And Then There Were Four (Lilith Carrie)

Chapter 157: Anna

Cassie.

When Silas told me he knew of a place for us to go, I was expecting something fancy or perhaps something that was more… elegant, marble, and who knows what else. What I wasn’t expecting though was for him to take us to an old brick building with broken windows that looked wildly out of place to be within Asgard.

Pollux, Trixie, and Sansa decided to stay behind and snoop around the school to see if they could find anything that might be useful. With them looking around, no one would suspect them for doing anything, me, however, they would.

Yet, even though they were busy looking for information, I wished they were here with me. I wanted Pollux to see this building, to see how beautiful and strange the land around it was. One thing about my brother that no one knew but me was his love for history–a love for the past because the past makes us stronger.

The building reminded me of old ruins of castles in a way with its intricate archways and carved designs within the stone. I couldn’t help myself when I passed them to reach out and let my fingers brush against the ancient markings. My mind wandered to who these people must have been because it was far older than anything here now.

“Where are we?” I asked softly, my eyes turning to Silas, who smiled down at me with amusement. As if he knew a mil-lion secrets and wanted to tell me but didn’t know how.

“This is a structure from another realm, one that we no longer speak of because of the battle that commenced there thousands of years ago,” he replied as he gazed up at the structure running his own hands against the broken rock. “During the battle, they sought to escape and when the portal was opened, it moved the earth they stood on and anything else around.”

“Who is they?” I asked curiously, trying to understand how anyone could be so powerful that they could move all this earth and even structures.

Silas chuckled though as he glanced back at me. “You don’t know any of the stories, do you?”

I wasn’t sure why he was amused by me not knowing the stories of this place, and shaking my head, he pushed open the large wooden and brass door before us. The creek of the wood echoed against the silent air around Silas and me. I found myself stepping into a hall of darkness filled with cob- bled steps and cobwebs.

Silas moved forward down the cobbled steps further into the darkness, and I hesitated for a moment, I took a deep breath and forced myself forward. One thing people didn’t know about me was the internal fear I had of darkness. Not that anyone would suspect it–I hid my fears very well.

“Silas.” I called out into the darkness having lost him in my delay as I reached the bottom step. My eyes strained to see through the black void that filled my vision in front of me. “Silas?”

“Over here!” The dim lighting of a torch coming into view as he came around a corner, and once again I was able to see his smiling face. “Come on, what are you doing?”

What am I doing? Jesus, like I meant to get lost.

“Nothing, right behind you,” I replied, pushing a smile onto my face as I watched him turn, my steps right behind his. There was no way I was going to allow myself to get lost in this place again.

After a few minutes of walking, we came to another arch- way that opened up into more darkness. Silas stopped in his tracks and turned to the right, letting the lit flame of the torch to touch something on the wall, and as it did a wind blew through the room lighting every torch in sight.

reached high into the ceiling, multiple levels of books as far as the

you like it?” he asked, causing me to turn to

I said, my voice echoing, “how is this kept like it is? I’m

contem- plating what I had said. “It’s been forgotten, honestly. Not to mention the school explained to the gods it wasn’t a safe place for

the other, I wandered around

admire. From hand- carved tables with toppled chairs, tons of books that littered the floor,

ored spines as my feet crunched upon scattered papers, I was curious as to what had happened here to leave it in such

will

bounced off the walls, and as I turned to look at Silas from

furrowing my brow, “what

arms falling at his sides he stared at me, and the intensity of that stare made my breath catch in my throat. I didn’t understand what it was about him that made my heart flutter like it did, but twhen he stepped

for you to learn about the past. About the gods, and more importantly about

me, and the sincerity in his eyes let me know he was telling the truth. Yet, knowing Odin- my grandfather–and the others were hiding things from me didn‘t sit

face. “Because they don’t think you’re ready to know. I was ordered never to tell you, but I can’t keep things from you… not

say. He was going to tell me how he cared about me, but I didn’t need him

me wanted him to kiss me… part of me wanted

He let a small smirk cross his lips as he stepped

replied as I took a seat in the offered chair, watching him move about the room to a bookcase as if he had been here so many times

this place

popped his head

do you mean?” I asked, opening my mouth only for him to quickly come striding toward me with a brown

time… for now, first things first

the book open to a drawing of a woman with reddish brown hair and blue eyes. She was

my gaze from the book only to see him staring intently at the woman as if seeing her face brought back memories he hadn’t

“Something like that. Anyways… I guess it’s best to

as I watched him flip. the pages, I settled in for whatever story he had to tell me. If it would help me get closer to figuring out what was wrong with Lucas, then so

his, and her union to him was actually formed in

drawing Silas showed me the images of Bjorn and many other people explaining how the

the great

loved Bjorn, but when their eldest daughter died, Bjorn lost himself. His daughter was everything to him but his best friend killed her. A man he trusted, and Anna would have died too had Bjorn not