Neverwood |h.s.|

14

Hew's words are like a song that I cannot get out of my head. It plays on repeat, as if he has cleaved open my mind and implanted it there for this specific purpose.

A bargain is a nasty thing, one mustn't go into them blind.

Remember that the Fae cannot lie but can manipulate the truth.

And when you want to walk through faerieland without being seen, hold your breath and they'll never know where you've been.

Over and over again the words clang around inside of my mind as if I could ever forget such a warning. I don't think I ever could. Each word drips with ominous foreboding and I am terribly afraid.

My hands shake as I press my back into one of the pearlescent walls of the castle, hoping against all hope that, if I have made it this far, then luck must be on my side. 

Sneaking into the castle was far too easy. No one was guarding the entrance and while I held my breath in tiny bursts, I had the sense that someone was watching me regardless. That my held breaths were for nothing. But each turn, each breath held, I looked around and saw no one. 

Now, I am pressed against the inner wall of a corridor and praying that this isn't leading me to my doom. I can feel Death pressing its greedy paws into my shoulders and I can't tell if it is out of excitement or fear. It is my shadow, my companion, but I don't know whose side it is on in this moment. 

My breaths come out in ragged pants, beads of sweat sliding down my neck to the middle of my back as I mold my shaking palms to the wall behind me. I cannot fathom how I have found myself here. My life is a complete travesty and somehow I have found myself escaping from one tormentor into the waiting arms of another and the moment I am rid of him, I am running after him to save him. 

I am so reckless. 

And stupid. Very, incredibly stupid. 

A commotion down the hallway that I am currently hiding in draws me back into the now and I suck in as big of a gulp of air as I can as twin doors burst open and I see someone I never thought I'd see again. 

Two giant guards, bedecked in polished silver armor, stoically walk in sync with a person wriggling chaotically between them. Screams and yowls come from the prisoner as the armored drones drag them down the length of the corridor and my eyes are wide. The very breath I had taken is lost.

Cassidy sees me and screams in my direction.

"JESSIE! HELP ME! HELP!" Her screams and shouts barrel towards me and I have to press myself even further into the wall, closing my eyes against her onslaught of pleas, and pretend like I am not seeing this. That this is just a dream. Some horrific nightmare.

The guards don't even hesitate as she squirms and kicks and shouts like a feral animal. Their perfect faces are completely devoid of emotion as they haul her down as if she weighs nothing.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD! YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! USELESS! FUCKING USELESS!" She calls after me as she passes me by and realizes that my rescue mission isn't for her. As she realizes that she is in the grips of something that no one can save her from. 

Tears stream down her face as I open my eyes once more, hers still turned towards me even as she is dragged down the hallway through another set of double doors. A look of absolute betrayal etched on her features sends me reeling.

I can't say I feel bad. 

I can't say that I feel even an ounce of regret.

Whatever happens to her is cosmic justice.