In The End: Gargoyle Saga

Chapter 34 Forgiveness Is a Blessing

Chapter 34 Forgiveness Is a Blessing

'Stupid, useless, bitch!' Rerek took me back to Denmark's catacombs and threw me against the wall. I fell facedown on the flagstone floor and didn't move. I was crying so much I didn't care what happened to me. I just didn't care. Rowan, my Rowan, was gone, killed by this evil bastard who was now throwing a temper tantrum. I just couldn't believe I saw Rowan die right in front of me. I didn't even get a chance to tell him I'm sorry, that I... love him.

Rerek roared so loudly that my ears rang. I heard his desk splinter as he must have thrown it against the wall too. 'Well,' he snorted, 'whatever the case if any of the wards are destroyed, you'll be dead!' he spat. 'You are of no consequence to me now.'

'You didn't let me do the wards in Germany,' I managed to say.

Rerek took a few steps towards me and picked me up by my hair. 'I've put the wards up around Cologne. I don't care if the others are down; as long as Cologne holds out, my spell is unbreakable.'

He snapped his fingers, and I felt my body hum with strange magic; then, with his other hand, dropped me. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and I frowned. I saw three identical clones of myself standing with their hands behind their back, staring ahead. 'What the hell?'

Rerek bent down. 'I need them to believe that you are still under my control.' He pushed the knife deeper into my side, and I screamed in pain. He laughed, then grabbed the back of my head and smashed it into the floor. My nose crunched, breaking easily, and blood pooled out. Someone then came into the room, but I didn't hear the door open. 'Y-yes, my lord?' It sounded like that feeble idiot, Brunin.

'Take this piece of shit to a holding cell. Lock her up and throw away the key. I don't need her anymore. She'll be dead soon, anyway. Let her friends kill her.'

'My lord.'

Brunin picked me up by the ankles and dragged me out of the room. My face and teeth were being chipped and broken as my face was still grinding on the granite flagstones. He said nothing as he dragged me, he only huffed and puffed a few times, and then before I knew it, he stopped. I heard the squeak of a heavy door open, and I was thrown inside and rolled onto my back. The blood in my nose congealed at the back of my throat, almost choking me. 'And this is where you'll stay.' The door was closed, and I heard it lock. Staring up at the stone ceiling, I cried, which didn't make my breathing any easier. Coughing up blood and mucus, I almost gagged. I didn't know what time it was, only that Rowan was gone. I wanted to give up. There was nothing I could do. Not a single soul knew where I was.

An hour went by after another, and I continuously recounted Rowan's concern for me, his last words and his last smile. I cried out for him until I couldn't breathe from the pain. I screamed I called for help from him, hoping that I might see his ghost or whatever come back and tell me it was alright, but there was nothing. He was gone, he was beyond my reach, and I'd never see him again.

The knife was still sticking in my side, making me sick from the pain, but my demon healing had stopped the blood from pouring out. Yet underneath me, I began to feel sticky, which was a sign I was regaining control of my body. The twelve hours must soon be up. That meant it was daytime and close to noon. It was at the stroke of noon that Rerek would slam all the doors closed to the four cathedrals, locking all the easter worshippers inside to meet their fate, and he would start his spell. I didn't know all the mechanics of the spell; I only knew the counteracting spell that I hoped the others would start with.

All I could see as I closed my eyes was Rowan's dead eyes staring back at me. His life was gone, his soul no longer gazing back at me. This was all my fault. 'I'm so sorry, Rowan,' I whispered. 'I loved you more than anything. I'm such a coward for never telling you as much as I should have.'