Chapter 276 - 6.36 Two Choices
Darkness was looming above him, pressing down on his chest and forcefully slipped into his mouth, rendering him unable to breathe. He could feel... something; emotions that didn’t belong to him. Anger, sorrow, despair. And then amidst the suffocation where he couldn’t find even the smallest speck of light, a pair of eyes peeled open, displaying pure black orbs more terrifying than the darkness itself.
"You saw through me..." The eyes narrowed threateningly.
Jillian snapped awake from the dream, gasping. Sweat dampened his sleeping gown and his heart thundered heavily inside his ribcage. The last vestiges of the darkness faded away as his eyes took in the familiar surroundings and the burning fire from the hearth.
Jillian found himself slowly calming down albeit still a little apprehensive. What was up with that dream? He had had his fair share of nightmares before but none... had ever caused him to feel this way.
It took five full seconds for Jillian to sober up enough to realize that something was off. Years of instinct honed in the battlefield had taught him to read the atmosphere in the air and he realized that... it was too quiet. There was no wind howling outside, drizzle falling gently or even the rustle of dry branches brushing against each other. Only the intermittent crackle from the firewoods and his own breathing.
"Regius...?" He whispered as he reached for the doll beside him.
Usually, Regius would respond with a cold brush to his cheek or directly materialize in front of him but Jillian waited and waited... there was no response whatsoever.
Jillian furrowed his brows and brought the doll to his eye level. Almost in an instant, he noticed something different with it. With Regius dwelling inside, the doll would look alive, animated, almost as if it was going to spring up and jump around at any moment. But right now, those beady silver eyes looked lifeless. Yes, just like that moment Jillian first saw him when he opened the cabinet in the dollmaker house.
Regius wasn’t inside the doll, he concluded. So where was he?
Jillian tied his sleeping gown tighter and reached for his sword. Going out of his bedroom, his feet padded across the carpet and when he looked outside the window, a sharp gasp escaped his lips. W—What was that?!
It was indeed late into the night but there was something strange with the darkness that concentrated outside the manor, almost as if it had sucked away the light around. He squinted to see the ever familiar torches that were usually lit outside houses to keep away beasts were extinguished, leaving the scenery in eerie pitch black. Jillian’s breath caught in his throat when he was suddenly reminded of his dream earlier and without him realizing, he had rushed outside and braced through the thick snow.