Devil's Prisoner

Chapter 1-Part I

"Where am I?" Ria wonders.

She is sitting on something constantly swaying, rocking, and moving forward step by step with a four-beat gait. Her feet are off the ground, so she can't rely on them to stabilize and balance her body.

Strangely, Ria doesn’t feel scared at all.

A warm hug from behind holds her waist and secures her in place. The hugger and she are sitting so close to each other. His breath is tickling her ears and his chest is massaging her back. Love, care, and affection radiate from his body constantly, and Ria receives them as full of desires. Their souls are tied to each other so tightly, that they merge into one. The binding is from the previous life, inherits it now and will continue passing to the next ones, and goes on and on, as long as the word "forever" is defined.

The hugger carries a unique scent—fresh and aquatic, like the forest after the rain. This blue petrichor scent easily calms down all of Ria's anxieties. She has absolutely nothing to be scared of in his arms, with his protection.

Gradually, her vision becomes clearer and more focused. In front of her, she sees a white, long, thin, furry neck decorated with delicate white roses and glimmering gold coins. After a few seconds, she surprisingly realizes she is astride a horse, riding double with her hugger.

From this angle, she could only see her sleeves and his of their outfits. Hers are made with luxury, white, French laces. Hundreds of diamond beadings are embroidered in a unique, sophisticated pattern that sparks under the sun. His are made of high-end white linen, and the same patterns are decorated on both cuffs.

Twenty musicians hold different instruments, play the most joyful melody, and walk in the front. The special "red carpet" created with the petals of the roses, romantically leads them to an octagonal church. The air is saturated with the sweetest taste of love. The crowd sings and cheers for them along the way.

Who is he? Ria turns around and finds out the hug is from a tall handsome silhouette. The naughty sun is intentionally shining from a tricky angle, so no matter how hard she tries, she can't see any details of his face. At that moment, her curiosity spikes to the sky, but the sharp "beep" sound from the alarm wakes her up.

She slowly sits up and gently pats her forehead several times until her consciousness fully settles. Then, she realizes she is trapped in her dream. What a wonderful feeling! She doesn't want to wake up at all. The combination of the white gown, the melody, the church, the man, and the roses makes an obvious conclusion. The dream is about a wedding day, her wedding day. If she could stay in the dream for one more minute, she would figure out what her husband looks like and to whom she marries. Unfortunately, the morning alarm breaks the entire wonderful fantasy.

It's probably because of last night's phone call with Catherine, Ria's best friend at the University of Washington. Today, Ria will start her first official employment at Y&M Blueprints LLP, one of the most prestigious architecture firms in Miami's downtown center. The current labor market has been challenging for new graduates, so Ria underwent a painful four-month job-hunting process. At the end of July, she finally received her dream job offer from Y&M.

Last night, Ria was stressed out, so she called Catherine to see if she could provide tips about the first day at work. This stressful topic has been cut short. Instead, Catherine spent most of the conversation suggesting Ria find a boyfriend and end her "pure virgin" status. She is almost 22 years old and has never had a boyfriend or had any formal loveomantic relationships with anyone. Catherine's suggestion makes perfect sense.

During the phone call, they shared ideas about their dream wedding, which might have triggered her vivid dream. The man sitting on the horseback with her must be Benjamin, a fellow student of Ria at the University of Washington who graduated two years prior. The dream was so realistic that it felt like a memory, and Ria couldn't shake the feeling that it meant something significant.

Benjamin was the president of the student council. He was tall and good-looking. Ria fell in love with him at first sight, but she never dared to reveal her feelings for him. She always felt too plain and unremarkable to attract his attention. Ria had harbored a secret and unrequited love with Benjamin for four years. His profile matched perfectly with the silhouette, so he must be the bridegroom in her dream.

However, riding a horse to her wedding is weird, as Ria is very bad at sports. She would definitely prefer a car as her wedding transportation. Additionally, she remembered from the dream where a breeze blew a strand of her hair in front of her face, revealing that it was blonde. This is odd since she has black hair and dark brown eyes inherited from her Mexican parents. Maybe she dyes her hair for the wedding. It's well explained this way.

Her skin appeared too pale in the dream, too—maybe because of the intense brightness of the sunlight, or perhaps she remembered it incorrectly. But then, the most heartbreaking thought is that the bride isn't her. The overwhelming sense of joy that she feels in the dream is so vivid and real. The warmth of love and happiness lingers in her heart, so the wedding must be hers.

After washing up, Ria sits in front of her little vanity dressing table to prepare for the day. The pattern on her wedding dress is so beautiful. Ria pulls her notebook from one of the drawers, scratches it on a blank page, and documents it for future use. However, something seems to catch her attention- this pattern looks strangely familiar. Ria flips to the preceding pages and the previous two recorded patterns definitely shared the same style with the current one. Even though the details are different, it is easy to tell they are relevant. The three patterns look like a series, beautifully designed and effortlessly related.