The Obsessed King (Book 1)

Fate's game.

Pitch black. 

That was all that Ella could see. She wanted to open her mouth to speak, but some strange force did not allow her voice to be heard. It was too dark to make anything out for Ella, but when she tried to walk further she fell down and then all of a sudden, she was standing on wet grass barefoot with a white forest surrounding her. Ella was adorned in a dress smeared with blood, which looked so out of place in the beautiful scenery in front of her. The blood terrified her and she quickly checked herself for any injuries, but when she did not find any, she was sure she had died and this was her afterlife. Her mind was pounding and throbbing to remind her of something, but Ella couldn't quite grasp what it was. She had no memory of what had happened and how she had gotten to this place or where the blood was from. 

Before her, a beautiful path suddenly opened up, adorned with wildflowers of every kind, Ella's favourite. She smiled at the sight before her, and her feet immediately moved towards the light, when all of a sudden, her mind started pounding ferociously. She screamed and put her hands on her head to soothe the unimaginable pain that had come over her all of a sudden, when she heard a small voice whisper in her ear, "It is not over yet." 

With a gasp, Ella jerked her eyes open, her whole body glistening with sweat. "That was such a weird dream", she thought. As soon as she woke up she felt that the texture that she was lying on was hard, almost stone-like, so she quickly glanced where she was laying down, which was the insides of what seemed to be a washcloth house. She had no memory of how she had turned up here, for the last thing that she remembered was the pain and the feeling of water. 
Am I back at the castle? Did Elijah catch me? These questions seemed to fill up her brain. 

"The pain!" Ella gasped, quickly adjusting her body to check the wound that she had gotten only to find a white cloth wrapped around her calf. She tried moving her toes, and they did move, but not without the pain. Ella was now fully conscious and had realised that she was not in the clothing of before, but rather adorned with what seemed to be a normal villagers clothes. She felt vulnerable at the idea that someone did change her clothes, and saw all of her wounds and helped her out. Ella did not understand who would want to do that when all of a sudden, a plump lady entered the room Ella was in.

"Thank the heavens you are alive miss!" the woman exclaimed, genuine worry and a smile making up its way into her almost rough features.

"Where did you find me?" asked Ella. She had to know everything that had happened after she had lost consciousness.

"A bunch of me lads and I saw a body floating down the river we usually wash out clothes in! All me people thought you were a corpse miss! For you did look like one, but when we brought a healer from the town to check you up, he told us that you were barely holding onto life, but we could potentially save you. And so I and my lads did our best to save you! Me name is Matilda miss, but you can call me Matty" saying this the lady smiled.

"Matil- I mean Matty, did anyone you know come looking for me?" Ella whispered fear evident in her eyes for being hunted. She knew Elijah wouldn't give her up. 

"No miss! No lads here came looking for you! Anyways how did you get injured, miss! And to that extreme level, I may add?" Matilda asked Ella, but Ella was busy trying to get up from the ground that she was laying on. She had to get out of the place, for she knew that Elijah would be there any second and she did not want his cruel ways to destroy everything she came upon. Staggering and limping, Ella gathered herself and started walking towards what seemed like a door. 

"Where are you going to miss! You are not fully healed! The healer said to-" Ella did not hear half of what the woman said for she was hell-bent on escaping from that place and running away somewhere far. As soon as she limped outside the door, she felt a little bit overwhelmed. The scenery there wasn't anywhere like Dolcenia's village. Pushing off that uneasy thought about the surroundings, she guessed she had been washed up to another village that she had never been to before, so she had to hurry before the guards or Elijah caught her. 

The dress of a villager helped Ella blend in with the crowd. For a while, she limped and proceeded to move even though her whole body was breaking out into a cold sweat. Her bandaged stomach was now starting to hurt too. Elijah surely had done an excellent job at tormenting her. She clutched her now paining stomach and then started to walk towards the more isolated woods, for she did not want to risk getting caught on the main roads. She did not know where this was or how many days it had been since she had been found, and she felt stupid for not asking further, but paranoia had done its job as always. 

I could have at least thanked her, she regretted, but then thought was for the best. The little they knew about her, the more they would survive.

Ella limped slowly to the dense woods, keeping a low profile altogether. Ella had no idea where she was going but the further she walked, the more she thought she would be safe from the monster. It had now been almost half an hour since she had started walking, and now her head had started spinning again. Her whole body was burning up and dripping with sweat. Her abdomen pain had now risen to an excruciating level and her leg was swollen up.

"This was what Matilda must have meant." Ella wondered. She knew that she had been stupid to just walk off, but then she could not have risked knowing and spending time with another person because she knew that sooner or later Elijah would have come there, looking for her. And if he had found her there, then he would have tortured everyone who had helped her and burned them alive. Ella shuddered at the thought of the crazed look in Elijah's eyes that made him look inhuman. 

"No more of that" she whispered, trying to relax. But for now, she had to keep on moving. 

Ella desperately forced her legs to move even though her feet and her whole body were now screaming in agony for a well-deserved rest, but that was impossible, considering the situation that she was in. 

"I cannot stop now" she huffed trying to catch her breath. "He'll catch me" she whispered.

She was proceeding at a slow pace when all of a sudden she heard horse hooves clopping on the muddy ground from a distance. 

Ella panicked. Her whole body went in a case of hysteria, trying to run uncontrollably even when her body was spiralling out of her control. However, her speed wasn't fast enough as now the sound of the horses started to come nearer. The sound of armours clinking could also be heard.

"Please let me survive God!" Ella desperately prayed to God. She had just escaped Elijah's clutches and she would rather, her legs fall off from the run, rather than being a possession for his sick and obsessed mind. 

"HALT!" a soldier shouted, seeing the silhouette of Ella runni- no, more like limping like a mad woman. 

Ella's sympathetic nervous system kicked in due to her trauma and her legs started moving faster ignoring the burning pain of her wounds opening up. She had lost too much blood already and the physical strain was also taking a toll on Ella's body. Her mind became lightheaded. Her eyes suddenly could not see before her path and her legs fell weak on the ground.

"Not agai-"

 Her whole body met the mud as she slipped out of consciousness yet once again.

The sound of heavy steps made its way around the collapsed body of Ella. He then walked over the unconscious body and gripped her face in a vice-like grip, and smiled.

"Take her with us to the castle."

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It's currently 12:17 am and I am still awake updating! I'm now going to nap for a good two hours before trying to write again!! The coffee has done quite a good job though :)
Are you scared fellow readers?? For I sure am :) hehe

Over and out

Your's truly

-Asalan