Beyond the Border | ✔

33 | rule 48

RULE 48: WHILE WITCHES HAVE SECURED THE BORDER, YOU MUST NOT TRUST THEM. THEY ARE MASTER'S OF DECEPTION.

✷ C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - T H R E E ✷

    "Pa!" I screamed so loud the back of my throat strained. Tears clouded my vision, covering my eyes with a foggy haze. My teeth instantly chartered, my blood running cold. I knew Pa was here, so why wouldn't he answer me?

    Where was Pa?

    "Pa!" I screamed again, but my voice was choked up with tears. My knees buckled beneath me as I struggled to stumble forward. Soon, my feet gave out before me, and I fell to the ground beneath, knocking into a plush object.

    THUD!

    Startled, I tried to wipe the tears away, a whimper escaping my lips. As my vision started to clear, I once again found myself screaming, recoiling back.

    "Pa!" I broke down as his mangled body lay before me, my breaths becoming rapid.

    I hoisted myself back to my feet and tried to run, but no matter what direction I ran in, I could not escape Pa's dead, decaying body. Pa was wearing his work clothes, clad in sturdy chainmail. His stomach was slit open, his organs spewed out as animals came over to poke and pry at his lifeless body.

    Pa was dead.

    "Pa," I cried out feebly. However, this time I was met with laughter.

    Goosebumps blanketed my body, as I slowly turned around to find out where the laughter was coming from. In the distance, I could see a hazy figure walking toward me.

    "Help!" I hollered to the figure, motioning for them to hurry. "My Pa, he - he - he needs help. Please."

    The figure closed in, their steps long but calculating. When the person was a few feet away, they laughed maniacally. "Sage, the death of your Pa is on your hands. You couldn't save the Borderlands, and your Pa had to pay the price."

    And then I broke down as laughter surrounded me.

    "Sage." I was being shaken with great force, my eyes bursting open. My body was quivering, covered in a thin layer of sweat as I broke into a sob. While my body was sweating, I felt so cold inside, like the life had been zapped out of me.

    My eyes shut as I was pulled into a warm embrace, a comforting, "shhh" was whispered in my ear.

    "I've got you," Theo murmured into my hair while he was still holding me close to his chest.

    Theo's presence helped calm my body down, as I was slowly unwinding from my terrifying dream. His voice was so calm yet stern at the same time — it was hard not to grasp onto each word he said. Soon, my body stopped shaking, and I was able to wipe the tears out from blocking my field of vision.

    Theo tucked an untidy piece of hair behind my ear, "do you want to talk about it?"

    "It was Pa," I got out before I had to stop mid-sentence to cover my mouth with my hand. I couldn't bear to say what happened in my nightmare for fear it may come to fruition, so I merely whispered again. "It was Pa."

    Theo nodded his head, his eyes lined with dark circles. He didn't push me to elaborate more, so, instead, we laid down together, comforted by one another. We stayed like that for a while, bodies intertwined, only a thin blanket keeping our skin from touching.