Hey everyone! Fangirling Heart is officialy a college girl and here to give you chapter 14! So withou- Oops, almost forgot! Warning: The following chapter contains mentions of death and blood, just so you know. Okay, now where were- Oh, right! Without further ado, let's get to the story.

A small thud was heard as a little girl's body fell on the floor and the castle was (finally) quiet again. Gothel sighed and smiled, looking at the small light blue accessory in her now wrinkleless hands. She was holding it so carefully and delicately, almost like she was holding a baby, as she turned to one of the four large, gold cabinets in the other side of the dark room she was in.

They say giving life is the most wonderful thing in the world... She thought, opening it, revealing hundreds of those small accessories. But taking it feels so much better!

She placed the accessory with the rest, before closing the cabinet again. Then she looked at the little girl lying on the floor. Her little dark brown eyes closed tight, her body pale, unmoving, lifeless...

"Was that the last one?" Gothel asked one of her men, who was standing guard not very far away.

He answered with a nod.

"Good. Put it with the rest and send them all to the tailors. When they're ready, come get me. Oh, and if my cloak is ready, bring it to me." She said, turning her attention to a cauldron nearby, while the man bowed and left, carrying the girl's body in his arms.

Scowling, Gothel took a ladle and gathered in it some of the dark red liquid that was in the cauldron. She looked at it carefully, making sure the color was right, before bringing the ladle closer to her face to take a sniff. As soon as she did, a smell of damaged flesh filled her nostrils.

"It seems that it's ready." She said as she poured the liquid in a small bottle. "You three! Get over here and get this to the damaged ones." She ordered other three of her men, as she turned away from the cauldron, the bottle still in her hands. "I have to take care of my guest."

Darkness. Pitch black darkness all around, pushed away only slightly by a small green glow.

A thundering heartbeat, a racing mind, a jolt of adrenaline, and in between some shallow breaths, barely reaching the lungs.

...

Steps from behind echo louder and louder. They're coming closer and closer... They're close enough to shoot arrows and they're still speeding up. They're coming for them, for him!

No. No! No! NO!

It's time for work. Stay back, bring out the sword.

Fight, protect-

...!

... ...!

No sound, no vision, no balance. For a moment everything fades, leaving nothing but pain, a hoarse sensation and blood on a gloved hand, that had moved instinctively, if only to temporarily shield at least one of the wounds-

The moment was abruptly over. No matter how much it hurt, it had to!

Keep standing, keep fighting, there are only four left.

Three.

Four?

Five?!

Steps. Heavy, fast steps and behind them, chitterings of a raccoon...!

...!

That moment...

No...

That moment was being repeated, but more intense.

No...! Must fight, must stand!

Can'-

No!...

...!

The glow had faded, the steps and the chitterings had stopped.

Everything had stopped. Except for the pain.

Scratches of blades, punches, kicks... All of them the result of some blind, vain attempt at resistance. Of a few foolish (perhaps even pathetic) swings of a glowing sword, which was somehow still held in an aching, red hand.

Until a voice screamed something in the distance. Something that sounded only slightly like the word 'Enough!', and then everything faded. Even the pain. And in the final split seconds two things slipped.

A sword and a quiet plea:

"Forgive me..."

Quirin opened his eyes (honestly surprised that he could), feeling nothing but an indescribably horrible taste in his mouth. And upon opening them, he came face to face with the one person he definitely didn't want to see.

"Welcome back. Perfect timing." Gothel said simply, her face expressing fake joy, her hands holding a small empty bottle.

Quirin made an abrupt move to stand, earning himself a sharp ache all over his body, but he didn't even sit up. Instead he fell back on the bed he was lying on, pulled by a metallic, steely grip around each of his wrists and ankles. Taking a look at himself (as good as he could), he saw that he was not only chained on that bed, but he also had bandages wrapped around both of his arms, his feet and his middle. This was either a joke or a dream (most likely a nightmare, just about to get worse.).

"Easy there. You shouldn't move, unless you want my medicine to backfire." She said coldly.

"Me-medicine...?" He said with disbelief in his voice, giving her a black look. It just kept getting better...

"A special potion of my own design, thank you, which I like to call 'Crawling Flesh'." She explained, looking back at him with a glare mirroring his own, the only difference between them, that loathsome smirk on her lips. "As the name suggests, it makes the torn skin 'crawl', thus mending and healing wounds. However, it takes some time to start working, and if the drinker just can't stand still and keeps moving and flailing all the time, then the skin will lose its balance and instead of closing, the wounds will keep opening, until all of the drinker's skin is off. Under different circumstances, nothing would make me happier than watching this, but if I really wanted you dead, I'd have let my... my pawns finish you off back there."

"Dare I ask why you didn't?" Quirin inquired, hiding dread behind his glare.

Gothel's smirk faded, before she turned away and walked to a nearby window.

"I don't know and I don't care if you'll believe me... but I'm not as heartless as you think. Besides, you out of all people should know that even a witch has a heart. That even a witch can trust and love and find a family." She said, staring outside, her tone only shy of gentle. "Until someone comes and destroys it all. Until someone comes and takes away every family she's ever had!" Slowly her voice was changing to a growl and then to a roar, but for a split second, something hanged from her words, before she quickly forced it to fall by gritting her teeth.

Pain. A pain she fought hard to overcome, and in the end, let go. She wasn't gonna let it show again. She wasn't gonna spill another tear. Especially for the last family she lost. She swallowed hard, before she continued, her voice dripping with venom:

"But then again, family equals love, and in this world love equals downfall. Perfect examples: Me, you... and soon your son!"

Quirin's eyes widened in fear. So that's why she wanted him alive. Varian had got away from her, and now she wanted a bargaining chip.

"He may have got away now, but he won't be hiding forever." Gothel said smirking again, as she walked towards the door. "Especially if he learns that I'm taking care of his dearest daddy, whom I suppose he would never fight against, right?"

Quirin thrashed against his chains, no matter how much it hurt to move, his eyes fixed on her, burning with wrath.

"Oh, come on, don't fume over that. Remember what happens if you move too much. Besides, he was never meant to have a happy ending, anyway. Just like you. Both of you." And with that, she left the room, locking the door behind her.

And that's all for now! See you guys next time! I own nothing. Please leave a review. :)