**Regina's POV**
“I can't wait anymore, Tyler. I have reached the limit of my patience, I cannot keep sitting here all day and hoping for something to happen,” I said to Tyler one hot afternoon.
It had been weeks since the first time we had been to the record centre and still, we had no useful lead on the twins. Tyler's inside sources had told him that they needed more time before they could give him any more information but the fiery Red Moon was approaching and the twins' lives were in danger.
It was driving me crazy because I could do nothing to help them. This was a rather strange place and I could not afford to trust anyone. If I misspoke or did something wrong, I could find myself dead the very next second.
“You have to be patient. There is no way we can gather information…”
“I do not want to gather information. I want my twins back,” came my response.
“If you do anything rash, you will find yourself in grave danger,” he told me, but my mind was already made.
The previous week, I had seen a poster that said the Underworld palace was recruiting new maids for their courtiers. I was aware that the nature of the sacrifice the person who had stolen my twins wanted to perform was one of the highest grades. It meant that the Underworld rulers were going to perform the ritual, and it would be done in their most secretive Temple. The only way I could get access to such a place was if I entered the palace.
“I applied to be a maid in the palace,” I said in a soft voice to Tyler. He looked at me like I had made the greatest mistake in my life, but at this point, I did not care. I was desperate.
“I told you to wait, Regina. You may have just signed your death sentence,” he looked at me with an expression of horror on his face. His face told me that he was looking at me like I was a ghost.
“I have to do this, Tyler.”
“No, no, no, you cannot go…”
“I leave tomorrow morning. Please do not look for me,” I told him. It felt like I was saying my final goodbye to him.
“I cannot allow…”
“Let Lord Edvin know that I will get my twins out at all costs,” I said to Tyler.
That night, Tyler refused to go to bed. I knew that he was determined to stop me from leaving the house the next morning, but I had taken steps to prevent that. Before I had told him that I was going to leave for the Underworld palace, I had drugged his food, so I was now waiting for the drug to take effect.
The moment Tyler fell asleep, I packed the few things I had and left.
As I stepped outside into the chilly night, I was tempted to turn, but I shook myself. I had to do this for my children.
The night was dark. It was like the darkness was a thick fog. I looked upwards and saw only blackness. There was no moon or star twinkling in the sky. It was surreal. I had never experienced such a thing in my life before. It was like I was blind really because I could barely make out what stood in front of me. However, I trudged on, determined to get a good headstart, because I knew that the minute Tyler discovered that I was gone, he would follow after me, trying to convince me not to do anything stupid.
Morning came rather suddenly. One second blackness covered everywhere but the next second it was bright. The chill of the night was also gone in an instant, and it was now very hot. None of that mattered anyway, because I could see the end of my journey in sight. It did not take me very long to arrive at my destination.
I have to say that when I saw the little dome-like structure from afar, I was rather confused. It did not look like a palace and the sign that hung outside the building was rather discouraging. Because while it did say ‘Welcome to the palace’, the sign was crooked and the building looked like it was in dire need of repairs.
I stepped into the building with uncertainty. I was beginning to seriously doubt this. What if this was just a trap to traffic people? After all, the underworld was known for its infinite supply of body parts and there had to be a way they harvested those parts, right?
Still, I entered the building.
The man inside the small structure looked rather unkempt and impatient. I concluded that I had entered the wrong place, so I was about to step outside when he cleared his throat and said, “You apply to be a maid here?”
I wanted to say no and just flee the place, but against my better judgment, I responded in the affirmative.
“Sign these forms,” he gave me a form to sign which only consisted of the day I was born. It was rather strange, so I looked up with the intention of asking if this was really all. Did they not want to know my name and where I had come from?
“Just write your date of birth,” he said to me before I could ask.
I wrote my date of birth and returned the paper to him. In return, he handed me a green slip on which was written Marilyn Chestnut. What was that supposed to mean? I looked at the man with a question mark on my face, he grunted, apparently tired of being asked the same questions all day.
“That's the name you will be called here, Marilyn Chestnut. If you don't like it, hang yourself,” he said in a rather rude tone.
I said nothing. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he motioned for me to follow him.
He opened the door behind him, and I was led down a staircase.