27 Ray of light

"Angus…" whispered Anna. Smiling she gripped the shinning ring, which was emitting a warm yellow light.

The light grew brighter and brighter until it engulfed all of them. Anna found herself in an empty space similar to the one she saw when coming un this world five years ago.

"Hm? What is this?" Anna turned around but no matter where she looked there was nothing, just an empty white space. She looked at her body which was clean, and her hands were smooth. There was no trace of the injuries she sustained for the past few months nor any bruises.

She was healthy and her breath returned to normal; she did not feel pain when moving and her body felt extremely light.

Anna's body returned to nothing as if those past few weeks had been a nightmare…just her imagination.

She took a few steps forward not knowing the direction she was going in. After a couple of minutes of walking and to no avail of finding anything, Anna decided to sit down and wait. She did not know what she was doing and started calling for Angus.

He would know what is going on, but he did not answer.

"Angus! You stupid brat!" yelled Anna hoping he would show up.

After some time passed Anna was starting to panic.

'Have I died?' she asked herself.

Her heart trembled in fear thinking that she left Angus there. No, he must have died as well; the contract she had made with Angus makes him vulnerable and dependant on Anna. Anna stared at her right arm where her snake tattoo inked her skin. The snake that ate its tail was still visible, its dark ink shimmering as if it were newly tattooed.

Instinctively, Anna touched her arm and trailed her fingers along on the tattoo on her wrist.

"Kukk" Anna's head began throbbing and she felt something enter her body. She resisted it as it made her lose her breath, but she soon heard a sly voice commanding:

"Don't resist it!" Anna could not hold it for much longer anyway so when she heard Angus directing her to rest, she did as she was told. Soon her tattoo on her arm began disintegrating slowly and was blown into the air. The tattoo became shimmering ash and was blown away surrounding her like a tornado.

"Huh? What is going on? Angus!" Anna yelled when she saw the contract dissolving.

"Bear with it a little longer." Said the snake when a blue mist covered the entire place. From within two purple eyes shined from the mist and the light overcome Anna again.

She woke up minutes later to find herself in the same room as the rat and the old priest. Except they were not there anymore. On the floor lay a trail of blood that dragged towards the door and up the staircase.

The place was a mess, with the table completely broken, books burning and ash lifting into the air landing on Anna's shoulder. Smoke rose from the burning pages making it unbearable to stay inside this closed space.

"Cough-cough!" Anna lifted the neck of her robe and covered her mouth while searching for the exit. In her hand, the simple ring warmed the palm of her hand burning Anna. She dropped the ring which landed on a pile of rocks.

"Pick it up." Said Angus while appearing behind her.

"Ahh!" Anna jumped in fright. She was about to hit him when she recognised his voice, so she lowered her hand. Her face warmed and tears started forming at the edge of her eyes, she wanted to cry. Cry of happiness that she did not feel any torture, any pain and she was finally free.

"You did not change in the months we did not see each other. Same old pain." Said Angus with a disgusted face.

"Haha" Anna smiled bitterly. She knew he did not mean what he said, his warm tone was giving his mood away.

"I've missed you too." Said Anna bashing the snake on his head.

"Ouch! Who said I missed you?" yelled the snake indagated. He puffed his chest and turned his head, but Anna saw a glimpse of the smile he was hiding.

"What did you do with them?" asked Anna.

"Nothing much…the usual." He answered tilting his head.

Anna laughed even harder knowing that they were most likely dead, but they left this place in the most painful way. After all, he was the librarian of Death, he is acquainted with the most gruesome ways of dying.

Anna kneeled on the floor and picked up the ring that fell between the cracks of the stones. She placed it on her left thumb, and it glowed a yellow light similar to the one that engulfed her earlier. The ring shrank in size perfectly fitting her thumb and preventing it from falling.

"Let's go!" said Anna with unyielding confidence. She could not wait any longer, she wanted to see the sunshine and the rays of light to warm her.

Together they left the dungeon, never to return. Step by step, Anna's shoes clicked on the stone steps leading to the upper level of the church. The place was quiet, a little too quiet…the eerie atmosphere made Anna uncomfortable.

'He must have killed them all'

"Yes, that's true." Replied the snake. Anna widened her eyes glancing at the snake fearful.

'How did he know what I was thinking?'

"We made a new contract…you forgot?" asked the snake smiling sneakily. Anna continued to look at him questioning not understanding what the difference was. They had a contract before, but he could not read her mind nor use his powers to help her.

Seeing her face clouded the snake rolled his black eyes but continued explaining:

"We still have the last contract, sadly I could not get rid of it even if I tried." Anna glanced at her arm and indeed the contract seemed to be intact. Then how could they form two contracts? How is it possible now that he can use his powers?

"Has my soul finally settled in?" asked Anna with a hopeful voice.

"No…although things seem to be more complicated than I initially thought." Replied the snake avoiding her gaze. Angus shifted his body a bit uneasy opening his mouth a couple of times trying to formulate an answer.

"What? What is it?" asked Anna.

"Nothing, we need to talk after you get out of here. Someone is coming." With that, he began dispersing his cloud of blue mist and himself withdrawing from the world.

"I can feel it." Anna grew conscious of her new powers ever since she acquired the new ring.

After she came back to reality, Anna's body recovered fully and there where no wounds or scratches left on her skin. Her pain had completely disappeared and inside her body, she felt something hard to describe in words.

She could feel something inside her blood, something that was not hers and yet she felt comfortable around it. Her heart rate increased significantly making Anna worry that she was experiencing a heart attack. She felt more aware of herself, her senses seemed to heighten a notch, so Anna had sensed the three kids who came her way.

She could not see them clearly, but she could visualise them as shadows and be aware of their emotions such as fright and worry. One child, in particular, was anxious about the extreme and Anna knew who he was.

"I don't think it's safe to go there, Helm!" whispered one of the children. Her voice was soft but shaky and although they were far away from her Anna could finally sense them.

"I have to check on her." Replied Helm. Anna was amazed by the images she saw in the back of her mind when locating those kids. They were just around the corner, so their shadows came to a full stop. Their heartbeat stopped for a second before returning to normal.

'Is this how Alessia feels as well?' Anna asked.

'Partly. She can hear heartbeats but that is all.' Replied Angus proudly.

'Nothing can compare with me.' He continued laughing in the back of Anna's mind.

Anna rolled her eyes, fed up with his attitude. Out of all the things she did not miss these months besides her petty sister, Anna did not miss Anguses narcissistic personality. Words like me, I and great did not belong in the same sentence.

"Pri-Anna!" exclaimed a boy in front of her. He dashed down the hallway not caring if he was out in the open.

"Helm!" a girl stretched her arm to catch him, but she was too late. She quickly retracted her arm and clasped them above her bosom in fright that she had been seen. From the shadow in the corner, she eyed the boy who ran towards Anna but most notably she stared long at the couple.

The boy sat next to the girl watched her attentively and asked:

"Are you all right?"

"Yes." She briefly responded and bit her lips. The boy sighed and shook his head, his blonde hair brushing his rosy cheeks. He looked behind them, worried that someone might come and did not pay the girl any more attention.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Helm grabbing hold of Anna's hands. She nodded but did not say anything as her attention was drawn by the girl in the back.

"We need to hurry someone might be here." Said Helm dragging Anna along with him. Anna was yanked forward and almost lost balance, but regained her composure running along with him.

"This way." Said the blonde boy pointing towards a square door made of metal. The door was small, barely made to fit them and it opened horizontally not as a normal door would.

"What is this?" asked Anna. It was a tunnel, also made of metal and it looked more like a slide.

"Ahh" Anna was pushed from behind by someone, falling into the tunnel. She did not know for how long she had been sliding down for or how much she travelled but at some point, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Oh no." Anna screamed not knowing where she would land. She ducked and hoped that her landing would be at least dirt or hay.

Fortunately, Anna landed on something soft, but stinky. She opened her eyes in confusion, to find herself in a laundry basket full of dirty clothes. She shook in disgust, wrinkled her nose, and looked around her.

She seemed to be in a large rectangular room, airy and brightly lit. Behind her was the tunnel that was used to dispose of laundry and there were three other similar tunnels next to her. From the left to the right, a small water supply crossed the room through the middle. The crystal water shined in the light coming from the large windows in front of Anna. Between the four large windows made of wood, an open door let the cold air in.

It was a sunny day, unlike the winter weather but Anna still shivered from the cold.

"woohooo"

"Hm…Oww!" someone landed on top of Anna crushing her between the dirty laundry.

"Oh sorry! I did not know you were still here." Said the girl who landed on top of Anna.

"Thant's fine." She replied not bothered. The girl jumped out of the laundry basket and raised her hand to help Anna.

"Do you need any help princess?" asked the girl. Anna started at the girl but did not take hold of her hand, she simply chose to jump out the same way the girl did.

"How many people know I am a princess?" Anna inquired the girl who was currently staring at her empty hand. She clenched her hand, hid it behind her back and smiled turning towards Anna.

"Not many. I also just found out." Said the girl walking around the room inspecting the other laundry baskets. In the right corner of the room were three tables and two oak wardrobes painted white and lustred.

Anna approached the wardrobe and opened one revealing clean and ironed beddings and a couple of attires. She took a dress out and placed it in front of her assessing the look of it.

"What are you doing?" asked Helm who came behind Anna.

"Trying the clothes here. Look around they might have some for you as well."

"We don't have time for this. Those are noble clothes if they catch us, they will kill us." Said the blonde boy.

"Yes, the others left a long time ago." Added the little girl pulling Helm's robe. Helm smiled and nodded signalling Anna to follow them, but Anna did not follow.

"They are all dead." Added Anna as a matter of fact. The kids blinked in confusion, Helm furrowed his eyebrows but kept his smile intact, not knowing what was going through her mind.

"Wh-hat do you mean?" asked the girl anxiously.

"It means what I said." Anna ripped a couple of ribbons from the top of the dress and tossed in on the ground. The girl who was also curious about the dresses took a pink dress with lavender details and a thick overcoat from the dresser.

None of the children there, except for Anna had ever been able to touch such quality attires and they were quite afraid to dress themselves in them.

Anna did not mind them, and she started by cleaning herself with the water, which although cold it was reinvigorating. Taking some soap, she found in a small cupboard of the dresser, Anna scrubbed the dirt off her skin, leaving it clean. It was still rough, but she had to work with what was given than leave this place and look like a beggar in noble clothes.