The bracelet's crimson hue was so vibrant this time; I had never seen it go off so bright. It lit up the entire room, even though I was the only one who could see it.

Is it because I thought of you? That I wished to see you? Oh, no! What did I do? Did it alert you? This morning... Did you send your dad just because you were worried about me? Or did this jewel warn you without me knowing?

Memories snapped together, finally remembering I promised to play with him again at the beach. He planned to introduce me to a new game we hadn’t played before.

Were you waiting for me all day yesterday?

With everything that had happened, my memories were hard to recall past the beating.

Oh gods, please don’t let Fenris see it glowing.

It was about midnight, so I prayed he would’ve been asleep when it shone.

Don’t come here! Stay away. I don’t want to see you!

It couldn’t have been a more obvious facade when it made my heart plummet into a vortex where it shallowed up every emotion within me.

Please! Stay away!

My breath hitched as my heart flew, unable to contain the shivers rushing through me.

“Is the delay for the spell ready?” Stella asked one sister in the room, snapping me out once again.

There was no time to worry about the silver Lycan that had stolen my senses. Yet he was all that was filling my mind.

Focus Lilith! You have to be brave!

“Yes, mother. It is.” The sister answered, nodding and taking out her grimoire before placing it on a wooden stand near the circle.

The books were individually tailored to each witch, allowing them unique appearances. Steadying my nerves, I endeavored to keep up with them.

“Good then. The delay will make the spell take eight hours to activate. The party should’ve started by then.” Stella smirked, placing her fridged stare back on me.

My mind was all jumbled up, producing lag between them, preventing me from entirely keeping up with them. However, some words did land with me, especially delay.

Are they planning on running away in the chaos? Cowards!

Forcing my meek, quivering body to sit up was challenging, but I didn’t back down, achieving my goal. My arms trembled to hold me up, and I tried to focus my gaze on the women surrounding me.

“Are we ready? Is it time for the last ingredient?” Stella asked another sister, who held a giant hourglass in her hands.

The device in her pale hands was made of black wood, clear blubs of glass, and full of blue sand.

“Yes, it’s time, mother.” She replied, flipping the glass and starting the countdown to the end.

Stella's lips curled into a wicked smile, shifting her orbs into me again before approaching me with the same stick in her hand. This time, another sister accompanied her flank.

“Well, child, it’s time for the last ingredient,” she announced, signaling her to grab onto my cuffs.

My blurred vision could barely keep up with their movements when she yanked them over my head, pinning me down to the floor with my back on the ground. Their pathetic attempt to limit my movements was futile; I couldn’t fight them either way.

There wasn’t an ounce of strength in my battered body that could oppose them. Little did I know what she had in store for me was one horror after another, determined to show a child how cruel the world was.

“The ritual demands the deflowerment of a pure, innocent soul.” Stella declared, voice full of malice, leaving me barely any time to dissect her meaning.

Unable to move or understand what she would do, I stared at the wooden ceiling above, wishing everything would slow down. The only thing that snapped my orbs away from it was a sharp, unbearable pain that surged through me when she used that stick to do as she warned.

There were no males in the coven to do the dirty deed, so Stella took it upon herself to brutalize me; ravishing me with the stick left me less desirable to anyone who would look my way. Not that she cared to let me live that long.

By the time she finished, my mind or body couldn’t comprehend what happened to it. The entire event couldn’t register in my mind, suppressed into my subconscious to shield myself from it. At the age of ten, I didn’t even know what sex was, let alone what she did to me.

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It was ridiculous to think she did this to shatter me; my psyche was too weak to realize what she had done. All I perceived was that my back and abdomen hurt so much that tears stained my cheeks.

No more... Please, I can’t…

Every part of my body hurt so much that I couldn't form full thoughts other than those pleading for everything to end. My jelly legs refused to listen even though I only wished to run and hide. The back of my throat was raw from the screaming, leaving my voice hoarse, barely audible anymore.

Laughing maniacally, Stella threw the stick she used to brutalize me outside of the circle. Oh, how she enjoyed my pain, my distraught. Her wicked expression in those moments was immortalized for all my future dreams.

When she withdrew away from my battered body, I could barely catch my breath, forcing myself up through the tremors that throbbed through me.

I need to move… I can’t stay here.

The surging agony through my body made me desire life to stop. Dragging my body a few lengths, I gazed down towards my limbs that refused to listen to me. A pool of blood was where I had begun as my legs and bum were drenched in the crimson liquid as well.

What…?

Even though I didn’t want to give up, my body folded to persist with my chaotic mind. Focused on my peril, I missed when the sisters cast the delayed incantation. The circle gave off a light blue shimmering hue, sealing me within the circle.

A pulse rushed through my body, turning my world off like the click of a switch. By the time I regained myself once again, there was no trace of my assailants, like they had never been there, vanishing into thin air.

The surrounding circle glowed light red, fading in and out like a bomb about to go off. On the side was the hourglass, but I couldn’t determine how much time was left before it finished. Trying to focus on anything far away would turn my vision into a haze.

All that remained was my death to finish the chant they had set on foot. Shaking my head from side to side, I became alarmed upon detecting something wrong with my body. Crimson markings appeared all over my exposed skin; some even gave a hue under the stained fabric covering the nastiest of wounds.

The stamps in my body would fade in and out just like the circles glow.

But how long was I out for? Hours, minutes?

Groggily, I peered around to see the sunlight beaming through the small window, illuminating the room that would be my tomb. If the sun was out, it was around six in the morning, at least seven, almost hitting eight.

At best, I had a few hours to work with, but at worst, I had less. This coven's rite differed entirely from the one Lilith executed. After losing her husband and child to infighting between the races, she sacrificed herself, blaming the world, just like Stella did.

My grandmother had made it her life's purpose to enact revenge against Cerberus if she figured out what Lilith did wrong and fixed it. This incantation was impossible to stop. I was only ten, bordering on eleven years old, so the chances of me out-winning her in this game were zero.

Compared to the fifty years Stella had under her belt, I was a simple bug to be squashed. Shaking that thought away, my orbs shifted toward the border of the ring that surrounded me. Filling my lungs with air, I forced my shaking body to move.

There was no way I couldn’t let it end like this. Every movement was torturous, but I pushed through it anyway. Slowly, I wormed my way until my hand landed on the invisible magical all that prevented my escape.

Using every bit of strength I could muster, my trembling hand couldn’t go past it. It didn’t harm me to touch it, so it wasn’t an offensive barrier but a defensive one to keep me in. Struggling, I used the wall to support my back to sit.

I huffed a bit, trying to find vigor where there was none before noticing the symbols start to glow brighter.

Times…

At that moment, a memory of when I saw a beautifully rainbow-colored caged bird I saw when I was with Fenris and his friends came to mind. We were waiting for another piece of ice cream from a different store in Silverant. This time, the silver wolf was determined for me to discover the taste of strawberries.

Tears streaked down my cheeks, making me whimper, unable to figure out how to win this. That colorful bird and I were the same. When my eyes met the bird’s gaze, pitiful and helpless, it was like looking at a reflection in a broken mirror.

It hurts so much! I want to see you! Why… can’t I be free like you?

The bracelet under the shackles once again brightened up the room when I sobbed harder than ever.

“No...” I cried, weakly trying to make the bracelet stop shining.

I didn’t want Fenris to know this me.

Caged, pitiful... Nothing worth saving.

Tears continued to stream out of me when an idea finally flourished within my chaotic mind.

Wait! Is there a way to cage the gate? Yes! There must be a way to seal it within a vessel. Think! Lilith, think!

Sealing spells were one of the simplest to cast, but simultaneously, it was one of the hardest things I wanted to accomplish. In theory, all anyone needed to seal anything was a suitable container.

However, it was a world I was trying to stop from coming through, not fire or flowers. A simple orb or crystal wouldn’t work, either. Nothing was around the room besides the red lining and skulls the coven had left behind.

How did Cerberus close the gate before? Think… Lil…

Before another thought was allowed to form, the most excruciating pain coursed through my body. It was like someone was carving something into my soul, making me want to scream. My vision blurred, and my body trembled uncontrollably once again.

A sharp gasp left my lips when I felt the new sensation pulse through me. Parts of my vision went black, alerting me that my consciousness was wavering. I had to avoid this, but my time was running short.

Biting into my finger, I wasted little time writing my first spell. I had no grimoire, but I knew how to craft one from all the books they forced me to read. Stella’s book had the most incredible ones, from who she learned them I didn’t know.

After struggling to write it, I clasp my hands together, reciting it with my broken voice without letting the pain consume me.

"Inferis offero corpus tamquam vas. Ligabis ad me ipsum. COPH vocem meam audiunt et ego praecipio tibi vincula et ligabunt te in me." I repeated multiple times in the hopes the gods were on my side.

Nether realm, I offer my body as a vessel. Bind yourself to me. I command you to hear my plea and bind yourself to me.

For just a moment, the circle changed colors from red to blue. I had no idea if it was me or just what the sisters wanted, but my hopes went up before they sent me plunging into the air, into the middle of Silverant.

A teleportation?! Ah… No!

My mangled body fell through the vast blue sky as thoughts sped through my mind.

Ah... Is this how they planned to kill me? A fall? Did my attempt to save my light fail? Did the gods not hear my plea? Is my offer not good enough for you!? Please! I don’t want him to die! Take me instead!