17 Chapter 17

RICHARD'S POV

"Did you find anything, Derek?" I inquired. I had ordered Derek, who was a soldier in the army, to scan the palace for any suspicious thing that could have triggered the dart. "Tell me what you found."

"Calm down, Richard," Derek whispered. 

"How can I calm down, a poisonous dart was shot at Annabelle and this has put her life in danger? Its been over ten hours, even so. The doctors have not yet given us any news on her condition and you expect me to be calm." I growled. 

"Richard everyone is worried sick and if you breakdown then The King will feel dishearten, you need to be strong," he advised. 

"Hmm," was my response. "Back to the major problem what did you find?"

Derek brought a pin from his breast pocket. "I found this on the floor, no one could recognize it." 

"Whose pin is this?" I muttered. The pin didn't look familiar at all, it didn't look like a Firce pin. "Thank Derek I will go show The King the pin." 

"Okay," Derek said. " Also Victoria inquired about you when I saw her, she asked if you had eaten anything," he added. 

Food wasn't on mind right now all I could think about was Annabelle's health condition. "If you see her, tell her I will have breakfast later."

'I need to be with her right now.'

Walking through the hallway all I could think about was her, the way she fell from the sky, the sound of her voice before passing out hunted me terribly. 

'She can't die! Nothing will happen to her!'

What's wrong with me? It's only been a few days since she came into my life, why do I miss her so much. I miss her smile, scent and everything about her, the way she looked into my eyes when I held her chin warmth my heart and when she passed out it felt like as my heart turned into stone. 

'Oh God, please don't let her die.'  I said a slight prayer in me before opening Annabelle's door. The scent that hit my nose made me miss her more. My eyes travelled around the room before they landed on the bed, her long hair that she always played with was across her face, her beautiful blue eye were firmly closed and she was kept on a life-supporting machine, her grandfather sat right beside her, his eyes were swollen through the tears and lack of sleep. "Your Highness."

"Richard," he said, turning around to look at me. "When did you come in?" 

"A few minutes ago," I replied while he wiped the tears that had fallen from his eyes. "You know, a great man once told me we should not hide our pains from people we love and trust."

"I'm not great, Richard," he said. 

"I believe you are," I said. "How is she?" 

"The doctors said they have extracted the poison from her blood but they can't say if she is safe or not, according to them if she doesn't regain consciousness in 24 hours then she will.." his voice trailed off and his eyes were watery again. "Then she will slip into a coma." 

"What? That can't happen, can't the doctors do something about it?" I inquired, fear coated my voice. "This can't happen." 

"The doctors said they can't do anything we can only Annabelle regains conscious before 24 hours," he said. "What did Derek discover?" 

"This." I showed him the pin Derek gave me. "I don't recognize this pin at all." 

"No!" he shrieked in a loud voice. "How did this pin get into our palace?" 

"From your expression, this is a bad thing." I raised a brow. "But what exactly is it?" 

"That pin belongs to all Aries assassin killer," he said. "That means..."

"Whoever owns it was sent to kill Annabelle." I gasped. "This was a planned murder, not an accident." 

"The question on my mind is how the assassin got into the palace. We only had The Werewolves and The Yugen present, so how did any Aries assassin get in? He asked in a puzzled voice. 

"That's the mystery that needs to be solved," I said. "I will interrogate all the guards that way. We could know how this pin came into the palace."

"Great idea, Richard." The King complimented. "But all those things need to be hiatus because now, the key thing we should focus on is Annabelle's health." 

"And your health." I chipped in. "How would you be able to take care of Annabelle if you don't take care of yourself? You need to freshen up, have your breakfast and try to catch up on your lost sleep."

"If I do all that, who will look after my beloved grandchild?" he inquired. "I can't leave her just because I want to take care of myself."

"I'm here so is Victoria, Isabelle and George. We are all here to look after her." I reassured him. "I will even stay by her side until you get back." 

"Okay," he said. "Listen, if you notice any slight movement please inform the doctors or nurse around." 

"Sure your highness." I grinned at him, bowing my head to show him respect as he exited the room. 

The nurse that was attending to Annabelle left the room because she needed to fetch something, leaving sleeping beauty and I alone. "Please wake up Annabelle, we need you to wake up, everyone misses your presence, you can't leave us."

"This is all your fault if you didn't take her to see the snowflakes she won't have been shot, she won't have in this state, Richard!" a voice in my head spoke. "If Annabelle dies, then her blood will be on your hands."

"No!" I screamed. "Annabelle can't die! She just can't." 

"It's your fault she's in this condition.' the voice spoke then a burst of mocking laughter followed. "Screaming won't cleanse your bloody hands, you are just like me, so accept your fate."

"Nothing will happen to Annabelle so get out of my head!" I yelled. The voice only laughed, making my blood rises. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"We are the dark side of you! The voices that live inside of your head." the voice said. "Remember?"

"It can't be!" I cried out. "How did you get back into my head?"

"Don't worry about that Richard, all you need to know is that I'm back to complete my mission and this time nothing will stop me." the voice chuckled. "Get ready to join us, boy."

"No, I won't join you, your plans won't work." I gasped, feeling breathless by the minute everything around me was spinning. That voice cannot be back, I banished it how did they get back into my head. 

"Don't deceive yourself, Richard, you have always been like me and soon you will accept it." the voice boasted.

"It will never happen, it didn't happen before so it won't happen again." I mocked the voice in my head. "I will rather die than be like you."

"I won't let you die because I need you to destroy The Mystical Realm." the voice said. "I wish you were more like your mother."

"Well, I'm not like him that did your bidding for you. I won't let you take advantage of me." I spat out.

"Why fight your calling? We are one." the voice growled. 

"We are not one, you want destruction while I want peace." I snarled. "Just leave me alone."

"I won't." the voice laughed. "You are more powerful than you know, Richard."

"Get out!" I shouted while the voice chuckled at my despair.

"Get out of my head!" I commanded. 

"I'm here to stay Richard, you can't send me away." the voice chuckled.