EXTRA 3

All four men stood frozen on the spot, their eyes focusing on something hidden within the darkness. The voice that echoed against the walls sounded like one of a woman, but they couldn’t be too sure.

Luciano covered his nose with his hand, unable to stand the rotten stench that came from the corner, overwhelming his senses.

He wasn’t sure why the other men didn’t react the same as he did. In fact, neither of the Alphas seemed at least a little bothered by the stench.

“How are you still alive? You reek like you owe death a couple of years,” Luciano couldn’t help but gag as he spoke.

Dominic, Ryder and Vlad instantly focused their gazes on him. Dom was the first one to question Luciano, “what are you talking about? What stench? I can’t smell anything but maybe some mold and a scent I can describe as, I don’t know, old?”

Ryder and Vlad instantly seconded Dominic’s words. How was it possible that only Luciano could smell the stench and his friends couldn’t catch on it was beyond him.

The dark chuckle that echoed against the walls silenced their banter and all men once again focused on what they couldn’t see. “A true King, indeed.”

The four men exchanged glances, growing more confused by the seconds. How was anything in this God forgotten place connected to the King? And Luciano at that? He hadn’t sat on the throne for long enough to bring as many changes as he wanted to see, let alone imprison someone.

“Forgive my ignorance and the spontaneous comment I just made, but may I ask who you are and why are you here? The cells seem to be a forgotten place in this castle, which makes me wonder for how long you have been locked inside here. If not for my friends, I wouldn’t know someone was here,” Luciano took a step closer to the dark corner.

All this time, he had tried his best to remain respectful. As an Alpha, he could overlook his explosive nature, but as the King, Luciano wanted to stand as the best example he could be to his people.

Besides, whoever was hiding in there, it didn’t radiate off a sense of danger or malicious intents. Luciano had a genuine feeling that the creature or person was a victim, not an enemy.

“A respectful King, eh? That’s a first, indeed,” the voice laughed.

Dominic tried to grab Luciano’s upper arm to stop his friend from getting into danger, but Luciano moved aside and shook his head.

“Stay back for now, please. I don’t think the owner of the voice is dangerous. If anything, I believe we have found a victim, a well kept secret of someone who used to live here, if not one of the previous Kings themselves. Let’s focus on the fact that we are here to help, not add more hurt and damage.” Luciano didn’t break eye contact with Dominic as he spoke.

He needed his best friend to see the silent plea and focus on what was important rather than let the fear of the unknown lead him.

“Alright,” Dominic whispered and took a step back.

Ryder and Vlad both exchanged confused glances, but followed Dominic’s example and took a step back, letting Luciano deal with the issue at hand.

Slowly, the King neared the corner and extended his hand for whoever was waiting for him here. Luciano fought to keep the tone of his voice as even as possible as he spoke, “we didn’t come here to bring any harm. King or not, before that I am just a man, seeking answers. Please, take my hand and I will help you out of here. No one should be locked in a place like this and left alone for as long as I assume you have spent here.”

Something moved in the darkness and Luciano instantly froze. He didn’t pull back his hand no matter how hard his inner voice screamed for him to back away and mind his own business.

Deep down, he had a feeling that some of the things that were happening to them had to be connected to whoever sat in that corner.

The sound of cracking concrete echoed against the walls as the creature hissed, “I allowed my roots to travel too deep down into the ground over the years. The things you do to survive, huh?” It chuckled bitterly.

“I understand,” Luciano muttered, forcing his feet to take another step closer.

“No, you really don’t,” the creature hissed. “Although you in theory have nothing to do with my misery, it was your kind who locked me in here. It was the Royal bloodline who tossed me into this abyss to be forgotten about and later cried about the consequences the actions of their ancestors brought upon them. I’ve spent so much time here, alone and scared, no one could know the extent of my suffering.”

Luciano didn’t know what to say. He felt for the creature, but there were no words he could say that could undo the damage.

Every word that would fall over his lips would be nothing but empty blabbering for the one who was the real victim in this situation, for the one who had endured so much while the rest of the world lived in the bliss of ignorance.

But all that aside, what really worried Luciano was who could have committed a crime like this. Who could have been so vile and heartless to hide a being inside here just for it to be forgotten by the living and time?

“My King, could you give me a hand? I can’t reach it,” the creature spoke again, this time, pleading for help.

Luciano felt like he could hear years of hopelessness in the voice.

“I am no King of yours. You have no King, not after the King has obviously been the one who brought this upon you. You, whoever you are, are free of the ruling of the King. I am nothing but a servant at your mercy from now on. I doubt I could undo the suffering and pain in my lifetime, many more would be needed, but rest assured I will do anything in my power for that,” Luciano spoke as he reached his hand into the darkness and felt something slimy on his palm.

Cold shivers ran down his spine as a claw-like hand gripped his, but he didn’t move or try to pull back his hand. At this point, Luciano was dead set on doing anything he could to get the prisoner out of their hell and get to the bottom of what had happened.

“No. You are my King. One after another, I listened to them change, slaughter each other for the throne and not even one has ever bothered to show me kindness. To find me,” the creature spoke as it tugged Luciano’s hand and tightened the hold around it.

Luciano shook his head. “No, I have no credit for this. I already said earlier, if not for my friends, I would keep living without knowing about this place. About you.”

“A King is someone who does everything in their power for their people. Be the people poor, wealthy, sick or healthy. Be them ugly or beautiful. A King stands for them all. A King admits the mistakes and owns up to them. You are my King, Luciano Vincent. Now, pull me out of here, have those three handsome fellas help you get my roots out of the abyss and I might repay the favor by telling you why that firefly beautiful woman of yours keeps losing the heirs.”

Luciano glanced over his shoulder and grinned at his friends, “ready to help us here, handsome fellas?”

While Ryder and Vlad appeared a little reluctant, Dominic, as always, was ready to jump in and go along with anything his best friend was up to.

He approached Luciano with no doubt on his features, just pure determination, and instantly reached his hand into the scary, dark corner, next to Luciano’s.

Dominic felt the shivers run down his spine, but ignored the sensation. The whole situation was weird and rather eerie, so it was better to forget what thinking was, and just going with it.

Since the two Alphas didn’t approach them yet, Dominic glanced over his shoulder like Luciano earlier had and growled. “Aren’t you two pussies going to help us here? Come on, we have been promised the answers, do it for Seth, damn it!”

The mention of Seth did the magic. Both Ryder and Vlad hurried to their side without uttering a word and repeated the same actions, reaching their hands into the darkness and gripping hands of the creature.

“Not to make this weird, but we all are holding a hand, right?” Vlad muttered.

“I’m holding one,” Luciano answered.

His words were followed by Dominic and Ryder adding, “me too.”

“I have five more if you want to ask for more help,” the voice chuckled.

The four men exchanged glances, but neither of them offered any verbal input.

“So, what now? Do we try to pull you out? I fear it might hurt you, since you mentioned roots earlier. Won’t we snap some if we use excessive force?” Luciano asked, growing visibly uneasy.

Although he had no idea what he was about to see, hurting someone was the last thing he wanted to do. Especially someone who had suffered this much because of some awful people, who sat on the throne before Luciano did.

“If you’re careful, you won’t hurt me. Just make sure you don’t pull too fast and there are no sudden movements. Nice and easy should be fine,” it replied.

“Alright, guys, start pulling but be as careful as you can. We don’t want to hurt anyone,” Luciano muttered, making Dominic laugh.

“Yeah, except for your back, old man.”

Luciano ignored the comment and focused on the most important matter - getting the creature out and figuring what had caused all those miscarriages. If just a mere thing such as pulling someone out of the abyss of darkness would give him the answers he desired, Luciano was ready to go above and beyond for that.

“Okay, now be careful and pull,” Luciano muttered and all of them slowly started pulling the hands out of the darkness.

He focused on anything but the need to look at his own hand. Luciano knew the creature was something he hadn’t encountered ever before, so he could ruin this just by one glance.

Something in the darkness snapped and all of them instantly froze. “Are you okay?” Luciano asked.

“Yes, I will scream if I’m in pain, not to worry now. It was one of my roots, releasing the dirt around it, that’s all. Keep pulling, just a little more and I should be able to get out of here for good, my King,” it replied.

Luciano glanced at the Alphas. “Ready?”

Dominic, Ryder and Vlad nodded at him, more than ready to go along with anything Luciano wanted. They were in this mess together, all of them wanted to give Seth what she desired and finally, they stood so close to the closure, they couldn’t give up anymore.

“Okay, pull,” Luciano commanded and they did just that.

Slowly, they could start stepping away from the darkness, getting the creature closer to the little light that illuminated the cells.

“Stop!” The creature shouted, startling the four men.

All of them immediately dropped the hands they were holding. The creature pulled the hands back into the darkness so fast, neither of them had enough time to steal a glance. “I am not hurt, not to worry, my King. The roots have been released, I thank you for that. But I want to leave this corner with no help. I want to walk out with my head held high. I deserve that much,” it explained.

“Of course, whenever you are ready,” Luciano answered and bowed to the creature he still couldn’t see. For some reason, he felt like he had to show his respect to whoever he had just helped.

“The Kings don’t bow,” the creature gasped.

“This one does if he faces someone, worthy of his respect,” Dominic quickly interjected, slapping his hand on Luciano’s shoulder.

Silence that surrounded them became deafening. Neither of the men were sure what was to happen next and how the mysterious creature would react or act now that it had been set free.

As the sound of rustling came from the dark corner, all four of them held their breaths, eyes focused on the corner.

Slowly, hands emerged from the darkness, all nine of them. The hands were slender with nails longer than the fingers, covered in moss and slimy substance.

“I missed the light. I have missed the sun and fresh air. I miss the chatter and sounds of nature. I miss my home,” the creature whispered.

Lucano and the Alphas stood frozen, watching how the creature revealed itself bit by bit. The roots that were mentioned appeared next, and just like roots - they looked exactly how all of them imagined those.

Then, the body and head finally appeared. Just as Luciano suspected, the creature looked like a female. It didn’t have hair, but instead of that it had something that resembled a hat, covering the head. As it turned, Luciano wondered if it would be rude of him to ask why the woman had a hat that made her look like a mushroom.

The more it revealed itself, the sooner they all understood that every weird thing about the creature was a part of it. Not a weird way of fashion sense, but an actual body part.

Once it stood right in front of them, the roots below her started moving. She had no legs, so those had to be what she could use to move around.

“My King,” she muttered and bowed just like Luciano had earlier. “It is my honor to stand in front of you. Break the lock and I shall reward you,” she added and pointed one of the slimy hands to a massive iron lock and chains that were wrapped around the neck.

“Wait, show me what is that,” Dominic reached for the lock, but she slapped his hand away.

“Don’t. Only the King can touch and break it. It is no regular metal. If it were, I would have escaped this place centuries ago. This is the only thing that has held me trapped here. If not for the lock, I wouldn’t have to let my roots down here to survive.”

Luciano, still amazed by the magnificent creature, just stared at her until he found the words that could pass his lips. But even then, those weren’t what everyone expected. “What are you?”

The cold gaze softened as it focused on him, “I, my King, am nature.”