⚠️Warning: Mentions of past trauma, violence and death in this chapter. If affected, please read with caution. ⚠️

~~~~~

{•Lynette•}

"So... My mother and father never hurt Remington at all?" I asked him.

"Nope. The treatment did tire him out plenty, but never really caused him any injury or severe pain," Alexander explained as he continued to sit on the ground. He held the shock collar in his hands as me and Sandman stood before him, as if holding it can make the shocks hurt less.

"Did they work?" I asked. "Because Remington was still plagued, up until the Blackwell's took him in..."

"They were working, slowly but surely.... Until Amadeus intervened, per my orders," he said. "He was to infiltrate undercover, but Elvira, she... She was too damn clever.... Too smart to trick, no thanks to your father."

"My father?" I asked.

"Bartholomew had a talent for mathematics, science, critical thinking and code as well..." Sandman said. "Taught your mother everything..."

"Precisely.... Which is how your mother used cryptic code for her notes," Alexander said. "However, from what we could learn, your mother obtained possession of some sort of stone, a strange moonstone that Bartholomew fabricated through alchemy, that is said to help with cleansing and healing of the mind and soul."

"She was helping him from night terrors that were physically harming him.... That would be the only reason any moonstone is involved in any use," Sandman added. "However, altering it is a gamble, it can increase intuition or cause the dreamer to hallucinate or hear things... They need to be prepared physically and mentally for a moonstone treatment."

"Well, Lieseil managed something with that stone that was working..... Eloise had her suspicions on Amadeus ever since the beginning... Add to that, the fool got the silly idea to getting close to her by trying to drive a wedge between your parents, despite Eloise already being married to Bartholomew, " Alexander said.

"How so?" I asked.

"Not sure... Your father taught her well, including elaborate cryptography... Its how she wrote her notes, in case it were to ever fall in the wrong hands. Amadeus knew better than any of us, however, and when your mother suspected, she even left a clue that tricked Amadeus into exposing himself, hence why he was angry with Elvira..." Alexander added.

"The day he harrassed her..." I said in realization.

"Correct," he said. "She was only 3 months pregnant with you when that happened.... After that, I can't really say, since its unclear what followed, but I do know it lead to Elvira trying to hide Patient X and his brothers, with help from the traveler himself, Hermes... As well as most likely coming up with a plan to protect you from us..."

"Sebastian said that he, Remington and Emerson were running through some maze, similar to that one... That they were scared and running like hell from something... Or someone..." I said, pointing at the building. "What were they running from?"

"They were hiding from my men..... We had tried to raid the mental estate, but were defeated no thanks to some special soldiers from Wismont Island that Lieseil was friends with... Wismont Royal Society Guardsmen, something like that..."

"I've met them... Their leader isn't exactly close with my friend," Sandman scoffed.

"Which friend?" I asked.

"Death," Sandman said. "Its a very long story, however. One for another day."

I look at him in confusion.

What does he mean by that?

"Anyway, the raid lead the Lieseil's to send put the brothers on the ship to Obsidian..." Alexander said.

"Why send them directly to you?" I asked.

"We would have never expected it..." Alexander added. "That was a decoy, however, so that we can think they were sent to Salem."

"But the ship crashed in Obsidian anyway," Sandman added.

"Elvira tried to save the boys, but it was all in vain... She sent Hermes to protect them, but I sent Amadeus to interfere one last time," Alexander smirked.

My eyes widen at his words as my heart dropped.

"You.... You caused the shipwreck?!" I said.

He snickered to himself.

"Its all connected, I-I should have seen that," I said, looking at Sandman.

"Amadeus followed orders to follow the boys in secret, getting himself on the ship... Unfortunately, he didn't expect Hermes to be their chaperone and to find him hiding under the deck... and make him miss his trip," Alexander said.

"That's why they were on the manifest...." Sandman said.

"Then... Then if neither of them were on the ship, how did it it sink? How did Remington, Emerson and Sebastian become....." I asked, and then it suddenly hit me

Alexander smirked, and that's when I realized something.

"You.... It was you.... You turned them into vampires! You killed the brothers!!" I shouted.

"Amadeus had managed to administer vampire blood into their drinking water before Amadeus got him off the ship and letting it sail without them, and then I had a spy sacrifice himself in that wreck in order to kill them all, turn the three of them into bigger abominations, rejected by all," Alexander snickered.

"You're the only abomination I see, Alexander," I spat, then faced Sandman. "I have to get back, I need to get this this information, it can help with the war. My parents are innocent!!"

"Just say the word, your highness," he said. "Shall I wake you from the dream state?"

Before I could say anything....

"Before you go..... Tell me something, my sweet princess," Alexander said, making me stop and turn to him as he stood up.

"What do you want?" I spat.

He then smirked evilly.

"You enjoyed killing that fool, Amadeus... Didn't you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

I feel my veins freeze at his words, my eyes widen.

"Actually, no, let me rephrase that a bit, even his own mother would have enjoyed doing that herself...." he said, then gave me a twisted smile. ".... You enjoyed killing me.... Didn't you?"

I gulped nervously as I clenched my fists.

He laughed and stood up. "I knew it... That thirst for the kill, its what drives a Visigoth, its engraved inside us... Hell, it was obvious when you killed Amadeus, but you've proven yourself worthy of the Visigoth mantle."

I glared at him in shock.

"N-No... No, I was a vampire at the time and-and I was thirsting blood! That's different!!" I argued.

"Ohh... But is it really different at all, love?" He said in a mocking tone, then chuckled. "Come to think of it....We're no different from those vermin, all things considered.... Bloodthirsty, undesirable-"

"The Blackwell's are nothing like you!!" I shouted, activating the collar and making him scream as he was shocked, knocking him back.

"Fuck!!" Alexander groaned as the shocks stopped.

"And I am not a murderer or monster like you or Lilith!!!" I shouted.

"Really?!" he laughed maniacally. "Because every single attack, kill and torture you committed was without hesitation, last I checked."

"You're wrong!!" I shouted as suddenly the wind started to blow hard.

"You knew immediately how to attack Trevor after he and his friends tried to rape and kill you back in the Earth realm, even took his eye," he said.

"That was self defense!!!" I shouted.

"Dream??" Sandman called for me.

"You tortured Prophet with your iron arrows without a single thought.... You even threatened to take his own wings and kill him!!" He laughed.

My eyes widen. "N-No!"

"You also cut off Amadeus's hand, and the split second you were a bloodthirsty heathen, you made him your first meal without a second thought!!!" Alexander laughed.

"SHUP UP!!!!" I cried out, feeling the wind around us get stronger.

"And now, here you have me in a shock collar like a deranged mutt, forcing me to give you answers from beyond the fucking grave!!!" he roared. "You enjoy the idea of me being below you, the revenge you get from all I've done to you and your loved ones, the power you have over me!!"

"Dream, don't listen to him, he's just trying to shake you!!!" Sandman shouted over the wind. "None of it is true!!!"

"Like hell!!! You're no delicate lost princess wanting a home!!! You're just a cold-blooded, power hungry, evil murderer, just like us!!" he roared over the winds. "You are a true Visigoth, and you can never escape that reality, even in your own dream world!!!!"

"NO, I'M NOT, STOP IT!!!" I cried out, the wind getting stronger and stronger.

"Your parents bled and suffered trying to keep you pure and good, but that evil was already ingrained inside you since the beginning!! Every bit of their battle to protect you was in vain!!!" he shouted. "YOUR MOTHER DIED FOR NOTHING!!!"

That did it.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" I screamed, and that's when everyone blew apart around us, Alexander being blown away.

"AWAKEN NOW!!" I hear Sandman shout, holding his hands up.

Then in an instant, it all went black and silent...

***

I gasped and sat up, catching my breath as I saw I was in the infirmary, everything all a blur, my legs feeling like Jell-O as I suddenly stood up, my brain pounding against my skull as I stumbled and spun.

"Lynette! LYNETTE!!" A familiar voice spoke as arms held me up, keeping me from collapsing as I swayed a bit. "Calm down, its okay!! Its alright, you're safe!!"

I tried to catch my breath as I looked around, my vision clearing, and seeing Remington and Leda being the ones who held me steady, everyone else looking around in shock and worry.

"R-Remington?" I mumbled, looking up at him.

"Wait, who?" a voice said from nearby.

"Yeah... Yeah, its me," he assured, holding me. "How are you feeling?"

I gulped and took a deep breath as I relaxed, but then felt a bit dizzy as my legs gave out and he caught me.

"Okay, okay, lay her back down," Shy's voice said as Remington scooped me up in his arms and carried me back to the bed. "Dreaming Sand can leave humans a little delirious after they wake up."

I felt myself laid back down as Larisa blew some air on my face with her hand fan, my vision blurring a little as Ethan and Genevieve were examining me, along with Shy.

"Here, this should help," I hear Jay say, rushing over with a small black vial in her hands.

She held it under my nose as a strong, chemical smell flooded my senses I gasped and sat up a bit, feeling my vision almost immediately clear.

"Heart rate's up, but its going down a bit," Shy said as she heard through her stethoscope.

"Lynette... How do you feel?" Larisa asked. "You were exposed to a lot of Dream Sand."

My mind spun as I processed everything, and remembered what I just went through.

I looked up at Remington, who looked at me with worry.

My eyes then started to water as those words flooded my head, tears streaming down my face.

"Lynette? What's wrong?" Shy asked. "Are you in any pain?"

I looked around and couldn't holding back any longer, and cried out, burying my face in his hands.

"Lynette!?" Remington asked, scared as he held my shoulders.

I tried to talk, but all I could do was sob hard and uncontrollably, already feeling my chest hurt.

Remington then pulled me into his arms as I clung to him, crying into his chest.

"Duchessa?" I hear Victoria asked in confusion.

"Let's give her some room," Andrew's voice said.

{•Remington•}

I held her as she sobbed uncontrollably into my chest.

"I-I don't... I-I-I," she hiccuped and coughed as she clung to me "I-I didn't mean... I.. I-I'm n-not...."

"Shhh, shhh its okay, its okay," I said, shocked at the state she was in as I tried calming her down.

What the hell did she see in there?!

I looked up at Justin and Genevieve, who looked equally shocked and confused.

"Lynette, it was just a dream... You're safe," Larisa tried as I then looked at the others. "We're here, its over."

I then looked at Sebastian, who also seemed worried, but also thinking of something before turning to Colson and Samuel.

"Get the Warhol's here... Maybe they'll make sense of why she's like this," he ordered.

They both nodded and bowed before exiting the room.

Lynette continued to sob hysterically into my shoulders as I then looked at Larisa, who nodded as her eyes went red and she placed her hand over Lynette's back.

Lynette then slowly started to calm down as Larisa held her hand there, until she relaxed into her arms, taking shallow little breaths as she calmed down.

"Shhhh..... Its okay, you're safe...." I murmured. "You're safe...."

She whimpered softly and clung to me.

"I-I didn't m-mean to...." she whispered to me with a sob.

I looked at her in confusion as she softly cried into my chest, my hand softly rubbing her back.

What happened to her?

~~~~~

🎨 by Emerson Barrett

I feel like I made this part of the story a liiiittle bit longer than I wanted to, so I apologize if anyone feels that I dragged it on too much.

Hope you are all still enjoying the story so far! 🌻

🎶 Currently in Sapph's playlist:

Ghost "Mary on a Cross"

♡~ sapphire.