ELVEN | K.TH

16

My face is pale. "What...will his father do to him?"

"I'm not completely sure." She murmurs. "He'll use his magic— and the King's magic is pain. It's torture itself."

God, please.

This was so much worse than I'd thought.

"And no one can help him?"

She shakes her head. "Not until the King orders for him to be freed. Until then, there is nothing any of us can do. Any elf that goes against Lord Elven is nothing short of suicide."

"What about a human?"

She gives me a sharp look. "Jungkook. If you were ever caught, he would kill you. After making you go through each of the seven Hells."

I swallow.

He'd just helped us so much. It would be—

"But what if I can do it? You can take me there, and I..."

"No."

She gets to her feet, looking unhappy. Her blue eyes are deep, firm with her answer.

"I am not going to lead you to your own death, Jungkook. The Prince will survive. He does not matter to me as much as you do."

She glowers.

"My answer is a no. And it will not change, even if you ask me a thousand times."

________________________________

TAEHYUNG

Am I really back here again?

My hands and neck are chained to the low ceiling. I can feel the cold silver against my skin, even in the dark. There isn't a single window.

It's quiet. I can hear my own breaths.

And I close my eyes. A faint visage of Rinei flickers in the depths of my mind, and I shift the slightest towards the side. The chains grind against each other, with my weight.

I couldn't be here. How much time had passed since that day? I couldn't be here— I had to be hunting, for her family. They wouldn't be able to eat without my hunt.

A soft groan echoes from my lips.

My neck. I can't move it.

Something warm drips down the line of my jaw. My father had made a visit earlier, and I hear my blood slowly pool under me, in soft, steady drops. It's a repeat of what had happened seven years ago.

I remember faintly, that the last time it had been two weeks before he'd let me out again. I hadn't been able to eat or drink for the couple days following after, too weak to stomach anything as a child.

It's cold here.

I want her warmth.

And I take another shallow breath, before drifting into unconsciousness again.

________________________________

RINEI

Darkness.

There's no light, nothing at all. It's a darkness that squeezes into me, pressing into all the sides of my body and swallowing me up into nothing. It's a darkness that makes a person go insane.

And chains, on my wrists and on my neck. It's holding my body up, and I can feel it grinding horribly every time I make a single motion. My feet barely brushes against the floor.

My arms hurt. They're numb from the pain, having been like this for too long already.

Help.

Help me.

Get me out of here.

It's cold. It's scary.

And I can't even scream, to hear myself.

Get me out.

Then someone shakes me awake. My eyes flash open to see the familiar face of my brother, staring down at me with terrified eyes. His hands are gripped around my shoulders, as if he'd been shaking me hard.

"Rinei."

Jungkook.

I shiver, as he hugs me tightly. I can still recall the chains, the pressing darkness. But it'd all been a dream.

What had been that dream?

"You're okay, you're fine." He whispers quietly into my ear as I tremble, breathing shallowly. "What happened? Tell me. You wouldn't wake up, for so long."

It's just a nightmare. I sign.

"But you haven't had nightmares since forever."

My eyes turn downcast. I don't know. I don't know why I dreamt something like that. It was horrible.

"Will you tell me what it was?"

I bury my face into the crook of his shoulder. It was dark. It felt like some prison, and it was just really dark and cold. There were chains.

"It's okay. It's just a dream." He murmurs, as I let my hands fall to my sides after signing. "A really bad dream. It won't happen again."

Jungkook pats the top of my head. "Want to come to the market with me? We can get sweets."

I nod silently.

Anything. Anything to try and forget.

But that night, I dream again.