𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓 - 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩...
Tw! This chapter contains violence and gore. (I know I didn't put this warning up the first few time, but just in case.)
I lay asleep on the cold hard floor, shivering occasionally from the breeze coming from the front door. The cold air flows through and pricks my skin like a sharp glass shard as it hits me. Staying asleep is a task hard to do. Not only does it feel uncomfortable to sleep on the floor, but sleeping in the house of someone who was going to kill me also doesn't sound so appealing to my ears; even if she's not in the house right now. I couldn't brush that fact away from my head.
Giving up on the thought of falling asleep, I gazed down once more, at my legs, my hopeless legs, which I couldn't use to walk, which I couldn't use to run from here. I can only sigh at the situation. I wonder if Hilda or Nicholas or even Pierre are actually trying to find me right now. It's been days since I was gone. It's been days since I last saw them all. Would they care enough to try to find me? Not that I'm hoping too much for it, but it's a matter of friendship. I honestly, really need to get out of here, with or without their help. Looking back at my feet, I tried lifting my leg up, and to my surprise, it lifted up; to which I exclaimed happily and tried on my other leg.
I still have hope. The place is empty. Bernard is asleep. I can finally run out of here before the witch comes back. I got up on my feet and made my way out of the door. I gazed around with caution as I dropped my feet, one by one outside the frame of the door.
Feeling the wet and moist dirt on my bare feet, a smile made its way to my face. I ran. I ran like there was no tomorrow. I ran without knowing where I was running to. All I know is that I'm getting out of here. I'm finally free. Smelling the scent of trees in the air, I couldn't be happier. I kept running and running. I don't even care if my feet bleed as I did. All I want is to be away from this place. All I want is to run away from her. But then it all came in vain when I reached deeper into the woods.
"Leaving so soon?" A voice asks from behind one of the trees. A voice that made time stop. A voice that made my heart stop beating. Immediately, my feet stopped running.
"I need to go back. I have to go back."
"Oh do you? Too bad then. I had plans with you today."
Plans. I had a horrible feeling about this. There's something unnerving about her sinister grin, her black eyes and her sharp nails. She smelled off. A metallic scent is high in the air around her.
Blood. I widened my eyes and took an abrupt step back as it slowly dawned on me. The scent was so strong that I could have mistaken it to be her perfume.
"What's wrong, little one?"
"What did you do?"
She smiled a menacing grin. "Wouldn't you want to know?"
My breathing grows harder by the minute. I kept backing away from her, growing more scared each second. But alas, I stopped trying to run when I felt the hard tree bark on my back. My eyes scanned over her for evidence or hints of what she did. What caught my eyes left me, horrified. On the old lady's shoulder, I saw a tiny amount of auburn red hair. There's only one person that I know who had that beautiful hair and is connected to Nicholas, in so many ways. I gasped as it dawned on me. Feiya.
"What did you do?" I repeated.
"I think we should let the past be bygones, how about you and me go back home, and spend some quality time together?"
She stepped closer to me, staring right at me. I could have sworn I could see her eyes shift colour as she mutters something under her breath.
"Drun Daar Kiir Miin Haalvut Ruvge"
And without me wanting it to, I could feel my eyes grow heavier. I could feel my body growing heavier. I could feel my lids closing down before everything went black. I see nothing but black.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in her house, my hands and feet strapped to a chair. I shake and shake, pushing and pulling my hands from the grip that's tying me down to the chair. Despite the struggle, I couldn't get myself away from it. I stared around my surroundings with fearful wide eyes as I tried my best to calm myself. Cauldron, potions, jars of eyes, animal remnants, and so many other things are in this room. I'm in her brewing room. I need to get out of here.
Before I could try anything, I heard a shifting sound coming from behind me. Then I heard feet, walking towards me.
"How could you leave without even informing the boy?" she asked, nudging her head towards the gap beside the door. There, I saw him looking at me. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes that mirror his disappointment and slouched shoulders. "I thought you were friends with him now. He's highly disappointed in you."
I watched as his face dropped and guilt stabbed me right in the heart. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to run and I thought he wouldn't have let me if he knew and if I insisted on taking him with me, I know he'll tell me no."
"And why do you think he'll say no?"
"Because he needs you and is indebted to you."
"Clever girl. Now tell me, why are you out there?"
"To run."
"Why?"
"Because I was scared of you and what you may do to me."
"I see. Is that all?"
"I went out because I don't want to be held hostage by you, by anyone. I don't want my life to be a toy for people to play with. I want to see Hilda and Pierre and Uncle Godric and even Nicholas. I want to find my way home. I want to see my mother. I want to tell her that I love her and that I'm sorry for being a horrible daughter to her. There's a lot more that I want to do once I'm out of here."
"Once you're out of here."
"Someday."
I could hear the witch clicking her tongue in response. Her eyes darted across the room before once again, a disturbing smile crept its way to her face. Watching her without the power to look away is a nightmare.
"I'm starting to run out of ingredients. I think I can get some from you," she said, making her way to her potion shelf, taking one out and walking back to me. "Drink this." She pushed a vial of purple liquid into the crack between my lips.
I turned my head away, unwilling to drink it; to which she responded by holding my cheeks in place as she dropped the liquid into my mouth and then forced me to swallow it.
I coughed in response as the liquid entered my system. "What did you give me?"
"For the next 2 hours, I can tear you apart for as much as I want and you will still have every part of you when I'm done."
"W-what? What do you mean by that?"
"Do you remember, child? I did tell you once, I'm going to use you in my potions."
I lost my sense of thought right that moment. This crazy old lady is trying to tear me apart, and even then, the damage will heal and she'll do it again and again for 2 hours. How. How does anyone expect I could get through this?
While I was still deep in thought, my monologue was disturbed when she suddenly cut my pinkie finger off of me, making me scream an agonising scream. I screamed and cried in pain.
"STOP!" I cried, tears falling from my eyes as she went on ahead and started cutting my toes off of me. "PLEASE STOP!" I cried louder in pain.
"Oh shush. Don't be such a big baby. It'll all grow back on you."
"It hurts.." The tears continuously clouded my vision, which was already poor due to the dimness of the room. My head started to grow light and I started to feel woozy to the point that I might pass out but something is holding me back, fixing me only to break me again.
She ignored me and kept going, taking everything she needed from me. She even goes as far as considering opening me up so she can take my organs. I kept crying and screaming. It is by far the only thing I can do at this moment. The only thing I'm capable of.
Everything hurts so much to the point that I feel like I'm dying. But each time I felt like it, everything grew back, and each time it did, she took it again.
My eyes, my fingers, my toes, anything worthy of her, she took it, and I couldn't do anything about it other than cry in pain.
"Please... Stop.." I cried again. Blood everywhere. My blood; spilt on each corner of the room. The pain I'm feeling is unbearable, yet it's invisible. No one knows it's there other than me. No one would be able to tell if I was tortured or not, during my stay here, when all the proof is invisible.
"You know that red-haired girl from the inn? I heard she's your lover boy's, first love. I did you a favour getting rid of her. Don't you think you should pay me at least this much for it?"
I stared up at her, and although everything was blurry from my tears, I could see an evil smile on her face."Feiya? Wh-what did you do to her?"
"What else? I. Got. Rid. Of. Her."
"W-why?"
"Isn't it obvious? To give your little prince the pain that he deserves."
"But Nicholas didn't do anything to you or your son and Feiya doesn't deserve that and I'm certainly not his lover. I'm just a servant. A nobody."
"Shh. Don't tell me what to do."
"Would you please stop taking my body parts off of me now?" I begged. I felt weak. I felt like I'd finally pass out anytime soon. I felt like she'd keep going even when the potion ran out and ended up killing me.
She stopped for a moment, looking out the window and then muttering some sort of calculation, before nodding, and with a swish of her hand, the straps were off of me. I looked at my body. Everything is still attached, yet not at the same time. I can feel that my toes and fingers and eyes aren't on me. I can taste the metallic taste at the tip of my lips from her action, of pulling my eyes apart. Yet, everything is still there. As if everything I experienced was fake.
But something made me certain that it was real; the jars filled with my body parts, each divided into their own group. I shivered as I glanced at it. Not wanting to stay in the room much longer, I jumped off the chair, feeling timid as I walked past the witch. Before I could step far from her, she said, "Don't try to open the front door, it'll zap you."
Hearing that, once again my hope was destroyed. I sniffled, still feeling pain in every inch of my body. I'm crushed. My heart was filled with the juice of hope only to be squashed the next moment. As I walked back, I saw blue eyes staring back at me in the dark. Too tired to do anything, I just went back to my side of the room, curling myself up as I cried. I cried and cried till I fell asleep.