The ghost (2)
James and Rebecca escorted him to the door. They watched the fat vampire lord enter an eye catching and expensive carriage, and then took off.
They stood went back in still looking shocked.
Rebecca turned to look at James. "Will Athena be okay?"
James fell in deep thought before shaking his head. "I don't know..."
They both knew how dangerous and ruthless the king was. On top of that he was known as a womanizer. He played with many young girls before killing them or tossing them aside.
"Is she dead?" someone asked sarcastically. They turned to look at the smirking Viola.
"No, she is not dead." Viola's face fell at her father's words.
"She is getting married to the king."
"What?!" Viola screamed in disbelief as she shook her head repeatedly. "Impossible! How can that filthy rat steal my king? The king belongs to me only! I am the queen..."
"Viola, watch your mouth!" Rebecca shouted but Viola seemed to not hear anything at all as she continued, "I am the rightful queen of this kingdom. Nobody can take that title away from me!"
The duke and his wife shook their heads helplessly as Viola continued to scream hysterically.
A pale looking girl wearing a black dress sat in a beautiful garden playing with a rose absent-mindedly. The rose's thorns pricked her finger and blood seeped out slowly. A month had already passed while she was staying in this castle. She felt like she was staying in a prison. She had not seen that king again for the past one month.
Athena was left with three to get married to a blood sucking creature. Her parents never came but they usually sent her her medicine and letters asking if she was doing well. Since it was the king who was marrying her, they had no choice but to approve of the marriage.
Athena coughed hard.
"Milady, why don't you get inside? You have been out in the cold for a long time," a little cute and timid looking maid said. She was the youngest among the maids and was rather timid. She was quite likable.
"I am fine, Elaine." Athena answered with a weak smile. She looked up at the dark and cloudy sky. It seemed like it was going to rain soon.
A drop of blood fell on the white rose. A red patch appeared on the rose. Athena closed her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them and threw the blood stained rose on the ground.
Her bloodless lips curled up into a tired smile as she walked out of the garden. Her thin frame swayed in the wind. There was no way she was going to marry that blood sucking creature. No, she had to escape...
Athena walked slowly back to her room. The cute and timid maid felt sympathy for her as she looked at her thin and pitiful figure. Everyone in the castle knew that their future queen's health was not stable and she could die anytime as her illness was mysterious and incurable.
The royal assistants were against this issue of the king marrying a sick person to be the queen but who was the king? He never listened to anyone so the assistants could only admit defeat and retreat.
Elaine secretly vowed in her heart to serve the future queen well and protect her at any cost.
Right after Athena and Elaine left, a figure popped out of nowhere and slowly picked up the blood stained white rose. Amusement danced in his eyes as he slowly examined the rose. The blood stained white rose slowly turned red in his hand. Its shade was darker than that of ordinary red roses. His lips curled up into a faint smile for the first time as he fell in deep thought.
At night, Athena picked up a few dresses and her medicine, and packed everything in a bag. She also took a few fruits and put them in a bag. She was ready to go... Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed outside. Athena sighed. It was time. She picked up her bag and sneaked quietly out of the room. She casted a few glances in every direction. Not even a single soul could be seen. It was so silent. She moved quickly, her footsteps were very light.
She successfully got out of the castle to just see a few guards who appeared to be half asleep. She took a deep breath and walked swiftly past them. One of the guards saw a shadow move past them quickly and vanished. He rubbed his eyes and turned to shake the other guard who was next to him.
"Did you see something?" he asked confusedly.
The other guard shook his head and said curtly, "I did not see anything."
Athena strolled into the forest that was near the castle.
" That was easy," she thought aloud.
She never thought that it would be that easy to leave that damn castle. She should have escaped earlier.
It was dark and eerily quiet. Athena shivered at the cold and cursed herself for forgetting to bring a coat. The sound of her heavy breathing and the sound of the rustling of leaves was heard in the silent forest.
Her feet made a rusting sound as her shoes trampled on the dry leaves whilst walking. She had to find somewhere to rest for the night. It was becoming eerier as she walked further into the deeper parts the forest.
Thunder rumbled and it began to rain hard. Athena's lips twitched. Soon she was drenched. Her dress stuck to her body like a second skin. She held the bag close to her chest and covered it with her little arms, trying to protect it from getting wet. Her eyes quickly scanned the forest, trying to find somewhere to hide the rain but could not find any.
Thousand pairs of eyes were closely watching her every movement but for some unknown reason they did not approach her. Athena felt like she was being watched and stiffened. She increased her pace.
She suddenly sneezed loudly. Her eye brows furrowed as she mumbled to herself, " It seems like I am going to catch a cold. "
She sneezed again.
"It's all that she ever wanted...
To see the beautiful moon
But what happened next
Made her regret her decision..."
A beautiful and soothing voice echoed in the gloomy forest.
Athena stopped in her tracks. It sounded a bit familiar... She felt hypnotized by it. Without even thinking, she began to search for the source of the voice.
She soon found a beautiful woman. She sat on a stone whilst singing. Her voice was clear even though the rain was pouring hard. She was completely drenched but she seemed to be unbothered by it.
What shocked Athena was her appearance!
"Mother?" she called absent-mindedly.
The woman turned to look at her with a smile. She looked exactly like the woman in her dreams! The woman who looked like her and claimed to be her mother!
"Athena, my daughter... What are you doing here?" the woman asked.
"Is it really you, mother? Are you really my real mother?" Athena asked feeling excited and puzzled at the same time. What was she doing in the forest, in the middle of the night? It was raining too.
The more she thought of that, the more doubtful and puzzled she became.
The woman stretched her hand towards her. " Athena, take my hand..."
Athena's eyes narrowed and she took a step backward. " What are you doing in the forest?"
" I should be asking you the same question," the woman answered with a smile.
Athena looked at the woman's smiling face and frowned. She looked just like her...
Still she backed away. "You are not my mother. Why did you dump me after giving birth to me?"
The woman stood up and began to walk towards her. Athena moved away.
"Don't come any closer!"
However the woman did not stop. "Athena, I am sorry for leaving you alone. I had no choice at that time. I did not want you to fall in danger because of me. I did this to protect you. Please listen to me."
Athena half believed her. " You were trying to protect me?" Her guarded expression relaxed a little at her words.
Her 'mother' noticed her expression change and smirked internally but wore a sad and pitiful look. " Do you believe me now?"
Athena stared at her face hard. She felt conflicted.
She then gave her 'mother' a cold look.
"You are not my mother," she said as she turned and took to her heels!
The woman's expression turned cold.
"Come back here!" she shouted.
She slowly turned into some hideous creature. Her beautiful face now looked rotten and her green eyes turned into slits as she let a piercing scream and chased after her. Her feet were no longer touching the ground as she flew after her. " Come back! You are meant to be my meal!"
Athena felt goosebumps all over her body at her words. The creature wanted to eat her!
Athena ran as fast as she could. The strange creature followed her, screaming loudly. Athena felt like she was going to become deaf any minute soon if she continued to hear these screams.