Bab 11: Fear
"Run!"
The voices in the little princess's head had quietened, leaving her with just one instruction. Just one thought. Run!
She scurries off the floor, bloody, scared as hell, she runs for her life.
She can hear the monster behind her giving chase. It could see in the dark and was faster than her. In no time it had closed the distance between them.
She can now hear its grunts.
And now she feels its breath.
It's over.
____
*Pounce!*
It throws her to the ground. Flips her over, pinning her down to the ground with one hand by the neck, strangling her to death.
His hand spans from her neck to cover her entire torso, squeezing her arms to her sides.
She's being choked to death, but she would not give up without a fight.
Struggling to break free, she kicks at his wrist with all her might, but the monster doesn't budge till her limbs are tired out and she's losing consciousness.
Lightning strikes again, and in her last moments, she turns to the side to see a lot of severed bodies.
Most, of people she didn't know, some, of people she knew. Dead bodies, torn apart and soaking in their own blood.
She couldn't help them.
She couldn't save them.
She didn't find the Enouka. The world was doomed.
Her sight blurs out and just before she blacks out, she sees a bright light.
It tears the monster in two equal parts, from bottom to top in one swift, smooth cut.
But then, it's too late for her. She's already slipped out of consciousness, so she doesn't process this scene.
It all goes black.
_____
"*gasp!*"
Suddenly, a flash of bright light snaps our girl awake, as would the blinding flash of a camera at a photo studio.
She jolts up; her gasp and sudden movements, forcing her into torrents of vigorous coughing as her constricted airways adjust to freedom.
The sudden strain sends a few tears of pain to her big eyes for a second, clouding her gorgeous deep blue and turquoise pupils and wetting her long, dark eyelashes before dispersing simultaneously with her now dying coughs.
Freed, she is left trembling, panting, and in a sorry state of shock. Re-imprisoned, by a more terrible demon; Fear.
Feeling a soreness in her throat, her fingers automatically make their way to feel her throat as she realises her experience was not just a dream.
"Princess!", "Princess".
Completely unaware of her surroundings, she hears her maidservants' voices like distant echoes in the background.
Gradually coming to reality, her wildly beating heart sets the stage for panic.
Barely able to move let alone scream, Riuka lets out a cracked call for help before wincing from the consequential scratching pain in her throat.
"Mother!".
"Princess..."
Hearing her speak, the maidservants are relieved. They have tripled in number, standing all around her bed, worry written all over their faces.
When she speaks, they find renewed hope that the princess is well, but she still seems unaware; too traumatised to even realise that the attendants are around her.
"Princess... your hai- ", a younger attendant begins to speak in a low tone.
"Shhh..." With a serious look, a more experienced attendant brings her colleague's attention to the princess's shaken, absent-minded visage.
Their priority was to stabilise her.
"She calls for her mother. She would respond only to her mother. She must have her mother."
"Thankfully we sent word. Her mother is almost here, I should believe."
"I must see that she is well before the Queen arrives. We must render report of what happened."
Getting to it, the more experienced attendant quickly examines the princess to ensure that she is physically unharmed, and in no immediate danger.
____
"Increased heart rate, dilated pupils..."
"The princess is healthy, albeit mentally unstable.
It is not too terrible.
She should be fine if she manages to snap awake, and if she gets sufficient rest."
"Thank goodness."
____
"The Queen's horse approaches!
Why, at top speed too."
"But of course, she must be terribly afraid with the news we sent."
"Aren't we all?"
Hearing of the queen's approach and satisfied with the results of the physical examination, the older attendant hurries off without one more word, to receive the queen and render report, and the other maidservants clear out of the room, leaving the younger attendant behind to try to calm Riuka, and attend to her needs.
"Mother", this time, it's a cracked whisper.
Left alone with the young attendant, Riuka is still unaware, stuck in her own world.
Her throat hurts like hell, her body feels too weak to move, and her heart thumps over time. Trembling in fear, and feeling completely unsafe, she calls out for her mother, expecting something ominous to come at her from the shadows.
As for her physical appearance, her hair was now glowing, her skin now bore a new constellation of birthmarkings, but she is in too much of a shock to notice any of it.
She only knew she needed one thing right now... her Mother.
____
Apart from her unique birthmark, the rest of Riuka's physical traits were normal. Even her deep blue hair was regular for a Havillian, and they had all remained the same from birth through the peaceful 17 years of her life.
But after the dream that almost killed her, some things changed. The Most outstanding change was... Her hair.
The attendant that had tried to speak up about it a while ago still stood by the princess' bed, occasionally taking glances at it.
Before Riuka slept, her hair was a bed of coordinated deep blue waves and curls, long, lush and dark like the deepest depths of the most beautiful seas.
Separated only by a side parting on the left part of her face in a modern, fashionable way, the layered curls clung adhesively to Ruika's skull in synchronised waves, save for a few rogue strands that crawled sexily around the edges of her beautiful face, framing it.
That was yesterday.
Today, Riuka's curls were pretty much the same except that they had very well grown highlights overnight.
The rich, deep blue curls now had streaks of green and of a bright, blue-green colour; turquoise! The few turquoise streaks, though tiny and beautiful had tiny beads at some points that glowed fluorescent in the darkness, like fireflies.
The new hair though unusual was stunning and went perfect with her skin tone, but the 17-year-old hadn't noticed yet, as she was momentarily preoccupied with the scariest thoughts.
Like a true princess, she made a pretty sight, but for the horror depicted in her face. Riuka was petrified. But of course, she'd just miraculously got out of being choked to death in her sleep.
____
Hadiah
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