The Hex

Chapter Three

For future reference, possessed Elizabeth will be referred to as "Ela" and Elizabeth's consciousness will be referred to by her full name from here on out (those of you that read this story the first time know why)

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Ela wasted no time on her mission. She no longer used that stone to hide her wings, displaying them in full view, primarily because her mother had no idea how. She knew her daughter did it every day, but there was nothing to hide at this point. Soon, Ela would be the only one, with no one to send for her death.

She barely heard the initial screams of shock and horror, despite how close they were to her ears. They pointed, eyes nearly falling from their heads as their jaws fell to a point of nearly becoming unhinged. She was a monster now, at least in their eyes. Ela simply held their gazes for as long as possible before passing by, barely blinking.

"Stop it!" Elizabeth cried, trapped in her own head. "Mother, they'll know! They'll kill us!"

"You foolish young girl." She shook head. On the outside, it would look as though she were talking to herself—yet another reason to suspect her of witchcraft. Not that it was an incorrect assumption, of course. "They can never touch this body."

"Please, don't hurt anyone! Mother!"

Ela chose to ignore this, instead heading straight for the room of the first one who stood in her way. Somewhere deep in her mind, likely from Elizabeth's memories, she knew he was too frail and sickly to fight back. No one would even expect a thing, except his disease finally overcoming his body and shutting him down. She could rupture each one, from the inside out. It would be so easy, the better option...

But Ela wanted them to know she had done this. She wanted them to know she had returned to take what had been hers from those that stood in her way. Ela wanted them to remember she would stop at nothing to take it back.

Edward laid still on his mattress, completely incapacitated. No ladies-in-waiting or servants buzzed around his room like they did when he was awake, leaving him be. Only one man watched over him, making sure he would be tended to if he broke out into a coughing fit, or at least so someone would know should he pass in the middle of his rest. The man's eyes snapped up as Ela entered the room, quickly shooting up in shock upon taking in her appearance.

"Your Highness--! You-your back."

"Just a tumor." Without moving, she snapped his neck. His body collapsed to the ground, limp as a rag doll as it slid from the chair. Edward still didn't stir, deep into his slumber. Ela approached his bedside, watching his bony chest rise and fall with the breaths that gave him life.

"Mother, no, please! He is sickly, he will pass soon! Please, do not hurt him!" Elizabeth begged.

Ela's face twisted as anger overtook her, and without a word, his skin began to rupture. Bright red blood stained the pristine sheets before it gurgled from his pallid throat, spilling from thin lips. He coughed and gagged on his own fluids, and his face suddenly began to cave in on itself, eyes falling from the sockets. Elizabeth watched in horror as Ela remained unmoving, waiting until the moment Edward's heartbeat faded.

"No!"

With a satisfied smirk, Ela turned on her heel, leaving the door open for people to find what she'd done. Next was Mary. She remembered Mary... that little brat of a girl. She refused to serve her daughter when given the task, and went on about how she wasn't her real mother. She didn't want to just kill Mary for her crown... she wanted to teach her to be grateful.

She didn't bother with subtlety this time, throwing the door open. Mary jumped in her seat, nearly throwing her book to the floor. It took her eyes a moment to scan over Ela's frame, but when she did, she let out an ear-piercing scream, frozen and horrified at the sight of her sister. Ela wasted no time, snapping Mary's neck clean off her spine, sending the head rolling. Her artery pulsed, sending blood splattering onto the carpet.

Mary's scream had likely alerted the guards something was amiss, so she had to move fast. Ela took flight, gliding above the people's heads toward the queen's chambers. Catherine and Henry would be asleep by now, blissfully unaware they would stay like that forever. Their room was unmistakable, the door far larger than the others. Not to mention, there had been a time when Ela lived there. She didn't bother with a quiet landing, tossing the door open.

She'd underestimated, however, the possibility that Catherina had been awakened by Mary's scream. The moment the door opened, Catherine called out into the darkness of the hallways.

"Guards! Help!" Ela threw Catherine against the wall before marching forward. She wanted to make her suffer the most. She had everything Ela wanted, ripped from her hands like a child's toy. But now, she had the chance to take it back, finally have the power she craved. Catherine's arms splayed out on the wall, pinning the helpless butterfly on the board.

Suddenly, something forcefully collided with her back, catching Ela off guard and knocking her to the ground. In the process, she released Catherine, allowing the woman to stand and move back toward her bed. Ela whipped around to see a large group of guards staring her down, weapons drawn and pointed right at her. Ela smirked before yanking their hearts from their chests, allowing them all to tumble to the floor. But the moment they fell, more streamed in. The Hydra's Head—cut off one, two more grow back in its place. Ela was too stubborn to quit, however, and decided to keep trying to blast them back. She knew the guards well, after all—they'd served her once.

A larger group pushed their way through the door, wasting no time advancing toward Ela and tackling her to the ground. That moment made her realize she couldn't best them—not yet, anyways. Her eyes darted around, searching for the nearest point of escape. Behind her, vague light shone through a thin window. There was no way Ela could fit through it now, but that was her only way out.

Suddenly, she pushed them all off her in a large clump, pinning them all to the wall. As they struggled against her hold, Ela stared down the small opening, and it began to twist and expand. Quickly, she released them and shot out of the hole, hovering against the stars of the night sky. Her eyes darted around like wildfire, trying to find just the right place. Elizabeth could see into her mother's mind, each one of her thoughts were perfectly clear to her.

"You have completely lost your mind!" Elizabeth scolded. "I know what you're about to do—don't you dare!"

Ela tuned out the voice in her head, pushing right toward the tower she'd been locked in all those years ago. She moved aside the bricks and glass of the windows, allowing herself inside before completely sealing off the room.

"Mother, don't do this. You can start over—please!"

Instead of listening, Ela paced the circular room, muttering some sort of spell, or maybe a charm, under her breath, staring down at the stones. The walls suddenly took on a red and black glow, seeping from the cracks in each brick. Her body suddenly went eerily still, occasionally swaying as she chanted the same sentence in Latin over and over again. Ela's arms began to cross over her chest, and once the words left her mouth one last time, her body fell limp to the ground, slamming against the hard substances but not damaging her in the slightest. Her body would be untouchable by any. No one would find her, at least not until she was ready. She would be reborn in time, once they were gone, and she could claim her daughter's birthright with a new royal family.