"Another world?"

My aunt sounded sceptical behind me as she used a towel to dry my hair. After a hearty, homecooked meal, my aunt had insisted I take a hot shower to clean away all the muck I had been covered in after my run through the woods. Now, as we sat in the living room talking about where I had been for the last few days, I was doing my best to explain everything I had experience. Unfortunately, it sounded more like a fiction story than real life.

"Yes, Auntie, and it was so strange," I said. "It was like I was sent back to the medieval period or something. There was a castle with a king, and he had a bunch of knights and councilmen. They were all horribly mean though. The king said I was his daughter; he wanted me to marry this snobby knight, but all of his nobles thought it was a bad idea."

"I think it was a bad idea too," my uncle said with fake indignation. "My niece the princess, and they only wanted her to marry a knight? Preposterous."

My aunt and I laughed, but I quickly remembered just how true his statement had been in the eyes of the councils and sobered. "I told the king, in front of the two councils, that I wouldn't marry anyone and he got really upset. He threw me in the dungeon for it and told me I could only come out if I agreed to the marriage," I explained. "It was pretty terrifying actually... If it hadn't been for the prince that I met, I don't know if I ever would have made it home."

My aunt and uncle looked worried at how serious I was, and there was a long silence as I momentarily relived the horror of that night, believing I would never be able to return to my normal life. But then my aunt clapped her hands together loudly to bring us all back to the present. "Well," she said. "I think you just went off into the forest to play dressup and got lost. You must have fallen asleep and had a very strange dream."

"A very real dream," I reiterated for her. "It wasn't make-believe."

"Maybe, maybe not. But it's over now and you're home safe," she said. She tossed aside the towel she'd been using and kissed the top of my head affectionately. "That's all that really matters, isn't it?"

My uncle agreed and ruffled my damp hair. "You should be more careful when going out to the woods. Don't wander off again by yourself," he warned.

I wanted to insist that it hadn't been a dream at all; that I really had been kidnapped and imprisoned, but I knew they wouldn't believe me. So, I just forced a smile and nodded. "Okay," I said.

The rest of the day passed slowly and almost surreally. When the clock in the living room read 5:00pm, I found myself almost drifting off at the kitchen table. Though it was only late-day, I felt exhausted. I had stayed up the entire night before to journey back to the portal with Christopher, and before that, I had very unrestful nights in the castle. With another yawn, I looked at my aunt who was kneading dough to make a loaf of bread.

"Auntie, would it be alright if I went to bed early?" I asked. "It's been a long several days."

She smiled at me from the kitchen island. "Of course," she said. "Before you do, would you like an early supper?"

I shook my head, already standing up from the table. "No, thank you," I told her.

My aunt wished me goodnight and I slipped off in search of my familiar bed. When I entered my room, I promptly collapsed on the springy mattress with a deep sigh. I had missed this uncomfortable thing. Despite the softness of the castle beds, I knew I would never have slept half as comfortably there as I would in my own bed. Finally feeling able to relax, I closed my eyes, let the exhaustion crash over me, and I was alseep in seconds.

However, as wonderful as my sleep was, I was rudely awakened some time late into the night. I didn't know what had disturbed my slumber, but something about the eerie silence of my bedroom made me uneasy. Grabbing a blanket from my bed, I stepped out of my room to look down the hall in both directions. To my right, I could hear my aunt and uncle sleeping soundly in thier room a couple doors down. To my left, the darkness of the living room loomed unsettlingly. I wrapped the blanket tighter around my shoulders for courage.

Tentatively, I moved towards the dark space. My socks kept my feet silent as I walked the length of the house in search of... something; whatever had awoke me. Unfortunately, whatever that something had been, I didn't find it. By the end of my hunt, I was empty-handed, cold, and even more paranoid than before. I walked back to my room and closed my door with a sigh. Maybe it had just been my imagination.

As I turned around though, something moved outside and I froze. My eyes scanned the blackness that was my bedroom window, wondering if I had actually seen anything at all. Then a dark form darted past the window panes again and I rushed forward to draw the curtains closed as quickly as possible. I jumped back into bed and pulled the blankets up until I was almost completely covered, my eyes never leaving the window. Was someone outside the house? I worried to think it may be a burglar. However, my concern slowly turned to throat-tightening horror as a clawed, scaley, black hand pressed against the outside of the window. That was no burglar's hand I had ever seen before. With just the tip of its sharp nail, it tapped the glass three times.

"Princess~" A large form leaned close to the glass and I saw teeth flash in the moonlight. "Are you in there?"

I felt instantly cold at the sound of the raspy voice and the name it called. Instinctively, I shifted back, burying myself further in the sheets to hide, praying with all my might that the creature would leave.

However, the sound of my window's lock clicking made my eyes snap open instantly. I threw back the blankets in surprise just in time to see two hands, charcaol in appearance and leaving burn marks in their wake, grip the side of my now-open window. The creature leaned in with burning orange eyes and chuckled. "There you are."

I scrambled out of bed and ran out of the room in a panic. I turned to go to my aunt and uncle's room, but a shadow ran down the wall and I gasped, halting in my tracks. I ran the other way, to the front door, and threw it open, racing outside and away from my home. Whatever was after me was right on my heels. 

I needed somewhere to hide, so I made a beeline for the forest. The trees seemed taller and scarier than they had in the daytime and I stumbled as I ran. I saw shadows and figures running alongside me and heard laughter all around. At one point, I dared to look back and a shriek of terror tore itself from my throat at the animalistic creatures thundering through the woods behind me. As they shifted between solid form and smoke, their eyes glowing in the darkness, my stomach dropped. They looked like demons.

Unfortunately, when I looked back in front of me to run faster, I found my path soon ran out. I came to a stumbling halt at a grove of dense ferns and nowhere to go. I turned just in time to see many of the creatures circle around me, snickering as they blocked all escape. As they shrieked with delight, one stepped in front of the others and spoke directly to me. It was the one from my window. "Princess, it is a delight to see you," he croaked with false sincerity. He offered his hand, but I did not take it.

"What are you?" I asked, my eyes darting about at the many others that loomed too close.

"We are but lowly foot soldiers sent to bring you home, your highness," the demon said. His words and actions were lined with sarcasm as he bowed his head to let a messy lock of shadowy hair fall into his face. When he looked up, he was smirking. "Please, return with us. The king eagerly awaits you with baited breath."

"I'm not returning anywhere," I snapped.

Several of the creatures growled and made moves to advance on me, but the head demon held up a hand. "Do not make this difficult. Our hands are sullied and we shall not care if we hurt you," he insisted with a grin. "Come back willingly and there will be no need for any... roughness."

I shrank as they moved ever closer. "No..." I whispered.

But it was too late. I screamed for my aunt, but a filthy hand soon covered my mouth and I was being shoved to the dirt. I thrashed around as the demon leaned down, watching smugly as his followers took pleasure in my terror. I held my breath as he moved a lock of hair out of my face with a single claw. "Be still, princess. This is almost over," he said. Then he covered my eyes and I was plunged into darkness.

*******

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