The monster led me into the cell, followed closely by S, hands still on Brandon. I glared at him the entire trip, while he simply focused on dragging Brandon's limp body across the floor.
We finally reached a small, white room without any furniture or furnishings inside it at all. S threw Brandon into the corner and snapped his fingers. A draconae produced a chair and moved it to the middle of the room. He patted the back of the bridge. "Sit."
I kept my eyes on him and sank into the hard chair. He pulled out a syringe. "Inject your neck, right there." He pointed at a small spot in the middle. I suddenly stood and raised the syringe menacingly. He disappeared and appeared next to Brandon. I slowly sank back into my seat.
"Do not make this harder than it needs to be, young one." He drew his sword.
"Wait!" I reached forward in desperation. He looked questioningly at me. "Don't. Please."
"Then, how will you learn?" He flicked his wrist, bringing a medium sized cut to Brandon's right arm. The corner of the room was already stained red in deep contrast to the blank white. "Now, the serum, or it will be quite worse."
I sighed and brought the syringe to the spot that he had indicated. Slowly, I pushed down the plunger and closed my eyes, bracing myself for what would happen next.
When I opened my eyes, I was still in the same white room, except no one was there anymore. I stood alone in the room, waiting for what was to come.
I looked down at my clothes. I had changed before we had entered the city, but the clothes I now wore was the dark jacket and pants that Brandon and I had first traveled in, back when things were freezing.
All of a sudden, the room collapsed and I felt myself falling and falling and falling.
When I finally reached the ground, I looked around. Standing in front of me was a blood-covered, shocked Brandon. We were inside the mill again. The look of pain and astonishment on his face was already nearly overpowering.
"Ashley..."
I remembered that day, the day we had left each other. It broke my heart to hear him say that word so hopelessly, as if he already knew what was going to happen next. What broke my heart even further was my response.
I felt my legs forcibly back up. "No! Stay back!"
He dropped to his knees, panting, nearly sobbing. "No, Ashley. Please don't. That wasn't me. You know it." I tried to look away, but my head was fixated on the pale face of my friend.
He reached out to try and get me to stay, but I flinched, continuing to back up. "Get away from me, you psycho. You-you-you monster!" I couldn't believe that I had really said that to his face. It was as if I had never really seen the truth behind this scene until now: A scared boy trying to hold on to his friend, who neglected him and ran away.
The bags came next, both of them, as I was forced to grab them. I turned to view a sobbing Brandon on the ground, curled up and crying his life away. I had to suppress a sob myself as I viewed the effect that I had had on this human, that just by leaving him, I reduced him to a mess.
Of course, none of that mattered then. I was only focused on staying alive myself. Brandon didn't matter if he could kill me.
The next words terrified me beyond anything I had ever heard. Those were the words that truly broke me.
"I guess this is who you really are, Brandon,"I could still pick up the utter lack of emotion in my voice as my mind was made up. "I can't believe I had never seen the real you before today."
I turned and began to trudge into the snow. Hot, wet tears traveled down my face as I watched myself leave and heard his screams of "Please,Ashley, come back!" I finally found the rock and hid beneath it, still listening to the sounds of Brandon calling and searching for me through the night. My eyes were now flooding with tears as I recalled my own selfishness, my own heartlessness, as I thought about what a danger this boy was to MY life. I didn't think twice about him, just cried about myself until, eventually, my eyes closed.
Then, they opened again. I was back in the mill and Brandon was looking at me with the same pained expression again.
Of course, I thought, I have to do this again and again and again.
________________________________________________________________________________
"A lot of work to do in such a short period of time, Brandon."
"Well, actually, the quest never had a specific deadline, so we are free to move at our will."
"Yes, but you will surely die soon if the girl continues to be as stubborn as she is."
I paused for a moment. "How was she to look after?"
"Oh, horrifying. She could not go a few minutes a day without risking a chance of death. It was tiring. Of course, she seems to have a deep interest in you."
I raised my eyebrows. "You think?"
"I know, Brandon. Now, let us get to business."
"All right, this plan is complicated, but I've had lots of time to think about it and to consider every single possible outcome."
"Sounds like something I would be proud of."
"It will be. Here's how it will go..."
