Sarah Anderson, Unknown wing of the Lilith Castle.
Mm... My head hurts; a crushing pain just on one side of my head that came and went in a pattern. Ugh... My body felt numb and weak, my throat and mouth were dry. As the darkness left my body, I slowly regained my consciousness. My eyelids feel weighted shut, light glowing through them in a reddish-yellow assurance. What happen...? How long I've been out...? Where am I...?
The shuffle of footsteps brought a cold vibe to the room. "Ah, you're awake." A feminine, nevertheless pleasant, a voice whispered, jolting me from my thoughts.
Glancing up, I saw a woman clad all in white, smirking at me.
"Y-You..." I managed to utter. It was Irene and she didn't have her glamour-spell on. It was true what the books said; demons in their true form were very appealing to the human eye.
She waved her hand, fingers dancing sarcastically in the air. "It is I! Who else would it be?!" She asked indignantly. "Oh--! But of course! I've been using a disguise, that's only natural..."
"W-Where... where did you take me?" I asked. "Am I..." As a certain thought hit me, I looked around, in an attempt to verify my hypotheses. "...where is Erik?"
"Not going to answer, I'm the one who asks the questions here." She said bluntly.
"I have nothing to say to you." I dropped my head down; couldn't stay focused. What was wrong with me? I breathed in and out heavily. It felt like my lungs would collapse at any time.
She approached me, "Hey... Did you liked my cookies?" then, clasped my jaw, forcibly lifting my head up to face her. "Did you?!"
Wha--? I thought confused. What did she mean by 'my' cookies? When did she--?
***************** Flashback *****************
"(...) On top of the round table, I noticed there was an old fashion porcelain tea set and a plate of various, different shaped-cookies with sugar coating on its surface. My belly growled at that scene. Yet, not only had cookies but also muffins, macaroons, and cupcakes. (...)"
**********************************************
No way--! I yelled in my mind in realization.
"...They were made just for you, after all. I bet they tasted delicious~!" She chuckled amused.
No... fucking... way!
"Do you wonder how its flavor turned out like that?" She asked. "C'mon! Ask me, ask me!" She clapped her hands together. Her eyes looked completely without expression despite her smile, like a mirror.
My eyes widened in panic and fear, as a chill run up-down my spine. She's a lunatic!
She stretched her arm out and gripped my hair, pulling my head back.
"Ngh--! L-Let go, Irene!" I begged, grabbing her wrist. I tried to pull her hand away but couldn't, her grip was firm, her hand strongly entwined with my hair-locks.
She leaned in and whispered in my ear, taking her time for the sake of the suspense. Her whisper was soft but at the same time intense. "All it took was a little bit of sugar~... and lots of poison too--" Her last words creeped out of her mouth, reaching my ears in slow motion. Irene pulled herself back and faced me with her lips curved into a smirk."Just thought you wanted to know. Do want more? Tehe~"
I felt my face heat up and a couple of tears running down my cheeks and chin, now understanding to the fullest my physical symptoms. Was I going to die? Was it the end of my journey? Was I never going to see Erik's face? Or feel his tender touch? My lips trembled in awareness of the situation.
"Make amends, Sarah... or you won't be able to pass cross St. Pedro's gate..." Her suggestion was bittersweet. "... or be forever stuck in Purgatory."
I shook my head refusing to accept that it would be the end of me. No. There would always be light at the bottom of the tunnel in the presence of hope. She could stick it up her demon ass, for all I cared! I wasn't going to give in just yet. So, I leaned forward, squinted my eyes, and forced my vomiting reflex; maybe that way I could get the poison out of my system.
Irene burst into pysco-like laughter. "You can't be serious." Then, she grabbed me by my jaw again, squeezing my cheeks along and sticking her fingernails into my skin, and closing the only way to throw it out. "You just don't know when to give up, uh?!"
I tried to release myself from her grasp. "You will never bend my will!"
Irene tightened her grip further. "Don't you know how Poison works?!"
I faced her upfront, full of confidence. "There's always an antidote!"
"Sorry to ruin your perfect, little fantasy child but, for this poison, there isn't."
I became silent. How've come that there wasn't any way to fight back?! There is always a way to try and stop its spreading, and manage to control its effects on the human body. Might she be bluffing?
"For your information, this is no regular poisonous substance. It's mostly used for recreational purposes but is considered dangerous because accidental overdose is possible in the right quantities." She gossiped. "Down here, in the Demon Realm, it goes by the name of 'Pulchrae Dominae' and we use it in various situations... Up there, in your world, it goes by many names. 'Nightshade' it's my absolute favorite of them all!" She seemed too excited for her own good.
"Nightshade?" I echoed her words; I've never heard of such a thing. Have I been leaving under a rock?! For real Sarah...
"Yes. You see, the leaves inside the teapot were from a plant called Atropa Belladonna. It's best known as the plant of choice for assassins through history and takes 6 to 64 hours to take effect. However, it all be depending on the person organism." Irene briefly explained.
I gulped down. If before I was not fearing for my life, now, I definitely was. I had been pass out cold on the ground and so, I wasn't sure how much time had run by. I could have 12 hours or already for 5 minutes! I couldn't tell you.
"I know what you're thinking." She muttered.
I tried not to falter but, it was difficult knowing that I was on a limb at the death's door.
She took a finger to her lips and flapped its tip over her up-top lip."I would guess that you have only 4 to 5 hours left." She was deadly serious about it.
My whole life flashed before my eyes. I could see my parents smiling as they tucked me in as a child. My school days as a regular teenager, worrying about homework and boys, trying to, at the same time, deal with Lisette. Me, laughing alongside Suzu and Naomi at my birthday party they threw for me. I saw the very day I arrived at the mansion and met the five Incubi brothers unconscious on the main hall ground.
"... And, from what I see, you already have experience some of the effects. Hallucinations... Blurred vision... Tachycardia... Severe shortness of breath... Dryness... Soreness... " She listed some of the symptoms.
I covered my ears and closed my eyes shut. "S-Stop--!" More scenes displayed in my mind. My first kiss being stolen against my will. Getting to know the boys, dealing with Malix in the process, have to cope with my father and the fact I had my destiny all set for me, and slowly falling in love; the best part of my wrecked world.
"The slowest, painfully deaths are pleasurable to watch~" She teased. "Once again, I vividly recommend that you pray to God to accept you in heaven as for you have sinned..."
You know, after seeing that sequence of relevant scenes either exposing parts of my backstory or using somehow familiar visuals, I understood that this couldn't be the end. That, or it's just my brain going overdrive, and I'm really bound to die today.
"Ugh!" Without a decent warning, Irene threw her hands around my neck and slightly lifted up my weak, limp body from the chair's seat. "I can't take it anymore, I need to put you to bed..." Her palms pressing against my throat; I could feel my esophagus closing. "Sing you a lullaby, where you die at the end~!"
Gasping for air, I tried to pry her fingers away; small ragged gasps were escaping my throat.
"Die! Die!" With her ferociousness, the chair's legs snapped. Both of us ended up falling onto the ground. Irene was on top of me; her eyes burned with emptiness and anger as my lungs burnt with pain. "Ahaha-- AHAHAHA" She kept pressing my body down and strangling me, while she laughed maniacally to herself.
I continued to struggle against her hold. Despite the pain, I kicked and trashed my legs under her. "S-Stop--! Heeeeeelp--!" I screamed my lungs out as I found a gap between the different forces applied to my throat, when she started laughing.
She tightened her fingers around my throat, cutting off my air supply once again.
"ECCHHH ACCHHH--! " My mouth fell open and I tried to scream but, only a sick gurgle escaped it.
Her grip was too strong to wriggle out of; her long skinny fingers felt like tendrils around my neck. "Shh-- !" She hushed me only verbally. "We don't want for people to hear us, do we?"
Slowly, I was losing consciousness. It felt like my life was being swept away from my fingers. The desperation to breathe overtook my senses. My head spun as I tried to breathe. The edge of my vision went dark. My hands fell to each side of my body as the energy slowly left my body. Then, I heard a song all of the sudden; someone was humming a tune to some music I never heard before, it sounded beautiful, «Lay down next to me... Don't listen when I scream... Bury your doubts and fall asleep... Find out, I was just a bad dream...», yet the melody was becoming more distant and damped as minutes ticked by, «...for neither ever, nor never goodbye» at least it muffled the agony sounds, and turning everything more peaceful.
"Almost there~!" Irene sang in a melodious voice.
That was it. I was going to die; if not from the poison, by her hands. The tracks ended here for me. As my body started to settle down from exhaustion...
- Tap - Tap - Tap - Tap - Tap -
- Halt -
... muffled voices came to my attention but, before I could make an effort to listen to them, I drifted into oblivion, never to return.