🎬 Season 1, Episode 5 - "The Dream Wedding"

"The Dream Wedding"

That night before i slept, the air was cool, my room quiet yet I couldn’t shake off the intensity of everything that had happened. Axel. His touch. His parents. His strange, almost too-perfect demeanor.

Then the dream began.

I found myself standing in a grand, open palace carved from glowing white stones. The sky above shimmered in gold and purple, like twilight frozen in place. I was adorned in an exquisite white linen gown, so delicate it almost floated. Around me, beautiful maidens dressed in matching attire danced gracefully, their movements in perfect harmony, as though rehearsed a thousand times.

I had no control over myself. My feet moved on their own, obedient to some unseen force. I was being led down an aisle, toward a dazzling throne crafted from coral, shells, and what on closer inspection looked horrifyingly like human skulls.

And there he was.
Axel.

Seated like royalty, draped in golden ornaments. But what chilled me most wasn’t the throne, but a skull that resembles that of human's, and there was the serpent. A long, black snake coiled around his neck, its tongue flicking lazily as it stared directly at me. Axel smiled. Not his usual soft, charming smile, but one that seemed... ancient. Commanding. Possessive.

The atmosphere pulsed like a heartbeat.

I glanced to my left and my soul nearly fled my body.

It was her.

The mysterious woman from the beach party. Dressed now in regal black robes, her hair flowing down her back like waves of shadow. In her hand, she held a long, silver rod crowned with a ruby that blazed like living fire.

Everyone in the gathering suddenly knelt.
Everyone... except me.

She raised the rod, and a heavy silence fell.

"On this day," she declared, her voice echoing through the shimmering palace, "I have summoned you all to witness the wedding ceremony of my son, the Prince of the Coast.”

Gasps, chants, and loud cheering followed. The maidens danced faster. The skies brightened with unnatural light.

Axel stood. His eyes, now glowing faintly red, locked onto mine as he walked toward me.

He held out a cup ornate, jewel-studded and without warning, sliced his palm open. Thick, dark blood poured from his hand into the cup.

"Drink," he whispered, extending the cup to me. "Let the covenant be complete."

I froze.

This wasn’t love. This wasn’t romance. This was a ceremony I hadn’t agreed to. A binding I hadn’t understood.

My lips trembled. My hands refused to move.

"DRINK!" the woman’s voice thundered across the dreamscape, and a shockwave pushed me forward.

I felt the cup touch my lips.
And then "JESUS!"

I screamed aloud and sat upright in bed, drenched in sweat. My heart pounded like a war drum against my ribs. I was alone. It was still night. And my room was exactly the same.
Just a dream.
Or was it...Hmmm I sighed?

Because when I looked at my palms, I noticed something strange a faint red mark, like a symbol I couldn’t understand, glowing just beneath the surface of my skin.

And for the first time since I met Axel...
I was truly afraid.

To be continued…
©2024