A Cinderella Story | Dream x oc

Chapter 12

Karl cried silently for a while, before finally pushing himself up, shaking in pain. My glare made him flinch, and he hissed in pain as the cool iron bars touched the intricate shape branded into his skin. He relaxed a bit after a moment, the cold iron cooling the hot skin. I already knew it would scar, and I knew that Sapnap and Quackity would be angered to no end when they found out. I stared at the manacle around his wrist, the only thing keeping him from shifting and getting out of here. I desperately wished for anything other than wings, which Schlatt had blocked me from opening with a manacle similar to Karl's, except it was enchanted to stop me from having control over them. I was powerless, and I hated it. Karl was still crying in pain. We'd learned to cry silent tears, otherwise Schlatt would make everything worse. He was shaking so much I rested my hand on his shoulder. I whispered comforts to him throughout the night, never leaving his side.

We woke up the next morning, and we were being moved. Schlatt was dragging us through a stone tunnel, ending in a small jail. He locked us in, together this time. He tossed three small objects into the cell. "They've announced where their allegiance lies." He said ominously. We looked closer at the objects, and realized two were the rings Schlatt had taken from me, and the other was a small piece of purple and green fabric. I didn't recognize it, but Karl did.

"Sapnap made this for us. It's a bandanna like his. Quackity and I each have one." He stuttered. Clearly this hit him harder than anything else. I looked back at the rings. C'mon, Clay. Get us out of here. I thought to myself. I picked them up, slipping them back onto my hand. I heard faint footsteps a few moments later, and voices. There were three sets of footsteps, but only two voices spoke.

"I want the book too." A familiar voice said.

"Fine, but you will be loyal to me and no other. You will not betray me, or your girl gets it. I'm letting you see this only because I know this'll make you want her more. And I want you to see what happened to your boyfriend when Quackity left. I did it once, I'll do it again." Schlatt said. Karl and I shrank back into the shadows. We pressed against the wall, trying to make ourselves invisible. Three people walked into the small room. One was Schlatt, and the other two made us run to the bars. They ran to meet us, and we stared at each other for a while.

"You have ten minutes." Schlatt said, leaving. "And sweetheart, don't get any ideas. Karl, don't forget to show him." I could see the murder in Clay's eyes as he called me sweetheart, but I squeezed his hand and his gaze returned to me.

Sapnap looked at Karl, "Show me what? You don't have to if you don't want to." Karl shook his head and removed his shirt. Clay and Sap inhaled sharply at how thin he was. He turned, and Sapnap growled at the sight of his brand. The burned flesh still hadn't fully healed, and it looked awful. Even worse, I recognized the design now. It was two interlocked ram horn's, and I realized it must have been to symbolize Schlatt.

"He did it one day. He just came in rambling about Quackity and the white house, and he dragged me away into his room and he burned me. He made sure I knew what it meant, too." Karl rambled, his tears flowing freely. Sapnap pulled him into a hug, reaching through the bars.

"You belong to me." I said. The princes looked at me. "It's what it means. He told me when he gave me mine." I pulled at the collar of my shirt, revealing the smaller brand he'd given me when I first got here. It rested a few inches below my collarbone, and was a similar mark.

Clay's gaze went murderous again. "I am going to kill him. What else did he do to you?" He roared. I looked down, fighting my tears.

"He wants to force her to marry him." Karl spoke, saying the words I couldn't bear to speak. Clay grabbed the bars, pulling them in his anger. They screeched and pebbles fell from the ceiling where they loosened. Clay finally stopped, when Karl and I were terrified he'd bring the whole room down on us. Schlatt entered the room again, smiling. I assumed he heard the whole conversation.

Clay turned on him, roaring. "You said they would be fine! You hurt them!"

"Technically, Dream, I said they wouldn't be permanently damaged. They can easily be fixed with a potion of healing."

"You're talking about them as if they're items." Sapnap growled.

"Isn't that all they are? Just meaningless little toys, passing from owner to owner. But now it's my turn, and I don't plan on sharing." Schlatt said, a malicious grin on his face. His pointed teeth gleamed in the light of the single torch above the doorway. The boys glared at him, and Karl and I retreated back to the shadows.

"I will kill you." Clay promised.

"No you won't, because only I know where the book is. And I know what sacrifices will be coming out of this. If you don't get that book, your little girl will never forgive you." Schlatt said cockily. I wondered what he was talking about. I was worried for Clay, because from what I've heard, he'd just pledged his allegiance to Schlatt to keep me from harm, only to find out that Karl and I have both been hurt, emotionally, mentally, and physically. I could practically feel the anger resonating off of him as Schlatt led them out of the room. Karl and I stared after them, wishing for them to come back. The only one who came back, however, was Schlatt.

He grabbed my hair, pulling me towards him. My head slammed against the bars hard enough to leave a bruise. "Good job, sweetheart. You didn't say anything wrong. They'll think that going along with me is the only way to save you. Little do they know." He chuckled. He gripped my hair tighter, then released me. My hair was longer and more tangled now. It reached almost halfway down my thigh, and I had another silver streak running through it. There were now two, one on either side of my face. I tucked my hair behind my ear and walked over to Karl. I curled around him, and, as with many nights here, I sang him to sleep. I sang songs from the birds that I'd heard from my windowsill. I remembered the yearning desire to just jump out of my window and fly far, far away. I drifted off to sleep, and my dreams were filled with wings and songbirds.