His Promise

Chapter 16

Christmas wasn't all bad. I ended up getting to move into the small apartment I had bought. I guess you could call it 'moving in', but there wasn't really much to actually move. Just my backpack of small possessions. It was okay though, I didn't need anything. I was just happy to be off the streets, sleeping in the cold. It was definitely more than a little miserable. It was mine, and it made me happy.

My mind flashed back to last night when Zack had told me about his family. It was really terrible... I still had lots of questions though. How many family members did he have, when was it, and what had actually happened. Utimately I decided not to ask them, at least anytime soon; it was obviously a sensitive topic and I didn't want to pry. Still, I was curious.

As a treat, I had bought a small slice of red and green cake at a nearby bakery earlier. I picked it up out of the small container it was in, then plated it, breathing in the scent. Sweet, sugary, with a hint of the cinammon dusted on top.

"Merry Christmas, me." I whispered. Emotion washed over me like a wave, and the greatest of all was lonliness. Even though no one was around to see me cry, I blinked back the hot tears that pricked my eyes.

I stood up, deciding to take a walk to clear my head. It was around noon, but no one was outside. They were probably all inside with their families, talking, laughing, opening presents. Again, the wave of raw emotion washed over me, making me want to break down and cry until my eyes were dry. With a shake of my head, I continued walking.

Bam!

Pain exploded in the back of my head as something heavy collided with it. I fell to the ground, the cold snow stinging my hands and face.

That was the last thing I remembered before my world went completely black.

~

"...need to move her."

A low voice woke me up. I sat up quickly, snapping my head around to look at my surrondings. No one was in the room, so the voice must have been coming from outside of the door. I was sitting on the floor in the corner of a small room. The only light in the room was the small trickle of light that was seeping under the frame of the door, but even in the dark I could tell it was probably just an empty room. Questions flooded into my mind; where was I? What happened? Who had hit me? My head was still weakly pulsing with pain. Since I couldn't really do anything at the moment, I tuned into the voices coming from outside the door.

"She's fine where she is."

"But we can't risk her escaping- we need to move her to somewhere more... Permanent." Although I had no idea what the person meant by that, the way he said permanent sent a feeling of dread throughout my body.

"What about the plan? We can't risk her finding out by moving her." Plan? What plan...?

The other man snorted. "She's not smart enough to figure out. She doesn't even know what she's capable of."

"True."

"Let's just move her then. We need to get started."

More and more questions filled my mind. Permanent place? A plan? Starting something? What I'm capable of? I had no idea what was going on. But I had a feeling I wouldn't want to be around to find out what.

My thoughts were cut off short as the door creaked open. Two men in long white robes stepped into the room. They were wearing plain white, featureless masks, so I couldn't see their faces except for their eyes. The masks sent another shiver up my spine, and I looked away from them.

"Awake, I see." the first stated.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The other one grabbed my arm and yanked me up harshly. "You're going to have to come with us." he said, ignoring my question.

The second man half walked, half dragged my down long, twisting hallways, while the first man held my head down so I could only see the floor. It was a plain white tile, nothing interesting about it. I wondered where they were taking me, but I decided it was probably best if I didn't try to struggle- I saw swords glinting underneath their robes, which really made me nervous. I didn't know for sure, but running might just end with me getting skewered on a sword. I didn't really want to die today, thanks.

We must have finally made it where we were going, because the two men let go of me, causing me to drop to the floor. After I picked myself up, I scanned the room. It was large and circular shaped. In the center stood a round platform raised a few feet off the ground. More people in white robes were sitting around it. The scariest part about them was none of them moved an inch. Just stared at the raised platform.

What in the world is going on here!? I wanted to scream, but I couldn't find the words. Something about this room was just- sinister. It was like it oozed pure evil. Utter confusion held me still, like an anchor weighing me down.

One of the men grabbed my arm again and lead me to the raised platform. Whatever was going on, it was not good. Not good at all.

Once we reached the platform, he shoved me down to my knees. Now that we were up here, I noticed there was a hole in the platform that strecthed downwards a few feet. "Brothers, sisters," he announced in a booming voice. "We have waited many years for this event. And now, we have collected the essentials to begin our ritual. The ritual of rebirth; from which, we will gain power. Once our ruler is set free, we will reign destruction over the world, and rebuild it from the ashes to fit his liking. A kingdom where only the strong will survive." his voice trailed off as he turned to face me. "You'd be better off not trying to get away, girl." he muttered, his voice dripping with malice.

Yeah, I had the idea struggling was not a good idea in this situation. I was extrememly confused. Confused, and scared. I didn't know what they were doing, or talking about, but whatever it was, it was very, very bad. I needed to get out of here now.

"It all starts now, with this offering." the man continued, snapping me out of my panicked thoughts. With those last words, the man drew out his sword, creating a harsh clink of metal, and held it above his head.

All I could do was stare at him in fear as he began to bring the sword down, ready to wash the entire platform with blood; my blood.