Orna Puella

- XIII -




“It doesn’t fit,” I said quickly. “Too tight… So sorry, better luck next time, I gotta go!”

I was about to kick the slipper off when Arlen squeezed my ankle.

“It fits, Selena,” he said quietly. “You are my Queen for tonight.”

Cerylia looked stricken. I didn’t blame her.

“I have to go, Arlen,” I said evenly. “Cerylia is your Queen, not me.”

He got up swiftly and suddenly he was right next to me. I swayed on my feet lightly.

“Don’t make a scene now,” he murmured in my ear and I grimaced when I smelled alcohol on his breath.

I have to get out of here… I have to get out of here now!

“Music!!” the governor suddenly clapped his hands with laughter. “The Queen is going to dance with the King now!”

The music blared and I jumped, startled.

“Come on,” Arlen said and pressed me against his chest. “Let’s dance…”

His hand slid down my back and I stopped caring about Cerylia becoming a social outcast. She’ll survive. I pushed him away and I ran. I guess everyone was somewhat startled and nobody tried to stop me. I ran outside and flew down the huge stairs, towards Vicky’s car. I made it halfway through, when I tripped on something and almost fell. Bloody hell, I was still wearing the stupid slipper! I took it off and shoved it into my coat pocket without thinking twice about it.

I got to the car but there was nobody inside. Oh my Dragon… I guess both of them went looking for me. I looked behind me and saw Arlen who was running towards me. Crap!! I guess I should’ve ran back into the mansion towards the people, that would be a much better and safer choice to make, but I panicked.

I ran into the darkness of the huge garden, hoping to hide between the shadows, not even realizing that since this was Arlen’s house, he’ll know the garden better than the back of his hand.

I ran blindly through the darkness, and suddenly I tripped on something with my bare foot and tumbled onto the ground. Arlen was right behind me. He laughed softly when I went down.

“How convenient,” he said and suddenly he was on top of me.
“Let go!!” I tried to push him away but it was as if I tried to move the mountain or something. He won’t even budge.
“Come on,” he breathed in my ear. “You’ll like it, I am good…”

I screamed when another wave of déjà vu hit me. I pushed it away furiously. I don’t need this shit when I am trying to push this creep off of me.

“Mmmm,” Arlen moaned into my neck. “I love it when they are loud, I really do.”
“Get away from me!!” I screamed and tried to claw at his face but he just grabbed my wrists with one hand and pulled them up, his grip almost iron. “Let go…”

I started sobbing, I couldn’t help it.

“Are you a virgin or something?” he muttered and started kissing my neck.
“Stop! Arlen, stop!!” I sobbed and he ignored it.
“Oh, Dragon”, he muttered. “You taste amazing!”

I could feel him grow even through his pants. I sobbed even harder and he forced my legs apart with his knee. He was trying to rip my shirt when suddenly someone pulled him off, and at first, I didn’t even realize that he wasn’t on top of me anymore. Finally, it registered in my panic-flooded mind and I looked up. There was Raven, beating the crap out of the governor’s son, and his eyes were glowing scarlet.

“You son of a bitch!!” he growled. “I am going to kill you!”

I looked around frantically, trying to see through the darkness. Where the hell is Vicky?! I tried to scream for her, but all I could manage was a weak croak. Suddenly, Raven screamed out in pain and I finally managed to sit up. I looked at him and started to shake. No, no, no… Not again. Talath, please, no… I had no idea that Arlen had something that looked like a butcher knife under his jacket. That knife was sticking out of Raven’s chest and it seemed like it was handle deep in his body. The blood flowed out of Raven’s mouth and he collapsed on the ground.

No, not again, no, please… Arlen pulled the knife out and looked at me.

“I did some research,” he said in confidential half-whisper. “Did you know that the only way to get rid of a half-breed for good is to chop off his head?”
“NO!!!!!!” I was finally able to scream when he swung his arm and brought the blade down on Raven’s neck in one smooth quick motion.
“There,” Arlen said with satisfaction.
“Vicky!!!!” I yelled and he grinned at me.
“Nobody can hear you from here,” Arlen said almost gently. “Now where were we?”

He dropped the knife on the ground and got up.

“Erigo incendiary abyssus…” I said and he winced.
“Oh for crying out loud!”
“In tera dello vel mortuus…”
“Not again! Talath, stop it!”

He lunged at me, but for some strange reason, I was so calm right now that I moved away swiftly and he almost lost his balance. I moved closer to Raven’s beheaded body without interrupting my spell.

“Nomen abyssus quod divium…”
“Shut up!” Arlen screamed and lunged at me again.
“Quod valde extraho,” I finished calmly and fell on my knees.

This time the spell worked immediately. Everything around us burst into flames. I could hear Arlen’s screams above the roar of the fire. He jumped towards me and pushed me on the ground.

“You bitch!!” he screamed. “What have you done?!”

I looked above his shoulder almost indifferently. The fire was spectacular. Nothing will survive this, I thought. Arlen pushed me into the ground.

“You are going to pay…” he started screaming when my fingers wrapped around that knife.

The handle was slick with blood. “Raven’s blood,” I thought and it brought me back to life. I screamed something unintelligible and brought the knife into Arlen’s side. I stabbed him as hard as I could manage and his eyes flew wide open.
“Wha…” he said and blood spilled from his mouth.

I pushed him away and pulled the knife out. It came out unwillingly, making slurping noise when it slid out of his body. I brought it down again. This time into his stomach. I kept stabbing him over and over again, fire roaring all around me, people screaming somewhere in the distance. I’ve heard someone screaming my name. I guess it was Vicky. I didn’t react.

Finally, I dropped the knife and got up. I saw the blue flashing light not too far from me and I immediately knew it was the Tramp. I also knew that Vicky was somewhere nearby and I didn’t care. I walked away without glancing at Raven’s body. I was afraid that if I do that, I won’t be able to move, and then I’ll just stay here until Vicky or the Tramp pull me out of the fire and save me. I didn’t want to be saved.

I walked through the fire and wasn’t surprised a single bit when it didn’t harm me. I guess the spell took care of it. If I invoked this power, it won’t harm me. Or maybe I just didn’t feel the pain anymore, I don’t know.