Almost as soon as they were gone, the white figure was running back, heading straight for her.
This time around, Belladonna wasn't concerned about been seen or trampled upon in a way that would bring her pain.
The figure passed through her like she was air, picking up the heart that had fallen to the floor. After that, the sky only darkened even more and the figure stilled from what seemed like shock.
"Brave one. You've killed the Black Stallion. What do you wish for in return for your peculiar bravery?" The voice was like thunder and it made Belladonna shiver. It sounded farmilar too and the next question the Bride Thief asked her explained why.
"Can you see me?"
She shook her head.
"Of course. Another form."
He said and the empty space in front of the figure, just like it had happened before, became a humanoid figure.
Only that this one was taller and black, with golden line tracing it out.
It felt so weird to watch but she allowed her gaze to linger, trying to make the height of the black figure register in her brain. The information might come in handy when she finally narrates all this to Eli.
The figure was tall and it didn't look so broad. She paid more attention before her eyes went wide with alert the next second.
Shape shifting!
The Bride Thief could shape shift, he wouldn't even need anyone to get his job down for him, he could do it himself by taking the image of anyone at anytime.
Something shook in her core at the thought. An unpleasant chill running down her spine.
He could even be freely moving in and out of the Castle as he pleased.
The Bride Thief could be closer than they thought and the only reason they couldn't find him would be because they weren't looking for him in others.
How could she had not thought about this? Why was she just thinking about it now? For how long had she been stupid and blind to the things that were standing right standing right in front of her.
She must tell Eli, she must tell him everything, and when she it was time for her to do that, she would have to ensure she was actually talking to him and not the Bride Thief in a camouflage.
How she would do that? She didn't know just yet.
She leg out a shaky breath, the thought that she could have been with him in real life and not even know it sent lava of hatred boiling in her veins.
She had missed something along the line of what was playing in front of her because both of the figures that were there earlier were suddenly gone.
It troubled her that she had missed it. If he asked, she would only have to thrown in a wild guess and she hoped that her answer would be correct.
The image in front of her shifted quickly to domewhere darker than where they had been. She blinked a couple of times before she realized that her eyes weren'tbthe problem.
Her breathing grew heavy.
Where was this place he had taken her to?
A dungeon he was keeping all the past brides?
"Let me out. I paid him attention. You have him a gift." She said frantically.
"And I bounded myself to him, so I could guide him on how to control the gift."
"You only wanted to use him." Despite knowing that this wasn't real, not even knowing what the gift was, she still felt the urge to fight. "You was greedy."
"And what if I was!" He snarled, his voice dangerously close.
"I have seen enough. Just tell me what you want and let me go."
"You want to listen to me now? You don't like my little tour?"
Her head was banging now. Of course, she hated every bit of this.
"We are not done yet. Shut up and watch!" He snapped, his voice cold.
Belladonna could feel her necklace burning against her chest as the Bride coughed beside her.
He must be in pain.
Good for him.
She sucked in her bottom lip, looking around, then she saw a flicker of flame some distance away. The more candles that were lit in the circular form, the more she could see what was in-between.
The boy from earlier, the one the Bride Thief's was trying to make her believe was Eli, he looked a little older though, and tire behind him, was the white humanoid figure.
"Mother, please!" The boy screamed while the other behind him struggled, his breathing heavy and loud but not a plead slipped through his lips.
"Take me, let him go." The other boy said again, as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"You are useless on your own." A female's voice snapped, echoing from how large where they were was. The voice was harsh and sounded snake like with an underlying hiss. "Bring the book to me, Darling." She said to someone behind her, someone that Belladonna couldn't see.
There was the sound of boots clanking against the floor, echoing slightly in what seemed like a hall, before a face appeared above her shoulder and a heavy black leather booj was handed to her.
"We are your children!" He sounded more desperate, and something tugged against her heart, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Only one." The man wax the one to reply now, his voice sounded more light, calm and dismissive than the woman's. "And that one is nothing like us."
The words felt an thrust of a dagger to her gut but she firmly reminded herself that that this only an illusion. It wasn't real. He was lying. Eli never said anything about his parents been mean to him.
He said they loved him, they treated him well.
The couple steeped side by side, holding hands. They looked just like they looked like in the painting. Like they did not even age a day. They even had the black zig zag lines they had in the painting, but Zezi couldn't be sure they had them at the exact place just like in painting.
She couldn't remember.
It must be because she was unfocused and highly troubled.
"Please, do not kill us. Mother, I am your son. It is me, Eli." His sounded so weak.
Vulnerable.
If she wasn't so strong, she would have let herself believe this.
Without a second thought, she dug her pinky into her palm. The pain should keep her focused.
It will serve as a consistent reminder that none of this was real, nor ever real.
"Let us go, Woman." The figure finally said in a snarl but the Mother only laughed, her hands holding her husband's.
With a tilt of the head to the other, they both looked up and started chanting a spell.
"You can't save them."
A voice move to her ears and she blinked, looking to her side, onlyto discover that she had taken a step forward.
"You can't alter the past either. So sit your ass down."
The chanting became louder and louder till it echoed all around them, clashing against the boys screams of pain, Eli's voice being the loudest.
He was bleeding, blood slipping from a side of his mouth, as he fell to the floor, staring right at her, while he wept blood.
She knew he couldn't see her but she froze under that gaze nevertheless, before she dropped her head, not wanting to watch this anymore.
"You don't want to watch your poor Eli in pain?"
He wasn't real.
It was just the blood.
It felt disturbing, even if it was an illusion.
"Watch or else..."
Her gaze snapped up once again, her lips quivering, as she forced herself to wake up from this nightmare. The sound of the parents chanting seeping into her ears.
None of this was real. Eli had said that they suffered the consequences of using magic too much but he never said they went mad with it.
Holding onto Eli's words right not were are only sanity.
A sudden snarl rang from somehow, a growl that snapped her attention back to them.
The parents were on fire, their cries of horror ringing through the night before they crumbled into into ashes and burned bones in seconds.
A breath stiffled in Belladonna's throat.
Gone was the humanoid figure behind Eli and standing in front of him was a creature with wings, scaly, and -- ah, a dragon!
It was small though. Smaller than the one she was used to seeing. Just the same height as the boy that was now kneeling on the floor.
It had silver and red scales, eyes as blue as the sea, while more flames gathered at the depth of his throat.
Another blast on flames latched upon the burnt pieces in front of them, as the boy yelled in horror and grief for his parents.
Belladonna was more concerned about something else though.
The dragon looked like the one the King rode.
Was that Pamela?
Did Eli's brother just turn into Pamela?
Could someone just wake her up already?!
This has got to be the longest nightmare ever?
Was it still even at night on the other side or was the world awake already?