Chapter 184 - Where?

Adeline was laying flat on her stomach when she slowly started to regain her consciousness. She furrowed her brows and slowly fluttered her eyes open. It was pitch dark so she closed her eyes again and thought, "Why do I feel like I slept for weeks when it is still dark? How long was I asleep for?" She felt as though she had just woken up from a very deep sleep.

She yawned and took a deep breath in but her lungs were filled with something cold and metallic instead of fresh air. "Mmmm…" and she quickly held her breath.

Slowly she realized that her cheek was pressed against something hard and cold instead of her warm and soft pillow. Half part of her body had gone numb because of lying down on that very cold and hard surface.

"Why is it so cold? Did I fall on the floor?" She slowly rolled over to rest on her back. And she could feel that she was not lying down on the smooth floor of her room. She was lying on an uneven surface, something was poking her here and there. She slowly rubbed her palm on the surface that she was lying on.

And suddenly, she flung her eyes open. "Rocks? Am I… am I inside a cave?" She tried looking around but it was too dark to see anything. "How did I even get here?" She took a deep breath in even though it stunk and tried to think of the last thing that she remembered. But the numbness of her body was constricting her thought process.

She rubbed her numb arms and legs for some time and after the numbness was gone, she slowly sat up. She held her head with both of her hands and thought for a while. She remembered being in her room and wearing the chain around her neck. And she remembered walking towards her wardrobe and… nothing.

And she screamed inside her head, "What the… was I kidnapped again or something? If I am really kidnapped then I swear I am going to kill the kidnapper this time. I am done being kidnapped again and again."

"Kidnapped!" Several thoughts started to flood inside of Adeline's mind. She began to sweat even inside that cold cave and her heart started to pound like crazy. "What if they kidnapped me so that I would miss my test? How long was I out for anyway? No, no, no… I cannot miss my test. I have to go back to the Palace. I have to get out of here."

Somewhere else, Nigel opened his eyes and found himself in a forest which he had never seen in his life before. There were pine trees everywhere around him and he was lying on the dead pine needles and fallen pine cones. He looked above in the sky and saw a full moon shining brightly. The air was really fresh and everything looked beautiful.

However, Nigel was confused as to how he got to that place. "What is this place? When did I get here?" He groaned and then got up on his feet. He looked down and he realized that he was completely naked. "Why am I naked?"

He pressed his temples hard and thought for some time. And then he remembered, "I was sleeping with Rhea. And I clearly remember that I was not naked. But what happened after I fell asleep then? Did I transform again and run away from the Palace?"

Nigel looked around again and whispered to himself, "But I don't recognize this place at all. Just how far did I run? And why can't I remember anything that I did while I was in my wolf form? I should be able to remember everything that I do in my wolf form. Something is not right here."

And all of a sudden, his nose caught a very distinct scent, the scent of blood. He felt a pinch in his heart the moment that smell entered his nose.

"Did I…" He checked his fingernails to see any traces of blood on them. There were none. And then he wiped his lips with his palm and looked to see if there was blood. He let out a huge sigh of relief after he did not find any traces of blood on him.

He was kind of sure that he had not hurt or killed any human. So he wanted to run in the opposite direction from where the sweet scent of blood was coming from. However, he still had some doubt whether he was really innocent or not. He wanted to check who was hurt so he cautiously began to walk in the very direction that he wanted to avoid.

Adeline pressed on her chest with both of her hands and breathed in and out several times. Her pounding heart calmed down a little. She felt the pendant resting inside her cloth and an idea struck her mind. She pulled the chain out of her cloth and also the pendant along with it. Thankfully, the pendant was still luminous. It was giving off a faint purple glow.

In that pitch dark cave, this faint glow was like a blessing for Adeline. She could use it as a source of light to get a general sense of direction around that cave. Something was still better than nothing.

"I have to find my way out of this cave as soon as I can. I don't think I can keep up with this strange smell for much longer. And I have to get out before my kidnappers come to find me again. I have to conserve my energy for the test. I can't waste it in any other fights."

She was treading very cautiously so as not to encounter her kidnappers or any other animals that lived inside the cave. As it was a cave, she thought that it was very likely that some predators lived inside.

Adeline walked for what felt like an hour but she did not find any opening of the cave. She had gone back and forth several times and had looked into each and every corner and other paths inside that cave. More than tired, Adeline was getting irritated at her own situation. "Why can't I find a way out? What rotten luck!"

She stood still for a while and thought calmly, "Maybe the opening was blocked if the intention of my kidnapper was to make me miss my test. I guess I should start pushing the walls, if I am lucky then I might find the blocked exit. But I guess I should first rest for 2 minutes. My legs are starting to get wobbly because of walking bare feet in these cold stones."

She was about to sit down on a rock and rest but exactly at that moment, she heard a screeching noise coming from far behind her. Out of instinct, she closed her eyes and tilted her head as the sound was too irritating. It sounded as though someone or something was grazing a sharp object along the rocky wall of that cave as it inched closer to Adeline.

She quickly put her pendant back inside her cloth so as not to easily give off her location to whatever that thing was.. However, the screeching noise was slowly approaching her as though that thing knew exactly where she was standing.