Chapter 5

  Alanna slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but began to clear. Her arms ached for some reason. Like something was pulling on them. Alanna looked up. Her hands where tied and she was hanging off the branch of a tree by her hands, her feet dangling over the ground that was a few feet away.
  "Ah, look who's awake." Alanna glanced up. The man who had kidnapped Alanna was standing on the ground in front of her.
  Alanna's heart raced as she took in her surrounding. This part of the forest was darker then any part she had ever adventured into. There was a giant cave in front of her, but the strange thing was, it was like a big whole in mid air. There was no mountain that someone could have dug into, no trees that could have fallen to make a sanctuary. It was just a whole in mid air.
  Alanna looked down at her kidnapper. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" She tried to keep her voice from quivering.
  The man giggled in an annoying way. "My name is Runlia, and I am here to kill you."
  Alanna rolled her eyes. "I can see that. I mean why are you trying to kill me?"
  Runlia rolled his eyes. "My dear, in order to make it in life you must have money. So by getting rid of you I will gain a lot of money."
  Alanna looked confused. "Who is paying you? Who could possibly want me dead?"
  Runlia giggled once more. "Hmm lets see." He placed his finger on his chin. "How about the guy who took you in or the man who puts food on your table." He paused and leaned in closer to Alanna, which didn't help much since she was dangling from a tree. "I know! Old slave master perhaps?" he said that last sentence slowly, stretching out the words.
  Alanna gasped. She knew Phineas was mean to her, but never expected he would pay someone to have her killed.
  Runlia smiled and giggled again. "Oh, I love it when they put the pieces together!" he said with a joyful tone.
  Alanna looked back up at him with a questioned brow. Why was he enjoying this? "Why you?" Alanna asked. "I've never seen you before in my life. You certainly don't come from my village. What makes you so special? Out of every one that could have killed me why did it have to be you?"
  Runlia sighed a little to dramatically. "You suck the fun out of everything don't you?" Runlia clapped his hands together. "If you must know..." he paused.
  Suddenly, he disappeared. Alanna glanced around frantically. Where could he have gone? Alanna felt something brush by her ear. She looked from the corner of her eye and saw Runlia leaning beside her ear, dangling upside down from the branch.
  "He doesn't want you anymore," Runlia whispered.
  Alanna rolled her eyes. "That much I figured," she replied. "But why have I not seen you before? Why would Phineas choose you?"
  Again he disappeared then reappeared on the ground. "Oh, my darling," he began. "You have seen me many times." Alanna was confused. "When you were a young girl." Runlia raised his head towards Alanna.
  Her face was twisted with confusion. "Explain!" she demanded. "I have never seen you before."
  Runlia lowered his head once more. "Of course not." His voice grew to a whisper. "You knew me long ago before your mother was so brutally killed."
  Those words pierced Alanna's heart. She shook her head violently. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" she yelled. "My mother is not dead! I know she's alive somewhere."
  "If only she was, girl," he said, his voice still a whisper. "To have your mother with me again would be a dream come true. To sit beside her, to walk with her in the meadow." He paused. "To hold her in my arms once more," he said even softer.
  "You're lying!" Alanna shouted. Tears began to stream from her eyes. "I never knew you, and you never knew my mother."
  "On the contrary," Runlia said, his voice perking up. "I knew your mother since the day she was born. We were the best of friends growing up. I fancied your mother as we grew older. I was planning on marrying her."
  Alanna shook her head, and clinched her eyes shut. "Stop it! It's not true! Why would you lie to me like this? If you were planning on marrying my mother then why didn't you?"
  Runlia slowly walked a little closer to her. "Oh believe me, darling, I would have. I had the ring and everything." His face grew hard. "But it was your father who got in my way. He stole your mother from me. Got into her head, and twisted her mind. Made her love him more then me!" he practically spat out his words in disgust.
  Tears began to pour down Alanna's face. "No," she could only whisper. "You are lying. My father would never do that. My mother just must have not loved you anymore."
  Runlia's face grew in anger. "She married him after one month!" he yelled. "I'd known her her entire life! How could she choose him over me?!" Runlia sighed. "After your mother was killed your father blamed me. He had the entire village hunt me down." Runlia raised his hand making a ball of blue fire appear. "That's when I had to use my new found gift to escape. With the help of a young man I must say."
  "Phineas," Alanna could barely say.
  Runlia nodded his head. "He helped me escape, and I promised to one day return the favor by what he asked. Unfortunately, this is what he asked. After I got away I was able to wipe the memory's of everyone who knew me."
  "Then how does Phineas remember you?" Alanna asked.
  "Because I gave him a promise," Runlia answered. "And not even my magic can break a promise."
  Alanna lowered her gaze. "I really did know you," she whispered.
  Runlia clapped his hands together. "I may be a murderer, but I am certainly no lier."
  "Well that makes me feel so much better," Alanna answered with a thick sarcastic voice. "Why don't you just give me my memory back?" she asked.
  "Because that would require giving everyone their memory back," Runlia answer. "And even though both of your parents are gone I will not take that chance."
Suddenly a high screech sounded in front of them, coming from the black void in the world.
  Runlia laughed annoyingly again. "It's time," he said with a joy in his voice.
  A giant, hairy black leg emerged from the void followed by seven more. A giant body was the next thing to peek it's way out with a massive head and eight eyes.
  Alanna gasped, and dropped her jaw wide open. "Since when are spiders that big?! Or make that kind of noise?!" she shouted.
  Runlia smiled. "Since just now."  
  Alanna watched in fear as the eight, piercing, black eyes took a step towards her.