Throne of Madness

Chapter 2

Allyson laid on the roof of the apartment as snowflakes nestled themselves into her hair. She hadn't bothered to tie it up and instead let it sprawl behind her, for once not minding what got in it. Her breath danced before her as she sighed, thinking back on what happened minutes ago. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been to even consider anything would go back to normal. After her father, normal didn't exist.

She lifted her hand and inspected the black band inlaid with small red hearts. Her father had given it to her a few days before he died. It was the last memory she had of him.

"Here you go, Ally." He smiled, placing a little blue box in her hand.

"What's this?" she looked down at it, tongue poking through the hole her lost tooth left.

"It's your birthday present." He nodded at the box. "Go on, open it."

"But my birthday's not for four days," she argued.

"Sorry, Ally. You know I won't be here. I've got to travel for work tonight and won't be back till the day after your birthday."

Allyson huffed, but she opened the box. Inside was a black ring with red hearts. Her eyes widened as the encrusted hearts sparkled. "It's so pretty. Thank you, daddy!" She threw her arms around her father's neck.

"I knew you'd like it," he laughed as she pulled back to face him. "You know why?" She shook her head. "Because it's fit for a queen."

Allyson wrinkled her nose. "I wanna be a princess, not a queen."

"Ah, but, Ally," he said. "Queens hold the power and they get to change their world to what they want. Besides, you're destined to be a queen."

"Really?"

"Yep, but not here." His hazel eyes glinted mysteriously. "In a land where the hearts of the people belong to you, and you will take the place of pain and bring peace instead." His eyes held hers, their irises the same shade, absolutely serious. Then his gaze darted to his watch. "Oh, I've got to go. I'll miss my flight." He leaned forward and kissed her hair. "Goodbye, Ally. Next time I see you, you'll be another year."

"Bye!" Allyson shouted as her father got in the car, waving long after he'd driven away.

Allyson had woken up on her birthday to her mother sobbing in the middle of her bedroom. The phone lay at her feet as someone gave the details of her father's death. Was driving through the woods early in the morning. Something ignited in the car and blew up the gas tank. Entire body burned through except for his heart that kept beating, yet he was still dead.

After that, the mother that used to play with her and tell her stories about this wondrous land filled with talking flowers and curious cats disappeared. In her place was a woman who screeched about "them" and was insistent that people would creep into their lives and fill their lives with insanity. What she didn't realize was she was talking about herself.

A tear slipped down her cheek and Allyson furiously wiped it away. She felt foolish for the tears shed earlier and refused to waste more energy on such a ridiculous thing.

"I think you took a wrong turn to your bedroom."

Allyson's snapped up and turned to the fire escape where Mason was climbing onto the roof. "What?"

"Well it's a bit too cold to be sleeping up here, don't you think?"

"Yes, I've decided to spend the night here freezing my ass off." She laid back again. "Why are you here, Mason? Go home and sleep."