Falling Love

Chapter 25

^Joann's POV^

I woke up, once again in a cold sweat. Just like the day before, I had a nightmare, this time far worse than the night before. It was as if all the horrors I've seen so far had mixed together and created the worst nightmare I've ever had. In the dream I saw myself standing there, then blinked and saw their bodies. Every single person who I've known, dead, laying on the ground in a pool of blood. Then a second blink and I was standing on what I wanted to hope was ground beef. The heavy scent of iron hitting my nose with the combination of what I was stepping on made me feel like I could hurl. As I was trying to figure out what the hell was happening, I felt something grab onto my ankle. I looked down in horror to see a hand was holding onto it, the body emerging from the meat. I stare at it frozen, watching as a person begins to rise from it. It was Circe, glaring up at me.

"It's your fault, it's your fault I'm dead!" she yells when I feel another hand grab onto my other leg. The face rising from the meat this time was Leon's. More hands grab onto my legs and familiar faces of those who I've seen die or already dead. Linus, the werewolf girl who I saw dying from the flames, the maids from my home when the Naphal Empire attacked, and even my parents. All of them yelling at me, saying it was my fault that they were dead. Suddenly I could feel them begin to drag me into the ground. They themselves sank back into the meat as they dragged me along with them. I could feel myself starting to cry and scream as my body was being pulled deeper and deeper in and reach my arm out and scream one last time.

After that point I had woken up, sitting up straight and looking around at my surroundings in fear I'd see bodies. Taking deep breaths, I notice Lucifer already up and changed. He looked at me with slight worry in his eyes.

"You alright? Had another nightmare?" He asks, I nod my head in response, choosing to stay quiet and not go into detail. He sighs and walks to me and sits on the side of my bed, lightly taking and squeezing my hand in reassurance. "You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'm here if you need it. You're going through literal hell right now and you aren't used to seeing stuff that you've been seeing recently. I know we don't have a lot of time to spare, but if you need it, let me know when you need a break. Alright?" He says as he holds my hand lightly and kisses the top of it. I feel myself blush and turn my face away.

"Alright, thanks Lucifer. I think I'll be fine, just going to be haunted by nightmares for a bit, but other than that I'll be okay. Let me get ready and we can head out." I say as I start getting up. Lucifer nods his head then stands up and goes back to his bed, opening his bag and looking through it. I stand up and go to the bathroom, making sure to grab a change of clothes before entering. I quickly change and brush my hair before exiting, seeing Lucifer throw his shoes on.

"Ready to go?" he asks, I gulp before replying with a small 'yes'. We put our cloaks back on and grab our bags before exiting the room. We walk downstairs and say goodbye to the bartender who was already up surprisingly and then exit the tavern.

As we exit, the nauseating scent of all the food hits my nose once again and I scrunch my nose. I don't think I could ever get used to this smell. I think to myself as we make our way through the territory, making sure not to look closely at the food stalls. After what seemed to be over half an hour we had reached the gates of the next inner territory, Iracundia, which was ruled by Sathanus. From what Lucifer explained, the boy was a lapdog to the Empress and he was known for blood lust. He warned me about how in this territory people were known to be executed for the smallest of rules to be broken. With that we are to keep our heads down and try to get through here as quietly as possible in hopes that the twins hadn't already spread the word that Lucifer was making his way through.

As we walked up to the guards, they appeared to be colder and glared at Lucifer as he stepped forward. Shit, I don't think we'll be able to go unnoticed that easily if the guards already recognized him. I think as the guards step to the side, letting us pass through without a word. I was slightly confused on why they never exchanged words with us, as if they were expecting us, leaving me even more worried.