Falling Between (The Vaettir Serial, #1)

by Sara C. Roethle

  Falling Between

  Part One of the Vaettir Serialized Romance

  Copyright ©2014 by Sara C. Roethle

  All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  I felt hot breath on the side of my neck. At first I thought it was a dream, then the bed shifted as someone climbed up beside me. Fully awake now, I froze. There were two of them, and one had his or her face only inches from the large artery in my neck. The one who had climbed onto the bed shifted a little closer to my feet.

  The one near my neck took a deep breath, and then the presence lifted away. I let out a squeak of fear that turned into a scream as suddenly both figures grabbed onto me. The one on the bed grabbed my feet as the other pulled me up by the arms into a vice-like embrace. A large, masculine hand clamped over my mouth to stifle my scream.

  They began moving me towards my bedroom door as I thrashed my body as much as possible. I only succeeded in straining my back as the figures carried me effortlessly through the house and out of the back door.

  There wasn't enough of a moon outside for me to make out who was carrying me. The small stars twinkled serenely above me as I was carried into the woods that bordered my house. I gave up on my thrashing and let my body go limp, but it didn't slow my attackers anymore than my previous strategy.

  We continued deeper into the dark woods. My attackers ran gracefully through the foliage even though they each held one end of a human being. Eventually we came to a stop. I felt dizzy from moving horizontally so quickly, and so didn't immediately react as I was lowered to the rocky ground.

  It felt like I was on a raised mound of earth. The soil had recently been turned, and soaked into the back of the tee-shirt and underwear I'd gone to sleep in. My panicked breathing brought in the scent of damp earth and growing things while my two captors hovered over me. I tried to sit up, but hands instantly pushed me back down. Something slithered across my arm, and I instantly thought snake.

  My heart pounded in my throat as more things slithered over me. I thrashed around against the restraining hands, but withing seconds I was covered in slithering objects. As I became more and more covered, some of the objects started reaching up towards the sky like tiny hands trying to grasp the moon. The spindly creatures unfurled towards the dim light. It was then that I realized that I wasn't covered in snakes, they were vines. I was glad that the things weren't snakes, but being slowly engulfed in living vines did nothing to ease my panic. I began to fight against them with increased desperation, but they only bound me tighter until I could no longer move at all. I saw one last hint of stars as the last vine covered my face and obscured my view completely.

  Chapter One

  My eyes snapped open as I sat up in bed with a deep, aching breath. The last thing I remembered was vines encasing my body and pulling me down into the earth. The bed I was in was not my own. My bed was back in my small house where I lived alone. It had been a long time since someone had been in that bed with me. I hadn't expected for it to finally only happen when someone decided to kidnap me.

  This unfamiliar bed was one of those four poster beds with a canopy. I reached out and touched the nearest post. The wood was thick and obviously expensive. My distorted reflection looked back at me from the dark, gleaming wood. What I could see of my long, dark brown hair was a total mess. I looked back into my blurry blue eyes numbly.

  I shook my head. I had to get out of there. My feet slid to the edge of the burgundy comforter as I lowered myself to the ground. The floor and surrounding walls were made of strange gray stone that made me feel like I was in some sort of castle.

  A crackling sound caught my attention. I jumped, ready to fend off my attacker, then realized the sound had come from the simple stone fire-place in the far wall. My first thought was that perhaps fire could be used as a weapon, but I had nothing to wield it with. That was just like my attackers to not leave me a torch.

  “You're not supposed to be awake yet,” a voice said from behind me.

  I nearly stumbled as I tried to turn around too quickly. A man stood framed in the doorway. He wore black slacks and no shirt or shoes. It was an odd look that made it seem as if he simply hadn't finished dressing yet . . . or perhaps he just hadn't finished un-dressing.

  I grasped at the ends of my gray tee-shirt and tried to cover at least a small portion of my bare legs. I realized as I looked down that my legs were still covered in dirt from my experience in the woods.

  The man chuckled at me. His near-black hair fell well past his shoulders. It framed his pale skin and dark brown eyes perfectly. My mouth went dry with a mixture of fear and apprehension. He took a step forward. He was tall, I placed him around 6'2”, given that I'm 5'9” and still had to look up to meet his eyes as he came even closer.

  I held up a hand in front of me. “S-stop,” I stammered. “Where am I?”

  The man cocked his head at me. “Where do you think you are Madeline?”

  “It's Maddy,” I corrected. “And how do you know my name?” I asked quickly as I backed away.

  He met me step for step until my back was against the hard stone wall. He pushed his body against mine, half threat, half seduction. “Don't you want to know my name?” he asked casually and he twirled the ends of my messy hair around his fingers.

  “Leave her alone Alaric,” a woman's voice barked from the doorway.

  Alaric stepped to the side to reveal a woman that looked startlingly similar to the man still standing way too close to me. She strode into the room confidently, trailing the ends of her gossamer-thin white dress behind her. Her dark hair hung nearly to her waist, intermingling with the loose white fabric like oil on snow.

  Alaric left me to stand by who I had to assume was his sister. He tugged on her long hair playfully, eliciting a steely glare from her dark eyes. “Out,” she ordered sternly.

  Alaric gave her a mocking salute as he glided towards the door. Glided was the only word I could think of to describe it. He moved like a cat.

  The woman came towards me, taking my attention off of Alaric's back as he left the room. “I'm Sophie,” she introduced. The introduction would have been nice had it been accompanied by a smile, but I decided to keep my opinion to myself. I caught a glimpse of sharp canines as Sophie sniffed the air around me, and was glad that I'd chosen not to speak. “You need a bath,” Sophie said with a sneer.

  “Um,” I began. “Would you mind telling me where I am?”

  “That is none of your concern,” she snapped.

  None of my concern? I found my lack of knowledge on my whereabouts extremely concerning, thank you very much.

  “Come with me,” she said, then turned around expecting me to follow her.

  I debated not following, or else following and attacking her while she wasn't looking, but decided against both options. I'd rather not get onto Sophie's bad side just yet. My legs felt numb and shaky as my bare feet hit the ground step after step. I was pretty sure that I was in a mild state of shock. It's not every day a girl gets swallowed by vines only to wake up in some stony lair lorded over by a disturbingly attractive pair of siblings.

  Sophie led me down a hallway made of the same stone as the room we'd left and into a large bathroom. Against the far wall was a claw-foot tub made of white porcelain that stood on tarnished brass feet.

  “Bathe,” Sophie ordered.

  “I don't-” I began, but she cut me off with a stern look.
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  “I will keep my brother at bay,” she said, finally offering me a hint of a smile. With that, she turned and left the bathroom, shutting the door gently behind her.

  I ran to the door and quickly twisted the lock. I did a quick scan of the bathroom, but didn't find anything that could aid my escape. There was no shower, just the bathtub, a toilet, and a small pedestal sink. Another fire burned in a fireplace that was set in the wall behind the bathtub. The room, ceiling, and floor were all made of stone, with no modern ventilation that I could see.

  Not knowing what else to do, I slowly unlocked the heavy wood door so I could peek out into the hallway. There was no one in sight, so I crept out, too frightened to breathe. Once I was fully in the hallway I ran, taking the first turn I could find that would lead me away from the bedroom rather than towards it. My bare feet pounded harshly against the hard stone, making little jolts of pain shoot up through my shins. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever. I ran past several closed doors and turned another corner.

  I had only taken a few more steps when I ran straight into someone who'd been walking down the hallway. I bounced off his chest and fell to the ground. He wasn't even shaken by the impact. The man I'd hit looked down at me and laughed. He was dressed down in a hunter green tee-shirt and jeans that seemed out of place in our castle-like surroundings.

  The man leaned down to offer me a hand, causing his chin-length golden brown hair to fall forward. I stared at the hand for a moment, then finally decided to take it. The man shoved his hair back from his face in annoyance with his free hand as he lifted me to my feet. The hair wasn't quite long enough to stay behind his ears, so it just fell forward again.

  “Are you lost?” he asked as we stood facing each other.

  “Just looking for the front door?” I said hopefully.

  The man smiled. He seemed much more friendly that Alaric or Sophie, but he was still in the same house as them. I doubted he would help me. The hallway wasn't terribly wide, so I'd be better off running back the way I'd come than trying to run past him.

  “I'm James,” he offered, as if we were meeting each other under normal circumstances.

  “I'm-” I began, but my words caught in my throat as I finally looked at his icy blue eyes. Now, my eyes are light blue, but James' were so pale that they were nearly white. The rest of his face was handsome enough: a strong nose, a jaw just wide enough to be masculine . . . the lips might have been a little too thin for my taste, but they didn't harm his good looks any. Yet those eyes. I'd seen eyes like that before, and they hadn't belonged to the living. A flash of memory shot through me like lightning, raising the tiny hairs on my entire body. I shook away the horrifying image of a young man's eyes just as his life had left him. It had been a long time ago, and there were more pressing matters to worry about.

  James' smile slowly faded as I looked into his haunting eyes, feeling like I'd seen a ghost. I felt like a rabbit caught in a corner by a snake, debating whether to run or to stay perfectly still. James didn't try to grab me, he didn't try to do anything for that matter. He just stood there, waiting for me to make the next move.

  Something in my stance must have given me away, because as soon as I turned to run he was already in motion. I narrowly avoided his arms as I dropped to the ground. Once I was down I did the first thing I could think of and kicked him in the kneecap, but it would have worked better if I wasn't barefoot. All I got for my effort was a grunt of annoyance as James finally managed to grab me. He lifted me effortlessly and threw me over his shoulder.

  I pounded on his back frantically, but he didn't seem to mind. “You're lucky that I like it rough,” he laughed.

  I pulled up the back of his shirt and raked my nails across his back, hoping to surprise him into dropping me. He did drop me, but only long enough to put my back to him so he could pin my arms and force me to stumble forward. I drug my feet as we went back the way I'd come.

  Sophie came into view as we rounded the next corner. She stood near the bathroom, tapping her foot impatiently. She took me from James without a word and pushed me back into the bathroom. This time when she shut the door, she stayed inside with me.

  She braced herself against the door and let out a shaky breath. “That was very stupid of you,” she commented.

  I felt dizzy, and had to lean back against the wall in order to stay on my feet. “You can't really blame me for trying to escape,” I wheezed back at her.

  Sophie locked the door and walked over to the bathtub to start the water. I was surprised that she was leaving me the opportunity to run again. As if reading my thoughts, she glanced back at me. “Trust me when I tell you that you are much safer in here with me, than out there with James.”

  “Safe?” I questioned. I was feeling a lot of things, but safe wasn't one of them.

  Sophie shrugged. “Relatively so. I will not hurt you unless you make me. James would very much like to hurt you.” She shivered and I wondered if James had very much liked hurting her too.

  I stood up straight as she walked back towards me. “Please tell me why I'm here,” I pleaded one last time.

  Sophie looked tired. “Please take a bath,” she countered. “It is not my place to answer your question. You will simply have to wait on that.” She returned to her post by the door without another word.

  I looked down at the slowly filling bath. It had an old-fashioned slender faucet that didn't let out a great deal of water at once. I awkwardly undressed, wishing I'd just listened to Sophie the first time. At least that way I wouldn't have had her watching me while I bathed.

  I dipped a toe into the bath and quickly added more cold to the water flow so that I wouldn't end up scalding my skin off. Once the temperature was bearable, I lowered myself into the bath.

  “What did James do to you?” I asked as I washed myself with a brand new bar of soap that smelled like vanilla. Maybe if I couldn't escape, I could at least befriend one of my captors.

  Sophie snorted elegantly. I'd previously thought that snorting elegantly wasn't a thing, but that was exactly what Sophie did. She came to perch on the closed toilet seat before answering, folding her long legs underneath her in a position that didn't look at all comfortable.

  “James would never dare touch me,” she explained. “But I've seen what he likes to do to women.” She turned the full power of her dark stare onto me. “The things I've seen would make a nice normal girl like you want to cut out her own eyes, though it wouldn't stop the nightmares.”

  I huddled in the warm water. “You'd be surprised at what I've seen.”

  She startled as if she'd fallen deep into thought. “I doubt I'd be surprised,” she answered finally. “Your actions have not gone without notice.”

  I swallowed past a renewed sense of panic. She couldn't know about Matthew. That event was for my nightmares alone. I flashed on his dead eyes again, eyes that had looked so much like James'. I'd done it to him. I wasn't sure how, but Matthew's death was my fault . . . but Sophie had no way of knowing anything about that.

  Sophie smiled knowingly at me. I looked away quickly, suddenly more frightened than I'd been before, if that was even possible.

  Chapter Two

  At one point during my bath someone had delivered some clothes for me. Sophie had only opened the door a crack, so I hadn't seen who it was. I was now standing in the middle of the bathroom, dressed in a slim-fitting black dress that encased my legs down to the tops of my knees. Black boots covered my calves and left just a sliver of flesh to be seen of my legs. The boots had much higher heels than I was used to. Ok they were only three inches, but I never wore heels. I got my height early, and therefore have the tall-girl syndrome of not wanting to tower over everyone. In the boots I was 6'.

  I stole a glance at myself in the bathroom mirror as Sophie waited by the bathroom door. In addition to the uncomfortable added height, the black made my fair coloring a little too pale. Normally I'd never wear black without a little bit of makeup, or else I looked washed out.
At that moment though, my coloring was on the bottom of my list of concerns. The woman standing by the door was somewhere near the top.

  “Are you done primping yet?” she snapped. Her earlier show of camaraderie must have been a fluke, as she had already reverted back to the steely bitch persona.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, even though I knew my efforts were futile.

  “I cannot tell you,” she said tiredly.

  “Then tell me why I'm dressed like this,” I prompted.

  Sophie crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side. “The sooner you stop asking questions,” she said. “The sooner you'll find the answers.”

  On that cryptic note she opened the door and walked out, expecting me to follow her. Not wanting to risk another run-in with James, or with Alaric for that matter, I did as I was told. Choosing the lesser evil and all that.

  Sophie glided down the hallway with me trailing behind her. Our heels clicked on the stone floor as we headed in the opposite direction from where I'd run. We didn't have to go very far before the hallway ended. Well, it turned into a larger hallway that opened into what I could only think of as a throne room. There was no actual throne, but there was a dais against the far wall that was just begging for a gilded throne. We walked across the room and went through a door where a very, very old man waited.

  His long white hair draped across the dark loose clothing he was wearing and continued on to pool on the floor. With his age and hair, it seemed he should have a beard as well, but his face was clean shaven. Upon closer observation, I placed him as slightly younger than I had originally thought. His face was covered in only slight wrinkles that increased a bit around his pale eyes. His eyes seemed to radiate a knowing as he looked me up and down. I instantly knew that this was a man that I would never try to fool.

  The old man sat at the head of a simple table made of heavy wood. There were enough seats for ten, but no one else sat with the old man. He turned his weighted gaze to Sophie. “Leave us,” he said simply.