The words were too soft, too detached, like she wasn’t worth the effort of an emotion. The faintest rustle betrayed him. She caught the glint of glass, the bitter tang in the air—the vial of clear liquid in his hand.
Her body jerked, legs kicking, bound arms thrashing against his hold, but it was too late.
“No—”
The protest barely escaped her lips before the fume-soaked cloth pressed hard against her mouth. The acrid burn filled her lungs, clawing at her senses.
She twisted. Too late. The world fractured, folding in on itself as darkness claimed her.
Memories flickered in the void—dreams tangled with shards of childhood, vivid but fragmented.
She and Castiel were children again, during that time when his laugh was lighter—free of the bitterness clinging to him now. The two of them lay beneath an old tree’s bough, sharing stories about the futures they dreamed of, their hands brushing once—awkward, shy—and Castiel looking away quickly, cheeks flushed beneath the sunlight.
The dream twisted, and they stood at the edge of a stream, the water glimmering under the warm sun. Castiel stood on the opposite bank, his hand outstretched as she hesitated on a slick rock.
‘Come on, it’s not far,’he’d called, his grin easy, full of boyish confidence.
Reiya wavered, her bare toes gripping the edge of the stone.
‘You decide how this ends,’he said, his voice full of the simple trust only childhood friends knew.‘Jump or swim. It’s all up to you now, dove.’
Back then, those words had filled her with courage. She’d taken his hand without hesitation, leaping across the stream. They’d fallen intothe grass on the other side, laughing until their bellies ached, but triumphant.
The scene fractured like glass under a hammer. The tree faded, the stream dissolved, and the Castiel from her memory melted into the man sitting in the cabin—the boy’s warmth replaced by cold detachment. All those memories twisted into something sharp, leaving her grasping for answers, for anything familiar.
Then, the darkness closed in again.
When she finally stirred—minutes, hours, days later, she couldn’t tell—the world lurched with every inhale. Nausea churned in her stomach, head pounding with the ache of waking too soon, or too late.
Groaning, she curled onto her side, the simple movement enough to make her heave. Teeth clenched, she fought against the rising bile and forced her eyes open. The lantern light stabbed at her retinas, far too bright after the fevered dream.
She squinted, disoriented, the dream still clinging to her mind—half-remembered, half-felt, but impossible to shake.
Her wrists throbbed with every subtle shift, but the ache grounded her, clearing her foggy mind—just a touch.
A slow scan of the room confirmed she was alone—until something shimmered faintly at the edge of the lantern’s glow. Reiya blinked, half-convinced it was a mirage.
But, no. The cabin door stood slightly ajar, cool night air seeping through the gap and brushing her skin—a whisper of freedom.
She stared, pulse stuttering. The dryness in her throat scratched with every swallow.
Castiel must’ve forgotten to close it.
Hope flickered—small, fragile, but enough to pull her upright.
She slid off the mattress, limbs sluggish but driven by instinct. Every step felt like moving through tar, her balance swaying with the ship’s roll. The sedative still gripped her mind in a thick fog, but she pushed forward, reaching the door and leaning heavily against the frame to catch her breath.
Beyond lay an empty corridor, dimly lit by a nearby oil lamp. Faint voices drifted from somewhere further down the hallway. Distant, but getting closer.
She must move—now.
Reiya stumbled forward, dragging her feet through the narrow corridor. The dagger nestled in her skirt felt miles away, her bound hands useless.
Then, footsteps thundered behind her, getting closer.
“Stop her!”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Every time her lungs expanded, it burned. Her muscles strained under the weight of her own body, but she forced herself up the stairs. The deck opened beneath the night sky, the briny sea air cutting through her haze. Beyond the gunwale, the ocean stretched, dark canvas of scattered stars sprawled above it. Cold mist sprayed her face, wind lashing at her cheeks, shocking her senses.