"WAIT," MAGNOLIA SCREAMED, DISORIENTED. Her arm was stretched in front of her and she was drenched in sweat. "A dream," she whispered before she tried to relax her tense body.
She pushed the covers off and walked to the table to pour herself a glass of water.
"It was definitely a memory from my childhood, from before the accident…or the murder," she rectified.
Magnolia put her glass back on the table at once. Then, she hurried to her closet and quickly changed her clothes. She packed the fruit that Clara had left for her on the table and headed to the stables.
"Hey you," she greeted Thunder. He recognized her immediately and inched closer to nuzzle against her face. "Let's go for a little trip, shall we?"
Magnolia grabbed a blanket and a saddle. She had never put one on by herself before, but she had watched enough people do it to remember. She tightened the girth and checked that the saddle was fastened in place, then, she mounted the black beast and rode into the night.
At first, Magnolia was too afraid that she would lose her way, but the signs on the road combined with what she remembered from the last trip, gradually made her feel at ease.
She rode for hours before dawn. She took a little break for Thunder to rest and drink some water, she fed him the three apples she brought along and ate the black grapes herself. Then, she resumed her journey.
It was a good call to bring Thunder, no other horse could have gone as fast as him for this long distance. Only a few hours after sunrise, Magnolia found herself on the same hill that overlooked her family's estate.
She took a deep breath before nudging the horse to go further. With an anxious heart, Magnolia stepped into the ruins of the Gottanlich's house.
'Let's try to retrace that dream.'
Magnolia headed upstairs, she took a right when she reached the second floor and walked all the way to the end of the hallway.
In her dream, this was her bedroom. She pushed the door open and as expected, this room was also empty. However, Magnolia could still see the old and decayed wallpaper, the design was the same from her dream.
'Well, at least now I am sure that it was a memory from my childhood.' She smiled.
In the dream, there was a loud scream that echoed through the house in the middle of the night. Everyone woke up because of it.
Magnolia remembered that she woke up so scared, her heart was beating extremely fast. But it only took a few minutes for her governess, Trish, to show up.
"My lady, we have to hurry." The woman was as pale as death. "We are under attack."
Her eyes widened, but she had no time to think about the situation. Trish grabbed a shawl and threw it over little Magnolia's shoulders, then, she took her hand and they both rushed out of the bedroom.
"Where is mama and papa?" Magnolia asked, but Trish was too distracted to hear her. She was looking around frantically to make sure that the attackers had not reached the house yet.
They both hurried down the stairs where they found Conrad and Olive waiting for her.
"Mama, Papa." Magnolia ran to her parents' embrace. Her older brother, Killian, joined them a short moment later.
"Killian." Conrad placed both hands on his son's shoulders. "You remember the drill in the case of an attack, right?"
Killian stared at his father for a moment, his body trembling at the thought. "Yes, father," he answered.
"You take your sister and run, then." He looked at his son with pleading eyes. "You have to hide and wait like I taught you."
Killian nodded his head a few times.
"Why can't you come too?" Magnolia's fingers were clenched around her mother's robe.
"We will join you later, sweetie," Olive lied.
She took her children in her arms and Conrad joined in the hug. They did not want to let go, but they had to. For their children's sake.
"Now go," Conrad ordered with a cracking voice.
"Come on, Mag." Killian pulled his sister.
"I love you both," Olive whispered, not able to hold back her tears any longer.
As her brother guided the way, Magnolia looked back at her parents. The last image of them that she remembered was both of them crying miserably in each other's arms.
"Killian, where are we going?" Magnolia was out of breath.
"There is a secret room near the cellar downstairs," he whispered. "We will hide there."
Magnolia followed her brother silently as they descended the steep steps. Suddenly, they started hearing screams and clashes of swords.
"Brother, I am scared." Her body trembled violently. Killian wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"We are almost there." He was shaking, himself. "Don't worry, Mag."
They quickly reached the cellar, Killian ushered her to the back. He took out a small dagger and cut his thumb.
"What are you doing?" Magnolia watched in horror.
"The door uses magic, only someone from our bloodline can open it."
He drew a cross on one of the bricks then stepped back, it only took seconds for a metal door to appear. Magnolia watched with dazzled eyes.
"I found them," a male voice coming from the cellar entrance made them both jump.
Magnolia saw the man's sword, dripping with blood, her small body shuddered in fear.
"Come on." Killian used his powers to throw all the crates in the cellar toward the entrance to block it. He then pushed the metal door to open it, but something was blocking it from the other side. "Help me push it, Mag."
Magnolia and Killian pushed as hard as they could, but the door only opened a little. Killian tried to use his powers to push it further, but he was still a novice, and he could not control his magic and use it consecutively yet. He bit his lips then looked at his sister.
"Mag, can you squeeze through?" he asked, ignoring the men who were clearing the crates as quickly as they could.
"I am not sure." She tried to push through the small opening. "I think I can," she said halfway through. She finally fell in with a nudge from her brother.
"Listen to me, Mag," he started. "You need to stay here until someone comes to get you."
"What about you, brother?" Magnolia reached for his arm and clenched his shirt.
"There is no time."
"No." She looked at what was blocking the door. "It's just a few spears that have fallen down, I can move them."
"Mag, listen." Killian shook her arm. "There should be water and food in one of the cabinets, someone will come for you."
"No," Magnolia cried, grasping Killian's arm with both hands. "Brother, no, don't leave me."
Killian unclenched her tiny finger and pushed her into the room, she fell to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Mag." He gave her a desolate smile before closing and sealing the door.
Magnolia found herself standing in the old cellar, in front of that same brick wall from her memory. She felt wetness on her face and wiped her tears, her brother's smile was haunting.
She took out her dagger to do the same as Killian did eleven years ago. She cut her thumb and reached for the brick she remembered. But before she could touch it, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Damn it." She looked to the cellar entrance then to the brick.
'Do I have enough time to open it and close it?'
She bit her lip before turning to face the entrance. "Ugh…This would not be an issue if I could control those powers of mine."
She squeezed her dagger, ready to fight.