The Girl with the Violet Eyes Page 6

  Chapter 6

  “Theo. Can you hear me?” says a frail voice inside my head.

  “Marylyn. Is that you? I thought you had been changed.” I answer.

  “I must quickly tell you my story. Theo, there isn't much time left. Mathew poisoned me. Earlier today he came to the hospital as a visitor and he offered me one of two things. He said I could live under his control, or I could die with my memories intact like my husband. I chose to have my memories and to die by my husband’s side, but I never dreamed you would be here to bring him back to the kingdom in time to revive him. You must save us, but I think that Mathew knows something is wrong so we must hurry.”

  I stare at Marylyn's lifeless body and breathe in a deep sigh. I look over at the princess who looks baffled, I jog to the tree next to the king's grave and I take out to shovels I had hidden there before the funeral started.

  “We have to start the mission early. Your mother's memories have been returned to her by Mathew, and he knows something is wrong or at least he can that feel something is off.” I say as I begin digging up the freshly placed dirt.

  “What? You're kidding, what if someone sees us digging up my dad's dead body and dragging around two bodies is going to be harder to hide, especially at this time of day.” She says looking pale and her eyes widen.

  “I can do a quick incantation but it will not be very strong. We can get an hour to be shielded and for time to stop.” I say looking gravely at her.

  “Okay do it we can dig up the grave in an hour and have my parents in the car and on the way to the kingdom.” She says hopefully.

  I walk around the grave and then I walk around Marylyn and Alison. I chant out, “coiasira putta” a few times. All noise ceases and the people in the distance are at a standstill. I grab my shovel and begin digging, and Alison follows my actions. We hastily dig until we reach the bottom, and hear the clunk as the shovel hits the coffin. I grab onto the handle and open up the lid. Alison looks away and I grab the kings lifeless body and push myself upwards. I set the king's body next to the queen's and grab Alison's hand. I can hear her panting hard, and when she reaches the top she's covered in dirt and her hair is messy and her black veil is lopsided. She rips the veil off her head and throws it into the dug up grave. If she looks like that, I can only imagine how I look right now.

  “Okay, Ali so this is the plan you grab your mother and take her in your arms. I will take your father we will meet at your house and the minute you reach the house get in the car quickly.” I say exasperated.

  She picks up the elephant laying next to her mother and a moment later they disappear from sight. I feel for my teleportation device, the stop watch is still there. I was worried it might have fallen out when we were digging. I go back to the grave, and touch the dirt and mutter another incantation, “n'alaquel.” I hear the clunk of the coffin as it shuts, and the dirt shifts and moves until it is replaced. Everything looks the way it was before so I grab the king in my arms and hold the watch tightly thinking about the princess. The darkness appears surrounding us. I close my eyes and let it absorb every inch of my being; I remember the first few times using it felt like it would rip me to pieces because of its strength. I gracefully land on my feet in front of the little white house still holding the king's lifeless body tightly against me. The car is sitting in the driveway; it's a silver Mazda RX-8. I needed something that would be able to drive quickly and be small enough to be inconspicuous, plus putting an invisibility shield over a silver car is much simpler than any other color. I look over at the front of the house to see the door is ajar, and the flower bed has been demolished. The roses are bent and torn, the lilies lie crumpled, and the dirt in the middle looks like a crater hit it. I jog to the car and place the king’s body comfortably in the back seat. I go inside and shout Ali's name, but she doesn't answer me. I go upstairs and peer into her bedroom.

  “Ali? Are you in here?” I ask.

  “Yeah. I think something happened.” She whimpers.

  “What do you mean?” I ask her, peering in I see a violet glow around her tiny figure as she touches her mother. The light is brighter near her fingertips as she holds her mother’s face in her hands. I can see the queen beginning to move. First her toes begin to wiggle, and then her legs, then her arms twitch, her fingers, and finally her head. She looks like she's convulsing.

  “Ali, let go! I think you're hurting her.” I scream and run towards her, but the voice in my head stops me.

  “Don't make her stop; she has the power to revive.” The tiny voice says inside my head.

  “But she couldn't possibly have developed her power this much with no training at all.” I say feeling the familiar tingling sensation as the queen and I have our wordless conversation.

  “In some situations, especially dangerous ones our abilities develop much quicker and stronger without training. She has been under so much stress and her emotions are so strong it just happened.”She answers knowingly.

  The queen sits up and then stares at Ali in awe. Ali's body is convulsing and she has a pained expression on her face. She begins to close her eyes and she turns as white as a ghost. I run to her plucking her from the ground and into my arms.

  “You're warm.” She says smiling up at me, then her breathing slows and she falls asleep.

  “Queen, are you alright?” I ask. “Will you be okay to walk to the car?”

  “Yes, my dear. I feel like a new woman. I have never witnessed a healer with such incredible power as she possesses and I have a feeling that is only the beginning.” The queen whispers mostly to herself. Her face begins to contort and change. The wrinkles fade, and her eyes widen in surprise. Her hair turns to its original fire engine red color, and she lifts her hands to look at them. The wrinkles and the age spots fade revealing a fresh new creamy skin. Her face tightens and her freckles increase in number.

  “This can't possibly be happening. She returned my youth to me...” The queen looks down at her hands in amazement. She touches her face and a brilliant bright smile flashes across it, but then it fades as she realizes something.

  “Theo, run!” She screams as she grabs my hand and rushes down the stairs with a nimbleness that is graceful and beautiful in the same moment.

  We run so quickly that I can barely keep up, how can this be? How is she outrunning me when I am at least a few hundred years younger. She flies to the car places her hand on top and whispers, “mori.” The car darkens and I grab the handle before it disappears completely. I put Ali down next to her father and crawl into the front seat next to Marylyn. She is sitting next to me grinning widely and playing with her new youthful rejuvenated red hair.

  “I can't believe you did that Marylyn. What if I wouldn't have made it to the car in time before the incantation formed around it? Me and Ali would be stuck out there until it wore off. Which could be days or weeks with the energy that you just acquired?” I say angrily.

  “I trust you, and I have faith in you Theo. I know that even though you were never my protector the king always spoke highly of you and your abilities.” She says looking over at me embarrassed.

  “Fine, next time just try to warn me before you decide to take off like that.” I say feeling like I'm talking to a child.

  “I am the queen. You will listen to me Theo Veltri. Do not speak to me as if I were some misbehaving child because I have not been myself in 20 years so forgive me for having a little bit of fun. I mean I was just a dead old woman 10 minutes ago and now I feel like I'm only 100 years old. I feel completely rejuvenated, I wish there was a way to test my strength.” She says looking around for something to punch with all her might.

  “I am sorry my queen. I did not mean to offend you, but it's just you frightened me. I have to take care of all of you. I cannot leave any of you behind, and although you do not consider me your protector. I will always be here for you if you need me.” I say with pride.

  I start the car, and push down hard on the pedal.
It has been a long time since I drove a car. I'm accelerating. I'm reaching 100 mph, now 110 mph, and now 120 mph in town. None of those mortal policemen will ever catch me because of our invisibility shield but I have to get there as quickly as possible. The king still needs revived and the princess has exhausted all her powers. I slam on the breaks as we hit the last red light before exiting town.

  “Warn a girl before you do that.” Ali yells rubbing her eyes sleepily.

  “Sorry Princess. I didn’t know it was going to turn red so quickly.” I say. “Go back to sleep you must be tired.”

  “I'm not tired. I want to stay awake with you Theo.” She says folding her arms and pouting her lips in the backseat.

  “Darling, you really aren't tired?” Marylyn asks skeptically.

  “Who the hell are you?” Ali demands from the backseat.

  “I am your mother, and it is very unladylike to speak to me with such language.” Marylyn answers.

  “My m-m-mother?” She stutters.

  I can tell that they are both in shock, the queen is in shock because her daughter doesn't recognize her, and the daughter is in shock because this stranger is her mother.

  “Okay so basically this is what happened. Ali, you have the power to revive but you also restored your mother's youth. Since she had been trapped in the human world for so long her body was beginning to deteriorate and somehow you restored her to her former glory. I have never seen this happen, and it might be a new ability.” I say staring coldly at the road because I hadn't realized what this could mean. If Ali has the ability to restore youth and power then she could be very important for Mathew, and if he knew what her ability was he would want to capture and kidnap her immediately. So that's why Marylyn wanted to leave so quickly I think to myself.

  I'm racing south down the interstate at extreme speeds, dodging in and out of cars trying to stay one step ahead of everyone. Ali and Marylyn have meaningless back and forth banter and I try to listen but I want to get there as quickly as possible. I am at 140 mph and still going strong, at this rate we will arrive in Cairo by half the time.

  “Okay we're finally here.” I say driving to the road near the edge of the river. “So is everyone ready?” I say grabbing the king and holding him in my arms.

  “Yes.” they answer in unison.

  “Okay so take your shoes off and go knee deep into the river. Marylyn, maybe you should do the teleportation since Ali has never been to Deepwood forest.” I say, watching Ali hand the little elephant over to Marylyn. They pull of their shoes and walk to the rivers edge, they enter it and embrace each other; a moment later they disappear. I grab my pocket watch and think about Deepwood forest. I think about the overgrown trees, and the forest animals. The peaceful sensation I get when I enter the forest, and I think about the smell. The thick scent of musty, earthy, grassy scents combined together. I think about my favorite waterfall near the edge of the forest and the way the air is so crisp, clean, and refreshing near it. The darkness appears fogging my vision, I grip onto the king tighter and my grasp tightens around my pocket watch. We fall through the darkness and land near the waterfall, I open my eyes searching for the queen and princess.

  “Theo!” I can hear one shouting, and then the other. They are not far ahead of me so I run towards the sound of their voices.

  “Ali! Marylyn!” I yell, and they scream in the distance. What's going on I think to myself. I stop, everything is eerily quiet. It is way too quiet. Where are all the animals, they always warn us of impending danger. A mossy green, red-spotted frog leaps in front of me.

  “Trouble.” It croaks and leaps off much to quickly. I follow it, sprinting towards the sounds of swords clinking together. Intruders, but where are the scouts protecting the area?

  “Theo!” They yell in unison again. They are directly in front of me; I can begin to make out dark cloaked figures. There are four unknown people. They are all of equal height and they wear cloaks covering their faces in shadows. Marylyn and Ali stand in the middle looking like ants compared to the tall dark strangers. The four unknown ones are fighting each other with swords so it gives me a chance to grab the girls and run. This would be so much easier if I didn't have to lug around the King I think to myself.

  “Sorry to be an inconvenience to you.”He shouts.

  “I don't have time for this. I have to get them out of there.” I think to him.

  “Well use your ability, or you could try to run in there carrying the dead king in your arms. That wouldn't look suspicious.”He answers sarcastically.

  I close my eyes and for a moment block everything out except the atmosphere around me. I let the world become dark around me, and shut my mind off to all other thoughts. I feel the force of my ability shifting the earth. The ground rumbles around me, and then it shakes so fiercely that it knocks the men with the swords to the ground. They look around wide eyed and begin shouting at each other. Marylyn and Ali take their chance and stagger upwards eyeing the ground surrounding them with weary eyes. The men dart upwards quickly.

  “Run!” Marylyn yells to Ali grabbing her hand. They race forward and I chase after them, hot on their trail. I can hear footsteps gaining on us, and they are becoming quicker with each passing second. We keep running until we can hear the sound of the bubbling waterfall up ahead. The air changes drastically, and I inhale the crisp cool air that the waterfall produces. The water shimmers and reflects the sunlight casting a small rainbow across its surface. The queen leaps into the waterfall and is gone, and I follow her. The entrance to Newhollow is enchanted by the elders. This is our only entrance into the kingdom and it can only be accessed by the Elven race. For centuries the other mythical creatures have sought to conquer and control our kingdom only to fail in their search to find it. The portal was made specifically for our kind and anything else is impenetrable.

  The Arrival