Chapter 4 Waking Up In Darkness

Cold. Dark. Empty. Amanda was shivering. Earlier, she suddenly felt sleepy and soon fell asleep on the couch at home. There was supposed to be a fireplace but she is wondering why she is feeling cold. She remembered that she is wearing her dress so she is not supposed to feel this cold as well. On top of the coldness, she's having another unexplained feeling. It seems like there is a gap inside her body. She feels empty and light. She seems to be floating in the void. This could be a dream. She is too tired to dream about something like this. Then she remembered parts of her earlier dream.

She dreamt about being carried inside her house. She dreamed about the maids taking her clothes off. His father told them to do it carefully so as not to awaken her. She dreamed about the maids wiping her body with a wet cloth dipped in flower-perfumed water. They seem to be preparing her for a ceremony. She dreamed about them putting a thin white cloth on her. The cloth barely covered her body and its thinness would surely make her feel cold on this autumn night.

Amanda thought that she had been thinking too much about the introductions earlier that she suddenly had a fearful dream about ceremonies. Unconsciously, she despised marriage to the point that she would be having nightmares about it. Still, this dream seems strange. She is conscious but her eyes are closed. Not, it's more like, she could not open her eyes. She also could not move. She seems to be floating in the void, unaware of which direction she is facing. She was in a vast space of nothingness and only her consciousness is moving.

Amanda started to feel anxious. She moves her eyes, or at least she felt like she did but she could not tell because there was only a very dense darkness no matter where she looks. Her arms and legs still refuse to move. She knows that they are there, she could feel them but she could not feel through them. It seems like her limbs are there but are also not there. She felt suffocated from the darkness but she could breathe just fine. She tries to speak. She feels like she is opening her mouth but there was no sound she knows that she is moving her mouth but she can't even feel it moving.

Soon enough, Amanda was finally able to move her fingers. Then she could close and open her hands, she could also wriggle her fingers. Her feelings in her face and body started to return. She could not move her limbs and her hips. Or at least she feels like she is strong enough to do so but she realized that she still could not. There is something that is restricting her arms and legs from moving. She feels like she is bound and tied to something.

"NO. No no no no. This is not possible. This is still just part of that dream. I am still dreaming," Amanda said loudly, trying to calm herself down. Then she realized that she was finally able to speak loudly.

"This is just a dream," Amanda repeated. She opened her eyes and saw the night sky. The full moon is shining brightly right in the middle of the sky. It looks to be larger than usual. "Tight, this is just a very bad dream," Amanda said as she tried to move her limbs, trying to get away from the binds that prevent her from escaping. The pain she feels from the rope cutting into her wrists and ankles gradually reduced her confidence in the thought that this is just a dream. The pain is real.

She tried to move her body and she felt the cold and hard slab of the place that she was lying down on. It was cold and she felt it directly on the skin of her legs. The breeze blew and she felt her whole body shivered. She realized that she is dressed way too lightly to be outside on this cold autumn night. Then she remembered something. Something that terrified her. Something that she refuses to believe. She remembered that this piece of clothing is the same thing that was put on her in her dream. She realized that it was not a dream at all.

Just like what she loved to do, Amanda tried to piece what happened throughout the entire evening together. She was happily talking with her friends, going through the festival stalls. They were talking about how they missed Jessica since she left last year tight after the festival to elope with her lover. Her father suddenly came with a gentleman and took her home, wanting to introduce her to him. They had liquor but she only drank tea, then she suddenly felt sleepy and fell asleep. No, it was more like she felt dizzy and fell unconscious. Then the dream of her being undressed, washed and clothed in this exact clothing.

She soon later realized that the feeling of being unable to move after waking up was caused by a paralyzing potion. She might have been drugged and prepared for some sort of ceremony. It seemed so far-fetched and irrational but looking at the patches of memory that she could muster to remember, this seems to be the only logical reason. The only way to explain this present situation is that her friends and family have all come together to make this elaborate prank. They even took her to this unknown patch of land just to do it.

"I get it!" Amanda shouted, her voice a little hoarse from the cold, "I get it now! You are only joking, right? Who among you thought about this? Irene?" she addressed the darkness beyond expecting to hear laughter but all she heard were growls and night calls. The rustling of the leaves from the breeze. They seem to be hiding pretty well, she wishes that they would quit it already and release her.

"Come on! You win, ok!" Amanda said, feigning fear. If she wants to be released sooner than later, she needs to make them believe that they won, "I am afraid now. Please let me go now! Irene! Father! Are you in this? Grace! I know you are too soft for something like this. Come one!" Amanda is starting to feel frustrated now. This joke has gone too far. This time, she could hear people snickering from the woods. She is positive now. They are the people behind this.

"Guys! What the hell?! I can hear you giggling, you know!" Amanda's voice started to grow stern, "This has gone too far. I will forgive you if you stop this now and if you let me go. Please!" the snickering continues, she can see movement within the thicket now.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Amanda felt a little relieved, at least they are going to let her go now. Irene and her father would get it from her after this. Grace might be the one who convinced them to stop this now so she will let her go with only some talking to. That idiot Count and her maid might be in on this as well. Amanda sighed in relief as she felt a presence close in on her from the forest. It was a woman but she was someone that she did not know. She might be a maid of that stupid count.

"I knew it! You stupid Count is in on it too!" Amanda shouted towards the darkness. She heard the woman giggle. Amanda looked at her woman and had to blink twice. Maybe it was because of the darkness or maybe because her face was hidden in shadow. After all, the moon is directly above her. This person is a woman but there is something off about her face and figure. She was clothed thinly. Her belly was exposed and her full breasts are almost visible through her stretched clothing.

Her hair was more like plumage, maybe it was a fashion statement. The plumage seems strangely attached to her scalp and Amanda wondered what kind of cosmetic technique made this sort of effect. Surely, Grace would love to know the secret and she would later ask this woman. The woman's face also looked strange. Her forehead sloped sharply towards her nose bridge. The effect made her seem like she did not have any nose at all. Her nose also seemed to be attached to her upper lip, she did not seem to have any philtre. The darkness seems to be playing tricks on Amanda. The woman's gait also seemed awkward, she seemed to be tottering more than walking. It seems like she is not used to walking all the time. Amanda could not look towards her lower body because of her position but there seems to be a problem with her legs.

The most mysterious part of the woman that Amanda seems to wonder about is the woman's arm. Her arms seem to be covered in the same plumage as her head and they seem to be attached in the same way. This woman did not spare any expense in her cosmetics. Soon Amanda realized that the woman had bony fingers and long talon-like nails. Surely, this fashion statement is strange even for the capital.

Then the woman got closer and Amanda could now clearly see her eyes. The pupils of her eyes were large and dark, like a bird's. She also noticed that the woman was smiling, exposing razor-sharp teeth. Amanda could not believe it but there was only one thing that comes to her mind after seeing all the features feature of this woman. She has read about this creature from books, she has always wondered what it was like to see none. She knows exactly what it is because this is one of the soldiers recruited by the Demon King. Standing beside her is a harpy.