ℛ𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑒 ☣ || Dethrone Series. (Book 1)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞

It was the middle of the night when Raven awoke with a start. Her heart raced, her senses on high alert. Something was...wrong. She couldn't quite place it, but the air felt thick and oppressive, as if a heavy cloak had been draped over her bed. She shivered, the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. As she sat up, her eyes darted around the room, searching for the source of this unease. The dim light from the moon cast long, eerie shadows across the floor, making the familiar furniture seem strange and foreign. And then, from the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something move. Something dark and sinister.

She leaned closer, her heart pounding in her chest, and to her horror, she realized that the whispers she had been hearing were coming from the very air itself. They seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere all at once, as if the room were alive with malicious intent. Shaking off the chill that had overcome her, Raven forced herself to stand up. The whispers grew louder, more insistent, as if they knew she was trying to ignore them. She took a step forward, and then another, making her way across the room. The whispers followed her, their words twisting and turning in her mind, filling her with doubt and fear.

Finally, she reached the window, throwing it open to let the cool night air wash over her. The whispers grew louder still, filling the air around her like a chorus of malevolent voices. She closed her eyes, trying to block them out, but they were everywhere. As she stood there, lost in the cacophony of whispers, a single voice cut through the din. It was clear and strong, and for a moment, it offered her a sense of calm. She turned around, searching for the source of the voice, but saw no one. The room remained empty and eerie, the shadows dancing on the walls like specters.

"Who's there?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. There was no response, only the whispers. But the voice in her head, the one that seemed to belong to her, urged her to go on. "Identify yourself," she demanded. Again, there was no reply. But she felt a strange tugging at her heart, as if the voice were trying to guide her. She took a step forward, moving deeper into the room. The whispers grew louder still, but she blocked them out, focusing on the voice that seemed to be calling to her.

Finally, she saw a figure emerge from the shadows. It was a woman, tall and graceful, with long, flowing black hair and deep green eyes. Almost sickly. She was dressed in a flowing, emerald green gown that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. Raven felt an instant connection to this woman, as if they had known each other for lifetimes.

"Who are you?" she managed to choke out.

The woman stood silently, before a slow grin filled with promises of malice and carnage spread across her ashen face. Her skin looking like polished imperfect stone. With deep cracks etching across her delicate pointed features.

"I am... no one." Her voice was smooth like fine silk, yet sharp as the edge of a blade. "Or rather, I am everyone. I am the darkness that lurks in the shadows, the whisper that tickles your ear in the dead of night. I am the fear that grips your heart when you least expect it, and the doubt that eats away at your resolve."

As she spoke, the whispers in the room grew louder, more insistent. They seemed to gather around Raven, wrapping themselves around her like a shroud. "I am the voice that speaks to you in the mirror, the reflection that stares back at you with eyes as green as emeralds. I am the temptation that leads you astray, and the demon that haunts your dreams....or rather- I'm you and everything you will become"

Raven felt her heart race as she took a step back, trying to comprehend what this woman was telling her. The whispers grew even louder, and she could feel them tugging at her, trying to pull her deeper into their world. She wanted to resist, but it was as if some invisible force were holding her in place.

"You... you're not real," she managed to choke out. "This is just a dream. A nightmare."

The woman laughed, a cold, cruel sound that sent a shiver down Raven's spine. "Oh, my dear, if only that were true. If only you could wake up from this. But alas, I am as real as the blood that runs through your veins, and the darkness that dwells within your heart." She took another step forward, her green eyes burning with an intensity that made Raven want to look away. "You see, Raven, you have always been drawn to the shadows, to the things that others fear. And now, you have finally found your true calling. You are the vessel through which I shall manifest my power, my will upon this world."

The whispers grew louder, more insistent, as if they were echoing the woman's words. They seemed to wrap themselves around Raven, pulling her closer, making it impossible for her to resist. She felt herself begin to lose control, to surrender to the darkness that was rising within her.

"I... I don't want this," she stammered, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of whispers. "I want to go back to how things were. I want to forget all of this."

"But you know you can't, don't you?" The woman said, the tone feigning empathy. As she grabbed ravens chin forcing her to look at her own reflection in the mirror besides them.

"all that i am, is what lays inside of you. I am you, as much as you are wanting to deny it. And you can, you can scream. Cry. And deny it all you want- but you know within your very soul I'm right. You feel that familiarity with me. You feel that hideous grip of bloodlust in your chest."

Raven's blood ran cold, as she listened to the woman talk as she stared at herself and the woman in the mirror.

"This is your destiny." The woman said, as the room faded to black.

Raven gasped, jolting from her bed with a start. Clutching at her rapid beating heart. Looking frantically around her room, searching for any signs that whatever just happened was a dream. Being only met with her four walls of her bedroom, she sunk back into the mattress. This is the 5th night in a row she's had a dream like this since her and her sister found the old runes of a castle.

But this one felt different, felt real. Like a sick and twisted fantasy that something inside her desired...she shook the thought off and stood from her bed. Moving towards her door and padded out of her room quietly. As the sunrays peeked through the windows.

She moved aimlessly through the house, before arriving in the kitchen. Seeing Marceline standing there with Ira. Her face pinched in a annoyed expression.

"You're gods out right annoying." Marceline said, her tone snarky as she crossed her arms over her chest. Staring down the man in front of her.

"And you are infuriating marcy." Ira retorted back, matching her stance. Almost mockingly. Raven shook her head at their bantering. Moving past them to the sink to grab a glass of water

"You two fuss a lot, kindly don't piss each other off the point a lightning bolt hits a window again. We just got that fixed." Raven mused, as she took a sip from her glass.

Right as Marceline was about to respond, she stared at raven. A look of concern contouring her features.

"Rave? Are you alright...? You don't look well"

Raven felt a twinge of annoyance at her sisters words for some reason. She sat her glass down "I'm Fine" she bit out through gritted teeth. Before she left the room. Causing both Ira and Marcy to stare at her in confusion at her attitude.