Unmasked || Dreamwastaken (On Hold)

XV • The Plan

Dream,

I'm sorry. I wish that I didn't have to leave you, but I can't keep hurting you. I still want that life down South with you, I truly do. Maybe one day we'll find each other again and we can have that house by the lake, but for now I need to do what's best.

You've helped me more than you could possibly understand and I want you to know that if I hadn't met you, I don't know where I'd be. Even if I have to run, you're the one who gave me freedom. I'll never understand why you put so much effort into helping me. Perhaps it was pity. If so, you've done a wonderful job at making me believe otherwise.

I love you. It seems pitiful for me to admit such a thing, but you deserve to know. I know that it may as well be impossible for you to feel the same. After all, how could you love a monster?

I know you've been trying to convince me that's not what I am, but both of us know the truth. I'm made of the same curse as Techno, a murderer. I believed for so long that no one was justified in their prejudice against us, but we have a history of violence. Every one of the victims of the curse who came before me were warriors, bloodthirsty warriors. I'm no different.

I can't let myself hurt you, so I must leave. By the time you return from Wilbur's, I'll be gone. I'm going South, just as we planned, but I'll be on foot. Please don't go after me. I'm doing this for you.

Aly

I read over the letter for what felt like the hundredth time in the minimal moonlight. The fire was the only other source of light in the room and I feared that if I read in that light, the urge to burn the letter would take over. It was better read in the moonlight anyways, where I could barely see the couple of tears that I had accidentally stained the paper with.

My cheeks remained wet from crying as I had long given up on wiping away the tracks of tears. I gently set the paper down with a shaky breath and stood from the chair to approach the drawer. I opened it and looked at the bloodied dress. I pulled it out and ripped a strip of fabric off of it. I held the fabric in my hands and choked up at the sight of the red stain on one corner of it. Despite its appearance, I gently tied it around my wrist.

I looked at the bandages around my arms and decided against replacing them. They hadn't been replaced all that long ago. The makeshift brace I had made for my ankle felt uncomfortable in the boots that I had stolen from Dream, but that was to be expected. I didn't have any other options.

I walked back over to Dream's desk for a final time and wiped the stray tears from my cheeks as I looked at the letter. My gaze lingered on the paper with the quill sat beside it.

I tore my eyes away with a reminder that I was doing what was right and took the sword that Dream had left for me from where it leaned against the wall. That was it. I was leaving.

I leaned against the door to Dream's room to listen for any noise outside and found complete silence. My plan of forcing Dream to take Sapnap with him had worked. I silently opened the wooden door before scurrying over to the service door that Dream and I had taken when he snuck me in.

"You won't get very far without food, Aletheia." A woman's voice came from behind me.

I quickly turned around and saw a figure standing in the shadows of the corner, where I couldn't see her from the door to Dream's room. I readied my sword and kept my eyes trained on her. My mind was running too fast for me to think straight, going through all of the possible scenarios. "What do you want?"

She stepped out of the shadowed corner with a shrug. "I'm just doing my job." I could now tell by the armor she was wearing that she was a knight of SMP. "You didn't really think Dream would leave you without protection, did you?"