Sweet Dream (2)

The beautiful moon spilled its elegant light upon the bedroom, casting a tall shadow of the furniture on the slightly cold floor. It gave the whole room a rather sombre atmosphere yet hauntingly beautiful at the same time, almost romantic even.

Unfortunately, the graceful light didn't shine upon one corner where the maid was standing and the darkness was almost impregnable there. Her figure was shrouded within the darkling light and leaving only the color of her outfit visible to the eyes.

The peaceful night was then broken when Ophelia's quivering voice stained the air in terrible terror.

"Bella....dona?"

Crack.... crack...

The noise that was akin to a bone snapping resounded monotonously in a slow disturbing rhythm. With every cracking sound, Ophelia's heart pounded a second faster. She noticed there was something wrong with Belladona then.

But, Ophelia could only witness the scene in silent tremor with eyes wide open and her body shaking helplessly as the brown-haired maid stretched her legs to turn her body around.

Crack... went the sound again and the hairs on Ophelia's body stood on its end.

The sound continued to echo with every movement the maid's made as if her muscle joints popped out of the place. It made Ophelia jumped every time.

Large beads of cold sweat came streaming down her face. Her hands clutching on to the soft quilt. She was holding on to every last bit of courage she had as she called Belladona again.

"B-Bell.... B-Belladona?" She stammered even worse than before. Her voice was barely audible, instead it was her fear that screamed louder.

It was at this moment that the maid stopped moving. Then, Ophelia caught a glimpse of Belladona opening her mouth through the layer of brown hair that covered her side profile. A creaking voice escaped her lips in a slightly gibberish noise as though it had come from the centre of a dry throat.

"a..a...a...a...ak....a...aa...ak...."

It started in a low volume before slowly getting louder.

"B-Bell...."

"a.....a...a.....A.....A....AK....A....."

Thereafter, Belladona's body began to move again as she continued to croak. The creaking voice grew sharp to the point that it screeched and shook the air. Ophelia immediately covered her ears as tears began to pool in her eyes.

In the next moment, Ophelia was greeted with a sight that she would never forget. Long lanky arms with lengthy fingers and pointed overgrown nails that could easily pass as claws. There was no skin covering the creature's body as Ophelia could directly see its bone structures and blood vessels. Arteries upon arteries enfolding its muscle tissues.

And lastly, Ophelia's pupils shook as she met its 'face' that held no eyes or nose but a layer of coarse leather skin and a wide slit of mouth with a row of sharp butchering teeth.

"You're not Bell..." Ophelia shook her head in pure terror that she couldn't even finish her words.

Its chest rose and fall in a heavy breathing as it took unsteady steps forward to Ophelia's direction. Its body bent unstably due to its limp steps. Nevertheless, it kept moving towards Ophelia, undeterred by its chaotic movement.

"a..a...a...a...ak....a...aa...ak...."

It screeched again and Ophelia immediately went into panic mode. She reflexively raised her hand and chanted a spell. But...

....nothing happened.

Her eyes widened in shock. She looked down at her palm. That was when Ophelia realized she couldn't feel mana flowing in her body.

"W-Wha... What---"

However, she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as the creature lengthy arm swung rapidly towards her. Ophelia was caught off guard and its sharp nails jabbed into her arm.

"ARRGGGHHHHHH!!!!" A shrill scream of agony broke out of her mouth.

And again... "ARGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" ...even louder as it clawed a chunk of her flesh as it pulled back its hand.

Ophelia immediately bent forward while holding her bleeding arm. Her back was completely drenched in cold sweat. Thereafter, she saw the creature brought that chunk of flesh into its mouth and swallowed it whole.

That scene spooked her so much that she trembled all over. Her mind went blank but her body reflexively rolled out of the bed. Then, she ran as quickly as possible towards the door, completely forgetting the pain in her arm. As soon as she was into the hallway, the creature's high-pitched screech resounded in the air.

It stung Ophelia's ears and her body swayed from a sudden dizziness. Blood trickled down her ears. Despite that, she kept running. Every step left a bloody footprint and it trailed all the way to the next floor where her three brothers resided in.

By now, Ophelia consciousness was already hanging on a thread. She couldn't ponder further whose bedroom she should enter. She just went in, in desperate hope that her brother could help her.

Sensing a movement in his room, Julian who was a knight therefore had a sensitive hearing, immediately woke up as Ophelia expected. She saw her brother sitting up and turning towards her. In that moment, all her fear and grievance poured out like a waterfall.

"Brother Julian!" She exclaimed in sobs, dashing madly to his arms.

"What's wrong, Ophie?" Julian's soft caring voice echoed from above her head. His big hand stroked her hair lovingly.

"B-Brother....h-help....there's a monster!" She stammered through her cry, "There's a monster in my room! Belladona she--"

Ophelia chocked when she was reminded of that hellish appearance. "Belladona, she turns into a monster."

Julian's hand was still on her head, trying to soothe her, and his other arm was hugging her safely. Ophelia couldn't be more assured at this moment, until she heard Julian's words.

"What's wrong, Ophie?"

She knitted her eyebrows but, her fear had overwhelmed her mind that she began explaining again. "I said there's a monster, Bro--"

"What's wrong, Ophie?"

"B-Brother?"

"What's wrong, Ophie?"

Ophelia turned into stone almost immediately. Her heart jumped to her throat and her consciousness was stimulated. Her vision became clear once again as though the trace of sleepiness was never there.

"What's wrong, Ophie?"

Julian's voice resounded again but this time, Ophelia noticed something strange. Then, when the question came again, Julian's voice suddenly changed towards the ending.

"What's wrong..... Oph...ie?"

It sounded like a short circuit in a radio and the voice suddenly became distorted before it turned into a meaningless gibberish.

A bad feeling assaulted her as Ophelia slowly lifted her head while her body had already begun shaking. She had unconsciously held her breath. As soon as she looked up, her eyes were greeted with a grotesque sight of Julian's face melting away. His skin liquefied and his eyeballs rolled out of its socket, hanging down his melting face.

"Wh....at...s wro....ng ...Op....hie...?"

Her lips trembled and in the next moment, Ophelia released her breath.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"