"When he returned home, he was changed. Something about him was different." Melina had continued her story into the night, noticing how the wood in the fireplace became piles of ash, and the moon was higher outside her window. She sighed and looked over to Kalliás, who had passed out in his bed. She chuckled to herself and stood up. The woman made sure to close the curtains and block out any light that would expose the young man as being in her home. Though worried, she knew that she could never get in the way of love, even if it meant hiding a prince from royal guards.

As she prepared herself for bed, Melina walked over to the prince and kissed the crown of his head before setting her things down on her chaise, deciding it was best to sleep there rather than sleeping in her bedroom. Tying up her red hair, she yawned and laid down, humming softly to herself to fall asleep. It was a great couple of days for Kalliás thanks to Melina. He was able to pause and rest, eat good food, and enjoy conversation with someone who didn't want to use him for their gain.

Though, a time of rest is short-lived in a world like this. That would become the hardest realization for the prince when he slept in the safety of the bed to find that when he stirred awake, he noticed a quiet tapping at the glass beside his bed. His hand coming up and felt little beads of sweat; had he had a nightmare? His eyes scanned across the dark room, and Zafeiri tucked into his right arm, and Melina turned over in a deep sleep. The atmosphere made him feel sluggish and weak, much like the time following the ceremony with Vasilios by the water fountain.

Tapping continued on the window, the bones of the house creaking and swaying with the quiet sway of wind whistling around the outside. Kalliás swallowed nervously and would reach over for the candle at his bedside, lighting it carefully with an igniter and holding the candle up. He stood up from the bed, being careful not to upset his puppy friend, and began to walk over to the window where he had heard the tapping.

He neared closer and closer to the window, hands sliding over the curtain until his wrist was grabbed, and suddenly the light went out from dropping the candle. Kalliás jolted up from the bed, looking around the room in a frantic state and noticed Melina was not in the chaise, and the only one he had was Zafeiri asleep next to him. "Melina?" He called out, and a distant thudding came into the room. She had grabbed her cloak from the other room and looked concerned, "Are you alright, my dear?" She asked, coming to sit down on the bed beside him and wiped away the sweat on his brow with a cloth.

"I was running out to get you some fresh water. You've been having cold sweats every night since you've gotten here." Melina admitted, and Kalliás was still reeling from the nightmare he had just woken up from, though it felt so real...was he losing his mind? "Don't worry, I'll be back in a moment." Melina stood up and adjusted her dress and clock, feeling her hand was grabbed, and she looked down to the other in the bed.

"Don't leave me alone, please." He pleaded, and Melina grazed her hand over his cheek, "My sweet, it's alright. You stay here, and I'll be less than five minutes to get some water for you." She said, walking away from the bed and opened the front door, closing it, and Kalliás could see her shadow across the window as she went to the well out front. Kalliás swallowed nervously and leaned his back against the headboard.

However, his eyes caught a shadow over the bottom of the bed. Following up to see an apparition standing there and staring at him with pale yellow eyes like dying stars, his eyes widened, and Zafeiri began to wake up, his black fur standing on end. A ghastly apparition stood over the end of the bed, speaking clearly. "We have waited for the lotus prince to become fruitful. The time is now for you to serve your purpose." The voice spoke in a haunting resonance, and the prince tensed up, hearing Zafeiri beginning to bark.

Vasilios was doing everything in his power in this form to deter the monstrosity from causing any harm. You will not touch him! Don't you know who I am? Vasilios thought to himself, though only pitiful barks came from the little pup, and the apparition sprouted tendrils that wrapped around the prince's legs, pulling him down onto his back, and he screamed out, "MELINA!" He begged the gods that she could hear him, the tendrils squeezing over his thighs and hips until they fully ensnared his lower half, his eyes desperately looking to the window where Melina's shadow once was. Zafeiri aggressively stared biting the tendrils around Kalliás' legs.

Unfortunately, Melina was out of the house and pulling the rope to get the bucket full of fresh water from the well. She was humming and would get a

chill up her spine, gasping and looking towards her house. Something felt deeply unsettling about the quietness inside, and she held her bucket tightly, walking towards the house and trying to open the door, and it wouldn't budge. "Kalliás! Open the door!" She called out and began knocking rapidly, holding her bucket firm against her waist.

"Kalliás, please open the door. You'll give me a fright-" She began, trying to push the door open until she heard the scream. Her blue eyes became distraught, and she began to hurdle her body at the door, banging onto the wood over and over again until finally the door budged, and she entered. The candles were smoky from the little fires going out, and the bed was empty. Kalliás and the pup, gone in an instant. Melina, overcome with guilt, fell to her knees and dropped the water bucket that soaked the tattered rug.