Regina (26 page)

Anger rushed thru me like liquid. I felt so
betrayed. All my feelings, actions watched and manipulated. They
kept me close by pretending me the cared and loved me, but I didn’t
pretend to care or love them. I really loved those people trying to
murder me without a chance. Once again, flashes of laughter with
Jane, hugging Renee after her dad died, kissing Jeff for the first
time, the happiness I found here in Lee, swimming at the tank with
my Lee friends, it was all in front of me. All the love, happiness,
affection, desire, good times and wonderfulness came with it.

But it passed. The anger I felt was making me
feel powerful, as if I could rip thru these ropes without a
problem. As if I could stomp on the faces of these traitors and be
done with them. My blood was pumping, thumping thru me making me
bigger.

Katie’s eyes went wide with fear as everyone
in the room started chanting. The ceremony had begun.

Chapter
Thirty-two

Before they could come at me with some huge
freaking knife, the windows behind them exploded into pieces,
sending glass shards at them. They drew for cover after the initial
explosion but many were already cut to pieces from the large chunks
of glass. I could hear familiar screams as I looked around at them.
Ironically, not one piece of glass cut me. The room was too far
back to really get any damage. If I had been closer to the windows
that explosion really could’ve killed me.

They rushed in with supernatural speed,
slicing and dicing the Law. I knew Sarah was among them and was
here to save me. My adrenaline fully kicked in and I flexed my body
with such anger and fierceness the ropes snapped off my arms and
legs.

I surveyed the horrible mess in front of me.
Sure enough, the windows panes were gone and all over the members
of the Law. Jeff was cut in the process and the other half of him
was somewhere, lost in the rubble. He lay among the bodies, shaking
from nerve damage. Natalie was trying to help Katie, who had a big
piece of glass in her side. Blood was gushing from her body.
Natalie started screaming for help. Same for Jane, who was bleeding
profusely from a cut to the stomach, she started writhing in pain
once she saw the wound. I tried to see others but the blood covered
their faces and many of them were already dead like Mr. Color, some
of my teachers and neighbors.

Sarah Lordview was amazing. She cut apart
anyone who got in front of her so quickly I could barely see her
slice through them with her sword. Agility and physical strength
was something Sarah definitely excelled in. Without a hint of
empathy, she stabbed people and cut off limbs with lightning speed.
When she was finished, Sarah was immediately at my side with
another person. The guy was over six feet tall with muscles as
large as a movie star’s. His mohawk was black and rockin. He looked
down at me, had me untied and in his arms in seconds. We could hear
the loud pounding coming from the lower floors.

Uh oh, the Law was coming!

“Quickly, before they realize we have her.”
Sarah said to him.

I was trying to tell them I could walk when
someone threw a knife at us. It landed in the forehead of the tall
man carrying me, taking him out. He didn’t drop me because the
knife went thru his head, and into the wall with the yucky
wallpaper. It was holding us up. His body stayed in position, but
it started to twitch soon after his head was stabbed to the
wall.

My mother came at Sarah and my father came at
me. Somehow, they made it past the explosion and our people. Sarah
and my mother stood in front of each other, sizing one another up.
Suddenly I saw the same brilliant red flash from my mother’s as I
saw on the video. Strangely, Sarah smiled widely at my mother and
unsheathed her sword with a quickness that made my head spin.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Maxine,” She says
to my mother. “and the Sarah you are about to discover is no longer
the little girl you once punished for your amusement.”

I had just taken myself out of the dead man’s
grasp and had planted my feet on the ground when my father came at
me with his arms outstretched. He took me by the throat and heaved
me into the main room with little effort on his part.

I landed face first into a pile of glass and
blood. I put my hands out to sustain most of the damage but the
glass made them slide forward and my face still went into the pile
of it. Pain was the only feeling that dominated my body at that
point. I painfully pushed myself up with my elbows. My father’s
footsteps echoed heavily on the floorboards. Blood clouded my
vision. I panicked and put my hands to my face. Glass was still in
my fingers and scraped my eyelids.

I screamed in pain while he advanced on me. I
could hear the clings of the knives around me and screams of horror
when something was cut off. No guns in this fight, I never heard a
pop. Forcing myself to see, I opened my eyes and saw him thru the
blood and glass. My father was coming at me with that knife in his
hand. Determination was strong on his face. I tried to back away
from him but my hands were too cut up and he was too fast.

Everything happened so fast: my father coming
at me, me throwing out my hands, him stabbing me with the knife,
the blood coming out of my chest and hands, my screams of pain, his
screams of triumph. He looked me deep into the eye as he pushed
that knife into my heart. I looked helplessly at the man that loved
me like a father, and blacked out.

Chapter
Thirty-three

I was about to take Miss Maxine apart when I
saw the man stab Regina. At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I
pulled out my small knife and flung it as hard as I could into the
old witch. She screamed as the knife went into her kneecap and out
the other side, cutting her leg in half in the process. I smiled as
she got confused from all the blood loss and tried to put her leg
back on. Those ruby red eyes jumped with confusion and no longer
burned as bright as before. Turning my back on the screaming witch,
I advanced on the man. Determination and confidence followed me,
leaving its presence in my wake. I jumped with accuracy and landed
right on his back. He spun around in confusion, trying to fling me
off his back. In his right hand, he still carried the Kareithian
Dagger. It sparkled with red rubies and yellow sapphires. The
dagger had Regina’s blood dripping from it. His lifted his right
hand, reached up and around to stab me. I jumped off his back at
the right moment.

Screams filled the room from us and
them, but the man was screaming because he stabbed himself in the
back with the dagger instead of me. It was firmly in the top half
of his left shoulder. He tried pulling it out but before he could,
I jumped and kicked it further into his back. My strength pushed
the knife fully into his backside. The poison in the dagger was
fast and moved thru his body like warm water. Shock filled his face
as he fell over with a
bang
.

I ran over to the girl and gently picked her
up in my arms. Thank goodness she put her hands in front of her
heart! If I act quickly, maybe the poison won’t have time to work.
The order to leave left my lips as I scrambled to get Regina safely
over my shoulder. She was light on my shoulder and I was able to
move with ease. Mylow held us tightly as we ran and jumped off the
second story balcony.

I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, I
wanted to go back for Claude, but he wouldn’t want us to jeopardize
our mission for his dead body. It was only with reluctance that I
gave the order to retreat and we ran as fast as we could to the
tree line. So many others were doing the same, I was happy to see
so many of us on the way back. However, the Law would be ready for
vengeance. I knew getting out of the town as planned was out of the
question. It was time for Plan B.

We met in our safe circle in the woods, a
couple of yards from Regina’s house. The Law would regroup in
minutes to pursue us. Claude, Attien, Syler and Beau were visibly
absent. I had to hold back my emotions as I surveyed the group. We
knew not to ask about them for we took an oath before the mission
to get Regina out at all costs, even if it meant leaving some
behind. Though my feet wanted to go back for them, especially
Turcoff, I forced them to turn the other way. We had to get fifty
feet into the woods before I could cast us out of here. It was the
last of my powers and I saved it for four hundred years, waiting
for this moment. One last time, we turned to see if any of our
friends would come thru the tree line but no one did.

With heavy hearts and bloody feet, we turned
our backs on our comrades and I used the last of my magic to cast
us away from Williamson Law with our savior on my shoulder.

-----

The Council of Delengrad sat at the long,
grey stone table, ready for another update. The room was dark for
there were no windows in the underground kingdom. Long torches
burned brightly on the walls as the Council took their seats made
of old cherry wood. The wood was no longer luscious and shining
with beauty. Like the chair, time had taken its toll on the Council
and the citizens of the new Delengrad. The underground fortress was
dark, musty and the absence of sunlight was now killing people.
Though they knew nothing had changed about Anna’s condition, the
Council was required to meet every month now for an update in their
private chamber.

Six months passed since Sarah retrieved
Anna/Regina from the house. The stab in her chest was deep, Anna
lost of a lot of blood. When they brought her to ground, Anna was
in a coma and hanging on to life. Everyone was upset. It took
centuries to find Anna and here she was, about to slip away before
they could look into her eyes. Her beautiful hair was no longer
blonde but red from the blood. Her face was dirty and cut. And her
hands! A large hole could not be missed in the center of each hand.
They were a bloody mess, and after Kaylee cleaned them, it looked
as if she was missing half her hands. Could Kaylee save them?

“Has she woken yet?” Councilman Crown asked,
already knowing the answer.

“No sir, not yet,” The Pirate responded. “but
she will. It’s been six months and her body has physically
recovered from the injuries she sustained.”

“Yes, but will she know who she really is?
This is the first time we have reclaimed the girl before Slider and
his men could kill her. This is unknown for us.” Councilman Titus
said shaking his head and jamming his finger into the center of the
table.

The Pirate spoke out. “Kaylee has spent many
months ensuring her memory will be intact.”

“And what about the men we lost? Any
confirmation of their deaths or capture?” A frail voice cracked
across the table.

The Pirate looked at the man concerned about
their army. Councilman Cassius Mile had been a part of this council
for hundreds of years. He was also worried about his son, Attien,
who was still missing.

The Captain of the Guards, Via Corrso, was
silently standing in a corner when she says, “Unless you give me
permission to find them, they are still lost to us.”

“Gentlemen,” The Pirate says firmly. “Anna
will wake. Her body didn’t reject Kaylee’s treatment and she still
breathes. We don’t know which Anna she will be. She could still be
Regina when she wakes. However, that is not the point. Anna still
breathes! Once she wakes, and she will, we will be restored to our
true power. The New Delengrad will be free from the curse and we
will send Borlock Tavishaw back to hell.”

“You don’t know that young man.” Councilman
Crown said. “They could be up there right now plotting to storm our
lair and kill the girl, thus keeping us hidden the ground forever!”
he shouted.

“Calbus, please. Let’s not think that way.
The boy is right, Anna breathes. Once she wakes, there is nothing
stopping us from gaining our power.” Councilman Titus said
reassuringly.

“What about Slider and his men invading our
underground? Hmmm? They could be out there right now,”

“They would’ve come by now, Councilman
Marcus. Besides, they stabbed Anna in the chest with the Kareithian
Dagger, I’m sure they think she’s dead.”

“He’s right.” The Pirate interjected. “Slider
would’ve come by now. The fact that we’ve been in hiding for half a
year probably reassures him the belief Anna died. After all, she
would restore us to the sunlight if she were alive, right?”

“Absolutely.” The council nodded in
agreement.

“Then I think this matter is settled. We
shall meet again about this matter in another 30 nights?”

The council agreed and moved on to other
business

Chapter
Thirty-four

Upstairs, Anna was tucked in a soft bed,
watched by Kaylee for signs of wake. He was exhausted and frail
from healing Anna with his powers. The last power left in the
kingdom was gone. The palace was thick with despair and worry.

The pale pink sheets were made of silk,
Anna’s favorite. They were pulled up to her neck keeping her warm
and cozy, her delicate tiny face was peeking out of her hair and
the fluffy pink pillows. Candles filled the room with a velvety
orange glow. The room was warm and comfortable.

A wind started to blow softly thru the second
floor of the underground fortress, starting at the end of the
empty, windowless tunnel. It came from an unknown source and moved
thru the tunnel to Anna’s room.

When it came into the room, Kaylee sat up in
alarm, feeling the breeze caress his face. He stayed still in his
chair, waiting for it. Something was looking at him, staring at his
face with such intensity, Kaylee had to look away.

The air moved from Kaylee to Anna’s bed and
hovered over her for the longest time. Kaylee was afraid to move,
breathe or disturb it in any way. He knew what was happening.
Amazement nailed his feet to the floor and astonishment raced his
heart to the point of an attack. The cursed elder began to cry.