© ItalRT4u, 2012

     Struggling to get out of the confines of Matt’s grip on me, I felt a cold steel edge sharp enough to carve thin paper-like layers of skin off of my bones, held against my torso.  Needless to say, my struggling halted and I remained within his grasp.  There was a question that lingered in my head all this time.  One of which I couldn’t figure out. 

     Why couldn’t I command him like the others? 

     Lips that made me want to wretch over the spot where I stood pressed themselves against my cheek, making me shiver in disgust.

     “We could have been great you and I.”  He said against my ear.  My gaze never left Cane’s; his rage evident in his struggling attempt to free himself.

     “Let him go.”  I managed out of Matt’s breathless hold.

     “Now why would I do a thing like that?”  He chuckled amusingly.

     “I’ll give you what you want.”  I conceded; the thought that this moment might very well be the end for me, surfaced.  It had become evident to me that there would possibly come a time where giving my life to preserve that of others would be mandatory – in this moment, it seemed like we’d all witness that turn into reality.

     “NO!”  Cane shouted to us.  “Take me!”  I couldn’t help the sad tears that betrayed me, spilling over my cheeks, sobs completely absent as my body seemed to teeter to the brink of shocked numbness.  “You can’t do this!  They need you!”  Matt’s boisterous laughter broke the short silence that ensued Cane’s plea.

     “Now what would I do with you?”  Matt punched the air in Cane’s direction with his knifed hand, his hold around my throat remaining intact if not growing slightly tighter causing me to gasp, struggling to pull air into my lungs, my eyes feeling as they were bulging slightly from their sockets with the pressure.  Stars began creeping into my peripheral vision and I felt like I was going to black out; that this really was the end for me.  As quickly as my eyes had begun to close, they snapped open with a moment of clarity. 

     Your knife!

     Remembering that my right hand held something when I had come back to the forefront of my mind earlier, after that odd marionette-like possession, I became aware that it was the familiar feel of the knife I had slipped into my boot before leaving the mansion earlier.  I had wedged it in my palm, upside down so the blade was sheathed into the sleeve of my leather jacket.  This might be the only time where I would be able to make some kind of attempt at my freedom and for once, my hope began to rise again; overtaking the despair that had only moments ago all but consumed me.

     “I need you to ‘fight’ for me when it’s called for.”  I told Cane subconsciously and when his eyes grew wide to my words, I gave him a forced smirk and then winked.

     “What are you doing?”  He began to ask me but I had already put my body in motion, defending myself, riding myself of this devil once and for all.  I was out for blood – Matt’s blood to be exact and no one else would shed a drop of his on this night but me.

     I blocked my mind link from Cane who was only a distraction seeing as he was now pleading me not to try anything rash but at the moment that I twisted my hand around and he saw the glistening of the tiny blade I held in my hand, he seemed to breathe easier in understanding.  Matt’s knifed hand was still pointed in Cane’s direction and away from me as he was rambling on about how Cane’s life in exchange for mine was worthless seeing as I was the one to die.  I felt myself slipping away internally as something in me pushed itself forward yet again; I could only assume that it was the same presence that had made itself known earlier when I had managed to command the others.  This time, I gladly welcomed its presence as I slowly retracted into the confines of my mind; becoming an observer once again.

     I felt myself give the powerful jab that sliced through Matt’s leg and judging by the gush of blood, I must have severed his femoral artery. 

     Jackpot! 

     Matt’s grip around my neck slipped and I managed to dive away fast enough so that nothing essential of mine was damaged.  The searing pain through my left arm proved differently as I felt its heated slice but looking at all the possible scenarios, this was the best outcome out of all of them that I could have hoped for.  It was a small sacrifice for my; no, our survival.   Rolling onto my back, adrenaline was my best friend in this moment and I was glad that the balance was tipped in my favour finally.  I kicked up and knocked the blade out of his hand as he attempted to limp towards me, sending it flying out from his reach.  I quickly regained my footing and forced a long slice at his outstretched hand, cutting it much like he had my arm.  He toppled to his knees following my doubled assault.

     “You will never have me!”  My possessed voice bellowed as I towered over him from behind, clutching his hair and yanking his head back so his eyes met mine.  I bent over him and sliced at his chest.  “You will not be rid of me!”  I continued.  Kneeing him to the back of the head, he toppled over onto his face hard and I heard the cracking of his nose when his head made contact with the hard earth below us.  I felt the corners of my mouth lifting in a satisfactory grin.  In his feeble attempt at crawling away from me, I rushed to his side and kicked him in the stomach which caused him to howl in pain, rolling over onto his back, clutching at his ribs.  “You have tortured, murdered, and terrorised so many throughout this pathetic existence of yours and your time is now up!”  Matt was reduced to a quivering bloody mass that writhed in pain, his senses almost practically deserting him.

     “P-please.”  He pleaded as a weakling.

     “Please?”  I repeated with no hint of an emotion other than disgust.  “How many times have you heard your victims say that word?  How many times have you shown them compassion, felt remorse, fought your conscience, and ignored the right thing to do?  It’s too little too late Matthew.”  With a drop to my knees, I straddled his chest; a swift hard swipe of my knife to his throat and the arterial blood that spattered up, raining down over the front of me, bathed me in the sweet feel of relief – I had put an end to his miserable dictatorship; his life.  In this instant, I had freed myself from the horrors he had put me through; that which he had put so many others before and after me through.

     The silence that surrounded me after my murderous vengeance was unearthly.  It seemed like everything around me had come to a screeching halt – time stood still.  I now stood above Matt’s lifeless body taking one last glimpse at him before stepping to the side to face Cane and the two morons that still had him in their constraints.

     “You will now let him go or you will face the same end as him.”  I commanded, my weaponed hand pointing down to their former leader’s direction.  I kept my eyes away from Cane’s glance, making sure that my attention didn’t waver away from the situation at hand.  I didn’t have room nor the patience for distractions; this all had to end now.

     To say that those two goons loosened their grips and let the love of my life go would have been fabulous but in the real world, things never go according to plan or how we hope for that matter.  I caught Andy sneaking up behind Cane and the duo, almost cat-like and knew that this would be a bit easier.  He carried a rather sizeable tree limb with him – I waited.  The larger of the two collapsed, tumbling over a kneeling Cane’s right shoulder, his head bleeding profusely, brain matter mixing with the crimson pool – he was dead on contact.  Cane shot out his legs and caught the remaining idiot’s feet, knocking him literally ass over tea kettle.  In that moment, I pounced over him and plunged my knife into his chest piercing his heart and watching his eyes glaze over as he fell into the abyss of death.  I felt like I was out of control – relatively wild.

     Looking around me, it was clearly evident that this awful moonlight night would haunt all of us and go down in Fae history as one of the bloodiest massacres of all time.  My heart ached at the bloodshed that had occurred but also for the souls that have been lost, all for the sake of maintaining balance.  I knew it had been a necessity and that this night was simply the beginning but it didn’t ease my conscience in the slightest.

     My body began to shake; a sob caught in my throat and refused to make its way out.  Everything remained quiet; people slowly approached, surrounding us – some from our side, others from the other.  The shaking became out of my control as my vision began to blur and my knees gave way beneath me; whatever presence that had taken me over had taken the backseat and pushed me back to the forefront of my mind – I was me again.  I crashed to the ground, clutching my chest at the insurmountable pain and guilt that overwhelmed my entire being.  I don’t know what this meant but all I knew was that darkness was coming for me and there was no more fighting, no more tears, most importantly, no more fear – only peace as I faded out of consciousness hearing a voice in the back of my mind, lulling me; their words incomprehensible yet soothing nonetheless.  I would deal with the guilt and pain all in due time.

     I felt warm arms surrounding me, a familiar scent, and the security they both offered.  I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes no matter how hard I tried.  I tried to move – nothing.  I tried to open my mouth and say something, just anything – it was fused shut. 

     Why can’t I bring myself to wake up? 

     I tried my mind link and found it completely useless. 

     What’s going on? 

     I heard an exchange of voices in the distance, one of which was lulling me, yet again, into the bottomless pit of darkness.

     Clad in nothing but a suit of blood, masking the clothes on my back, I found myself kneeling in this all too familiar clearing, nestled in the middle of the dense forest.  It was then that I remembered it; it was the site of the dream I had about Mom and Dad; it was the site that had claimed my innocence and claimed me as a murderous Queen.  The scent of honeysuckle, the rustling of the willow branches up above, the dark clouds overhead parting to let the sun shine down over me as if it shone for me and only me surrounded me with feelings of peace, soothing me of the thoughts of my transgressions.  Footsteps approached in the distance and I turned to face them.  The ancient oracle made an appearance through the thicket.

      “You must go back.”  She said in her toad-like voice.  “It isn’t your time.”

      “I’ve tried.  I can’t.”  I let my shoulders slump forward as I looked down at my blood-stained hands; the remnants of this eve’s massacre that proved it had indeed happened.  I couldn’t get past the fact that I had killed – more than once at that.  It wasn’t necessarily the fact that I had killed per se, more of the fact that I had done so with no hesitation, a total lack of emotion, and whatever force that possessed me seemed to have enjoyed the retribution she brought upon her two victims.  This entity that had possessed me was someone I simply didn’t care to let take over my body like it had again.  She was a maniac.

     “Child, there are things in this world that cannot be undone.  Brutality, death, despair are all things that need to be dealt with and sometimes are necessary for the greater good.”  She explained.  “There is still much to accomplish.”

     “We’re not done?”  I questioned her and she shook her head, indicating the negative.  I knew that it was far from done – I guess it was simply wishful thinking.

     “Follow me.”

     I got up and followed the old hag through an opening in the thicket of trees and dense forest.  I could hear water running in the distance up ahead.  When she reached a stop, she held out her hands, taking my offered ones and silently nodded towards a small body of water, indicating that I should proceed forward.

     “Tell me what you see.”  She asks of me once I had reached the edge of the small stream.  I fought the urge to be my typical smartass self and tell her that it was just water running at my feet.  She must have known my thoughts or read into the skepticism of my body language because she urged me to look closer.  Focusing on the flowing water, images began to flash by me; images of Cane, of the Nottingham’s, of a bloody battle, the dead we left behind, and more.  It was like I was watching a homemade movie with images of the past, the present, and what appeared like the future.  I couldn’t help the merriment and the peace that were now seeping through every fiber of my being.

     “Judging by your smile and those tears, I’d say that you like what you see.”  She stated all too obviously.  I wiped at my cheeks and nodded slightly.

     “Is this for real?”  I nodded in the stream’s direction.

     “Have I failed you in the past?”  She eyed me carefully and I knew the answer right away – she had not; everything she had told me had come true; everything the Nottingham’s and the whole of the Fae world was told had been coming true; though some still had yet to happen and there’s that of which she had foretold that the Royals were extinct but how could she see something that had been blocked entirely by witchcraft?  Needless to say, her point was proven – she spoke the truth as it was; no malicious intent ever present for she had nothing to gain.

     “Very well, then.  Go!”  She ordered me and vanished just as quickly as the words rang from her mouth.

     I looked around me and felt a pull back to the clearing; my feet assuming the work of their own accord in that respective direction.  I felt a whisper on the sensitive skin below my ear; gentle to the point that it could have easily been mistaken as a caress from the wind that rustled the branches up above.  Something or rather someone had caught my eye – Cane.  Without a word, a smile spread widely across his face, he turned and headed into the thicket.  I ran after him, chasing after what felt like my future in this moment.  Reaching the edge of the forest, I hadn’t been able to keep track of him.  A flash of someone came from the corner of my eye and I turned to find him peeking silently around one of the trees playfully, only to come out from behind the large oak and holding out his hand for me to grasp – still no word from him but I understood everything I needed to understand.  I slowly walked to him, taking his hand.  The scenery around us slowly faded away to black…

                                          *************************************

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