She had to do something, and soon, but then Frankie was hit with another blast of mind-blowing burning pain, and it left her gasping for air.
She would not let herself pass out. She could bear this. She would bear this.
She felt as though she was standing on the edge.
Time had risen and slapped her harshly in the face.
Hope seemed a distant entity. Nothing was working, dissolution hovered, and darkness ruled.
What then?
She looked up as though staring at Pestale and said out loud, "Think I'm done? Think ye will win? Oh no, I'm not done yet. I'll just reach deep inside m'self, and find an answer. Ye know that I will, and if that answer means I've got to sink into hell, ye know, I'll do that too. Aye, watch out, ye devil, for I'm coming, and I won't be leaving till I have what I want, And when I have it, I'll come up like a shooting star and we'll blast ye out of the universe, aye, and take this world back into the light."
Frankie felt the fierceness of her words and screamed out in pain as she rattled her shackles. She had to get free of them.
She had to become all Fios, but when she tried, she realized, both Fios and human were affected by whatever concoction Pestale had put together.
She released a scream filled with the agony and frustration she was suffering.
Damn, but she was in deep, deep shit.
* * *
How long have I been out?
Frankie licked her dry lips and then heard, Whisper Dust.
“Whisper Dust,” Frankie repeated out loud questioningly. “Did you just say that, Crystal?”
No response.
Crystal’s eyes were closed, and Frankie imagined that Crystal had forsaken her body for the time being, but that her mind still worked.
Frankie, Whisper Dust, she heard again.
“Of course, I could be hallucinating,” Frankie said out loud and gritted her teeth. “No way to tell.”
Something blue opened the cell door and stepped inside.
Frankie tried to focus as the form blurred before her eyes.
The voice that spoke was hoarse, as though he had a sore throat as he said, “Well, well, you are a pretty thing, aren’t you?”
What the hell? Was he talking to her? She stared hard and saw a huge Blue Demon. She hurriedly glanced at Crystal who was lying in a fetal position and unconscious. Frankie felt a shiver as her gaze met his eyes which were cold and lacked sympathy. He was staring at her.
“Who are ye?” Frankie asked doubtfully. “And are ye even here?”
“Oh I am here,” he answered in that gravelly voice. “Sventer asked me to look in on you two. I see Crystal is unconscious, which is what Pestale wants, but you, you are wide awake and just what I need to pass the time while I’m here.”
“Ye think so” To herself she said, okay, bravado might work if ye weren’t chained up here.
He laughed and answered her, a leer making him uglier than he already was, “I know so.”
He took a step toward her and Frankie tried hard to use a threatening tone. It wasn’t easy; because she was sure she was seeing double wavy images.
“Stupid—don’t be stupid. Ye can’t know what ye are dealing with,” Frankie managed to slur.
“Oh I know, little Fae, or whatever you are,” he answered sharply. “But, I’ve been needing some relief, and you look so inviting, strapped to the wall like that…I can just imagine you naked.”