This week's dream cast is...
Casper - Jeon Jungkook
Luc - Kim taehyung
Mia - Bae irene
Sophie - Kim jennie
Nico - Min yoongi
Sally - Kang seulgi
Jacques - Park Jimin
The Royal Hunting Lodge
Sophie Reese
The last time I had seen someone dead was after my Grandmother had passed. The hospital had called me in the middle of the night to say she was unwell. There were no buses at that time and I was too poor to afford a taxi, so I ran five miles to the hospital. When I got there, it was too late. She had slipped away.
The nurses took me to see her body and I remember stepping into the side room and seeing her body laying on the hospital bed, dressed in a white shroud. She looked so thin and grey; nothing like the woman she once was. Sitting with her, I kept thinking 'Grandma would've hated her hair in that style', 'she would want to wear her lipstick' and 'she hated the colour white'. All these thoughts were floating randomly through my head, yet not a single one of those thoughts confronted the cold hard reality that my Grandmother was dead.
It was strange as death had always followed me. As a child, I'd found my mother dead, then as an adult my grandparents. Even as an immortal, I couldn't quite escape death's shadow.
I eyed the dead wendigo warily. Something inside told me that it was dead, but I wanted to make sure. Taking a stick from the ground, I poked its grey flesh. Its skin fractured like a clay mask and I watched its entire body crumble and collapse into a pile of ash.
The torch it had swallowed reappeared with its light still shining. I picked it out the pile of ash and stared down at the grey mess. Nothing remained of the wendigo now.
I thought about staying, but I decided to head back. I wanted to check on Christie and see if she had made it safely back to the house. I fumbled my way back to the wall and climbed over.
A short while later, I emerged out of the forest and was greeted by a large search party headed by Christie and Nico. The moment Christie saw me, instant relief washed over her face. She muttered a silent prayer of thanks and rushed towards me.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay. How are you and Christian?"
"Fine, thanks to you."
We both smiled at each other, knowing exactly what we had managed to survive.
"What happened to it?" Christie asked.
"It's dead. I killed it."
Nico interrupted our moment by stepping between me and Christie.
"Christie tells me that you confronted a wendigo. Is that true?" He asked.
There was a tone in his voice that betrayed his disbelief. He stood in front of me, arms folded, waiting for me to explain myself.
"Don't give me that look," I snapped. "If I hadn't of intervened, Christian would be dead."
"Dead from a monster that doesn't exist."
"It does exist, I saw it, Christie saw it, even Christian saw it."
"And you killed it?"
"I did. You should've seen it. I called the lightning from the sky, just like Casper."
"Great, I will order my men to bring me its dead body."
My heart sank in my chest as I realised that there was no dead body. The wendigo had disintegrated into ashes, erasing any trace of its existence. The only proof I had, was Christie's testimony.
Nico read my expression and added, "Well, if there is no dead body, maybe you could illuminate night sky with a flash of lightning."
My heart sank again, I didn't know how I had summoned the lightning, it had just happened. Awkwardly, I gazed up at the solid blackness overhead and tried to remember what I had done to summon the lightning. I closed my eyes and tried to repeat what I had done earlier, but I couldn't.
"I don't know how I did it, but I did do it," I replied weakly.
At that moment, Rudolph stepped forward, grabbing Christie's arm.
"Forgive me, Nico. This is clearly Christie's doing. She has an overactive imagination and I believed that she fed into Sophie's fears and together they fabricated this monster. I apologise for my fiancee's behaviour and will personally see to her punishment."
Fiancee - she was engaged to that idiot?
Christie's face whitened and she shrunk away from Rudolph.
I shook my head in protest and argued, "That's not true. I asked Christie to come. The blame is completely on me."
"Nonsense," Rudolph replied. "Christie is always causing this kind trouble with her silly fairy tales. Aren't you, my darling?"
"Rudolph, please," she whispered.
I watched her squirm as his grip on her arm tightened and tightened. I looked at Nico and snapped, "Do something, can't you see he is hurting her?"
"Rudolph is responsible for Christie. I cannot interfere."
"That's bullshit."
I took a step forward to help Christie and suddenly found myself surrounded by a dozen security guards.
"I warned you, Sophie," Nico sighed, "There would be consequences for your disobedience."
One of the guards stepped forward, holding a syringe of silver liquid. I retreated backwards, eyeing the needle warily. I kept moving backwards until my back thumped into something hard and warm. I glanced behind me and saw a man with silver hair standing directly behind me.
At first, I thought he was a security guard, but then a broken memory floated into the forefront of my mind. I knew this man. I had met him before... but from where?
He draped his arm protectively around my shoulders and said to the security guard, "Unless you want your insides on the outside, I would put that needle away."
Everyone went still. Their eyes fixated on the silver-haired stranger. Nico stepped forward, taking the needle from the guard and dropping it to the ground.
"Your Highness, we were not expecting you," Nico said respectfully.
"A shark need not announce himself to the sardines," the stranger replied.
"So what can we do for you, Rayne?" Nico snapped.
That name, I recognised it...
"This girl," Rayne replied, pulling me closer. "She is of special interest to me."
His voice was so familiar. It felt like I was trying to remember a song that I heard years ago. I knew the melody, but I'd forgotten the lyrics. Where had I met this guy? How did we know each other?
"Sophie is Casper's mate," Nico stated calmly. "I'm sure you understand how important she is to us."
"The only agenda I am interested in is my own. I had hoped that you were competent enough to keep her safe, however, I see that my faith in you was misplaced."
"How so?"
"She went outside the boundary lines, Nico! Despite all my warnings, you allowed her to venture over the wall. Do you see why I have a problem?"
"She was in no danger, Rayne. She just ran into a few brambles and got confused."
"That's not what I saw."
"What did you see?"
"A vampire tearing out the heart of a demon and destroying it."
"That's quite a tale."
"Except it's not. She's the first vampire since Moraykah to kill a demon. I hope you can appreciate the significance of that," he paused and glanced around, "Where is her consort? Has he left her unprotected too?"
"Casper was needed in the city."
"Call him and tell him to get back here. He shouldn't be leaving her alone like this."
"With all due respect, she wasn't left alone. She was left with me."
"And you thought that you could protect her? You, a lowly grunt."
"I am the oldest the vampire in the northern territories with the most military experience. I'm hardly a grunt."
"Yet with all your experience, you were unable to stop one little girl from climbing over a wall."
"This was an unfortunate oversight by my security team."
"Well-" Rayne began, but I stopped him.
Pulling away from him, I called timeout.
"Okay, boys, this is getting nasty. Why don't we take a moment to calm ourselves down," I interjected, calmly.
"You're right," Rayne replied softly, "We can examine Nico's failings after your consort explains to me why you were left without proper protection."
It was the second time Rayne had used the word 'consort'. I'd heard the term used before in royal documentaries and I was sure it was used to describe the spouse of a King or Queen. I looked up at Rayne and wondered if he had confused me with somebody else. I wasn't a Queen. I was closer to peasantry than royalty.
"Look," I said to Rayne, "I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not royal. I'm a nobody."
"Sophie, you saw the demon. It came here to kill you."
"I think it killed a lot of people. I don't think it came after to me specifically."
"You're wrong. Don't you remember what I told you? They want to eat your heart, Sophie."
A vague recollection flickered across my mind of snow and burning metal...and Rayne, standing before me with huge bat-like wings. The memory was too painful to fully recall. I rubbed my temples, trying to massage away the pain.
"My memory got screwed up the night after the crash," I explained.
"That was my fault. I hit you a little too hard. I thought with your power that you would be able to heal yourself in no time, but clearly, you need some time to mature into your full power."
"What do you mean, mature?"
"You're a special vampire, Sophie. It's been nearly a thousand years since someone has had your gift."
"That's not true. Casper has the same gift, he can control the weather too."
"That's not your gift. Your talent is rarer and a true indication of the person you are destined to be."
"What does that even mean, Rayne," I snapped impatiently.
"You ability allows you to mimic any vampire power you come in contact with. Do you realise how significant this is? You're a Queen, Sophie, a true vampire Queen chosen by nature and not by men."