Anna scrubbed her skin under hot water for the fifth time in thirty minutes and she still didn’t feel clean.

Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the water. Her lower lip had turned raw with how much she’d bitten it to try and stifle her cries.

Over and over, the scene kept playing in her mind.

Leon’s erection pressed against her thigh.

Each time she recalled the feeling, she gagged and heaved dryly. With her stomach empty, there was nothing left to expel. So she scrubbed her skin all over again.

I thought I was over it.

I should have been over it! My therapist said...she said...it’s been years. It’s been fucking years! Why do I still...

Her thoughts couldn’t even be completed. She bit back a heart-wrenching cry, tugging at her hair till a few strands came loose. The pain was nothing compared to the tingling on her skin, or the way her brain kept tormenting her by replaying memories from her old life.

Memories that she buried under hours of expensive therapy.

Memories she thought were gone forever, till they came back.

A low knock sounded on the bathroom door, causing her to jerk. "Are you okay?" A soft voice whispered. Ray.

A smile came to Anna’s face. Instinctively. "I’m okay! Do you want to take a shower before you leave?!"

Ray was silent. So silent she thought he’d left.

"You’re crying. Why?"

Anna’s smile wobbled. Tears filled her eyes afresh. She slapped both hands over mouth, crouching down, her wet hair falling over her like a protective cover.

Ray didn’t say anything else. She barely heard him leave over the rush of blood and water in her ears.

Her eyes darted to the fallen sponge. She picked it up. And continued to scrub her skin.

In the second room, Kai had Leon slammed against the wall, his broken arm twisted at an odd angle behind his back.

"What did you do to her?!" Kai yelled, his voice deeper than usual his eyes flashed white, his features already shifting.

Leon winced, a dry chuckle punching out of him. He looked over his shoulder, his expression calm, unlike that of a man about to have his arm ripped off clean. "I never took you as her lap dog, Kai. Turns out I was wrong."

"You’re dead." Kai hissed, twisting Leon’s arm even harder till his shoulder popped out of position.

Leon groaned, still laughing. "Be careful now. Remember your beast form will die on land, let’s not get ahead of ourselves."

"Kai! Stop it! Now is not the time!" Ray rushed in, horrified at the scene before him.

Kai didn’t pay him any heed. Instead, he pulled Leon to face him and delivered a bone breaking blow to his face. Leon dodged it, swiftly putting distance between them.

"Will you calm down?" He asked, grabbing his dislocated shoulder before forcefully snapping it back together. He stood upright, his frame wobbling a bit, but his eyes full of mischief.

Kai lunged. His claws raised, his fangs bared, all his bloodlust turned up to the max. Before he could rip Leon’s face to shreds, the door burst open.

"They’re here!" Tristan screamed from the doorway.

All eyes turned to him. "What?" Ray asked, his eyes wide.

Tristan struggled to control his breathing. His normally neat and composed exterior was ruffled, sweat dripping down his brow, his hair and eyes wild. "The Dream Weavers! They’re here!"

"What are you talking about?" A tired voice spoke behind him.

"Anna!" Kai immediately abandoned his anger and ran over to her. His face smoothed over, and his claws and fangs retracted the moment he saw her bloodshot eyes and pale cheeks. "What happened? Are you feeling sick? Is everything okay?"

Anna nodded, avoiding his touch.

Ray walked up to her, his eyes kind and worried. "Your hands..." he gestured to her bright red skin but she quickly hid them behind her. Ray and Kai exchanged a look, and together they turned to Leon, who was staring at them with mild amusement. They both wanted to rip him apart.

"What’s going on?" Anna asked.

"Nothing at all." Kai said immediately. "You look tired. You should go back and rest."

"Are you not listening to me?! The entire inn is surrounded and—"

A loud scream cut Tristan off.

Followed by another. And another. Till the air was filled with anguished screams. They rattled the walls, settling deep in Anna’s bones.

She instinctively hugged herself, her fingers fisted tightly into her sleeves as her eyes scared as she looked around. Guests ran out of their rooms, screaming, and fighting invisible monsters. They stumbled into one another, paused, and began to fight each other. Claws, fangs, some even shifting into their beast forms.

"What...what’s going on?" Anna’s voice trembled.

"Dream Wea—" Leon started to say.

"They’re showing them illusions." Tristan cut in sharply. "This is the work of Dream Weavers. There must be dozens of them to affect this scale of people."

"That’s what i was saying," Leon huffed.

"Shut up." Kai spat.

"Can we all stay focused?!" Tristan yelled above the noise. "Get inside? Everyone! Now!"

"No way! I’m not going into the same room as him!" Anna yelled, shaking her head vehemently.

"He won’t touch you, I swear on my life." Kai said, all traces of a smile gone from his face.

"Now!" Tristan yelled, as a crow beast man turned and took notice of them, beady red eyes narrowing in challenge.

Kai held Anna’s hand as they ducked into the room, Tristan and Ray following, before they slammed the door shut.

"This is bad." Tristan muttered under his breath. Outside the window, the sun finally disappeared from the sky. "All our plans are ruined and we’re stuck her for who knows how long!0

Anna stayed as far from Leon as she could, not even looking at him. The screams made her heart race, but somehow the fear felt distant and diluted. She didn’t feel real, like somehow she’d left her spirit in the bathroom. She was aware of Tristan talking, trying to come up with a plan for escape. She heard Leon trying to one-up the conversation. She heard Kai shoot them both down.

Then, she felt a whoosh of cold, metallic tasting air.

A presence materialized beside her.

At the corner of her eye, something sharp and silvery glinted in the air, like a million particles of mirrors. It formed a body. A male body. Slender and tall, dressed in a brilliant white and gray military unicorn. Turning slowly, she watched as his face formed. Long, silver hair, watery gray eyes, a face so handsome it could captivate men and women. A smile cut and pasted from a fashion magazine.

The man turned.

His eyes met with Anna’s.

All the noise in her head went quiet. For two seconds, she relished in the silence. Then she realized it was all around her too. The chaos of the inn was gone, as if someone had turned the volume to zero.

Tristan wasn’t talking. Leon wasn’t either. And Kai...

Anna heard a dull thud. An arm on her foot, one that wasn’t there before.

Tearing her eyes away from the strange man was difficult. And when she was able to glance down, she saw Kai’s unconscious body.

Ray too. And Leon.

A scream ripped out of her throat.

"There’s no need to be afraid, your highness. Your husbands aren’t dead, they’re only taking a nap." The man said in a cold and robotic voice that tried to sound friendly. Anna knew in that moment what he was.

"What have you done?!" She screamed, her eyes trembling, her heart threatening to burst.

He took a step to the center of the room, calmly surveying the space. A disgusted look appeared on his face. "Just a small dose of my nanites. They should be asleep for a couple of hours. But don’t worry, it’s a low dose, you should be able to heal them in no time."

"Keep her out of this." Tristan growled, and Anna realized that he was still conscious.

"Keep her out of it? You must be joking." The Empath laughed. Gooseflesh covered Anna’s skin. That laugh was like listening to a faulty AI attempt a human laugh. Everything about it was so wrong.

Anna pressed her back into the wall. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her chest tightened and she couldn’t breath. the first signs of a panic attack showing. She hadn’t had one in years.

"Wake them up." Anna hissed, trying to sound brave only for her voice to end up shaking. "Now."

The Empath turned to Leon’s body. "Including him? Don’t you want him dead in the worst ways possible?"

She frowned. How did you know...

"How did I know what you’re thinking? Your memories? Didn’t your dear friend here explain how we work?"

"Anna, don’t listen to him. He’s an Empath, they can act as Dream Weavers too. Don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth!"

"What did you mean by...we?"

"Ah!"

"Anna!" Tristan yelled, his voice full of urgency. "You need to leave! I’ll handle this!"

Anna would have ran. But she couldn’t leave Kai and Ray behind. Leon was easy, she would offer him up as a sacrifice if it meant Kai and Ray would be fine.

She clenched her fists, focusing her spores on her hands.

The tightening in her chest got terribly worse. Hot tears stung her eyes, and dark spots encroached into her vision.

Her spores turned black. Like the center of a black hole.

She controlled them, reeling them in till they formed two sharp ends like swords.

Then she aimed right at the Empath.

[Ding!]

Her hands froze midair.

[Final task 1/2; do not harm the Empath. Failure to comply will result in point erasure and permanent goal change denial. Goodluck, hostie!]