Dmitri burst through the door making loud noises; neither Draycott nor Claudia reacted. Maybe they couldn’t see him? They hadn’t reacted to the door either, but then neither of them was facing it. So he could affect things but couldn’t be seen. He did the only thing he could think of, he picked up a leg of ham and threw it at Draycott! Draycott was so intent on glaring at Claudia that he almost didn’t notice the leg of ham as it came flying at him. He ducked at the last moment and then glared at Claudia. His expression said that the blame lay on her. He overturned the table and backhanded Claudia off her chair. He reached down, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room, not noticing the already open door.

“Damn, it didn’t work,” cursed Dmitri to himself.

Shift! Claudia and Draycott were back around the table, which was once again upright, the leg of ham on its platter. Claudia started up her tirade once more. This time, Dmitri picked up the leg of ham and instead of throwing it at Draycott, he heaved it at Claudia. With a squeak she tried to dodge but the ham caught her in the chest and sent her sprawling off the chair. Draycott roared with laughter at this unexpected turn. Claudia was scrabbling around on all fours, stunned at the outcome. Dmitri rushed over to her, “Claudia!” he cried out.

She looked up, started, “Dmitri?” she whispered. Then her eyes narrowed in suspicion and she started screaming at him, “You’re not Dmitri! I didn’t know him yet!”

Dmitri took hold of her as he so often did when she was upset, “Claudia, it is me, your Dmitri.” She tried to struggle free.

As Dmitri held her, Draycott had gotten up and was heading towards them. Claudia saw this and shrieked, “If you really are Dmitri, then help me get away from this monster,” she pleaded.

Dmitri took her by the hand and headed towards the only exit to the room that he knew of, the bed chamber. As they passed Draycott, Dmitri lowered his shoulder and ran into him, lifting him into the air. Almost as if in slow motion, Draycott twisted in the air and grabbed hold of Claudia as they tried to flee past him. Claudia screamed as Draycott caught her and Dmitri turned to face him.

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“You will never break her free!” said Draycott with a snarl, “You too are trapped here for eternity to watch the woman you love suffer.”

Dmitri leapt forward and delivered a solid punch to his face forcing him to let go of Claudia and sending him sprawling. “We’re already free,” said Dmitri and turning to Claudia, “I am Dmitri. I am the man that loves you.” He drew her close and kissed her deeply on the lips.

The world around him shattered and he opened his eyes to find himself staring beneath the bed. He scrambled to his feet; he was back in his and Claudia’s chambers in Draycott’s castle. He looked down on the bed, Claudia lay there, her breathing deep and steady. Leaning down, he kissed her. Her eyes shot open and recognising Dmitri her arms shot out and caught him in a tight embrace.

“Dmitri!” she said with a smile, tears running down her face, “You do love me!”

“Yes I do,” he said returning a smile, “with all my heart.”

Claudia sighed contentedly in his arms, “I feel so exhausted after that, I could sleep in an instant. What was that anyway? Was it a trap for us?”

Dmitri shook his head, “I thought that at first as well. But there is no way that Draycott knew that we had been linking with Wayte. I think it was a safeguard.”

“Against what?” Claudia asked.

“I think it is safe to assume that Wayte was being controlled correct?” confirmed Dmitri and Claudia nodded. “If he broke free, he would be a threat to Draycott. So Draycott set a trap and if Wayte broke free, he would be trapped in his own nightmares. But we sprang the trap, so Wayte would be fine if he broke free.”

“So what now?” Claudia asked.

Dmitri shook his head, “I don’t know. They’re going to kill Judith and pollute the water supply. Not only that, it will infect the village after a few days, but then they’ll all heal as normal because that’s how we made it to work. We’ll be found out.”

“Well then we have to get out of here,” suggested Claudia. “It’s the only option now.”

“Ok,” agreed Dmitri. “Let’s link. We’ll use your elixirs and create a massive explosion. Hopefully we can take out a wall or something.”

“We don’t have much of a chance do we?” asked Claudia.

“No. But then we don’t have any options either,” replied Dmitri grimly.