Forlot - Books 7-9

Chapter Nine

My whole body shook as he said that chilling sentence, and I slid off the rock and moved in front of him, holding my arms out and attempting to block his path. "Why, Lucas? Why in the world would you murder those wolves? They are harmless and would never hurt a human unless they are defending themselves."

"Do you not get it, hallucination of Maria? I have had hallucinations before, and most of them are you. I soon realized that I was hallucinating you only in places that you...Maria was once in. For example, the castle where we grew up in. I would always ask your parents if I could visit Maria's room. Her empty, silent room. They would always agree, and I would go in Maria's bedroom and take in all the memories that she and I had together."

I was on the verge of crying. Not because what he was saying was making me sad. But because I felt frustrated. I wanted him to stop with the talking. Stop telling me every detail about how much he missed me and return to the kingdom. Also, I did not like him. Was I jealous of him? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, he should have been jealous of me because I was free. Free to be who I really am and from the kingdom's strict rules.

So why did I not like Lucas?

You see, the prince was making it sound like that we grew fond of each other. We enjoyed each other's company and were falling in love. Dear readers, allow me to tell you the truth.

Despite how Lucas was acting now, all nice and respectful towards me, it did not change the fact that he never displayed those kinds of characteristics when we were younger. And yes, I am aware that people can change, however, my gut was telling me that my future husband remained the same. No. Worse.

I do not have any good memories of Lucas. Not a single one. And that was because he always treated me like his toy. Just because he is one year older than me does not give him the right to bully me. Even when I was a helpless baby, he bullied me.

One time, he broke all of my toys, and when I questioned him about it, he claimed that he did it in order for my parents to get me new toys. He said that I deserved better toys than the ones that I owned because I was a princess.

That was crub. He did that so I only had him to lean on.

Another time, he entered my bedroom without my permission and told me that I had to play basketball with him. I did not want to, seeing that basketball does not interest me in the very least, and told him that I wanted to finish the book that I was reading. The book was called Return of the Monster Protector.

Apparently, that ticked him off because he gripped my wrist and threatened me. He said that if I did not play basketball with him, he would tell my parents. I was scared, considering that I was five years old at the time, and ended up playing the sport.

I knew that my mom and dad would not listen to my side of the story. They had always taken his side. He was the prince, and I was the princess, and my parents respected the tradition in our kingdom that all princesses must do what the princes want them to do, especially if they are arranged to marry each other.

Totally unfair, right?

I fought back the tears. "We...you and Maria...never ever had good memories. They may have been good for you, but to Maria, they were horrible." I shivered.

Lucas snorted. "What do you know, hallucination? After all, you are a hallucination of Maria."

Oh, you do not know how wrong you are.

"I may be a hallucination, Lucas, but you should also think of me as your conscience. Admit it. Deep inside you, you know what I am saying is correct. Maria was hurting all those years that she was in that castle. She felt like a prisoner. Heck, she was a prisoner!"

"Please. If she were a prisoner, she would have been in the dungeon and behind bars with her ankle chained to the wall."

"Even those prisoners had more freedom than me! I mean, Maria. Her parents put their traditions over their daughter's needs. They put you and her brother, Tyler, over her."

"That is because Tyler and I are princes. Besides kings and queens, princes have the last say."

I gritted my teeth. The anger that was inside me was growing by the second. I swear that he and Tyler were complete idiots. I am sorry. I know that you should not call others idiots or something similar to that, but some people...real worlders...

Ugh! I wanted to slap his face so badly. However, if I did, Lucas would figure out that it was really me.

"You need to go," I said. "Just go. Return to the kingdom."

"Of course. I told you that I will. But first thing is first." He walked around me and raised his rifle, aiming it at my wolf friends. "I have to kill them. Kill them all."

I began crying without even realizing. "Why?! They have harmed no humans from the kingdom!"

"They...they murdered Maria."

"What makes you think that they murdered her?!"

"You are an hallucination of Maria and here with the wolves. Why? 'Cause they attacked her and killed her with no mercy."

"No! They did not!"

"So now, I have to show them no mercy."

With that, he pulled the trigger, and a bullet shot out. But before the bullet could come in contact with one of my wolf friends, I hurried in front of it...

...and the bullet went through me instead.