The Thicker Red String

Sophia found herself surrounded by a somehow familiar darkness.

“Where am I?” she wondered and spotted a faint red glow in the distance, “Is this…”

She hesitated for a moment but then started moving. This time it didn’t feel like an eternity to Sophia until she reached the source of the red glow. Like she expected it was the red thread.

“Is it thicker than last time?” Sophia wondered as she picked the end up.

It felt thicker to her, but she didn’t spend long wondering about that, instead she followed the thread like last time and found herself in front of the same shining portal soon after. Sophia remembered Kieran’s warning, that she’d only find pain and suffering in his dreams, so she hesitated. Looking down on the thread a warm feeling washed over her body and curiosity got the better of her after all. Sophia went through the portal.

A dimly lit stone ceiling appeared after the blinding lights subsided. Sophia was again only able to watch. Her body lifted the head slightly and she noticed that she seemed to be again in little Kieran’s body and that even if she were in control, she would not be able to move much, since she was restrained on what looked like a big table. Kieran tried to break free of his fetters, but except the chains rattling a bit, nothing happened. The lights suddenly grew brighter and a door opened. Seven hooded figures entered the room and stepped up to the table. They tightened the restraints and fixed Kieran’s head with something, so he was unable to move anymore. Sophia saw them standing all around the table, one had a big syringe in his hands, others a scalpels or other medical operating equipment. The one standing at her head nodded to the others and held his hands out over her. Sophia felt the fear rising inside of her. A strange green light suddenly emerged from the hands above. A strangely pleasurable feeling washed over her body, but it didn’t last long. It started with a small prick to the side of her neck. Her body immediately felt like it was on fire. Sophia then sensed something cut into her chest and mind-numbing pain washed over her. She felt hands grabbing her and it was like they tried to rip into her body. Sophia never before felt this kind of pain. Every cell of her body seemed to be disintegrating. She opened her mouth to scream, but what came out was the agonizing wailing of a young boy, before darkness enveloped her.

The next thing Sophia saw was the floor moving past under her. It took her a moment to realize that she was being dragged by the shoulders. She felt the pain running through the body she was in and even though it was magnitudes less than what she felt moments before it was still excruciating. The floor suddenly stopped moving and she heard a metal gate squeak. The hands on her shoulders grabbed her harder and the stone ground began to get closer very fast. Sophia found herself on the floor of a cell, lying on the stomach. Her head turned to the side, and she could see into the neighboring cell. There was a heap of bodies inside of it. Sophia saw strange markings on some of them, very similar to Kieran’s inscriptions. A faint glow in the corner caught her eye. It was an inscription on her left shoulder. Clumsily her body turned itself on the back and locked down. There were some more inscriptions to the right of the mark on the chest. Sophia’s vision went black again.

She found herself inside of some arena next. Three men with cloth sacks on their head kneeled a few meters in front of her. A hooded figure came up to them and pulled the sacks off them. Then the figure made a gesture with his hand and two swords plus an axe appeared in front of them.

“Kill him and you’re free,” said the hooded figure with a strangely distorted voice.

The three men looked around confused between the weapons and her. The first one got up and grabbed a sword. The two others followed suit and grabbed a weapon as well. They slowly got closer and Sophia noticed that they were at least double her size. The first one went for a swing.

“Kill them!” Sophia suddenly heard a raspy voice ringing in her ears.

She felt a sharp pain run through her body, emanating from her chest area. The sword cut through the air right towards her neck. Sophia’s vision suddenly went blurry and she heard screams. She saw movement and lights flash but could not make out anything clearly. Then a few moments later her vision returned to normal. Sophia was now sitting on top of one of the men. Her hands were grabbing his face, and her thumbs were completely inside his eye sockets. A huge blood puddle had formed under his head. The man wasn’t moving anymore. Sophia looked to the side and saw the other two lying on the ground, their own weapons sticking inside their bodies. She looked back down at her hands. Sophia felt nothing as she stared at the blood-covered fingers and it scared her.