The man lunged at me again, but a black cloud of smoke from the necklace rushed towards him, knocking him off his feet. My eyes widened as it wrapped around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. His eyes became puffy and read as he struggled against it and after a few seconds...he stopped struggling. His body was still.

"You killed him!" My mother screamed. "Get her!" She ordered to the men.

"No," a man spoke, staring at the black smoke that was beginning to dissipate. "This is beyond a possession," he said. "Love has already been rooted into the evil in this room. That...your highness, is beyond our hands. It's up to God to free your daughter." The man glanced at the body on the floor at my feet before clasping his hands together and heading towards the dark stairs that led out of this dungeon like room.

The other men followed behind him calmly, not caring that one of their men had just been killed and I was left with my fuming mother. I was distraught at what she had done...but if she stopped right now, I could put this past us.

Somehow.

I sucked in a shaky breath and wrapped my arms around myself as I looked at her. "Can we just go back into the house...please," I whispered. "I'll forget this ever happened. We can just..."

I watched as she pulled a knife out of the pocket of her cloak and my heart dropped. "I guess I'll have to deal with you myself." She stepped into the pentagram, lowering her hood and I shook my head as tears soaked my cheeks.

"Please stop!" I begged as I backed away from her. I hit what felt like a wall as I moved away and I realized this barrier wouldn't let me leave, even if I tried. I was stuck in here with her madness- no way to exit or try to run.

She swung the knife at me and I moved away from her, making her scream out in frustration. "Come here!" She grabbed my hair, throwing me onto the floor before straddling me. She held the knife above me and my hands wrapped around her wrist in a desperate attempt to keep the blade from stabbing me.

"Stop," I croaked out as she began to overpower me. The knife neared my face and she let up a bit before bringing it down fiercely. With a movement from my head, it stabbed the hard floor and I cried more. She's really going to do this.

I'm another attempt to stab me, the knife hit the floor again but this time it grazed my neck and fell out of her hands. I grabbed it before she could get ahold of it and immediately held it out in front of me. "I don't want to hurt you," I sniffled. "Get off of me."

She scratched at my face like some wild animal, not caring that I had a knife against her and I lost my firm hold on it. My arms lowered as I tried to shield myself from her hands, but when she bent down to wrap her hands around my throat...

I felt the knife loosely in my hold, penetrate her skin. Her movements abruptly stopped and I looked up at her in shock as her eyes watered. Her eyes moved to her lower stomach as mine did and I let out a garbled sob at the blood pooling at her stomach. Her hands weakly moved to the knife in her stomach as she fell to the side, laying back against the dirty floor.

"Mom, no!" I screamed, rushing to her side. My arms wrapped around her as her breathing became shallow and I yelled for help, hoping that somehow those people hadn't left yet. "I'm so sorry," I cried as she coughed up blood. "I-I didn't mean..."

Her bloody fingers weakly reached up to my face as she looked up at me in confusion. "Queenie?" She whispered.

I nodded slowly, my lips quivered at the sobs threading to escape. "It's me."

She coughed, giving me a bloody grin. "I-I saved you?" I cried softly, lowering my head down in shame as she looked up at me. Her eyes were full of love as they always were with me and gone was the madwoman from seconds ago.

"Yes," I whispered. "Y-you saved me, mom."

A huge smile spread across her lips as she blinked weakly, her hand going over mine. "I..." she took a long and weak breath, "love you..."

I cried as I felt her hand fall from mine and my forehead dropped to hers as I held her body against me. I could feel her last breath against my cheek, as her body went limp against me and everything I was holding in, hit me like a truck. She was gone.

My only ally in this fucked up world from the moment I met her was now gone because of me. It may not have meant the same to her when I said it, but she did save me. Not today, but every day since the moment she became my mom...

What did I do?

"Queen?" I turned around at the mention of my voice to see Syn at the bottom of the steps. His eyes scanned the room and I couldn't find the words to say to him. Instead, a weak sound came out before I started crying all over again. I looked back at my mom's body, pain and heartache making my head throb with dizziness. I felt Syn's arms wrap around me, pulling away from my mother and into his chest as the safety of his scent filled my senses.

"I..."

"Shhh." He kissed my forehead. "Nothing happened," he said. "You didn't do anything, okay?...

"Trust me."

꧁꧂

I felt the bright shine of the sunlight hitting my eyes and I snuggled into the soft blankets wrapped around my body. I heard a door open before the bed dipped beside me and my eyes fluttered open expecting to see Syn. Instead, my eyes snapped open and I sat in in complete bewilderment as I looked at the woman in front of me.

"Mom?"

"You have no idea how glad I am that you're awake." She gave me a bright smile as she touched my cheek. "I made you breakfast." Her hand dropped to the platter of breakfast in the bed and she picked up a piece of bacon. A carefree look was in her eyes as she hummed a tune and ate, all the while I stared at her in shock. "Are you okay?" Her eyes flicked to mine.

"You died..." I whispered.

"That's not very nice to say this early, darling." She frowned. "Did you have a nightmare?" Her hand flew to my head as she touched me with concern filling her eyes. "You're warm. I'm going to bring you some medicine, sweetheart."

She stood up to leave and I pulled her arm, making her fall to the bed as I wrapped my arms around her. "I thought I lost you." I cried.

"Queen, what's going on?" She breathed out, her voice strained as I squeezed her.

"I don't know." I pulled away, wiping away my tears. "I must've dreamed it all."

"Was it that bad?"

"It was horrible."

"Hmm." She tucked my hair into my bonnet and I laughed softly. "I'm going to get something for your head and you can eat, okay? After that, we'll go somewhere. We can have a mother-daughter day. How does that sound?"

"That sounds nice."

"Perfect." She smiled. "By the way, your phone has been ringing nonstop." She pointed at the nightstand where my phone lay and I picked it up, sighing as I saw almost one hundred missed calls.

I glanced at the time, seeing I had slept into the afternoon and I yawned. My eyes lowered to the date on my phone, and my brows furrowed. March 3rd. I arrived at my mother's house on the twenty-eighth of February...

"Mom?" I called her before she left the room. "How long was I asleep?"

"Umm, for a few days maybe?" She shrugged in thought. "I was worried after the first whole day and called a warlock, but he insisted you were fine so I left you alone. You must've been really tired, sweetheart."

"Yeah..." I said slowly.

"I'll be right back." I nodded, staring at my phone in confusion as she left. I went to my notifications, seeing missed calls from almost everyone. Everyone except Syn. I scrolled until I was back at the date that I arrived here and frowned as I saw a twenty second phone call with Sebastian.

I recalled speaking to him before I passed out in the kitchen, and the time lined up with his call...yet nothing happened? Was I truly asleep all this time?

My head began to pound as I tried to remember the events following my mother's death, but I couldn't see anything past thinking Syn was with me. Was it possible that my guilt from being with him had consumed me so much that I dreamed it all?

My mother walked back into the room, her wavy hair cascading down her shoulders as she made her way to the bed. Her baggy white sweater hung over her black yoga pants and her face was full of life. She was truly okay. That alone was enough to keep all of my questions at bay.

"Here," she passed me a water bottle and I accepted it alone with a small pill. I put it in my mouth and washed it down with water and my mouth closed the bottle before setting it down on my nightstand. "What do you want to do today?"

"Umm." I closed the bottle and she gently took it from my hands to set it down. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

After my vivid dream, I didn't want to take any chances with my mother anymore. If there was even a chance she'd go psycho on me, I needed to tell her myself. That way I could at least take the guilt off my shoulders.

"Remember the boy advice you gave me a few weeks ago?" She nodded. "I took it, but the boy was Syn SinClaire," I admitted nervously. "I fell in love with him."

"Wow." She took a deep breath, rubbing her palms against her leggings. "Really?"

"Yes."

"I know I said bad boy, but..." she ran a hand through her hair. "Why him?"

"He just made me happy," I said lowly.

"Did he?" I nodded, making her smile softly. "Then that's all that matters. You shouldn't be alone."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"I umm..." she looked down at her hands. "I'm leaving, Queen."

"What? Where are you going?"

"Somewhere far away," she said. "I can't be with your father any longer and I don't want to go back to Heaven. I want something more."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"I don't understand either," she said. "But it's time for me to move on. I wanted to spend these last few days with you before I go."

"Will you visit?"

She smiled, shaking her head softly. "I'm afraid if I were to come back, I'd never be able to get the courage to leave again."

A tear rolled down my cheek and she quickly wiped it away before pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back. "Can I go with you?" I asked.

"No, sweetheart." She sighed. "I want you to find yourself, Queen. Being your mother has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and nothing would make me happier than knowing you're living your life...no matter who you're with."

"I don't want you to go."

"Just as I want you happy," she pulled away, "I'm sure you want me happy too. I'm not happy here. But I will be where I go. That's what I want you to always remember, okay? Keep that in your heart always."

"Okay." I sniffled.

She sighed, wiping her eyes before clapping her hands together and taking a deep breath. "No more tears. Let's have fun today."

"You're really not upset that I was with Syn?" I asked again, remembering my dream.

"I'm upset that I made you feel like you couldn't tell me sooner," she said. "At the end of the day, only you know your heart. Where it leads you is no one else's business but your own." I smiled at her words and she sighed. "Enough with the deep talks, sweetheart. I want to enjoy our day."

"Okay. What are we going to do?" I wiped my face.

"Whatever you want."

As she promised, we spent the day doing whatever we wanted. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun with her. The moments were bittersweet as I knew she would be leaving after today, but I pushed that from my mind and tried to just enjoy our time together.

We spent the day shopping and watching a couple of movies at a nearby theater before ending the night with a late dinner. The day was full of laughs and I couldn't fathom how my mind was able to conjure up all those horrific things. My mother was the best person I knew. Even when she was at her worst...she was amazing.

"Wow, I am tired." She sighed, dragging her feet into the house before plopping onto the couch. I laughed at her before closing the front door and setting the bags down.

"It is pretty late." I pointed out. "You're never usually up this late." Most of the time it was lights out for my mother by nine. It was almost 1am right now so I couldn't imagine how she was feeling.

"I know, but I wanted to spend the day with you." She sat up. "I hope you had a good time?"

"I did." I nodded.

She smiled, patting the space on the couch beside her. "Sit next to me for a minute." I sat down beside her and she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into her embrace. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes." I smiled. "I love you too, mom."

"Promise me that you'll never forget that?"

"I promise," I whispered.

"Do you promise you'll be happy?"

"I promise I'll try to be."

"I'm not sure that's good enough for me." She laughed softly. "I just want to leave here knowing that you're going to be okay, Queenie. Will you be?"

I don't know...

"I'll try my best, I promise." I smiled sadly. She sighed, kissing the top of my head and I relaxed into her hold. I closed my eyes, feeling the comforting touch of her head on my hair as tiredness began to take over.

I felt myself begin to drift off to sleep, completely relaxed and at peace. In my last few seconds of consciousness, I heard her whisper again, "I love you. So much."

꧁꧂

I woke up with an ache in my neck as I sat up on the couch. The brightness from outside peeked into the house, casting a dim light over the entire room and I stretched. I looked beside me where my mother was last night to find the spot empty and I frowned. "Mom?" I called out.

There was no answer.

The only thing I heard in the silence of the morning was the cawing of birds outside. I stood up groggily from the couch, and my eyes landed on a white piece of paper on the coffee table. A set of keys lay on top of it and I slowly picked them up, reading the paper first:

Queen, I'm leaving this place to you. Take care of it and take care of yourself. I love you more than anything in the world...and I always will. I hope you think of me whenever you're here, my love.
Sincerely,
Your mother.

A tear streamed down my face at the note and I wiped my eyes. I knew she was leaving, but I didn't think it'd be so sudden. I looked around, not quite knowing what to do with myself. I missed her already.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out. Cleo's contact flashed across the screen and a small smile made its way onto my face. I knew I had disappeared off the face of the Earth, but I hoped that I didn't worry anyone too much.

I picked up the phone and immediately heard a scream on the line. "Finally you picked up! Girl, I thought you were dead!"

I laughed softly and shook my head as I sat down. "I'm sorry, I just needed a bit of time away to clear my head. I should've let you know."

"Don't apologize. I completely understand," she said. "I'm just so happy that you're okay."

"Thanks, Cleo."

"I don't know how you're feeling now, but I was calling to see if you wanted to come to our place this weekend. Xavier is here with us too. If you want company...you should come  stay with us. It'll be fun."

"Umm." I looked around the empty house, seeing no other reason to stay. My eye glanced towards the thick door in the hall and an ominous shiver ran down my spine. I wasn't sure what was down there, but after the dungeon my mind had created, I could wait to find out. "Yes, I'd love to come over."

"Just a second," she muttered. "...she said yes, guys!" I heard her yell. I could hear the sound of cheering in the background and I laughed. "Okay umm...let me know where you are and I can pick you up?"

"Okay, I'll text you right now."

"Great. See you soon."