Two Worlds Connected by Love: A Prequel Owl House "Fanfiction"

Chapter 20: A Painful Dream

A/n: We got an angsty chapter ahead. Slight trigger warning. Enjoy.

Caleb's POV

It was about evening, I was working at my desk when Philip came rushing into my room. "Caleb! Caleb, they found another witch!"

"Did they now?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Yes! They just sentenced her to hanging! Come, we must go!" Philip exclaimed.

"Must we really?" I groaned.

"The people would ask where you are," Philip reminded.

"Fine, Fine. Alright, when is it?"

"Now. Let's go!" Philip ran off.

We finally reached the crowd of Villagers, they chanted," Death to the Witch! Death to the Witch!" I sighed at the voices. I didn't really care if it was another witch, until I saw the woman being dragged up the steps.

"Ack!" The woman screamed as she was being yanked against her will onto the wooden platform.

It was Kitty! "Halt! Don't proceed with this!" I yelled! "Catherine, are you alright?" I asked.

"Caleb?!"

"You're familiar with this witch, Wittebane?" The Hangman asked as he pulled on Catherine's hair. She whimpered at the Hangman's bruteness.

"He's trying to protect her! He must be!" Some of the people screamed in response.

"Let her go!" I ordered. "This is inhuman and must be stopped!" I walked up closer to the hanging platform.

"Do you see yourself as a good Christian, Wittebane?" The Hangman inquired.

"I do!" I growled.

"And yet you dare stand against the Lord's demands?" The Hangman said.

"The Lord's demands? The Lord's demands surely are not the senseless murders of innocent people!" I stood my ground.

But with that statement, Philip pulled me back. "Caleb! What are you doing? Are you trying to get a noose around your neck too? Shut your Mouth!"

"Were you invested with this witch?" The other hangman questioned. Catherine struggled to get out from their tough grips.

"Caleb, help!"

"No sir. Excuse my brother, he has just drank too much, thus he speaks such nonsense. In the name of our family, I beg you for forgiveness for this," Philip lied. "The witch and the misery she caused must face her death. Please proceed!"

"No! No!" I screamed. My eyes started to sting as the noose was wrapped around her neck. "Catherine!"

"Caleb..." Catherine cried as she looked at me with terror plastered across her face. And with that, the floorboards opened and I heard the snap of the rope. She was dead. "NO!" I shouted awake. I started shaking, panting, and crying.

Catherine started to stir in the bed, awoken by my scream. "Sweetheart? Did something happen?" I said nothing and continued my heavy breathing as tears strolled down my cheeks.

"Sweetheart?" She repeated. Then she immediately rose from the bed at seeing my face. "Caleb? Caleb! What happened?"

"Nightmare..." I answered. "I-I-I- My god!" I rubbed my forehead in worry.

"Shh. Shh, it's alright." Catherine soothed. "Deep breath in. Deep breath out. You're safe and sound," Catherine pulled me into her chest. I continued to cry into her night shirt, shaking.

"Kitty..."

"Shhh."

"They killed you!" I said.

"Who?" Catherine asked.

"The people of my home town!" I cried. "They had sentenced another witch to hang and- and it was you. It was you! And I-I told them to stop but then they accused me too and- and I was pulled away by Philip and he saved me from worse and then they- and you- and I-I wanted to go back and save you- I-" I sniffled.

"Shhhh," Catherine whispered. "Deep breaths, Sweetheart. It was just a horrible nightmare."

I released from her grip and shot back. "No! It's not just a nightmare! It's reality! It's a horrible reality that my family and I partook in! All those people- those innocent people! Mothers and Fathers taken away from their children and murdered before their very eyes, Brothers and Sisters, Daughters and Sons, Wives and Husbands, Grandparents taken from their family! So many lives lost! So many families ruined!"

"Their screams of Agony, they haunt me! And to think how many more have died! I-I-I-" I squeezed my head to try and ease the pain.

Catherine pulled me back into her arms. "Oh, my Love. Shhh."

"I wish... I wish I could bring them all back. They were all innocent," I sobbed.

"As harsh as it is, You can't change the past, Love. And even if you did stand up for them, what do you think would've happened?" Catherine tried to calm me down.

"In an ideal world, they would've listened!"

Catherine grabbed my hand, " But the world is not ideal. Not yours, Not this one. Your attempts of defense would've ended with you finding your fate with your neck in a noose."

"We humans really are cruel and cold monsters," I said.

"Don't put yourself next to them," Catherine said. "You're not cruel, not cold, and the last thing you are is a monster! You're not like them. The fact alone, that you cry and mourn the victims of the Witch Hunt right here and now, says so much about the person you are." I look up to Catherine as she holds my cheeks. "And that you're not in the same place as the other humans are, and I'm sure there are more humans out there like you."

I hugged Catherine tight and just continued to cry and get it all out of my system. She kissed my head, continuing to try and calm me down. "Oh, sweetheart... It's alright. Shhh. I'm here, I'm here with you, and I'm never leaving. Never."