Before It Struck Midnight. *COMPLETE*

Chapter Eighteen - Rain.

"Emma... Emma..." I hear familiar ghostly voices call out my name as the crunching and dragging of the leaves in the wind cause me to open up my eyes, revealing a bright blue sky, there are clouds scattered here and there.

I find myself laying on my back, on the ground.

I sit up, looking around me. I am on what seems a dirt road while, surrounded by a dense, coniferous forest. It was not before I look behind my back that I see a huge building standing within a few hundred meters from me.

I look up at the sky again as I notice something strange.

I can see the clouds slowly moving, building up, attaching.

Once the whole sky is covered with clouds, I notice everything beginning to darken, the wind also began to pick up.

I hear the howls of the wind coming from the mountains directly opposite the large building behind me.

I look to my left and I can see that the trees began to sway more abruptly with every gust, the wind rapidly increased in strength.

The sky continued turning darker before lightning lit up the sky but for only a second before everything returned to being dark.

I look at the road and I see the dust lift and twirl in the wind, small leaves are suspended in the strong winds.

Another streak of light lit up the air for a second before the loud rumble of thunder indicated that the strike was close by.

Drop.

I felt something drop onto my face. Rain.

Drop by drop, splat by splat.

The rain slowly began to intensify as the sky continued to darken and the wind continued to increase in strength.

Another flash of light lit up the wet ground and trees and before I knew it, the light shower, with just a click of a finger turned into a heavy downpour. A loud rumble of thunder followed moments later.

I just stay in place, I do not move. Usually, the rain would bother me, but this time it didn't... For the first time in a long time, I felt... Free...

I close my eyes before letting my head back and stretching out my hands. I smile grew on my face as I got wetter from the rain, but I didn't care.

"God... Freedom..." I mutter to myself as I can be the rain becoming heavier, but that just made the smile on my face wider. I can see lightning through my closed eyes followed by a clap of thunder, I could feel the sheer energy of each rumble as it caused vibrations to travel through the air.

I lower my head before opening my eyes. I am DRENCHED!

I turn back towards the big building behind me, looks like some sort of a castle... Maybe even a dungeon. I examine it once more before beginning to walk over to it.

I notice a lot of muddy puddles on the dirt road from the torrential rain that is still falling and it does not look like it will be stopping any time soon. It was not long before I see bright lightning reflect off the wet ground indicating that that thunder his somewhere behind me. Within seconds... BANG!!... I hear the very loud clap as the after thunder shook the air causing my feet to tremble, so I speed up my walk.

I reach a set of stone stairs and I cautiously begin to climb up them, as I know how slippery wet stone can be. I manage to reach the top of the stairs at the roof now shields me from the rain. Great!

I continue to make my way towards a large pair of iron doors.

I am standing right in front of the big doors and as I was about to knock, I jump as the doors open wide.

Once the doors opened, they revealed a very lit hallway along with a silhouette standing by the entrance, I can tell that it is a guy. I can just bearly make out his nose, eyes, chin and his hairstyle. Suddenly, his white teeth appear. His smile continues growing, causing fear to roll onto my body.

"I have been waiting for you, Princess..."

His voice is so familiar. I swear I have heard it somewhere.

"Aren't you going to say anything to me? Haven't you missed me?".

I look down at his clothes, his shirt I can make out since it is white, all I needed to see is the outline of a tie to know that it is a suit. A suit that looks so familiar... I have seen it somewhere. I just can't remember where.

"Princess, answer me..." he says as he begins to walk over to me. But with every step he took closing up to me, I took an extra step back, moving away from him.

I suddenly see another image.

The unknown person holding a knife...

I open my eyes up again just to see him standing still as his eyes are wide open, they are just starting at me, sending an eerie feeling through my body.

Flash of lightning.

Everything turns pitch black for a brief second before everything lit back up.

Once I was able to see again, I see his hand around my wrist. I look up at his face as I can see his grin grow bigger and bigger.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

"I can't tell you yet..." he replies.

"Why not?..." I question.

He strikes a look at me, causing shivers to crawl up and down my spine.

"It didn't strike midnight yet... Princess".

I see him reach back for something as pulling it out seconds later. It was a leash.

He places the leash around my neck before tightening it. He tightens the leash a bit too much, as indicated by the leather digging into my neck.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the bells, marking midnight.

"There go the bells. It is time..." he says, holding onto the handle as he begins to walk toward the open doors and the dungeon.

I feel him pull, but I refuse. I pull back. I feel him pull on me harder, but I refuse again.

"Princess!?" he shouts before turning around and placing his both hands in the iron chain.

With all his mighty power, he janks me, causing my body to fly towards him. I am very close to the entrance when the doors slam shut. BOOM.

I wake up in fright as a loud clap of thunder outside frightens me even more, causing me to shriek loudly.

"Emma!?...".

I turn around to the voice and my body freezes when my eyes met his.

IT IS HIM... IT IS FUCKING HIM, THE GUY FROM THE NIGHTMARE, THE GUY THAT CALLED ME HIS PRINCESS!!!

"GET AWAY FROM ME!?" I scream as I move back, covering the lower half of my head with the blanket, as my eyes are staring at him in terror. I am freaking the hell out.

"Emma, Emma... It is me, it is Chris... It is me, Chris... Emma?... Emma look... It is me...".

I feel his hand gently caressing my knee.

"It is me... Chris..." he repeats calmly, relaxing me. I slow down my breathing as I bring down the blanket from my face. My eyes begin to tear up.

I wrap him into a tight hug.

"I am sorry... I am sorry... I am so sorry..." I mutter under my breath.

"Hush... Hush, it is okay... Shhh..." he soothes me as he gently caresses the back of my head.

I stop crying after a few minutes as I begin to wonder who the fuck that guy in my dream was. But I can't deny the way he called me 'Princess' and how it sounded so familiar.