About 20 steps further, Ali heard a voice.
"Ali," it whispered. She whipped around, but there was only darkness and the whisper of the wind as it picked up, golden leaves flying off the floor and away from her. To the queen, another thing she had that Ali did not. A moment later, there was a figure in their place.
"Who is it?"
His dark skin made him blend in with the shadows, but there was a smile that reminded Ali of someone she knew long ago, someone she no longer knew the name of, and someone who had saved her from retreat into the dungeons an hour ago.
"Me. I helped you into the tree."
"Yeah, I remember that, but how did you know my name. I'm Lia in this castle."
"I'm your brother."
It took a moment for the words to sink in, but once they did, Ali remembered. She remembered before her mother had lost her happiness, when they were a family. Roy, Ali, and Mom. Before her brother had disappeared, went missing, before her mother was lost, and it all spiralled down, down, down. The surprise on Ali's face melded into anger for leaving her, anger for never coming back since that July, and anger for reappearing right when she had suppressed any memory of him.
"Why?" she shouted, suddenly hating him for all he'd done to her. "You left us, and now you're back? I don't want you any more, Roy, I don't need you, and I hated you. I still would if I hadn't forced myself to forget you."
Roy looked crushed. He had clearly been expecting a happy welcoming into his little sister's arms, not an explosion. He must not have remembered her temper.
"I didn't want to leave you. She made me," he said simply.
Ali had turned away, but now she faced her brother. It sounded like the truth, and if she was the queen, Ali could see how she could do that. The question that she would have to ask in the future was how he knew her in the first place.
"And you should probably keep the volume down," he added. Ali smiled, for what seemed like the first time in forever.
"Where are you going?" Ali asked.
"Anywhere but there." Roy nodded his head towards the castle. "I'm running away from it. I've been waiting to find someone else I could go with, but I'd say you count."
The two walked all the way to where the remains of a fire were scattered, chatting all the way.
"And then the teacher put him in detention, and-" Ali's eyes caught sight of the ashes. "Someone was here," she whispered. Roy looked at her.
"Who?"
"My friends, hopefully. We probably shouldn't call their names." She glanced up, and saw the rose-painted sky. "Anyways, we should be getting some sleep. It's been hours."
"Food in the morning?"
"In the morning."
Roy took off his pack, which Ali was very glad he had planned ahead to bring. She took out 2 blankets, handing one to him. She snorted.
"Really? Princesses?"
"It used to be yours."
She went quiet.
He went to sleep.
Not too long after, Ali was woken up by a growl.
The wolf.
"Save me!" he said, red eyes meeting hers. "You left. You must come back and get me out. Your friends' attempts have failed, you are the last one. You must save me!"
And then he vanished.A/N: WHAT? I surprised myself when I wrote that part. I hope it wasn't too confusing, by the way. Because Roy hasn't been mentioned before.
And what was that the wolf said? How can he get out, or is it a hologram?
Thanks for reading (and voting and commenting, if you are)!
Right now, I'm crazy crazy CRAZY happy because I won a chess tournament I was playing in. Actually, take the happy out. I'm just crazy.
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Dream Wolf
FantasyAli has had the same, creepy dream every night for the past month. When her principal forces her to leave for a mysterious forest with others who have had spookily similar dreams, their ever-so peaceful life turns into a nightmare not unlike the one...