“There are other ways I can silence you,” his eyes darted to my lips before he quickly looked up. For a moment, I swear he even surprised himself because he gulped and hurriedly added, “I’m not here to argue with you.”
I was still shocked by his comment.
“You’re here to make your sister uncomfortable? How could you even joke about something so disgusting?” I snapped, justifiably furious.
How dare he touch me like that? It was completely inappropriate.
“We’re not siblings,” he muttered under his breath.
“What the hell are you talking about? Why are you trying to convince me that we’re not related?” A shiver ran up my spine as he narrowed his eyes at me and groaned.
“It’s not like that. I’m here to bring you back to the real world. You’re trapped in some ridiculous fantasy that’s going to consume you,” he said, his tone growing more intense.
I couldn’t let him keep ranting.
“Fantasy? This is my world! What are you even talking about? Did you come here to ruin my wedding or something?” I grimaced as he rolled his eyes, leaning so close that we were practically breathing the same air.
“Helanie! You sniffed that stupid purple rose and ended up here. Did you forget? You’ve been working for my brother Maximus, and I caught you.” The moment he said that name, a shudder went through my body.
It was a new name, but something about it deeply unsettled me. Kaye noticed my reaction and nodded aggressively.
“That’s it. I have to say things from the real world to break you free from this dream,” he said, a wide grin spreading across his face as he started spouting the most outrageous things.
“Remember? You went to live with your mother, and she kicked you out. You had nowhere to go. You said you left your father too. You wanted to join the academy, but you didn’t have any money-” He made me close my eyes, and what I felt on my cheek next stunned me.
Tears.
I hadn’t cried out of sadness in years.
“Helanie! Wake up before that man consumes you like he has consumed all his other victims,” Kaye shook me, forcing me to open my eyes.
And that’s when I gave him a small nod.
“Good. Now, tell me, what do you remember?” He finally let go of my hands and stepped back, waiting for me to agree with him.
But instead, I calmly and steadily said, “That I need to call for help.”
Before he could understand what I meant, I started screaming at the top of my lungs, “HELP! HE’S HURTING ME!”
Helanie:
I watched his face turn red and then lose its color as he yelled back at me while covering my mouth with his hand. “What are you doing?”
The moment we heard footsteps approaching my bedroom, Kaye grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the window.
“Stop it,” he grunted as I shook my head, trying to kick him away.
“I am not going without you; do you understand me?” he hissed, leaning closer to my face. When I attempted to resist further, he seized the small knife from the food platter and held it against my neck, shocking me with his hostility. He then removed his hand from my mouth. I was stunned, feeling the sharp blade against my skin. My heart raced in my throat, my veins pulsating. Yet he looked so calm, as if he had done this before.
“Now shut up,” he warned me through his piercing gaze.
“Are you going to kill me?” My breath hitched, and my eyes formed tears of fright. I had such a perfect life until now. Why did he have to come here and ruin my night before the wedding?
“Come with me, and I will spare your life,” he hissed, forcing me out of the window. He then continued to throw me over his shoulder and jumped down.
It was all happening so quickly and abruptly that I truly thought I was dreaming. He put me down but only to grab my arm and start sprinting into the darkness. My heart was pounding so hard, and I was too afraid to resist and risk getting stabbed.
I did hear my parents open the door to my room and call out for me, so I had a little confidence that my parents would find me. Or they would contact my mate and let him know what happened very soon.
Once we were deep in the woods and engulfed by darkness, he finally pushed me onto the ground and stood on top of me, his legs spread over my stomach.
“Now, if you make one more noise-” he waved the knife in my face, his massive body hunched over mine. I nodded shakily, showing obedience. He finally stepped back, and I sat up, my hands resting on the ground behind me.
“What do you want from me? Are you going to kill me?” I asked, choking on my own tears.
“No! And stop it-this is not you. You don’t even cry when people kick you out of their homes or when they humiliate you. This you-this is pathetic,” he had so much animosity in his voice that I began to wonder if maybe he had lost his mind.
“I am me, Helanie. There is no other version of me; why do you keep saying that?” I asked in a low murmur.
“Helanie! You are trapped in this crazy dream world because you-you sniffed that purple rose. This is not real; this is a dream prison, and if you don’t get out in time, you will be stuck here forever. And let me tell you something: you will not be happy. You saw those people that you called your parents? I recognized them.” He was driving me to the brink of madness now. He looked so tall and ripped, huffing like a beast.
Everything he said went over my head, but it was also one heck of a terrifying claim.
“They were once the main leads in their own dream prison. The master-the alpha king, in your case-showed them this beautiful vision of a perfect life before he consumed them. Now, they aren’t even living their own dream. They become a part of whoever comes here. Do you want to be forgotten and become a side character in someone else’s perfect dream world?” he yelled, shaking his head angrily at me.
“Now tell me-do you not think this isn’t your mother? Do you not remember your mother? Your father? We brothers-we gave you a hard time and kicked you out. But then you still clung around because that is who you are. You are competitive and stubborn and very annoying. You want to get whatever you desire, and you do it no matter how many people are trying to stop you. But this one-the one who just wants to be praised-is not the real you.” He knelt down before me, maintaining deep eye contact.
I kept staring at his face until I had a flashback of something very terrifying: my mother grabbing my arm and kicking me out of her house. It shuddered through my body and made Kaye examine me closely.
“You remember something,” he commented.
“If it’s true-how do you think you are going to break me free from this dream prison?” Since I was beginning to feel very misplaced, I tried to give him a chance. It wasn’t a lie that I felt odd about my mother. If this lady was my mother, then who was the one from my flashback?
I had only memories of this place, but I had flashbacks of the ones Kaye was telling me about.
“That-I think if you remember something or everything, you would be able to come back home,” he scratched the back of his neck, and I frowned.
“Okay, then remind me,” I said, sitting with support from the ground.
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