Florah appeared to be in pain already despite the fact that Gavriel did not even squeeze her neck.
But all at once, Florah's creased forehead cleared back to her smooth skin, the moment Gavriel let go of her neck.
He stared between the book and the girl and concluded that the two were connected.
The more time he spent with the girl, the more the mystery that was her got deeper.
He lay back in the bed comfortably and stared at his maid as if studying her.
He pulled her body to his so that no space was in between them.
As if she was drawn to the warmth, Florah wrapped her small hand around his waist and tucked the head under his chin, snuggling in his chest, making herself more comfortable.
Gavriel lay there, flabbergasted by the girl's actions. "To think that you are snuggling against your potential murderer, aren't you pathetic darling?" he mocked.
Closing his eyes, he attempted to fall asleep and torment the girl tomorrow, which he was sure would delight his clouded life.
Florah stood in an empty dark forest, yet again, she knew she was dreaming because she had had the same dream enough to know that she was far from reality.
In front of her lay and stood scorched trees, some were on the ground with their stems scorched into black ash, and others were barely upright with no leaves and only a few branches.
She didn't know what had happened there but she was sure that whatever had happened must have been big, to leave the trees in what she assumed was a forest, to be in such a state.
She looked around the same creepy but sad scenery. It was always quiet, and the only sound there was her feet shuffling on the ground.
"Squeak, squeak," a sound echoed in the cold dark forest.
Florah was stunned alert, her eyes looking here and there for the source of the sound. It sounded like an animal, she thought.
"Swoosh," something black flew past her cheek, scratching it in the process.
"Owwww," she cried silently at the sting on her cheek.
Her eyes searched around in paranoia, her heart racing in fear of what was to happen, "swoosh."
Again, something scratched her other cheek, which resulted in a small trail of red on both her injured cheeks.
Backing up while her eyes searched frantically among the trees, this time she caught sight of a small jet black bat flying in front of her.
She stared at the small creature in wonder and fear because she had never seen one, despite knowing little of them from Jeremiah.
The bat flew closer in front of her as she backed away more from it, given that it had already harmed her .
But to her misfortune, the bat just flew closer to her.
Florah's instincts screamed for her to run, and that was what she did.
Turning around, Florah held the front of her dress and sprinted in the opposite direction.
She kept looking back at the bat that seemed to not want her to leave its eyesight as it flew faster to catch up with her.
Florah's legs carried her faster as she tried to get away from what she perceived as danger.
Unfortunately for Florah, the bat easily caught up to her and even went in front of her.
"Mmmhhh," the redhead almost screamed when she saw the bat in front of her.
She turned her feet quickly around, nearly tripping on her dress.
Now, she ran back to the direction she came from, desperately trying to escape from the bat.
She ran and ran but noticed that the bat had slowed down its pace as if it was tired of the chase.
She ran some more until she had left a reasonable distance between her and her winged pursuer.
Florah looked at her strange surroundings. In her usual dream, their was no bat or any event happening like what had just occurred.
Now she stood in a vast space, the trees a short distance from her.
Her breathing erratic from all the running, she took a moment to breathe.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the bat nestling itself in a tree far from where she stood.
The bat watched her from a distance, clutching the front of her dress to ease her nerves.
Looking down at her dress, Florah's eyes were stunned to see the dress she was wearing.
No wonder it wasn't easy to run. The dress she wore seemed to be a ball gown. It was adorned with silver and gold stones. That shimmered when the moon light shone upon them.
She touched the fabric, feeling its heaviness. It was silky-smooth and of red colour. She felt the bodice tight around her torso but not uncomfortable. It accentuated her waist and bosom.
Florah now realised this dream differed from the ones she was having before. The last ones she had seemed like she was just a bystander, seeing whatever was happening from a distance.
But this one felt real. She felt tired from the running, and she could feel her feet wobbly and tired.
If this wasn't a dream, how did she get here? Why was she there? The last she remembered was that she was seated in the King's Chambers wallowing away in self-pity over her recurring misfortunes.
Right when she was confused about everything happening, she felt something emerge from the ground where she stood.
The ground started to rumble from beneath, and Florah hurriedly moved away in alarm.
She tripped and fell on her bottom, "ahhhawww" she groaned painfully.
Before she could get up and escape, a black liquid emerged from the cracks on the ground, it appeared life-like, wrapping around her leg, it started pulling her towards the other black liquid that had emerged from the ground.
"No, no, no, stop. 'What is happening?' STOPPPP!!" Florah desperately scratched the ground trying to grip onto something, but her desperation remained as whatever pulled her continued to do so.
In just a matter of time, she lay in the middle of the black liquid. The liquid kept rising, and so did Florah's heartbeat, just before she could resign to her fate.....