Elizabeth lay strapped to a bed that looked like something between a hospital cot and a torture rack. Padded restraints cinched around her wrists and ankles, holding her so securely that when an itch prickled the bridge of her nose, all she could do was sigh.
"I told you to call the moment the symptoms showed up, but no, you never listen to me."
Her brother's voice echoed in her mind. The imagined version of him stood by her bedside, arms folded, his expression tight with annoyance.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Relax. I was going to head to the nearest police station. After training. I'm not about to ruin my routine just because I got infected."
He flicked a finger toward her forehead. Or tried to. It passed through her skin without resistance.
"Your carelessness could have gotten other people killed if a nightmare creature had appeared," he said.
Elizabeth frowned. "So you're saying I'm going to die in my first Nightmare?"
His composure slipped. Panic flashed across his face before he smoothed it away. "No, I'm not saying you'll die...I think." He cleared his throat. "I'm saying you need to be careful. Reckless thinking gets people killed."
She knew he was right. She also knew she was absolutely not going to admit that. What kind of little sister would she be if she didn't argue back?
"Nuh-uh," she said.
"Yeah-huh," he shot back.
They bickered like that for a while, trading childish nonsense, until the metallic door to the room slid open with a hydraulic hiss. The sound sliced through her concentration. Her brother's image flickered, then vanished.
Tessie stepped inside with an unfamiliar man.
He was tall, with hollowed cheekbones and an aloof, almost bored expression. A fresh-looking scar carved a pale line across his face. One glance was enough to mark him as awakened. Elizabeth had learned to spot them on sight. Not just from their looks, though they were often sharper, more defined than most people. It was the invisible weight they carried, the subtle distance in their eyes, as if part of them still lingered in some other world.
She studied him and, unbidden, then another thought crossed her mind. Awakened and certain attractive mundane soldiers were almost indistinguishable at first glance. Maybe it was the thing they had in common with each other, the lingering aura of death. The trace of someone who had walked too close to the edge of death before and kept going. She was about to join them.
The man cleared his throat. "Your name is Elizabeth Hale, correct?"
"Yes, sir," she replied.
Something flickered in his stern face, too quick to name, before it settled back into blankness.
"I've contacted your family," he said.
Elizabeth's mouth thinned. She turned her head toward Tessie, who lifted both hands in a helpless gesture.
"Don't give me that look," Tessie said. "I thought they might want to know their daughter is about to face the Nightmare Spell."
'Traitor,' Elizabeth thought.
The man continued as if he hadn't seen her displeasure. "I'm sure you already know the basics of the Nightmare Spell and its trials."
She nodded.
"Remember this," he said. "Nightmare creatures aren't your only threat. You'll encounter people as well, constructs, illusions forged by the Spell. Don't trust them. They can kill you, and you may have to kill them. Don't hesitate."
Elizabeth held his gaze for a few seconds, then nodded again.
"Check your attribute and aspect as soon as you enter," he added. "The earlier you understand what you can do, the better your chances."
"Yes, yes, I will," she muttered.
He cleared his throat once more, as if shifting gears. "With the formalities out of the way… it's good to finally meet you, Elizabeth Hale. I've wanted to for a long time."
She frowned and glanced at Tessie. Tessie looked just as puzzled.
"I knew your brother, Cain," the man said. "I admired him. It is a shame he died so young."
The words were right. The tone however was wrong. Something in the way he said them curled the hair on the back of her neck. Elizabeth had the distinct impression that this man had never liked her brother at all.
"I wanted to return the favor and give him something to remember me by," he continued, fingers tracing the scar on his face. "This still hurts, you know. Even after all these years."
Pressure rolled through the room like a sudden change in air pressure. Elizabeth's lungs tightened and her vision tunneled for a moment. The man's gaze slid sideways, landing on Tessie the source of the pressure.
"Watch your words," she said, her voice low and cold. "Don't make them your last."
He sighed and adjusted his necktie, as if the brief spike of killing intent were nothing more than a breeze.
Elizabeth blinked between them and then let out a small laugh. "One of his haters, then?"
He didn't answer, but his silence said enough.
"Oh, do you hate that scar?" she asked lightly. "I think it suits you. Gives some character to an otherwise boring face. My brother was generous like that."
His jaw tightened. A fist clenched at his side before he forced his fingers to loosen. He shot Tessie a quick measuring, and calculating look, then turned toward the door.
"I wish you luck in the trial ahead," he said.
From the tone of his voice, she could tell he didn't mean it.
When the door shut behind him, Tessie exhaled sharply and sank into the chair beside the bed. "I wonder if his flaw has something to do with him being an asshole."
Elizabeth nodded. "Right? I really hope I don't end up with a flaw like that. I'd rather not be an insufferable jerk."
Tessie chuckled. Silence settled between them, gentler this time. Elizabeth broke it with the question that had been pressing at her since she got here.
"Do you think they'll come?" she asked.
Tessie's shoulders sagged. She knew exactly who Elizabeth meant. Her parents. "They'd better," she said. "If they don't, I'll have a very long conversation with them afterward."
Elizabeth laughed. "Do it when I'm there so I can see their faces."
Tessie gave her a sad, crooked smile.
"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. "Your life is about to change."
Elizabeth stared up at the ceiling. Honestly, she didn't know. Part of her buzzed with a sharp, guilty excitement at the thought of awakening, of finally stepping onto the same path her brother had walked. Another part felt distant, as if this were happening to someone else.
"Uh… okay, I guess?" she said.
"Okay as in 'my life is changing and I'm fine with that,' or okay as in 'too stressed to care'?"
"Both," Elizabeth said after a moment. "Probably both."
Tessie nodded. "If you say so."
They talked after that, letting the conversation drift from training to academy and work gossip to pointless, comforting nonsense. Time blurred. Eventually, the heaviness in Elizabeth's eyelids turned into a tangible weight. Each blink felt slower than the last.
"I don't think I have long," she said, with a yawn.
Tessie's expression hardened, fear slipping through the cracks in her composure.
"Are you worried about me?" Elizabeth asked.
Tessie studied her for a second, then reached out and ruffled Elizabeth's silky black hair, just as her brother always had, It seems to be a habit the two share. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."
Elizabeth smiled, the edges of the room softening. She really was sleepy, "At least you are. I don't know about Jennifer and Mael."
Those were her parents' names. She hadn't called them Mom and Dad in years. It felt wrong to use titles they never really earned. They had noticed the change, of course. Either they didn't care, or they were too busy to care.
Tessie's jaw clenched. "That conversation is definitely happening," she muttered.
Elizabeth's eyes grew heavier. Tessie's expression wavered, emotions rushing to the surface.
"Don't die, okay?" Tessie whispered.
The naked fear in her voice hit harder than she expected. If Elizabeth died, Tessie would fall apart. She had barely held herself together after Cain's death, clinging to Elizabeth as the last piece of him left in the world. Elizabeth knew that she, in turn, needed Tessie to stay grounded. If she disappeared, Tessie might break completely, drifting into the same cold distance that haunted so many awakened.
Guilt pricked at her. Is this how her brother felt, the day he left?
The memory rose back up in her mind, and Elizabeth forced a familiar smile onto her face. "Aw, how sweet," she said softly. "Don't worry. I'll be A-OK."
Tessie stared at that smile, stunned. Moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes. Was she really going to make a saint cry? That would be an achievement, not that she wanted it.
"Truly," Tessie murmured, "you are Cain's sister."
Elizabeth mustered the strength to roll her eyes. "I'm nothing like him."
"I'm nothing like her," her brother's voice echoed dryly in the back of her mind.
Darkness crept in from the edges of her vision. Her muscles loosened against the restraints. The world narrowed to Tessie's face and the steady beep of distant machines.
"I… I'll see you later, okay?" Elizabeth managed.
And then she let go.
The world dissolved into a soundless void. In the darkness, a warm, genderless voice bloomed inside her mind.
[Aspirant, welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial…]