Kiss of the Devil

Chapter 7

Genevieve sat back down on the bed and watched Archard read a children's book. She grabbed the alcohol and walked to the window. She pressed her hand to the cold glass as she brought the drink to her lips. She downed half of it before sucking in a breath. Chugging the alcohol made her chest tight.

"Genie, what does 'D-E-A-T-H' spell?" Archard asked as he walked up with his book.

Genevieve looked down, the world spinning around her. Her heart started weakly racing. She didn't feel right. She stumbled to her right as the room tilted and twirled. She glanced at his book and saw the word 'DEATH' scrawled in blood. She snatched the book from him and threw it across the room.

Archard shrieked at her, too angry for words. He watched as she stumbled around, trying in vain to reach the bed. Suddenly it hit him that something wasn't right. The glass she was holding fell from her grip and shattered against the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

Genevieve fought to breathe, and she reached out for Archard, who quickly ran to her. "Go.. get Alaric. Tell him I'm sick," Genevieve weakly said.

"Genie, I'm scared!" he cried. Genevieve reached out and touched his face, wiping a single tear from his cheek before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Archard screamed in horror and scrambled to the door, stepping on the glass as he went.

He struggled with the locked door, screaming for Sarah and Alaric. Soon a small voice came from the other side of the door. He pressed his ear to the crack between the double doors to hear.

"Let me pass. Master Archard is calling for me," Sarah said to someone.

"No one is to enter on the order of His Highness," came a smooth voice that he recognized as Margaret's.

Why would she say that? Why were they still there? There was a moment of silence before the sound of a struggle.

"Sarah!" Archard screamed. "Sarah! Something's wrong with Genie!"

"You hags! What have you done to her?" came Sarah's voice. Finally, after the scuffle, Sarah's voice floated through the door once more. "Archard, open the door! They won't wake up for a few minutes."

"I can't! It's locked!" he sobbed.

"Look up, Archard. Is there a key sticking out of the lock?" she asked.

Archard looked up, and sure enough, there was a key. In his panic, he must've missed it. He reached up on his tiptoes, shrieking as the glass cut further into his toes. He finally grabbed it and turned it, and the door burst open. He was flung against the wall, and for a dazed moment, he wondered why Sarah was that strong. Through his blurry vision, he watched Sarah kneel next to Genevieve's body. She checked the girl's pulse while Jessibel and Margaret started struggling to their feet. Archard opened his mouth to warn Sarah, but all that came out was a pained croak. With that, his eyes closed.

Alaric was in his father's study, trying to get his father to see that something strange was going on. Just as he was frustrated to the point of pulling his hair out, the door burst open. There stood Margaret and Jessibel.

"We didn't call you, get out," Alaric said coldly.

"Her Highness sent us," they said in a panic. "Sarah has poisoned her!"

"What?!" he roared. He ran past them in a blur, and a second later, he was standing at the open door of Genevieve's room.

"Hurry, Prince, she's fading fast!" Sarah panicked as she struggled to get the young woman into bed. "Those blasted girls gave her a poisoned glass of wine."