My F*cked Up Fairytale

THE PRICE OF HAPPINESS - CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"Gutter. It's gutter, you brainless toad," Sybil corrects her, lightly hitting her on the top of the head.

"I'd prefer it if you called me something more endearing as you usually do, like 'you clever crow'."

"Something more endearing..." I echo quietly, the gears now turning in my head. As if a lightbulb has lit up my once-darkened mind, the answer comes to me, "Felix culpa, my felix culpa!"

The witches smile simultaneously, gaps and all, before everything twists. Black mixes with brown, green slips into gray, and red taints white until all the shades become one giant whirlpool. They spin endlessly, making my eyes start to ache. 

That dull pain turns to a searing flame that twists into my jaw and neck before rippling down to the tips of my toes. It tightens my muscles and closes my airways. I'm left to gasp for air that cannot reach me in this odd, colorful hell that I have been sucked into.

A terrifying thought seeps into my panicked mind. Had the witches tricked me? There is no other logical explanation. This hell had to be my punishment for bothering them. I must have been—...

Whiteness breaks through the swirling colors, enveloping them entirely. Eventually, it seeps away to reveal what looks to be a ceiling that needs heavy repairs. I stare at the ceiling, blinking slowly until realization falls upon me.

"I'm alive...I'm back in my body, holy shit!" I murmur to myself, frantically pressing on my limbs and the table beneath me to ensure that I can feel it all, "I can't believe it! I can go back to Dorian...I, I can be with him again! God, I can't wait to kiss him..." I turn toward the witches, shaking and full of a happiness I never thought I would have been able to have again. "Thank you, thank you so much! This means the world to me."

"I'll make sure to lift your banishment from Lamias once I see Dorian again, I swear," I promise as I swing my legs off the edge of the table, eager to get up and find Dorian.

However, I am stopped by a singular look from the witches that tells me they have more to say, and I have a feeling that I won't like what comes next. Though, whatever it is, I will accept it wholeheartedly. Nothing will stop me from getting to Dorian.

"All of our magic comes at a price, especially the magic that goes against nature," Sybil tells me in a careful voice that I know is meant to soften the blow that is coming my way. "The price for you is–..."

"Your soul!" Nimue screeches with her fists raised in the air but she quickly puts them down in shame after Sybil glares at her.

"No, not your soul. The price is your humanity, nothing more or less." She must have seen that I had no idea what the loss of my humanity meant because she adds, "To be more specific, your spilled blood will no longer be red but—..."

I take my turn in interrupting Sybil and finish her sentence, "Silver."

It is only now that hesitancy pulls me back. To be stuck in Bestias is one thing, but to be stuck in Bestias and become a vampire is another. I would be transforming into a fanged, red-eyed creature that hungers for blood. The thought alone terrifies me enough to make me almost say 'never mind'. Fortunately, I hold my tongue and think for a moment.

I'm human, a very weak and defenseless being that is shitted on by all other creatures in this land. I have no power or magic. Basically, I'm useless, and that is exactly what I don't want to be to Dorian, especially since I am now the Queen. 

I want to be someone who can stand beside a powerful man like Dorian without looking like a small, fragile thing that can't even hope to hold its own in a fight. And, most importantly, I need to protect Dorain from all of those who wish to harm him. Yes, I know how foolish it is to say that when he's a vampire, but I'm saying it because I love him.

Love can people do stupid things, and the decision I'm making now may be more stupid than saying 'stupider'. Still, I don't care. I'm doing it and I sure as hell won't regret it.

A deep breath is taken inward before five life-altering words flow from my mouth, "I'll give up my humanity."

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