Raena sat in the comfort of her darkened room, lying on the floor with her feet against the wall, staring up at the ceiling in sleepy exhaustion.

"How do you think Iris went with her speech?" Raena asked, more to make conversation than for anything else.

She had spent a good ten minutes looking out at the Terra District before, and spied the Town Hall, alive with light. She couldn't hear anything, of course, but she could imagine the Terrans would be truly awe-inspired to have their princess back after fifteen years.

Fifteen years. Raena still couldn't believe it. All this time...

Braedon merely answered her with a grunt. He was lying face-first on the ground, his back rising and falling with heavy breaths.

"You still alive?" Raena asked, rubbing at her temples. A persistent headache had slowly formed and grown due to their week's lack of sleep, and she could tell Braedon wasn't much better off.

"Barely," he grumbled.

"Please," Raena begged, wincing slightly at the sharp, throbbing pain behind her eyes. "Let me ask for help, Braedon. We told Iris everything else. We might as well tell her about this, too."

"We are putting way too much trust in someone we hardly know."

Raena tried again. "These nurses are Terrans. Maybe they can concoct something like Grandpa Sage..."

"No," Braedon said firmly, his voice muffled by the carpet below him. He didn't bother to shift her way. "We're not letting them inject us or feed us with some kind of tonic we know nothing about, either. We don't know what they could be giving us, what angle they're playing at."

"Can't we get Iris to ask?" Raena said with a sigh.

Braedon let out another grunt. "Grandpa Sage said it himself. The only way to get rid of that beast is if we slay it, which we can't do seeing as we're nowhere near the Tenebris Forest."

Raena groaned inwardly. She was just so damn tired. "Then I'll slay it in my dreams."

"Yes, and that worked out so well the last time."

"I'm going to fall asleep and dream eventually, Braedon," Raena grimaced.

Braedon still didn't shift, but he lifted a finger up, signalling silence, before he dropped his arm back down beside him. Raena didn't bother arguing further. Instead, she let the room grow quiet for a few minutes, closing her eyes and biting her lip as the pounding in her head grew stronger. She took her feet off the wall and lay on her side, rubbing two fingers in a circular motion on her temples.

Wasn't it possible to die from lack of sleep? The thought might have scared Raena, had she not felt so drained and empty. She was spiralling in her own worries over Grandpa Sage and she felt drained both mentally and emotionally. Raena didn't dare admit it out loud, but the tired tears that clung to the corners of her eyes spoke otherwise: She almost wished for the cold relief of death.

***

Raena jolted awake, breathing heavily. She scrambled to sit up from the floor, wincing slightly at the cramp in her back. She took in some deep breaths, steadying herself.

It's okay, she told herself. You dozed off. But you're okay.

She blinked several times, willing the black spots in her vision to disappear as she rubbed her eyes and staggered sleepily towards the window. The city lights of the Terra District were all off, and Raena realised with some anxiousness that she must have slept for a good few hours. Even the Town Hall was dark now, and the mansion seemed quiet and restful.

Raena palmed her face and groaned slightly. She couldn't keep doing this. And neither could Braedon.

She turned towards Braedon, whose back was rising and falling with each deep breath he took, his face still pressed against the carpet, his shaggy black hair a mess.

"Braedon?" she whispered quietly.

No response. He had fallen asleep as well. She let out a long sigh, hating herself for each step she took towards Braedon to awaken him. She crouched beside him, biting her lip.

"Braedon," she said again, softly and hesitantly.

He would never know just how grateful Raena was towards him, for everything he was doing to try and protect her. Raena knew she didn't voice often enough how much she appreciated both him and Grandpa Sage for taking her in. No words could ever be enough for what they had done, risking what could have been their perfectly normal lives for her safety and survival. They both knew the dangers, yet never once did they ever complain or second-guess their choice in caring for her.

She stood back up, stretching her sore back before leaning down towards his head again, nervously tapping his shoulder. Raena really didn't want to disturb him. He should rest. She got herself into this mess, and so she should be the one to get herself out of it.

She had decided. If he didn't wake up after this, she would let him sleep. Forget night shifts and short naps. He wasn't the one in danger when he slept, she was. Why should he have to suffer?

She gently squeezed his shoulder as she leaned towards his ear and whispered a last time, "Braedon."

Whilst she wanted him to rest, a small, selfish part of her may have wished otherwise, if only because she hated waiting in the dark for the slow hours to pass all by her lonesome.

Braedon did not stir, though Raena noticed that his back had stopped rising and falling with his breaths. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Are you awake?" she asked, very quietly.

Initially, there was no response. Then, a few seconds later, he began to slowly shift his head towards her. For some bizarre reason, Raena found herself somewhat entranced, watching Braedon's neck as it continued to turn until... snap.

Raena let out a surprised yelp. Had that noise come from his neck?

"Braedon!" she gasped, reaching out a hand to turn him around.

She stopped dead as his head turned a full one-hundred and eighty degrees, his body still limp and laying on the ground.

Raena stumbled backwards at the face that stared back at her. Not Braedon's. But the draugr's.

Pale and skeletal-like, gaping at her with wide, pitiless eyes. Raena was trembling, unable to move as if in a paralysed shock.

No. She thought, clenching her teeth.

Yes, it seemed to say, a sickly smile spreading across its decayed face.

The stench of rotten meat suddenly filled Raena's nostrils and she gagged. The draugr appeared to have taken Braedon's form, though to her horror, his body was slowly decaying, growing black and old. There was another crack, and Braedon's knee popped out of place, a bone protruding, ripping right through its rotting skin, leaving the carpet dripping with dark blood. Another click, and Braedon's body deformed further, more of the draugr's bones protruding from Braedon's insides – his ribs, neck, arms, legs.

His body was no longer recognisable as it began to further resemble the draugr's unnatural, corporeal flesh, tendrils of meat hanging off of it, like a snake shedding its skin but worse. So, so much worse.

Raena raised a hand to her throat as the bile went up and then back down. The smell was unbearable. She had to...

Raena stumbled back against the window, prying it open for some fresh air. The latch was locked tightly, and she gripped it tightly, willing the window to open. The stench was overwhelming, filling her nostrils, stinging her eyes. She swallowed, hard.

When Raena turned back around, the draugr was in its complete form, save for the armour it normally wore, which was replaced by Braedon's shredded clothes.

Raena, it whispered all around her, like a chill wind whipping past her ear.

"Stop it," she gritted her teeth. "Get out of my head!"

The draugr stared at her, dripping a blue hue, and its smile stretched even further, grinning at her with rotten teeth. Its body was still facing the ground, but its neck was craned towards her, pinning her against the window with its foul, unforgiving stare.

Run, girl, run, it taunted.

But Raena did not move an inch. She remained grounded, her knees quaking as she bit back, "I'm not scared of you."

Its lopsided grin faded, slowly retracting, and if it were even possible, Raena thought its scowl was even more frightening than its grin.

You should be scared, it hissed in her mind. And then it bent its arms and legs backwards, pausing only a moment to give her a wicked grin before it spider-crawled towards her.

Raena bolted for the door, grabbing the knob violently and turning it, but the door wouldn't budge. She shook at it, the wood groaning under the pressure, but still it did not open. The door was jammed.

This is exactly what the draugr wanted. It was controlling her dream. It wanted her to panic.

Raena steeled herself as she took a deep breath and turned, ducking just in time as the draugr's twisted body lunged at her and slammed right through the door, splintering pieces of wood falling to the floor as its body slammed into the wall outside the hallway.

But it didn't look concerned or enraged. In fact, as Raena stepped through the hole in the door and began running down the dark hallway, she realised that it meant to do that. It wanted her to run, wanted this sickening game to continue. It didn't want to kill her yet. First, it wanted to torture her mind. Draw out her eventual death by toying with her.

Let's play hide-and-go-seek. Its voice clawed at her mind, scratching and scraping inside her head.

You hide, it drawled. And I'll come find you.

Raena was trying every door, yelling for help, but not a single soul stirred. The mansion was empty and dark and lonely. The only other living soul an incarnation of death, behind her.

She only risked glancing back once. It was still in a spider-like stance but remained near the splinters of wood and broken door, like a predator waiting for the right moment to launch into a killing spree.

I'll give you a ten-second head start. Its head turned slightly, as if it were slowly swivelling back around to its original position now. A crack echoed down the hall as one of the bones in the creature's neck snapped back into place.

One, it sneered.

Raena kept running until she reached the end of the hall where one of the main staircases spiralled both above and beneath her. She took the flight of stairs down, squinting to see the steps in the darkness surrounding her. She needed to get out of here. Out of this mansion. Out of this district. Away from that thing.

Two. A second snap sounded right near her ears, despite having already fled down one flight of stairs. The mansion seemed to be darkening, and she desperately tried the light switch, flicking it on and off to no avail. She was to be left in total darkness. Raena left the light switch and continued fleeing down the stairs, urging herself to keep running, ignoring the burning sensation in her legs, her uneven breathing.

Three. Another snap. She misplaced her footing, tripped, and fell down the stairs, crying out as her back impacted with the cold, marble stone beneath her, rolling and rolling until she hit level platform.

Four. She scrambled to get up, ignoring her muscles and bones that screamed in protest, half-limping, half-running down another flight as she clenched her teeth to keep from whimpering.

Five. Raena's breath quickened, as she continued to stumble down the remaining steps, finally making it the ground floor, gripping the banister fiercely. She glanced both left and right before making a beeline for the front entrance.

Six. She tugged at one of the heavy, double-doors, pushing then pulling, both to no avail. She was trapped inside.

Seven. She eyed the large window next to it, braced herself, and then ran shoulder first into it. The glass did not shatter.

Eight. She tried one more time, already knowing the result before her shoulder impacted uselessly against the thick glass and she rebounded back, her side aching. Raena turned and hobbled towards the nearest office door. It was locked. Of course.

Nine, the creature seemed to purr with eager malice. Raena ignored the vile voice in her head, continuing down the corridor, trying every door. At the very end of the hallway was a supply closet. Desperate, she tried the knob, but not surprisingly, it didn't budge.

Please, she begged to some merciful god or goddess above. Please.

The door opened with a final jolt, just as the creature's spindly voice echoed in her head, ten.

She hurriedly stepped inside the small cupboard and shut the door tightly behind her. She instantly set to work blocking the door with the vacuum and mop, keeping the broom in her hand for self-defence, pathetic as she knew it was.

Ready or not, it rasped, here I come.

Raena squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep still in the cramped space. She focused on controlling her breathing as she reminded herself it was all a dream. Her dream. She had the power to control it.

She tried to summon one of her weapons like she had almost managed to do the last time, but the tight walls felt like they were closing in on her, suffocating her.

Breathe, she told herself.

She tried to summon her own magic, but she was so inexperienced thanks to so many years of inactivity that the static buzz within her sparked only for a moment, her palms becoming moist, before the draugr's voice sliced through her thoughts, breaking her concentration.

Raena, it hissed. Come out, come out wherever you are.

Raena didn't know if the footsteps that she heard slowly making their way down the stairs were in her mind or if she was really hearing them. Either way, she found herself holding her breath and pinching herself. Wake up. Dammit just wake up!

The smell of rotting flesh was becoming increasingly stronger, and she knew the draugr was almost on the bottom floor. It already knew where she was. It had Raena right where it wanter her. Her stomach flipped and her throat dried as she came to a realisation.

She really wasn't in control of her dream at all. Which meant that if this door had suddenly opened, it was because the draugr allowed it so. The draugr had her trapped in the smallest space possible, where there was no chance of escape.

Raena shuffled around, scanning the in-built shelf behind her for any resources, any weapons she could use for when the draugr opened that door. She needed something more than a broom. She was not going down without a fight. She hurriedly sorted through bottles filled with unknown liquids and stacks of rags, not caring if she was making a ruckus. It already knew where she was anyway. She just needed something, anything.

Her eyes lit up at the stacks of torches and candles tucked to one side. She began moving the candles aside, searching the far depths of the shelf. Where there were candles there had to be...

Her hands closed around the tiny matchbox, and she pulled it out, scrambling to draw out a match. Now, there had to be something flammable around here.

Her eyes were drawn to the rag wipes. More specifically, the bottle of methylated spirit next to it. She tested it, spraying it into the shelf. A liquid substance spat out of the tube. She slid the bottle under her arm and swiftly struck the match, a small flame lighting up the dark room. It would have to do.

She waited in apprehension, sweat forming on her brow as she watched the shadow of the match's flame flickering on the walls around her. The mansion went eerily quiet. Too quiet. No footsteps could be heard, and the voice in her head had ceased into a suspenseful silence. Raena held her breath as the doorknob began to slowly turn. The door cracked open slightly and Raena readied the spray bottle. The door finally swung wide open and Raena didn't hesitate as she yelled,

"Eat fire, you rotting corpse!"

There was a scream as a fire erupted into the air, but the scream hadn't come from Raena, and a moment later the flame was extinguished.

Raena almost dropped both the bottle and matchbox in shock as she stared at her sister, who looked as equally surprised and terrified.

Iris was holding up a fire extinguisher, mouth slightly agape.

"Iris!" Raena cried out, ecstatic at seeing a friendly face.

"Raena?" she looked utterly bewildered and somewhat petrified. Not to mention she looked completely out of place in that glamourous golden dress she wore.

"I woke up and everyone was gone," she was saying. "All the doors seemed to be locked but the emergency staircase wasn't but..." Iris crinkled her nose. "There's this awful stench..."

"Duck!" Raena shouted, and thankfully, Iris didn't question her as Raena aimed for the moving shadow just behind Iris, golden flames lighting the darkened hallway beyond.

The draugr's pale face twisted in a surprised rage as the tip of the flames licked at its decayed skin. The creature screeched, and Raena didn't have to say a word to Iris as they both broke into a sprint, away from the enraged monster.

Iris's eyes were wild as she gripped Raena's arm, who stopped a few metres away from the draugr, quickly extinguishing one match and lighting another, getting ready to set another burst of flame towards the foul thing.

"What is that thing?" Iris breathed.

"It's a dream," Raena said. It was all the explanation she could offer for now. The draugr had already turned its attention towards them, its spindly frame fast-walking towards Raena, teeth bared.

Right as Raena was about to let out another fire flame, Iris grabbed the bottle.

"I have a better idea," she said briskly. Then screwed open the bottle and chucked the liquid onto the draugr as it neared, some of its contents dripping to the floor. Raena immediately caught onto Iris's plan and grabbed her wrist, the two stepping back as Raena threw her match to the floor and the draugr erupted into a burst of flames, screaming and writhing in agony as the flames licked its rotten meat, the fire eating at its skin and meat and bones.

Raena looked into Iris's horror-filled eyes, and Raena gave her wrist a squeeze.

"We need to wake up."

And then suddenly the world blackened for the briefest moment before Raena felt two firm hands shaking her shoulders violently, a familiar voice yelling out her name in panicked cries.

Raena's eyes snapped open and she gasped, sitting up, Braedon pressing a firm hand against her back to steady her.

Raena barely had time to acknowledge Braedon – sweet, wholesome, Braedon. His actual face, his concerned, dark eyes – before the door to their room flew open and Iris burst through, her golden dress catching the dim hallway lights outside, her hazel eyes wide and horror-stricken as she said,

"What the hell just happened?"