Chapter 6

The Dream of Candied Light

That night, cradled in Elias Voss’s arms, Lena slipped into a dream as soft and luminous as dawn breaking over still water.

She was five years old.

The world shimmered with the gentle haze of childhood memory. She lay in a hospital bed that felt more like a cloud than steel and linen. Pain had wrapped around her small, broken body like thorns legs shattered at different places, ribs bruised and broken, the world too loud and too sharp until he appeared. Every touch of the nurses sent agony through her fragile small body. One moment she was playing around their small house and the next moment She rememberd light too bright, flattened into white edges and then the strange feeling that the ground wasn’t where it had been a moment before. Not falling exactly. More like the world shifting its decision about where she was supposed to be. She was hit by a car. Hard. From that moment anything she remembered was only deep agonizing pain. Until he came. Every other doctor said that her back was broken in places that they couldn’t fix. Or if touched she may become paralysed forever. Many doctors came, shook their head and went. Her mother was just silently crying. Praying for a miracle.

Young Dr. Elias Voss...

He was taller than memory could properly hold, with kinder eyes than the steel they would later become. His dark hair fell slightly across his forehead as he leaned over her. He went over her chart and then reviewed her MRI. A soft, reassuring smile curved his lip, the kind of smile that made the monsters under the bed retreat. When he spoke, his voice was warm honey poured over gentle thunder.

“I will take care of this. The pain is going to go away now, sweetie,” he had promised, touching her forehead with careful, steady fingers. “I’m going to fix everything. You just hold my hand and be brave for me.”

And she had believed him.

In the dream, she watched herself tiny, fragile, curls wild even then. Her small fingers reach for his hand. He took it with infinite care, as though her fingers were made of the finest glass. She remembered the operating room lights blooming like stars above her, and how he had worked on her broken body with hands that seemed to command miracles. Every movement had been precise, careful, protective. Until she Drifted into unconsciousness.

When she woke from surgery, the pain had indeed vanished, replaced by a floating lightness. He had been there, sitting beside her bed, holding a small paper bag filled with brightly wrapped candies reds, golds, and pinks that glittered like jewels in the sunlight.

“For my bravest patient,” he had said, placing one gently in her tiny palm. His smile was radiant.

Her mother had stood nearby, voice thick with tears and worry. “We have nothing, Doctor. I can’t possibly pay for this kind of care...”

Young Elias had simply shaken his head, his expression soft with quiet compassion. “I don’t want your money. I only want her to smile and to run again.”

On the day of her discharge, he had appeared one final time. In his hands was the most beautiful doll she had ever seen porcelain-faced with dark curls like her own, wearing a little white dress. He had knelt to her level and placed it in her arms.

“So you remember that you are strong,” he whispered, brushing a curl from her forehead. “And that someone in this world will always look after you. I will come for you little Lena. Just wait for me.”

Lena, only five, had thrown her small arms around his neck and hugged him with all the fierce love her childish heart could hold and laughed. A carefree happy laugh. In that moment, he had been the kindest person in the entire universe.

The dream began to dissolve like morning mist, but not before she saw his younger face one last time smiling down at her with something deep, protective, and eternal shining in his eyes.

Lena stirred slightly in the present, naked and warm in the arms of the man who now held her with far darker possession. A single tear slipped from beneath her closed lashes and disappeared into the pillow.

She finally remembered him. Why had he become this monster?

And the terrifying truth settled over her even in sleep: the gentle savior of her childhood and the merciless master who now owned her were the very same man.

Fractured Light

Lena drifted back into uneasy sleep after the dream. When she finally opened her eyes again, the sun stood high in the sky, pouring golden light across the marble floors of her bedroom. It was already well past noon.

She sat up slowly, naked beneath the silk sheets, her breasts still tender by the memory of his hands. They felt heavy and had red marks, her nipples sore. A deep flush crept across her skin as fragments of the previous night returned, the pink drink, the forced pleasure, the terrifying gentleness of his threats.

A single folded note rested on the pillow beside her.

My little girl. Take a shower. Dress. Go to the dinning room for food. No underwear, little girl. Complete your lab work. Study diligently. Be ready for your test at 8 pm. Come to my office.