The Gabrielle Series Boxed Set

by Zachary Chopchinski

  Gabrielle knew Morrigan was living in the next life of her journey but she'd never actually seen Morrigan die. The thought caused gooseflesh to appear on her arms and tears to bubble up in her eyes.

  Is this how Morrigan felt when she saw me die? The thought was strange, and yet comforting somehow. Gabrielle could almost believe this was normal, seeing someone you loved die right in front of your eyes.

  A breeze brushed her long hair into her face and she was reminded that this wasn't reality. This was one of Arawn’s tricks and as beautiful as the day seemed right now, there was something she had to do.

  That something was waiting for her in the field. Arawn, or his monsters had come back for her. She knew it. She felt drawn to them. If someone wanted her, she wouldn't keep them waiting, but she had no intentions of letting them off easy.

  She walked right back into the field she'd just escaped only hours before. As she made contact with the stalks, they crunched and echoed around her and it sounded like someone was following in her footsteps right behind her.

  Eyes fixed forward, she walked through the field of grain. She held the pistol at her side, its heavy weight causing her to lean just a little.

  Finally, she could see the break in the grain, and as she expected there were people waiting for her.

  “Let’s get this over with…” she snarled as she burst from the crops and the scene was displayed before her.

  She'd come to expect that everything sinister was connected to Arawn, but to her surprise the red-eyed man of her nightmares was nowhere to be seen.

  The woman and three men that stood before her were Home Guard. They were all dressed in the same clothing as the men that were attacking the farm, but as she got closer she realized something was a little off.

  “I was beginning to wonder if we would have to come and get you,” the woman spoke, her voice cool and calculating. She was clearly the leader of the group.

  “I would've retrieved her, mother,” one of the men replied as if he were trying to impress the woman. He’s the weak one, Gabrielle noted. The other two whispered to one another but she couldn’t tell what exactly they were saying.

  “I told you, that wasn't the point to all this!” the woman snapped. The three men before her immediately silenced their whispering and cowered in the presence of their mother.

  “Who are you? Why am I here?” Gabrielle took in her surroundings, and watched the edges of the grain for Arawn or any of his monsters. The eyes of the men widened and they took a step back as if they were scared of what might happen.

  They swiveled their necks towards their mother and watched her as if waiting for her to react. She laughed. Not a great roaring laugh like Arawn, but more of a witch's cackle.

  “You are a belligerent little Sentient, aren't you? The master was right; this will be fun.” Her words, though vague, told Gabrielle all she needed to know. Arawn had sent these people after her. But humans? Was Arawn really so desperate that he was sending the Home Guard after her?

  “I'm known by many a name, but you can call me Carman. These are my sons; Dub, Dother, and Dian.” She fanned her hand over her son’s shoulders as a proud parent displaying their child’s accomplishments.

  Carman… where have I heard that name before?

  The three sons all grinned as their mother spoke their names. When Carman got to Dian—the one that was so eager to please—Gabrielle had a flash of a memory.

  The grove. The night thick and the air heavy. She watched off at a distance as four creatures met with Arawn.

  “You…” Gabrielle snarled, dropping her shoulders and feeling for the weight of the pistol. “I know you from the grove. You made arrangements with Arawn to come after me!” Gabrielle tightened the grip on her pistol and moved into a battle stance.

  “This one’s so smart, mother!” Dub said as he licked his lips and jumped up and down. “Can I have her?”

  “This is gonna be fun, won’t it mother?” Dian clapped his hands, still seeking her approval.

  "Quiet!" Carman yelled as she slapped Dian across the top of his head.

  “We've yet to enjoy the sweets of her despair, my sons. Be patient and you will be satisfied. Trust me children, this one is very entertaining,” Carman said as she reached over to pat the top of Dub’s head.

  “What do you mean by that?” Gabrielle took a step back, her eyes never leaving Carman.

  “We've met once before. Don’t you remember? I was in my natural form of course, not stuck inside this meat suit, but I couldn’t have been that unforgettable...” Carman trailed away and allowed Gabrielle to be lost in thought.

  “The palace garden,” Gabrielle managed to say as her eyes widened in terror, “the twisted monster that attacked me in Versailles.” Gabrielle fumbled backwards, lost in the memory of the twisted limbs reaching for her.

  There was only one shot left in the pistol but Gabrielle raised it anyway and took aim at the monster that stood before her.

  She waited a few seconds before lowering her hand back down. Things were going to get worse before they would get better and she should save her last shot.

  “There won’t be any enjoyment for you!” Gabrielle feigned confidence as she took a step towards Carman who had no expression. Arawn she understood. He was predictable. But this was a whole new terror for Gabrielle.

  “This one has an attitude, Mother!” Dub giggled and jumped up and down like a child who just saw the funniest thing.

  “Yes, Mother. Just like the master told us.” Dother confirmed, following his brother.

  “Can we show it what we have for it?” Dian asked, jumping like his brothers, though it was obvious he wasn’t welcome in their playing.

  “My children, all you need do is ask,” Carman crooned, waiving her arm and motioning behind Gabrielle. She froze, afraid to turn and see what Carman was motioning towards.

  A shuffle sounded behind her, making her turn on reflex and raise her pistol. Kneeling before her in a perfect row was everyone that was missing from the house, including Sam and Thompson.

  Though they showed no signs of life, Gabrielle knew they were under the same magic that had imprisoned her mother. As she looked back and forth between her friends, determined not to let this end the same way it had for her mother, Dian, Dub and Dother appeared in front of her.

  The three stood with one at either end and Dian in the center behind the group of frozen souls, their faces lit up like children in a candy store.

  “Let them go!” Gabrielle yelled, turning back to Carman. Looking at the monster behind her, Gabrielle was surprised to see her three sons standing there as if they’d never left. She stole a glance back to her friends and found the sons standing there as well. It was as if they were mirror images of themselves.

  “Well, I don't think that's something we can do, Sentient!” Carman spoke as if everything were normal. As if they were old friends catching up. “We can offer you the chance to join them, if you would prefer.” With that Gabrielle looked back and found that she was alone again in the clearing with only Carman and her sons to keep her company.

  The three sons howled with laughter though Carman looked like she didn’t understand what was funny.

  “Silence you fools!” she held up her hand as if she were going to hit them and they went silent. “I do say, the master appreciated your venture into our home,” she continued on, but her hand remained in the air. “It would've taken us much too long to find you. That little trinket does a good job of hiding you.”

  “If you’ve spoken to Arawn then you know he holds no dominion over me, and I will beat you as I have all of his pets!” Gabrielle lowered her voice but kept her battle stance ready.

  Carman snickered then, as if Gabrielle was a stupid child spitting complete nonsense.

  “There are two things that it seems you're unaware of. One is that you think the power of that bracelet you wear can destroy us. It can’t.” Carman began walking towards Gabrielle.

  “The second th
ing that you should know—” Carman raised her arm and Gabrielle was suddenly lifted from the ground. “—is that one should never meddle in the magic of a witch. I hold dominion over everyone so I can do whatever I want!” Carman’s words shattered Gabrielle.

  Heaviness weighed on her chest and she could feel the air being pulled out of her body as if someone were sucking the life right out of her. Arawn couldn’t do this. This was different, and for the hundredth time since she started this journey, Gabrielle wondered if she would get out of this alive.

  Arawn not having dominion over a Sentient was her greatest strength. Why wouldn't the bangle activate now? Gabrielle was losing the ability to suck in oxygen and she flailed and struggled as she tried to take in a breath.

  She stared in horror as Carman’s eyes bulged unnaturally. Gabrielle struggled to close her eyes but she was unable to, it was as if her eyelids were glued open.

  The black pupils of Carman’s eyes widened until they covered the majority of her eyes and they continued to bulge until they popped out of her head with a sucking noise.

  The bloody lifeless eyes hung by the tendons still attacked to her skull and Gabrielle opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. A small crack formed in the top of Carman’s head and started to wind down her face, splitting it in two equal pieces.

  The witch reached up with her free hand and peeled the skin away from her face as if she were peeling a banana. Gabrielle opened her mouth again as she watched the long nails of the witch claw into her own face. A weak squawk died on her lips as she couldn’t get enough air to force out a sound.

  Carman pulled at the skin that now hung at her neck and the slit plunged down her chest until it couldn’t go any farther. She then pulled one twisted, knotted leg out as if she were shimmying out of a tight dress at the end of a long day.

  The skin of the woman she’d been wearing lay shredded in a pool of blood that Gabrielle thought would have been much bigger than it was. Carmen still had bits and pieces of skin and sinew clinging to her body but her skin was so dark that Gabrielle couldn’t tell if there was any blood on her or not.

  “Ah, it feels wonderful to stretch my legs again,” Carman said as she shook her long black hair around her skeletal shoulders. Gabrielle couldn’t take her eyes away from the deformed face of the witch before her.

  Her sunken eyes and elongated mouth were everything she remembered from the garden in the palace and everything she’d hoped to forget.

  Dub, Dian, and Dother all cheered in approval as their mother choked the life from Gabrielle without even laying a single twisted finger on her. The world began to spin, and then colors began to pale. Gabrielle was dying, but it wasn’t like the other times.

  Somehow she knew there wouldn't be a resurrection at the end of this fight. As the world was going dark, Gabrielle felt the ground under her palms and knees.

  She sucked in a welcome breath of air and the world all around her began to reappear.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  At first, all she heard was her own breathing. Then, as the world began to come back to life, voices became audible. Bits of sound merged into strings, which then transformed into whole understandable sentences.

  “My sons! What have you done to my sons!” Carman was yelling. Gabrielle picked her head up off the ground to try and see what was happening, but her vision was so blurred she could only see smears of color. Had the bracelet saved her somehow?

  “I'm sorry, we didn't know she was a companion of yours!” Carman sounded desperate. Gabrielle brought a shaky hand up and rubbed her eyes and then blinked several times until her vision began to come back to her.

  “I'm not interested in your excuses, witch. This is unforgivable! I will not have this disobedience in my presence!” The voice was familiar, but it couldn't be. It was. As her vision cleared, Gabrielle saw Morrigan, alive and well, scolding Carman as she cowered in fear.

  “We didn't know, highness. Please forgive us. We were only following instructions.” Carman was bowing her head as she backed away from Morrigan who paced back and forth in front of the witch.

  “The master didn't tell us of your involvement with the Sentient, Morrigan. We would never betray the gods in such a way. Please, I beg you, give me my sons back!” Carman looked scared and she wouldn't meet Morrigan’s eye as she pleaded.

  Gabrielle couldn’t believe her eyes or her ears for that matter. Carman had called Morrigan a god, but Morrigan was just a kid on a journey like she was.

  “Your sons should be of no worry to you, Carman. What you should be worrying about is your own life and what I'm going to do to you!” Morrigan scowled at the witch.

  Gabrielle realized she’d been holding her breath as she forced in a lungful of air. This couldn't be happening. She'd seen Morrigan die with her own eyes. She'd cried as she held Morrigan’s lifeless head in her arms.

  “Gods aside, you will pay for what you’ve done to my sons! Arawn will make sure of that,” Carman snapped, changing her tactic from begging to threatening. “You don’t have the throne! Arawn will make sure your Sentient fails and when he does, he’ll come for you.”

  A strange calm fell over Morrigan, a look that Gabrielle had never seen before, like she was toying with Carman.

  Morrigan raised her hand in the air and gave it a sharp flick. Carman turned into a dimorphic shadow; a strange mixture of human form and monster, before vanishing into the grain.

  Morrigan, as if realizing just then that Gabrielle was still on the ground, ran to her. Her lavender eyes were a mixture of emotions that Gabrielle didn’t understand. Fury, regret, and sadness all intermingled, fighting over which emotion would win.

  “Gabrielle! I’m so sorry. Are you OK?” There was urgency to Morrigan’s voice that scared her.

  “What are you?” she croaked as she backed away from the goddess. Gabrielle’s entire world had come crashing down around her. Nothing made sense anymore. She felt dizzy and sick and she didn't know if she was going to scream or throw up.

  The only person she’d trusted, the only person she'd loved, had been lying to her. Gabrielle scrambled to her feet so her back was touching the edge of the grain.

  “I'm many things. I have been many forms. I've been a god of many, a friend to none, a companion to only you.” As Morrigan’s words left her mouth, Gabrielle shook her head. She lifted her pistol from the ground and pointed it at Morrigan.

  “A god? A companion? You're nothing more than a liar! A monster! You've been lying to me since the day I first met you in that jail cell in Scotland.” Gabrielle shouted, her voice catching in her throat.

  “Yes. I'm a god. I am the Morrigan. I'm sorry I deceived you; but, this was the only way.” Morrigan’s brow furrowed and she cocked her head to the side as she studied Gabrielle.

  A look of understanding revealed itself for only a moment on Morrigan’s face and then she added, “Gabrielle I didn't mean to hurt you. I truly do care about—”

  “The only way to what?” Gabrielle interrupted, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. Morrigan frowned and shook her head. Gabrielle raised the pistol.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Miss Gabrielle, why are you pointing a gun at Miss Morrigan?” A tiny voice broke through the tension of the two like water through a dam.

  Elizabeth emerged from the crop line, looking more frightened than Gabrielle had seen her.

  “Wha—What are you doing here?” Gabrielle cried. She looked from Morrigan to Elizabeth, half expecting that it was some sort of trick. If Morrigan was a god, she was capable of anything.

  “I hid, Miss Gabrielle. I hid from the monsters like you said,” Elizabeth’s voice was so soft and sweet.

  “Why are you pointing a gun at Miss Morrigan?” she repeated, walking over to Gabrielle who shook her head as a flood of anger washed over her again.

  “She’s one of the monsters!” Gabrielle yelled, returning all her focus back to Morrigan. Her hand shook as she tried to take aim at the one person she thought
she could trust.

  “Gabrielle, I’m not a monster! I’ve protected you throughout this journey. Remember in the alley in France with the hounds? I was there for you, because I couldn’t stand the idea of you dying. I’ve been guiding you throughout this journey. I’ve been watching you and keeping you safe because I—”

  “Protecting me?” Gabrielle didn't want to hear anymore of Morrigan’s lies. The tears were now so thick that Morrigan was a blur in front of her. “I've been beaten and chased. I’ve been killed. My mother died and everyone that I loved has died! Where were you then?” Gabrielle was blinded by her hatred.

  Morrigan continued to shake her head, a look of unbridled sadness marring her once flawless features.

  “I don't understand?” Elizabeth whined as she tugged on Gabrielle’s dress.

  “Morrigan is the worst monster of all. She’s behind all this.” Gabrielle struggled to hold the gun level. She was so tired and so confused.

  “She's been lying to me this entire time! She couldn't protect us! She couldn't protect my mother! She’s the reason that I—” Gabrielle’s throat froze and her ears began to ring.

  The world spun and Gabrielle couldn't tell which way was up. Her heart was shattered, her body beaten and broken and her mind was torn in two. The bracelet vibrated on her wrist and a dull glow emanated from it.

  “Please listen to me. I didn't mean to hurt you,” Morrigan’s voice was urgent. Gabrielle thought she'd taken a step toward her, but her vision was so blurred by the river of tears that she couldn't be sure.

  “No! No! Stop lying to me!” Gabrielle yelled as she stumbled backwards, her shaky finger dancing on the trigger.

  “Gabrielle, listen to me, I love yo—” The vibrations of the gunshot reverberated through Gabrielle’s entire body. She looked down at the gun with complete and utter shock. Morrigan’s face fell slack.