As consciousness slowly returned to her body, Maya's eyes reluctantly opened. They were heavy, and she had to blink a few times as the darkness surrounding her vision hinted that something was wrong.
Then, came the restraints. The unyielding pressure against her wrists, waist and ankles, keeping her seated and unmoving, had panic rushing through her, climbing up her chest. The tiredness left her body instantly, and horror gripped her.
Something moved in the darkness, and she made out the figures of about three people standing in the darkness with her.
She was terrified, and a frantic whirlwind of questions raced through her mind. Where was she? Why was she taken? Who were these people?
As reality blanketed her, an even more agonising feeling ripped through her. Does this...has to do with her past? Do they know who she really is? Are they going to kill her the way her parents were killed? Did they kidnap her grandmother too?
Silent footsteps caught her ears, and in a few seconds, a tall figure loomed over her, standing still. It was still too dark to see anything, but she could tell it was a male.
The scent of wood hit her nostrils, drawn into her lungs that sated her breath. She looked up, terrified and somewhat intrigued. Something so primal and dark eluded from the male, and she felt exposed by the hefty gaze she could feel on her face.
Her dried throat went even drier.
Then, he spoke, "Maya Hart,"
The Darkness seem to deepen because of the very timbre of his voice. It was a deep, sonorous rumble like the sound of distant thunder, carrying unspoken enchantment woven in it. It made her head spin not just because of the way it sounded, but because he had said her name.
"If you answer my question correctly, no harm will come to you. Do you understand me?"
Maya struggled to speak, "W...what do you want from me? Who are you?"
"Do you understand me?!" He spoke out even harder, his voice promising danger, holding a hypnotic cadence to his words.
"Yes," Maya nodded.
She heard him shift a bit, "Do you have the Shard?"
Shard? What shard? "A piece of Metal?" Maya asked carefully.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
She leaned back on the chair, scared out of her mind, "N... no, I do not. I do not know what you're talking about."
"The Lunar Obsidian Shard that is with you. You're Maya Hart, aren't you? But that isn't your real name," He paused, "You're Princess Marguerite Ann Herbert Rhys, from the house of Rhys and heir to the throne,"
Maya could feel her world crumbling. It was just as she feared. She had been found and would suffer the same fate as her parents.
But, death has been on her mind ever since she received the news of her growing illness, hence she wasn't as affected as she thought she would be.
In fact, she was rather calm.
"I don't know the hell you're talking about," She spat out, a fierce look falling over her face.
She heard him draw in a sharp breath before the figure of a face leaned closer to hers. She could see the faint carve of his face, and Strong, Jewel green eyes stared back through the darkness into her amber ones.
It was as if her world had stopped.
Something raw and untamed burned through his eyes, holding a Captivating edge within them. But then, a flicker of something ancient and knowing would dance within their depths, leaving her breathless and unexplicitly enchanted.
"Princess, you're my captive and will not be leaving that chair unless you answer every last one of my questions. The quicker you cooperate, the more chances you get of leaving this place alive."
"I'm not a princess, and I don't know anything. You have the wrong person, mister!" She retorted, standing her ground.
"I have the right person," He deadpanned, then pulled back and stood straight again.
"I don't know any Martha Herbrew or whatever you called her. I'm just plain Maya Hart, you have the wrong person! Release me or you'll regret this!"
"Woman!" He exclaimed, slamming his hands on the head of the wooden chair, barely missing her head. The chair shook heavily, and Maya froze as fear coursed through her once again.
"We need the Lunar Obsidian Shard to prevent a mass disaster from coming to pass. All you have to do is tell us where it is, and we will let you go,"
Maya picked her next words carefully, "Like I said before, I don't know anything about what you're saying. You have the wrong...,"
He cut her off, "I don't fuckin care whether you're from the house of Rhys or not. I wasn't sent to kill you. I just need the shard, and you'll never have to deal with me again."
Maya couldn't trust him. It had to be all an act to get her to confess, but something wasn't making sense. If he had been sent to kill her, he would have done so after knocking her out.
And what was this Lunar Obsidian Shard he kept mentioning?
"You have the wrong person," She stated strongly after a deafening silence had taken over.
"It seems like you care not an ounce about your life," He proclaimed, raw disdain dripping from his words.
"What meaning did life hold in the first place for me to give a damn about it?" She fired back instantly with an eye roll.
Maya's expression fell, and she looked away, knowing he was staring right at her. Simple things she had taken for granted like walking or breathing had suddenly become so precious to her overnight, but at the time, her heart was being pulled backwards.
No matter how hard she wanted to hold onto life, she would be dead soon...so why try?
She heard his retreating footsteps along with the others, and suddenly the room was cold and empty. Her scarf was gone, and her limbs were beginning to ache.
.
.
.
What seemed like hours had passed, and Maya was now in a state of immense discomfort. Her limbs had gone numb, and her headache was settling in fast. She hadn't taken her drugs last night, and the effects were showing themselves now.
Her breathing was a bit hitched, and her face was paler than before. It should have been over fifteen hours or more!
The creaking sound of a door had her looking up, and emerging footsteps came close and stopped in front of her.
"You look tired, Princess," The familiar voice said.
She glared at his figure.
"Are you ready to tell me about the location of the shard, or should I come back in the next thirty hours this time?"
She groaned, fatigued, "Thirty hours,"
He didn't move, and she felt a dark wave of aura emitting out of him, "Why is it so hard to tell me where the shard is?" His voice sounded deeper, which she hardly believed was possible.
She chuckled this time. A low, exasperated laugh, "So you can kill me after I tell you where it is? That is, of course, if I even know that in the first place,"
"You're Marguerite Ann, you do!"
"I am not Marguerite Ann!" She replied angrily.
There was a sudden shift in his aura, as if a physical weight had been placed in the space around them. The air around them thickened, resisting movement. Maya felt a prickle on her shoulder and an invisible pressure in her chest. The temperature of the room increased too, and the silence that has taken over deepened together with the overwhelming darkness as she couldn't even make out the shape of him anymore.
Then, she heard his almost silent footsteps retreating, leaving with the devastating, powerful aura that had suddenly bewitched the room.
The moment he was gone, Maya released the huge breath she had been holding.
What the hell was that?
.
.
Maya was pretty sure a whole day had gone by before she heard the door on the other end of the room creaking open again. The light that streamed in suggested it was daytime, but she was too weak to take a good look at the figure that walked in.
Her headache was at its peak this time, and she was extremely weak. She had missed several doses of her drugs and could barely even raise her head.
The footsteps stopped in front of her again, but this time something unexpected occurred. The male began to untie her, freeing every part of her. She was surprised, excited at this opportunity for escape, but it wouldn't be as simple.
Why was he untying her in the first place? Was he taking her to an actual torture room to get the answers out?
The moment he finished untying her, she felt his fingers around her arm. An undeniably electric sensation coursed through her arm from his touch, and warmth spread through her body like a blush underneath her skin.
His sudden stillness suggested he felt the same way, too.
But in a split second, he had pulled her up to her shaky feet and was dragging her with him.
"Where are you taking me? You really think it was a good idea to free my hands and legs first?" She edged, shaking her head in disbelief.
"You're human and you're weak. What could you possibly do to someone like me?" He returned in a single breath, and she could hear the nonchalant confidence dripping off his every word.
"Don't test me!"
He took her out of the room, and the first beam of sunshine that hit her face had her squinting. It was just around Noon, and as they walked, she found herself in a small town.
They moved toward a car not too far away, and Maya was quick to notice there was something bizarre about the town. It wasn't the town itself, but the few people she saw before they got to the car. Most of the men were shirtless, and there was something... different around them.
They kind of gave off some kind of vibe, oddly predatory.
The door of the car was jerked open, "Get in," He barked.
"Where are you taking me?" She demanded, snapping her gaze at him, only to find herself frozen in place once again.
Deep and luminous green eyes that held a world of secrets gazed back into hers, and a constant flicker that suggested something even greater within brought chills down her spine. His features were undeniably sharp, from the sharp jawlines to his strong and high cheekbones, and of course, a straight and commanding nose.
His hair, the colour of Moonlight, was tousled, reeking of meticulous perfection that made her want to explore every inch of it, and then there was his air of charisma and effortless Dominance.
All of a sudden, she hiccuped.
She knew right from the beginning that her captor was someone to behold, but never in her wildest imagination did it ever reach this level.
Also, what was this peculiar emotion she was feeling toward him?