Bellamy didn’t reciprocate the desperate almost bruising kiss. He just lay there, and let Astonia do whatever she wanted. The Huntress continued to kiss Bellamy as deft fingers began to undo the buttons of his shirt. She started to have trouble with one of the buttons, however, and growing impatient decided to simply rip Bellamy’s shirt open, sending buttons flying through the room.
Bellamy’s eyebrows rose at the action while Astonia just smirked against his lips and kissed a trail of hot, wet kisses down to his collarbone where she nibbled at his flesh there. Bellamy had the sinking feeling that Astonia was trying to give him a hickey, and was already worrying about how he’d hide it from his mother.
Astonia pulled back and admired her handiwork for a moment before resuming her ministrations and kissing her way down Bellamy’s bare chest. Bellamy turned his head to the side as he tried to ignore what was happening and where Astonia was most likely headed.
Astonia kissed her way down Bellamy’s lean, muscular chest until she reached his bellybutton. She decided to lick his bellybutton teasingly before laving her tongue down his happy trail to the waistband of his pants. “Let’s see if little Belle wants to come out and play. Shall we?” The Huntress started to undo the top button of his pants.
Bellamy gulped, and the sound of his zipper being pulled down seemed strangely loud in his ears.
At that very moment the sound of dogs barking and howling from right outside the house reached their ears. Bellamy’s brow furrowed in confusion as he wondered how his mother could possibly be back already. He realized that something must have happened and unceremoniously shoved Astonia off of him before running over to the window and moving the curtain aside so he could look outside.
Bellamy looked down and saw his mother’s dogsled, but…there was no sign of his mother. The burlap sack filled with the woodcarvings was still attached to the back of the sled. A chill of unease crawled up his spine at the sight. “Mother!” He snatched his glasses off the nightstand, put them on, and ran for the door.
Astonia was shocked by Bellamy’s sudden behavior. “Bellamy? What’s going on? Hey!”
Bellamy ignored her as he exited the bedroom, flew down the hall, ran down the stairs, and headed for the front door. He spotted Astonia’s old-fashioned double-barrel shotgun sitting next to the door and picked it up. On an afterthought, he decided to grab Astonia’s leather knapsack that was most likely filled with cartridges for the shotgun.
Astonia’s indignant shriek came from the top of the stairs. “Bellamy DeWinter, don’t you dare walk out that door!”
Bellamy glanced over his shoulder up at Astonia, who’d hurriedly wrapped the bed sheet around her body. He held up her shotgun and smirked. “I’ll be borrowing this, babe. Thanks!” Bellamy opened the front door, exited, and slammed the door shut behind him.
“Bellamy! You get your ass back here, right now! Argh!” Astonia’s outraged scream could be heard through the door.
Bellamy continued to ignore the Huntress, and rushed over to the sled. “Hey, boys, what happened? Where’s Mother?” He pet and soothed the whining dogs. Bellamy walked around the sled and examined the burlap sack filled with woodcarvings. Three slashes had been ripped into the fabric.
Those slashes looked like…claw marks. Mother! Bellamy thought worriedly. Not even bothering to get his winter coat, he hopped onto the sled, grabbed the reins, and leaned forward to speak to the dogs. “Take me to Mother, boys. Mush!” He snapped the reins, and off they went.
The dogs unerringly took Bellamy through the forest until they reached a fork in the road. A fallen tree barred the left path, but the dogs didn’t even pause and took the right fork, heading down this side path until the sled exited the edge of the forest to reveal an enormous frozen lake.
Again, the dogs didn’t hesitate as they shot out running across the frozen lake’s surface. Bellamy heard the sound of the ice cracking beneath them, and gulped. He looked over the side of the sled, but the ice appeared to be holding their weight. For now.
Up ahead was a thick cloud of mist that Bellamy wasn’t able to see through. The dogs didn’t seem to be bothered by the mist though and as soon as they’d successfully crossed the lake they entered the mist and continued their way until they came to a towering, black wrought-iron gate that was a part of a stone wall that encompassed a large estate.
The way the gate opened on its own made Bellamy wonder if it were electric. As soon as they were able the dogs shot forward pulling the sled inside and past the outer wall. The dogs led Bellamy past the gardens. Out of the corner of his eye, Bellamy noticed that all of the plants, trees, bushes and flowers all appeared to be made out of different color quartz stones.
The stone garden was amazing, but Bellamy barely noticed its splendor due to his worry about his mother. Any other time, he would have definitely stopped the sled, whipped out his magnifying glass which he always kept handy in his back pocket, and studied the stones to his heart’s content.
Bellamy’s blue eyes flared as the Tudor-style mansion came into view, and then towered over him impressively. It appeared to be made out of ice. No…a blue quartz stone, perhaps?
It was stunning, but Bellamy was still more concerned about his mother than anything else. As soon as the sled stopped in front of the staircase that led to the mansion’s front door, Bellamy hopped off the sled, and ran up the slippery stairs.
He didn’t bother knocking, just grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door before letting himself inside. “Mother? Mother! Where are you?” Bellamy called out as he made his way into the foyer.
Bellamy started when he caught sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye. He spun and saw a statue made of onyx that looked like a butler. Oookay.
He chose to ignore the statue for the moment, and continued his way further into the mansion, while continuing to call out for his mother.
“Bellamy?” a raspy voice reached his ears.
Bellamy narrowed his eyes at the door the voice appeared to have come through and opened it. He ran down the steep stone steps and entered what could only be described as a medieval dungeon - a long corridor with cells on either side. He swallowed and called out again, “Mother?”
“Bellamy, I’m over here,” Doris called out weakly.
Bellamy followed the sound of his mother’s voice until he found the cell that she was in. He set the shotgun and leather pouch down on the floor before grabbing the cold, metal bars with his hands, and peering inside of the cell. The cell was incredibly primitive, and looked like it had simply been carved out of the rock and then enclosed with a barred door.
Bellamy frowned when he noted that there didn’t even appear to be a bed for his mother to lie on. “Mother!” He called out to her, spotting her seated on the floor towards the back of the cell with her back against the hard, cold stone.
Doris forced herself to stand even though her back ached and walked over to the barred cell door. “Bellamy, what are you doing here?” She shook her head. “It’s too dangerous for you to be here. You need to leave this place before she comes back.”
“She?” Bellamy shook his head; there was no time for that now. He had to get his mother out of there as quickly as possible! He looked around wildly for something he could use to break the padlock on the door. Shit. He was beginning to feel helpless when his eyes landed on the shotgun he’d borrowed from Astonia. He decided the butt of the shotgun would have to do.
Bellamy picked up the shotgun and slammed its butt end into the padlock until the lock broke. “Yes!” He flung the cell door open. The barred door protested against its rusty hinges and creaked loudly. Bellamy rushed inside and immediately wrapped his mother up in a protective hug. “Mom. Don’t worry. I’m getting you the hell out of here.”
Doris hugged Bellamy back, but a frown formed on her face. “But, she-”
“Shhh. Come on, let’s go.” Bellamy picked up the shotgun along with the leather pouch before placing an arm around his mother’s waist in order to support her so that they could begin their escape. In this manner, they began to climb the stairs that led to the first floor of the mansion.
As Bellamy helped to keep her standing, Doris admired her brave, strong son for a moment, and couldn’t help but notice that the front of his shirt appeared to have been ripped open. “Bellamy, what happened to your shirt?”
“It’s a long story, Mom,” Bellamy replied evasively, and decided to quickly change the subject. “Who the hell has an actual dungeon in their home these days, huh?”
Doris eyed Bellamy suspiciously for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. She’d make Bellamy tell her all about it later. “It’s like something right out of a horror movie.”
They exited the door at the top of the stairs, and made their way into the foyer with its magnificent, checkered, rainbow-colored stone floor. “We’re almost there,” Bellamy said softly as they headed for the front door.
“Halt right there!” a growling female voice called out in an imperious tone.
Shit. Bellamy turned to face the voice, and gawked at the sight before him. “The yeti?” A creature with a feminine appearance was descending the curving grand staircase, which led to the second floor landing. The yeti was covered in fluffy, white fur all over except for its face and midriff where it had blue skin. The creature’s eyes were a solid silver color with long, dark lashes. Bellamy’s eyes darted up to the tiny horns on the beast’s head. “It’s real?” He raised the shotgun in his hands and pointed it right at the yeti. “Stay back you…monster!”
The yeti’s eyes flashed with anger and she let out an enraged roar before running the rest of the way down the stairs. Bellamy hesitated since he wasn’t a hunter or killer, but then pulled down on the trigger anyways. His hesitation cost him though, and the yeti nimbly dodged the shot.
“Shit!” Bellamy swore, realizing he didn’t have time to reload the shotgun before the creature would be upon him. The yeti grabbed the shotgun right out of his hand and proceeded to crumple the gun into a ball with its bare hands. “Holy crap!” Bellamy blurted as he took in the creature’s show of superhuman strength.
Doris was looking at Bellamy with a shocked expression on her face. “Bellamy, where did you get a shotgun?”
The yeti opened its mouth and roared loudly into Bellamy’s face. “You…you tried to shoot me! You…you’re a hunter, aren’t you?” she demanded in a scathing tone.
Bellamy was surprised by how feminine the yeti’s voice sounded, and he also couldn’t help but notice that the yeti appeared to be wearing dark blue lipstick. Okay, that’s weird. He thought. “I…I’m not a hunter. I just came here to get my mother.”
“Ah, yes, your mother,” the yeti sneered, her expression darkening. “She will not be leaving here any time soon. She is a thief and must pay for her crimes.”
“My mother is no thief!” Bellamy objected, his anger beginning to overshadow his fear of the yeti. “What do you claim that she stole?”
“This!” The yeti whipped out a rose quartz crystal and shoved it in Bellamy’s face so he could get a better look at it.
Bellamy’s heart sank in his chest at the sight of that beautiful rose quartz stone - instantly realizing that this was all his fault. Everything was always his fault.
The yeti took Bellamy’s silence as agreement to his mother’s crime and smiled cruelly. “Your mother has earned herself life imprisonment. She will never leave here. We won’t let her. You, however, are free to go.” The creature waved her hand at the front door and gave Bellamy an expectant look.
Bellamy fleetingly glanced at the door, gauging the distance he and his mother had to cross before making it out of there. He swallowed and focused his attention on the yeti once more. “We?”
Bellamy hoped that maybe the yeti was bluffing about not being alone. If she were alone then maybe if Bellamy fought against the creature he could buy his mother enough time to escape.
But that’s when Bellamy caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced around the foyer. He blinked. There were suddenly a bunch of stone statues inside of the foyer that hadn’t been there before. The statues had been carved to resemble maids and butlers, and had been made out of a variety of different types of semi-precious stones.
“Statues…?” Bellamy muttered to himself when they started to move and close in around him and his mother. His eyes flared in alarm. The statues…were alive? Damn, now they were totally outnumbered. How could he get his mother out of there now? He wracked his brain for a solution. His sickly mother would never last down in that cold, dark dungeon.
A sudden desperate, wild idea came to Bellamy. He turned to look at the yeti and raised his chin. “You’re wrong. My mother is not a thief. I told her to bring me back a rose quartz for my stone collection. Therefore, the blame lies with me. Allow me to take my mother’s place down in the dungeons.”
A flicker of surprise crossed the yeti’s face at Bellamy’s suggestion. “You would do that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll eat you up?” The yeti reached out and caressed Bellamy’s cheek with her blue-skinned and clawed hand.
Bellamy gulped as he looked at the sharp, black claws on the yeti’s hand. His gaze shot up and he watched as the yeti licked her lips and gave him a predatory look. Or at least, she tried to give him a predatory look…he couldn’t help but compare the look to Astonia’s. There was something off about how the yeti girl was looking at him. Was she faking her malevolence? “I’m not afraid to die…if it means my mother will be safe.”
“Bellamy!” Doris objected, wringing her chilled hands together.
“Very well. You may take your mother’s place in the dungeons,” the yeti girl said without taking her eyes off Bellamy. “And your mother is free to go.”
“No!” Doris grabbed onto Bellamy’s arm and shook it. “Bellamy, I can’t let you do this! Not for my sake! I’m old, I-”
Bellamy placed his hand overtop Doris’s hand on his arm, and gave her a stern look. “Mom, I won’t cause you more suffering. I’ll be alright. Trust me. Go.”
The yeti let out a huff, she was beginning to grow impatient with this sappy goodbye and she spoke to her stone servants. “Escort this young man’s mother outside and make sure she leaves the estate.”
“What? No!” Doris objected as two stone statues shaped like maids grabbed Doris by her arms, picked her up, and unceremoniously carried her towards the front door while her feet dangled above the checked floor.
“Mother!” Bellamy called out in concern, and shot a heated glare the yeti’s way. “You don’t have to be so rough with her.”
“Be gentle with his mother,” the yeti called to her servants who obediently set Doris down on the floor and simply walked beside her as she reluctantly made her way to the front door.
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