~~

Trinity

~~

When I woke up from my nap, I didn't see Reece anymore. I didn't feel his presence around me anymore either. I didn't know where he had gone, but I was starting to miss him already. However, after a moment or two, I heard a voice speaking from somewhere in the room.

"Yeah, we know that. We thought that she might just be sleeping off that exhaustion that she had been feeling.

" It was David. My sweet, innocent David that had been with me ever since the beginning of my time with Reece. Yeah, I had heard stories from Rawlynne about David and how he wasn't as innocent as I thought him to be, but I refused to let those stories mix with the image I had of him in my mind. He was still the same sweet, innocent David who had joined the others in the group costume to make that Halloween party for the kids extra special. Ever since that time, we've held a Halloween party here at the house. Well, now it's a castle, but it was at the estate then the castle. Over the years, I never forgot what it was that I had done for the children in the beginning. And I never would. I wanted to make sure that I gave all the people in my pack, as well as my kingdom, as good of a life as possible.

Still, I shouldn't be going off on tangents. I needed to know why David was in my room. And who was he talking to? Well, I didn't have to wait long for that question to be answered.

"What exhaustion?

" Shawn seemed to be here as well. OK, so were all of my guards here?

"She's had a rough time of things lately. She had been running herself so ragged that even her pregnancy went unnoticed. The only thing all of us were able to smell on her was the stench of exhaustion.

" I could hear how scared Reece was when he spoke to the others about what was going on. I wanted to get to him, to be at his side and to let him know that I was here with him, so he didn't need to be so worried.

That was when all of the sound started to fade from the room. The moment that I started to move, to force myself through the thickness of the air that was around me. I guess it took so much effort and concentration that I couldn't see the men that were around me and I couldn't hear anything that they were saying.

I thought that was strange, but there was nothing that I could do about it. I just needed to move. I just needed to get to Reece's side. That was all that mattered to me right now. I just needed to move in the direction that I had heard his voice coming from earlier. I just needed to move toward the window and the table that was sitting near it. That was where I had heard my Fido's voice coming from.

UGH! It felt like I was moving so slowly again. Like every foot that I moved forward took me several minutes to traverse. This place that I was in could only be described as hell.

'Close, Trinity, this isn't exactly hell but a lot of humans call it that. This is the underworld.' There was that voice again, that one that had tried to draw me toward it until I saw the imps.

"Why am I in the underworld?

" I almost paused in my never ending walk just to cross the room. I didn't though. I just kept myself moving as best as I could.

'You are here because you need to find Hekate. You need to find her and stop her from escaping the underworld. She is stirring and her power is growing.' The voice seemed different than it had before. It was no longer just repeating things like it used to, but now it was also giving me information that I needed. Not to mention, it didn't sound quite so melodramatic as it did before.

"And who are you?

" I asked the voice, wondering who the mysterious woman that had been speaking to me all along was.

'Have you not heard of the fates? It is our job to warn you of dangers and to guide you along the way.'

"That doesn't sound like the legends of the fates that I know about.

" Something just didn't seem right about what the voice was telling me. The fates didn't interfere directly with the lives of those that they watched over. So why would they choose to warn me about this issue? Something just didn't seem to add up.

'Follow our advice, child, and we will help you.'

"I think I will find my own path.

" After that, I continued to just move forward and ignore the voice again.

Once I decided to move beyond the voice, and the lies that it was telling me, I heard something else. I heard Reece's voice once again, along with some younger and sweeter voices.

"Daddy, why isn't Mommy awake?

" Talia sounded sad.

"What happened, Daddy?

" Rika's voice was steady, but I could hear that it was all an act.

"Daddy, what can I do to help?

" Reagan, my little man, was always there to try and help me.

"Mommy is sick right now and I don't know when she will wake up. She is resting though, and that is what matters. For now, I need all of you to be strong and to keep being positive. That is what mommy needs for right now.

"

Reece sounded like he was having a hard time remaining strong as he faced our children alone. It was breaking my heart seeing him like that. I didn't want to hear his voice as it was filled with so much sorrow and heartache.

"I want my mommy.

" Talia began to cry just a little.

"I don't want mommy to be sick. I want her here with me.

"I'm right here.

" I called out to all of them.

"Mommy is right here, baby girl.

" I started to try and move closer to them again. I needed to hug them, to hold them in my arms. I needed to let them know that I was on my way back and that I was never going to leave them again.

"Mommy is here, baby. Mommy hasn't left you, Tally. Please, baby girl, please don't cry.

"

The more that I called out to them, the fainter their voices became until eventually, they were gone, and I was left alone in this place once again.

"NO! Don't leave me.

" I called after their voices when I couldn't hear them anymore.

"Please! Don't leave me here by myself. Reece! Reagan! Rika! Talia! Please, come back! Don't leave me.

" It was no use. None of them could hear me. None of them could see me. They didn't know that I was so close to them because I wasn't actually there with them.

"I might as well be a ghost.

" I sighed the words as I fell slowly to my knees.

"No, not even that. A ghost walks in the same world as them. I am not there with them anymore. Maybe I am in the underworld.. Maybe I am dead, and maybe I can never get back home ever again.

"