it was the tall and huge figure in front of her, but the dark red eyes just continued to stare at her until she fell into the pool.

The water made a splashing sound as soon as she fell into it.

Gasping, Aylin came out of the water

"What the hell was that for?! You could have caught me!" She yelled at the man who stood by the pool, ignoring the fact that he was wearing a long red robe that showed off his chest and very long and wide gray trousers.

"Could I?" He asked, cocking his head to the side, his crimson red eyes which were covered by glittering messy silver bangs gazed at her in amusement.

Seriously?! Was he asking her that?

Just when Aylin wanted to reply, she paused as she took note of his appearance. Her eyes raked his tall form from his silver hair that glistened under the light to his dark red eyes, bare chest down and legs cladded in what looked like pajama pants.

Her mouth fell open and no words came out of it.

Gracious Lord. Was she dreaming? What the hell was happening? Where did this gorgeous and sinfully handsome man fall from?!

Her eyes trailed his sturdy body again and back up to his eyes.

Good grief, she had never seen anyone as beautiful as this! Maybe she was dreaming, right? I mean… No one had red eyes—

"Are you just going to stare at me or get out of the pool?" He asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

That was when Aylin realized that she had been staring at him. Pursing her lips, she glanced around.

Goodness! She'd totally forgotten that she was in an unknown place! Come on Aylin! Are you f*cking kidding me right now?! The question that was supposed to be running through her head was; where the hell was she? Who was he? And how did she get here? Not where this handsome man came from!

Just as these thoughts passed through her mind, her body which was immersed in the water started to feel chilly as the water became impossibly cold.

Aylin hurriedly swam to the edge of the pool, dropping her bag, shoes, and phone on the floor before crawling out of the pool, her body dripping with water and her chest heaved.

What the hell was happening? First, she found herself in some cave-like pool, and then this man came out of nowhere – his head – was full of silver hair and he had red eyes! Only vampires had red eyes.

Wait… vampire?!

She instantly snapped her head to him and they stared at each other, she could feel her heart beating wildly in her ears as they continued to stare at each other.

No, Vampires were not real… they were not, absolutely not!

But what about the red eyes, she wasn't surprised about the hair since he might have tinted it. Were they lenses? Yes, it has to be, because that was the only possible explanation.

"Scared?" He said, pulling her out of her reverie, his smile turning into a smirk.

What…? Could he hear her heartbeat? Aylin could feel her heart thrashing against her chest. It was pounding so fast, that she wondered if it would break out of its ribcage any moment now.

Oh no! Was he really a vampire?!

"Who are you?" She managed to ask amid her inner struggles.

He tilted his head, "I should be the one asking that question." He continued, "Now, tell me... Who are you and how did you get in here?" The way his voice suddenly turned frigid sent chills down her spine.

She swallowed hard – after all, even she didn't know the answer to that question.

"I... I... don't –"

Just when she wanted to respond, a figure suddenly appeared beside the red-eyed guy, startling Aylin who sat there unmoving, eyes wide, trying to understand what she just saw.

WHAT?! DID HE JUST–

"Your Grace!" The figure bowed slightly, before straightening, pulling the hood of his cloak off revealing his neatly cut slick black hair and a very handsome face.

Your Grace?! What the hell?!

Her breathing quickened as she tried to come to terms with what was happening, trying to make sense of everything.

"What?"

"Sire!" The cloaked person looked at the silver-haired man who hadn't moved a muscle. "I am sorry for disturbing your seclusion. There was a crack in the barrier around the mansion and we sensed unknown energy inside the mansion. I figured someone had intruded the mansion and I already checked every part of the mansion but–"

"There's the intruder," The red-eyed guy jerked his head towards Aylin, "Though I wonder how she could break the barrier except..." He trailed off as he slowly approached her, tilting his head, his eyes narrowed as he stared intensely at her, studying her.

"If she's a witch," The cloaked man finished his words.

What?! A Witch?! She was no witch! She wanted to scream at them but she couldn't find her voice, it was as if someone had taken away her ability to speak.

Oh goodness! What the hell happened to her voice?!

"And a very powerful one at that," He added as he stared at her with a dark expression.

"You know what to do," The red-eyed guy said to the cloaked man before turning around, taking off the bathrobe, and walking to the pool.

Aylin's eyes widened even more and fear gripped her hard as she listened to their conversation.

What? What was he going to do?!

"Yes, Your grace!" The cloaked man replied, and suddenly, two other figures appeared beside her, grabbing her by the arm, they yanked her up.

No! She wasn't a f*cking witch!!

Once again, Aylin tried to say something, wanting to yell at them to stop. To tell them that she wasn't a witch, that she didn't even know how she got here, and that she didn't belong here. But she couldn't. It was as if her lips were sealed and the only thing she could do was struggle violently, thrashing against their hold—which tightened, even more, causing her pain.

F*ck! Where were they taking her to?

They dragged her up the stairs to a door that led to an enormous room, her leg hurting with each step they took. Once they stopped at the entrance, Aylin blinked and in the next second, she found herself in a completely different place!

Wait... W–what just happened?! D–did they just... Teleport?! No, this isn't happening... She didn't want to believe the first time the cloaked man did it, but now there was no denying it...They f*cking just teleported! Like in the movies!

Her eyes widened in disbelief. How in the world is this happening?! They must have used magic or something!! Right!? But... Magic was just a myth. So how...?

The sounds of rattling chains, painful screams, and cries pulled her out of her thoughts and her eyes darted around to see; stone walls and floors, screaming prisoners in ragged clothing, chains fixed to walls, heaps of clothing scraps strewn across the floor.

Fear gripped her, squeezing tightly around her heart as it beat faster and faster. This place was so horrifying, horrible. Aylin squeezed her eyes shut, feeling sick.

Oh, God... She was in a dungeon! A F*cking dungeon?! This was no dream! She was really in a dungeon!!! Was she going crazy?! Yeah, she must be! Because it was better to be crazy than for this to be real! Please don't let this be real… Please...

She tried to take deep breaths but her hands were trembling and her legs were shaky. As soon as she opened her eyes, however, she realized that she was being dragged to an empty cell!

"H–hey wait!" Aylin protested as she finally found her voice, the two figures dragging her toward an empty cell.

"What are you doing?!" She screamed. "Let go of me! I said fucking let go of me!" The two figures continued dragging her, throwing her into the cell.

"What are you doing?! Let me go! Let ME OUT OF HERE! I'M NOT A F*CKING WITCH!" Aylin yelled as the doors slammed shut.

The cloaked man came to stand in front of her, staring at her with curiosity.

What? Why was he looking at her like that? Was he gonna hurt her?

"I'm not going to hurt you...At least not until the interrogation." His deep voice echoed through the cell as his blank eyes stared at her.

An interrogation...? But there was no need for that! She was not a witch and she was not the one who broke the barrier they were talking about earlier!

"What do you mean by 'interrogation'? I told you, I'm not a witch, I don't even know how I got here! I don't know what's going on!" She yelled, fear running through her blood as her heart hammered in her throat.

The man didn't say anything else and only left her there, screaming behind him, as he walked away from the cell, disappearing from her sight. As soon as he was gone, silence fell upon the place.

Aylin sank to the ground and pulled off her jacket to see bruises on her arm which were formed from the painful grip of the guards.

Cursing the guards, Aylin rubbed her arm before putting on her jacket and with a sigh, her head fell back to rest on the wall behind her.

Why did she have to be here? Wasn't she supposed to go home safely after work, forget about this entire day, and just sleep peacefully for once? But no. Of course, fate wouldn't allow her.

No! It was that stupid Ian's fault. If he hadn't come to her, then all these wouldn't have happened! Instead, she ended up here. In this creepy place where she doesn't even know, seeing things she never thought were real.

First, she fell into a hole and landed in another place. Second, she saw a man with red eyes and silver hair who was so freaking handsome, simply thinking about his cold voice made her shiver. Though he was handsome, he was also very scary, and a man in a cloak – who looked like a knight, suddenly appeared out of nowhere! She still couldn't believe it — that he teleported! even though she saw it with her own two eyes. Third, she was called a witch, Aylin couldn't help but scoff as she shook her head, she wished she was a witch, maybe she would have been able to get out of this hell hole. Lastly, she was behind bars in a fucking dungeon! A freaking real dungeon!

This day couldn't possibly get any better. She has had a lot of bad days but this day was worse than any other day of her life.

After some minutes of mulling over her situation, her eyelids become heavy, exhaustion taking control of every inch of her body. She sighed and closed her eyes hoping that sleeping will be easier than thinking of her life right now. The day has been long and difficult and she decided to lie down on the cold stone floor. Before long, she drifted off to sleep.