Regina

by Mary Ann Moody

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  My vision came back slowly. I laid on a hard, flat surface while I waited for my body to return to me. My body tried to reconnect with my mind. I felt very different. The smell in the air indicated I was still in the secret room. I turned my head slowly to the left to see if I was alone.

  They were there, watching me.

  “Oh good, she’s awake.” I heard a female say. Whoever she was, she was full of joy.

  “We should’ve done this while she was out!” A male voice said in a furious whisper. “We’ve got to hurry up! We’ve only got an hour left.”

  My eyes focused on the people that spoke in low voices amongst each other. I was tied up horizontally on some sort of hard surface, possibly a table. My hands were bound separately and tightly above my head. My legs were tied to the end of the surface, as well. The horrible orange wallpaper with brown and pink flowers stared down at me like a monster, ready to devour me with its terrible color. I knew exactly where I was.

  Katie approached me. I could see her hands and knees visibly shook as she walked to me. She kept looking over her shoulder in fear. My mother and father wore black silk robes with hoods. It shimmered in the light beautifully. Mom’s blonde hair looked radiant against the material. I didn’t say anything to Katie. There wasn’t anything to say to her. I felt like a train conductor before he collides head on with an oncoming train. Everything moved in slow motion, and I could do nothing to stop the collision that was about to happen. I was grossly fascinated with my impending death.

  “What do you want?” I hissed in a low voice at Katie.

  Katie dropped to her knees beside me. She whispered into my ear, “Regina, I’m so sorry! I wanted to help you, but I couldn’t or they would kill my mother. They killed my father when I tried to help you before. Please forgive me. I love you and I’m so sorry.”

  “Wait!” I shouted when she started to back away. “At least answer a few questions for me, please?”

  “What is it you want to know?” The crowd prepared for my execution so Katie got distracted with their actions while trying to listen to me. Her attention wasn’t fully on me, but the tears in her eyes weren’t hard to miss.

  “My parents brought me here, to Lee, to kill me, right?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes refused to meet mine and kept watching my grandfather shift through pages of a book. Aunt Rachel helped him locate a certain page.

  “Are they even my real parents?” This question definitely got his her attention.

  “No.” I waited for a longer response. My wrists itched against the ropes and I moved them to make it bearable, but it didn’t work. She came closer to me, making sure no one heard what she said. “Your mother’s sister, Rachel, was your real mother. After Rachel gave birth to her baby, Judge Slider stole it and used it to transfer your soul into. You see, we are all cursed. No one can grow old and we can’t leave the city. We are forever locked in limbo. There’s so much more to it, but every sixteen years Rachel gives birth to you, until Slider killed her fifteen years ago. It was horrible. He drowned her in the lake in front of your house.”

  “So, who are they?” I gasped, and nodded to aunt Rachel and her children.

  Katie lowered her voice. “I honestly don’t know who Rachel is, but MeKayla and Michael were created by Borlock.”

  “They were created?”

  Katie shook her head. “Jack Roth wanted a son, and Lydia wanted Rachel. So, Borlock created Michael to make Jack happy and MeKayla to fit the image Lydia had of Rachel. I don’t think they intended to introduced you them because Borlock created them from the fires below the ground. They’re evil down to their very souls.”

  “Then it was Michael that attacked me and Steven that night.”

  “It was. I think he got loose from his restraints and came to kill you, but Steven got in the way of it. Jack and Lynda used it as an excuse to make you think you were crazy and to keep you here. Everything changed when Rachel died. I guess Rachel felt her mother’s pain because her spirit never left this house after she died.” Her voice drifted off as she looked around the room.

  “What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

  “I thought you would’ve guessed by now. Rachel’s spirit still lives and haunts this house. It was her that drove you and your mother from the porch that day.”

  Now it made sense to me. Rachel was my real mother and never meant to scare me, only advised me to flee. Why didn’t she just say it instead of scaring the Universe out of me! I think I was most surprised at the fact that she was my real mother. Who was my real father? And why wasn’t my real mother’s ghost saving me right now?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice my fake mother. Her body trembled terribly, but my father was calm and looked very full of himself. Her hands were in her mouth, biting her fingernails as if it would make the people in the room go faster. Fear was in her face, pure fear. Since I didn’t speak, Katie walked away and sat down in a chair in the little kitchen. Steven sat beside her and embraced her. I still had questions that I needed answers to, but I was in shock from the information I just heard. Sarah’s legend was true, I was powerful. I felt it in their fear. I was more powerful than any of them.

  I was distracted from my thoughts when I heard Jane’s voice. I was stunned to see all the people in the room. Aunt Rachel was here with MeKayla and Michael. I had to work back the tears when I saw Jane, Jeff, and Renee. Even Nat was here with Sabrina, Rebecca, Joe, Rodney, and Billy, all in tow with their parents. They chatted with one another as if this were some cocktail party. All that was missing was the drinks and appetizers. Seeing them here felt like a stab through the chest. I truly felt as if I had been bred for this moment, for their kill. They surrounded me every second of my life to keep my memories from resurfacing and prevented my people from finding me. I heard voices underneath me. The whole town must be in the house or on the property. They were all here to kill me.

  “How could you?” I whispered to no one in particular.

  Jane must have heard me because she answered me. “Our families are greatly rewarded after you die. It is considered a great honor to be included in the plans to kill you, Regina, but don’t worry. We’ll see each other again, one day.”

  “Let’s get this over with!” Steven exclaimed. He didn’t seem as happy as the others. In fact, Katie and Steven did not participate in the ceremony.

  Anger rushed over me like a tsunami. I felt so betrayed. They kept me close by pretending they cared and loved me. I really loved those people trying to murder me. Once again, flashes of laughter with Jane, hugging Renee after her dad died, kissing Jeff for the first time, the happiness I found here in Lee, swimming at the tank with my Lee friends, it was all in front of me. All the love, happiness, affection, desire, good times, and wonderfulness came with it.

  Then it passed. The love I used to feel for these people was replaced with anger. I was so angry, I felt power rising up inside me. I felt as if I could rip through these ropes without a problem. I wanted to stomp on the faces of these traitors and be done with them. My blood pumped hard thought my body and made me feel bigger.

  Katie’s eyes went wide with fear as everyone in the room started chanting. The ceremony had begun.