Gwin licked his still numb gums as he walked through the halls of the heavily armored compound. The sound of hurried footsteps and muffled sobs echoed in the steel hallways.
Gorgeous deep blue banners hung on the sleek and tasteful silver walls. Gwin did not have time to stand in awe of the inside of the stronghold like he would have on any other day. He was currently very busy getting ready for his first nightmare.
Or at least that's what his dad had been telling him. Gwin felt like he was getting ready for his own funeral. He struggled to keep up with the awakened walking beside him. A yawn began creeping its way up his throat.
'So fast'
He let out an annoyed sigh as he picked up the pace to catch up
'I wanna run'
He wanted to escape his impending trial. Gwin relented the fantasy knowing it would not matter where he was, the spell would take him all the same.
Gwin gulped heavily trying to suppress the nausea he was feeling. The mood was incredibly somber. His mother and two sisters, Verene and Yura, were walking behind him. He couldn't bear the idea of looking back at them right now, plus that would be…..awkward.
'If I die here I might as well be cool before I do. I don't want them to remember me as a sniffling mess'
He mused. His faked bravado was the only thing keeping the terror and dread nestled in the bottom of his stomach from rushing up and destroying his already fragile composure. In truth Gwin couldn't be more scared. He wanted to live, he wanted to go back to school, even if he didn't have a single real friend there.
He tried to comfort himself before his soon-to-start trial. It wasn't working. His face was hot and the hallway was spinning. His carefully crafted personality was shedding off like dead skin leaving only his true self. Scared, weak, and completely hopeless.
He licked his incisors and winced. He could taste iron from a small cut on his tongue.His father had taken it upon himself to grind his front teeth into sharp points as a good luck ritual. Normally he would be completely against something that went so against his image but he did not care anymore. He had mostly stopped caring altogether, only able to maintain the bare minimum of his so-called "legacy pride".
'I'm not even a damn Legacy!'
The admission was more like a cry of outrage than the honest truth. He was indignant that the spell would choose him of all people.
'Is it because of my dad being awakened? Screw him!'
Gwin cast an indignant look at his father who was walking beside him. He was tall, just like Gwin was, standing at 6'3. He was wearing the under armor of one of his memories which looked strange compared to Gwins and the other mundane clothes. His face was clean shaved and his hair was long and shaggy from his extended time underwater.
Gwin stood a couple of inches shorter at 6 '0. They were taller than most since the tall ones usually get grabbed by flying abominations first making them unable to pass on the trait. Gwin cursed his bad luck for being so tall. His father's brow was furrowed casting deep shadows over his eyes and he wore a grim look which made Gwin want to run more than he already did.
'Damn it all!'
If only he could run though. His legs felt ready to give out as they approached the room he had been dreading since he was infected by this accursed spell. Large metal doors opened ahead of them with a hiss. They stepped into a narrow hallway, in front of them was another door with even more armor on it. It looked thick enough to stop a raging nightmare creature. On the left, another but slightly less armored door stood leading to an observation room.
'No...no…..no'
Gwin felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack. It was truly pitiful. Gwin had never shied away from flaunting his 'Legacy status'.
In truth he was far from being anything of the sort. His father was a low rank awakened within the house of the night which let them live comfortably with little worries for finances. In turn they worried whether their father would come back each time he went to sleep in his pod at the House of Night stronghold.
Gwin flaunted his fake Legacy scion status to his friends and the people at school. He had always held his head high around others even though he knew it was all an act.
The House of Night had hardly even allowed his father to use the holding cell for Gwin. The door in front opened with another loud hiss and the room beyond was revealed.
A large metal chair that looked straight out of a torture movie he had watched before came into view. It was adorned with countless straps and buckles all over meant to keep whoever was sitting on it in place while someone did gods know what to them.
'Should I feel happy about this glorified casket!?'
He bit the inside of his lip. It was a habit he had had forever. Instead of it allowing to release his stress he was met with the taste of iron once again as he bit through the inside of his lip.
"Damnit!"
He hissed angrily causing his father and the other awakened to turn to him. His mother and sisters had already entered the viewing room.
"What is it?"
His fathers stern voice echoed in the reinforced alloy room. The other awakened looked at him with a somber look as if he thought Gwin's calm facade had finally cracked showing the turmoil underneath.
"Ah, I bit through my lip!"
He licked the inside of his lip trying desperately to look cool despite his dire situations. His father looked at him with a knowing look for a moment and then unexpectedly drew him in for a hug.
"Come back to us."
He couldn't hide the pleading tone in his voice. Despite his father possessing inhumane strength and deadly weapons known as memories, he was currently powerless to save his own son having to instead leave his fate to the cruel and merciless nightmare spell.
"Yeah…"
He wanted to say something cool like "Lets go out to each when i get back" or "I wont keep you waiting long" but he was far too close to crying and any unnecessary words would make him start bawling in front of his father. His eyelids drooped, reminding him of his fate. He looked at the chair struggling to contain his dread. He walked towards it and sat down.