The Librarian

The dinner was spectacular, all except for the icy silence that had settled over the table. My mind was buzzing as I tried to think my way out of the situation.

We were trapped by this crazy schizophrenic lady in this underwater... someplace. She had some kind of pet pretty-boy and didn't seem very eager to let me or Nico go. I didn't even know what she wanted us for.

"Can we leave?" I blurted out.

Leuce laughed like I had just told a hilarious joke. "Why of course not!"

"But why not?" Nico asked.

"Well you're our guests of course!" She smiled tautly, downing a gulp of champagne. "You can hardly leave a party!"

"Well how long does this party go for?" I asked.

"As long as I want it to." The threat in her voice was thinly veiled.

"Fabulous." I muttered, shoveling a forkful of kumara into my mouth. At least the food was good.

"Where are we?" Nico asked.

'Underwater." Adonis said dryly.

My eyes rolled on reflex.

"That's pretty vague." Nico said.

"We'll be coming up to land within the hour." Leuce assured us.

"But where?" I pressed.

Her eyes were sheened with a cruel breed of humour. "You'll see."

I groaned and kept at emptying my plate of its roasted ham and vegetables. The table fell back into the icy silence that not even the warmth settling within my filling stomach could melt.

Leuce and Adonis picked at their meals like they were performing open heart surgery. Nico and I were sitting quietly waiting for them to finish for what seemed like over an age. In the end, they didn't finish.

Well at least not before we all felt the rush of increasing altitude as our ears popped at the room flooded with golden light.

Notes