And so It Begins Pt. 3

On day sixty-one, the door of the dungeon opened and I was released with a dishonorable discharge. My life as a soldier was over. I had nothing left. I was thrown out of the capital by a few men who I had trained with and fought next to on the battlefield. They left me battered and bruised, on the brink of death, at the border of the next city.

It was then that something in me broke and the emptiness within me was finally filled…with madness! With the little bit of strength I had left, I staggered to my feet. My mind steadied and focused on one goal. I would not let this stand! I would not be toyed with then thrown away like yesterday's leftovers.

After all, I was the rightful King of Corentha and before I allowed this King and his twisted Queen to rule her; I would bring the entire kingdom to its knees.

I melted into the shadows with a dark chuckle born from hate, despair, and ridicule. A plan was already forming in my mind.

1992

"One. Two. Three. Push!!" Searing pain tore through my body as the experiment inside of me struggled to make its way into the world. It felt like someone had set my insides on fire. I struggled to breathe amidst the anguish while hate permeated my mind and my soul. The husband that I used to hold so dear had volunteered my body for this.

Now, instead of standing by my side, he stood alongside the other scientists staring down at me from the observation deck.

To make matters worse, the doctors and nurses surrounding me appeared more concerned about the experiment's health than mine. "One more time" they chanted.

"One. Two. Three. Now push!!!"

Summoning all the hatred and disdain that had built up over the past five months, I bore down and pushed with all my might.

There was a sucking sound and relief flooded my body at the sound of a baby's wail ringing through the dastardly room.

In my moment of reprieve, I had focused my energy on catching my breath and almost missed the muted gasps of surprise.

My short-lived relief turned to panic until a few seconds later my snake of a husband came bursting into the room with a look of awe on his face. My panic crumbled and anger swelled in its place when instead of checking on me, his wife, he went towards the abomination. The look of wonder on his face quickly gave way to one of sly triumph as he took the child from one of the nurses.

My resentment threatened to take over and I had an urge to beat him into the floor. "This is unexpected but promising!" he said. Laughing maniacally, my husband walked over to me and lowered the tightly bundled baby so that I could see it for the first time.

I gasped just like the doctors and nurses had only minutes ago. I glanced up at my husband and in a voice saturated with fear stuttered, "th-th-this shouldn't be possible!" Looking up at my, with eyes only a few shades darker than my own, was a face nearly identical to mine.

CEO Suite

As he used the security camera to zoom in on the face of the wailing baby, moss-colored eyes flashed with triumphant madness. His dream was finally a reality! His greatest creation was here and with her birth his revenge was nigh.