Chapter 24

Chapter 24: A Dream Or Nightmare?

“It’s late at night and you’re still out here, shouldn’t you be in your room instead?” Adryan suspiciously questioned his sister who modishly sat on one of the chairs in the dining room, idly staring at who knows what while remaining deep in thoughts.

She felt she needed a private moment to herself, even excusing her maids so she wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone but unfortunately, that thought had been disrupted by her brother’s irrelevant question and unwelcome presence.

Meeting his ill-lit gaze as he stood a few steps away from where she sat, a soft sigh left her lips and she stole a deep breath. She had been thinking a little too much recently and since the moment Anna left, nothing seemed to be going right like everyone had expected it’d be.

“More strange deaths has recently occured in Euphrasia.” She pointed out, knowing fully well her brother was already aware of the news before bringing it up.

Rising to her feet, she walked past her brother without giving him as much of a glance, folding her arms above her chest as a silly logic found its way into her head.

“Now that Annalise is out of the picture, I wonder who is left to blame for this incident.”

“Callie_”

.....

“You’re the future king to the throne of Euphrasia.” She strongly interjected with a look of displeasure crossing her pretty face, “father has done his part and it wouldn’t be too long before you equally ascend the throne and become king, right brother?”

The answers to her inquiries were too obvious for him to bother himself with responding, on the other hand, he was more concerned about where his sister was leading this discussion to, not like it’d matter but he was curious regardless.

“So?”

“Isn’t it time you start acting like one?” She swirled around to look at him. “An injustice had taken place under the kingdom and the woman you claim to love was blamed for it, strange deaths have been occuring and we keep losing the lives of our people, despite all of this, nothing is yet to be done.”

The groundless idea of it all was really eating her up like a spider to a fly, obviously this was a sign of an incoming danger but her brother, who she was basically trying to knock some sense into, remained unfazed by everything she just said and his attitude has been like this ever since he returned.

What she found difficult to grasp was why everyone else remained oblivious to it except her?

“Then it seems like I haven’t broken the news to you just yet.” Adryan finally said something, causing Calista’s ideal expression to fade within a noticeable rate. What news was he talking about?

“What do you mean by that?” She asked, the addling tone in her voice only made Adryan turn away from her, pausing for a few uncomfortable seconds before speaking.

“I’ve found myself another woman that I wish to spend the rest of my eternities with.” His deep tenor voice firmly amplified in the quiet dinning, causing Calista’s bliss-blue eyes to dilate, like a ticking bomb had suddenly went off in her head, leading to an explosion that she found difficult to recover from.

Another woman??

“Wha_what did you say?”

“I couldn’t bring her over due to the commotion occuring in the kingdom as of now, Sir Arlow and I will investigate the death of those people by Dawn and as for Annalise..” he suddenly paused after letting her name slip through his lips, a tiny glint of distaste crossing his brown eyes as he looked at his sister over his shoulder.

“She’s dead to me.” He tsked, “That’ll be if she isn’t even dead by now, you know the tales of the dark woods, don’t you? It’s impossible to step out alive.”

A shocked Calista solidly remained rooted to her spot, dejectedly remembering the tales which sounded more like a terrifying poem to her ears back when she was a kid till this day.

‘the woods plunged in an unshaken darkness, bound by a boundless singularity’

‘The creatures are never asleep’

‘They wander through the windows of the unknown, waiting for the perfect ambush’

‘Seizing the light of day, a barrier was made’

‘A soul is trapped, and never to be released’

‘For a walk in the forest, could lead to an inescapable doom’

She stopped her mind from recalling more of those poetic tales, meeting the unreadable gaze of her brother and that’s when something snapped inside her head, like a quick bolt dashing through to her senses.

Hastily turning away from her brother, she hurried towards the stairs like someone who had lost her missing puppy, her eyes searching with the hopes that she might spot him around.

She has to find the physician.

~

Roshan’s hazel-green orbs forcefully snapped open like someone who had been struck with a hot cane, immediately rising up from the uneventful slumber that caused a painful dread to re-awaken inside his system.

With a painful groan escaping his thin parted lips, he forced his body to move into a sitting position, gently rubbing the back of his neck to ease the pain he was currently feeling, his body felt sore as though someone had actually beaten him up in his sleep, but suddenly paused when he took notice of his environment, causing his eyes to widen in a fraction.

“What the_” he realized he was actually sitting in the middle of an unusual symbol that was drawn with a black chalk on the ground, making him squint his eyes into one of trepidation as it emanated a very bizarre energy.

Quickly averting his gaze from the symbol, his eyes finally chose to scan the area, hoping to see the end of this strange abyss he unknowingly found himself in but he only ended up staring into the total darkness ahead.

Ignoring the aches and discomfort he was starting to feel in his body, he forced his limbs to work as he got up to his feet.

The place was dark, like a deep pool of murkiness that triggered his five senses to the incoming primal chaos. Only with the help of the rows of lit-up candles which surrounded the end of the symbols he was currently standing upon, provided a little bit of light but apart from where he was standing, the rest of the place was encompassed in complete darkness.

Alarmed by the familiar dread he felt in this place, he tried to move, but realized he couldn’t leave the symbol like there was an unknown force which held him back, restricting his movements.

What is this??

Rather than scared, he looked half irked by the situation. It wasn’t the first time he’s actually landed in a place like this and he should have expected it, he always shows up at this unusual place whenever he falls asleep.

A dream or a nightmare? He didn’t know where to place it.

He was sweating, but could barely make out why he was sweating or why the sight of this empty lonely place with no destination gave his questing mind a color red.

They were the darkness that had followed him till this very day and no matter how much he fought with them, he couldn’t escape their evil grasp.

Despite being freed, he felt trapped and that only messed with his mind. This place wanted him to surrender to the pain, the despair, the aches which were rampaging and bottling inside of him but that was the least thing he planned on doing.

“I’ll never surrender!” His words echoed deeply in the strange dark place as he shook his head in demurral.

He felt a hollow emptiness at the depth of him, and he wasn’t going to let anyone fill that void until his revenge was accomplished.

Holding such thoughts inside of him, the symbol he was currently standing on suddenly discharged a black smoke, gaining his attention and before he got a chance to react, the symbol jumbled themselves into a sticky ink-like form, becoming a black pool that was starting to pull Roshan into its depth like a quicksand.

Although he had realized exactly what was happening, it was already too late and when he resisted the pull, many hands stuck out of the black pool, grabbing him and forcefully pulling him into the seemingly bottomless chasm, more like they were plunging him into the brinks of an abyss that he couldn’t escape from.

His fears.