The Vampire & Her Witch

Chapter 1755: Stolen Dreams

What did she want after she’d paid her debts?

It was a question that should have been easy to answer. If you asked the captain of any ship in Blackwell what they intended to do once they paid back the loans they took to buy their vessels, they’d have an answer ready on their tongues. Ask any new Guild Master what they intended to do now that they’d obtained the highest office in their guild and they could write out a list.

But for Jocelynn, the dreams ended the day the books balanced. What happened after that, she truly didn’t know. But it hadn’t always been that way.

"I don’t know what I want anymore," Jocelynn said, biting her lower lip as she debated whether or not to say more. It felt like the dreams she’d tended so carefully had all cracked and broken. They also felt a bit like the dolls she’d left sitting on a shelf in her chambers in Blackwell Manor because they no longer belonged to the life she had now.

But silence meant staying right here, trapped in this moment of dim, flickering light. If she said something, at least it was a step forward. Whether it was a step further into the dark or a step towards the light, she couldn’t stay, but she couldn’t stay where she was.

"I used to know what I wanted," Jocelynn said slowly. "I wanted the perfect marriage to a brave hero. I wanted children to raise, and I wanted to do so many things to help my husband rule. I wanted to be a great lady, like my mother and my sister. I wanted the fairy story life from the books that Ash used to read to me," she said, shaking her head at how childish it sounded.

"That doesn’t sound like a dream that truly belonged to you," Nyrielle said, softening her tone slightly. "That sounds like a dream that was handed to you by the world you grew up in. You aren’t in that world anymore. Now that you’re in a new world, what do you want from it?"

"I don’t know," Jocelynn said, rubbing the tears from her eyes with the back of her sleeve as she tried, once again, to figure out what Nyrielle wanted from her. "I want to become the Olive Witch so I can help Ash and..."

-SLAP-

The sound of the slap was much louder than it should have been for such a light smack against her cheek. Nyrielle had only struck Jocelynn with a flick of her hand, enough to turn Jocelynn’s cheek slightly red but not enough to rock her head. Still, the blow stung, and it shocked Jocelynn into silence as the ancient vampire glowered at her.

"That’s Ashlynn’s choice for you, not your own," Nyrielle said. "Accept it or reject it because you desire it, or you don’t, not because you think it will somehow make things right between the two of you."

"Becoming a witch, or a vampire, is a terrible thing if you weren’t born to it," Nyrielle said. "To become a vampire is to endure death itself, to hide yourself away from the Abyss every day, hiding from the light that might reveal your presence... A vampire only lives half a life, and they only live by drinking the lifeblood of others."

"To be a witch is to become a creature ruled by your own desires," Nyrielle continued sternly. "The world you were born into fears witches for good reason, but if the thing you desire the most is your own death, then your powers will deliver it to you in a spectacular fashion. Even Ollie nearly succumbed to his own powers because his desire to help someone was greater than his desire to survive, and Ollie’s heart is much stronger than your own."

"The power of a witch is undeniable," Nyrielle said. "But what do you want badly enough to need it? Don’t tell me that you just want to help your sister; that isn’t enough. You can’t survive on stolen dreams," she said, placing a finger on Jocelynn’s chest, directly over her heart. "What is it that you want so badly that you could endure the torment of receiving a poisoned seed in order to obtain it?"

"I want you to leave me alone," Jocelynn snapped, knocking Nyrielle’s hand aside and shoving the vampire away. If she was thinking clearly, she might have realized that it would have been impossible to move a vampire who didn’t want to be moved. Nyrielle only fell back because she allowed herself to be shoved, but Jocelynn had been poked and prodded far too many times to notice.

The walls of the gallery closed in around her and goosebumps formed on Jocelynn’s skin, summoned by the memory of a cold winter wind through the bars of a dark dungeon cell.

Again.

It had happened to her again. Even though the door was right there, she was trapped in a dark, underground room, only this time, the person looming over her was so powerful that they didn’t need to chain her to the walls to keep her here.

Again, the questions weren’t shouted; there were no iron brands or torture screws, but she couldn’t do anything but stand here, desperately searching for answers to questions that would make this moment end.

"I don’t want to do this any more," Jocelynn said defiantly. "I want to leave. You said you’d take me back to my sister, so... In the morning, let me go back. Just leave me alone and let me out of this place," she said, looking at the doorway the way a cornered animal looks at their last, desperate hope of escape.

"You’re so very close," Nyrielle said, shaking her head at the young woman. "And still, the answer eludes you. But this time, at least, it isn’t your fault," she said gently, stepping forward to extend a hand. Jocelynn flinched back from her touch, but Nyrielle stepped forward anyway, wrapping the young woman in a tender embrace and gently stroking her hair.

"Don’t struggle," Nyrielle whispered. "I won’t hurt you," she promised. "I understand what you need, even if you can’t speak the words, and I can see what you desire... You’re different from Ashlynn and most of my progeny," she said softly as the young woman in her arms began to shake.

"The thing that you need, the thing you don’t dare to demand, is the power to be free," Nyrielle offered. "That’s worth fighting for, Jocelynn," Nyrielle said, pulling back and looking into the young woman’s eyes. "To be strong enough that no one can ever trap you again, force you again, or take away your dreams..."

"I’ll take you back to Ashlynn," Nyrielle said, angling her body and loosening her grip on the young woman so she was free to run for the door if she wished. "But there’s something in you that still yearns to live, and live free. You showed me that when you shoved me away," Nyrielle said. "I can help you unearth that desire, if you’ll let me. That way, you might even survive to become your sister’s Olive Witch..."