Chapter 14- Regret
_________Kyra's Pov_______
~ Wow! This is so majestic.
It was winter time and the trees were covered with snow. The branches had no leaves on them but it looked so beautiful.
"Lisa! Wait for me!" I shouted as she ran playfully through the forest. She wore a long, silky, white dress and blended in perfectly with her surroundings. Her long blonde hair was curly and reached her back. She was bare footed in the snow and her beautiful smile could stop time. Her cheeks were rosey and her lips were painted in a vibrant red. She turned around and continued to run, her hair bouncing and flying with every step she took. As she ran, she bumped into a tree and fell to the ground on her back. All of a sudden, the tree became alive and swallowed her. I screamed in horror and tried to run away. The tree then turned into Raymond and he laughed evilly at me as I tried to escape him.~
I awoke in cold sweat and screaming. My heart was racing against my chest and I was breathing heavily. It was only a dream. I took in some deep breaths, trying to calm myself down when I realised that I was in a strange room. I was in a dark room and lying on the floor and I sat up placing my hand on my head, still fuzzyheaded from the events of yesterday.
Before I could get a chance to get up from the ground I was on and explore the room I was most likely locked in, two men suddenly burst into the room and grabbed me roughly.
I was too startled to even protest their actions.
What was going on? Where were they taking me?
They dragged me out of the room and brought me to another room at the end of the hallway which looked like a professional dressing room.
"She is not allowed to leave this room under any circumstances. Just get her ready and when she is done, Henry will escort her to her destination." one of the guards said as they released me from their grip causing me to stumble to the ground.
A maid stood in front of me with no emotion as well as a man I had never seen before.
"Follow me into the bathroom adjoining this room. Hurry, we don't have much time." the maid instructed me and I got up from the ground without uttering a word.
I took a quick shower with the maid waiting right outside the bathroom for me. I quickly put on the undergarments which were left on the counter of the bathroom sink for me and then put a robe over me.
My thoughts were running wild. What was Raymond going to do to me? I tried to escape him but he outsmarted me. Then again, how could I have been so dumb. He was a dangerous man. It was obvious that he was thorough in every step he took to kidnap me. That was why no one was able to find Lisa and I as yet. He made sure not to leave any clues.
The maid gave me a look of pity and the man then began to converse with me.
"Hi Kyra. I'm Ronaldo and you'll be seeing me a lot often, that is, if Raymond doesn't cut off my head." he said laughing but I did not find that remotely funny.
Ronaldo was wearing a light pink dress shirt and cut up jeans which fitted him perfectly. He was skinny and tall and he wore glasses but I believe they were just for fashion.
I simply stared at him, not knowing what to say.
"Sit, sit. We don't have all day. I have to do your makeup and please don't ruin it with your crying. We only have one shot at this." he said and I followed his instructions.
As I looked in the mirror in front of me, I realised that my eyes were a bit red and the incident from yesterday kept replaying in my head.
I was so scared. Raymond shot that poor maid in front of me without even a glimpse of hesitation or remorse after. He is a devious, mentally deranged man who needed psychological help. Why would he do all of this? More importantly, what did the dream I had earlier mean? Something bad is going to happen. I just know it.
I don't know how long I was lost in my thoughts but I felt something yank my hair and then I realised that Ronaldo was combing me. He had completed my makeup and was now styling my hair in an up-do.
Before long he was done and then handed me a dress.
"Raymond picked this out specifically for you." he said and I quickly put on the beautiful blue gown I was given. It was sparkling and fluffy. I looked like a real princess in it.
Why does Raymond want me to wear this? I looked in the mirror and I looked stunning but I was so frightened not knowing what was going happen next.
I felt the maid putting jewellery on me and then silver shoes to match the accessories I had on. The jewellery I had on not only looked expensive, but it felt heavy and probably costed more than my house.
Henry then entered the room dressed in a black suit and he looked really sad, as if he was at the verge of crying. I wonder what could be wrong with him. Why are we all dressed up like we are going to attend a wedding?
"Hi Kyra. Raymond has asked me to give you this silver crown to wear." he said and I stooped down, allowing him to put it on my head.
"Thank you Henry." I said, trying to calm my nerves.
He held my hands and then led me down many flights of stairs. We walked with purpose but I wanted to drop Henry's hands and run away. However, it would be futile as I was trapped in the castle and who knows what Raymond would do to me for disobeying his orders.
Henry led me to a door which looked way to familiar for my liking and my palms began to sweat profusely.
"W-w-why are we h-here?" I asked trembling a little.
I saw a tear slip down his face as he opened the large, black double doors leading to the battle room.
Two men came out from no where and grabbed me from Henry, dragging me further inside the room despite my protests for them to let go of me.
We stopped in front of an extremely tall ladder which led to a platform which reminded me of the balcony used in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
One of the men shoved me closer to the ladder and I stood in front of it trembling like a leaf. The ladder was twelve feet tall and a fall from that height would definitely cause me to injure myself and break a few bones, especially with the outfit I was wearing.
I just stared at the ladder like it was going to kill me, which in essence would probably happen.
What did they want me to do? Why was I even here? I just want to go back home with my mom and friends. I do not want to be here anymore. I wish someone could hear my cry and come to my rescue. Why was Raymond doing this to me? What in the world had I done to deserve this?
"Climb it or you die now." one of the men said, removing a rifle from his pocket to show me that he was not playing games with me. He was dead serious.
Dread consumed me and I gulped in fear, my eyes getting watery but did what I was instructed to do.
I took a deep breath and then began to climb up the ladder. Why did I have to be in six inch heels today of all days?
After climbing up the first five steps of the ladder I stopped as I was too afraid to continue.
Were they serious? Was this a prank? I was deadly afraid of heights. Why did I have to do this?
"If you don't climb this ladder you will be shot!" the man threatened and tears began to roll down my face.
I shook my head in fear and continued my shaky journey up the ladder.
Half way through my journey, I missed a step and almost fell off and I gripped the ladder for my life, beginning to sob loudly.
The long and fluffy blue dress I wore did not help the situation I was currently in and I stumbled many times climbing the ladder as I could not see the thin stairs of the ladder due to length of the dress.
I continued shakily up the rest of the ladder and after what felt like an eternity, I finally got to the top. It was like a fort in which I could see everything below. It reminded me of medieval times and I just wanted to go back to the modern technological age I had been used to my entire life.
I still had tears rolling down my face and my heart raced against my chest.
I looked down below and I could see the huge mat on which people sparred on. I then saw Lisa and Dr.Amara come onto the mat dressed in white long sleeve tight fitting shirts with matching white pants and boots.
The also had a black choker around their necks and I do not believe that it was jewellery to accessorise. It looked like some sort of tracking device or shocking device for torture.
However, what captured my attention most was what was in their hands.
Swords.
What were they doing with swords? And these swords did not look fake. Lisa struggled to carry hers she walked and absolute dread and fear was clearly written on her face.
What are they using swords for? I was confused and tried to focus on them to see what they were about to do.
Despite my fear of heights, my mind was stuck looking down at them as I was curious about what was about to happen.
All of the sudden, the lights were dimmed and out of the shadows, Raymond came out dressed up in a black suit with his hair gelled down. He had a mic in his hand and then began to speak.
"Ladies, we have a simple rule." he said looking deviously at the two women who were facing each other looking scared as hell, "Try to defeat your opponent first before they kill you. Also, if you do not move in five seconds, you will be shocked by the choker around your neck." he said smoothly.
I saw Lisa gulp in fear and another tear rolled down my face.
"Raymond, let them go you jerk! Why are you doing this? You have me already. Just let them go!" I begged with tears streaming down my face.
"It doesn't work that way honey. You should have thought of this before you tried to escape me and my rules." he said evilly in the mic.
One way or another, one of these girls would end up dead. I could not allow my best friend to die. This was not how life was supposed to end up. We were supposed to go to college together, maybe university, get the jobs of our dreams, grow old together and our kids would be best friends as well.
I watched intensely at the match before me.
"Raymond, please don't do this." I begged, my voice surrendering to Raymond as I felt defeated.
He then looked at me dead in the eye and smirked.
"Let's make a deal. If Lisa wins, you both can leave. If she loses then you stay here forever." he said slyly.
I did not have time to digest what he had suggested because Lisa responded on my behalf.
I watched her with wide eyes as she shook hands with Raymond and watched Dr.Amara with absolutely no emotions.
"Ready?"Raymond asked watching both opponents who nodded their heads simultaneously.
Why couldn't the girls just kill Raymond? They had the power to do so in their hands since he had equipped them with swords. However, there were many guards with guns in the battle room and they would not hesitate to shoot the girls for killing Raymond. It was a lose-lose situation no matter what occurred.
Raymond then exited the mat and then a large bong was hit, signalling the commencement of the sword fight.
They began fighting and I watched intensely as they missed at first since they could not carry the heavy swords.
After many failed attempts, they finally got the hand of it and there was dead silence except for the clashing of the swords.
Suddenly, Amara screamed loudly and fell to the ground in agony. She got up a few seconds later with blood dripping down her face as Lisa had slashed her across the face. I gasped in horror. Watching this was beyond nerve wrecking and to watch someone die in front of me was beyond frightening. I did not want Amara to die but neither could I allow my best friend for life to be killed by Amara. Couldn't Amara sacrifice herself in order to give Lisa and I freedom from Raymond? Lisa and I had our whole lives ahead of us.
The battle was very intense as it was a fight to the end and Lisa was struggling against Amara who seemed to be a bit skilled in sword fighting.
I saw Dr.Amara's eyes darken and after three minutes of fighting continuously, Lisa dropped her sword causing me to stand up from my position and I watched heart wrenchingly as Lisa's eyes widened. Her face went pale and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Lisa!" I screamed in horror.
Amara stood with eyes wide opened as she stared at her sword which had blood on it. Lisa's blood to be precise.
She had been stabbed in the stomach area. Lisa was aiming for Amara but she left her stomach area unprotected and Amara used that to her advantage. As Lisa laid on the ground looking lifeless, the chain around her neck began to electrocute her and by now, her once white clothing was stained with blood and as I gaped at her with fear in my eyes, blood began to come out from her mouth and I realised she probably had internal bleeding.
"No!!!" I screamed out and held the railings with a tight grip.
"Lisa!" I screamed my lungs out as I watched for any signs of movement. She flinched slightly and then there was no more movement from her.
Tears rolled down my eyes and I started seeing blurry.
I was hearing screaming and crying from below and realised it was Henry. He did not deserve to witness this. He was so young and innocent. How could Raymond allow his little brother to see such a horrid thing?
Dr.Amara was breathing heavily and stood in shock as she watched Lisa's deathly pale body.
Raymond was the cause of this. I cannot believe I actually thought for one second that he could be a good person and that I even contemplated living with him forever in the castle.
He is an arrogant, selfish jerk with no heart. A pure spawn of satan...maybe he was even satan himself in the flesh.
I looked down and there was no sign of movement from Lisa. This could not be happening. My best friend could not be dead. She just- she couldn't be.
I screamed out in horror and began to hyperventilate and I tried gripping anything I could but I kept missing. I was seeing blurry and I could not think straight.
I regret ever being born. I......
I felt myself falling sideways and that was the last thing I remembered.
______END OF CHAPTER______
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