THE DUTCHESS OF WHINGSIRE

CHAPTER4

His heart burned with fury as he ran out of the village. Because of her bitterness, Camille was willing to destroy the last traces of their peaceful past. It infuriated him to no end, "Calm down, Yuri. The most important thing is to get to Sherry before Camille does," he panted.

When Camille said she knew where Sherry was, she was lying. She only had a guess, but that guess was good enough. After all, the girl had a bad habit of always appearing in the worst place she could possibly be in, for her own good, of course. As she led the men into the forest, she could feel her heart thundering. If they could see her right now, what would they say? She broke the promise. Not only was she going to bring strangers into their little land of secrecy, she took them there with the desire to capture their beloved sister. "I know you might not believe me, but I have no choice," she muttered to herself. "Excuse me?" the young man walking beside her asked in concern, she shook her head and smiled, though it came off more like a sneer.

She knew that right at this moment, Yuri was on his way to Sherry. She sent him the hint of where to find her and let him leave without anyone noticing, because deep down she didn't want to be the one to catch Sherolanda. She herself probably didn't notice this weird contradiction in feelings and actions. Her mind had made the choice to be a monster, but her heart still longed for the days of old, which, though weren't perfect, were certainly better. "We're almost there," she announced with a slightly quivering voice.

****

Sherry ate fruit while bullying the poor little vine. Though she could never forget all her troubles, it did ease her heart to, for a while, enjoy some semblance of normalcy. She was completely caught off guard when she suddenly heard her name echo through the cave. After the voice came, Yuri appeared. She didn't even have the chance to think about how he knew she was there when she found herself bouncing into his arms.

After a quick hug, Yuri looked Sherry over in urgency, "You're not injured anywhere, are you?" She nodded affirmatively, "Good, we need to leave right now!" he mumbled as he grabbed her hand. Sherry had no idea why he was in such a rush, but she didn't dare delay, she allowed him to pull her toward the entrance while thinking over everything that could have gone wrong. Camille! She felt like giving herself a nice hot slap. How could she forget the large, scary guillotine hanging over her head, ready to come down any second? From the way Yuri was acting, it was clear that that guillotine was in a free fall. They ran out of the entrance of the cave and along a lesser walked forgotten forest path, but they were still too late. "Where are you planning to go with that witch, Yuri?" Camille asked with a snarky voice and a twisted sneer on her face. She gave him a chance, but he still couldn't deliver. No one could blame her now, could they?

Sherry's eyes widened, she looked back at the cave entrance which was so far away. Was Camille really planning to take all those people in there, to defile the sanctity of their past, just to catch her? Was she really worth all this? "Well, what are you all waiting for? The witch is right there. Catch her!" she shrieked. Before Sherry could react, her hands were bound behind her back. 'It hurts' was the first thought her brain registered. They bound her roughly, acting like she was a scary monster that could defeat them all in one second. They actually had a reason to be worried. After it was confirmed that she was actually a witch, so many rumors started to fly around, but the most well known was the story of how she killed an entire town in one night. Was there some truth in this rumor? Maybe.

To be honest, the scene would have been funny if she wasn't the one suffering at that moment — multiple able-bodied men gathered just to suppress one little girl. But she was the one suffering. Being bound like that made her remember the scenes from the past. Her vision went dark, like she was immersed in a cold endless sea, past and present overlapping perfectly. She wasn't sure when the tears started rolling down, but when they did, they flowed with a vengeance. First, there were just some silent tears finding their various paths down her face, but eventually she transitioned into full-blown sobbing. She couldn't even lift her head up, she didn't want anyone to see her pain, her sadness. She had warned herself, 'Don't get your hopes up, or you'll be heart-broken when the time comes!' but she didn't listen, now her heart, though not broken, hurt. The shards of her already crushed heart ached in synchrony.

Yuri's heart ached for her, but he couldn't ease her pain, so he turned to vent on Camille while trying to speak sense into her numb skull. "What are you thinking? She's your sister for God's sake!!! Do you really think this will change anything?!!!" he thundered at Camille, but Camille was not to be out done much less intimidated, "What about you? You can help and take care of a murderer, yet I can't hate her?!! You say you love her like a sister, but deep down we know you're only after her blood. What the hell do you think you're doing?!!! You were his friend!!!" she snapped back venomously, her voice grating. Sherry's head jolted up at her words. She stared at Yuri's back, but he didn't look back.

She gritted her teeth and started to struggle. It didn't matter if Camille's words were true or if she was just trying to plant discord, the most important thing right now was to escape. If they took her back to the village, it would almost certainly be game over. "Let go of me!" she yelled. They, of course, did not. Instead, a young man came up and tried to knock her unconscious. Which didn't work at all. Yes, it hurt like crazy, but it would take more than that to make her slip into unconsciousness. "What are you doing? Are you purposely trying to waste time? Follow our plan," her voice seemed to bring them out of a trance and the men sprung into action. Immediately, Yuri was surrounded and bound. Seeing the development, Sherry immediately froze, "Come with us peacefully, or we'll slit his throat!" the leader of the men shouted loudly, as if he wanted to be extra sure she heard him.

The procession back to the village was eerily subdued, even the forest seemed to be mourning. "Wait!" Camille commanded, everyone stopped. She looked at Sherry with a cruel expression on her face, but her eyes were a pool of guilt, anticipation and care — Care?! Sherry's eyes opened wide, trying to capture all the changes. It had been so long since she had seen concern in Camille's eyes. "Why did you do it?" she asked. Sherry's face showed an expression of shock. It had been five years but not once had Camille asked for her reason. Was this what people called lightning on a clear day? "Just give me a good reason, and I'll free you and Yuri right now. I'll even take your place at the stake. Please, Sherry, why did you do it?"

'I want to know... so I can die in peace,' she thought inwardly. 'Just one good reason.'

Sherry looked into Camille's eyes, no blinking whatsoever. 'She's serious,' she seemed to hear. But that didn't make her feel any better. This deal would have been a breath of fresh air, but she didn't have a reason, much less a good one. She could still remember that day, no matter how deep she buried it in her heart, it kept bubbling right back to the surface.

The day was bright and smelled of blooming flowers, it was spring. They all spent a fun afternoon in the cave and were heading to their different homes. The incident that changed their lives took place that night. She had a nightmare that night, a very detailed nightmare. In the dream, something seemed to force its way into her mind, pushing her out to watch as it took over her body and rained c*****e on everything she loved. When she opened her eyes she realized with a cold heart that the nightmare wasn't just a dream, it was real, all the events actually took place. She did many horrible and dark things that night, finally making clear to everyone else (that was still alive) and herself, the true depth of her abilities, endless.

That night she did things that no child should be capable of, that no human should be willing to do, but one thing would scar her for the rest of her life, keeping her up at night with night horrors. It was absolutely unforgivable. She killed her brother and sister. Her big brother, Victor, had loved her with his whole heart. Little Cherry had looked up to her with her big bright eyes, she was her hero. They considered her a hero and an angel. She was only their murderer. Her tears fell even harder. Camille looked at her patiently, waiting. Just one reason, it doesn't need to be a good one anymore.

She remembered everything, every single sensation, like she had done it herself. But she hadn't. That was what she told herself every morning, the only thing that kept her slightly sane all this time. No one believed her when she yelled that she hadn't done it. Why would they? They saw her murder their loved ones. How were they supposed to believe her, when deep down she didn't believe herself? Now here Camille was asking for a good reason. What the hell did she expect her to say?