The Crimson King

Chapter 1 | Hidden

Oh hello,

Here I am, crazy enough to start writing another story again *sighs*.
Welcome to the Rabbit Hole - please, step this way.

I will be uploading on Sundays!

To answer your question, yes this is in the same universe as my APK Trilogy, and yes it does eventually link up with the epilogue in the third book. But no I will not be telling you how, or when ;)
You do not need to read APK to read this novel. It can be read as a standalone.

I hope you enjoy it!
If you do, please consider voting :3

Love Always,
Daisy x

___________________________

Chapter One | Hidden

*

'You cannot create
a monster and then
condemn it. Hate
its ugly features,
its terrible gait.

When I look into
the mirror I do
not see myself
but all of y o u
who made me.

- David Jones

*

IRIS

Mama, I'm scared.

Iris sat up in bed, her heart beating frantically, her eyes wide. Her window was slightly ajar and the curtains fluttered in the light breeze that crept under the windowsill. The moon shone through the glass, illuminating her familiar room and gradually her breathing slowed as she realised where she was.

"It was just a dream," She murmured, raking her fingers through her long white hair. She touched a hand to her lips and breathed out slowly. "Just a dream," She repeated. She licked her lips and tasted rust.

No.

Her heartbeat quickened in horror as she looked down at her hands to see them drenched in blood. It seemed to come from no-where, spilling over the side of her palms – even as she cupped them to try to contain it – and saturating the blankets around her.

No.

Her white hair dripped over her shoulders, the ends of it thick with the menacing red hue, and slowly it began to consume her, the redness creeping upwards towards the base of her skull, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling in response to the sinister touch.

Please.

Her head whipped to the side and in the mirror that hung on the opposite wall she saw a girl that was made of blood.

Please!

Her eyes flew open.

For a moment Iris was paralysed by her own mind, her mouth open wide in a soundless plea that echoed her dream, her nerves alight with fear, her breath trapped by the fear that clogged her throat.

That was the worst thing about these dreams, the moment afterwards, when she was unable to move, unable to make a sound. Tears sprung into the corners of her eyes. Why was it that she struggled so silently? She would give anything to scream out, to alert someone, anyone to her suffering. Instead she had to lie here and wait for it to pass.

Her fingers twitched and she felt her heart slow, for real this time. Slowly she sat up, her body sore from the intensity of the night terror. She balled her hands into fists and covered her eyes, gritting her teeth as she willed herself to look over into the mirror, to make sure that she was really awake.