"Alaris!"
The name cut sharply through her lips, as she jerked forward on her bed, her chest rasing and falling in the fear of an imminent danger that still crossed through her veins.
Belladonna was quick to throw the blanket aside, and jump out of bed, looking around wearily to see if this was just yet against another illusion or if she had truly woken up.
The room looked pretty normal but the Bride Thief was an expert at his illusions.
The little things.
She had to look for the little things.
Her feet were quick, almost like she was flying, as she moved around to search for the little details of her room she was certain he wouldn't possibly he paying attention to when forming up this place.
Her table was still how she had left it, there were still a couple of locked doors before her bathroom and the decor was still largely red, including the curtains.
Yes, the curtains!
She had to check for daylight.
The pain that shot into her head as she pulled the curtains aside, forced her to take in a sharp breath and let out a heavy gasp with a painful squeak accompaning it. The curtains wasn't always this hard to pull aside, neither were they always this heavy. She must be really tired. After a couple of breathing in and out, she finally pulled the curtains open.
The golden ray of the setting sun seeped into the room and she pushed the curtains right back from how harsh the light had felt against her eyes.
It was really dim but after been in the dark for so long, her eyes were not ready for that.
The evening sun.
"Alaris." She whispered again but silence responded to her.
Not complete silence though. The low voices of the training guards downstairs made it up to her ears.
She was awake?
Her heart was pondering amd her eyes glimmered with hope, her hands a little shaky with relief as she rushed to the mirror to see if the glasses were still buried into her skin.
The reflection that flashed back at her had blood stains and she could faintly see the cuts that were fading away by the second on her skin, her hair was tangled, her night robe gone.
She remembered losing that.
Oh, by Ignas, she was awake!
Finally.
She was awake!
Fearing that she would forget the only thing about the Bride Thief she had gotten from the dream, her fingers stumbled across the table in a desperate search for a pen and a piece of paper, as she whispered his name over and over again in her head.
Alaris.
Alaris.
Alaris.
Her fingers finally grabbed one and she found a piece of paper to scribble the words on.
Unfortunately, the pen had no ink.
It was the same pen the boy at the village square had gifted her. He mustn't have known that it was empty and that was why he had given it to her.
It was a beautiful pen, a shame it was useless.
She would have to get rid of it so that this wouldn't keep happening.
While she ransacked through her sewing materials for another pen to write with, the thought of the dreams kept crossing her mind.
The magical gem.
Maybe the King would know something about it. He did say his Father had once been a collector of different treasures.
Then there was the dragon.
She should be dead right now. How had she even survived that blast?
How--
She had questions.
It was tiring.
For a long time now, it felt like that had been all she ever had. But the King would give her answers. He always did.
Her fingers finally grasped a pen, scribblimg the words in large fonts, her handwriting looking foreign to even herself.
ALARIS.
Eli's troubles would be over soon, once he got this name.
Also, Belladonna couldn't help but think that some of the Brides might have been trapped in this memory hole thing that the Bride Thief seemed to have. Hopefully, they would be able to rescue those who were trapped too.
Some would be dead, Belladonna knew that, she wasn't stupidly hopeless, but for those that were still alive, she hoped they would be able to help them quickly.
Her hand paused as she put a full stop at the end of the name, the dot unnecessary, as the tip of her pen buried into the thin paper, causing a mindless punch.
Her eyes widened as she watched the zig zag line that webbed around her hands, hands that were slowly losing their color to a webby darkness.
The web was fast, moving quickly up her dark skin, devouring it, consuming it and replacing it with itself.
She staggered away from the table, her gaze slamming right against the horrified ones in the mirror.
It was consuming her, fast. Reaching up her neck like a choker already.
Her teeth clattered.
She must have gone too far.
The dreams must have gone too far.
Without thinking twice, she raced out of the room in search for her only salvation.
Eli.
Belladonna ran up the stairs quickly, noticing how the servants had instantly turned their gazes away when they saw her, observing how they had cleared a path, with their backs turned to her while she ran pass them.
It must be an horrific sight, what she had now become.
Maybe she would die soon.
The pain hadn't left her yet and now her breath was hot against her lips.
Maybe that would be it.
Even if that would happen, even if this would be her end, she had to tell Eli everything she knew about this Bride Thief. She had to be the last one to disappear.
That wasn't how she had wanted all of this to play out, but still, to end this all, she would gladly be a sacrifice.
The scream she heard some distance away made her stop short in her stead and she turned back.
A sought of lightning flashed from a door to her left. It was a coupe of locked doors away.
She wanted to ignore it, blame her ears and eyes for malfunctioning but she heard the scream again.
Louder this time with a sought of muffled begging.
Hey eyebrows furrowed as she approached the door, looking around for anything that could help.
Maybe she wasn't awake?
Oh no, was she still dreaming?
She moved closer to the door with careful and silent steps, but just as she was close enough to peak and see what was going on inside, the wooden frame slammed shut right in her face.
Belladonna staggered back, bitting her lower lip in a desperate uncertainty, hey body shaky from the loud bang.
This dream was going to leave her traumatized, that was if there would be anything left once it was truly over.
Her sharp eyes looked around the hallways for anything she could use to defend herself and rescue whoever it was that needed it.
If this was one of the Bride Thief's memory hole, maybe one of the Brides was in there and she needed help. Belladonna instinctively noticed that her necklace wasn't burning and she couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
The thought of what could be going on in there, unsettled her and the more she looked around the hallway, the more she realized there was nothing here that could help her.
She wouldn't let a Bride die on her hesitance.
Her finger reached for the doorknob.
She might as well throw herself into this one, and hope luck would be on her side aga--
The door yanked open and out stepped the witch.
Belladonna took a defensive step back.
Impossible!
If this was a dream, then the witch was already dead.
Belladonna had killed her a while ago.
"By Ignas, Bell. You are half naked!"
Belladonna blinked.
That didn't sound like the witch in her dream.
"Lady Kestra?"
"Yes, it is I." She flashed her a large, bright grin. Her silver eyes filled with warmth."Did you miss me?"
Her arms wrapped around Belladonna, Lady Kestra's ever peaceful fragance flooding her nostrils, before she could even process the words that had just been spoken.
"I've missed you so much. You pretty little thing."