RMW
Act Two
Forbidden Skull Island
~WBM~
Chapter Ten
Glad’s Well
~SV~
Glad’s Property, near 2 AM, 677, 29th, October
The Evil One points, “That is what is left of Glad’s Well.” Hissing to cover his own fear, Kolo orders, “Tad is going in.” Tad’s eyes bulge, as he screeches, “Why me? Someone else should do it!”
Kolo groans, “Luke, give Tad the lantern, tie the rope around him and lower Tad into the Well.” As Luke brings the rope around Tad’s waist, the small man shakes his head, “No, I do not want to go in!” Luke says, “You are not strong enough to hold one of us.”
Tad whines, “I did not choose to be small; it is unfair!” Luke makes the knot tight; watching, Kolo is tired and wants to leave, even his voice is grim and choked up. He tells his guard, “Richard once he reaches the bottom, take me over to it, so I can look down into her place of death, for Lola.” Richard nods and Luke is ready to lower him. As Tad is climbing in, he looks down and asks just before disappearing into it, “If Lola is down here will she hurt me?”
Only Tad’s echo replies. Slowly, Luke lowers Tad into Glad’s Well. Kolo thinks of his terrible hours in that dark hole, he warns, “It is likely to have snakes at the bottom.” Tad whimpers, “Oh demons! Bloody snakes too? I will have nightmares about this the rest of my life!” Kolo’s voice is filled with fear, “There was one in there, when I was in it. Vile snake bit the left side of my face, before Lola could kill it. That rotten vicious snake nearly killed me.”
Kolo adds, “I often think the snake is why my hair sways on its own.” Richard asks, “Is that what killed Lola?” Kolo groans, “No, she was hit on the head with a rock, by a wretched girl. The rest helped toss her in. It made her lose consciousness. I-I jumped in to save her, but could not stop her bleeding head wound and hold her out of the water.” He holds back a sob; not wanting to tell the truth, preferring the lie. It sounded more heroic, versus the reality.”
The children chased him as he tried to run away, then Kolo pleaded, begged, and cried, as they threw him in too. The Evil One sadly adds, “I held her above the water, all afternoon, and into the night. She died in my arms. Then the snake’s poison caused me to lose consciousness and I nearly drowned.” Foolishly he told his Mother the truth. When Kolo came to, Lola was floating face down in the water and had drowned. Tad whimpers, “I do not like this!”
Kolo comes out of his past sorrows, as Tad wails, “Always the smallest it is why they call me Tad. I am going to eat five meals a day, if I get out of here alive.” Holding the lantern low, he tries to see below him. Tad is certain a snake will bite him or Lola will grab his leg, yanking him under the water. Tad twists, giving fearful squeals, now afraid that Lola is behind him. Struggling to hold the rope and lower him, Luke huffs, “Stop jerking around. I cannot hold and lower you; when you are yanking, it will make me drop you!”
~*~
Half Moon Bay, near 2 AM, 677, 29th, October
Sidonia’s dream-vision of the Lake Bled Clan, shows her what happened four hours earlier that evening, after dark. As Lady Leticia flies lower over the forest, tears come. It makes her furious, that another male has hurt her, this deeply. Lady Leticia knows if she had agreed to run away, they would be waking up together, in some distant villa, with a view of the ocean.
What can she do to save him now? Krist has ruined everything. Slowly, Leticia realizes her hurt feelings were more with herself, upset and frustrated that she had known, she was handling her loneliness the wrong way. She is now humiliated that it became deadly, and is causing her to deal with the clan, poorly.
~*~
Luke’s threat, of dropping him, causes Tad to freeze. Finally, he sees the bottom; relieved Tad anxiously calls out, “There is nothing down here, not Lola, no snakes, not even water. Just dirt.” Richard takes Kolo to the well, feeling his fists clinging to his cloak, as he tilts over the edge so his Master can look down. Kolo gasps, realizing he expected to see himself down in the dark hole, instead of Tad looking up from the narrow space, in the dim light.
Kolo pleads, “Lola, are you down there? Lola, come to me!” There is only an eerie stillness, as he calls, “I am here Lola. Come to me, I will take you home!” They wait in grave silence, Kolo gasps, “Did you hear that?” The three guards shake their heads, Tad begs, “Bring me up!” Kolo growls, “You do not hear a child weeping?” They all listen intently. Tad pleads, “Luke bring me up, please!” Richard says, “It is just creepy quiet Master, not even a cricket.”
Kolo is near crying, “Get me away from here! My past is causing me to hear things.” Luke now pulls Tad up quickly, and they all hurry away from the dark place, of Lola’s mortal death. The three men feel a bit of sympathy for Lola and Kolo, but only a little.
~*~
Xiko helps Wirf up off the ground, saying, “You need to let me deal with Lady Leticia.” Wirf groans, “I know. Sorry. I did not mean to go against you nor Leticia. I just cannot keep a level head when it comes to Kristopher.” Xiko adds, “It also weakened my authority, and it is tough enough to be the new leader, without having my best friend questioning my orders, in front of our Lady and our clan.” Wirf groans, “I am very sorry. Forgive me?”
Nodding, Xiko gives him a tired grin, Wirf asks, “What are you going to do?” Xiko says, “I hope she finds him quickly, rather than just before retiring, so I am not up all night. I want her to give us the go ahead; I do not want to go against her. Right now, I wish Nicolas were here, I doubt he would keep us from hunting Krist.” Wirf says, “I do not envy you that conversation, if he were.” Xiko groans, “Oh, right. Me either.” Xiko nods away from camp.
Wirf follows, and Xiko now confides, “Earlier, when we were talking with Grigori, I had a grave sense that Krist’s actions would make this whole mess worse for the clan.” Wirf lightly scoffs, “I doubt Nicolas will learn of it or care. But I have never met our Lord. Grigori pointed him out to me one night as he was flying over, even that seems to happen less.” Xiko states, “I only know what my gut tells me. I fear it will cause a rift that has us leaving this land.”
It shocks Wirf. Xiko adds, “I hope I am wrong, and ask that you keep my concerns and comments to yourself.” Wirf smirks, “Do not worry. I have no one else, I would confide such a discussion with, anyway. It is understood, it stays between us, my friend. And I promise to do better, and support you with the clan. I will wait to voice any negative concerns, until we are alone.” Xiko grins, “Thanks. Right now, I need all the help and support I can get.”
~*~
Burial Ground, near 2 AM, 677, 29th, October
Lola is slowly realizing it might be weeks even months before she can pass through what may be six feet of soil. In the dirt, there is suddenly a bright blue light; it reminds Lola of the look of the green glow of the Mystical Realm Gateway and the warm light brown one for the Human Realm’s Gateway. The angry spirits are pulled towards it. One Shade goes in willingly, saying with glee, “It is finally my time; I thought I would never leave this prison!”
Suspicious, one says, “How can we trust it? Lola has caused this?” Lola is tugged, no longer thinking she is in a prison realm; she feels this is the Human Realm. She recalls this light Death Door from her Human death; Lola refused to enter the Gateway to the Shade Realm, then. Even though its aura gives her a sense of peace, Lola still wants to reject it, just like before she wants revenge, but this time Lola is weaker unable to resist and fears her sentence.
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Thinking of all she killed, Lola believes she will be sent to Nifl. Still, she feels it is justified, ‘The first seven earned it, as well as others who crossed me.’ She then has some guilt, recalling the January girls. According to Kolo they were bad, yet Lola feels they likely did not deserve their death. She will also pay for any she possessed, causing their souls to jump out, rather than be controlled by her. She accepts it will be her downfall earning her time in prison.
She fears how they might make her pay for it all and is filled with dread, as she helplessly goes towards the blue light. Lola wails, “I am not ready, I did not ever get to be an adult Witch, have a coven, nor even fall in love!” This causes laughter from the other spirits. Lola is too busy with her next worry, gasping, “What if Kolo is dead, as well?” Lola gains control of her fears by fueling her anger, “I will capture and torture, all of you mocking ghosts.”
Lola fumes, “And everyone else who is responsible, for me being here!” It silences the spirits and sends more toward the light. Lola feels it also slowed her pull toward the Light Gateway, as if it were not here for her, just for the other spirits. She gasps starting to recognize a few of their faces, as a dark navy Death Door below opens, it has a vile ominous aura, as she falls toward it.
~*~
Leticia flies over the forest calling, “Krist.” Receiving no reply and not seeing a wolf, she is ready to give up. Looking toward the castle, Leticia cannot endure entering it. She needs someone who acts as if he cares, someone who listens and talks to her. Leticia lands, and risks blurring into the forest. Finally, she comes across a brown Wolf, she asks, “Krist?” The Wolf glares, as Leticia says, “I am sorry. I never dreamed nor meant for this to happen.”
The Wolf stares. Lady Leticia moans, “I should have guessed there was a reason you wanted me to leave here with you. I should have asked. I am sorry I did not realize things were unbearable for you, or with your clan and it was why you needed to go. I wish I said ‘yes’. I should have been brave. It is not too late; if you still want to leave here?” Leticia now pleads, “I will take you away from them, and hide you.” The Wolf snarls, causing Leticia to back up.
Lady Leticia fears this might not be Kristopher, she hesitantly asks, “Krist? Can you speak to me? Please, change to a man and face me.” The wolf pulls back its lips, snarling.
~*~
Kolo’s Catacombs, 2 am, 677, 29th, October
Nepathi suffers for what seems like hours, slowly dying from the poisoned potion Kolo forced her to drink. Finally, she achieves peace, as she passes away. She is the last to come back alive and wake up; as she does, she sees the other two are watching her. Darciana asks, “Was it too ugly? He only broke our necks.” The Egyptian scowls, “Not as bad as when he cut the skin from my face. The small amount of poison, caused it to take longer than his death.”
She sighs, “He promises this next death will be slower and more of a prolonged suffering. So, I have that to look forward to.” Suddenly the door opens, and Richard enters carrying Kolo. The guard stops, groaning in horror at the sight, of the three-blood-caked and very surprised Witches. Kolo says, “Put me down.” Carefully, Richard sets the Evil One on his feet. Kolo says with glee, “As I expected, my Witches are alive, and anxiously awaiting my arrival.”
The Evil One goes to his chair, and tells Richard, “Bring me the carafe of blood, while I have the pleasure of getting the truth from them about where Lola is.” Richard brings him the blood, Kolo pours it in his cup saying, “You have until I empty my cup, then the torture begins.” He drinks, as the three Witches look at each other and back at him. He sets his empty cup down and gets up going over to unlock, and unstrap Nepathi. Darciana has no way of helping her.
Once the Egyptian is unchained from the chair, Kolo orders, “Richard, follow me, and drag her in here. You do not need to be kind to her, either.” Instead, Richard lifts the weak Witch, and follows Kolo. The Egyptian is carried through the Throne Room down a passage into Kolo’s Playroom. As they enter, she sees a new torture device, Nepathi cannot help her reaction, as she screams, “No!” Kolo grabs her tossing her in, and then locks it with a grin.
~*~
Blackstone Castle’s Front Gate, 2 am, 677, 29th, October
Tik sits in the shadows, as a blood tear falls. After his night shift was over, he intended to sleep a short while, but woke at noon. Tik misted to Sidonia’s room, seeing it empty, it was too late to stop her from leaving him. Crying himself to sleep, he rose at sunset rested, but has lost all chance of the Princess caring for him. Tik contemplates where it went wrong, and keeps coming back to his decision to invite himself, to go with Sidonia to Skull Island.
He believes it started, when he had to hide from the sun under a tarp; now sure he looked weak to her, causing her to refuse his ideas. It only got worse. Tik peeks out from the tarp seeing Sidonia wrapping up in her cloak and lifting the hood to shield her face. He feels denied of seeing her, until the Princess warns them, “Prepare yourselves!” Grekan looks for danger as she adds, “Cover up, we are about to get soaked by that coming rainstorm.”
Just then a brisk wind comes, and a pelting rain hits. Captain Tik sees his opportunity, to save her, loudly he commands, “Row for the west wharf!” Patch shouts, “The cave is under water and no longer an option, as it is now high tide. And they will not be there to open the entryway either.” Tik sees a closer option, and points yelling, “Row over there, to that beach, it will cut out the worst half of our travel!” Sidonia commands, “No, we cannot use that beach.”
She shouts over the storm, “It is Shark Teeth Bay.” Grinning, Tik argues, “The name does not scare me, we can easily avoid a few sharp spires.” Grekan asks her, “How does he know, he has never been here.” She agrees. Tik tries to assure her, “Where the spikes are above the water, we can avoid them.” The dark girl counters, “It has caused far more than a few fools deaths, who tried to use that bay, just while I was living on Witch Island. Do not do it!” Tik frowns.
The Princess shouts, “Most pinnacles are just under the surface! It rips holes in rowboats, few ever make it to the beach. Often the rough waves are known to capsize boats, impaling the passengers onto their sharp points.” Patch and Andre trust her and correct their course going back to the east. Tik feels Sidonia’s anger, he tries to think how to fix it, so he watches for his next chance. The dark girl states, “Now that it is high tide, we only have two options.”
Grimly she shouts, “Either Dread Crossing Pier which is closest and will get us off the rough waves, or the other side of the island at the Crossroads Cemetery. I prefer to go back to Witch Island before risking a walk in that graveyard at night.” Unwisely, Tik snorts at her fear. Offended she says, “Since you do not believe me Tik, you are welcome to fly to the fortress; or back to the Realm Gate.” Tik groans, “I just meant, I will protect you in the graveyard.”
Tik is imagining her huddled against him, until the boat rocks, he grasps the sides certain the next wave will flip them over, and he cannot swim. His fear has him giving up on his plans, frustrated that Sidonia rejects his suggestions; rather than letting his ideas save them. And, for some reason, she acts annoyed with him. Tik is ready to fly there, but he is unsure where Anthony’s castle is. He wishes he came here before, so he can be the authority on it.
Tik thinks how it would be, to grab her into his arms, and fly her to safety. Reality sinks in, he knows he is too weak from being up to often in the day, to fly himself let alone carry her. Tik still feels that one heroic act, is all he needs to win Sidonia over. And it will be easier for him than being pleasant. Finally, they near the tall stone structure of Mighty Fall, to go under the small stone archway entrance. It is narrow enough to only allow a single boat to enter.
The water is calmer inside the tunnel, and they are protected from the rain as it leads them to the only pier on this side of the island. Just as Grekan relaxes, Patch asks, “Is this the start of the Dread Passage?” Sidonia says, “Yes.” Grekan is now afraid of the dark, she lights a lantern causing him to shriek, as it shines on skulls and bones cemented in the walls. He then sees openings gasping he points, “Look, skeletal figures in rotted clothes are staring at us!”
Patch says, “They were guards.” Grekan asks, “How are they still clothed?” Andre grins, “Rumor is, the Witch Island’s boys swim here and back as a coming-of-age challenge. Putting their clothes on the skeletons proves they made it.” Exiting the tunnel, they see the wharf is lined with Giants’ skulls, and leg bones. Sidonia warns in a grim whisper, “Once on the path we must stay silent!” Docking the boat to the pier, she states, “The path is between the laid out bones.”
Getting onto the pier, the rain has stopped, the Dark Princess stares at each warning, “If you make any noise or leave this path, you risk death by the Bandit birds.” Tik scoffs, “It is too dark for birds to be out.” She states, “Many birds are active at night. And, I never intended to come after dark, you can thank yourself for that! You should have brought us more lights and guards since you planned to delay us, until dark. Trust me on this and do as I ask!”
Discouraged, Tik grumbles, “I am not afraid of the dark or a few birds. I am in charge, if you are so terrified, we should have gone to the graveyard, like I said.” Whispering she seethes, “We are here now, just do as I suggest.” It is eerily quiet. Tik smirks, “There is nothing to fear, I do not hear birds, or even a ghost.” Sidonia hisses, “I want you to go to the Realm Gate, if you will not do as I ask!” To the other three, she says, “Stay quiet and follow me.” Holding the lantern, she whispers, “I will keep us on the path.” Sidonia fears anything happening to her friend, and wants to keep him close, she grabs Grekan’s hand. Andre and Patch follow her. Tik defiantly wanders off the path, not liking her telling him what to do, and he intends to prove he is right, and brave. As they make their way, the trail goes around boulders and between the enormous torture equipment and bones, in the open prison yard.
The small group nears the center of the open area, as it starts to hail. Sidonia pulls Grekan into a run, as she races down the path, to get to the forest for protection. Tik blurs breaking her grip on Grekan’s hand, hurting her as Tik forcibly pulls Sidonia towards the shelter of an open prison cell, “I will protect you, Princess.” He is leading her toward danger, to Sidonia’s horror she cannot break free of his grip. Desperate she insists, “No! I warned you. Let go of me!”
Still holding the lantern in her other hand, they are leaving the others in the dark. Unsure they start to follow; seeing she calls to them, “Run to the forest. Do not enter the cells, it is too dangerous, the birds are deadly!” She is unable to stop or pull away from Tik’s grasp. Proud, as this trip is finally paying off, Tik grins, “I am brave, and smarter than whoever told you that ridiculous fable. I am not afraid, I will protect you from the sleeping birds, if they wake.”
Princess Sidonia gasps, “My father told me about the birds, and strictly warned me of these deadly night hawks; you fool!”
~WBM~