Darkthorn’s Blog

Julia dreamt and Blackmain and Ishton watched. She/they ran, her/their legs barely carrying her/them into forest. She/they tripped and fell, breathing heavily. Escape. She/they couldn’t escape. She/they crawled towards the base of a tree, noticing that her/their skin was weeping blood from the scratches on her/their arms. As she/they watched, more cuts opened on her/their legs. She/they was going to bleed to death. She/they couldn’t even remember what she was running from. Maybe it would be better to give in, give up, accept whatever was chasing her/them, claim death as her/their own. The last thing she/they had power over.

Included within Julia’s thoughts, Blackmain shuddered. Her/their own body was betraying her/them, her/their mind was trapped. How could she/they be freed? He watched in horror as a dream version of Cimon stepped into the clearing and began to taunt her/them, even as Julia’s/their flesh caught on fire. The rape that followed was callous, but well-thought out. Blackmain almost cried out in horror, but as Julia wasn’t, he couldn’t either. The dream Julia lay still and Blackmain felt her/their heart stop for a moment. Then she/they began running again.

Blackmain tried to pull away, but found that he could only whimper within their shared mind.

~ Who is there? ~ The voice had a distinct Julia twinge to it, full of the pain they were trying to rescue her from.

~ It is us. ~

~ Go away. I like it here. I can control what happens. ~

~ You are trapped. You just don’t remember what has happened, that you are repeating yourself. You can’t control anything. ~

~ I can so. ~

Julia wrenched her mind away from theirs. How dare they invade? This was her private place. She would show them. She wasn’t giving up. The pain in the cuts reminded her finally of what it really felt like to be alive. They were right. No, they weren’t. If this was a dream, she wouldn’t have any control. Her mind was so occupied that it didn’t notice when Cimon began raping her again. She clung to her thoughts, not letting go, even as her heart stopped and her body stopped being responsive.

She tried desperately to hold the cuts closed with her hands, but more kept on coming as fast as she could tie them off. Ishton distanced himself from her mind and helped her. Now that she was trying for herself, he could help. She glared at him, but accepted the assistance. Her head bent down dealing with the ones on her legs, she didn’t notice Cimon approaching. When he grabbed her hair, Julia, already weakened by the blood loss collapsed. Cimon raped her again and again, this time she could feel it. She and Blackmain, who was still trapped with her mind, screamed.

Suddenly Blackmain was free. His spectral body formed, and he pulled Cimon away from her, just as he had done in real life. He knelt over Julia, helping Ishton to bind her wounds. The dream stopped. Everything stopped. Julia took a deep breath, and rolled away.

~ Leave me alone. I wanted to die here. It’s my choice. ~

~ You wouldn’t, couldn’t have died. We wouldn’t let you. We need you to be whole and healthy. Please don’t hide from us. We found you to save you. ~

~ I wanted to die. ~

Julia hid her face, and cried. The tears fell down, and sizzled as they hit her still burning flesh. It healed over, and it was as if a flood tide had been released. Cuts and bruises healed over, leaving her whole again.

~ Come with us, Julia. Be with us. We will not harm you. We have never wanted to harm you. ~

~ Tell me the truth. ~

~ We will. Just not here. ~

And indeed, the dream forest was fading away, leaving a clinging mist. Blackmain and Ishton hauled Julia to her feet, she was still weak and relatively helpless. They lifted her out, to return to the real world, where everyone was awaiting the results.