I Want Peace

ｏｐｈｅｌｉａ

Just as I was organizing my days forward and sipping the last of my tea, the air around me started to dense and thickened to unforgivably dark smoke. The distant voices faded into uncomfortable silence- the kind which would want to make you pull your hair out.

An eerie growling disrupted the bone-crushing silence, and I couldn't make out whether it was in my head. I stood up from the chair, troubled with vertigo, and attempted to get as far away from here as possible. But amidst trying, I saw the animal, the same one I saw in the alley -but in the sun's scattered rays, it looked like a beast. His emerald eyes blazing and staring at mine while he spoke in a grizzling manner,

"Hurry Raven, your time is running" It sounded portent and threatening.

I couldn't think any further, my brain throbbing and beseeching to detach from my head. The beast continued its warning like a broken record and stepped towards me, its mouth dripping with blood, unlike last time, it did not latch at me, rather was mindful of its steps as if I were such a fragile thing that could shatter easily. It wasn't just the beast I heard anymore, there were faint screams of a few men and women- those haunting screams that would keep me up at night for God knows how many years.

I wanted it to stop- for the screams to cease and for the beast to leave me alone.

As if it had heard my silent pleads, it started backing up, its paws pounding against the ground, leaving rough patches in its way and disappearing back into the smoke from where it came, the beast turned and said one last thing- which my mind had blurred out, but I pray I'd retain it once this was all over. It seemed Important.

I had always done this, not remembering the important things and missing out on the details, which would end me up in trouble. It was not because I was irresponsible, it all had to do with my lack of empathy.

The creature had vanished along with the smoke, the screams, and my consciousness. My eyes felt heavy and my body numb, I couldn't feel anything except this throbbing pain in my head and the burning sensation on my abdomen. Soon darkness took over me. I felt like I was floating on a vast never-ending ocean. Oh, how I could give up anything, just so I could stay here forever.

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I winced as I flutter my eyes open, my head whirling with memories of the incident and straining as if it had been hammered continuously. A sharp pain went up from my heart to my brain, as I tried to sit up.

The first thing that came into my vision after sitting up, was a pair of bright golden eyes, full of life staring back at me. A little girl had shiny- blonde arm-length hair, shining under the dancing rays of moonlight that reflected on her locks.

She stood right beside me; her face covered by her tiny arms resting on the bed. She was not taller than the bed I lay on. She wore a silk nightgown which was the colour of lilacs and had embroidery on the edges. She looked like an angel, a tiny little thing so pure and innocent, that even the devil himself would want to protect her.

"Hello," the girl finally spoke, which came more like a whisper.

"Hi, angel" I responded before my throat constricted, stopping me from speaking any further. I watched as the little girl stood up, tip-toeing her way towards the front of the bed, her golden hair tugged behind her adorably small ears. She made her way towards the accent table, pouring water from a pitcher into a glass, spilling half of it. After she was done, she made her way back to where I was, carefully not spilling the water which she adorably failed. She handed me the dripping glass of water from which I drank almost immediately.

"My name is Ophelia, and I am eight years old," said the little girl, but I couldn't see her face as all her hair covered it.

"That's a very pretty name" I tell Ophelia as she sits on the chair beside the bed.

"My mommy gave it" Ophelia replies while fiddling with her tiny little hands that held onto a stuffed rabbit.

One look and anyone could tell that this little girl was the youngest daughter of King Nicholas and his. deceased second wife, Amethyst Jasper. Ophelia is the youngest princess and the blood-related sister to the crown prince. There had been an awful lot of rumours about the youngest princess about her health.

"Well, Ophelia my name is Raven" I tell her softly and she almost immediately replies,

"I know and you also have a cat" She clutches onto her stuffed toy and looks towards a peacefully sleeping snowflake.

"Do you want to pet her?" Ophelia's eyes sparkled instantly, as soon as I asked her that.

Ophelia got down from the chair and sat next to snowflake who lay on the edge of the bed. She gently stroked the snowflake's white fur, careful not to wake her up.

"How did you know I was staying here, Ophelia?" I questioned Ophelia, intrigued as to how she knew my name, and how she trusted me so easily.

Ophelia halted petting the snowflake and turns her gaze towards me and replied bluntly,

"She told me". She goes back to caressing the cat and leaving me with even more questions.

"Who? Your nanny?" I interrogated her a bit, not intending to pressure her but curiosity indeed kill the cat. Ophelia once again stopped her actions, but this time her gaze turns towards the slightly open door to which she raises her hands and pointed, and then replies which comes more as a whisper,
"No, her"

I might be not the most superstitious person out there, who am I kidding, but I do believe in the supernatural. Especially when it is in the dead of night with a small girl sitting on my bed, who is rumoured to be either seriously ill or dead and more so when the girl is pointing towards a place where nobody is standing.

Ophelia looks back at me, this time all the life inside her sparkling eyes – is GONE. She looked pale as if she had seen a ghost. She soon gets out of the bed and hurries towards the exit, and whispers,

"I need to go". This was concerning, because she looked mortified, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Wait! where are you going?" I asked while removing the duvet that was spread over me and hurriedly wearing my slippers before following her out.

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GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON/EVENING/MIDNIGHT  🌞🌜⭐

I know its been A LONG~ time since I updated a chapter, and that is entirely because I had my finals and then decided to take a break to completely finalize the plot of the story instead of writing aimlessly AND NOW IM DONE WITH THE PLOT!! PLUS IM KINDA FREE SO I PROMISE ILL BE UPDATING CHAPTERS MORE OFTEN.

Anyways, leave a comment (if you feel like  it) so that I know how yall feel about this story plus it really helps!!

see you next chapter!!🌸✨

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