The next day at dawn, Avril appeared in front of everyone with dark circles under her eyes.
Instantly, someone asked with concern, "Avril, what's wrong? You look like you haven't slept well."
Others teased, "Had a nightmare, didn't you? Your scream was quite loud yesterday."
"Ha! Fearless Avril is scared too!"
Avril waved her hand, fetched water to wash her face. After breakfast, she wanted to ride a horse but was pulled onto the carriage by Aflra.
On the carriage, Aflra began to tell Avril how to cook delicious food. Avril, who was a bit frightened, relaxed slightly, when Aflra suddenly said, "Avril, do you know how to eat a nightmare?"
Avril immediately became nervous and shook her head at Aflra, saying, "What is a nightmare? Is it that nightmare? Nightmares have no form, how can they be eaten?"
"We can consider nightmares as nightmares," Aflra looked straight at Avril with a malicious smile, "You know? Devils can directly eat nightmares, and for us ordinary people to eat nightmares, we have to exert more effort."
Saying that, Aflra extended a finger and shook it: "The first method, nightmares indeed have no form, but they need to rely on tangible creatures to survive like parasites. As long as they possess other creatures, I can figure out how to pin them there, and by eating that creature, I can also eat the nightmare at the same time."
Aflra then extended a second finger: "The second method, nightmares rely on dreams to feed on the lives of others. The dead will become cold all over due to losing all body heat, but their faces will show a strange smile. However, when a nightmare feeds on someone's life, it is also its vulnerability. As long as you enter the dream within a certain range, the nightmare will also be forcibly pulled in. This is a good opportunity to eat the nightmare. After all, no matter what, the dream belongs to oneself, and as long as the ability is sufficient, the nightmare has no chance at all."
After speaking, Aflra closed her eyes and showed a very enjoyable expression: "My sister once ate a nightmare, and that taste is still unforgettable."
Immediately, Aflra hugged Avril, buried her head in her neck, and took a deep breath: "It's a taste that's hard to forget, Avril, you smell really good."
Goosebumps popped up, and Avril's head and back were covered in cold sweat. She couldn't help but show a look of fear in her eyes towards Aflra.
Aflra, however, seemed to not notice: "Avril, guess which method my sister used to eat the nightmare before."
Avril opened her slightly trembling lips and forced a smile: "The first one."
Aflra shook her head: "It's more than that."
Avril's smile became more rigid: "The second one."
Aflra showed an encouraging look: "You've guessed 2/3 correctly. Let me tell you, all methods have been tried, so my sister plans to develop a new one."
Avril swayed, 2/3, developing a new one. She had clearly only mentioned two methods, but she answered both, yet only 2/3, which means...
Avril suddenly remembered Aflra's first sentence, the devil can directly eat the nightmare, which completes it.
Avril lowered her head, her lips bitten pale. This is not a weak witch at all, it is a devil.
Outside the dilapidated house, the wind and rain are heavy, and the windows knock on the frame. Avril hides in the cabinet, showing a gap and looking outside. Aflra has her back to her, humming a song while sharpening a knife. The sound of sharpening the knife even covers the sound of the wind and rain outside.
"Avril, you must wait for my sister, just a moment, and my sister can develop the third method."
In this way, Aflra's head twisted 180 degrees, looking at Avril in the cabinet and smiling.
Avril's eyes widened abruptly, seeing Aflra's smile, which became the same as in the dream.
Time passed in a flash, "You're awake," Aflra said gently, her beautiful eyes narrowed, and her smile was as warm as the spring sun, with the ice and snow melting.
The remaining shake told Avril that she was still on the carriage. When she sat up, she found that she was resting on Aflra's slender legs.
Aflra smiled and pressed her down, saying, "It seems that Avril is really sleepy, there's no need to get up in a hurry, sleep a little longer, and my sister will call you when it's time for lunch."
Avril dared not resist Aflra, nor dared to fall asleep. She never thought that one day she would be so afraid to enter the night's dream. Avril decided to find a way to leave this body as soon as possible. Now, what she is facing is no longer prey, but her own natural enemy. Then her only chance is to use this devil's cat-and-mouse sadistic interest and take the opportunity to escape when she is careless.
A hard day has finally passed, but a more difficult night has just begun.
"What's wrong, can't sleep?"
Aflra got up beside Avril, her thin nightgown revealing a surging chest.
Avril forced a smile: "I can't sleep a bit."
"Is that so?" Aflra lay down again and hugged Avril: "Maybe you slept too long during the day."
In this way, Aflra fell asleep deeply.
Avril thought it was not good and struggled desperately, but the pull from the dream made her unable to help but close her eyelids.
The cold moonlight, the cold wind, the rolling wheat fields, the dilapidated mill, the burning cross, the swaying scarecrow, and the soul-stirring crow's cry.
"Croak - Croak -"
Avril sat on the ground and shivered, the cold soil waking her up. The barking of a dog came from not far away, she raised her body slightly, revealing a small head, and the scene outside frightened her.
Originally, Aflra, who was a little more than five feet and a half, became six feet and a half, her frame became extremely large, but the flesh on her body didn't change much, looking bony and emaciated. She was wearing a pointed conical hat, under the wide brim, the withered grass-like hair fluttered in the wind, her long sharp nose was beak-like, and her shark-like teeth were chewing something.
She was wearing tattered black robes, under the torn sleeves, sharp nails collided with each other, blooming sparks. In her palm, she was holding a chain, and the other end of the chain was pulling a skinless big dog that was flapping and barking. The dark red muscles on the big dog were clearly visible. In the other hand, she was holding a naturally curved staff, with a snake coiled on it, spitting out a snake's tongue.
At this moment, Aflra, who had become a devil, was shouting loudly: "Avril~ Don't hide, come home with my sister..."
While shouting, she also made an owl-like laugh, as harsh as the sound of scraping glass.