Seraphine.
I do not know for how long I stood by the mirror touching my face, feeling the silky nature of my new found silver hair, and poking at my strange hazel eyes… But nothing happened.
They remained in place, taunting me like something straight out of a horror movie, freezing me with a fear so chilling it made my bones go stiff.
Was this all Lucian's doing? Was he taunting me now? Using me to satisfy some kind of creepy dark fetish that he has?
Or was this my mother? The bitch who jerks off from seeing me suffer?
I was still lost in thoughts, contemplating these things when suddenly, the door creaked open and I lunged, not bothering to check who it was as I immediately smacked them hard in the chest.
An incoherent sound filled my ears before a man, outrageously handsome, and strangely large stepped back from me in surprise, his red eyes widening slightly as he took in my petite frame. "What the hell, Saphyra? Why would you do that to me?!" He bellowed, nursing his abdomen like I had any power to cause him any real damage.
I mean… look at him!
"Why would you come at me like that?" He hissed,
For a moment, I stood rooted in place, struggling to understand what was happening around me. This man in front of me, however handsome, was a complete stranger. And yet, he was acting like we were buddies. You know, the type you go to spas and coffee dates with?
Yes, that!
But not only that, he'd also referred to me as Saphyra. Saphyra not Seraphine, my real name!
I frowned, taking a step back. "Who are you?"
At the sound of my voice, the man halted in his steps and whipped his head to look in my direction. I however didn't miss the infinitesimal widening of his eyes, or how he seemed to look at me like I had suddenly gone mad.
He glanced at the door then at me, and then after a while, he muttered; "Ragnar. It's me Ragnar."
But I didn't know any Ragnar.
I've never met anyone with that name in my entire life.
And why the hell is he so tall? Why does he look like something straight out of a book?
If I was being real with myself, he indeed seemed familiar in that book character kind of way—
Wait!
"Are you a kidnapper?" I spurted, making him freeze again as he tilted his head to the side, watching me closely… accessing me.
"What's a kiddynapper?"
Dumb ass!
"Did Lucian ask you to do this? Or Adrian? Or Eloise? Who sent you? I have money! A lot of it… I can give you whatever you want!"
Ragnar, or whatever his name was, let out a deep sigh at the sound of my words. He then planted both hands on his waist as he scoffed. "Have you been struck by a meteor, Saphyra?"
Saphyra again. My name isn't Saphyra! It's Seraphine! S.E.R.A. fucking. P.H.I.N.E!
I wanted to point this out to him when he suddenly brushed me off and went to lean at the wall opposite me. He drawled; "I could only come in because some of the palace guards are my friends, but I'll soon need to leave. I brought you some beef jerky and some water. Hide them from anyone who comes in here and manage it until I can slip in something else for you later. Okay?"
As he talked, he brought out the items he mentioned and placed them on the shelf close to the mirror, his eyes downcast as he turned to look at me one more time.
"Veythar couldn't come. He's disappointed in you."
Who is Veythar?
"…So please, during your trial, tell the truth so that your sentence can be lessened. You can lie that Eloise had tried to come at you first and you had attacked thinking that she really wanted to kill you."
"But Eloise was the one who had tried to kill me!" I hissed, hating the way everyone was going along with this sick story.
"She slept with my fiancée Lucian— ex fiancée— and ordered Adrian to kill me!" I shouted, but just as I did that, he suddenly rushed over to me to clamp his hand over my mouth. My eyes widened in shock, but ignoring that, he hissed ferociously;
"Stop it! Saphyra! Stop!"
"But—!"
"I say stop! I do not know why you keep making up stupid stories but there's no guy named Mandrian here or a luscious or whatever you call them. All we have here is Eloise, your best friend, whom you killed in cold blood, so snap out of that stupid daydream!"
I froze. Heavens, I could swear that my entire body instantly went stiff.
"My best friend?"
"Yes, your best friend!" He spat in my face. "You both have been friends since you were seven. So I cannot begin to understand why you would kill her, even though she's the only person besides me who has ever liked you!" He barked,
And as soon as I heard those words, my knees wobbled. Pain, an indescribable one lanced through my chest and I found myself breathing hard, unable to take in all that was happening around me any more.
So I hissed quietly; "Who are you?"
He stilled. "Saphyra?"
I am S.E.R.A.P.H.I.N.E!
"Please, who are you and where are we?"
At the sound of my words, a flicker of something akin to pity crossed his face before he finally let go of me. He drawled; "I am Ragnar, your immediate older brother and Veythar is our eldest brother. Also, we are in Dravereth."
"No."
"Oh, come on! What else do you want me to say?" He snapped, "..why are you behaving like you've gone insignor?!" He shouted, and with that, he turned and walked away, slamming the door shut behind him, and leaving me panting… and out of breath… And afraid because suddenly, everything was beginning to piece itself together.
Veythar… Saphyra… Ragnar.
Dravereth…
These were names from the last book I'd been reading shortly before my death. The book that had fallen off the table onto my chest at the last minute before I passed out.
I knew that it was impossible for something like this to happen, but what other explanation was there?
What else could explain this amount of crazy I was experiencing right now?
No. No. No. This cannot be true.
This cannot be happening.
This isn't real, right? RIGHT?!
And then, just when I was on the verge of hyperventilating, his last word floated into my head. "insignor," a dark dravarethian word meaning crazy that I'd learned from the said book.
And now that I think of it, everything here was just as described in the book. The gothic ambience. The boy, Ragnar… his majestic and otherworldly appearance… my appearance—
Hold on there.
He'd called me Saphyra. SAPHYRA?!
My eyes widened as I rushed back to the mirror to take in my silver hair, round bosoms which was a stark contrast to my usual miniature ones, my hazel eyes, rosy lips… and my pale skin.
Oh no no no, good gracious no!
God, why the hell am I Saphyra?!