Chapter Four

Waking Up Beside a Mysterious Woman

The velvet veil of sleep lifted from Arryn's eyes. He squirmed deeper into the soft comfort of the bed, but he could tell that he was awake.

Arryn rolled over, overcome with bliss. He was only half awake, but he could not remember the last time he had felt so... restful. His entire body felt soft. As he squirmed like a playful child, his arms and legs even felt lighter.

His mouth was pleasantly moist as he smacked his lips and loosed a heavenly yawn. His entire body seemed to vibrate with electric joy as the sleepy noise raced up from his toes and out his throat.

Arryn opened his eyes.

He blinked.

He blinked a second time, and a frown tickled his lips. Because standing over him...

image [https://i.imgur.com/BxD1gZf.png]

image [https://i.imgur.com/LWv8HQq.png]

image [https://i.imgur.com/opICY3Q.png]

"The fuck!?" Arryn shouted, and he was fully awake.

His playful squirming transformed into a terrified flailing. A woman was hovering over him in the dim darkness of his room.

"Who are you?!" Arryn shouted... to the empty room.

His head jerked from left to right in search of the woman. He had been half asleep, but he remembered white hair. And her face... There had been something wrong with her face!

"H-hello?" Arryn called out nervously. His eyes roamed over the empty room. Nobody answered him.

His heart hammered against his chest at the rude awakening. Someone had opened the curtains and allowed a sliver of light into the room. The Elevator's glow did little to alleviate his nerves.

"Dale?" Arryn glanced over at the other bed and found it empty. He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. He had to calm down.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

His ragged breathing slowed, and Arryn was able to shoo away some of his morning jitters. He had been half asleep. Or maybe someone had stumbled into the wrong room.

"I need a drink..." Arryn muttered as he continued to rub his forehead. It would be good to get out of the Beldew Dungeon. It had been several months since he had felt real sunlight.

He simply sat at the end of his bed for a long while. He took some small solace from the quiet.

From the quiet?

"Why is it so quiet?" Arryn wondered aloud. He rose to his feet, suddenly full of alarm. He held his breath and listened, but there was nothing to hear.

The Diver's Den was completely and utterly quiet.

"Some... kind of event?" Arryn muttered. His eyes flickered over to the window. "Did something happen?"

He found his clothes scattered around the room, and his frown only deepened. He did not remember much from last night, but he was not the sort to leave his pants rumpled up on Dale's bed.

"Just shut up," Arryn said to himself. "You're looking for things to worry about."

His ears remained perked as he dressed, but he did not hear even a mouse.

"Alice?" Arryn banged on the wall as he slipped on his boots. "Alice, are you... awake?"

She did not answer, but Arryn stopped himself before his nerves took flight. She had breathed in his [Sleep Powder] the night before. It would take more than a little thumping on the wall to wake her up.

"One mess after another..." Arryn muttered, and he slowly opened the room's door.

The hallway outside was cast in darkness. The glowglobes that normally flanked the way had puttered out, and nobody had bothered to recast them.

"What is going on...?" Arryn wondered with a shiver. His thoughts turned uncomfortably to the white-haired woman he thought he had seen this morning. She had looked so much like...

He shook away the image.

"Hello?" Arryn called out. He started down the darkened hallway one careful step at a time. Only the barest thread of light from his own room illuminated the way.

He took a step and then another and then almost slipped. His boots stepped into a puddle, and he came to a nervous halt. He squinted and was able to make out the barest silhouette of wet flowing out from underneath a hallway door.

"Some kind of... leak?" Arryn wondered dimly as he tried to make sense of the oppressive silence. "Hellooo?!"

The hallway was almost completely black as he continued. It seemed the entire place was flooded. Each step earned him a wet squelch.

"Hello!" Arryn shouted, and his feet connected with something hard.

Arryn stumbled forward. He managed several wobbly steps, splish splash splish, and then toppled backwards. He had enough time to feel like an absolute fool as he fell...

...and then someone caught him.

"Oy!" Arryn shouted as he felt hands squeeze his shoulders.

He jerked his head around, and whoever caught him let him fall the last foot. The invisible hands left his shoulders, and Arryn landed on his back with a wet splash.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, and he pushed himself hurriedly onto his feet. His hands were sopping wet, but he did not care.

He spun around and around... but there was nobody to see.

Arryn bit down on his lip and stomped back the way he had come. The only light in the hallway came from his room's open door, and he practically sprinted for its warm glow.

"Am I still asleep?" Arryn muttered to himself as he slammed the door shut behind him. The Elevator glowed brilliantly outside the window and dispelled a little of his unease.

He took several shaky steps over to the window and only then remembered the wet that cloyed uncomfortably to most of his body. He looked down at his hands.

Arryn's heart caught in his throat.

He looked down at his legs, at his feet, and he felt suddenly faint.

Blood.

He was covered in blood.