Stella's POV 

Soon the adrenaline wore off, replaced by exhaustion. The lack of sleep over the last few days caught up to me. The room the Graywick placed me in was full of comfort, temping me to sleep.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and glared with long blinks. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Knowing what would happen next, I succumbed to the exhaustion and laid down and shut my eyes.

"And look at that, nothing to bound me?" the Umbra Mortine asked with a smile as it looked at its free hands.

I shrugged as I stared at it, then looked at my sleeping body a few yards from me. "I'm already trapped. Why would I trap you too?" I asked with a smirk.

Graywick knew how much danger the Umbra Mortine was, but yet he just left me here, alone. It was as if he wanted something to go wrong. It made me realize that if Graywick was going to trap me, the least he could do was to experience the Umbra Mortine at its worst.

"I never thought I would hear that from you. Let's take a spin, shall we?"

"Works for me," I said as I watched the Umbra Mortine jump into my sleeping body.

Instantly, my hands grew black as I opened my eyes and got up from the bed. With confident steps, I walked to the locked door.

The Umbra Mortine rattled the handle with a frown. "It's locked."

"I know it is," I replied as I leaned against the door, waiting for its next move.

Normally when the Umbra Mortine took control, I never saw what it did. Or if I saw the Umbra Mortine, it was never in the place I was actually in. Instead, this was completely different. It was as if I was watching a movie and I was the main character, but I wasn't the lead. I was in the passenger seat as it took the reins.

I was not afraid as it smashed the door open with its brute force. Instead, a smile came to my face. Finally, I was watching the true power the Umbra Mortine had, and at the moment, I liked it. Graywick would now understand what kind of damage I could do. Finally, I would be his worst nightmare.

"Where are we going?" I asked as it walked down the hall.

"We are going to burn the library."

The smile I had slid down my face. I thought it was going to track down Darklings, not burn the library. We needed the Darklings to stand up against Graywick. That should be the most important thing. "What about the Darklings? I thought we would find them first?"

"And why would we do that? Don't you see that the library has information about my kind that I rather not disclose," it said as it stopped to look at me.

"But Graywick is in our way, remember? He is after us and our power. We need the Darklings to fight against him."

The Umbra Mortine leaned against the wall and chewed on its lip as it let my words sink in. "I liked how you used 'our'."

I nodded. I would say anything to get it to do what I wanted. "It's the truth, isn't it?"

It smirked in silence.

We both knew that if we did nothing, Graywick would come back to the room, ready to fight and take the Umbra Mortine. We couldn't let that happen. Especially when I had a feeling he would do exactly what he did to the Darkling when he pulled it into the room a few days ago.

Though the library might have been on the top priority for the Umbra Mortine, it wasn't even on my list. That library needed to stay intact. It had too many important works to destroy.

"How about this? Let's talk to the Darklings. We need to build up our army if we are going to fight against Graywick. Afterwards, we can go to the library," I suggested.

The Umbra Mortine picked at its black nails, then nodded. "Fine. I guess we should fight against Graywick first."

"Thank you," I said as it started forward again.

It took halls with sure steps, as if they knew exactly where they were going. It made me wonder if it had walked the halls before, before it found a home in me. "And you know where you are going?"

"I can feel when Darklings are near. They are connected to us. It's like something pulls me to them," it said as it took another hall.

"And what happens when you are close to them?"

"It's like my soul comes alive. It is a buzzing within me. I am stronger than any Darkling when I am near them. Just like when I soak in the color and light around us, it all strengthens me."

I tripped on a stone and fell to the ground, skinning my knee, although the Umbra Mortine did not stop to look at me. I jumped to my feet and continued after it. "And once you are strong enough, what about me?"

It stopped and turned to me with a smile. "I suppose I won't need you anymore. Your soul will fade until you are nothing but a dream and I will take full control."

As much as I tried to keep it together, the news still made me shake. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let it take control of my body. After it fought off Graywick, I would stop it to save myself. I wouldn't let it overpower me.

"But you don't need to fear this for very long. I think it is already in the final steps. Soon you will be nothing but a dream."

"I will not let that happen," I blurted out.

"There is nothing you can do to stop it," it grinned as it continued to walk forward at a quicker pace.

I ran after it as my heart pounded in my chest. Deep down, I knew there wasn't much time I had. But without Gray and Birch to help with the spell, I was stuck.

I fell again, and this time I landed on a hard item in my pocket.

"Can you actually keep up? This is actually getting pathetic. We are almost there," the Umbra Mortine sighed as it watched me get up from the ground.

"Sorry," I muttered as I rubbed where I fell on. The lump in my pocket reminded me of what I had. Birch gave me all the things I needed to complete the spell. Though I didn't have Gray or Birch, maybe I could do the spell on my own. That thought caused my heart to beat even faster.

"You there, listen here," the Umbra Mortine said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I watched as a Darkling cocked its head to the side, then ran up to us.

"I need you to tell all your friends to team up. We all know what Graywick is doing to your kind. Sucking your soul and power from your body is never fair. We want to put an end to that. We are raising a coup d'état."

The Darkling gave a screech of excitement, then nodded.

"We have little time for this. Go warn your friends. We will fight at sunrise"

"Sunrise?" I echoed as the Darkling ran off to find its friends. That had to be only an hour or two away. I thought we would have more time. There was no way that Darkling could gather everyone in such a short time frame. It was rushed and because of that, I knew it wouldn't be successful.

"Yes, I did not stutter. We need this to be quick. The slower we are, the more time it will give Graywick to attack."

"Ah, Stella, I didn't think I would see you outside your room, especially since it was spelled shut by a Forest Witch," Graywick's voice rang out.

The Umbra Mortine and I turned at once to face the sound of Graywick's voice and frowned.

"You will not stop us," the Umbra Mortine said as the color faded around us.

Graywick sank to his knees as he let out a labored breath. "Stella, do you really want it to take control like this? Think about it. Let me take the Umbra Mortine from you. Then you will be free."

I stood away from them as a pit formed in my stomach. Graywick was right, I didn't want this. But I wasn't sure how to break free. 

"Stella already decided. She's letting me drive," the Umbra Mortine said as it walked closer to Graywick.

Graywick shook his head as he lifted his blackened hand. Smoke came out of his fingertips, filling the space between them with black smog. "Somehow I don't believe that."

Unsure what to do, I stood still and watched as the two got ready to fight. Something told me that the outcome would not be pleasant, but I was not the one controlling the actions. The Umbra Mortine held my body with a vice grip. It tasted control, and it didn't want to give it up, not now.

Just as the Umbra Mortine was about to strike, Graywick snapped his fingers. Instantly, the Umbra Mortine dropped to its knees and cried out in pain.

An electric shock went through my spine, causing me to mirror the Umbra Mortine actions. I dropped to my knees, unable to move.

Graywick smiled as he walked up to the Umbra Mortine. "You shouldn't be shocked, dear. I always come prepared." He stroked the cheek of the Umbra Mortine, then elbowed it in the nose.

Blood ran down my face as the Umbra Mortine completely clasped to the ground.

I wiped the blood from my mouth, but in a blink of an eye, I was opening my eyes to see Graywick in front of me. I was no longer standing in the distance watching, but I was in control of my body once again.

With panic, I got up from the ground and looked around to see the Umbra Mortine was nowhere to be found. I held my hands up to the light to see that they were no longer blackened. I was back to my normal self. Whatever Graywick did, shut the Umbra Mortine down for the time being.

"Calm down, Stella," Graywick said as he lifted his hands in the air to show peace.

"What did you do? Where is the Umbra Mortine?"

"Just in the back of your mind, where it belongs," he said as he offered his hand to help me up.

My stomach lurched. I was going to be sick. I dry heaved, then took a deep breath in, trying to calm my stomach.

"I didn't expect the Umbra Mortine to take control so soon," Graywick said as he started walking towards the castle. "Come, let's get you back to your room."

"And what makes you think I'll follow?" I jabbed.

He turned to me with a smirk. "Because you want the Umbra Mortine out of your mind. And I can give that to you. All I want is the Umbra Mortine, then you can be free. Isn't that what you want?"

I nodded as I followed him. Suddenly freeing myself didn't seem so important. I didn't want the Darklings to come any more. Instead, I wanted to be free of the Umbra Mortine. But in the back of my mind, I knew I couldn't let Graywick take it. But yet, I was too weak to fight back. For now, I would follow him.

"Yeah. That is what I want."

He smiled, happy that I saw it his way. "Now come and rest. You look exhausted."

"The Umbra Mortine comes out when I'm resting."

"We can always chain you up. Make sure you stay put."

"Ok."

Within minutes, I was back in the castle, in a different bedroom full of colorful paintings. As I laid on the massive bed in the middle of the room, Graywick chained my wrist to the bedpost.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be this barbaric," he said as he locked the chains.

"It's ok. I'm used to it by now," I said to him, then tugged on the chain to make sure it was secure. "So when will we get the Umbra Mortine out of my mind?"

"We need to wait until the Umbra Mortine takes full control. Once it has full power, I'll take it from you. It shouldn't be more than a day or two until that time," Graywick explained.

"But what if I fight it? What if I don't let it take full control?" I responded to Graywick.

He smiled. "That's really cute. But we both know that will never happen. It will break you down and you will lose. The Umbra Mortine always wins. Now enough chatting. Rest. I'll be back later," he said, then walked out of the room, leaving me.

As I stared at the ceiling in silence, I thought about how I could get out of this mess. I had the stone and the root powder. That was all I needed to stop the Umbra Mortine. But without someone with me, I was scared to do the spell alone. The root could kill, Birch told me that. What if I took too much? What if it killed me?

I shook my head, shutting the fears the best I could. There was no way I could let the Umbra Mortine take control of my body and there was no way I would like Graywick to take the Umbra Mortine for himself. I had to fight my fears and just complete the spell on my own. That was the only option I had.

"So are we breaking out again?" the Umbra Mortine asked as it came out of the shadows of the room.

I shook my head. "No. For now, I am staying here. I am tired and we need to wait for the Darklings to come."

It walked to the window, then looked back at me. "They are already coming. I can feel it."

I pulled on the chains around my wrist. "Even if I let you take control, you can't break these."

"Watch me," it smirked as it ran its black pointed finger over the metal. "Come on Stella. Don't you want to stop Graywick? This is the best way to do that."

"Not going to happen," I responded to it.

It frowned at me as it walked closer. "Then I'll just have to take over the hard way," it said as it stuck its fingers into my chest.

I gasped as it pushed its way into my body. My body felt as if it was lit on fire but a second later, it turned numb. I could feel my control fading. "Stop!" I shouted, however it did little to stop it.

A smile was on it's face as it pushed deeper. 

It wouldn't stop. It was on a mission. I had to stop it. With a deep breath, I focused on pushing it out. "Stop!" I said louder as I took a deep breath in.

It pulled back its hand then took a few steps from me. It looked at its hand then shook it as if it was hurt. "Guess you still have some fighting within you. But know it's only time until your will power breaks."

And with that, it left in the darkness.

With my free hand, I rubbed my chest as tears came to my eyes. My chest burnt as if someone had dropped fire on it. Between the pain and the fear, I couldn't think straight. The only thing I knew was that I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to kill the Umbra Mortine now.