Grandfather

by Anthony Wade

We walked down the steps slowly. It grew darker the further down. By the time we reached the landing, I couldn’t see anything But I knew it was the platform right before the tracks. Edgar had talked about it. I slowly walked to where the platform ended, leading to the tracks of the abandoned subway. Marley and I knelt down and jumped. I immediately tripped on the metal track, catching myself with my hands. I froze, hoping they didn’t hear that. Down the tunnel, I could see a faint light. There was no way they heard me, unless there was an echo. But I doubted it. Marley helped me up and we started walking, staying close enough to use the light ahead as a guide but far enough to keep from being heard. She walked beside the track, being extra cautious to keep from falling.

  This went on for what I think was about an hour. We could hear the faint voices of them talking, but I couldn’t tell what they were actually saying. But I could tell that they were no longer moving. I stopped Marley.

  “What are they doing?” she asked when they still didn’t move.

  “I bet they’re taking a break,” I said. “Makes sense. We must be close.”

  I was glad they stopped because it allowed Marley and me to rest too. I didn’t know what would be happening over the next hour, but I knew I didn’t want to be restless.

  I don’t know what they were talking about, but it must’ve been funny because several times, they burst out in laughter. They were probably still in celebratory mode. I didn’t blame them.

  It was about fifteen minutes later before they started moving again. Marley and I followed. I was still afraid that I was going to trip over the track again, so I was extra careful.

  I did lose track of time, so I had no idea how long we had been in the tunnel. But eventually, the light ahead went away, just like that. Great. We no longer had a guide. Marley and I moved quicker while still being careful. I did end up tripping again but caught myself before actually falling.

  Why did they turn their lights off? Did they know we were behind them?

  That’s when I remembered the map. They didn’t turn off their lights. They just turned down the other subway tunnel.

  “Let’s keep going,” I told Marley, feeling her stop. I reached my hands out until I could feel her arm. “We’re almost there.”

  Sure enough, we came to the turn leading to another subway track. We were close. We had about thirty minutes before the meeting started, I felt.

  I rounded the corner and entered the next subway tunnel. I saw light up ahead. We followed it for about ten minutes before it turned off to what I guessed to be the exit. I was right. We reached a platform much like the one from the entrance earlier. We climbed onto it and made our way to the stairs, slowly climbing them. With any luck, Edgar and them would’ve shot down any soldiers nearby with stun guns, keeping me and Marley from having to shoot anybody. That’s what I kept telling myself.

  I slowed down as I saw the buildings towering overhead. I peeked over the exit as my head inched out of the ground. The sidewalks were empty. Most of the lights to the buildings were turned off. It was unusual since we were in the city center. Any other time, the place would have pedestrians and vehicles scattered. The city was just so . . .

  “It’s dead.”

  Yup, Marley was right. There was no life anywhere.

  Edgar had said we were lucky, and I saw why. Just a block away was the familiar building. The Presidential Tower. The lights on the top floor were on, obviously. Up there was where the meeting was being held.

  We climbed the remainder of the stairs. I pictured the map in my head before looking in the direction Edgar and them would’ve gone. I actually didn’t even need the map to know where I was going, because two soldiers lied on the nearest corner. I knew the soldiers weren’t dead. Killing them would’ve been too loud. That was the whole point in the stun guns.

  “Let’s hurry up,” Marley whispered. “In case there are more nearby.”

  That wouldn’t have been good. They would alert Cornelius when the unconscious soldiers were found. It didn’t matter though, because we were too close. Cornelius wouldn’t have time to prepare for us. I walked onto the sidewalk and was about to cross the street when a movement to my right caught my attention. I turned to see the very thing I didn’t want to see. They hadn’t gotten all of the soldiers, because one of them was just standing there, staring at me. He held a phone, ready to dial. I quickly pointed my stun gun and shot it at him. His body began shaking tremendously, as if he was having a seizure. He dropped his phone and fell to his knees. I walked to him and kicked him as hard as I could in the head, just to speed up the process. The kick knocked him out.

  I turned to Marley who was just staring at the soldier’s body in shock. “I bet that hurt,” she said.

  I grabbed her arm and pulled her around the corner. There were a few more unconscious soldiers on the sidewalk. I didn’t see any others. Good. Maybe I wouldn’t have to use the stun gun again. We took off running down the sidewalk, growing nearer to the tower.

  That’s when we heard it, and my heart stopped. I felt like a kid who was just caught sneaking around. I guess that’s exactly what I was doing.

  “Stop!” somebody screamed from behind.

  Of course my first thought was that a soldier had found us. As soon as Marley and I obeyed, I knew it was no soldier. It was a woman.

  I turned around slowly as Marley did. The woman looked absolutely terrified. Or maybe she was angry. Probably both.

  “Momma?” Marley asked. “What are –”

  “We’re going back now,” Mae demanded, charging after us.

  I backed away. “Go with your mom,” I told Marley.

  “You’re coming with me, too,” Mae snapped.

  Man, her lips were trembling. I couldn’t have imagined her angry but yet, there she was.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, about to turn and make a run for it. I didn’t get the chance. Mae didn’t get a chance to argue more either.

  “Freeze!”

  We all spun around to see four soldiers pointing guns at us from across the road.

  “Hands up!”

  There was nothing we could do. I flung them in the air. I turned to see Mae and Marley did the same.

  With their guns still pointed at us, they crossed the street until they reached us, and frowned while looking us up and down.

  “How did you get inside?” one of them asked.

  I didn’t know what he was talking about at first. Then I remembered we weren’t dressed all fancy. It was obvious we were outsiders.

  “I need to see Cornelius,” I said. Hey, I had no idea what else to say. I hoped that would buy us a little time to . . . to do something.

  They all laughed except for the one nearest Mae. Slowly, he came toward me. Then, he lowered his gun down. The other soldiers quit laughing.

  “What is it?” one asked.

  “The boy,” he answered without taking his eyes off me. It was really creepy. Then, his eyes went to Marley.

  “What boy?”

  “The orphan,” he replied “This is Carsyn. And I think this is that girl . . . what’s her name.”

  “It’s Marley,” she answered.

  Mae shushed her.

  The soldiers moved closer to us, their eyes wide with amazement.

  “Take me to Cornelius,” I said.

  They didn’t even have to think about it. They looked toward the Presidential Tower and nodded for me to start walking. I did so, followed by Marley and Mae. The soldiers stayed behind us, keeping a close eye on us. At least they had their guns lowered.

  I kept walking until we reached the familiar pathway between the rows of fountains in front of the Presidential Tower. I remembered walking through the doors to meet up with Cornelius. We ran past the fountain and to the self-revolving doors. I didn’t know what to expect when I got inside.

  There were people inside. But thankfully, they were unconscious. Edgar and Robert had already gotten to them.

  The soldiers gasped when
they saw them. “What’s going on?” One asked, holding his gun in firing position, spinning in every direction to make sure harm wasn’t near.

  I threw my hands up. “I need to see Cornelius,” I said.

  This time, the soldiers were more cautious. They kept their guns pointed at us while leading us to the elevator.

  “This is dangerous,” Mae whispered. “You shouldn’t have come.”

  “Too late for that, Momma,” Marley whispered. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Oh, Marley, I can’t believe you’d do such a thing again.”

  Marley didn’t say anything. She probably didn’t know what to say. Or maybe she was disappointed in herself. I bet anything that was the first time Mae was ever mad at her daughter.

  When we reached the elevators, I tapped the ‘up’ button. The number above the door didn’t move for a several seconds. There was an awkward silence.

  I was getting impatient and anxious. The elevators were never going to move! They eventually did, and when they reached us, we jumped inside. Marley hit the button to the top floor. We made eye contact, both of us breathing heavily as gun barrels stood inches from our faces.

  It seemed as if we were in the elevator forever. As I gazed at the city through the glass, the word dead came to mind again. It was a bit sad.

  The elevator came to a stop, dinged, and the door slid opened. We walked out slowly. I recognized the front desk. There was nobody there. I glanced to the hall to the right. That was where Cornelius’s office was. Marley looked at it too, remembering. We walked closer to the desk and looked down the hall. We looked down the other way where we were kept in cells. Shivers ran down my spine just being there again. Why did I always end up in places I didn’t want to be?

  “Follow,” one of the soldiers demanded, taking us down the left hall. He knew exactly where he was going, and I knew he was right because I first heard the voices. I couldn’t make out words. We got closer and closer until we reached two opened double doors. That’s where the voices were coming from.

  I stopped before the soldier entered. I couldn’t breathe. I glanced at Marley and Mae. Mae was absolutely terrified. So was Marley. I had to admit, I was afraid, but there was no turning back.

  “Let’s go,” the soldier demanded, bursting into the room. “We found three people sneaking around,” the soldier said before I could see anybody.

  I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. No, there was nothing that could make me calm at that moment. But it was worth a shot.

  I entered . . .

  And found myself in a perfectly round room. In the middle was a round table that could have seated twenty or so people. On it was a large map of the city. There were several different colored markings, but I wasn’t sure what they meant.

  Sitting on one side of the table was the shocked Cornelius. He couldn’t take his eyes off me. I felt as if he kept going from anger to happy to annoyed to surprised. Beside him were four men and two women. They had to be the leaders.

  The thing I hadn’t expected to see was what was behind them. Seven soldiers, each armed with a handgun, standing perfectly at attention. They had no facial expression. None of us had expected there to be others. We no longer outnumbered Cornelius. It was a fair battle.

  Standing on the other end of the room across from Cornelius was Belladonna, Edgar, Robert, Cain and the others. They were just as shocked as Cornelius, unable to keep their eyes off us as the soldiers led us inside. Edgar’s face was completely red.

  “They were sneaking around,” the soldier leading us in told Cornelius, who had just started to laugh so hard his eyes were watering.

  “Idiots!” Edgar screamed. “You never listen!”

  “Can’t keep away,” Cornelius said, still laughing.

  “What are you doing here?” Belladonna angrily asked. “How dare you disobey my orders and –”

  Cornelius’s laughter grew louder, forcing Belladonna to go silent. “Carsyn . . . Marley . . . You’ve been sorely missed.”

  Marley, Mae, and I stood side-by-side as the soldiers stayed close to us. What did they think we would do?

  I glared at Cornelius. He waved a hand, and the soldiers who captured us left immediately.

  “You got me in a lot of trouble,” he said “I do have to ask . . . how did you come by the recording and letter?”

  “Your office,” I blurted.

  “And I do wonder how you three got away,” Cornelius said. “Somebody assisted you, didn’t they?”

  I snickered. “I guess you weren’t that good at keeping an eye on us,” I told him.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Belladonna said. “Grandfather’s era will come to an end tonight.”

  “You think you can destroy us,” he said, amused, turning his attention back at her. “What will happen to the people? No president, no authority . . . who will run the country?”

  “I’ve got a few ideas,” Belladonna said.

  “They’ll sure as hell be better than yours,” Edgar exclaimed, the anger not leaving his face. Or perhaps he was just worried. I just couldn’t tell the difference.

  “One would ask why you came, Carsyn,” Cornelius said, ignoring Edgar. “Me? I know why.”

  I said nothing.

  Cornelius snickered. “It’s your parents again, isn’t it? That curiosity keeps getting you into trouble, doesn’t it? It’s been in the back of your mind all along.”

  You know it was true.

  “Yes, I lied about your parents. No, Benjamin isn’t your father. And the necklace has nothing to do with them.”

  There it was. The truth. It’s what I wanted. Should have known. And he was right . . . my curiosity did keep getting me in trouble. One day, I wasn’t going to be so lucky.

  Cornelius continued,” But with that said, who’s to say I don’t know the truth about you?”

  Great. Answers were always replaced with more questions.

  “This is nonsense,” Belladonna barked.

  Cornelius ignored her.

  I moved further into the room. Marley was behind me, followed by Mae.

  “Let me tell you something, Carsyn. What if I told you your heritage explains why you can open the safe for me?”

  “You’re lying,” I spat.

  “Am I?” Cornelius asked, raising a brow.

  “Don’t listen to him,” Edgar snapped.

  “Edgar’s right,” Marley whispered, looking absolutely terrified. “He’s trying to get to you. He knows he’s finished. It doesn’t matter right now.”

  “Oh, Marley,” Cornelius said. “I believe it does matter to Carsyn.” He didn’t take his eyes off me.

  I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face.

  “You see, Carsyn . . . I do know the truth. I had to lie about your parents before because the truth would’ve revealed Grandfather to the people. I can tell you the truth. Why don’t you come join me?” Casually, he waved me over.

  “Carsyn,” Edgar whispered.

  Of course it was tempting to believe him. I was desperate. But one thing I had learned was that Cornelius was a great liar. I just couldn’t believe a liar. And even if he wasn’t, I certainly wasn’t even going to consider joining him. He could only hope. What he was thinking was that having me on his side would stop Belladonna and Edgar from attacking. Well, it probably would have stopped them, but I wasn’t joining him.

  “He doesn’t need you,” Belladonna told Cornelius. Her next sentence ran chills down my spine. My heart seemed to stop. Maybe it did, I don’t know. I played the words over and over after Belladonna said, “Because I know the truth about his parents.”

  “What?” Edgar whispered, just as shocked.

  I was surrounded by secrets.

  I watched Belladonna, hoping she was just lying to Cornelius. But it didn’t look like it at all. She watched him closely with a smirk on her face. Perhaps she was just a great liar like Cornelius.

  “No you don’t,” Cornelius said.
“You thi –”

  “You’re so ignorant,” Belladonna snapped at him. “Not knowing what’s been going on right underneath you. You don’t even know what’s going on in this room right now.”

  Cornelius’s nostrils flared up. His eye began twitching. He looked at his council members. They had frightening looks on their face. I saw the seven soldiers standing behind him. They didn’t look scared at all. They stared straight ahead, looks of determination on their face. They were ready to defend Cornelius at any moment.

  “Don’t call me ignorant,” Cornelius demanded, slapping a hand against the table. “You’ll learn in a minute.” Cornelius turned to his soldiers. “Take out your weapons,” he told them.

  They each instantly pulled out a handgun. Edgar took out his weapon and pointed at them. The others didn’t budge, including Belladonna and Robert. I kept a hand on the handgun at my waist, just in case.

  “Weapons,” Edgar whispered to Belladonna.

  She ignored him.

  Mae grabbed Marley’s hand.

  Marley didn’t resist. Her eyes flashed repeatedly from Cornelius to Edgar to Belladonna.

  “You don’t even know,” Belladonna said slowly. “You thought it was over when Olyver LaFon died.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about, but it seemed to shock Cornelius. He was silent, his eyes beaming at her. Finally, after taking a deep breath, he whispered, “I eliminated Olyver. He got in the way.”

  “Because you guys went down different paths,” Belladonna confirmed.

  I was still clueless as to what they were talking about and stunned having learned that Cornelius was lying about my parents.

  “You murdered him because you were scared,” Belladonna said in an unfamiliar tone. I mean, it was actually horrifying. Her normal soothing tone was completely gone. Her beautiful peaceful eyes had darkened.

  “Olyver was getting in the way,” Cornelius said, raising his voice, trying to maintain control of the conversation. “We had the same starting points. His grandfather worked with mine. But Olyver had different outcomes than Grandfather. He would have prevented wonderful progression. I knew he was the only one who would stand in the way, so I had no choice.”

  “You made the mistake in believing he was the only one who could stop you,” Belladonna said.

  Cornelius burst out laughing once again. “You people?” He glanced at his council whose faces were frozen, their bodies stiff.

  That’s when I remembered something. I shot a look at Marley. She’d been watching me, waiting for me to figure it out. Cornelius had told us about an old colleague being the only one who could stop Grandfather. Was it this Olyver guy? I was certain Edgar knew nothing about it. You could see it all over his face.

  “Me,” Belladonna simply said. “I’m avenging my husband’s death by turning his vision to life.”

  Things just kept escalating. Just as I thought I couldn’t be more shocked, somebody proved me wrong.

  Edgar looked just as speechless.

  I even heard Marley gasp.

  Cornelius’s eyes were huge. He didn’t give his usual chuckle or crooked sneer, and he didn’t say anything. Speechless. I would’ve loved the moment if I weren’t so confused.

  “My husband and I were very close. I believed what he believed. He believed what I believed. Our relationship was perfect. As soon as you strangled him, I knew why. He had warned me. Now . . .” Belladonna spread out her arms. “Here I am.”

  It took a few seconds before Cornelius finally spoke. He couldn’t take his eyes off Belladonna. “I . . . I must applaud you for truly surprising me. That isn’t too easy. You and your husband had me over for dinner. You remember?” He paused, waiting for Belladonna to speak.

  She didn’t.

  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter,” he continued. “Grandfather has been rebuilding these past twenty years. We’re already too strong. You say I don’t even know what’s going on in this room. The problem is that you think you know everything going on.

  He glanced at the soldiers protecting him and raised a hand, pointing in Edgar’s and Belladonna’s direction.

  I took my handgun out immediately, ready to fire once the guns were fired. It didn’t come.

  Cornelius turned around to look at the soldiers. “Now,” he said again, turning back around to give us a smile of victory.

  The soldiers didn’t fire.

  Belladonna laughed. “Like I said. You’ve been ignorant this whole time. But don’t worry. You couldn’t help it.”

  I don’t think there was a person in that room who could take their eyes off Belladonna if they wanted to.

  “Take out your weapons,” Edgar told her desperately. “We can’t just let them shoot us here.”

  Belladonna ignored him again. Normally, this would’ve made Edgar angry. But not this time. He was scared. And I mean absolutely terrified.

  “Hurry,” he pleaded.

  Belladonna spread out her arms like wings, her smile never falling, her eyes glued to Cornelius.

  “I’ll carry out Olyver’s dream.”

  Cornelius just looked at his soldiers. “I said shoot! Now!”

  Again, nobody fired.

  Belladonna spat out one word.

  “Now.”

  And everything turned into chaos.

  The seven soldiers behind Cornelius walked up behind each of the council members. The soldiers pointed their guns at the back of their heads, except for the soldier who stood behind Cornelius. He had dropped his gun and held a knife against Cornelius’s throat.

  Sweat rolled down Cornelius’s bare head forehead, his eyes so wide they looked as if they were ready to pop out.

  “What are you doing?” he asked the soldier, his voice quivering.

  He didn’t get an answer.

  The guns went off.

  Blood and brain matter from the other Grandfather leaders exploded like a grenade, splattering onto the round table and map. Each of their eyes went blank as their bodies fumbled out of their chairs to the ground. One woman’s body stayed seated as her head banged loudly against the table. Blood seeped out of her head and streamed onto the city map.

  Cornelius closed his eyes, his body trembling.

  Nobody said a word, still trying to figure out why Cornelius’s men had turned against him.

  Belladonna kept smiling at him.

  “Please,” Cornelius pleaded.

  “Did you give my husband mercy?” Belladonna asked.

  “I wanted –”

  “You tainted the Grandfather name,” Belladonna interrupted. “It was Olyver’s grandfather who came up with the name!”

  “He didn’t –.”

  “And you killed him, polluting the name!”

  “What’s this all a –”

  He didn’t get the chance to finish his thought.

  The soldier behind him held the knife firmly and sliced it across Cornelius’s throat. Blood gushed down Cornelius’s neck and body, streaming to the floor, creating a puddle. Cornelius gripped his neck tightly, gasping for air, desperately. The sound of him choking on his own body fluid echoed off the walls as he fell out of his chair to his knees. His gloomy eyes watched Belladonna whose grin never faded. The sound of gurgling blood grew quieter and quieter until the life left Cornelius’s eyes completely. His body fell to the floor, motionless.

  I kept my eyes on the Grandfather leaders, laying there dead. I never expected to see somebody die like that. Yeah, I had seen all the dead bodies during the disaster in the city, but I only saw the aftermath. That was the first time somebody died right there in front of me. Even though I hated Cornelius and he definitely deserved it, the site was so gruesome and disturbing that I . . . I don’t know.

  “What the hell,” Edgar said in confusion, ready for answers. “They –”

  Belladonna’s hands moved swiftly above her head, pulling the red pin that was holding her hair in place. Her hair fell to her back as she re
vealed a dagger. Giving Edgar no time to react, she swung it, slashing Edgar’s throat. He held his throat as Cornelius had and fell to the ground, gasping for air. Blood seeped down onto the floor as his body twitched.

  I couldn’t breathe. I literally couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even think straight. I felt absolutely brain dead, ready to pass out.

  Robert, Cain, and the others did nothing but watch this happen. How could they? Then there were the soldiers guarding Cornelius. Except they were the ones to kill him.

  Mae seemed to be the only one to register what was going on. And she wasn’t happy. She let go of Marley, letting out a terrifying high-pitched scream. “You bitch!” she cried, charging after Belladonna, fists in the air as if one punch would end it all.

  I remembered the gun in my hand and pointed it at Belladonna, not fearing to take her down. I had said before that I would never know if I could actually kill a person until the moment came. Well, it seemed as if I could. I wasn’t thinking straight, but Belladonna had just taken a dagger to Edgar’s throat. I knew I couldn’t have imagined that. I don’t know why she did it, but she did. And Mae was probably in trouble too.

  I pulled the trigger.

  Nothing happened.

  I did it again.

  Still nothing.

  No ammo. I’d never felt so useless in my life.

  Marley and I watched in horror as Mae reached Belladonna. She was no match for Belladonna. She was just furious.

  With no emotion, holding the dagger with both hands, Belladonna thrust it into Mae’s chest.

  Mae’s horrific screams echoed off the walls, piercing my eardrum.

  “Momma!” Marley screamed, jumping up to run after Belladonna.

  I was not going to let the same thing happen to her. I threw the gun onto the floor, grabbed Marley’s arm before she could get far, and jerked her back so hard that she fell onto the floor beside me.

  “No!” I screamed.

  She kept struggling to get away. She didn’t care.

  I held tighter.

  “Momma!” Marley screamed again. “No, Momma!”

  Mae turned to look at her daughter. She cried while clutching the wound on her chest with red, wet hands. Her white shirt slowly turned red.

  “Momma,” Marley said again in tears, looking into Mae’s eyes. “Don’t go.”

  Mae tried speaking to Marley, but she only mumbled, gurgling up blood with every syllable.

  Belladonna lifted a foot into the air and kicked Mae, sending her crashing to the floor next to Edgar.

  Edgar, still gasping for air, reached a hand out toward Mae’s. She looked him deep in the eyes. Slowly, using the last bit of strength, she extended her arm until her hand grasped his.

  “How could you!” Marley screamed at Belladonna in tears. “You betrayed us!”

  I watched as Edgar’s body slowly stopped trembling until soon, he didn’t budge at all. His blank eyes stayed open, darting at Mae. After a few seconds, her body completely relaxed. That was the third time I remember crying.

  Belladonna didn’t even pay any attention to them. She didn’t even seem fazed by all the killing. She turned to Robert who walked to her and bowed. Cain and the other soldiers did the same.

  I forced myself to get my act together. I wiped my eyes and slowly let go of Marley. Immediately, she ran to Mae’s body, moving her face around, hoping she was still alive.

  I did the first thing that came to mind. I lunged at Belladonna.

  Robert was quicker.

  He pushed me away with just one hand, sending me straight to the floor. I stood up and took my stun gun out. Just before I could shoot it, somebody from behind me smacked it out of my hands. I turned around to see the soldier that had killed Cornelius. I was going to throw a punch at him, but he grabbed my arms and spun me around, forcing me to face Belladonna and Robert. I tried getting away but he was too strong. I’m not even sure what I would’ve done if I did escape.

  Another soldier pulled Marley up and held her. She too was kicking and pushing but was no match for the soldier. She eventually gave up, her crying echoing off the walls. She reached for her mother, but the soldier wouldn’t let her get near Mae.

  Belladonna walked up to me with her gorgeous facial expression.

  I wanted to smack her.

  No. I wanted to kill her. I wanted to take her dagger and stab her. That’s one feeling I never want to have again.

  “How could you,” I said through my teeth. “They were your friends! They were –”

  “They were nothing to me!” Belladonna yelled, slapping me in the face. “So foolish and ignorant, just like Grandfather.”

  “Who are you?” I asked. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Too long have we waited for this,” she said, glancing at each of the soldiers who didn’t try to help us. “I’ve had to stay with a bunch of rebels and deal with Edgar’s hideous face for far too long.”

  “I can’t believe you,” I cried.

  “Cry all you want,” Belladonna said. “There was nothing you could ever do. I’ve been planning this ever since Cornelius killed my husband.”

  “You’re no better than them,” I growled.

  “I’m better,” Belladonna said, pointing toward Cornelius’s body. “I’m stronger and smarter than them. I have more followers than Cornelius could have ever dreamt of. Being smarter than Cornelius, I had my men secretly join Grandfather for this very day.”

  The soldiers that had killed Cornelius and the other leaders . . . I now knew why they did it.

  “You see,” Belladonna continued. “Cornelius thought he had a lot of followers. Half of them weren’t even following his orders. They were following mine.” Belladonna looked around, satisfied with her work.

  “All for revenge?” I asked.

  Belladonna looked at the ground. “I do have to say that it was nice to watch my husband’s murderer squirm before dying. But no, this isn’t all for revenge. It’s to carry out Olyver’s dream. My dream. The dream we both shared.”

  She motioned for Cain.

  He held a small box with both hands. He rushed it to her and opened it, revealing a red button.

  “I had to be patient,” Belladonna said. “Get the rings.”

  A soldier ran to Cornelius and the dead leaders, moving as quick as possible. Seconds later, he returned, carrying seven rings.

  “Why didn’t you do this a long time ago?” I asked. “Why didn’t you just kill all of us!”

  “Now, don’t forget about the safe,” Belladonna teased. “Only Cornelius knew the location of the safe. I had to wait until he brought it here.”

  “There’s been a delay, but it will be here in a few days,” Robert said cheerfully.

  “You knew all along?” I asked. “The safe.”

  “Of course I did,” Belladonna said. “No, Cornelius didn’t know what was inside, but he knew it was something powerful.”

  “What is it?” I asked. “Bitcoin? Is that what you want?”

  “Child,” Belladonna said, chuckling. “Bitcoin is nothing to me. But the location to all the nuclear bombs Doyle planted . . . oh yes, that’s a lot more valuable.”

  I said nothing. My heart sank. I don’t know how she knew what was inside, but it didn’t matter. The soldier had finally let go of Marley, and she cried over Mae’s body. Mae’s red, wet hands still clutched Edgar’s.

  “You’re going to kill half the world?” I asked.

  Belladonna shook her hand as she took out the similar phone Cain showed us days before. It was the very phone that was linked to the Grandfather rings. “I’m not killing the whole world,” she simply said “Population is getting out of control. Resources are running low. It’ll be a rough transition, but I’m here to eliminate the problems.”

  I just knew I was going to throw up. I even bent down to try. All I did was dry heave.

  “There’s only one way to destroy an idea,” she said, looking at each of the red dots on the pho
ne. There were so many . . . so many Grandfather followers. She clicked on the seven near our location. She tapped a few buttons until the red dots faded. “You must destroy anything related to that idea. Doing that leaves no hope. Well, in order to completely destroy the idea of Grandfather, I must destroy anything related to them. My husband got in Grandfather’s way. Well, now they’re in my way. Olyver’s way.”

  Robert took the box from Cain and held it by Belladonna’s hands. He laughed quietly at the button.

  “And as long as any member of Grandfather lives, their idea lives.”

  She pushed the button, and one by one, the red dots began fading away. “Listen,” Belladonna said. “Silence . . . everybody.”

  Everyone obeyed.

  I listened carefully, not hearing anything at first. I watched as another red dot faded away. This red dot was probably only a block away. I heard what sounded like an explosion.

  “What did you do?” I asked, already knowing.

  “Once again, I was a step ahead of Cornelius,” Belladonna said. “These rings had more than a GPS in them.”

  “No,” I said.

  “Yes,” Belladonna said.

  “We put bombs in the rings,” Robert said, chuckling.

  “Funny how today’s technology allows such a thing,” Belladonna gloated.

  I thought about Cornelius’s ring. It didn’t explode. I remembered Belladonna removing the red dots off of the screen. She must have deactivated them.

  “You’ll kill people around them,” I screamed.

  “Yes, innocent people near them will be caught up in the explosion. It’s all a part of the rough transition. Unfortunate, but after everything is put right, I’ll be a hero. For the greater good.”

  I said nothing. All I did was keep crying as I thought of more innocent people dying. More bodies lying everywhere. I looked at the phone as the last of the red dots on the map faded. Hundreds of explosions just rippled throughout the city. We had lost.

  “You betrayed us all,” I said. “We all looked up to you under the mountain.”

  “They don’t matter to me,” Belladonna growled. “Actually, as we speak, everybody under the mountain should be dead. Your life was to be spared.”

  Oh no. I thought of how happy everybody was earlier. Dr. Mac dancing. And Ashton. Everybody.

  Dead?

  “You’re just like Grandfather!” Marley screamed.

  Belladonna just chuckled. “My husband and I agreed with Grandfather’s idea to a certain point. So you would be right . . . I am similar to Grandfather. I’m only better.”

  “They were innocent,” Marley screamed back. “They were innocent!”

  “Innocent?” Belladonna said. “As long as those rebels continued to live under the mountain, they could intervene in my new order. Again, it’s part of the unfortunate transition.”

  “Without them,” Robert said. “There’s nobody to rebel against us.”

  Belladonna and I made eye contact. For the first time, I could see the evil swarming in those beautiful green eyes. Everything about her was beautiful. Everything about her was worse than Cornelius, and it gave me chills. The woman I knew was gone.

  “Who are you!” I screamed, kicking and squirming to get out of the soldier’s grasps.

  “Who am I?” Belladonna asked. Another soldier walked up behind Belladonna, holding a golden crown, much like something a king or queen would wear. ”The only difference between my ideas and Grandfather’s is that we had different endings. We had the same steps to reach our goal, but I couldn’t just call myself Grandfather. They spoiled that beautiful name. Olyver loved his grandfather, and it was he who invented the prestigious name. Cornelius paid for destroying that.” Belladonna motioned toward Cornelius’s corpse.

  “Who are you?” I asked again slowly.

  Belladonna approached me until she was just a foot away.

  “I’m a revived version of the original plan. My order and I will take this world off the path of destruction. I’m the world’s new savior. I’m Grandmother, and the Grandmother Society will reign.”

  As I stared into her green eyes, there was only one thing I could do. It wasn’t a lot, but I had to do something. I was angry. I took a deep breath . . .

  . . . and spit all over her face.

  I don’t remember much after that because Robert jumped in between Belladonna and I, punching me out of conscious.

  Chapter Nineteen