Please stop! I screamed over and over in my head. This is not my Matthew. This is not my Matthew. As he finally released my lips and began to work his way down my neck, I yelled with everything I had in me, “Luna! Help me!”
“What is your cat going to do?” he mocked, laughing as he began to tear at the buttons of the shirt with his teeth.
The next few seconds were a blur as the door blasted open and was completely blown off its hinges, hitting the floor. Grandmother, though still looking frail, shouted without an ounce of fear in her, “Get off my daughter!”
Matthew, or whoever he had become, looked totally crazy for a second as he raised his eyebrows and threw his head back and laughed before saying, “Try and stop me, old lady.”
Just as he was about to lean in for another kiss, to lay his claim, Grandmother had him in the air within seconds and slung him against the wall with her magic. She trembled for a minute, but stood her ground and walked over to face him as he lay slumped against the wall. “Matthew?” she called, tapping his body with her foot, but standing guarded.
“Wh-what happened?” stuttered Matthew as his eyes returned to normal. He began to look around the room trying to figure out what happened.
“You do not know?” she asked in a manner as if she already knew the answer to the question. He shook his head, his eyes finally resting on me. He looked horrified at the site of my wrinkled bedspread, torn shirt, and tousled hair.
“What happened? Did I? Oh my gosh. I couldn’t have.” He began to grab his head and shake it.
“Matthew,” whispered Grandmother, but he didn’t respond. “Matthew!” she repeated, raising her voice a bit.
“Oh, yes ma’am?” he answered, coming to reality.
“You need to go home and clear your mind,” she instructed. He didn’t reply, but got up from the floor. He shook his head one last time as he looked at me again and walked out of the room. She waited until she heard the sound of the door close downstairs before rushing to me and almost collapsing on the bed.
“Oh, my dear. Are you okay? Did he … umm … well, did he hurt you?” she probed, pulling me to her as she rocked me gently and stroked my hair.
“I’m fine. He just scared me is all,” I replied, still shaken up. “I’m just glad it didn’t go farther than it did.”
“Next time, kick him downstairs with your knee. I can promise you, he’ll stop then,” advised Luna, interrupting us as she jumped on the bed. “I could claw that little punk’s eyes out,” she added.
“Luna, he was not himself,” said Grandmother.
“I don’t care. Anybody that hurts my Amelia …” Grrr, she growled and then hissed, reared back, and swatted at the air with both paws.
“No need for the claws, missy,” said Grandmother.
“I was just showing you what I wanted to do to him,” she remarked. Grandmother nodded.
“I understand that, but I do not believe it will come to that. He is ultimately a good lad. He just needs to clear his head,” she reiterated, glancing at me.
“Why do you keep saying that? ‘Clear his head,’ I mean?” I asked, making air quotes with my fingers.
“I do not wish to frighten you, Amelia,” she informed me pausing, as if to think before continuing. “I do not want you around him for a few days. Give him time to find himself.”
“Find himself?” I blurted out.
“Trust me, Amelia,” she said reassuringly.
“Okay,” I murmured sighing.
“Well, if you do not mind helping me downstairs to the sitting room, I would appreciate it. I need to rest. I hope I do not have to use much magic any time soon. That took a lot out of me.”
I looked at Luna as I whispered, “I hope so too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
MATTHEW
THE VOICES INSIDE MY HEAD
She did this. It’s her fault you two lovebirds are not together anymore, hissed the voice inside my head. Save Amelia. Rescue her from the evil witch. Be the hero. She’ll take you back.
“I, uh, I just don’t know,” I spoke out loud in my room to the voice that echoed inside my mind.
Do it … Do it. It whispered over and over again, She did this. Be the hero. My mind fought to stay in control, but the voice was so strong at times that I felt like I was going insane. Do it … Do it.
“I don’t understand what’s going on!” I shouted from the top of my lungs.
“Are you alright, lad?” asked Uncle Bart opening the door.
Say your fine, commanded the voice.
“I’m fine,” I squeaked out.
“You are looking a little pale. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked with arched brows.
“I said I’m fine!” I yelled unintentionally.
“Okay then. Just checking on you,” he responded, waving his hands in front of him as a sign of surrender and shut the door.
“What is going on with me?” I screamed as I jumped from my bed and punched the wall with my injured hand, making me scream in pain. “Gah!” I exclaimed, punching the wall over and over again with my other hand this time. “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with me?” I yelped loudly as I began to throw things around my room. “How could I have hurt my Amelia?” I wailed before falling to my knees crying. “How could I have hurt her? How? How? How?” I mumbled over and over again to myself as sloppy wet tears ran down my face. “I love her … how … oh, Gah! What is happening to me?” I sobbed louder and louder as the second hand on the clock ticked loudly, as if symbolizing my life slipping away before me.
Dude, get a grip on yourself. I’m worried about you, came the voice of Jason that I usually heard in my time of need. I was in no mood to hear him this time. “Shut up, man!” I hollered and it said no more. I was about to ask it to speak again because I was lonely when the dark, sinister voice that had destroyed my life in mere days spoke.
The time is coming for you to do what has been asked of you. You will complete the task without question. Say your goodbyes to your uncle, because you won’t be coming back.
“Get out of my head!” I pleaded while hitting my head repeatedly with my good hand. “I’m not doing anything you say again!” I said running to a mirror as if to stare at the being inside my mind.
You will do it! he proclaimed as waves of pain were sent through my mind, sending me to the floor on my knees once again.
“Aaahhh!!” I shrieked in pain. “Stop! Stop! Stop!” I begged pounding the floor over and over again.
I will make the pain stop if you give in, he jeered.
“Never!” I countered as a second more intense wave of pain sailed through my brain. “Kill me if you must, but I will not hurt my Amelia ever again!” I said, pounding the floor to try to relieve the pain.
It’s out of your control now, he laughed insanely.
“No, I was raised to believe it is never too late to make right a wrong. No one is a lost cause,” and suddenly the pain stopped as I fell to the floor on my face. As I lay there, I could have sworn I heard the voice sobbing. “Umm, dude,” I murmured, sitting up and looking around my room. “You okay?” I felt crazy to ask such a thing, but anyone would have already admitted me somewhere if I told them I hear voices. The sobbing suddenly stopped and then total silence. Seconds ticked by, and then minutes as I sat there and waited to see if I was finally free.
Look, do you want to rescue Amelia or not? he finally said.
Nope, he’s still there, I thought.
I heard that, he remarked.
“Great! The thing can read my mind now too,” I grumbled.
Do you love Amelia? it asked.
“With all my heart,” I confessed boldly as I bowed my head in sadness.
Then you must save her from that evil witch, he said.
“I don’t get where you are coming from,” I admitted. “I love Ms. Matilda like she was my own grandmother.”
Your mind is blinded by your heart, he seethed.
“I would rather be led by m
y heart than my mind,” I retorted.
You are in too deep emotionally. You won’t be able to complete the task alone. I’m taking over, he announced.
“What did you just say?” I asked, jumping up from the floor.
I said I’m taking over. I tried to give you a chance to be halfway part of this, to test your allegiance to me, but you have failed miserably. Too bad, too. You would have made a great servant, or warrior even, he explained.
“What are you saying?!” I panicked.
Here comes my full power, he warned me. This might sting a little, he added laughing as if he was going to enjoy this. Three, two, one …
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
AMELIA
GRANDMOTHER’S SACRAFICE
Night had finally come and Grandmother was resting peacefully by the window in the sitting room. I had been keeping her company all day to make sure she was okay, but also to ensure I was not alone. The events of the day shook me to my core. I’d never seen Matthew like that before. He looked like a wild person that I’ve read about in books. What had become of the sweet boy I fell in love with? I honestly wanted to know and was determined to find out. I decided to go put my pajamas on while I further pondered it. Luna had been outside patrolling the area for quite some time now. For the first time in a while, I felt alone. My boyfriend, or should I say “ex-boyfriend,” was going insane, and I was probably the cause of it. Then there was my grandmother, dwindling down to nothing it seemed, and my cat, who was my only friend besides Matthew, was on patrol more to protect me. The old grandfather clock chimed loudly announcing the arrival of midnight.
As I finished putting my pink button up pajama shirt and bottoms on, there came a knock at the door. “Now, who in the world can that be at this hour?” I asked like there was someone else in my room to answer me.
Knock, knock, knock, beat the person at the door.
“I’m coming,” I said, throwing on my pale blue bathrobe and pink fuzzy slippers. The knocking grew more and more frequent and more intense as I edged my way down the steps and up the hallway to the door. “Who is it?” I whispered as if they could hear me. “Who’s there?” I mumbled as my heart began to race and my breath caught in my throat. As I reached for the doorknob, something inside of me told me not to open it. I didn’t listen to it though. I gasped as I saw Matthew standing on the doorstep wearing nothing but red, flannel pajama pants. His eyes were completely glazed over, which frightened me.
“Matthew, what are you doing here?” I asked calmly. He spoke nothing, but began rocking back and forth with his mouth open. “Umm, Grandmother would ask you if are trying to catch flies with that mouth of yours,” I laughed uncomfortably, trying to ease the tension. He growled at what seemed to be the mention of her name. “She … she said she hopes she didn’t hurt you earlier today, but was only trying to protect me,” I continued. He grunted. “Well, I think you need to go home and get some rest. You look tired. I promise we will talk tomorrow,” I reassured him, trying to close the door. He quickly smacked it with his hand and motioned for me to come out on the porch. Every fiber of my being screamed at me not to do it, but once again, I didn’t listen. “Okay, but just for a minute,” I said. He pointed in the direction of the gardens. “What? Do you want to go for a walk?” I said. He wobbled his head first left and right and then up and down as if arguing with himself. “It’s cold out here. I think I am going to go back inside,” I informed him. Before I could even get a foot in the door, Matthew snatched me up and threw me over his shoulder, jumping off the porch steps and began to run. “Apparently, you were determined to go on that walk," I nervously joked. “Ha-ha. Very funny. Put me down now.” He uttered nothing, but continued to run. “Okay, joke is over. Put me down,” I panicked. “Matthew, we can talk,” I begged as my heart began to race. I turned my head to see where he was taking me and I saw the pond where we had once had our picnic. “Too cold for a picnic today. Maybe tomorrow. Please put me down,” I pleaded with him. I began to shake as I tried to figure out what to do. I started to kick him as hard as I could and tried to push my body away from him, but to no avail. He didn’t seem bothered, so I began to hit and claw at him to try and get away, but he just held me tighter. “Matthew, you are hurting me!” I screamed as his hand tightened around my waist. We were nearing the pond and I didn’t know what to do, so I began to scream for Luna as loud as I could. “Luna, help me! Get Grandmother, please!! Matthew is taking me to the pond!!”
With no savior in sight he stepped into the pond. “Oh my gosh. This can’t be how it all ends,” I exclaimed. “Matthew, it’s too cold. We are going to get wet,” I cautioned as he stepped out into the deeper part, if you could call it that. It was only up to his calves, so I didn’t know what he expected to do. We couldn’t exactly swim in it. “Matthew, my love, what are we doing here?” I asked as calmly as I could as he stood there still as a statue until the moon began to shimmer on the water. All of a sudden, he backed up, and it felt like we were sinking. “Oh gosh! I really am going to drown in some shallow water!” I proclaimed, panicking as Matthew began to rub my back to comfort me. Oh, now he tries to make me feel better, I thought to myself.
“What the heck?” I said as we began to go farther and farther under the water until it was above our heads. I looked up to see the little fish that swam in it, swimming as if in the air as the water danced above me. “How are we even doing this?” I asked as torches ignited on both sides of us on rock walls. “Where did these steps come from?” I said looking down the long rock staircase. “Where are you taking me?” I probed. Matthew didn’t respond. “How did you know … you couldn’t have … what the heck?” I babbled to myself. We finally reached the bottom of the steps as a man stepped from the shadows.
“He is waiting for you in the throne room, slave,” snarled the man to Matthew. “Take her there,” he ordered as he turned to walk away.
“Who are you?” I yelled.
“You of all people should know me, Amelia,” he said, stepping into the light of one of the torches. I gasped.
“You’re that man from my dream!” I shrieked.
“They call me Cassius,” he affirmed as he ran his disgustingly rough hand across my face making Matthew jerk. “That’s enough out of you, boy!” he hollered as I shook my head in disgust to get his hand off my cheek. “So, the great Amelia, huh?” he mocked taking a deep breath. “Maybe he wouldn’t mind if we were a little late,” he sneered causing Matthew to jerk me away from him again. “You sure do have some spunk in you,” he said, grabbing Matthew’s jaw, forcing him to look at him. “Don’t worry, he can break that,” he laughed letting him go. “Now, back to you,” he smirked, turning to me.
“Oh no you don’t!” bellowed Luna, pouncing off the stairs onto his face, scratching him all over. “You won’t hurt my Amelia,” she snapped as she was biting down hard on his ear making him wince.
“You stupid feline! I’ve had just about all I can stand from you,” he seethed as he grabbed her tail, causing her to hiss all the more, and threw her as hard as he could against the wall.
“Nooo!” I shouted as she slid down the wall. “Luna!” I called, but her little, crumpled body did not move.
“She’s dead," Cassius roared as he threw his head back to laugh. “I did it! I did it! I killed the famous Luna. Stupid feline," he taunted, dancing around in a circle.
I wanted to cry over the loss of my best friend, but rage shot through my body as I screamed, causing yellow light to shoot from my hands vaulting me off of Matthew and out of his grip. “Aaahh!!” I shrieked. I wanted to kill Cassius like he killed Luna, but decided against it and ran to Luna instead. “Oh, Luna. My sweet, sweet Luna,” I murmured, picking up her lifeless body one last time, as if hugging her goodbye. “You were a good friend … my best friend really,” I whimpered as I began to cry uncontrollably as I held her rocking her in my arms like you would a child.
“Your grandmother is on the way,” she whispered, surprising me. “Don’t
let them know I am alive.” I said nothing, but placed her gently back on the floor, against the wall.
“Well, if this dramatic little scene is over with, let’s go,” demanded Cassius, grabbing the collar of my bathrobe. “Go, boy!” he commanded, pushing Matthew in the back.
As we walked down the cold stone hallway, I asked, “What is this place?”
“Don’t you know?” hissed Cassius. I shook my head.
“Your family …” he snarled at the word family, “created this place to keep his majesty locked up.”
“Who is ‘his majesty’?” I asked as he took his hand off my robe to turn and look at me in utter amazement.
“You don’t know your heritage at all, do you girl? I’m talking about the one you refer to as the Darkness,” he clarified, shaking his head. I gasped.
“We are here … at his place?” I asked.
“Yes,” he laughed. “Let’s go. He wants to see you,” he ordered, pushing me in front of Matthew.
“You’re not going anywhere with my daughter,” came the voice of my mother as a cell door burst open and an orange beam of light shot from her hands, barely missing Cassius’ head.
“Get back in there, you witch,” he scowled. She shot another bolt, missing him again, making him jump.
“The next one won’t miss,” she promised without an ounce of fear in her voice. I watched in amazement as this woman that I’ve never met marched past Cassius, making him jerk back.
“Come on, Amelia,” she urged, grabbing my wrist as Matthew, still in a trance, threw his body into her, pushing her out of the way.
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