The Queen of Earth

Chapter 11

(Attai POV)
3:55 am

"You idiots! I told you to watch her!" I yelled at them. They jumped, and both looked at each other. Leon took his hands from the ground, his smoke seeping back inside of him.

"We were!" Verena protested. Realizing her mistake, she shrunk back, not looking at me.

"I don't care how it happened. It happened!" I was in front of her face in a flash, startling her that she looked down, not able to move. I sometimes never cared if they were my family.

They were my subjects first right now.

I looked at Leon, who was standing certain direction opposite me.

"Before I pulled back, I've following her blood trail. She's this way. If we go now, we could catch up to her."

"Then get going." I looked at Verena, who still hadn't looked up or moved. "Both of you." I moved away from her. And in an instant, they both sprinted deep into the woods after her. Leaving me alone.

How could this plan turn out this way?

I should've cut out her heart when I had the fucking chance!

10 minutes later, I close my eyes, sending a message to Leon and Verena:

"Any sign of her?"

"Not yet, but Verena picked up the trail of blood; by my guess, she only has 3 miles before she reaches the road."

Shit!

"Find her fast! I don't have time for this cat and mouse game. I need her by the lake before first light!" I start getting angrier, being unable to keep it together. "Get into full form if you have to!" I break the connection.
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(Samaya POV)

My legs are burning from the run. Who the fuck are these people?!

And what do they want from me!

No, don't worry about that, you have to keep going!

You have to get help!

I don't know how far I am from the main road, but I do know, from experience taking hiking trips in this town, that this is damn sure the way back!

I dash down a small steep, not even caring what's around me. I lose my balance when I trip on a root at the bottom and land face-first into a tree, knocking me down on my back. I groan in pain, feeling blood fall from my now wound, my vision starts to fade a bit, but I wobbly get myself up. And press on.

The impact also made my stomach hurt, even more, knocking the wind out of me. And I can't help but start crying again. Then, finally, my body suddenly gives out on me, and I fall again, clutching my stomach, now crawling to get up.

My baby.

My butterfly.

I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you.

I continue even though my body wants me to stop. That'll never make it.

No, will I make it!

I have to!

I'm dry heaving, as though I was suffocating. It felt like forever I had been crawling, with no hope of ever getting up again. But I keep going. Grabbing onto anything I could use to bring me forward.

I know it's dark and the only thing giving me the light was the moon and stars, but I needed another sign! Anything to tell me how far I was now.

The blood dripping from my head didn't stop, making me light-headed, plus the blood down there wasn't it any easier either. I kept crawling no matter what I heard around me. I couldn't stop. Finally, I push myself more, going up a hill, hold on to the ground for dear life, so I don't slide, I don't. And as if God finally heard my prayer, I see a dim light up the hill and a small present of a sound of a car passing by.

Thank you, God!

I use this as a boost to at least get on my knees and crawl the rest of the way. Halfway up, the light gets brighter. And as if all the hurt and pain had just washed away. I take a deep breath and push myself up, sprinting the rest of the way to the road.
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(3 POV)

Samaya would've been jumping for joy and finding help, But that's not what happened. Not even a yard away, it was like time stopped for Samaya and she felt it. And on cue, a rope-like mist shoots out through the trees and latches on to her ankle, causing her to fall on the ground. Following the mist were Verena and Leon a 100 meters away. Verena's right arm, now into a blackish-gray mist, shot out towards the direction Samaya was. Leon, next to her, sends a message to Attai.

"We've got her. And just in time too."

"Good, meet me at the Falls. But, unfortunately, we don't have much time now."

"Yes."

"Why don't we just do it now?" Verena suggested keeping her arm around Samaya's leg tighter as the poor girl held on to a tree to prevent her from being dragged. "She already wasted our time."

"NO!" Attai shouted into their mind causing them to wince in pain. "You caused this! Bring her here, no suggestions or questions. Got it?" Verena didn't speak anymore, giving him an answer. "Good."

Leon breaks the connection and gives Verena an annoyed looked.

"Bring her in now," He starts to walk back, "your mess, you fix it." Verena rolled her eyes, ready to pull harder on her arm to make Samaya lose her grip, a burning pain at the end wrapped around her smoke-like rope hand that was still around Samaya's leg. She screamed from the pain she never felt before holding her arm. It caused her to fall on her knees. Leon rushed to her side to see the problem.

"You bitch!" In anger, Verena yelled, shooting her other in the same direction around Samaya's neck, pulling like a dog's collar that didn't budge.

The grip was suffocating her, but Samaya didn't let go of the tree. Her body lifted in the air bending backward that she might snap in two any minute. Gasping for air, she lets one of her hands go of the tree to claw at the mist around her neck, but she ends up scratching herself instead. With small hope of it ever happening again with her ankle, she hovered her free hand around the mist, imagining it harden in form, and again a spark of light erupted from her hands long enough to clasp her hand around the now harden mist, causing it to sizzle. An even louder scream came out of the woods and as if a rope had been cut. Finally, she was free, falling to the ground. She scrambles back up and sprints up the hill and finally onto the road.
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(Samayah POV)

As soon as I made it to the road, I frantically looked on either side for a car to come.

"Fuck it," I bolt up the road, looking straight while once a minute glancing into the woods. Then, after what felt like minutes, my body and everything out of nowhere stopped again, felt completely blind. And what felt like a second, everything went back to normal.

Except, now in front of me, what the man that kidnapped me.

I crashed straight into his arms, screamed knowing that it was over. I struggled to get a way. But it was like I was wrapped in iron bars.

"Let me go! Get off of ME!!" I scream. Doing everything I could to get a way. He sighs and spins around, holding my arms while we face the other way with his hand now on my throat. I couldn't stop crying. To think this was the end.

"Shhh," the sick fuck was soothing me and tilted my head to the side, whispering in my ear. "It's okay; it'll be over soon." Then, I saw two shadows fly out the woods, one a darkish-gray and the other deep dark gold. They floated a few feet above the ground. "If you can't get the help, you might as well do it yourself." His hand now covered my mouth and nose, muffling my crying and air, and what looked like mahogany red with black smoke covered the hand on me, causing me to suffocate, and no amount of struggling could help me now.

The last thing I saw before blacking out was the lights of a car coming up the road.