They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 35: Come In Second

Look out for the <>!!!

Gray POV

I paced around the same barred cage my father was in earlier. Worry for not only my sake but also for Stella's filled me. I thought about how Else brought me here. There was such disappointment and frustration in her eyes. It was as if I disappointed her beyond anything I could fix. But what she didn't understand was that she disappointed me.

She was supposed to be on my side, like she always reminded me, but she was going to let Stella die. As I held Stella's hand in her room, I started to believe that maybe she was never on my side. She was only on the Royal Families side and would do anything for them, not me. They would come first, always, never me.

What hurt the most is that after all we went through and all the years we spent together, she didn't even allow for me to watch Stella improve. As soon as I opened that door, she let those guards to drag me away here.

Since that moment, I had been beaten, questioned, and heard whispers that the castle was on high alert for my father. However, there was no sight of him anywhere nearby. The Royal Family had already come to question me about him. But they quickly realized that I knew nothing of my father and left me here in this cage.

Hours had passed with no sight of anyone else, and I worried that maybe they were waiting for the right moment to carry out my punishment. I knew the law for treason. They would kill me, but I thought it would be at least a little quicker than this.

Frustration and worry filled me like a pot on the stove. The more time went by, the more I felt like I was bubbling over with emotions. Before they drug me off to murder me in the woods, I wanted to know how Stella was and what else was going on those floor boards above me. But there was silence. Not even Else had come to see me since they locked me in here. I wasn't sure she would see me either. I was a traitor, so she would distance herself from me. That would be the safest thing to do if she wanted to be close to the royal family still.

I hit the cage in anger. Almost instantly, my hand received a burn mark from the spell I just hit. The burning feeling sank through my skin, forcing me to shake out my hand to ease the pain.

<>

"I wouldn't touch the cage again. The dean of the school cast that spell herself," Else's voice rang out.

With a nodded, I shook out my hand. I met her eyes as she walked into the room with such confidence and once again there was disappointment as she looked at me. It was like this was all my fault, but she left me with no choice. She was the one that forced my actions. If she told me about the cure from the beginning, maybe things would have been different.

I frowned at the guard behind her and wondered if it was her idea for the guard or if it was the Royal Family. From now until my death, we would never be able to have a private conversation. They really thought I was with him, didn't they? Finally, everyone got what they wanted, me as the criminal, just as bad as my father himself.

Else shoved her hands into her dress pants as she took slow, long strides towards the cage, closing the gap between us. "The Royal Family told me they wouldn't lay a hand on you just yet," she frowned as she looked at me better.

I rubbed the side of my face that was bruised and bloodied. This was just a tiny bit of the visible damaged they did while they questioned me. They were so confident that I was working with my father, that was why I let him out. With every punch, they convinced themselves that I was the bad guy, but they quickly realized that Stella was the only reason I let him out. I didn't care about him or them for that matter. All I cared about was Stella, it had always been her.