*This story is underneath my folder titled “Witch’s Wonder, Hell’s Hate”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33 [2]”. Enjoy!*

The ground shakes more and more, cracks fracturing the surface like the veins in my wrist, until it stops.

The roar is louder now, right above us, ringing in my ears and banging throughout my head. I swallow back my fear and look up at the monster I know I have to face.

It’s a towering creature with a leathery brown torso, the bottom half is a gigantic, gray, winding snake tail, it has spidery legs, appears to be held by puppet strings and its face…it’s the face of a clown. A clown with scraggly red hair and big, wide, white eyes, its mouth open as a gaping black hole.

I’m not sure what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Mom never told me about monsters like that before. Nothing about its appearance makes any sense.

But its eyes are blaring with fury and when it pounds its legs against the ground, me and Prince Joseph are left air bound.

It’s still a monster. I still have to try and kill it, no matter what kind of monster it may be. I think to myself, steadying myself so that I’m floating, just like I did earlier when I was going up to Leslie’s room.

It WAS only earlier, right? It’s only been a few hours since I’ve gone to Hell, right? I mean, that much time hasn’t passed, right? Right.

I can’t be thinking about these kinds of things right now, not when there’s a monster clawing at us, attempting to murder us.

I try grabbing onto Prince Joseph so that he doesn’t fall, but my hand misses and he falls on the ground, on both feet. He’s not hurt or anything, he’s completely fine.

The monster thing raises one of its legs towards me, so I channel my power within, my magic that is just waiting to burst and let it blast out of my fingertips and then I direct the blasts towards the monster.

But the monster seems to dodge my magic with every blast that I make, raising its legs towards me and trying to slash me. Me and the monster both trying here, but I have to try harder, harder than I did before with Leslie. I can’t let this monster win. I can’t-

Its leg sweeps down and slashes across my neck. It’s a miracle that my head didn’t fall off from the sheer force and power of the leg, because I can feel my skin ripped open and the blood pouring out, blooming all around me.

I want to be strong and fight the pain, like a warrior. I want to break that clown monster into pieces with the magic I know is waiting to do wonderful, grandiose feats, but I can’t muster it out. The hurt that I feel is just too much to let it out. I can only let my magic out in bursts.

I’m falling down, trying to make myself float, but nothing happens, so I keep on falling. I can see the monster turn around and walk towards the other direction, albeit in a strange, limping manner. Why is it walking like that? Why-

I’ve landed in the arms of Prince Joseph. He’s smiling down at me, his russet-brown eyes sparkling. I don’t know why he’s smiling at me after I failed spectacularly, but my gut stopped twisting inside of me, just like it did when Mom was around to comfort me.

“I bit the monster’s leg. It’s hurt, but it will come back. At least you’re still alive! You’ve got a nasty scar on your neck, but I can fix it. I’ve just got to suck the blood. Are you okay with that?” Prince Joseph asks.

He seems to be in a better mood than when we first got here. I don’t know how he’s in good spirits now, but his confidence is contagious. I can feel it swimming and swirling inside of me like when I ate sugar as a little kid, so excited, so full of happiness-He said he wanted to suck the blood away.

“What?!” I spit out, because how else am I supposed to respond with him asking to suck my blood?

Prince Joseph bites his bottom lip nervously, but then he opens his mouth to speak and now I see why he asked.

“I’m a vampire, Anastasia. My Mom turned me into one with her magic. Now, do you want me to suck your blood to stop the bleeding or not?” Prince Joseph asks.

I saw the fangs in his mouth. I heard him say it. I know that he’s a vampire, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of vampires Mom told me about in her stories. He wants to help me. He caught me in his arms. Aside from his fangs, which I’ve only just noticed, he doesn’t look much like a monster to me.

I probably shouldn’t be so eager to trust him right now, but my body feels like it’s going to split in half after all the magic I used that didn’t work, so I nod at him and let him lower his head towards my neck.

As he’s drinking my blood, I can feel the weariness of my fighting and the deep, bleeding scratch on my neck fade away, replaced with something that feels like I don’t have to worry about anything, that I’m flying…flying…flying…

I’m standing in the corner of a room. It’s an elaborate room, with marble walls and various porcelain vases and dolls in a shelf. In another shelf, there are tomes of books that have words on the spine written in gold.

In a bed with white, frilly sheets embroidered with flowers lies Prince Joseph, the sunlight wafting in from his window shining on his black hair. He’s coughing and there’s a yellowish tint on his dark brown skin. From his mouth, I can see yellow-green mucus come out and land on his arm. He notices it and grimaces in disgust, grabbing the handkerchief on the nightstand and using it to wipe his arm and face.

The door opens. A woman with her black hair curled up into a bun swoops in. She’s wearing an ornate golden tiara with red gems glittering from the sunlight. She’s also wearing a flower crown around her tiara, which accentuates it somehow. Her mulberry dress is poofed out in a way that shows her high status, that she can afford big, circling hoop skirts. Her makeup matches the color of her dress and brings out her dark brown skin more.

Without a doubt, I know that she’s Queen Lanria.

“What did I tell you about staying out in the slums too long? You’ve caught one of their diseases and now I have to cure you.” Queen Lanria says with a shake of her head as she makes her way towards Prince Joseph.

Prince Joseph tries to sit up in bed with one arm, but he keeps slipping up. It’s awful to watch him struggle to do such a simple task, but eventually, he does it.

“I’d hardly call it the slums, Mom. They just don’t have the riches that we do. Besides, spending time with them isn’t the end of the world. It shows that we’re human, that we care, that-“

“Rest now, Joseph. Drink this. It will help.” Queen Lanria says.

I didn’t notice it before, but I’m noticing it now. She’s holding a small vial filled with black liquid in one hand and uncorks it, bringing it to Prince Joseph’s mouth. One hand is holding the vial, the other is holding the back of Prince Joseph’s head. He’s trying to break away, but he can’t.

I’m not in Prince Joseph’s room anymore. I’m back in Hell, Prince Joseph is holding me. My neck still hurts a little, but it feels better than before.

“I think I saw the moment that your Mom turned you into a vampire when you were biting me. Did you happen to be sick and did your Mom make you drink from this vial of black liquid? That’s what I saw. That-“

“Yes, that’s what she did to me. I don’t know why you saw that, but maybe it has something to do with this place. Maybe it has some kind of magic in it that lets us see each other’s memories.” Prince Joseph says, his eyebrows creased with concern.

I don’t know what to say to that. Does Hell have something to do with me seeing a glimpse of Prince Joseph’s past? Maybe. But why hasn’t he seen my memories? Why isn’t anything making sense?

Prince Joseph is still holding me. It’s rather nice to be in his long, elegant arms, but I can’t stay there forever. I have to save Leslie. I’ve only just met him. I just…I can’t.

“We should get going.” I say, moving myself away from his arms.

Prince Joseph nods and hums in agreement. I walk right by his side since it doesn’t quite feel right for me to lead the way.

My head has been racing with thoughts ever since we got here, but now, annoyingly so, a new one has joined my shrieking mind, followed by heart fluttering and twisting:

Is Prince Joseph alright after what his Mom did?