I felt a sense of embarrassment and guilt at the sound of their voices and of their cries. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t see it, that while I was busy trying to figure out how to trick the Sorceress, they had already planned on not letting anyone of us go.
What a fool I’ve been! Did I really think that I could fool someone so experienced!
I ran back to Hailey.
“I’m so sorry, Hailey. Are you ok?” I felt suddenly stupid for asking.
“It hurts. My back,” she groaned.
“Taylor, Taylor! You take her out of here!”
“We can’t leave you here!” she protested.
“You need to get out of here now and you need to get help for Hailey,” I begged. “Go. Please go!”
“Don’t be crazy! You need to go with us. We can come and fight her when we are ready!” cried Hailey through gritted teeth.
I looked at her and couldn’t even recognize the friend I have in her. Her hair was singed in places. Her face was full of soot and eyes red from the strain and dust. But her strength never diminished. She was and will always be a pillar of hope for me.
I looked at Taylor. I hardly recognized the once-upon-a-time princess of Thurgood Prep, gashed and disheveled, hands quivering from the energy coursing through her. But that’s not what grabbed my heart and threatened to squeeze the life out of it. I saw her eyes and in them, I realized that somehow the joyful and carefree Taylor was gone. There stood in front of me a girl who had grown to maturity; someone whose conviction solidified and smashed through her innocence. I saw in her strength and power but never again will I see the fresh perspective borne from youthful inexperience and naïveté.
“Yes you can and you will! Please, I can’t leave my parents here. And I can’t have yours and Hailey’s deaths on my conscience as well. I can’t go on. This must stop, here and now. Please!” I begged her.
Taylor got quiet and she took my face into her hands. “None of this was your fault. Hailey and I chose to be here with you as your friends. Don’t ever think we would hold you responsible for the actions of a crazy witch and her minions. You stay safe.”
I watched the two of them make their way through the rubble. Then I prepared myself for my moment of truth.
CHAPTER 34
Facing The Music
“Abigail, if you are remotely considering leaving with your friends and abandoning your parents here, I wouldn’t advice it. You have tried my patience far too many times. But I am not a monster, I will give you time. Do what you need to do. See your friends to safety, make your peace with your God, I don’t care. But you only have an hour to get back here. At the stroke of the hour, I will kill both your parents if I don’t see you in front of me. Don’t test me again.”
Then, there was silence in the caves.
I wandered back into the tunnel, very slowly with no particular plan. I absentmindedly picked up Hailey’s backpack from the floor of the rubble and continued my listless walk deeper into the cave. I had nothing left in me. I was completely spent. All my bright ideas, all my shiny hopes, all my youthful courage, they were all gone. All the fight seemed to have evaporated, leaving a deflated shell of someone who somewhat resembled me.
I looked back to see if I could still recognize Taylor and Hailey’s silhouette through the small ray of light coming from what I hoped was the mansion’s sitting room. But it was far too dark in the tunnel. I couldn’t see anyone. I looked ahead of me and could barely see the bonfire. It seemed it too had expended most of its energy during the fight.
I knew I’d been reckless at times but things always seemed to go my way until now, until when it really counted. There were many times when I used and manipulated other people to get what I want. And when those tactics fail, I would lose my temper to end the fight. But that was not going to work anymore.
I found an opening on the side of the tunnel where the rocks gave way from the explosion. Without thinking, I inserted my body into the crevice for no particular reason except maybe to hide from my own self-loathing. Or maybe it was just a physical and natural response to one’s impending death, I don’t know. I curled up inside and made myself as small as possible. I just wanted to... not exist. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I just wanted to be gone.
“You have thirty minutes!” echoed in the darkness.
I reran the scenes in my head over and over. I couldn’t stand the shock in my mother’s eyes as she got sucked back into the cave. The cry of helplessness from my father’s voice. My head pounded from the pain of knowing they were both captives again and it was because I let my guard down. As if it wasn’t enough, Hailey’s cries of pain flooded my thoughts. I asked myself how many more will need to suffer to save me. Dr. McGrath, Blaise, Hailey, Taylor, my parents, Uncle Jake had all made their sacrifices.
I suddenly became aware of my hands trembling on my lap, maybe from the strap of the backpack blocking blood circulation or maybe from fear of certain death. I examined my hands for reasons that escaped me. I wondered if maybe there might be something there, something I missed, something I had forgotten that could help me now, because other than my own will, I had lost everyone. I needed a Hail Mary pass but I didn’t even know where to begin. I crawled deeper into the cave and found there was a chamber beyond. I pushed myself in and dragged the backpack inside. I walked around and inspected the place. It was a very small space, but it was enclosed on three sides and there was a small hint of light coming from the mansion’s sitting room. I suddenly felt a small measure of relief that being alone in this cage, there was no one to threaten me and I was no threat to anyone I love.
But it was foolish of me to allow myself to think that, to enjoy even a sense of temporary safety, however short because the next thing I heard was, “Please, Abigail, you need to give yourself up. I will make sure your parents and friends are not harmed if you do.” Dr. McGrath’s voice reached me. It seemed that everything in the cave had been made to send the message.
It was all I could take. I dropped the backpack onto the ground and my body followed it involuntarily. I heard the thud of my knees hitting the hard ground. I felt the scraping of gravel against my already raw skin, followed by the warm wetness of blood that trickled from my wounds. I stared at the blood mixing with the sand and dirt. It appeared like black liquid in the dimness of the cave. It hurt but somehow it felt good I was losing blood. Why should I give it all to them, to carry out more horrendous acts I had to endure now. I pinched my wound to make it bleed more. “If this is the only way I can get back a little of my own,” I told myself. I pinched it again with a defiant resolve, knowing that the act was like standing at the beach, boldly and bravely facing an oncoming tsunami.
Absently, I grabbed the pack and opened it. The transavite rolled out. I didn’t really know what they could do but I was willing to try anything.
“I am calling on the Brotherhood of the Black Rose. I need your help.”
One by one, they appeared in the small cave in front of me.
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Please remember that we can advise and guide you but we cannot intervene in your decision, especially if it a standing bargain with a Fae,” Elmwood said.
“I know. I know you. You told me that’s why you couldn’t take the crown once I decided I will exchange it for the doctor. I understand. It’s not that. I just want you to take care of my parents for me.”
“You’ve made your decision?” Raphael asked.
“I don’t really have much of a choice if I want them to live.”
Elmwood’s face clouded with the realization of what I was thinking of doing. “What you are about to do may do more harm than good.”
“I know that too. But I will need to be content with the knowledge I made the best decision I can make given the information I have. I cannot be paralyzed because I keep thinking of what the future would be when
I know what the present already is.
“I have to surrender for the sake of everyone I love. Please promise me that you will take my parents back home and protect my friends. Make sure that the Sorceress lives up to the bargain. Wipe their memory of what happened. Give them something else, some other memory. Something they can understand. I don’t want them to suffer for this. They have suffered enough.”
The silence spoke louder than if they told me that they were completely disappointed with my decision.
“I know this is a suicide but it’s the only way I can save them. It’s my destiny...it’s my time and I... can’t find a way out of it.”
The Brotherhood were solemn as they bowed their heads at me. Diwatha came closer and touched my arm.
“Remember that things are not always what they seem, that an impossible situation may just appear to be. You cannot change fate but you can make your own destiny. Sometimes we give up too soon and we lose the fight in our heads before we even begin.” She stepped back with the others and they disappeared.
I was not exactly certain what Diwatha meant by what she said and I didn’t have time to be waxing philosophical now. I needed to prepare myself for fate or for destiny, it doesn’t matter what you call it, dead is dead.
CHAPTER 35
Back Into The Fire
“This is your last chance! If you don’t come out in the next five minutes—”
I walked in brazenly and asked, “What? You’re going to kill my parents? You’re going to kill me? You’re going to hurt and kill my friends? What if I say go ahead? I don’t care!”
I saw my parents’ bodies suspended on the cave ceiling, hovering over the blackness of crevasse down below. They were hanging from invisible hooks. Stay strong, Mom and Dad. Stay strong. You will be out of this mess in a few minutes. Just hold on.
“Bravo! Nice bluff, but we don’t believe you! I can already hear the gears of your mind working to figure out how you can save them. But don’t bother yourself because if you try anything, anything at all.” She let go of the magic and I heard screams of my parents as they started to plummet downwards a few feet.
“Okay, okay. I get your point!”
The Sorceress laughed and kept her left-hand palm up to keep a steady stream of magic to hold my parents up. She abruptly pushed them all the way back up again, which caused both of them to go into agonizing hysterical screams again.
She glided over to the center of the cave where the dying embers of the bonfire was still crackling softly.
She looked at the small sparks and with a slightest wave of her right hand, the fire roared back to life larger than before.
She sat back down on her makeshift throne and laid both hands on either side of the chair’s arms.
Kieran, still wearing his oversized robes, was standing on her right behind her chair.
Another hooded figure stood to her left.
As if performing a juggling act, she kept her left hand moving up and down, and the bodies did the same. Each movement triggered mixed shrieks of terror and maniacal laughter that reverberated within the cavern.
“Stop it! Stop torturing them!” I yelled. I rushed to the middle of the cavern to face her. She turned her face to me and I sensed the immediate the tug of the darkness within the hood. But this time, I was not giving in.
She must have realized I was able to push back.
“Interesting! You’ve learned to repel my Mesmer. Where is this newfound conviction coming from? No matter, you are surrendering anyway, aren’t you?”
I didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry but I will need you to state that to make it binding. You understand,” she said as if she was ordering food in a restaurant. She turned my parents’ bodies to face the roof and them racing straight up to the roof facing the sharp teeth of the stalactites. I heard my mother cry and then saw her body go limp as she lost consciousness. My father put his arm over his eyes and continued screaming.
I felt my rage overtake my self-pity and my reason. I gathered all the power I could from the air, from the ground, from the trees up above; from everywhere I could get them. I gazed deeply into that abyss she called a face and said, “Catch me if you can.” I sent my will coursing down to my hand and threw a fireball at the hooded figure to the left. I didn’t have time to look to see if it made contact with the target. The Sorceress fired one at me. I rolled on my shoulder to dodge it, landing on my bleeding knee. But it didn’t hurt this time. Adrenaline had taken control of me. I had one thought and one thought alone. I needed to take Kieran out. I fired at Kieran as I was completing my roll.
“Sonababitch!” roared Kieran as he reeled backwards from the attack.
The hooded figure on the left of the Sorceress groaned from the blast injury.
“Wait, wait!” She clutched her side. The hood fell part way but she had her face away from me. Then suddenly, the sweet, heady scent of Sampaguita pervaded my senses. Time stood still. I turned my face to see hers more clearly but that sweet smell reached my brain faster than anything my eyes could register or process. My body and my mind were at war. I felt the calming and soothing effect of the scent as I had countless times before in her office. It’s the smell that I remember before succumbing into a deep slumber that brought me the truth. It was a depth of sleep that couldn’t be attained without entrusting someone with your body and mind. The scent’s calming and soothing effect tried to invade my mind and threatened to undermine my will to fight.
The white flower that is the sign of hope, devotion, of loyalty. The one I have associated with knowing the truth. The scent I used to remind myself the beauty of second chances and the peace you find borne of earned trust. Then my mother’s words rang in my head, “Sumpa Kita, means “I promise you”, but don’t let yourself be decived, it also means “I curse you.” I didn’t have to see her face, I knew.
“Doctor McGrath! Why?”
CHAPTER 36
The Final Betrayal
My instincts had been telling me who she was but I didn’t want to believe. Even as I stood there, I was still hoping against hope that I was wrong.
She turned to me and my heart sank to a new low. She pulled the rest of her hood down to reveal her face. Her dark green eyes were wet from crying. I wasn’t sure if her face was distorted from guilt or from the pain of being caught.
I stared at her. I didn’t say anything. I slowly shook my head and swallowed hard to stamp out the tears I expected to come. But they didn’t. My heart ran cold with this last betrayal. I turned away from her.
“Wait, stop, you don’t understand,” Doctor McGrath began.
“Oh I think I do.”
She held her left-hand palm towards me to stop me from attacking. “I need to explain. We are on the same side.” She hobbled over to help Kieran. She continued to talk while she was trying to get Kieran back on his feet. “I tried to help you. I told you I need you to remember who you are! I tried to help you regain your memory.”
I heard her voice but I was not listening to what she was saying. My mind refused to acknowledge her impassioned appeal. I only thought about what and how I felt. I was hurt and I was betrayed! How dare she spin it as if I am the one at fault!
“I suspected you from the start but I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I again questioned your motive when you wanted me to open the Kerberian Box. Yet again, I listened to my heart and it told me that I was wrong about you; that you are a good person! But when I found the gem you used to bug the Sanctuary, I began to wonder if you have been working for the Sorceress. I know I was right! I just didn’t want to see it! I wanted to believe you are on our side!” I screamed so loudly at her that she and Kieran cowered away from me.
I heaved in deep breaths and paced back and forth, waving my arms as if doing so would express my regrets more deeply. “I gave you every chance to be with us but I can see tha
t my trust in you is extremely misplaced. A snake will not stop itself from striking just because you trusted it; just as much as a power-hungry person like you would not side with the weak regardless of how much they trusted her!” I shouted.
I’m not done yet!
“But it all makes sense now. Everything is clear to me now. When I found out the nature of the spell cast on Blaise, I suspected you were the one casting the spell on Blaise. That’s why he is not healing! You were killing him, slowly and painfully! You made sure you were with Blaise in the hospital so you can keep up the spell. What kind of monster are you?” I accused her.
“No, wait! You don’t understand. I did all that for the sake of the sake of our people. The future has been foretold. We need to unite or...or—”
“Or what?” I yelled, impatiently.
“Or all of Faedom will be destroyed...Xana Mundi will fall. We need the crown to ensure the survival of my people. It is our only hope. Trust me, please, we are on the same side.” She finished getting Kieran to his feet.
My temperature boiled over. I was losing what little restrain I had over my anger. “You bitch! More lies! I trusted you with my life! I trusted you with my friends’ lives! You betrayed us! I will never trust you again!” I had to pause. I clutched at my chest as if to recapture my heart that was trying to get loose of my ribs. I stared at the ground. I needed to regain some control. I bent over with my hands on my knees taking deep breaths.
At this vantage point, I could see the dark chasm on the floor of the cave just a few feet away. My eyes wandered momentarily to the dark and fathomless abyss. In that brief moment of quiet, I must have channeled the soul of the jilted husband who tore this house apart. I understood the fathomless anguish he must have felt from the discovery of the treachery. My heart ached with the weariness of not knowing who to trust. I understood his pain. I raised my head to meet hers and glared at her menacingly. “You are so very wrong; we were never on the same side. And we will never be on the same side!” I pounced. I bounded towards her like a lion to its prey.
The Obsidian Crown of the Lost Dominion Page 25
