Jail Break

My heart pounded furiously as I awoke, gasping for air like I had been pulled from the depths of the ocean.

Fuck! That bitch!

The curse Dahlia had placed on me was no longer the familiar 'Nightmare' spell. This one was ten times more potent, its effects so lifelike that the pain was unbearable. It was as though I was trapped in a virtual reality game with the pain dialed up to maximum. And it wasn't just Rebekah's death that I witnessed; I relived my own death, my sister's death, and even the deaths of my parents in a past life. If not for my will to survive, I would have surely gone insane.

After what felt like an eternity, my breathing finally steadied, and I stood up, surveying my surroundings.

Bang!

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a red-eyed Freya stormed into the room. It was clear that she had been weeping for days. But before I could even ask her what was wrong, she reached out and chanted,

"Confractus."

With a loud crack, the chains holding me to the wall shattered, but the cuffs on my wrists, ankles, and neck remained.

"Quickly, Dahlia is gone for the moment. We must leave now!" Freya exclaimed anxiously, pulling a sack from beneath a loose tile on the floor.

"If you can break these cuffs, I can transport us out of here," I implored, pointing at the restraints on my limbs.

"Dahlia enchanted them. It will take too long for me to remove it. We don't have much time left." Shaking her head in response to my question, she gently pushed me through the door while following behind me.

...

Huff! Huff!

Gasping for breath, we ran through the dense forest, desperate to escape Dahlia's radar of sensory magic. I tried to keep my focus on the path ahead, but my mind was overrun with questions. Turning to Freya, I realized she was no longer carrying a child. Her eyes were puffy, and her belly was now flat. My heart sank as I realized what had happened - she had poisoned herself, and her baby was dead.

God damn it.

Guilt gnawed at me for not warning her about the future.

"Freya, I am s–"

"Don't," she cut me off with a glare so fierce it could have killed me.

"Don't tell me you're sorry because you don't know how it feels. I'm only saving you because you're my sister's husband. After we escape this forest, we'll go our separate ways."

My throat tightened with emotion, but I couldn't blame her. I failed to warn her about her future.

"You're right. I don't know how it feels to lose a child, but I do know what it's like to lose someone you love with every fiber of your being. Your aunt made sure of that."

Silence fell between us as we continued to run towards our destination. The weight of her loss hung heavily in the air, and the sound of our heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard.

...

After spending hours in the forest, the sight of a village finally appeared in our line of vision.

I am finally free. I am finally about to be free.

A sense of hope flooded through me as we ran faster towards the village with renewed energy. However, as we got closer and closer, a sense of dread in my heart grew stronger. When we finally made it out of the forest, the stench of a sickeningly dry, sweet metallic scent filled the air. Dead bodies were littered everywhere in the village. Some had their hearts torn out of their chests. Some had their necks snapped. Most had their heads detached from their bodies.

My happy smile froze in its place as I witnessed the aftermath of a massacre. When I looked at Freya for an answer, I noticed that her expression matched mine. However, before we had any time to snap out of our shock and continue moving forward, a humming could be heard from one of the village's huts. From within it, Dahlia walked out of it with a cloth, cleaning the crimson red blood from her hands.

"Ah. Good. You're both here." She said in a strangely calm manner, considering that her prisoner had just escaped and her only daughter-like figure had betrayed her once again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The calm sound of her footsteps echoed throughout the vicinity as Dahlia walked slowly towards us. Too afraid to move, Freya and I could only stand rooted on the ground awaiting Dahlia's wraith.

Reaching a few inches away from Freya, she caressed her face and said,

"I told you, didn't I? There is no escaping me. It was a reasonable plan all things considered. Keeping me distracted with the villagers while you escape with my prisoner. If only you hadn't tried to kill yourself with the baby last week, I wouldn't have put a tracking spell on you and you would have succeeded."

Seeing Freya's eyes widen in shock that she was the one responsible for their failed attempt to escape, I broke my silence and said,

"Dahlia. Freya has nothing to do with this. I broke out of your 'Nightmare' spell a few days ago and secretly told Freya the plan while you were away and forced her to initiate the plan. So, if you want to blame anyone, blame me."

Staring at me in resentment, with her jaw clenched, Dahlia spat angrily at me.

"You dare? I spared your wand and you and this is how you repay me?"

"You call that mercy? I would rather die. I suffered because of you. I have to watch people I love die over and over again. If you call that mercy, then you should probably see a doctor and get your brain fixed lady." Filled with anger at her hypocrisy, I said in an aggrieved tone.

By now, she was fuming. Her face had turned red. Bulging veins were also visible to me. Gritting her teeth in anger, she said,

"Good. Good. Then, I would make you suffer something far worse than death."

Knowing that I couldn't die, I prepared myself to fight my way out of here, even if I had to die here.

Hoping I could catch her off guard, I made the first move. I swung my fist towards her, hoping she would get knocked out or something. But before my fist could reach her, an invisible wall stopped my fist, keeping me from touching her face.

"How barbaric." She spat in a disgusted tone.

With a flick of her wrist, a pressure like nothing I had experienced rushed down my shoulders as I was forced to kneel before her.

Khuak!

My body reflexively gagged as a wave of vertigo hit me as pressure remained on my body. With both hands on the ground, I began to heavily gasp for air while a single strand of saliva dripped to the ground.

"I told you from the start you would never escape from me." Her signature wicked smirk once again dawned on her face.

"Auntie, please stop." Freya once again rushed to my rescue as her eyes were red from tears at the sight of losing another person she cared about.

Feeling touched by the gesture, I flashed a sad smile at her and shook my head, telling her to stop.

"Any last words?" Dahlia said while grinning wickedly.

"Go...to...hell." I gritted my teeth and spat those words.

Despite the insult thrown her way, she continued with her plan. Her hands pressed against my forehead, and I fought to break free from the invisible pressure that weighed down on me, but it was like pushing against a mountain.

With a wicked glint in her eye, she whispered in my ear.

"Now, now, I won't kill you. Instead, I'm thinking of making you my servant. What do you think?"

Panic flooded through me as I realized what she was planning. I struggled and squirmed, desperate to break free from her telekinetic hold, but it was all in vain.

NO! This is not how my story ends. I swear to god, Dahlia if I ever make it out of here alive, I assure you hellfire would rain down on y-

Screaming in my head, I made one final attempt to break free, but it was too late and the last thing I heard was,

"Cerebrum extergimus."

"Ghuuuaa!!!"

A desperate scream escaped my lips as a wave of sheer will and power slammed into the walls of my brain. It was like a ten-story tidal wave crashing down on me, and I was helpless to stop it. Soon after, everything faded into oblivion.