Page 34 of Hell Fae Captive

Ugh, I need more sleep, I realized, yawning.I’ll just take a quick nap and refocus in a few hours.

I needed my strength for whatever was coming.

Hell Fae Rule #5: Be Prepared for Anything.

Couldn’t do that on little to no sleep.

Closing my eyes, I curled up with the magical book against my chest.Just a few minutes… that’s all I need.

* * *

Darkness.

Ice.

Desolation.

It stole over me, paralyzing me beneath a blanket of nothingness. I couldn’t move. I could barely feel. But I could open my eyes.

Except I saw nothing.

Only a vapid sense of nonexistence.

What’s happening?I thought, groggy from my lack of sleep. Or maybe this was a dream. Some sort of intense whirl of icy vapidness.

The cupcake, I realized belatedly.Is it giving me strange dreams?

Did this even qualify as a dream? Maybe it was more like a nightmare.

Of course.

Thiswould be my punishment.

Shit.

Cursing my stupidity, I attempted to focus on my limbs.

Yet I couldn’t see them.

Not in this sea of—

A sparkle of light blistered from above, drawing my focus upward, only for my eyes to slam shut in response.What the fuck is that?I thought, the light growing behind my eyelids.

I tried to peek below it, at the perpetual nothingness, but the glittering beam was moving at an insane rate, overcoming the darkness and blinding it all with brightness.

My broken world soon became consumed by the intense light.

Reaching up, I desperately tried to touch it, some foreign part of me recognizing it as an outlet that I craved. An outlet that Ineeded.

No…I whispered when it started to move away, releasing the darkness once more and leaving me alone again.

A stark sense of inadequacy touched my soul, telling me I wasn’t worthy of that light, telling me I had to fight harder to reach it. Toearnit.

What does that even mean?I marveled.What is this place?

A buzzing flickered in my head, causing me to want to grab it.Ow.

It grew louder, echoing all around me, jolting me into another reality.