Footsteps rang in Celine's ears, her head hanging low. She was back in her childhood cell and kneeling on the stone floor with her hands chained, connected to a metal ring on the wall.
The door creaked open, and she didn't have to look up to know who was there. She recognized the scent of his cologne, the air he carried around him, even the way he breathed. The familiarity was driving her insane.
Lucian ran to her. His hands found her chains and began to pull on them, shocked to see her in this situation. "What happened? Who did this to you?!"
He pulled and pulled, the chains didn't budge. He ran his hands over the walls, searching for a way to free her.
Celine stayed silent, letting him panic. It was the same scene, just a different dialogue.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Can you hear me?" He searched for something to break the chains, grabbing the rocks, which was conveniently placed in the corner of the room, "Hang in there, I'll get you out."
She looked up, meeting his concerned eyes. The light of the torch casted shadows on his face, making him look even more handsome than usual. No tiredness in his expression, no signs of madness in his eyes.
"Are you here to laugh at me?" she asked, "I stabbed you. Aren't you... happy to see me like this?"
He smashed the rock on the chains, over and over, "I thought you were a heartless woman for taking out your anger on me, but I was wrong."
The chains broke, and he removed them from her wrists, throwing them aside, "You thought the church sent me after you, didn't you? That I was working for them, and I became a teacher to torture you for some reason."
"And now? A change of heart?" Celine rubbed her wrists, her eyes on the rock next to her, "What is your motive?"
"A fresh start," he said, trying to support her to stand up, but she shrugged him off, "The church has been after me for a while now, and I have no intention to let them win."
Who was he trying to fool? Acting like he wanted to win her over.
"You must have been dropped on your head as a child. That's the only explanation for your idiocy. To believe reputation control's lies."
Lucian blinked at her, his mouth slightly open as the rock in her hand smashed into his head. The flame one the wall flickered as blood poured down his forehead, knocking him to the ground.
Another smash, and another. Celine's hands and face were covered in his blood, the metallic smell filling her nose, as she kept hitting him with the rock.
"Die. Die. Die. Die." Blood splattered on her face, her arms, her clothes. She kept repeating the word like a mantra. The rock was getting heavier in her hand, her arms shaking. "DIE."
His body slowly turned into black smoke, disappearing before her eyes. His face was no longer recognizable under all the blood.
She threw the rock aside and collapsed next to the blood stain on the ground, her chest heaving. She wiped her face with her hand, smearing more blood on her skin.
"How did you get out?"
Her father entered the cell, frowning at the chains on the floor. He must have heard her screaming and came to check on her.
Celine shook her head, dropping on her backside, trying to get away from her father, "Get me out of here."
He grabbed the chains from the ground and checked the locks.
Celine shuffled back until her back hit the wall, her eyes darting around the room and her body.
There was blood everywhere, but her father showed no signs of seeing it. It was like he couldn't even perceive it, not seeing what was right in front of him. Black smoke rose from the blood, and it began to dissipate into thin air.
He grabbed her wrist. She kicked and screamed, fighting him off. He ignored her, and bent the broken hook into shape to refasten it to her wrist. "You will stay here until you learn to be sane again."
"I am sane, I'm perfectly sane," she kept repeating,
"Losing control of your curse's influence makes you no better than the shackled." Her father grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up, and slammed her against the wall as if to bring her back to reality, "I raised you to be stronger than this. You are a Rochefort. Act like it."