by Brea Alepoú
Like before, Melony lost all track of time. She had no idea how long she lay in the dirt. She tried pinching herself in the beginning but had soon given up. This was her punishment for what she’d done. There was no other explanation for it.
She sat there listening to the voices. They were right. She’d killed them. She’d abandoned them. It was all her fault.
She never heard her father's voice, meaning maybe he was alive. Either that or he didn't blame Melony for his death. But she was sure now that she was the cause of that too. She was the reason he would never hold his wife in his arms ever again.
She stopped crying at some point. She no longer got to feel sorry for what she caused, shedding tears would not bring the dead back. Her eyes opened, and she watched as her mother's severed head and Denelle's lifeless body covered in blood yelled at her. She watched as they started to blur.
Melony blinked and she was once again staring at the pink ceiling.
"Wakey, wakey." Isabelle’s child-like face moved over into Melony's line of sight.
Melony opened her mouth to talk, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. It felt as if she had chewed on cotton balls.
"Here you go." Isabelle pressed a straw to Melony's mouth.
Melony didn't question it, too thirsty to wonder what she was about to drink. She sipped large gulps into her mouth. The cool refreshing water hit her tongue. Laying down made it hard to drink, and she began choking on the water.
"Hold on." Isabelle disappeared with the water.
The table moved a little until Melony was in a slightly upward position. Then the straw was back in her mouth. Melony drank as much as she could. It didn't feel like enough when Isabelle took the straw away. Melony whined from the loss.
"It's okay," Isabelle said as she patted Melony's hair. "You can have more. All you have to do is tell me what I want to hear."
Melony’s eyes watered. She had been telling the truth the whole time. She couldn't even make something up.
"Don't cry. Don't you want this all to end?"
Melony nodded, too broken up to answer verbally.
"Then tell me." Isabelle batted her lashes at Melony.
Melony wanted to yell, but instead, she calmed herself. She would try again to convince Isabelle. "You have the wrong person." Melony’s voice was no more than a pleading whisper. "I have no idea about anything you're asking me. I only learned about witches and unicorns less than a week ago."
Isabelle sighed. "How disappointing. You are turning out to be tougher than I thought." Isabelle had the vile of Witch’s Brew in her hands.
Ice cold fear took over Melony. "No, please listen to me. If I knew, I would tell you, but I don't. You have to believe me." Melony sobbed as Isabelle got the needle ready to inject her with more of the burning solution.
"You truly sound as if you believe the lies you're telling."
"I'm telling the truth!" Melony yelled.
Isabelle jabbed the needle inside of Melony's arm before she knew what was happening. The searing pain moved throughout her body again.
"This time, we will be taking it a step further. By the end of this, you will be talking."
Melony shook with the words, afraid of what else could happen. How much more pain could Isabelle cause her?
Hands grabbed her, and Melony screamed. The hands touching her skin burned.
"Stop!" she shouted.
No one listened to her as they picked her up. She struggled with the pain, unable to catch her breath and fresh tears streamed down her face. It felt as if her skin was being burned off wherever hands touched her. All too soon, the hands were gone and Melony could catch her breath a little. Her skin still felt too hot and everything ached something fierce. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was no longer on the table but hanging. Her toes barely touched the floor.
Little heels clicked against the floor. Melony knew those heels. Sure enough, Isabelle stood in front of her. A different pink dress on, but the same innocent face. Melony was beginning to associate Isabelle with fear.
"I will give you this last chance to tell me the truth."
Melony licked her lips, and she groaned from the burning feeling of her tongue touching her lips. Melony opened her mouth and closed it multiple times. What was she supposed to say?
"I'm telling the truth." Tears streamed down her face, because yes, she was telling the truth, but she also knew that Isabelle wouldn't believe her.
"You did this to yourself," Isabelle said.
Melony was about to argue with her when Isabelle moved back and one of the men walked over and punched Melony in the stomach. She would have doubled over if it wasn't for whatever was holding her up.
She puked up all the water she had just consumed. The punch hurt but pain radiated all over her body from the contact. More punches came accompanied with pain like no other. Melony wanted it all to stop. She feared passing out. What if she dreamed of her mother and best friend?
There was no rest. All she felt was pain. All she knew was pain.
Never ending agony.
Chapter Eleven
Zola
Zola paced the cage she had been confined to. She was sham as a warrior. How did she let them get captured? Now Melony was alone, probably in some cell. She didn't deserve any of this. They were blaming her for something that she hadn't done. Zola knew for a fact it wasn't Melony, because she had been hunting down the perpetrators. Always just steps behind them.
She scratched her horn against the bars, trying to get someone's attention. She wanted to know where Melony was.
She should have asked the fox where they were holding Melony. Zola couldn't tell anyone about Melony or how powerful she was. The tree elves had said it would be a bad idea to inform the queen of the territory that Melony was innocent. Tree elves and unicorns had the same agenda out on the wild. To protect the forest. Years of history working together had forged a pact to protect the most precious thing.
She wanted to trust the two elves Itsumi had spoken of, but she wondered if they were different than the ones she’d grown up with? These elves served a queen. When Zola had seen the blue-haired elf in the forest behind Melony, she had thought they were being rescued, but, to her displeasure, it was the opposite.
Her gut and past said that the elves could be trusted, but this was Melony's life, not just her own. So could she really trust them? Melony was a witch after all. The number one enemy of elves and unicorns.
Her hooves clanked against the floor as she continued to pace. She hadn't spent so much time in her unicorn form before. Three weeks had passed since Itsumi came to her, but there had been no word from her since, and none of the guards talked about Melony. With each day, worry and fear sat in the pit of her stomach.
They’d stopped asking her to shift back to human form. Guards no longer came into her cage. She had killed six of them, so now they tossed food into the cage for her to eat. She didn't. She was too worried about Melony to eat anything.
"I see you aren't eating."
Zola turned to see who’d walked in. She saw the magic radiating off of her. It was the queen. She wore a black, fitted dress decorated in diamonds. Queen was just a title of power, but she actually wore a crown on top of her blonde head.
"The cage looks filthy; someone clean it."
Zola saw the guards around her argue amongst themselves which one would come into her cage.
"What is taking so long?"
One of the guards jumped from the queen's harsh tone. She didn't look like someone that liked to be kept waiting.
"Your Highness, the unicorn has been known to kill whoever enters her cage." The guard flinched when the queen turned to look at him.
Zola wanted to laugh. They acted like little children. She knew the queen was powerful, but after seeing Melony's power and the potential she had to grow, she could not see the queen as some powerful force. She was just a witch playing at being queen.
"Why won't you shift? I will not for
ce you to bond with me, but keeping you in the cage will soon kill you. I don't wish for a unicorn to die within my home."
She could force a bond, but if a unicorn doesn't accept a bond willingly, it leads to madness and then death. Zola had seen it many times before when her brethren were forced into a bond. Any creature caged for long periods of time would die, but Zola wasn't helping by refusing to eat.
"What will make you eat?" the queen asked.
Zola said nothing, and she kept an eye on the guards as well. Her main focus was on the queen though.
"I know. How about the witch that you were captured with?"
Zola was confused. Why would the queen offer Melony?
"I can't force a bond, but I could always use strong witches on my side." She turned around to face her guards. "Get the witch."
The guards once again looked reluctant.
"What is the problem now?" She sounded exasperated.
"The witch is with Lady Isabelle."
The queen sighed. "I'll go." She turned back to face Zola. "I will retrieve the witch only if you shift back into your human form. There are many things I want to ask Zola, warrior of the Opal herd. Your reputation is known to many." She walked away as if knowing that Zola would obey.
Zola thought about staying in her form just to spite her, but the promise of Melony was too great to pass up. Zola shifted within seconds, changing into her human form. She stumbled, catching herself against the bars of the cage. It felt strange being on two legs once again. She heard the cage door creak open. She stood up straight, loosening her stance just in case any of the guards wanted to fight her for revenge of any of their friends she had killed.
No one attacked. The guard who opened the door stood back, as if knowing that just because Zola was in her human form didn’t mean she wasn’t just as dangerous. Zola took a tentative step, then another. Before long, she was walking out of the cage.
It felt good being outside the bars. The guard walked away and she followed, walking past rows of cages of other creatures. Zola vowed she would free them if she could. She needed to get Melony out first, then she would try and come back for the other creatures. There were many that deserved freedom and not to be cooped up in cages.
"This way," the guard called.
Zola took one last look at the caged creatures before leaving the area and following the guard. She walked as if she wasn't naked, but the draft in the mansion was bothering her. "Where do I get clothes?"
The guard turned to look at her, and Zola had the urge to cover herself. She fought it, determined not to seem weak in front of him.
"I'll have some brought to you."
With that, they walked down a few hallways before getting on an elevator. Zola watched as the doors closed and knew right away that it was a magical elevator. She felt it move to the side and then up. It wasn’t long before the doors were opening, and instead of a barren hallway, she saw this one had walls painted red with a gold flower design and cherry wood floor.
The guard got off, and Zola followed him until they stopped in front of a door. He opened the door and moved out of the way, gesturing for Zola to enter.
"This is your room," the guard said when Zola didn’t move.
Zola looked into the room. It was large with brown earthy tones all over, except the bed—it was a light purple. Zola entered the room slowly, trying to see if there were any traps. She moved with caution to the bed, checking under it, in the closet, and in the en suite bathroom.
She made sure to check for any magic. Of course, if someone wanted to hide the magic, and they were powerful enough to do it, then Zola wouldn't know about it, but the chances of that happening were slim. Just like the chances of her helping a witch, or the chances of her risking everything to help one. She wouldn't change her mind about helping Melony though.
Zola turned to tell the guard never mind about clothes, since the closet was full of them. Luckily, they weren't dresses. Zola thought dresses were nice and all, but she preferred to be dressed for a fight at all times.
The guard was nowhere in sight.
Shrugging, she went to grab some pants and a shirt. The clothes were comfortable, if not a little tight in the shoulders and arms, but nothing that wouldn't stretch after Zola wore it.
"Aw, too bad I missed the show."
Zola looked over to Itsumi in her doorway. "What are you doing?"
"I was hoping to catch another glimpse." Itsumi wiggled her eyebrows in a playful motion.
Zola ignored her. "You couldn't do anything?"
Itsumi looked behind her before closing the door, entering farther into the room. Itsumi smiled at her. "I did."
When Itsumi had first visited her, only her dark eyes had shown, but now her whole face was visible. And she was stunning. High cheekbones, bowtie pink lips, and pitch black hair to match her eyes.
"How?"
As far as Zola could tell, Itsumi hadn't done anything. She hadn't heard anything from her in weeks. Gods knew what Melony was going through during that time.
"Do you think the queen came up with the idea to offer the witch to get you to shift herself? She was sure you would shift soon all on your own."
Zola blinked a few times. "You offered up Melony for me to change. What if they hurt her?"
Itsumi flinched and cast her eyes down.
"What?"
Itsumi avoided looking at Zola, so Zola moved closer. She had a bad feeling.
"Is she okay?" Her voice shook with the question.
Itsumi took a deep breath, and when she lifted her face, Zola nearly shook her, wanting to know what had happened. The sorrow that shown clearly in her dark eyes scared Zola, but the queen had offered to get her, so that meant she had to be alive at least.
"She is alive," Zola said, matter-of-factly.
Itsumi nodded. "She is, but she has been with Isabelle since we arrived."
Zola didn't know anything about Isabelle, but by the way the guards acted when they said her name—and the way Itsumi kept looking everywhere but at Zola’s face—said a lot.
"She's alive, but I'm not sure she wants to be anymore," Itsumi whispered.
"Why?"
Itsumi shook her head. "If she is even the shell of the person you knew before, it will be a surprise. If she even is a person anymore."
Zola shook with anger. "Melony is stronger than anything they threw at her."
Itsumi sighed. "I fucking hope so, because to spend that much time with Isabelle and still be alive is already a miracle. To hold onto your sanity is impossible."
The room went silent as Zola took in everything that Itsumi had said. Her heart beat in her ears, and she feared the worst. She wanted to say Melony could handle it all, but she had already gone through so much. Losing the life she knew, going on the run, seeing her mother's severed head, and running again…
There was only so much someone could take. Then add torture, and according to Itsumi, the worst sort of torture possible was being inflicted.
"I'm sorry," Itsumi said.
Zola looked up, not realizing she had sat down on the floor. "Why? You got her somewhat free now."
Itsumi sat down across from her. "Yes, but I wanted to get her out sooner. I just couldn't find a way. Getting to see the queen was nearly impossible, and then she left."
Zola shook her head. "Not your fault that we were captured; it was my own. I decided to help and protect Melony, and I am the one who failed her."
"Why did you decide to help her? I know it's not my place to ask, but unicorns are notorious for hating witches."
Zola nodded. They were, but Melony had felt so different. She had felt right in every way. "I don't know."
Itsumi said nothing, and Zola knew it was because she too had no idea why she cared and wanted to help Melony so badly. They sat in silence for a while longer.
"When will they bring her up?" Zola asked. She hoped they brought Melony to her room.
Itsumi shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I hope it's soon. She
doesn't need to spend any more time with Isabelle."
"What is Isabelle?" Zola asked.
"A demon. One that feeds off pain and fear. Well, technically she doesn't feed off of it, since she is bound to the queen, but she enjoys inflicting it."
Zola closed her eyes, fear for Melony’s safety taking place over everything else. She would bond with the queen if only to spare Melony. She was willing to give up her freedom for her. That should have troubled her, but it didn't. Melony didn't belong in some dungeon being tortured.
"Can we go get her?"
Itsumi shook her head. "No, we can't. No matter how much I want too."
"Why? You know where it is. We can just go grab her."
Itsumi balled up her fists. Her face was calm, so if Zola hadn't noticed the way her body had gone rigid, she wouldn't know how angry Itsumi actually was. "I tried. The elevator won't go to Isabelle's section; she has cut it completely off."
Zola punched the floor. "They need to bring her now."
Itsumi nodded. Before Zola could say anything else, they both stood, hearing footsteps approaching the door. Moments later, the footsteps stopped outside the door, and there was a knock. Itsumi looked at Zola before her hood went back over her head and only her eyes showed. Zola watched as Itsumi walked to the wall and disappeared. She knew Itsumi was there, but her glamour made it seem as if the room was empty.
Zola moved to the door and pulled it open. Standing there was a different guard. A female, holding her hand up, ready to knock again. She was half human; Zola could smell it on her. "What?"
The guard jumped slightly from Zola’s harsh tone, but she was too angry to care. They were torturing Melony for a crime she hadn't committed. And informing them of anything about Melony would put her in more danger.
"Your presence is requested at dinner with Queen Lydia Danett."
