Greetings! I apologize for how long it took for this chapter to be published. The next one shall be submitted in a week or two!
Gottfried groaned and felt the back of his head. There was a painful lump. The power from the stone had flung him into the trunk of a nearby tree. "Fuck," he moaned, trying to focus his vision. He pulled himself up against the tree and looked across to see Gretchen in the opposite direction, still unconscious.
"Shit, shit, shit," Gottfried repeated under his breath as he leapt to her. He put his hands on the sides of her head and tried to shake her awake. Her hair had turned white. Gottfried patted her cheek and said, "Get up!"
Gretchen's eyes fluttered open. She gave him a look of confusion. "What's going on?" she asked nervously.
Gottfried grabbed her jaw and forced her to face him. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, that's what."
"Okay," she replied uneasily, her eyes darting around their surroundings despite his hold on her face. "Remind me, who are you again?" she asked.
He couldn't tell if she was trying to manipulate him or if she was just stupid. "Don't you try and play games with me Gretchen, I'm not a fucking moron."
Gretchen's face was not one of fear, but bewilderment. "Is that me?" she asked, pointing to herself.
Gottfried gave her a harsh slap on the face. "Snap out of it," he growled when she yelped and reached for her cheek.
When her only reaction was her eyes widening almost innocently, Gottfried grasped at her hair and pulled her scalp, keeping her as still as he could. "Don't move," he said impatiently. He pressed his fingers at the base of her skull.
To Gretchen, it felt as though his fingers had slipped into her mind, prodding and poking her brain. She froze in place, her eyelids feeling as if they were being pulled back by rubber bands. She saw Gottfried's eyes turn into a glaze, his pupils dilating until they were nothing but black pools staring aimlessly at her. She wanted to scream as she watched them start to roll into the back of his head.
Meanwhile Gottfried had started to explore her mind. He was standing alone in complete darkness. He looked at his surroundings, but everything was blank. No memories, no feelings, nothing. There was no noise, no internal dialogue from the past to be heard.
He started to walk through the void, searching. When he did stumble upon something it was Hedy, her familiar, in a long deep sleep. Hedy had also turned from a dark blue to a pearly white. That was not good. When his search was clearly futile, he carefully slipped out of her mind.
Gretchen felt his fingers leave the base of her skull. It had not hurt, but it had been incredibly uncomfortable. She watched Gottfried's eyes roll forward, the glaze enveloping them disappeared and his pupils returned to a somewhat normal size.
Gretchen shuddered. That was not natural and had not looked comfortable. It hurt her own eyes thinking about it.
Gottfried backed away from her. His entire plan of exacting his revenge had been destroyed. He wanted to punish her for a lifetime of abuse, but if she did not remember abusing him, was it really revenge?
Gretchen had seem to become aware of her nudity, covering herself in the cloak and fiddling with the bell around her neck. "What's happening?" she asked curiously, taking in their surroundings.
Gottfried's eye twitched and his fists clenched so hard as to almost unbearable. He had waited too long for this, and it was over before it barely started. 'I just need to think,' he thought, trying to quell his frustration.
"Get up," he said sharply.
Gretchen arose, looking at him without a glimmer of fear in her eyes. Her expression was one of awe, as if seeing things for the first time.
This only angered Gottfried more. He wanted to see her hard and superior behavior so he could tear it down, show her who was better. He wanted her to know who was the one to finally defeat her. He needed that satisfaction. He didn't need a random girl to demean, he needed Gretchen. She deserved it.
He took a deep breath, attempting to control the twitch in his eye. "Follow me," he demanded. To his surprise she did without hesitation. They met Basil and the elk still dutifully staying next to the inn.
"Where are we going?" Gretchen asked as he mounted the elk.
Gottfried didn't reply. His frustration was making it hard to concentrate.
"Can I get on?" she asked, stepping to the side of the elk.
"No," he spat.
That did not seem to discourage or affect her. She still seemed absorbed in their surroundings and questioning everything around her. Gottfried grumbled and they started to make their way onto a wide path in the forest.
He did not have to call her with the bell. She did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation, who she was following willingly. Ideas of her fate whirled in his mind, almost too fast to focus on one at a time.
He could kill her. He would get a significant amount of satisfaction from it. He had planned on dragging this out much longer. Savor every bit of her humiliation and pain. Killing her so soon would only be a fleeting joy.
He could go along as if she never lost her memories, still exact the revenge he had wanted for so long. But if she did not know the reason for his need for vengeance, what was the point?
"What are we doing?" she asked for a third time.
"Don't talk to me."
"Are we going somewhere?"
"I said shut up," he grumbled, his patience wearing thinner with each question.
"Who are you? Are you my friend?" she asked, tripping over a tree root.
Gottfried stopped the elk. He dismounted and approached Gretchen, standing over with a threatening look.
