Quote

"If you feel like giving up, just remember why you hung on so long."

-Bloody Mary (not the maker of the quote... Just me :P)

Chapter 44

Chapter forty-four— The Good and the Bad

Abby walked towards Caspian in greeting as I slowly bent over. Running three of my fingers on the top of the stack of paper gently, I treasured every second that I didn’t know the horrors in which lie in this parchment.

Picking them up, I stood up warily.

I studied each piece of parchment in the packet, and it was too evident on what the documents were.

“Why are there wills in Rachel’s files?”

“One for every murder that has taken place on the rooftops, to be exact.” Abby spoke with pain in her voice. “But that’s not all there is.” She held a piece of parchment behind her back.

“Abigail… Nicole… What exactly are you pointing out here?” I felt my voice break slightly, and I cleared my throat gently.

“Come on, Mary.” Nikki sighed quietly. “We all know.”

I shook my head, trying to shake thoughts out of the terrible things that have taken place. Shifting through the wills, it was like a timeline. “The people who were murdered on the rooftops were all Rachel’s family members.”

Silence. Pure silence.

And yet, I felt as though a million things were screaming at me. I knew Rachel was cruel in the first place; but to kill her own family?

“The wills show inheritance.” Sophia pointed out, also studying the wills in my hands. “They all lead to Rachel.”

“So, she did everything for gold.” I decided. “That selfish-“

“She didn’t kill just for that, though.” Abby interrupted. She put the parchment that was behind her back in front of her, staring at it weakly.

Sophia walked over and snatched the parchment out of Abby’s hands gently. Her eyes went from left to right, and her already pale skin went ghoulish white.

“What is it?” I asked, starting forward. However, Sophia moved backwards. Why were they so keen on not letting me see the document? “Sophia… Let me read it.”

Sophia shook her head quickly. Abby and Nikki glanced at each other with anxiety in their eyes. Caspian probably knew nothing of what was going on, but he showed no emotion.

“You’re not going to like it.” Nikki murmured quietly. “Its easier if you don’t know.”

“Give it here.” I snarled, officially irritated. Grabbing the document before they could protest, I turned away from them and began to read; it was in a man’s hand-writing, elegant, but dark:

Dear Ms. Ice,

          I am pleased to know that you’ve been following my orders. I hope that Meowiarty has assisted you with a pleasant room enough to fulfill your duties to me, your Master.  

          I trust that you shall do what I say by the Enforcement Ball. Make sure the girl is dead, or I shall send Little Bloody Riding Hood’s bounty after you; you don’t want that, do you, my dear? Do as I say and you shall not be harmed.

          Do as I say and you shall be rewarded. Thus, I have a secret.

          Swear to your life and you will save this secret like a lock to your heart.

          Thereupon taking this to the grave; two can keep a secret if one of us is dead… And, my dear, you know the end to that sorrowful story.

          When the Clock tower strikes Twilight, at the day where there are no stars and no moon, I will obtain the nature girl from the obsessive beast. You, my dear, will play an important piece of this puzzle. Keep the sisters away, therefore they will not be able to save the nature girl until it is too late; when the girl is mine, I shall take the Sylvia’s clone’s soul t o bring her to death.

          If you fail me, you shall be rewarded a much more gruesome death than a wolf could ever give.

          Dare not disobey your Master.

          Meowiarty has taken care of the letters assigned to you. Nobody shall hear or read these words I write anytime soon; not if Meowiarty wants to keep his feline heart beating.

          We shall meet in the Dark Twilight Night.

          -Your Master

I felt my lip shaking. “Her master could have been somebody else.”

Abby walked over, shaking her head with empathy. “No, Mary. Meowiarty is the head chief of the Hall of History corridors and whatever evidence goes through and in the Enforcement. He is a very important role in the Enforcement; only Malistaire would choose him to be the traitor.”

“We don’t have any proof that my father was connected to this.” I bit my lip. “If he wrote this, he wouldn’t have called me “Sylvia’s clone.””

I actually wasn’t sure if I had just spoken a lie.

Nikki made a disagree movement with her head and everybody’s eyes had pain and sorrow. “Well, whoever who master is, he sent Sophia’s wolf after her. Rachel evidently didn’t do what he wanted her to do. The master also set up traitors in our midst… Like the head chief of the Hall of History.”

“It sounds like Rachel and Meowiarty was keeping somebody away… Or keeping something out.” Caspian spoke up for the first time and we all looked at him. He had a frown on his face; I felt my heart lurch at the sorrow he was showing on his face. I’ve never seen him have so much emotion before. In his eyes there was a raging wildfire, with golden sparks in his sky eyes. I hated him so much.

Sophia cleared her throat. “I think its time for you to leave, Caspian.”

Caspian chuckled with disbelief. “Are you serious? You guys need me.”

My sisters and I made eye contact. There was no way to talk and make a plan without mentioning the S.A.

And yet, I had a feeling in my gut that we indeed need him. He was annoyingly brave, stubborn, and strong enough to fight. I glared at him, and I realized that my mouth had opened. “I hate it when your right, but its true, we do need you… Just not right now.”

Caspian smirked. “I knew you would warm up to me.”

“I’m not feeling the warmth.”

“Well.” Caspian put his hand on the hilt of his bronze sword and he leaned against a marble wall. “I’m not going anywhere. Whatever you ladies are hiding, it’s going to have to come out.”

Nikki sighed, playing with her powerful staff. “Don’t make me force you out.”

“That would be impolite.”

Abby looked uncomfortable. “Maybe its time we tell him… The more help, the better.”

I shook my head, furious. “I made a promise to keep it a secret with my mother. I’m not going to violate her death wish.”

They had no idea what I was screaming in my mind. How could they? Are they lost?

“Then we can tell him.” Sophia improvised. “Technically, that’s not breaking your mother’s wish if you’re not the one explaining it.”

“I can’t believe you guys.” I felt my face reddening. “How could you be so cruel to hurt my mother and me this way? You have no idea what I’ve been going through.”    

“I do.” Nikki replied quietly, with empathy in her voice. “I’ve lived with you long enough. I hear you when you’re dreaming; do you know you scream in your sleep?”

I felt my face pale, no longer rosy. “You would too if you saw your family being murdered every night.”

I felt my citrine pulsing with my heart as it beat faster than usual. My anger flared up like flames. Pushing past Caspian whom was standing by the door, I rushed out. Running up random turns, I kept going downstairs. Eventually, I will reach the floor that I was staying at.

After a million days, I finally reached the room I had been staying at. Praying, my heart bleeding in regret, I unlocked the door. Relieved to find that the chandelier had been cleaned up, and the damage repaired. The fireplace was lit, which cast dim shadows of things that looked too evil to fall asleep by. Xena was still gone on her little trip.

Locking my door and running to my bag on my desk, I pulled out my father’s wedding present to my mother. Opening it, my lip trembled as I tried not to cry at the sick chimes of music.

Ding, ding, ding, dalala.

I held my mother’s letter in my hand.

Ding, dalala, ding, dalala.

I felt over my mother’s handwriting, indented into the parchment at my mother’s fierce calligraphy.

Dalala, ding, ding, dalala.

The more I listened to the music box, the more I felt hatred for my father.

Smashing the music box shut, I threw it against the wall. It fell to the ground with a large bang. I felt no relief when I heard no breaking or cracking sound from the music box. The damn thing was unbreakable.

Holding my mother’s letter to my heart, I lay in my canopy bed. Slowly, quietly, I held the piece of my mother, a shield against the shadows of the fireplace.

I did not cry. As if remembering from a couple days ago, I remembered the words that my mother used to coo me with when I cried as an infant. It was so long ago… I wondered how I could remember.

The words ran across my mind, and imprinted it in my eyelids.

I fell asleep with my mother’s soothing words.

A bird’s wings may be clipped, but its spirit cannot be broken.

I awoke early in the morning, where dawn was beginning. I knew what I was going to do, and I took a quick shower. Putting on the comfortable clothes that I preferred, I snuck out of my bedroom. I didn’t want anybody hearing me.

The closer I got to my destination, the whiter the corridors became. Soon, it was like a hospital made out of stone.

Indeed, it was the infirmary.

A nurse or doctor was working on some files at the main office’s desk. Walking up to her, I tried to look presentable enough. “Excuse me, Madame?”

The woman looked up. I realized that she was no woman, but a dog with long curly hair. I bit my lip; I ought to be used to seeing talking animals by now. “Can I help you, miss?”

“I’m here to see Rachel Ice.”

The dog frowned, which was creepy, considering that it was a dog. “I’m sorry, miss. That is restricted; she is a criminal, miss.”

“I know.” I expected this. Taking out my Enforcement badge, I showed it to her. “I am part of the Marleybone Scotland Yard Enforcement. I must talk to her.”

This was really an excuse. Technically, I had nothing to talk about with her that was connected to the Enforcement. I just hope she isn’t too lost to be saved.

The nurse nodded kindly. “Her room is corridor A4, Cell 25. Good luck, miss. She is quite weak.”

I walked down the corridors A1-3. When I reached the fourth corridor, I found the room “Cell 25.” It looked like a room for the mental.

Opening the door, it was chilly air. Three small windows were open, and everything was so white that it hurt my eyes. Rachel was laying on her white bed, staring at the ceiling.

Oh no. I thought. Don’t let her be dead.

“Rachel..?” She did not move, or even blink.

Walking over cautiously, I sat on a white chair beside her bed. It was when I touched her arm carefully that she turned her head, and smiled a creepy grin. “I knew you would come, Angel.”

I sighed, knowing more than the truth. “You killed all your family members for money, didn’t you?”

“That was my free time. More rewards. More fun.” She spoke slowly. I noticed that her teeth were stained slightly red; her lips were bitten so much that they bled.

“Why?”

There was silence, and at first I thought she didn’t hear me. However, she spoke in the same slow voice. “Because I can.”

I nodded, and grimaced. I stared down at her with pity, as she smiled at me with her bloodstained teeth. “Your going to jail, you know that?”

“Master won’t be pleased…” Her voice rattled. I could smell the blood on her breath from a foot away from her face. “He won’t…”

“What do you know about your master, Rachel?” I asked.

She suddenly grabbed my wrist, and I lurched. I saw her wince in pain. “I know a lot about you, Mary.”

My eyes widened. “I’m talking about your master, Rachel.”

“Yes.” She breathed, eyes wider than mine. All a sudden in her newfound raspy voice, she exploded in a storm of words. “You will die with your stupid mother and sister. Your sisters shall rot in a living hell, and your father will become forever powerful. He will make me powerful and rich beyond belief. You will die and nothing shall be spoiled. The nature girl shall perish.”

The sudden outburst took the breath out of Rachel.

It was a moment that it wasn’t the outburst that made Rachel lose her breath.

I held Rachel’s upper body in my arms, as she slumped into me. Her hand slackened off my wrist, and I gasped as I realized what had happened.

Rachel had just died in my arms.