After reuniting with my father, we walked through the forest for a short while until we passed an invisible barrier that hid a run-down castle deep inside the forest. The whole way I wondered what had happened. I knew my father wasn’t the best or kindest or ...whatever. But I always thought his disinterest in me originated from a complete lack of parental skills, not outright hate. And while I knew the story my mom told me about him was bad, it was still hard to believe all this was happening.

Not only did hundreds of questions about my father occupy my mind, but there was also the hideous creatures close behind, watching every step I took and making sure I didn't try anything stupid. As if I could. The battle beforehand was enough for me, and now there were twelve times more monsters to deal with. It was hard keeping the tears in check. Remembering all the beatings and shouting I had to endure in the past, I didn't dare imagine what his punishment would look like now.

Jared didn’t speak a word to me the whole time. After our initial greeting, he made it clear I had to follow him but after that, he pretended I didn’t exist. We passed the entrance to the castle, or what was left of it, and the first to get my attention were the people dressed in dark robes. A dozen people dressed as if they belonged to some cult - which in retrospect they did - rushed through the halls. A few individuals stood out, geared with clothes that pronounced their very own, unique, and questionable fashion sense. My father was one of them.

While his clothes weren’t as fancy as some of the stuff the others wore, it wasn’t hard to tell that he belonged to the upper circle of this cult. The monster that used to follow us had already returned to the forest when Jared took me through the castle. I guess you don’t need those when you have a few hundred eyes watching me. I followed Jared as quietly as I could, and before long I found myself in the former throne room. A woman with long black hair, engrossed in conversation was the main attraction of the room when she noticed us.

“Oh Jared, is that her?” She took a few fast steps and soon she towered over me. The closer she got, the more my discomfort grew. To be honest, I hadn't practiced Mr. Sirius’ meditation technique as often as I should have in the last couple of days, but there was no mistaking it. This was Jenna. No doubt, the wave of pure fright that washed over me was enough to tell.

“Yes, that’s him.”

She pushed my father aside and started to cup my face in her hands, “So you’re that Eli, Arine is so obsessed with?” She grew a wide smile as she delved deeper into her mockery, “You should have seen her after I brought her here. ‘Eli, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. Please Eli, stay away from me.’ Delightful how she was wasting so many tears for you and now, you’re here!” Letting go of my face, she clapped her hands together and got closer to my ear, “What I would give to see her face when I drain you of your life." She tilted her head slightly to get a glimpse of my facial expression as she continued. "When she has to watch how you slowly but very painfully turn into a human raisin.”

I tried to be strong but it was impossible now. I didn’t even know what was worse. Her describing how she wanted to torture me or the pleasure she got from it? What had I gotten myself into? There never was a chance of rescuing Arine all on my own. My mom was right, I should have waited until they had a plan. All I was doing was making the situation worse. Why am I so damn stupid? Stupid... stupid...stupid...

Enthralled with my own mindless actions, I only barely realized when Jenna finished with her torture fantasy.

“But no matter how sad it may make me, I can’t kill you, no-no.” For a moment there I thought I had misheard. I kinda wish I did now. "Don’t worry though, as I know something even better.” She didn’t elaborate on it. A thousand different scenarios played in my head, each one more brutal than the last. And no matter how hard I tried, nothing could have prepared me for what Jenna had in store for me.

Satisfied with her psychological torment she turned back to Jared. “Why don’t you reunite our two again, while I prepare the ritual? I’m sure Arine will be delighted to see her friend.”

On our way out I risked a little peek over my shoulder. I couldn't start to describe the feeling I got when I saw Jenna seemingly lost in conversation but her eyes fixated on me. Watching every step to my doom with glee as she talked to her followers. When our eyes met her grin grew wider and for a moment she redirected her attention to the guys she was talking to while pointing at me. A burst of laughter erupted and I used the opportunity to look away again.

We walked for half an hour through the castle. Up, down, left, right, right, left... it went on for what seemed like forever before we arrived at our destination. At this point, all I knew was that we walked down a lot. We passed some dude that gave off serious executioner vibes and I was led to the dungeons. At first, I didn't believe this whole mess could get any worse, but hearing these inhuman screeching and seeing those shapes cowering in pain left and right, proved me wrong.

I did my best to forget my environment, to fade out the horror I was part of now. We passed a few cells that still contained humans, some alive, some… not so much. Jared brought me to the rearmost cell where a small girl was cowering in the corner. Her legs pulled up to her chest and her head buried in her knees. I heard her sobbing but couldn't understand what she was saying. When Jared shoved me inside the cell, he left without another word.

After the door to the dungeon closed, everything became pitch black. Carefully, I got closer to the girl and while it was hard to tell in the dark, her silhouette reminded me of Arine.

“Ari?” she didn’t answer.

“Ari?” I said again, this time touching her shoulder lightly. This got a reaction out of her. She looked up at me and when she saw me she buried her head even deeper.

“No, no, no.” She was shaking, repeating the same phrase over and over again. It took some time till I got her to calm her down again. “Why? Why did you come? You need to get away from here. Just...just forget me.”

There was a short pause, as neither of us knew what to say. I sat down next to Arine and put my hand on top of hers. If nothing else I would at least stay by her side.

“Please tell me you didn’t go alone? Your Mom and the teachers, they know you’re here right? They're just outside, waiting for the right opportunity to break-in, right?” It wasn’t a question only the last bit of hope she had to hold on to. We both knew that wasn't the case. My stupidity hadn’t only gotten myself into the big mess, no. I had also managed to make Arine's situation even worse. As if it wasn't bad enough to be a prisoner, now Arine blamed herself for my brainlessness.

I should have been better than this. This was different from all the stories I read. I wasn’t magically able to learn all the stuff that I missed for so many years. Hadn't just become a prodigy like that. I wasn’t a heroine and I would never be a match for Jenna. I was merely a seventeen-year-old brat who wasn't even in this world for more than a month and still, I thought I knew better than all the people that called this place their home because, well, fuck me.

And yet, despite all this, I would do it all over again only to see Arine once more. What is wrong with me?

We spend a good amount of time crying and being close to each other. Every now and then someone would come down and either release some of the monsters captured here or lead the remaining humans to a place deeper inside the dungeon. Every time that happened my stomach turned. There was no sound and we didn’t see them again after, but we both felt it. I could tell she felt it too. Arine started shivering as soon as it happened. I didn’t know all the details but guessing from the horrid aura, that was the place Jenna used for her experiments.

We witnessed seven people passing us before another group of persons stepped in. Right from the sound of their steps, I could tell this wasn’t the normal lackey that brought the people to their doom. No those were clicking sound, the same sounds I heard in the throne room accompanied by a few dozen other footsteps.

They, of course, came to a halt right in front of our little cell. With the snap of her fingers, Jenna created a small greenish flame, irradiating the moist and worn walls of the dungeon in an all to fitting light. “Oh look at this, aren’t they cute cowering like that?” There were a few snickers among their group till Jenn spoke again. “Jared get Arine, I will handle your offspring.”

Two burly looking men opened our cell, letting Jenna and Jared step inside. Jared wasted no time grabbing Arine and putting her over his shoulder. She protested, kicked, and even bit him but he wasn't fazed a bit.

“Don’t damage her.” Jenna warned him when he passed. She focused her attention on me and bore inside my soul with her emotionless eyes. It was clear she wasn’t the brute force type and wouldn't lift a finger, not like Jared. She expected me to obey and one look of hers was enough to make me follow her without objection.

Much to my and Arine's dismay, they brought us to the same spot, all the other poor souls were executed? Transformed? With each step that brought us further away from the surface, my body screamed at me to run.

“Oh Arine, you will soon be witness to one of the greatest achievements this world has ever seen.” Arine wanted to protest but Jared did something to her and her whole body became limp. With a knowing smile, she added, “You might even learn a thing or two about your little friend.” while giving me the side-eye.

We entered a small room, hardly able to fit us all, with a medieval torture machine in the middle. Or it looked like one, being a long wooden table with multiple straps to fixate the victim, which, in this case, was me. The two burly men lifted me up and started to tie me up. I protested as much as I physically could but between still being exhausted and them being at least twice my size, I never stood a chance.

And so I found myself once again in a situation that I couldn’t believe I was in. As soon as they fastened the last straps, the others left, leaving only Jared, Jenna, Arine, and me in the room.

Jenna had this look of excitement on her face, while Jared looked at me like I was some disgusting insect. Arine's expression was blank but I could see her making eye contact with me, pleading with her eyes to stop wherever was going on. She was still under Jared’s spell.

“I’m sorry it took me so long, but there were a few other important meetings I had to attend. I hope you had a comfortable stay in our luxury suits.” Jenna said mockingly before turning to Jared, “you have anything to tell your daughter while she’s still here?”

“Let’s just get this over with. I’m getting a headache.”

“You’re so boring, I can’t believe you were able to raise her for seventeen years.” Jared tightened his grip on Arine's neck as he too, tensed up a bit.

“Him.” His face was full of disgust and I wondered if Jenna did something to him? Or was he such a good actor that I had never caught his endless resentment towards me?

“Oops, my bad.” Jenna said while looking at me with this massive cheeky smile that told me she knew exactly what she said, “Now then, shall we begin?”

She took out a red crystal the size of her fist and embedded her magic into it. I could see the crystal slowly absorbing the purplish aura until its red color would only shine through small red cracks in a haze of purple smoke. With a flick of her hand, she let go of the crystal letting it hover over the center of my body.

Speaking her magic formula, the crystal started to pulsate, creating flashes of red lighting that hit my body in four different areas. Jenna didn’t lie when she told it would be painful, because painful it was. I had never been burned before but this is what it had to feel like. The same feeling when I woke up after meeting mom when my body started changing, but ran out of magic. But this time, it somehow managed to be even worse. With every zap, the lightning worked their way forward, up my legs and arms until they met at my torso. With every shock I received my muscles cramped and when they all started working on my torso, I was surprised I didn't break my back form all the spasms I got.

This treatment was going on forever. Thinking became impossible, as the pain overrode all my thought and my screams managed to drown out even them. All I knew was that my bones were cracking, my muscles changing and the aura, so clearly coming from Jenna and Jared slowly fading.

After the crystal finished with my torsor, I got a small break. Why wasn't I passing out? I knew enough about human biology to know that you’ll pass out after reaching a certain pain threshold and for the life of me, I already exceeded that by a hundred times. Did Jenna do this on purpose? One look at her was enough to confirm my suspicion. My pain was enthralling her.

The crystal started to pulsate again and I used the last few seconds I had before the torture continued to get a quick glance at Arine. She wore the same emotionless expression on her face but something was different. Her violet eye started glowing, her mouth was twitching to and small purplish cracks started to appear on her neck. Jenna and Jared noticed too.

“Just as I hoped.” Jenna was over the moon, completely ignoring me and her ritual while she was doting on Arine. “Soon Zere will walk among us again, and with her, the seal that was placed on the other side so long ago will finally be shattered.”

“Should I restrain her? We don’t know how much of Zere’s power she has absorbed.” Jenna contemplated his word for a second before she came to agree with him.

“Yeah, it would be a shame if she started to run amok before we erased her mind” - she handed him a small orange stone, covered with runes - “use this, it will suppress her magic long enough.”

Jared pressed the stone in Arine’s hand and used some old ropes to tie Arine's hands up. “That should be enough.”

Satisfied with Jared's work, Jenna redirected her attention to me, “I’m so sorry for the wait, now where were we? Oh right.” Without further ado, the crystal started to spill its lightning in my face again. It didn't pulsate and zap me like last time. Instead being a constant stream of red agony that rushed all over my face. The whole procedure was a lot faster than last time and when the lightning stopped, the crystal lost its mystic glow and dropped down onto my stomach. The straps loosened and I rolled down onto the floor.

Pleased with her work, she knelt down to me. “You know, you should be dead. There is no known way to drain the magic out of someone without them dying. I tried so many times to perfect this ritual, you can’t imagine how many sleepless nights I had to endure just for this little feat.”

I used the opportunity to look down at my body and found it different again. It wasn’t unbeknown to me, in fact I knew this body well, too well. It was the same one I possessed before I met mom.

“I’m sure you’re confused, so let me explain. The magic in your body was what held it in place, and it gives it the debatable body your mother tried so hard to push on you.” With malice in her voice, she whispered, “Now without any of those unnatural changes you can go back to your old life, and maybe even make your father proud, no Jared?” She made sure Jared heard the last part but he shrugged and turned his attention back to Arine who was on the verge of tears.

“Prepare everything for Arine while I escort our guest outside.” She grabbed my shirt and the next second I found myself in the horror forest again at the darkest of nights.

“Try to not die while Arine and I have some fun.” Leaving me in the dirt, she walked back towards the castle. ”The portal will be ready soon and you can get back to your normal boring life. No more magic, no adventures, and most importantly, no more headaches to deal with.”

I saw her disappear in a cloud of purple fog and found shelter under an old, dead giant redwood tree that offered me shelter in his rotten trunk.

Why was I feeling this way? I hadn't even been a girl for more than three weeks and yet it felt like my life was over. Every movement I did felt wrong, and the sound of my sobs only made me cry harder. My life was truly over. Why couldn't I be dead? Everything would be so much easier. No one had to ever worry about...

"Eli?”

I was so occupied with my bawling, I hadn’t noticed when someone called out to me. A light touch to my shoulder brought me back into this misery that some people liked to call reality. “Eli, is that you?” Looking up I meet the disbelieving eyes of Emily.

“Hey guys, ” she screamed at the top of her lungs, “I found her.”