Read Novel Full Chapter 201: Nightmare
Chapter 201: Nightmare
Seamus let out a quiet, bitter laugh. In the end, they were no different from Isolde. Different methods, same hunger. Power, dominance, control.
The realization made his stomach twist with disgust, as if invisible chains were closing around him again.
It feels like choosing the lesser of two evils.
"Then my answer is no," Seamus said flatly. "I despise your kind, and I choose my own."
Mark laughed, unfazed. "That is fine. There is always another way."
Behind Seamus, mechanical cables slid into motion, needles gleaming as they surged forward toward his spine.
He reacted instantly. His eyes closed as something within him shifted, restraints tearing apart under his grip.
He caught the needle midair and crushed it, the fragments dissolving into ash before they touched the floor.
When Seamus stood, the world fractured.
The sterile white dissolved into darkness as the ground bloomed with crimson flowers, their petals burning like open flames.
Above, the sky filled with falling stars that streaked through the void, illuminating shifting paths and endless corridors.
"It isn’t only you who can create a domain," Seamus said quietly, his voice cold and steady.
Mark tilted his head, amused rather than alarmed. "A dream domain," he observed. "Interesting. You created a domain within mine and believe you can escape."
Seamus shook his head slowly. "This isn’t a dream domain. This is the Labyrinth of Dreams."
His gaze hardened. "Good luck finding the exit, Mark."
And then Seamus vanished.
The burning maze closed around Mark, sealing him within reflections of his own unresolved fears and memories, while Seamus opened his eyes once more to the sterile white room. His chest rose sharply as clarity returned, urgency replacing hesitation.
Mark would not remain trapped forever.
Seamus turned, already moving.
He had no time to waste. He needed to find his friends before Mark escaped.
***
Diane blinked and found herself standing in the distant past.
Her body felt smaller, lighter, as if the weight of the world had not yet settled onto her bones.
Beside her stood her sister, Viviane, their shoulders pressed together as both of them peered through the thin gap in the door, watching warm light spill across the floor inside the room.
"I beg you, please do something! You can’t let them do this to me!"
Their mother’s voice trembled with desperation. She was crying and begging her husband, Diane and Viviane’s father, to act, though the two children could not understand what was happening. They only knew something was terribly wrong.
"I can’t! We are just slaves, Isolde!"
Their father grabbed their mother’s shoulders tightly, as if trying to force strength into her, but it only made her fury explode. She struck his chest again and again, her hands shaking.
"You’re cruel! You’re a coward!" Isolde shouted. "You’re my husband, and you can’t even protect me! How can you protect our daughters!"
SLAP!
The sound rang through the room, sharp and unforgiving. Both girls jolted as Isolde fell silent, her fingers slowly rising to touch her reddened cheek.
"What do you want me to do?" their father shouted, tears spilling freely now as he shook her.
"Fight them? You want me dead? Why don’t you ask your mother instead, she’s the mistress!"
Isolde slapped his hands away and stepped back from him.
"I can’t believe I married someone like you," she hissed.
She turned and left the house.
Their father called her name, again and again, but she never came back that night.
Diane stood frozen, fear curling tightly in her chest. It was the first time she had seen them fight, and she did not understand why the world had suddenly cracked apart.
"Let’s sleep, Diane. Mother will come back soon," Viviane whispered, her small hand warm on Diane’s shoulder.
"But what happened?" Diane asked, her voice trembling. "Can’t we look for her? They’ve never fought like this before."
Viviane squeezed her shoulder gently. "This is an adult problem. We just need to pretend nothing happened."
But Diane could not pretend.
In the middle of the night, she slipped from her bed and took the oil lamp into her small hands.
Their family lived within the Velstarth palace, in a house closest to the northern wing, the part whispered about as being used for pleasure.
Diane did not understand what that meant, only that many of her kind and many vampires gathered there.
Even now, deep into the night, the palace glowed with light.
As she approached and peeked through a window, a scream tore through the air. Her mother’s voice.
"Mom?"
Diane’s eyes widened as dread settled into her bones. Even as her body trembled, she crept toward an entrance that was not guarded and slipped inside.
In the hall beyond, she saw her mother lying naked on the floor, her body covered in wounds and blood. Men surrounded her, laughing, torturing her without restraint.
Isolde’s violet eyes met Diane’s. They widened in shock, and her lips trembled as if forming a single word.
"Run."
Diane could not move. Her legs refused to obey, even when a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind.
"Oh, this girl is beautiful," a man said, his red eyes gleaming. "Do you want to have fun with us, girl?"
Diane knew what he was. A vampire. And her kind could never say no.
"Leave her alone! She’s just a child!"
Isolde’s voice cut through the room, but the sound of the whip was louder. Her scream followed, sharp and broken.
"Shut up, you harlot! Stay in your place."
"Diane... Diane, run..." her mother’s voice weakened, fading even as Diane’s tears fell freely.
The man shoved Diane hard. She stumbled, and the oil lamp slipped from her grasp, crashing onto the floor. Flames spread instantly, devouring the rug. Panic erupted as everyone began to flee.
Diane ignored them and ran to her mother, trying desperately to lift her.
Isolde’s body was too heavy. Her hand weakly caught Diane’s wrist. "Stop it, Diane. Just run away. Mom will be fine. I’ll be right behind you."
"You can’t," Diane sobbed. "You can’t even wake up!"
The fire burned hotter, turning blue, a flame that would not die until everything turned to ash.
"I’m fine," Isolde whispered. "Just run, my daughter. I will be fine."
Smoke filled Diane’s lungs as she coughed violently. She watched her mother scream as fire consumed her body, her own cries joining the chaos until her voice broke entirely.
Then hands grabbed her, shaking her violently as a voice tore through the nightmare.
"DIANE! WAKE UP! DIANE!"
She gasped and opened her eyes, finding herself sprawled on the floor, surrounded by the corpses of dying monsters and shattered spiders.
Seamus was kneeling beside her, his expression tight with fear.
"Oh thank God," he said hoarsely. "You’re alright."