Chapter 55: Nook

Elaine woke up to find herself trapped in a dimly lit chamber, the surrounding was very quiet. The walls were made of hardened, pulsating red stone that gave off a mysterious energy that she didn’t seem comfortable with, she tried to mover her legs, but they were too heavy for her to carry, she tried with her hands and the same thing happened. Someone had casted a spell on her and she knew it.

She tried to recall what had happened but her memory stopped in her bedroom when she saw Rachael snap her finger. Elaine's heart raced as she realized the dangerous situation she was currently in, she had been captured by a crazy witch without any idea where she was or how she got there.

After some moments, she felt the air in the chamber change to a peculiar magic that held a strong power, this was beyond anything she had ever encountered, how was Rachael so strong?

She used all her might to try to raise her body parts but nothing seemed to work, it was like a rock had been put upon her and she couldn’t find a way to maneuver it.

Her mind slowly drifted to Brandon and Edgar, especially Edgar. She felt so sad that if she died in Rachael’s hands, the Edgar she loves wouldn’t even be there to revenge her or find a way to put her murderer to justice. She was doomed in this place and she knew it, there was no way to escape an ancient witch who was able to capture her in the first place.

She hoped that Brandon and Edgar were making progress in their quest to rescue her, because even if Edgar wasn’t there she knew his corruption would never let her die without trying to save her.

She quickly remembered how he laid on the ground lifeless and she didn’t even know if he still lived, but she encouraged herself to look on the bright side and believe that he was going to come for her

The more immediate concern was finding a way to escape this mystical prison, she couldn’t stay here any longer she needed to find a way home.

She examined her surroundings carefully, trying to spot any weaknesses in the chamber's design or any clues that might lead to her escape plan but there was none, the walls seemed impervious, and there were no visible doors or openings. Elaine felt a growing sense of despair as she felt herself losing hope and making up her mind that there was no way out.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching and she knew that she had to remain calm and find a way to get out of that place before Rachael begins to carry out the plan that she had for her but the odds were stacked against her in this enigmatic place.

“What do you want with me?” Elaine said gently with a low tone.

“Well, I cannot really say, I have a lot of things in mind” Rachael replied.

“One of them which are?” Elaine said trying yo make her give off even if its the slightest detail about her plan.

“I plan to take your stone’s power” she said casually like it was something that could be done easily.

“How do you intend to take away something that entered into me because it saw me worthy? The stone is not something that anyone can control” Elaine said trying to talk sense into Rachael head even if she knew it wasn’t going to work.

“You are a young girl Elaine, you have all your life to live without this stone being a burden to you” she said looking at Elaine with her greedy eyes.

“My stone is not a burden snd do you really think I am too naive to know that removing my stone from my body will kill me instantly?” Elaine said and Rachael acted indifferently.

“I’m sorry that you know that, but its for the best, at least now you know what you’re up against”Rachael said.

“Why are you doing all this? What are you going to gain from all this?” Elaine said trying to satisfy her curiosity.

“Many years ago, my father was a guardian of the red stone ruby, I grew up in the ways of the guardians, I trained all my life to be the perfect person to bear the stone, and on my name day, the stone chose another from a different lineage” she said and paused for a while then continued.

“I was devastated and felt very humiliated that I was not able to continue my family’s birthright only because I was half witch, half werewolf. I ran away from home and went yo look for my mother who was a witch, when I found her I mastered the craft off being a witch.

Not wanting to waste anymore time on my revenge plan, I came home and my father was happy to welcome me, I was treated like a princess and slowly my plan was becoming useless because I wasn’t ready to accomplish it. Not until my father hit me hard with something I never expected, a betrothal to Ezekiel Knight” Rachael said.

“Ezekiel Knight? The brother of Elijah Knight?” Elaine said showing interest in her story as she listened carefully as she really wanted to know what happened to her in the past.

“Yes” Rachael replied and was about to continue when Elaine asked another question.

“You Rachaela Rachel Darius?” Elaine said not able to believe what she had just heard.

“Yes I am” she replied waiting for Elaine to say something and when she didn’t she continued her story.

“I got married to him and few years later my father died, then I knew that my plan had to go on. Slowly I poisoned the royal family, I tried killing them all slowly but Elijah’s power as the guardian of the stone was greater than any other, he was not being affected so I stopped the poison because it wasn’t helping my cause. I made sure that Elijah’s mate bore no heir and his concubines all became barren. I did all I could to make sure he didn’t have any other person to pass down the stone to than his brother who was my husband and that way m, I had an easier access to the stone’s power” Rachael said.

“I saw an opportunity one time and I took it, it made me to declare myself dead but it was definitely worth it at that moment. I took the blow of an arrow aimed at Elijah during one of the riots in the city about the life threatening disease at the time which I know I caused myself. I used myself as a shield to that arrow and I felt myself bleed out. I expected Ezekiel to insist that his brother use the power of the stone to save me or revive me but I never heard anything of that sort, instead they watched me bleed to death and after that I was buried in cold blood” she said and Elaine stared at her in disbelief.

“How can you be so stupid to take a risk of that size” Elaine said with disgust on her face as she couldn’t just believe what she heard.

“How dare you speak to me in such manner?” She said slapping her across the face.

“Well someone has to tell you the truth, you’re so delusional” Elaine said as she laughed out loudly to taunt Rachael.

“I will hurt you if I hear your voice one more time” Rachael said already angered.

“You’ll kill me anyways so what’s the point?” Elaine said her laugh dying down a bit.

“Well, there’s a long time between now and the next full moon so you should brace up because we’ll both be having a lot of story time and a little torture to spice it up” Rachael said and Elaine prayed that Edgar and Brandon finds her before any of things Rachael mentioned actually happens.