Academy of Legends

Chapter 9: Henry (Rules)

"Oww." I groan to myself before swiftly realizing it doesn't sound like it should. Frowning, I try to rise, only to find myself hampered by ... something. What's going on?

I force my eyes open. I'm in a strange, stone room, with a steel door on it, no windows. Only a little slate in the middle of the door that allows the tiniest bit of light in. My addled brain refuses to believe the evidence in front of me. I try to call out and find that my mouth has been covered with a gag, cutting off my ability to speak. My hands and ankles are bound cruelly.

I can longer deny the truth of the matter. I had been struck over the back of the head as I had gone to see Hermes, and blacked out. The murderer must have taken me prisoner! But why not just kill me? What could he or she hope to gain from abducting me? He—I decide to refer to the murderer as a "he" until I know more—had killed my brother pitilessly. Why am I any different?

Movement. I detect a sound outside my cell and stiffen. Perhaps I am about to be killed, like poor Harold. Maybe the killer likes to have his victims conscious before he kills them. Then a voice speaks, and I realize Hermes was telling the truth—at least, about the killer's voice. It is undeniably masculine. "Henry Charming. I trust you are comfortable?"

Seeing as how I can't speak, I say nothing. The voice sounds vaguely familiar, tickling at my skull, but I cannot place it. The killer has disguised his voice just enough to make it nearly impossible to distinguish. "There are rules, Henry, about this Academy. Rules that should not be broken. You broke them."

Broke them? How? And what rules?

"And now you will pay. You tried to determine my identity, and now I shall frame you for it. Imprisoned below the Academy ... bound, with no chance of escape ... you shall die down here. Shrivel up and die. And above you, the murders will continue. Perhaps your beloved Snow will die next. They already hold you responsible for Hermes's death, since you were going to visit him when he died. And you will be held responsible for the others as well. This will be the last time we speak, Charming."

I lunge and only succeed in slamming my nose into the floor. The killer laughs, and I hear his footsteps receding down the corridor. Frustration fills me, and I let myself slump back down to the floor. What in the world am I going to do? I can't let Snow die!

Despair follows frustration. What can I do to stop it? I'm tied up, bound like some sort of an animal, and I can't even yell for help. The killer is going to go after Snow, and I can't even stop him. I want to pound my fist into the floor, but the ropes deny me of that comfort.

Snow, be safe. Please.