Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 22

"You evil witch," spits Charlotte at Starla. "What the hell do you want from us?"

I understand Charlotte's anger, but this little girl shouldn't be using language like that if you ask me.

We are all on the side of the road, standing on the green, luscious grass. I can't imagine how much trouble we will get into when Ms. Pudge finds out about this. If we make it out.

"Isn't it obvious, honey," snickers Starla, "It's you that I want. I am willing to be destroyed in order for the king to get what he desires. He ordered me to capture you for him and I plan to do so. No matter how hard you fight, I will capture you if it is the last thing I do."

"Enough with your self-motivational speech," I shout, "Did you know that you are just being brainwashed into doing his dirty work? He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anyone. He's just jealous of the happiness there is in this world that he never had. That's why he wants to destroy Earth."

"Lies!" a tear escapes Starla's face, "He promised me that when he succeeded, I would be his queen."

"Are you really that gullible?"

"Screw you!" shrieks Starla as she throws her arms at us. The grass under our feet catches fire and blazes around us. The last thing I remember is Starla's grin, mascara running down her face, and the fiery background.

***

A throbbing pain in my head urges me to wake up. I feel my eyes open but my heart sinks when I can't see anything. I instantly think the worse.

Did they cut my eyes out? Did they hit me so hard I became blind? No, I can't get hurt like that because I'm already dead. They must have taken my eyes out. I have no eyes!

I try to move my hands toward my face but they won't budge.

They cut my arms as well! Charlotte? What have they done to her? Where are we? Is that fish I smell.

As I open my mouth to call out to Charlotte, I can feel the tiredness in my mouth, like when you are asleep and you just wake up. This means I have been out for a long time. They probably sedated me to cut my body parts. Another dreadful thought crosses my mind. What if they cut my tongue out as well?

I feel relief when a whisper comes out of me, "Charlotte? Where are you? Are you okay? Charlotte."

"She can't hear you."

A chill runs down my back, all the way down to my feet and back again. That voice, made to inflict terror and fear among anyone who hears it.

"What?" says the king, "You're not going to say 'hello'?"

"I don't believe it would be a proper greeting if I can't see," I say.

"I suppose you're right, Colin."

Even though I can't see him, because my eyes have been gauged out, I can feel him coming closer. I should probably be feeling his heat, since he is a "demon" from the dead world. I do feel heat, but it is an icy heat, full of bitterness.

The cold heat is now inches away from me, I can feel it. I feel freezing fingers linger above my face, coming closer and they are now on my forehead. I can feel something being tugged off my face. Something that feels like a part of me. Is he ripping my face off?  I can't take this anymore!

"Stop it!" I yell, "Don't rip my face off!"

When my face comes off, a bright light is revealed. Am I destroyed and I'm heading to a better place? Am I finally leaving this hell and going to land of eternal piece? I know my eyes haven't been ripped out when I see him standing before me.

"If you consider an old rag to be part of your face, then here," he says, throwing the white, long  dirty piece of fabric at me, "be my guest."

I take in my surroundings. I can now see that my arms have grown back and they are now tied with rope to a big, stone chair. I now know where that fish smell came from. We are in an abandoned factory, and across the big room, there is a window, and I can see a dock and water. This is a sea factory.

"Where is Charlotte?" is the first thing I say.

"Oh," says the king, "Don't worry about her. She's in good hands with Starla."

"You don't know what you're doing. You've broken Starla. You break everyone you cross paths with. Why would you want to destroy innocent lives? You're a monster!" I am screaming now. My sister died because of me. She didn't deserve it because I was hurting. She was innocent like millions of people on Earth that don't deserve the wrath of the king.

"No," says the king, "You don't know what you're doing. I am doing this for the good of the universe!"

"Ms. Pudge told me about the balance of good and evil and why you need the Earth in the dead world. So don't waste your time explaining it."

"Margaret doesn't know what she's talking about. She may think she does, but she just wants to sound smart to have authority. I wouldn't trust her if I were you."

"But you are not me. I know who to trust and who not to trust. And you fall in the latter."

The king paces around me, slowly, a menacing grin on his face. He then crouches down to the floor and sits down in front of me.

"We have some important issues to discuss," he says, "And they involve your girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"But you wish Mandy was."

I push my body forward toward the king but the ropes push me back. My tied-up fists are ready to knock the grin off his face if I could.

"If you touch her..."

"No harm will come to her, if you cooperate with me."

I stare into his icy eyes with rage. How can someone be so evil and take advantage of the purest thing in the world, love, and turn it into a weapon?

"What do you want?" I say under gritted teeth.

"You see," he says, standing up and starting to pace again, "In order for my plans to succeed, a vessel is needed to harness my power. The power will grow even more in that vessel, and when the time comes, it will be released in an amount so great, not a single being will be left on this planet."

Staring at him, I give a small chuckle and give a big sigh at the end. I know where he is going with this.

"You want me to be that vessel," I say, as if affirming it.

"I have always admired your nobleness, courage, and urge to sacrifice. But this time, you are not the lucky winner. Your power might be strong, one of the strongest I've felt. When you first arrived in the dead world, I could feel the presence of your power entering to my domicile. It can grow oh so strong if you practiced it, but there is someone with far greater magic than you could ever imagine, maybe even more powerful than me."

I keep staring at him and I see a smile forming on his face. Then he shakes his head up and down slightly, assuring me that what I'm thinking is correct.

"Charlotte," I whisper.

"Now," he says, "You can save yourself and your pathetic human girlfriend, only if you leave Charlotte with me."

"You want Charlotte as the vessel," I say, eyes wide and fixed on his. "Her power is the greatest there has ever been and you want her to harness your power."

"Smart boy. She is strong enough to hold my power long enough to build it and raise it, but not even she can contain my power and hers at the same time forever. Once my power has reached its fullest potential inside her, well, I think you can put two and two together."

"Why the hell would I leave Charlotte here with a crazy demon like you?" I spit.

"If you do leave her, Mandy won't suffer the same fate as her fellow human race," he steps towards me and leans in closer. I can smell his musty breath as he whispers, "And if you don't, I won't just kill her, I'll damn her to eternal suffering. No dead world, no after-life, and no third chances."