T W E L V E
Rotting Beauty

MY SCREAMS TORE through the entire room, echoing insanely as I gritted my teeth in pain. It felt as though a large chopping knife had been used to peel each and every layer of my brain off, the intensity multiplied by a tenfold as I let out screams of excruciating pain.

"Concentrate on Ida, Addison. Do not break it under any circumstances." I could hear Dimitri's voice yelling at me, telling me instructions that I had better follow if I wanted to survive this ordeal and live long enough to see the next sunrise. His words melted into my mind like honey in warm tea. I knew that I had no choice but to follow as instructed.

By my two sides, I could faintly register Calvin and Wilhelm taking position, holding my arms down so that I wouldn't thrash out of place. They held me to the spot, pinning my body down with their otherworldly strength. Though I knew that they were doing it for my own good, I couldn't help but struggle against them for my body wanted to escape the clutches of this agonizing torment.

I concentrated as hard as I could, picturing Ida's features, or rather my own, in my mind. I imagined her in her younger days before she knew Fabian and the time in which they were in love. That love was what I zeroed in on and focused all of my attention to. Hopefully, their burning passion would be enough to tide me through this ordeal and get me to the other side.

Just like how someone might have stepped on a fragile twig on the forest floor, all of a sudden, that pain disappeared. It melted away into nothingness, just a numb buzz that I could not completely feel. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the room of the Heart of Hell. I was in a dark void which contained no one exactly. From a distance, I could see multiple constellations and if I hadn't knew better, I might have thought that I was standing in the middle of space with how the stars glittered and shone with such magnificence.

"Ida?" I called out into the darkness only to have my voice echo back to me. There was no one in sight and I couldn't wonder if I had failed and was now trapped in a limbo of my own consciousness.

Needless to say, I felt completely lost. Unlike the previous times, I was completely alone. There was Bella, no Minnie, and no Dimitri to help me with all of this nonsense. In this void, I was the only soul left to venture what seemed like an infinite path into nothingness.

Just when I thought that all hope was lost and I truly was left in a place of no return, a swirling vortex of light began to appear out of nowhere. Without even waiting to see if this vortex was one that would benefit my cause or not, I jumped in with zero hesitance. I tumbled through to the other side, slamming into the ground with a groan as I rubbed the palms of my hands. There was a sharp scratching pain that had appeared due to the impact of my fall and I couldn't help but let out a string of curses and profanity.

When those foul words left my lips, however, I heard a few gasps around me. Immediately, I looked up to see that I was smack in the middle of a sort of town square that seemed to be set a few centuries back.

The women in the town were dressed in extravagant ball gowns that were tightly cinched at the waist. The cuffs of their sleeves were long and flowy, trailing with their every movement like a satin ribbon. Their dresses seemed to be made of the finest silk, shimmering under the sunlight and catching its rays whenever they moved even just the slightest. For the women that were not so extravagantly dressed, they too had dresses that reached the floor. Though it did not seem to be made with such expensive material like silk, the cotton fabric still allowed their garments to flow in the wind like an angel descending from Heaven.

My jaw dropped, shock flooding my body as I scrambled to my feet. To my utmost horror, I was the only one for as far as my naked could see that was dressed in modern clothing. More specifically, a large gray sweater and a pair of scuffed ripped jeans.

"Nothing to see here, ladies!" A woman called out from further behind the crowd.

The people parted for her to walk through and I was stunned to come face to face with a woman that had my exact same features. Her hair was curled and pinned up behind her in an elaborate hairstyle, decorated with jewels and expensive-looking accessories. She was dressed like the richer half of the population currently present, with a dress that looked as though it was made with satin and silk that draped her figure so perfectly she seemed like a model. Her lips were painted a fiery ruby red, complementing the bright red apples of her cheeks as she smiled delicately at me.

I wondered there and then if I were to be placed in the same get up, would people be able to tell the difference the both of us.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you in person, Addison." My look-alike said, smiling with her pearly white teeth as she waved the onlookers away. "Lola had told me about you and your friends and I thought I better come get you before you get stuck in limbo. Let me introduce myself. My name is Ida and I really apologize for overtaking your body the other night. I just had to speak with Fabian for one last time."

"So you're Ida. Wow, I never quite believed that my past lives would really look identical to myself. How weird." I commented almost absentmindedly, still very intrigued by this extraordinary event.

"Yes, I most agree. It seemed like a shock at first when I first saw you since most of your past lives and my reincarnations died young and remained in their childhood youth. You are the only one above the age of twenty other than myself. Come, walk with me."

Just following her without questioning, I tried to ignore the blatant stares that many passers-by shot me. They were probably whispering to their friends about this bizarre and abnormal stranger that had just entered their world. As much as I wanted to go over and clear up this mess, I was on a mission and every second counts.

"Please, Ida, you have to help me." I started, ignoring the burning stares at the back of my neck. More likely than not, these people were nothing more than a figment of my imagination since I was quite literally trapped in my own mind at the moment. "I need to find the libro vitae. It is the only thing that contains a possible solution to my problem!"

"Don't we all just want an easy solution to our problems?" Ida asked, her steps slightly ahead of me. "Everyone in the world wishes for a magical solution to their problems, do they not?"

"This isn't just my problem, Ida, it's the entire world's! You yourself said that if I do not come back to life, Hell will fall and the rest of the afterlife with it. If Lucius reigns, the world of the living will be next." I argued, gesturing wildly. "Besides, we have a new problem now. Lucifer had--"

"Escaped, yes I know." Ida swiftly cut in. However, the girl did not have a single ounce of care or bother. Instead, her face remained rather calm and composed, gently bending down to retrieve a flower from the glassy plains beneath our feet. It was then had I realized that we had long strayed away from the town square and was now instead in a deserted field.

"Then tell me where the book is. Lola said that it is in the old world and I was the only one with access to it. We assumed that the book will be here."

"Lola, of course she would tell you that." Ida chuckled under her breath, gently stroking the petals of the flowers. "That little girl did always have a thing for fun and games. Nothing's ever serious with her." She let the flower go, allowing it to drift along with the summer breeze that surrounded us. "The book isn't here."

"What do you mean the book isn't here?" My jaw dropped in surprise, eyes widening in complete flabbergast.

"This place is your own subconsciousness, Addison. Our mind. It is not something physical but rather mental. Even if the book were here, you will not be able to bring it back to the material world." Pausing in her steps, Ida stopped under a large oak tree. The branches of the tree and its leaves cast a slight shadow over her figure. If I didn't know better, I might have even thought that Ida was disappearing into the dark, melting into that shadow.

"Then do you know where it is?"

At this point of time, I was already desperate. I had to find out where the book was especially since the entire world could rest on this one thing. Not to sound too narcissistic, but the fate of my life could determine the entire world's existence as well.

Ida simply smiled, gently soothing the skirt of her dress down as she sat on the ground with the grace and beauty of a princess. Even though we had the same features, the same blue-green eyes and the same honey gold hair, Ida carried herself rather differently than I did. Her posture was always straighter, smile always more polite and her eyes always brighter. It was rather obvious that though we shared the same soul, she was an entirely different person as compared to myself.

"Yes, in fact I do." She answered vaguely. When I raised a single eyebrow in questioning, she shook her head. "You are already there, Addison. Lola led you towards the book is even though she gave you a hint rather than a direct answer. The libro vitae is just under you."

"Under me?" I gasped in astonishment, puzzled by Ida's words. "Stop talking in riddles and just tell me already."

"It is not safe for you to be in the old world for too long, Addison. It is time you return." With that, Ida stood back up to her full height, dusting off the grass from her dress before taking a step back. "You are a smart girl, Addison. Trust yourself."

The shadows of the great oak tree enveloped her, engulfing her figure as I pounced in after her. Instead of landing on her body like I had expected to, I was greeted with the same void that I had been in when I first entered this place. There was nothing in sight for all the naked eye could see and an unexplainable cold was starting to surround me.

I shivered, arms reaching up to wrap around myself in an attempt to keep warm but to no avail. Wherever the cold was coming from, it reminded me greatly of the boathouse and the frost that the personifications of the four brothers' powers had brought on to their surroundings. When I breathed out, a puff of white smoke came out as the cold nipped at the tips of my fingers.

"Ida!" I screamed into the void, only to have my voice echo into the distance with no reply. "Ida come back! Please, you've got to help me!"

As the cold grew and grew, frost started to appear on the coldest parts of my body before creeping towards the center. The blue was starting to spread, causing my fingers and toes to grow numb as my teeth chattered with each passing second. All too soon, the ice grew like vines on a tree, creeping up my arms and legs and towards the center of my body as I shivered. When the frost layered over my eyes, I was cast into a darkness that left me empty and alone, my eyesight failing as I dropped to my knees due to the loss of feelings in my limbs.

It was only by some sort of miracle had I felt two warm hands pressed against each of my own. When I dared myself to open my eyes, a scream tore through my throat as I jolted upwards. Just like that, I was back in the Heart of Hell, Wilhelm and Calvin holding onto my hands tightly. My chest heaved up and down as I took in large gulps of air. The electrifying pain in my head slowly melted away into a dull buzz as I shook my head gently.

"Addison, are you quite alright?" Calvin asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. It was only with the pressure of his hand against my shoulder had I noticed that I was in fact quaking and trembling from the ordeal.

"Andy, what happened?" Within seconds, Dimitri was by my side, shoving and pushing past Calvin as he grasped my hand in his. He reached up, swiping his thumb across my cheek to wipe a tear away as I sniffed. "Doll, why are you crying?"

"Did you get the book? See it at least?" Wilhelm asked from the background. From that sentence, he earned a glare from his brothers as Calvin shook his head of snow white hair.

"Not the time, Wilhelm."

"Then when is? If you aren't aware, time is a constant, something that will never stop no matter who you are. We are just wasting precious seconds here babying after someone that is obviously alright."

Dimitri opened his mouth to argue, lips already parted and no doubt a lecture forming in his mind. I raised a hand, resting my index finger on his lips as if to shush him. In an instant, he zipped his lips back close.

"Will is right, guys. I'm fine and there is no need to baby after me. Just a little scare from the trip, that's all. Nothing I can't handle after what you guys put me through." At my words, Dimitri frowned, guilt written all over his features. However, he did not say a single word.

"And the book?" Calvin inquired.

"I don't have it." Immediately, I could hear Wilhelm letting out a string of curses, swearing to the high heavens as Calvin's hopeful face drooped in disappointment. "Ida provided me a clue, that's it. She said that it was not in the old world for it isn't a physical dimension. The book, in her words, is under me."

Dimitri's dark eyebrows furrowed, set to a stern expression as he thought hard. He took a step back before assessing me, eyeing me once over before his line of sight rested upon the stone grave that I was still seated upon. Without a word, he walked back towards me, easily lifting me off of the grave with his hands against my waist before gently placing me back down onto the ground. I staggered for a few moments due to the sudden movement but otherwise stabled my movement.

All of us watched on in wonder and curiosity as Dimitri pushed at the lid of the grave, grunting with effort before allowing the stone lid to drop to the ground with a loud roar. The lid crashed against the dirt, cracking lightly at the side as I took a step towards the spirit of death.

"Dimitri, what are you doing?" I asked, peering over his shoulder.

He turned back, a bright grin gracing his handsome features as he smiled down at me serenely. "The book really was under you quite literally. Ida was right."

When I peered into the coffin, I nearly screamed in horror but managed to withhold myself at the last second. Resting in the grave was Ida, her skin a deathly pale like a sheet of printing paper and her eyes shut. Her eyelashes rested gently against her prominent cheekbones, the effects of time clear on her beautiful features even when dead. Even though she had been resting for what could already be centuries, Ida still had her flesh against her bones, most likely a work of Fabian's magic that prevented her from rotting.

Although this was indeed a sight to see, noting how Ida was a perfect replica of me and I was indirectly looking at my own dead body, there was another factor that had captured my attention. Under Ida's hands and entrapped in her embrace was an old leather-bound book that had a fine layer of dust settling upon its brown covers. A grin slid onto my lips when I noted the cursive writing in gold on the front cover, shimmering from the light that came from the brothers' tattoos.

I smiled, reading the title of the book out loud as Wilhelm cheered from behind me. "Libro vitae."

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