RAG DOLL AWAKENS I

Her breath came in shallow gasps as her heart pounded. What happened to me? Where am I? Who did this to me?

With an effort, she closed her eyes, focusing harder. The darkness behind her eyelids was thick, pressing against her. Yet, amidst the turmoil, a strange calm settled in. She could feel the coldness of the distant floor beneath her—icy, yet it seemed so far away, as though she was floating above it, tethered to the cold metal that kept her prisoner.

She tried again, reaching for anything familiar. But there was nothing. No sound. No movement. Just silence, except for the sickening rhythm of her own breath and her hammering heartbeat.

Then a door groaned open, letting in a sharp shaft of light that pierced through the dark, flooding the room. Leriya squinted, trying to make out her surroundings. At first, it was impossible—the light was too bright, and her eyes were too weak to adjust. But gradually, as the light spread across the space, shapes began to form. The room was cold with stark unyielding shadows. Bars. Iron bars.

Her arms were stretched wide, fastened to something—chains? Metal hooks?—and her legs were splayed open, suspended by chains aswell. She could feel the cold against her skin, the rawness of it, but the reality of her situation didn't fully sink in. It was like she was caught in some horrible dream. She wanted to scream, but all that came was a strangled gasp.

And then she heard it. A soft sigh, heavy with meaning, that cut through the tension like a whisper in the dark.

"Oh dear, look at the state you're in."

Leriya's heart skipped a beat. The voice was unmistakable, yet unfamiliar in its new tone. It sent a ripple of unease through her. She couldn't place it—yet she knew, deep down it was somebody dear to her.

A figure stepped forward, drawing closer. Her heart pounded in her chest as she strained to focus, to make out the details. The door was the only source of light now, casting long shadows on the floor, and through that darkness, a shape moved.

Lyse.

Leriya's breath caught in her throat, but no words came. Lyse—her sister, her lover, her friend, her confidante, the one she had trusted more than anyone else. What was she doing here? What was happening?

"Help," Leriya thought. The word echoed in her mind, but her lips remained sealed. She couldn't say it aloud. She couldn't even move. The terror grew, suffocating her.

Lyse stepped into the light fully now, her face illuminated, her eyes gleaming with something that Leriya couldn't quite understand. A smirk tugged at Lyse's lips, a cruel twist of emotion that made Leriya's stomach turn.

"I bet you have so many questions," Lyse purred, her voice laced with sympathy.

Leriya's eyes widened. She could feel the shift in the air. "Why was Lyse here?"

"She must be here to save me". A small smile of relief appeared on Leriya's face. "Lyse hurry!" Her eyeballs widen and her emerald balls dance with worry for Lyse and herself. "Hurry!" She tried to urge with her eyes.

However Lyse, all but started humming her favourite song in the world, happily, calmly. She stood in front of Leriya, long legs casted by the shadow. Leriya instinctively knew. There was no sense of urgency at all in her Lyse's actions. "But, why was she doing this?"

Lyse circled the bars that trapped Leriya, her footsteps slow and deliberate. Every movement felt like a silent threat. "Look at you, aren't we similar now?" she whispered, her voice loving. "Samol will be so worried. He'll come for us, won't he?"

"Us?" The mention of Samol was like a jolt of electricity. Her mind snapped back into focus. Samol. Leriya's heart twisted. Samol would come for her. He had to. But why was Lyse talking like this? Why was she tormenting her? "Does Lyse want Samola?"

Lyse's smirk grew. She leaned closer, her breath warm against Leriya's ear. "Don't worry, I know you leave very big shoes to be filled. On the council, by your mother's side, your father's side, and Samol's" Her voice danced anxiously and happily.

Leriya felt a wave of nausea. Her stomach churned violently, her body threatening to betray her once again.

"For three generations now, we have had the same recurring problem-- The unrest in the North" Lyse starts to whisper. Facing Leriya.

"surely you don--" Leriya tries to respond, but the words came out heavy, thick and bitter and splashed over Lyse's face. The remnants of the words come out as a choking retch. She had to say something. 

"Ugh!" Lyse screeches, her face contorting in disgust before she disappears into the darkness. Another wave of nausea hits Leriya. Lyse was not planning to do what she was thinking was she?

"What's happening? Why is Lyse doing this" But the thudding sound of heels on the rough floor drowns out her questions. Lyse is back, standing before her once again. "Why, Lyse? You were the best thing that happened to me. My parents loved you. I loved you. Why…? is this for Samol?" her thoughts run in a cycle.

Before Leriya could process it, Lyse stepped closer, her hands reaching for her, unfastening the chains that held Leriya's limbs in place. One by one, Leriya's legs were released, and then her arms. She collapsed to the floor with a thud, a strangled cry escaping her lips.

Lyse crouched beside her, her breath steady. "I'm sorry, Leriya," she whispered, almost tenderly, as she prepared the syringe. "But I have to be you."

And with that, she plunged the needle into Leriya's neck.

Darkness claimed her once again.