A Cinderella Story | Dream x oc

Chapter 11

Turns out, our destination was a large hole in the ground. It looked like the one that led to my secret cave, and the inside was similar. There was a grand oak tree in the center, and there was a large nest in the upper branches. The bird dropped me roughly, and I landed in the water with a splash. The water here was the same as in my cave, but I already knew there wouldn't be any secret caves or ledges this time. I swam to the rocky beach, and sat there, shivering. When night fell, I stumbled upon a pile of some soft material. I reached my hand out, and realized they were feathers. I picked one up, noting the large size, and decided to make them into a nest to sleep in. I wove them together, and by the time I was done, the sun had risen again. It was still fairly dark in the huge cave, so I climbed into my makeshift nest and fell asleep. I stayed in the cave for what seemed like months, and I grew weaker with each day. One night, I fell asleep in my nest, and woke in the talons of the eagle once again. This time, I noticed a spiked chain on it's foot. I reached out, touching it, and realized what it was. It was an enchanted iron chain, and I guessed it was to keep a shifter from shifting out of their current form. I felt a wash of pity for the bird, and I wondered who would be so cruel to do such a thing. My thoughts occupied me in our flight, since it was too dark to see anything.

The bird flew on until morning, not stopping once. I was kept occupied twisting my new engagement ring around my finger, worrying about Clay and the others. I didn't want them to get hurt, but I also realized that whoever pushed me over the edge must've known what was about to happen. I wondered what that meant. Was my fall just a distraction, or was it a way to get me safely out before the attack? I half hoped it was the former, I didn't know what to think if it was the latter.

We finally reached what I assumed was our destination, as the bird dropped me roughly to the ground and landed beside me. I was on a stone floor, outside of a small building. A man was standing there, waiting for me. He stalked over to me, staring down as I struggled to stand. I fell repeatedly, my legs had gone too long without use. When I finally stood, I was staring into the man's eyes.

"Hello, princess," He purred. His eyes were a deep coppery brown, almost black, and my voices were screaming at me to run.

"Who are you? What am I doing here?" I growled.

The man only smiled, "Why you're leverage, of course. Your new brothers have been quite the pain in my side, and I'm running against them in an election. I have a plan to win, but I need your fiance on my side. Don't worry they're all alive, but they've run to their own kingdoms, and L'manburg is full of unrest. They're holding an election soon, and Wilbur thinks he can outsmart me." He grabbed my chin, bringing his face dangerously close to mine, "But he can't outfight the legendary Dream, can he, sweetheart. We're gonna break his little heart until there's nothing left for you to love. Then we'll use that to break him even more. You're my little bargaining chip." The man said. He finally released me, grabbing my hand instead, and I got a good look at him. He had large ram's horns on either side of his head, and he wore a black suit with a blood red tie. I instantly knew I needed to get away from him.

"Let. Me. Go." I said, tugging on my wrist. He was holding me hard enough to bruise, and I could already feel one forming. Instead, he just grabbed my other hand and held it just as tightly.

"Sweetheart, you belong to me now. You're never getting away. Little Quackity joined me when I threatened his shifter boyfriend, and he'll be running against them too. I have everything I need to win. But I'm not going to spill all of my secrets, so just be a good little pet, and you won't get hurt too bad." He said in a honeyed voice. He dragged me inside the house, where I spotted two cages. One was empty, and the other held a man in a familiar purple hoodie.

"Karl!" I shouted. He started at the sound of his name, and his eyes widened as he saw me. He stood, angrily gripping the bars.

"What have you done, Schlatt?" He growled. I noticed his shrunken form, and the way his hoodie hung loosely over his body. His skin had a sickly pallor, and I imagined I looked the same.

"Relax, she's just another toy to keep me company. Remember when I let you hear the plan? She's how I'm gonna get Dreamie boy on my side. I'm gonna break him so thoroughly, there'll be nothing left." He said gleefully. I guess his name was Schlatt. He roughly shoved me into the second cell, locking it behind me. I ran to the wall of bars separating Karl and I. I reached for his hand and he took it. He caught sight of the engagement ring on my finger and inhaled quickly.

"Who gave you that?" He asked.

I choked up a little bit, sliding to the floor as I tried to hold back a new wave of tears. "Cl-" I stopped myself before calling him by his name, "Dream. He proposed to me at the ball." I quickly recounted the story.

"That's even better!" Schlatt said, "He'll be even more eager to get you back. Oh, and I'm gonna need your ring." He reached through the bars, grabbing my hand and taking off the engagement ring. He removed my mother's ring too, and strutted out of the house with them both.

"Karl, what is going on," I whispered to him when Schlatt left. He quickly told me everything he knew about Schlatt's plan. He was going to force Quackity to run in the election, and then combine their votes, letting him win. He would then banish Tommy and Wilbur from their own country. He was going to take total control of L'manburg, and he would get Clay on his side by threatening to hurt me if he didn't help him. Even more worrying, it appeared Schlatt was on his way to get Clay now. He told me that I'd been missing for a month now, and in that time, Clay had become even more desperate to find me than he was when I was with my stepmother. He would do anything to get me back, even fight against L'manburg. I was horrified, not just at the cruelty of this man, but at the fact that his plan was a good one. It was mostly foolproof, but I wondered why he wasn't banishing Tubbo along with Tommy and Wilbur. Karl's answer shook me to my core.

"Artemis, Schlatt is Tubbo's father."

I couldn't speak, surprise overwhelming me. We stayed silent for the rest of the night, listening to the faint sounds coming from outside as we drifted off to sleep.

We sat in captivity for weeks, enduring the awful things Schlatt put us through. He would starve us for days, then give us a buffet, only for the food to be enchanted so that we couldn't eat any. One morning, we woke up and Schlatt was nowhere to be seen. The peace didn't last long. He crashed through the door, yelling about techno and fireworks and tubbo and spies. He grabbed me through the bars, holding a glass bottle. He smashed it against the bars, and many of the shards pierced my skin. He touched my face with his hand, then swiped it across the torn skin. He raised his bloody hand to his mouth and tasted the blood. He grinned, and some of the blood stained his teeth. He held my face close, "You'd better hope that doesn't scar, sweetheart."

The worst however, was what he did only one week after he brought me to the cell. He came back drunk, as usual, but he seemed angrier than usual. He was rambling on and on about Quackity and white houses, and he dragged Karl out of his cell. He took him into another room, where he usually kept all sorts of whips, chains, and other tools. I heard Karl's screams a moment later, and stiffened. Neither of us had ever screamed from his tourture, he'd vowed to keep us from being permanently injured as long as Quackity and Dream continued to support him. I realized that Quackity must've left him, resulting in Karl being punished. After what seemed like an eternity, the screams finally stopped. Karl was shoved out of the room a moment later, his hands bound behind his back. His sweatshirt and shirt were gone, allowing me to see just how underweight he'd gotten. I could see every one of his ribs, and his skin was stretched tightly over his bones. Schlatt shoved him back into the cell, and I smelled burnt flesh as Karl stumbled, falling. Schlatt stormed out of the room, but I was rendered speechless at what he'd done. I stared silently at Karl's back, anger boiling inside me. I glared at what Schlatt had done.

At the brand he'd burned into Karl's back.