63 An Ossuary*
*SPLASH!*
Annalise’s eyes were forced to flutter open when a bucket of cold water was splashed to her face, waking her up from the deep slumbers that drink had sent her into. She felt like someone threw a bucket of ice instead of water at her that she instantly sat up.
The color on her face had drained and she felt blood rush to her head which made everything around her spin in circles.
“Wake up!” The masked man’s stern tone caught her attention and it made her blink away the dizziness in her weary eyes.
Looking at him, she didn’t have the energy to even get angry as her whole system remained affected by whatever he gave her. At least it wasn’t hurting anymore and the burning sensation was replaced by a dull ache all over her body.
She tried standing up but her muscles only twitched in response before she fell back to the ground. She could barely pick herself up, and her head was spinning, followed by a blinding headache and she remained where she was to recover.
“Can’t get up?” He asked, sounding not the least worried, “would have given you enough time to generate some strength back but unfortunately, time isn’t in our hands now, is it?”
Annalise hissed in annoyance, she didn’t know which was more upsetting, the bucket of ice water, the headache she was feeling right now or hearing the masked being speak. When she looked up once again, two Demons were standing before her alongside the masked man.
“Get her up and take her to the Ossuary.” Came his quick orders. The Demons were quick to get Anna up her feet and her expression already displayed a look of trepidation.
.....
An Ossuary??
Her anticipated gaze shifted to the masked man who enjoyed seeing her fears, she really wanted to kick that stupid ugly mask right off his face and see if he’d enjoy it.
She didn’t say a word, she was too weak for that and was later dragged out by the guard. She didn’t bother struggling knowing it’d end up futile and her body wasn’t in a good state to battle as she shivered relentlessly due to the water poured on her in an attempt to wake her up.
They arrived at a particular door made of wired together bones and it startled her all the more, was the masked man’s master really that interested in bones??
The had a double-sided bolt with two pythons hammered into each side of the door. From the looks of it, she knew it wasn’t a good place to begin with, an Ossuary.... What could that possibly be??
Stepping inside this weird part of the chamber, Anna’s eyes suddenly widened and she muttered out of breath.
“An Ossuary??”
The whole place was strangely lit up with candles and when they engaged deeper into the chamber, the Demons suddenly let go of Annalise and to her surprise, they turned and left the room, including the masked man and the door was instantly closed shut, she could clearly hear them lock it from the outside.
Anna fell to her feet with her shoulders trembling and her legs shaking, her body hasn’t recovered from that drink yet and she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She studied the strange room she was locked in. The floor was filled with numerous scorch marks and signs of fire which ran across the whole room. The entire ceiling was gently round, taking the shape of a dome, several long black scorch marks ran across it, except for the windows which were sealed shut but the outside could still be viewed.
It was surrounded by forests.
Averting her worried gaze from the window and looking ahead, there was a box resting at the end of the room and what drew her attention towards it was the candles which surrounded it in some sort of symbolic sign she didn’t understand. The box was made of stone and it was big enough to fit a human inside.
Her heart drummed in fear at the sight and she slowly got to her feet with the tiny courage her body could muster, the air carried an unfavorable whisper that wasn’t actually a whisper at all, it felt like a calling and that made the hairs on her skin stand.
What is this place?
Terrified, she turned to look at the door where the Demons had exited earlier and she wanted to run towards it, but accidentally tripped on the way and fell hard on the floor.
“Ow! ow! ow!” She whined in pain, but a dark chuckle suddenly caught her attention and she paused like a moon-caught ghost.
“How pathetic! I was expecting something better but who knew you’d turn out to be so weak in your second life.”
Anna, who only heard the echo of a dangerous cunning voice, tried to find who or what was speaking as her eyes scanned left, right, both sides, anywhere her eyes could possibly reach, but there was no one there.
“Looking for me?”
Anna turned around when she felt an uncomfortable presence behind her and before she knew it, an unknown force had sent her feets moving without her consent. It was so fast that the next thing her heated brain could register was she found herself lying on top of the stone, symbolically designed with candles around it.
She wanted to scream out her fears but her tongue felt tied and adrenaline pumped harder through her very skin. She wanted to move, to stand up from the impure stone but her body felt held back by something.
“I thought you wanted to meet me, so why are you trying to run away?” Came the voice again that made her pinch herself in the fingers in case she was dreaming, hoping to wake up from this nightmare but sadly it wasn’t a nightmare.
Anna barely knew what else to do, so she spoke back.
“Who are you?”
Before she knew it, a figure gracefully stepped out of the shadow as though it was proud of making its presence known, her eyes widened after spotting the figure in front of her, it was the masked man’s master, Luderick!
“You poor child.” He walked towards the Ossuary she was currently laying on top of while Anna continuously struggled to release herself. He stared at her body which he had held down thanks to the content his trusty guard had given her.
“What is it you want from me??” Anna didn’t understand this man as she raged her questions at him, he was acting no less than a psycho but once again, those clawed hands of his traced the corner of her delicate small face, sending a dreadful chill down her system and he continued, it moved to her chin, before sliding through her neck and down her shoulders.
Anna didn’t really like where this was going, it even brought hot tears to her aching eyes as she hoped he wouldn’t sink his claws into her skin again. After a few seconds of torturing silence, Luderick finally said something.
“I thought I had just one big threat on my path to gaining extra power ever since his father died, but you came back as well, making it an even bigger threat!” He was obviously irritated as he didn’t hide his disgust but Anna sealed her lips and didn’t dare utter a word.
“You my dear are going to become the weapon I need to gain power and you see this stone you’re resting on?” He tapped it lightly before whispering with a sneer.
“It’ll be your coffin, your burial ground once I’m done getting what I need from you.”
Her eyes dilated in horror and she shook her head, ignoring her, he looked out at the window and the moon was fully displayed in the empty dark sky.
It’s Time.
Before Anna realized what he planned on doing, he sank his clawed finger deeply into the skin on her wrist, earning a painful scream of agony from her lips as the pain circulated her whole body.
“Stop! It hurts!” His claw against her wrist was like her skin being stabbed with an extremely sharp dagger, tears streamed down her eyes as she remained glued against the stone Ossuary. Blood escaped from her wrist, streaming out from the wound and her body grew weaker than it already did before.
She was losing blood.
“You see the holes in this tomb?” He stuck out his clawed hands and pointed at the patterns which started from where her hand rested to another path. His glistening red eyes showed an insightful look that made her feel her heart stop at her throat.
“That’s where your blood will go through.”
He told her and with quick speed, he shoved a dagger from his outfit and raised the silver dagger up to stab her wrist.
“No, don’t do this!!” Anna struggled to free herself from this but it only ended up futile, would she really be used by him to gain power???
Just before he got a chance to stab her wrist and draw out more blood, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted him.
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