Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 20--Is This a "Normal" Conversation?

There was no one in front of the king, but still, something was telling me that if the sword swung down, someone would die.

A little movement from the metal made me act. A word tore its way from my throat. "No!"

The sword rose into the air.

And chopped off Joshua's head. The bloody ball of hair and skin came rolling over to me, leaving a trail of red behind it.

Laughter rang in my ears. Not the king's, not the man in the mask, not my father's, and certainly not mine.

Through blurry vision, I looked up from the thing that had come to a stop in front of me and saw who was laughing.

His dark hair blew around his head, even though there was no wind. His eyes were laughing and cruel as he stared at me. In his large hand--the same hand that knocked the man out at the pub--he held the sword dripping blood that killed my brother.

"Vadik?"

My eyes flew open. I breathed in and out in a jagged pattern, trying my best not to hyperventilate.

Why won't they stop?

For years, I had been having the same nightmares over and over again, the ones with the black-masked men. I never had any way of facing those nightmares until--until--

The day in the woods.

The men I had seen when I ran from the castle were the same men from my nightmares. The same men who chased me through the trees were the same men that killed my mother. The same men that Beast got rid of were the ones that I thought I had finally escaped.

Man, how wrong was I?

My nightmares only got worse, carrying images of King Regol, of my father, of Joshua, and--last of all--Kvir.

Every night, the four of them would fight it out in my head, each seemingly trying to be the one that woke me up.

This was the first time Vadik has shown up.

Vadik.

The thought of him brought back the picture of the dead body of my brother, crumpled on the ground with nothing but a bloody stump attached to its shoulders.

Slowly, I slid down the rest of the way to the floor and clamped my hand over my mouth. Dry sobs forced their way out from me, echoing around my room.

Make it stop. Please.

My hands gripped at the side of my head, like I could tear out the memories of the dream with my hands. The things around me were all fuzzy blobs, all unrecognizable. I moved my hand away from my hair and brushed at a tickle on my cheek. My hand came away wet.

Get up, Zara. Come on girl.

Shakily, I started to get to my feet, gulping down sobs. "It's okay. It's just a dream," I whispered to myself. "It's not real. Just in your head."

A small, betraying though voiced itself, Except the first part was real.

Hush up you.

I glanced around the room, not knowing what to do. There was no way on the face of the planet that I was going to try to sleep again. I moved over to the window and surveyed the darkness. There were faint traces of the line of trees that surrounded the castle--the trees that looked like a way out, but now, I knew better.

Through the soft light from the moon, I saw a large shape blundering from the woods, heading straight for the castle. My hand touched the cool glass gently.