Whisper in the Dark

Chapter 2

Adult Content 18+

"They have escaped my queen." She kept staring in front of her as he said these words.

"Good, it is about time." She was becoming agitated with the girls. Their progress was too slow to her liking. What have those idiots done in raising them? If they grew up with her, they would have been ruthless and strong.

"They will soon realize who and what they are, those traitors only did them damage." Her words tasted bitter in her mouth. She wished she was there to see them being killed for their betrayal. Oh, the joy it would have brought her to see retribution. A smile graces her stone-cold face just thinking of the details she overheard her men talk about.

“Leave me.” She glanced over her shoulder as he left her alone in front of the window.

Since the day the two girls came into the world she knew that only trouble will follow. Her eyes started to tear up but as she always did, she refused to feel emotion or let herself even shed a tear, not for pain. Her strong stance and merciless ruling are what kept her in power. Not even the presence of the girls will make her waver. She could not afford to be seen weak in any degree of the word. For 132 years she has reigned over this empire and she was not going to give it up without a fight, not even for love. That ship has sailed many years ago. Love made her weak and she was sure to bury it.

~~

The escape from the dungeon had been too easy. When the girls reached the door of the dungeon it was unlocked and there were no guards in the hallway. This just left Alexa with an uneasy feeling. Someone wanted them to escape and she knew they were being watched, but by who she did not know. It is mind-boggling and her curiosity will eventually get the better of her. She just had to know why.

Soraya was the first to scale down the 20-foot wall. Her fear of heights did not make it easy as her sister constantly had to motivate her to keep moving. She froze a few times in fear and struggled to keep her breathing under control.

“Thank goodness we are on the ground!” Soraya exclaimed. “SHHHH! We do not know who may be near us!” Alexa said in a loud whisper.

The girls ran for the forest to get out of the clearing as soon as possible. It was not safe anywhere near the palace and Alexa had this daunting feeling that whatever was in those walls was not going to be good. The best they could do was to escape and get as far away as possible from the palace before they met what was inevitably waiting for them on the other side.

The forest is dark and damp. The darkness surrounded them and felt thick. They were unsure whether it was day or night as the clouds let no sunlight or moonlight through. Their eyes adjusted to the darkness surprisingly quickly and it was no effort to see their surroundings or where they were heading.

“I cannot see the palace anymore and my feet hurt too much to walk any further,” Alexa said in exhaustion. She quickly walks over to a fallen tree stump to sit and massage her sore feet. They were dragged there with the clothes on her back and she was regretting wearing no hoodie. Her shoes were not comfortable either. Fashion was not a good choice in such a situation.

The drug they were drugged with was still in their system and the effects were catching up with them. The girls were hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted. Everything going on in that cell caused them to sleep with their eyes open. Their bodies couldn't keep up anymore, they needed the rest. Their feet were blistered from the walk through the forest. Soraya was leaning against a tree struggling to keep her eyes open as Alexa was assessing their surroundings, looking for a suitable place to sleep.

“Here!” Alexa points to an old oak-like-looking tree. “It will be safer to sleep in the tree than on the ground.”

Soraya did not argue and immediately started to climb into the tree looking for a bough big enough to comfortably fit her body in for the night. Sleeping uncomfortably was her last concern as she could barely drag her exhausted body into the tree. She immediately settled for the first place she could find where she did not have to keep her balance to lie down. The branch was big enough for her to cradle into it and close her eyes to drift off to sleep.

“I am so sorry, Alexa,” she whispered as she drifted off to sleep. She will probably apologize for what happened for the rest of her life. The guilt will eat her alive.

Alexa looked at her sleeping sister and could not find it in her heart to forgive her for what happened. It was her fault and no one else’s. She was to be blamed for this mess that they had found themselves in. No food, no water, exhausted, orphaned, and in a strange place. This was all thanks to Soraya. How can she bring herself to forgive her for their parent’s death? The last thoughts drifted through Alexa’s mind as the drugs took their last effect on her drained body and her eyes involuntarily shut. Some much needed rest took over her body and she fell into a deep slumber.

~~

“Please don’t hurt them!” She begged him.

His cold eyes stared blankly at her. His mouth formed a smile that did not reach his eyes. It was terrifying just to look at it and he knew it. She was helpless in his grip and she knew he was not about to show her mercy. He threw her against the wall with such force her head ricochetted against the wall.

“Let them go!” she screamed, but the last part became a whisper as the numbness and dizziness of the trauma to her head started to sink in.

He screamed as he charged towards the man in full rage, adrenaline pumping through his veins. His veins were protruding from his forehead and his mouth started to split open at the corners as he opened his mouth to bite into his assailant. Large fang-like teeth became visible. He charged towards the man in the silver and grey suit with pure determination. As he lunged into the air to meet the intruder, the man extended his arm and grabbed at his throat like it was nothing. He held onto his throat and lifted him above his head so that his feet could not touch the ground.

“Did you honestly think it would be that easy?” He asked with a sneer. “You knew this day would be coming. You brought this on yourself.”

With those words, he crushed his throat. His bones breaking left everyone in the room gasping and speechless as the startling sound filled the room and he breathed his last breath.

“DADDY!” Soraya screamed frantically as she started running towards her father, still held in the air by the man displaying extraordinary strength.

He dropped him to the floor and his sight turned back to the woman he had clenched by the hair in his other hand. She was bleeding profusely and it was not visible anymore from where the blood was coming from. He could not be bothered with Soraya cradling her father’s head as if he knew she did not stand a chance against him. Instead, he was focused on the woman lying by his side that he was toying with and he enjoyed every moment of it.

“What did you think would happen?” He said to her as he threw her to the floor and grabbed onto her hair again, pulling her face upwards to him so that he could look her straight in the eyes as he spoke these words to her, thinking he wanted her last image on this dreadful planet to be his face.

He wanted her to see his cold, merciless expression as he ripped her life apart. She had gotten away with it for far too long and, after almost 16 years, he could finally pay her the retribution she was owed.

“It does not matter what you do with me! They will never be what she wants and I made sure of that!” She screamed at him and spat blood in his face.

He was amused at her will to fight. They both knew she was no match for him, yet she would still try to provoke him to kill her. She knew in her mind that if he had to take her alive she would eventually crack and the girls would not be safe. She will not reveal their true gifts.

He grabbed her by her chin, squeezing it tightly as he lifted her off the floor. She was now staring him straight in the eyes. She could feel the heat of his breath on her face.

“You can take all your little secrets to the grave, it does not matter to me. You cannot stop what needs to happen. It was and still is their destiny. You are a selfish little b*tch! You will look on as your kind suffers and dies!” The anger in him completely shattered his cold exterior to one full of vengeance. Her eyes widened at his words. She did not expect him to care so little about their gifts, then what else could they be after if not that? She quickly recomposed herself and glared at him.

“I will do it gladly! She does not deserve to have them! I am not one of you and neither are they! Our kind died with my father! That b*tch is no queen and she will never be!”

With those words, his eyes turned dark and he drew a dagger from his back and slid her throat.

“Alexa, HELP!” Soraya screamed with tears in her eyes.

Alexa was frozen to the spot and she could not understand why. She wanted to move but she couldn’t. All of a sudden she let out a shrieking scream before she felt an arm grabbing her from behind and a gag going over her mouth, making everything around her go black.

~~

“ALEXA! ALEXA! WAKE UP!” Soraya was shaking her shoulders, screaming at her to wake up. Fear gripped her.

“What is it?” She asked with annoyance. Her body was sweaty all over and her mind was racing from the nightmare. She hated seeing that image over and over again.

“You did that shriek thing again!” Soraya looked terrified and with complete disbelief at her sister. “What did you do?”

“What do you mean?” Alexa looked around her, realizing that they were no longer in the tree but on the ground.

Everything around them was ashes. The once dense forest had now a patch cleared in the middle of it. Alexa could not comprehend what had just happened.

“What happened?” She asked Soraya in utter shock.

“You started to scream as you did when they took us and...” she kept quiet at the last part as the words were too much for her to say. The completion of that thought was still unbearable and guilt gripped her heart tightly.

“And killed our mother and father!” Alexa completed digging the words deeper into Soraya because of what pain she had caused them all.

Soraya dropped her head in shame at her sister’s words. The two may be identical twins, but they were not in the least bit similar. Squabbling was inevitable with them. Soraya felt like she always let her sister down and Alexa did not let her forget it. She made a point of driving the dagger deeper into her sister’s heart.

“I do not know what happened. I was dreaming about the night all of this started.” Alexa exclaimed, looking around her at the damage her shriek had inflicted on the forest.

Both girls refused to truly acknowledge the events that transpired that fateful night, as speaking around it would ease the burden of acknowledging that the only people they knew as their family were now gone.

Suddenly, the leaves started rustling at a distance from them.

“Did you hear that?”

“Run Soraya! RUN!”