| |
Annabell
Elfriede’s Castle, Das Unbekannte
“Just hold on, Ellie. Not much longer,” Cole said. He carried me as I barely clung to life until he reached the outskirts of a small village where we often watched the people carry on their daily tasks. Once we arrived, he gently placed me on a bed of thick leaves and perched beside me, his eyes trained on the village.
One of the baker’s daughters, a sweet girl with gentle magic that made the flowers bloom, entered the trees in search of something to occupy her while her bread rose. She hummed a melody that drifted toward my ears, but the darkness inside cringed. It surged forth, grasping my mind as she passed within a few paces.
Cole pressed his hand on my chest, keeping me in place. “I’ll do it,” he said. In a flash, the girl was by my side, screaming for her life.
I reached for her, grazed my fingers over her cheek, and whispered. Her screams ceased as her light soaked my soul with a brilliance that swallowed the darkness. Just a little... just a little more... until finally, the darkness was gone, and I could breathe again. I sucked in the air and let my eyes settle on Cole’s face.
“Thank goodness,” he said and pressed his forehead against mine. “I thought I lost you. I cannot lose you, Ellie. You’re all I have.”
“You won’t lose me, Cole. We must be more careful, that is all,” I said, then my eyes settled on the baker’s daughter. Her lifeless eyes stared back at me, hollow and accusing. I gasped and leaped to my feet. “She’s dead?”
Cole turned an uncaring eye toward her and nodded. “She is. There was... more in you than she could manage, I’m afraid.”
I turned on my heel and vomited, but even that did not ease my nausea. I had done it, the one thing I swore I would not let happen. It was the reason I let Cole take my light on occasion, to stem his own darkness so that he would not kill others. But I had. Too much of my own light was doused in darkness, and my body fed on it like a starved animal. And then...
“What have I done?”
“What you had to do, my love. Don’t you see? If you had not—”
“No.” I shook my head. “NO! I cannot excuse this!”
“Annabell!” Hayden’s firm voice woke me, as did her frantic shaking. When I rolled over to face her, she relaxed. “You were screaming in your sleep.”
I sat upright and wiped my face. Despite my situation, I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten in... maybe days. Of course, she had anticipated this and managed to make a decent meal for me with what she could find in the castle. Cole was never much good at those things since he didn’t need to eat, but at least he remembered I was human again.
“Why were you screaming?” Hayden asked, but there was a gnawing in my mind that I could not ignore. It was a steady hum that told me I had better focus.
“I need a moment,” I said, then pressed my hands over my face. Once all of the rubies had been found, all in jewelry or weapons, I bound myself to them so that I would know if and when the Seven were taken. Since the Seven were bound to their personal stones, we were, in a sense, also bound. I could feel their presence, determine how far or near each one was at any time.
“Cole has... taken two of the Seven. I cannot say where, but the signal is strong enough that I believe they are close.”
“What?” Jack asked. “How can you... never mind. I don’t care how you know. What do we do?”
I dropped my hands onto the comforter that surrounded me. “Nothing. For now, we do nothing,” I said.
“Maybe Jack doesn’t care, but I’m definitely curious to know how you knew they were taken,” Hayden asked.
“The stones. Once each stone chose its possessors in the ceremony, I bound myself to them through the stones. I used a binding spell to link them to me. When the Seven move around, I can sense how far away they are. He has taken Calla and Elizabeth, but not Ethan. Either he didn’t know Ethan was in Schwarzwald, or he put up a fight. I suppose we won’t know until he—” I stopped, remembering I would not see Cole again until I had to kill him.
“What? Why did you cut yourself short?” Jack asked.
I shook my head. “Just because Cole won’t return. He said as much to me earlier.”
“So... what? He abducted two women and did what with them? Where could they be if not here in the castle?”
“I only know they have been taken. I can’t see exactly where they are. I do have my suspicions, but I fear going there might upset Cole’s plan. If that were to happen, he would change course, and I would be required to do the same. I prefer to keep my plan going as I have devised it.”
“So... we keep waiting?” Jack asked.
“Until he has everyone, yes. If I am too eager, he will unravel my plan,” I said.
“But he must know you intend to kill him by now, right?” Hayden asked.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know how, so I need to be patient.” I also needed them in the dark so they wouldn’t try to stop me. The people of the forest had a tendency to put themselves in danger to save others, and there was simply no way to save me. I couldn’t risk them dying for a foolhardy hope.
I managed to untangle myself from where I had accidentally fallen asleep. I hardly knew the time of day anymore, but that didn’t matter. I had tasks to complete, so I pushed myself to move on with them. When I spoke with Cole, I hadn’t been lying about my feelings. I also had told the truth when I said what I had to do would be the hardest thing I had ever done.
Jack and Hayden watched me, their hands clasped together as usual. I ducked my head, wishing to confide in my parents if only to have someone to talk to about my confused feelings.
“Have... have you ever known you had to do something, but the task seemed so... just too much? That it was cruel and unfair, yet necessary?” I asked, glancing at my adoptive parents.
Jack looked at Hayden, who bit her lip. “I have,” she said. “And I am quite sure Caleb felt that way when you asked him to kill me.”
I felt the pain hit me in the gut as hard as it had that day, but everything worked out as it was supposed to. Caleb had come through, had killed Hayden so that she could issue her death wish, and everything was right again. I knew what he had done was almost impossible, yet he managed to fulfill his duties.
“Annabell, we will help you do whatever you need to do. You won’t be alone,” Jack said, but if he knew what I had planned, he would never have said such things. Once the stars fell and I had the stones, I would take on Cole’s darkness instead of the Seven, even if it killed me.
“I know you love him,” Hayden said. “I know, and it’s okay that you do.” She soothed me by running her fingers through my hair a few times before squeezing my shoulder. The two left me to process what must come next, but neither knew how close we were to the end.