I stood alone in the dimly lit attic. The ghost of Lucy had vanished, and the room began to dissolve.
Hehehehe.
The sound of a child's laughter echoed around me as my surroundings began to blend and morph.
It was a bit disorienting, but everything became clear again, and I suddenly found myself in a forest clearing.
The trees were twisted yet lush with dark leaves, and the ground was covered in roots and vines.
I looked around cautiously, feeling confused about where I was.
"Is this a memory too? This place seems a bit unreal..."
I looked closer at the vegetation around me. Clusters of dark blue, almost purple flowers grew wildly everywhere I looked, accompanied by dark purple berries.
'Deadly nightshade?' I thought to myself. 'No... they're also called Atropa belladonna...'
"Belladonna..." I whispered before looking down and noticing a vine creeping up my ankle, attempting to wrap itself around my leg.
I quickly jumped, causing the vine to miss.
"What the-" I exclaimed in surprise.
Then I heard the giggling of children. More than one. Plural.
I reached down for my pistol, only to find nothing there. No pistol, not even my holster.
I then tried pulling up the system menu, only to discover that I couldn't do that either.
"Fuck!"
I turned and ran as more vines slithered toward me.
I didn't get far before realizing I was surrounded. The trees all around me swayed and moved unnaturally, while the vines were converging into a net-like wall stretching from tree to tree.
"You're not very good at hide-and-seek!" came a childish voice from behind me.
I turned and looked toward the source.
The little girl, Lucy, was standing there next to another child.
The other little girl had long black hair and bright purple eyes. She wore a dress made of leaves, and nightshade flowers adorned her hair as if she were some sort of nymph.
"Indeed, but the mortal is at least interesting. It's rare to see someone enter here with such a calm heart."
'Calm? Me? I guess. But not so much now...'
"Lucy and... Belladonna, I presume?" I asked, keeping my guard up as I faced the two little monsters disguised as young girls.
"That's me!" Lucy said excitedly.
The girl next to her maintained a neutral expression but nodded and stated, "Yes, mortal. I am Belladonna."
'Mortal... she speaks like a Daedra... Fuck, was my guess correct after all?'
My thoughts churned, but I kept my outward appearance as calm as possible.
"And... what exactly are you?" I asked nervously. "Are you a Daedra?"
Belladonna's eyes narrowed at my question.
"That's not a word a mortal from this plane should know. I've heard that some of our kind are referred to as such in that little creation, Nirn, ruled by that dumb dragon. How does a mortal like you even know of it?"
My eyes widened after hearing her question.
'That answers my question well enough. I need to dip out now! I am not equipped to take on something like this...'
Before I could do anything, Belladonna's cold voice reached my ears.
"Want to run? We still want to play, and I have some questions for you, mortal."
Vines erupted from every angle and snared me before I could even react.
"Hng! Let me go!" I struggled against my bindings, but I was now completely captured.
"This is The Shade, my domain, mortal. You are powerless here."
The dark-haired girl stepped toward me while Lucy simply watched in amusement.
"Can we play doctor with him, Belladonna?" the psycho little girl asked.
"Hm. We can. But first, I need to sate my curiosity."
I blinked as the girl approached, wary of what she was trying to do.
The vines moved with minds of their own, lowering me until I was face-to-face with the girl.
Her purple-ringed eyes observed me, and I returned her gaze.
"You are not originally from this plane, mortal. Strange... yet fascinating."
Belladonna's childlike face moved closer, and her pale hands reached up to grab my cheeks.
"Oi! What are you trying to do?!"
Her face kept getting closer. Her lips were a light shade of purple, and they were getting dangerously close to mine.
"Relax, mortal. One kiss, and I'll know everything. Of course, your soul will also be bound here as well. Don't worry, I take care of my pets."
My brain short-circuited.
'No! I don't want that! And being kissed by a child... I'd never live down the allegations!'
So I thrashed wildly against my bindings, causing Belladonna to grow annoyed.
"Stop moving, mortal!"
The vines wrapped tighter around me, but I only started squirming harder.
"No! I don't kiss children!" I yelled as I thrashed even harder, though I could feel my strength draining with every passing second.
"Struggle all you like, mortal. You are mine now-"
*Crack!*
Belladonna froze as something unexpected began happening.
"Um... Belladonna. That kid he came with is doing something..." Lucy stated, clearly beginning to panic.
"What?!" the Daedric little girl exclaimed as a giant blue gash appeared in the world around us.
"...go! ...him go now!"
A faint voice could be heard screaming from the other side of the gash, growing louder and clearer.
"Princess?" I asked in astonishment.
That was Elizabeth's voice!
"Let my dad go!"
The voice came through clearly, and the world shattered like glass.
My eyes fluttered open, and I took stock of my surroundings again.
I was no longer in that forest, nor was I bound. I was back in the real world... but I wasn't completely out of the frying pan just yet.
We were still in the attic, and Lady and Elizabeth were still standing there. However, numerous spatial rifts were opening and devouring the mansion.
I blinked and then picked myself up.
"Elizabeth!" I yelled, but she couldn't hear me.
"Master! You finally woke up!"
Lady launched herself at me and buried her head in my chest.
"We were so worried! You suddenly froze, and then weird stuff started happening."
"I'm fine." I patted her head. "But we need to stop Elizabeth again before she brings the whole place down."
I gently moved Lady aside and approached Elizabeth. Her eyes were closed, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"Let him go! Let him go!" she kept screaming.
The situation around us was becoming more dire by the second as spatial rifts popped into existence, causing the building to suffer damage in random areas.
I quickly knelt down and grabbed Elizabeth's head, forcing her to look at me.
"Elizabeth, I'm here. I'm safe. Snap out of it!"
Her little eyelashes fluttered, and she stopped screaming.
"Dad? Dad!"
After realizing it was me and that I was safe, she threw herself into my arms and started sobbing.
"I was so scared! The mean ghost had you! I was gonna lose you too! Waaaaa!"
I stroked her back to calm her.
"I'm okay, and I'm never gonna leave you. So don't worry, Princess."
She seemed to calm down a bit, but the portals were still growing.
I gently turned her head to face me again.
"Princess... you need to control your power. You need to turn it off."
Elizabeth looked around, and her face returned to an expression of fear.
"I-I can't... I don't know how."
She began to cry again, but I wiped the tears from her face and reassured her.
"You can do it. It's your power. You just need to control it. Take a deep breath and think about closing them."
She nodded, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled.
"I think... it's working..."
Indeed, the portals were closing, slowly but surely.
"Great! Keep it up. You got this, Princess!" I praised her, offering some positive reinforcement.
"Hm, okay, Dad."
She smiled and kept focusing on closing them.
"Sir... there's a problem. You might want to have her hurry up," Lady suddenly spoke up with urgency.
"What is it, Lady?" I asked, looking toward her.
She pointed toward one of the portals, the biggest one at the center of the room.
My pupils contracted into pinpoints.
"Fuck... that's bad."
I turned back to Elizabeth.
"Um, Princess... do you think you can close it faster?"
I asked as a creature on the other side of the portal curiously approached it.
The creature was tall and had a thick hide covering its body. Horns extended from its skull, and long claws adorned its appendages.
It was a Deathclaw, walking toward the portal as it remained open wide enough for the creature to pass through.
I no longer had any room to think about ghosts and possible Daedra. There was a giant mutated lizard that could turn us all into ghosts if that portal didn't close.
"Princess... please close the portals faster! Or at least that one!"