Into The Unown

No Future

Serena knew why Ash and Gary didn't trust her; she knew exactly what was going on in their minds—that she would through herself overboard and leap to her death.

That was her plan, but then she'd remembered something disturbing.

Death wasn't an escape for her. It never had been, not since that day when she still was a prisoner in the Apocalypse.

She was back in white room with Xenos—broken—physically, emotionally, spiritually. The floor beneath her was stained red with her blood. She couldn't move—not even in her dreams.

"I can't take this anymore," she had whispered, "Please... just help me."

Xenos had remained seated on her throne, her eyes had always studying Serena with a look that cut deeper than any dagger. She hadn't helped her, only judged from afar.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Xenos has repeated.

The words had felt like a cruel joke. "I don't want to live anymore. I'll kill myself."

That was when Xenos had moved; swift and deliberate. The sound of her boots clicking had made an ominously sound. When she was near Serena, she'd bent down, her icy gaze staring directly into Serena's.

"If you die, Serena," Xenos had whispered, "your soul will be mine. I will make you rue the day you were born."

That memory was long forgotten, but had recently resurfaced. It was then that she realised there was no escape—not in life, not in death. Xenos's reach extended far beyond the physical world, and this was just the start.

She stared out of the window of her cabin, watching the cruiser slice through the ice on the sea. Serena had nowhere to go—there was no future to look up too, and no past she wished to remember. She was a hollow shell of a human, moving forward only because there was no where else to go.

Serena yearned to sleep; it had perched atop her eyelids, begging to be let down, but every time she closed her eyes, the haunting moment replayed in her minds like a horror movie. And with them came the pain.

She had lived through the horrors once, somehow survived to tell the tale. But she wasn't sure she could do it again.

This was her punishment. Xenos was punishing her. The dreams had never once appeared when she was alone in the castle of Van Black. She had believed that Xenos had taken pity on her, erasing the horrors to spare her of what was to come.

But now, everything had changed. Ever since she had reunited with Ash, the dreams had come back—filling her nights and days. Flashes of pain, blood, and suffocation haunted her.

Was it because of Ash? It was because of him. Xenos had never approved of him. And now she had a bargaining chip. She was using Serena's own trauma against her. The dreams, the memories, the pain—it was all planned; Xenos had taken it away and given back for a reason.

But if surviving it all over again was the price she had to pay to be with Ash, Serena would pay it without hesitation.

She watched him fall asleep, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. The battle with Karna had drained every bit of energy from him. The power he'd used—Aura—was something she'd only seen in flashbacks. Yet, seeing it in action, used by Ash, left her flabbergasted.

When she'd seen him at the airport two years ago, Ash had promised her he would get better, that he'd do everything in his power to protect her.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Serena found herself almost believing him.

"Get a grip," she muttered to herself, "no one can protect anyone."

The crashing waves created a soft hum, which was interrupted by the buzz of Serena's communicator. Instantly colour ran from her face. When she'd joined the chamber again, she had given up all personal belongings—all except for her communicator. No one knew of it, no one but one person.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Serena, it's me," Aria said, her voice urgent with fear.

Serena's grip tightened on the device. "Aria? What's going on?"

"We need to talk... it's about Alice."