Hellish Obsession

Chapter 3

A sudden menacing explosion of morning alarm and the chirping of distant birds startled Aveline out of her abysmal nightmare. She flipped her eyes open and felt her body bathed in cold sweats. The twisted pile of dishevelled sheets around her limbs were probably because of her thrashing in sleep.

Not that the foreign room was entirely dark, everything was brighter than it should be. Probably because of the morning sun that darted through the windows. But that's more strange. Because the oddest and unusual wonder of the province she lives in is the sun that barely shows up once a month.

It's always the same every year. Even if it's not sluggish foggy winter, it will be a cold cloudy monsoon. As she rolled her eyes around, she felt her body reflected with a glow in the mirror.

The Mirror! What's that on the mirror? Something was written on it with red bold letters.

The surpluses of her nightmare were still clinging to her mind and the hangover was making her head feel the worse. Yet, Aveline struggled to pull herself up to assuage her curiosity and blinked her blurred vision to glimpse clearly.

"YOU STARTED IT BUT I WILL END IT"

She read it aloud but before she could react, or even catch another breath, she was startled by another sound. The door was swinging open and the sluggish hinges of the old door creaked into her eardrums like fingernails on a dusty chalkboard.

Aveline gasped and turned her head to the door. But surprisingly, No one was there.

"Meow! Meow!"

Hearing the wail of a cat, she glanced down on the floor and took in a black cat, staring at her with its hazel yet bloodshot eyes. So, it was not someone but a cat. A black cat!

She let out a relief sigh but couldn't just relax at all. "Where the hell am I now?" She blurted out her frustration.

The room was old enough reckoned by its proficiency but still seemed so new as if it was built just yesterday. Snapping out the unnecessary thoughts, Aveline tried to straighten her composure and glanced at the mirror again. "I started what? Who will end it and what?" She wandered, lips parted in awe.

She was aware of everything weird that was arising but didn't understand a single thing. From yesterday, everything was already so confusing and she could barely remember anything.

"Good morning, Princess Ave." An indistinct hissing, wheezy sound faded in Aveline's ear.

Curiously, she pulled herself up, avoiding all of her body resistance and stopped by the mirror. The words with bold red letters were written with blood! She swallowed her breath, as her body jerked in terror.

"How was the night?" The distant whisper overlapped now.

Putting herself together, she grabbed his phone and made her way out of the room. She had to figure everything out but there was another shock waiting for her.

She found herself in a forest.

Bzzt... Bzzt... Bzzt...

The phone vibrated. She just took the time to check the caller id before picking it up. "Peter?" Of course, she remembers her friends.

"Where are you, doob head?"

She relieved a bit hearing his familiar voice. "In the Purple Forest."

"What? Forest? Why? Are you playing with the animals? Come out quickly. I'm standing in front of the club. Everyone left already. And the duke has called me to find you."

"Wait there. I'm coming." With that, Aveline found her way to the street and tried to remember every single thing that happened with her from last night.