ELISA…
Strange voices that were definitely not from this world or even from my room curled into my dream.
'She is the one, I was right about her,' a female voice whispered in a thick accent, to a man in the dark.
'Hmmm, when shall we begin?' another chill voice responded in an almost feminine tone. 'I am growing weak by the day'
'No, my love, be strong. We still have to wait until the red moon' the woman said in a voice laced with fear and worry. 'She is still a child'
'Who cares if she is still a damn baby suckling her mother's breast, her blood is all we need.' The man's voice grew impatient and angry, and I could only see the woman flinch back as he spat curses.
'You don't understand Lixir. Her blood will be rejected and will only cause havoc if we try anything now, we have to wait' she pleaded, and I heard the man sigh in a resigned tone, moving forward into the light, where the woman stood by the fireplace.
'I want nothing but to be with you, and free us both from our chains. ' he moved closer to her as he spoke, and his hands brushed lightly on her bosom.
'It will be a shame if we fail now, wouldn't it?' Her voice was even lower than before when she said yes, and waited in anticipation for the man's lingering lips.
He was just about to kiss her when she looked away - in my direction, and at that moment, it seemed like she was staring right into my eyes - It was Yennefer.
'Someone is watching us,' she said, and in a flash, a hand pulled me away, and I woke up and stared into the darkness of my room, fighting for breath.
But there was no one else in the room.
As I tried to sit up and get my eyes used to the room before I fell uncontrollably into another slumber, the door to the room opened up, and bright light washed into the room instantly, blinding my eyes.
I raised my weak arm to block the lights from my eyes, even though it did very little to block the light.
'You are finally awake. I was beginning to imagine if we needed to search for another maiden.
It was Yennefer.
The closeness of her voice told me she was walking towards me at that moment, but I didn't realize just how close until I felt a hand on my shoulder.
She held on firmly to me when I flinched back, and a sharp pain tore through my shoulder, down to my arm.
'Stay still, child, you haven't fully recovered from the attack.'
'Attack?' Confusion replaced the pain that had stolen my face as I stared at her.
'You don't remember a thing about that night, do you?' she said as she looked back at me.
'I guess these two days you've been out must have affected you greatly. I will take a look at your shoulder and find out the right-'
'Tell me, what happened to me?' I couldn't understand what was going on at all at that moment.
Somehow, I had no single memory of what had happened in the past two days. Not a single clue.
'Just rest a little while-' she started to dismiss me while peering down my shoulder and back, like a physician.
It was hard to tell if she was just a mere housekeeper or more, especially after the nightmare I had just recently woken up from.
'Tell me.' I fired in a harsh voice, as I pulled my hand back and waited for her to say something. The look on her face showed nothing but displeasure at my tone.
'Please,' I added in a soft tone, and waited patiently for her response.
'I have seen girls like you come and go. Each one of them is trying in vain to escape or achieve something that can never be theirs, or is just too much for them.
She moved a couple of steps away from me and picked up a skin bag I had not noticed earlier.
'Be careful with whatever you think you are doing with Lucien. Next time, he might rip you apart before I can even intervene. He is not someone you can ever try to fall in love with. He is a beast.
Her voice sent chills down my spine, more than the words she even spoke, as her footsteps vanished into the hallway — leaving every word behind like poison.
I just stared at her as she walked out of the room, wondering what she meant by all that.
Did Lucien do this to me?
How? Why?
I haven't even left this room since the moment I tried escaping and he brought me back.
Or did I?
What did I even do to him to deserve something like this?
The more I thought about it, the more blank my memory appeared before me.
I couldn't remember a single incident.
My whole joints burned with pain as I got off the thick and furry mat, and it took my legs a moment to get used to the firm floor beneath it.
I tried to get up but went crashing down on the cold floor, and pain burned like fire through every nerve in my body.
Sharp, distorted flashes rolled through my head as my hands touched the floor.
Several images of people and things that made no sense.
Girls, blood, a goblet, fire, and someone in a dark cloak.
Soon, I heard the same words Yennefer had said in my last dream;
'She is the one…we have to wait…she is the one…'
The words kept ringing in my head, growing louder with each word.
I held my head tightly and screamed to shut the noises in my head.
Why didn't she just let the bastard kill me?
I would have escaped this misery…
Did they prefer to watch me die slowly?
Or was there something else in the dark that was going on?