I wake up to silence. Its disorienting that silence. Usually, Aaron would wake me up, with a clattering of things or the swearing to other things. Everyday, he would be there when I wake up and we would have fruits or bread for breakfast. It was wonderful. That expected familiar morning wasn’t there today. It was quiet and eerie. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I would hope that this was all a nightmare, one which I would wake up from and wail about it the next day.

But it wasn’t.

I was breathing, I was cold and I was alone. This was no dream, it was my new reality. A horrid one at that.

I was on a bed of sorts and the place was made of stone,every inch of it, except for the curtains on two sides of the room. No wonder it was cold. There was no fire to warm the place, the only light came from…windows. I got off the makeshift bed and ran to the curtains. In the bird cage, in the graveyard, there were windows and curtains, but there was nothing but stone on the other side. Now, I pulled away the curtains to reveal, sunlight. I inhaled sharply. It was dazzling, absolutely dazzling.

The rays touched my hand, showing the dust particles, it was warm, the heat from the sun. Aaron was right. It was enough to make the flowers bloom. I couldn’t compare my so-called power to this magnitude. It was so absolutely real and absolutely not born to be a pinnacle of disaster. I put my palm on the glass window, it was warm as well. I just stood there reveling in the joy of the beautiful sun, its warmth and how surreal it felt. I pulled open the curtains further and turned to the room. I wanted to evaluate my current…

My brain stopped, my body stilled and I wished my heart would stop beating, it was too loud.

At the center of the room, sleeping on a patch of unusually green grass was a very large wolf. Bigger than anything I had imagined, its fur dark as night and it shone in the sunlight like something the elf prince would wear after a banquet in the royal castle above. It was beautiful yet haunting. I was cautious of my every move, my every breath and possibly every cell I had going for me in these despairing times. I looked around the room for a door. I wanted to get out, I didn’t want to be here.

“The door” I mumbled my new mantra.

I spotted it, it was blended really well into the wall. I could’ve sworn it was something not meant to be found. I sighed with relief and quickly retracted that, slapping my hand over my mouth. I would’ve woken the wolf up. I didn’t want to be mauled to death.

I looked for a handle of sorts, there was none. Pushing the door was fruitless as it was closed indefinitely. Probably attached to the wall or a large rock was on the other side. 

Wait, I thought, am I sacrifice? I could feel my eyes watering at the thought. Was this it? Was this my destiny? The elves had opted for this solution to their never dying witch/wolf bride problem?

I fell to the floor. I was going to die anyway, there was no running away from my fate now. Was Aaron looking for me now? Was he worried? I was worried. I was so very scared Aaron. I cried endlessly.

I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I saw was the moon. It was like closing and opening the door to two different rooms. The sun was warm and dazzling. The moon was calm and mesmerizing. I got up from the floor, my shoulder hurt from my nap on the floor. I stretched, looked up and noticed the tray of food on the bed. I scrambled to my feet, looking around me. Someone must’ve come to the room, else how did the food come in? The black wolf was still asleep. It hadn’t moved from its position at all, curled like bread.

Were they fattening the lamb before leading it to slaughter? I was on a cycle of negative disillusionment but probable reality. All I could do was play the part of the faithful lamb. If the food was poisoned, then it was a better way to die than having my intestines as entrails, slathered on the floor. It would be too hard to clean witch blood, right?