Chapter 104

• HAERA
• I pried my eyes open but it was still dark all around me like I still had eyes tightly closed and like I was still back in that darkness that consumed me when I fell to the floor and the one I've been in for longer than I can remember. I knew I was knocked out for a long time because of how weak and rigid my body felt. I closed and opened my eyes a few times, trying to assure myself that I was really out of the blackout moment which time frame I had no idea about. It was all the same, no matter the number of times I opened and closed my eyes. Nothing changed and I was convinced that it had nothing to do with my eyes. It has to be where I was huddled at. The thought of it brought about my next question. Where was I? The memories of my last moments before now haunted me and echoed in my head, making a sharp pain that I had paid less attention to, sear through my head. It made me wince and try to sit back but I couldn't even move a muscle. Not because I was weak and tired but because my hands were tightly tied together behind me with a rope that seemed like it already cut through my skin with the pain that was searing through my wrists. I was huddled in a position where I could hardly move any part of my body and it seemed like more reasons for the soreness in my body. I was entrapped in a stuffy and enclosed space that was barely enough to contain me. And my hands weren't the only things tied together. The moment I tried to move my feet and my ankles hurt hair as my wrists did, I knew I was tied up on legs as well. Fighting to release my hands and legs from the captivity they were in only made it hurt the more. The darkness around me was overwhelming and I wanted to get out of it. But how do you get out of something that you don't even understand or see a single ray of light from? I was scared that I had become blind for a split second. All other things were unsure as of then; where I was, what happened after I blacked out and why everywhere seemed so dark around me. But two things were sure; I was moving–whenever I was, I was moving, I was being transported and each bump and glide of the road I was getting transported through had its effect on me. The other thing was that I was probably on the way, getting transported to my doom. And I was all alone. "Haera!" The familiar voice of my wolf called out to me and it made hope leap in my heart that moment that I wasn't alone even when it seemed like she must have blacked out with me. Whatever did this to me had to be a very strong medication enough to knock both my wolf and I out. "Haera, are you okay?" Dezra asked me. "I would be if I figure out what the hell is going on." I winced. "I can't even see a single thing." I winced. "It's cause you have a black sack over your head, Haera. You're not blind or anything." Dezra said as if it was the most obvious thing and I was the one who was totally out of it. Oh. That explains the scratchy feeling I have had since my eyes opened. The black sack covering my head itched around my neck where it rested. "I can't believe this is happening to me." I was finally coming to terms with the fact that I really got knocked out by whatever was added into my food. "I saw it coming Haera, I just didn't expect him to go this far." Him. Tybalt. That conniving bastard. I didn't want to remember the last words i heard that indicated him to be responsible for what happend and what's happening to me but I couldn't run away from it. Tybalt used Dina. I couldn't believe he would actually employ a maid to spike my food with an herb strong enough to knock both me and my wolf out. Dezra might have seen it coming. But I didn't. I didn't expect this to happen and it was driving me crazy how I failed to prevent such a thing from happening. It drove me crazy that I was too preoccupied with my relationship with Zachary that I didn't think of the damaged Tybalt could do. And now I could only think of one thing; one that probably haunted me all through the time I was unconscious. I failed to protect Zachary. With me gone–going to someplace I do not know, Zachary and the pack were are going to be vulnerable to any other plans of Tybalt. It must have been his plan all along. To get rid of me since Zachary isn't in the right frame of mind to fight back. How could I have let this happen? I saw the signs yet I failed to acknowledge them. It was all in the way Dina was especially nice enough to the other maids at the dinner table and when it goes against who she really is and who I know her to be. It was all in the way she was eager to serve me when usually she wouldn't bend to my wishes or do as I say because she was still unable to accept me as the Luna. Of course, Dina was the only one Tybalt could use to get to me and I fell deep for it. I Put myself and Zachary in danger. "What do you think he's going to do with Zachary? Oh my God! I can't believe I failed to protect him and let this happen to me." I cried out. "I'm shocked. Usually you'd care more about yourself than him. Shouldn't he be the least of iPod worries right now? You got kidnapped Haera and you are being transported to heaven knows where!" Dezra reminded me of the doom that loomed upon me. Tybalt's last words echoed in my ears. Go and find my brother...while I drag her to her death. She...has...to...die...before him anyway. "Zachary is in danger." I mouthed like it wasn't so obvious already. My heartbeat increased its pace and I feel more reminded of how bad the situation is because of Tybalt's words that I remembered. He had asked Dina to go find Zachary. The last time I saw Zachary was when he told me he needed to use the bathroom. And even in my situation, it was him I was worried about. "Worry about yourself Haera." Dezra said again. "Zachary is in danger! He thinks Tybalt is some nice guy and he can't defend himself if he's in danger. Do I need to remind you that he has the brain of a child?" I was totally panicking. The fear for my own future less in comparison to the one for Zachary. I felt like I could still fight. I knew my enemies and I knew where my priorities lay. Zachary doesn't. He can't defend himself because he thinks everyone is a friend and adores him. He knows absolutely nothing and I left him back home alone with the devil. And with Zachary and I out of the way, Tybalt's power will know no bounds. "I need to find my way out of here." I stated. "How Haera? You don't even know where you are going. I'm sure you know you are in a moving container." Dezra pointed out. I ignored her and sniffed around the little space I was cramped in, trying to make out any form of scent that could at least give me a hint of where I was and where I was headed to. I sniffed in and breathed the air. The scent of all things nature hit my nostrils but the smell of grass and leaves was thicker. Was I in the middle of a forest? I sniffed the air one more time and the scent of another person caught my nose. It must be the person transporting me. Tybalt's scent was faint all around me, meaning he must have tied me up and put me in here but didn't come with me? He must be back at the pack while he sends someone else to do his dirty job. Did the person transporting me know about it? Does he know he's riding a carriage with a live and breathing being inside? Why did Tybalt stay back when he said he was going to drag me to my death? The only thing I could think of now was the reason he stayed back and I knew it had to do with Zachary. What are his plans? What is he doing to Zachary now? Is Zachary safe? "Oh common Haera. Stop making this harder than it already is." Dezra complained but I couldn't help myself I couldn't help but worry about my mate and what was currently happening to him as well as Tybalt's plans. I was in so much danger myself, yet I couldn't help but worry about him. All my thoughts were on the fact that Tybalt has already started realizing his plans for Zachary and I am not there to protect him like I promised I would. I failed my mate. Dezra slipped into silence, like she couldn't say anything else to convince me otherwise about my feelings about myself. I remained huddled in my position, waiting for the moment of my death like Tybalt said. The carriage that was carrying me suddenly rolled to a stop after long minutes and it seemed to signify that I was now in the place where my death would take place. There was a brief silence before I heard the sound of boots hitting the floor approaching me. The sound was soon accompanied by what seemed like a padlock coming off. I assumed I was being let out of my little cage. It would have been the best chance to attack whoever it was that would show up the moment I'm let out, but I couldn't even see a thing not to mention that my arms and legs were bound together tightly probably to make me more vulnerable and unable to defend myself. The scent of the person who had brought me got stronger. I couldn't place the scent anywhere as one I've sniffed before but one thing I knew was that it wasn't someone from the imperial pack. Little light soon flooded into darkness. It was the light from a fire torch. With one hand and a deep grunt, my transporter lifted me off the floor of the container and set me down to the floor. Since I was unable to stand upright, I fell to the ground on my butt. Still unable to see anything asides from the little creeping light of the fire torch. I wondered why my mouth wasn't covered and why I was just realizing it when I could have screamed the entire forest down. But now all I wanted to know was who brought me here and what my fate was. "Who are you? Where am I? What did you do to me?" I got not even a single reply to my questions. Just a deep annoyed grunt before I was grabbed by the arm and lifted off the floor like a weightless thing. He dragged me the same way with him as he led me through a rough patch of the forest. My feet were uncovered and they gnashed against stones and had sharp edges of grass cutting through them. He dragged me all the way with him to an unknown destination before finally reaching there and pushing me to kneel on the ground. I couldn't see him but he was all around me. "Hello? Hello? Please tell me where I am?" Like he really would. But it was worth a try anyway. I thought I was going to die right there and it would all be over but a scent hit my nose, familiar and very strong one at that. One that has been all around me but very faint. Tybalt. Was he here all along? I sniffed his scent before I heard his footsteps approach. His footsteps finally went silent and I guessed he was now somewhere around me. Why wasn't he at the pack? What was he doing here? "What took you so long?" I heard his voice direct the words at whoever brought me here. Tybalt had been waiting here? What sort of arrangement did he have with the man who brought me here? "You were the one who insisted on not making any suspicious movements." "That doesn't give you an excuse to not be here on time. I paid you remember? And it would have been risky and suspicious for me to be gone for so long just around the time the princess disappeared." Tybalt's voice angrily stated again. "I had to take a route that's different from the original route. Anyone could have guessed I had someone locked up in the back." The other man argued. "That's enough. Let's not waste more time. Are you sure you weren't followed?" Tybalt asked. "Are you?" The other man fired back disrespectfully and the snort that came from Tybalt spoke of his annoyance and disapproval of it. "Well I am certain no one followed me. I handled it pretty well. Now free her and uncover her face." He commanded. Footsteps approached me in my corner and whatever was covering my face was lifted off it. And I came face to face with the man I hated with every single thing I had in me. The menace on my face probably matched his as his eyes swirled with hatred and anger. "How does it feel to be the one in danger this time?" Tybalt asked with venom lacing his voice. "You bastard." I spat. He chuckled. "Feisty to the very end aren't you?" He taunted. "Your feistiness will get you nowhere this time princess, you'll die either way and then your mate whom you have been protecting will follow right after." "Don't you dare lay your hands on him. Don't you dare!" I yelled and tried to move toward him but I was too incapacitated to do anything than just rave and curse. "What if I do? Don't forget you are now powerless, princess. I warned you not to mess with me, didn't I?" He paused and glared at me "but of course, you had to prove stubborn. Good for me anyway, because it makes it easier for me to get rid of you. You have always been the one in my way to destroying Zachary and all I need is for you to be out of the way and it's all over." My mind raced with everything that he could do to Zachary. Zachary wasn't mentally stable for all the things he could make him go through. He was a fucking ten year old in the body of an adult! Zachary won't be able to handle it. What would he do to him? "All you have to do is die, princess. Nothing more. And this time, I'm going to make sure you don't return, alive or dead." His eyes held a promise that had me confused. "What do you mean by that?" I just had to ask. "Oh...I see you don't remember this place. It doesn't ring a bell that you ruined my plans here and jumped in to save your mate like he was some damsel in distress?I'm only re-enacting it, only this time,It's more fascinating to see you die instead of him." Tybalt explained. His eyes still and the evil glint in them. My memory did a backtrack and I soon realized what he meant. The cliff! We were at the cliff. The same place where I and Zachary fell to what seemed like our deaths. I couldn't believe that the bastard brought me back here. "Shall we?" He said and suddenly grabbed my hair till his fingers scratched the root. I winced and held back a cry of pain as he dragged me with him, my hands and legs bound, before stopping at the very edge of the cliff. "I guess this is where we say our goodbyes, princess." I tried to fight him. I couldn't believe it was really over for me. Would my life really end this way? With regrets and unfulfilled wishes and dreams? Would my life start so sorrowfully and end the same way? Was it really over for me? My entire life flashed before my eyes and it felt like I was watching a movie. One whose ending I didn't like. One whose beginning was tragic but the end even more tragic. It was over. I closed my eyes to let the last and only thought I could think of consume me while I fall to my death. Zachary. "Goodbye, princess." Tybalt said and gave me a push. I heard his voice in my head, behind my closed eyes. Him. Zachary. I smiled because his voice was the last thing I could think of and hear even in my death. "MUM!!!" It all happened in a flash and I didn't know what happened. One thing was for sure though; I didn't fall down the cliff alone.