Bloodline 

Sounds of screams echoed throughout the dormitory hall. Briar, with violent force, slammed the silk pillow onto Dahlia’s face. Dahlia hyperventilated as if she had just seen a ghost. The sounds around her were blurred but she could hear the faint, distinct voice of Estelle telling her to breathe. Her voice carried the tune of a lullaby, soft and gentle, and managed to calm her down. They looked at her, expecting an answer for rising out of her sleep to become an alarm clock for their floor but she didn’t intend on elaborating.

“I just had a nightmare. Sorry for screaming.” she said, almost devoid of emotion.

Estelle and Briar shared a look of concern but they didn’t push.

The truth was hard to put into an easy-to-swallow pill, so she didn’t. If she had told them about the brutal killings of her family and the dark figure sitting on the throne with a pearly neon white smile in her dream, they would think she needed help. She didn’t want to burden them with her feelings, so she kept quiet and calm even if she wanted to burst into tears. 

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Dahlia went through her classes but was distracted by her nightmare continuously flashing through her brain in amplifying pain. She tried to ignore it, focus on the intricate architecture of the classroom. The large room with ivory walls decorated with the symbols of each kingdom and the beautiful gold molding suddenly felt suffocatingly small. It felt like some form of torture from someone wanting to steal her place as next in line. She was convinced that her defiant behavior and need to run away from her responsibilities got her cursed. If she hadn’t gone into the commoners’ magic shop, she probably would’ve been fine. She could hear Briar’s voice saying “Lia loves living on the edge. One day she’s going to fall.”

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She walked into the last place she visited before the visions started. Dahlia walked around looking at the brightly colored potions in uniquely shaped glasses. Her eyes wandered to the decorated walls and she found a framed picture captivating. It was a photograph of the employee as a child. It reminded Dahlia of a picture she has of her father at 7. The picture presumably had her mother and father in it, but the man’s face was burned out of the picture. She was quickly pulled out of her trance when the woman spoke loudly. 

“Can I be of any assistance?”

“I came to this store two weeks ago and have been plagued with a nightmare. My friends convinced me this store might be the reason why…”

“I know there’s rumors about this store being haunted, possessed, cursed, or whatever word you royals might have been fed to stay away from here but all the “commoners” that come here can tell you that they’re fine.” 

She laughed while saying that and Dahlia found her expression to be very familiar. 

“If you’ll let me, I can recommend a product that will end the nightmare.”

Dahlia hesitated but nodded in agreement. She looked for her name tag and said “Thank you, Mara.”

Mara passed Dahlia three jars of potions and told her to wait while she grabbed something from the back. The bottles slipped out of her hands. In an instant, purple liquid surrounded her shoes and her hand started to bleed. She bent to the floor to try and contain the mess but only managed to create a pool of blood. Dahlia apologized to Mara when she came back but she said it was fine. She gave her the glittery green potion retrieved from the back and patched up her cut. Dahlia wanted to help clean but time deemed otherwise as she didn’t want to be caught leaving school grounds. She glanced back through the window and saw Mara on the floor cleaning. She still had that smile she gave her throughout their interaction as if she was happy about the mess and that left Dahlia with a sour taste on her tongue.

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The flashes of her nightmare ended but her waking nightmare had just begun. Her body felt weak like a rag doll you could easily pull the limbs off of. A mysterious red line increased in length on her arm each day. She hid this from her roommates by wearing long sleeves and was determined to solve the problem on her own. She had a bulletin board populated with pages, pictures, and papers, playing the part of a seasoned detective. She would spend her days at the library researching curses, fixated on decoding the puzzle. Through her research, she discovered the caster of the spell needed to be related to her and have her blood. The red line was The Line of Blood and the larger it became, the more pain she would face until an induced coma or death. The textbooks weren’t clear but regardless, she was in a time crunch. She was more concerned with creating a cure over solving a whodunnit case. She wondered if becoming queen was worth it if at sixteen she was already being threatened. 

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As the clock ticked by, Dahlia came to the daunting realization that she couldn’t do this alone. She wasn’t getting anywhere in her research. Reading the fourteenth textbook about reversal spells but to no avail. She recited in her mirror what she would say to her roommates. They knew about the constant threats to their positions, they could help, all she had to do was ask. She was anxious, her voice cracking and smile faltering but she was done battling the person in the mirror. She pushed down her fears as Estelle and Briar pushed the door.

“Hey Lia! Is everything okay?”

“I need your help.” She extended her arm out and pulled her sleeve.

“The Line of Blood. I’ve seen this before, it happened to my cousin.” Briar said while stepping up to examine her arm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner. I didn’t want to bother-“

“Hey, don’t say that. You’re not bothering us. We’re going to help you. And we’ll solve this problem together.”

“Yeah, we’re both smarter than you, so you should’ve told us immediately. It’s okay though, I already have a plan.” 

They all laughed at Briar’s comment and huddled into hug, holding Dahlia’s fragile body so close she could smell jasmine and rose and it made her feel safe.

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“Are you sure this is going to work, Bri?”

“Do you think my mother would have let me borrow the most precious magic object in my family if she didn’t trust me? The easiest way to get rid of a spell through the caster. I promise this is going to work. You’ll make a great Dahlia, I believe in you!”

Estelle used the reflective mirror, an enhanced artifact that allows the user to take the appearance of someone else, in this case Dahlia. The real Dahlia stayed in their room, finally giving her body well deserved rest. They walked into the potions store to enact their plan. 

It was simple to find the culprit after Dahlia detailed the events. They didn’t exactly know how the two were related but they were certain she was the one.

“Hi Mara! So nice to see you again! I just wanted to thank you in person for getting rid of my nightmare, truly miraculous.” Estelle smiled wide and was showing off her arms in a sleeveless black dress. Mara’s eyes grew wide in confusion, heavily focused on her.

“Wow. I never thought I’d be getting praise from a princess…” She walked up to her and examined her arm but did not notice Briar circling her. She pushed Estelle out of the way and placed a blue gem, that she borrowed from the security guard, on the floor. 

“What is this?!” Mara banged on the air and tried to escape but it was no use.

“I’m going to make this simple for you. We have guards waiting outside to take you into custody. All you need to do is remove the spell from Dahlia. Don’t try to deny it or you will regret being born.” Estelle said sternly.

“I already regret being born! I should be the one on the throne, in your fancy school! My father abandoned me, but he can be all smiles when he’s in power with a new daughter?” The jealousy and violence appeared through her piercing green eyes.

“That’s no excuse to torture a child who had no say in any decision. Give it up, you lose.”

She followed their request and removed it. She screamed the same chant over and over, “I will take the throne.” but they knew there was no escape for people who commit treason. 

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Dahlia watched as the red line disappeared and her confidence was regained. She knew that no matter how many people tried to knock her down, she would have allies to fight battles with her and that is what mattered most.