and -
The sound of screaming filled the room. My screaming. Screaming over the pain of being torn apart and reassembled. Pain from being stripped of all energy within me. I was weak. Raw. Nothing.
What room was this? I saw faces. Faces near me, faces along the room's wall. They looked at me like they knew me. Did they? Did I know them? My legs buckled underneath me, weak like a colt's. One of the men standing near me reached out, but I scrambled backward, needing to escape. I couldn't let him touch me. Of that, I was certain. My mind had been shredded and ripped open. I didn't want to be touched in any other way. The floor was cold and smooth as I scurried over it, but I was stopped by a wall. At least, it felt like one. I saw nothing there, only a blue line upon the floor. The invisible wall was familiar and triggered fear. It reminded me of the box. I drew my knees up to me, trying to make myself small as I trembled.
The men near me - four of them - were speaking in a language I didn't know. They were arguing. One kept trying to come to me, but another stopped him. That one was terrifying. His features were nothing extraordinary - tall, with dark brown eyes and hair - but there was something about him that made me cold all over. There was power in him, power all around him. I could feel it and see it. It reminded me of sulfur. His eyes fell on me as he spoke harshly to the others, and I cringed further. I felt certain I knew him, but he still scared me.
Suddenly, another of the men exclaimed something and touched the dark-haired one's arm. This man was blond. I sensed power around him too, but it felt different. It was clean and crystalline. All four turned around, putting their backs to me as they stared at something. Nothing was there at first, then I began to see and feel it. A glowing purple orb appeared before them, becoming larger and larger. As it did, I saw it was more of a spiral, its arms whirling as it grew. The two men who didn't radiate power stepped back. If the unseen wall had let me, I too would have moved away.
Out of the purple light, two black forms suddenly materialized and stepped forward. Two black figures who were somehow luminescent at the same time and had brilliant blue eyes. My own eyes widened. I might not know anything else that was going on around me, but I knew them. I knew them, and I was going to kill them.
I'm not sure how I did it since there seemed to be no spark of life left within me, yet somehow, I mustered the strength to spring up and run toward them. My shrieked words were incoherent, but it didn't matter. Only their destruction did. I would rip them apart. I would make them suffer the way they'd -
Strong arms grabbed me, stopping me as surely as the wall had. It was the blond man, and his grip was like iron. "Let me go!" I screamed. "Let me go! I'll kill them! I'll kill them both!"
The dark-haired man glanced back toward us. "Do not let her go," he said mildly, this time in a language I understood. I fought in vain against the arms but made no progress.
The dark-haired man turned to the Oneroi. "This isn't your world," he said.
"We've come for what's ours," said one of the Oneroi. "You took her."
"I took back what was mine," the dark-haired man countered. "You stole her."
"We won her. She came to us of her own free will."
The dark-haired man snorted. Jerome, I suddenly remembered. His name was Jerome. "We have different definitions of 'free will,'" he said.
"We want her back," protested the Oneroi.
"You're taking nothing back," countered Jerome, voice hard. "Go before I change my mind."
I'd gone slack while they spoke, but now my fury was renewed. I struggled again. "Let me kill them!" I screamed. "Jerome, it's my right! Let me destroy them!"
Jerome turned back, maybe surprised I'd used his name. "I don't think you're in any shape to kill anything."
"It's my right," I said. "After what they did - they'll suffer like I did. I will shred them. I'll rip their souls out!"
"They don't have souls," he said dryly. "But I like your enthusiasm." He