-Karen-I had been hearing voices float in and out of my mind for a long time. Panic, anger, fear and every other emotion a soul could feel. I felt like I was floating in the clouds as I felt very little pain. That can’t be right… Why so many voices? Why so many emotions?My eyes fluttered open as lights shone down on me. It made it hard to keep my eyes open as a man with black hair and glasses was watching me silently. Something squeezed my right hand and I lazily swung my head over to that direction, but I closed my eyes again. I’m so exhausted. Who is that man? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. Slowly, I was starting to feel some pain in my upper back and my lower belly. That’s starting to really hurt now... I could hear several voices talking excitedly around me, but the words blurred together as I struggled to figure out what was going on.It felt like an hour passed by as I slowly became coherent. I clumsily sat up on the table trying to remember my last memories. What ha
-Karen-A shiver woke me up sometime later. I sat up slowly and saw that my blanket had fallen to the ground. I had the sudden feeling eyes were on me. I looked down to the cot and saw Conor watching me. I carefully slid off the table and picked up my blanket. He scooted over and lifted his blanket. I added my blanket to his and slipped onto to the cot next to him. The cot was small but much more comfortable than the metal table plus adding Conor’s amazing warmth made me even sleepier. I held onto him as I snuggled up to him and we fell asleep again.The hours seemed to crawl by as I tried to sleep as much as I could. Roger was trying to get me to eat but I wasn’t hungry. I was tired and extremely depressed. I only wanted to sleep since that was the only thing that helped me not feel. Whenever I was awake I would cry and stare at the walls. Bart and Conor also tried to persuade me to eat but I just rolled over and lay on the cot thinking about our baby. A few days later, Roger told C
-Karen-Joanne scooted closer and leaned against me as we held each other silence. Joanne. My best friend and sister. “It’s been over- Three weeks since I woke up, you know… And I can't get the painful memories to stop playing on repeat.” She cried sorrowfully. Damn. Don’t I know… I don’t dream about it thankfully. “Every time I see Bart, I just cry- I have been trying really hard not to do that but, I don’t know if I can stay with him, Kay.” I tensed up at her words. What? Jo, you love him though. “I feel like I will only cause him more grief and pain and he- He doesn’t deserve that. Especially after he has loved me knowing that my father would never agree to let me be anything more than his Mistress.” She choked back a sob. I sat in silence and listened as she continued. “I love Bart with everything I am or ever was… B-but I will only cause him pain from now on. He will see me and think of this devastating experience. I see him and think of our little Kira. She looked just like him
-Karen-“I… I don’t know yet…” He whispered feebly. He cupped her left cheek and pulled her gently into his embrace. “Joanne Marie, I love you. You mean everything to me.” He kissed her forehead, stroking her hair as she cried into his chest. I feel like there is absolutely nothing I can do…“My fate is sealed Bart. I’m going to die- I know he’s going to kill me.” She cried holding on to him. “There’s nothing that will stop this. Nothing… The sooner I accept it, the better.”“No! We will find a way out of this! We just have to get a copy of the contract.” He kissed her forehead. “I still need you, baby. I know you’re broken, but if it takes the rest of my life to put you back together, I’ll do it. I’d do anything for you!” He lifted her chin just enough to kiss her tenderly. “Please don’t give up on us Joanne. I’m begging you. Please just hold on!”She burst into tears clinging to him so tightly her knuckles were white. Bart held her protectively trying to console her until she finall
Conor had been ordered to start doing drills again the day after I was released as Zachary proclaimed he was even more determined to crush the Resistance now than before. Several thousand soldiers had been killed in the last couple weeks and it put the king in an awful mood. Michael, Conor and the Generals were charged with training the replacement soldiers that had just arrived. A couple more days passed by and we had not seen or heard from Bart or Joanne since we saw him in the medical ward. We were becoming increasingly worried about them. Conor and I had been trying to get in touch with them by stopping by their apartment but every time we went, no one would answer. We also sent Clay and some others and there was still no answer. We had decided that we were going to force our way in this time. We were both nervous that we were going to find them both dead in the apartment. I hope they are okay. They don’t deserve to lose their happiness because Octavian is a monster.Conor came b
-Karen-I ran up the servant stairs to the second floor as fast I could. I’m so hungry but I have to save my sister! I can eat after. I summoned my Soul Jewel as I passed the King’s study. I continued running past servants and guards and came to a stop in front of Bart’s apartment door. I silently slipped back into Bart’s chambers as Conor and Bart were speaking quietly in the corner. They looked up as I walked over to the bed and laid out the ingredients next to the large book. I flipped the pages open to bookmarked page and started following the instructions for bundling the ingredients. “Where have you been Karen? We looked up to ask you a question and you were gone. We’ve been worried about you…” Conor frowned with a note of relief in his voice. “You’ve been gone for hours.”“Are you going to use magic on her?” Bart asked wearily. “Can her body even handle that?”It was a good question. Honestly, I don’t even know. “I’m going to try to save her. I don’t know that this will work b
-Karen-“Okay, Joanne… When you wake up, this will all have been a horrible, horrible nightmare. You will only remember losing the baby naturally. You will remember that you made a promise to Bartholomew that you would not give up being the woman he so desperately loves. Everything else will be part of your nightmare including what you remember about Karen and the grievous actions against her and Prince Conor. You will remember the marriage contract to Lord Justinian that your father arranged. Everything else is part of the dream.” Eldon stated as I struggled to sit up. I heard him say the same incantation as I had earlier. I sat up in time to see the shard shatter into dust above her. It just burst into sparkling dust… “Wake up Joanne.” Several minutes passed by and she was motionless. I’m too late… I dropped my head feeling terrible until I heard her start to stir as Eldon came back over to me and pulled me to my feet. We all watched with bated breath for Joanne to fully wake up. W
-Karen-First thing on my list was to check on Bart and Joanne. I still wanted to make sure they were going to be alright even after Eldon helped me suppress her memories yesterday. I knocked on the door and Bart answered the door. He glanced over at their bed and then stepped out into the hall shutting the door. Before I could say anything he hugged me tightly. “Thank you so much Karen. You saved the love of my life. I can never repay you for the pain you went through to help Joanne.” He proclaimed solemnly. “I really thought she was done after I found her hanging in the shower.”“I’m glad she is doing okay… But I know exactly what you can do to repay me.” I replied with a smirk. Take back that threat from months ago!“Name it! I’ll do just about anything you ask. I promise!” He retorted crossing his arms over his chest with a straight face.“You can promise to give me anesthesia before I have any procedures in the future, okay?” I answered with a chuckle. “I feel like we are even no
-Conor-“I have a terrible feeling about this Nathan. We need to go to her. As soon as possible.” Conor said pacing back and forth in front of all the Mages. “After she lost consciousness, Eldon came and took her away. All he said was that she was being summoned by a tree. That's when a portal was made for me to come back here.”Nathan's eyes got wide and he lost the coloring in his face. “The Tree summoned her?” A serious yet terrified look remained on his face. Alexander started screaming making everyone jump. A portal opened and everyone stood up while Joanne worked to calm him down. “Karen?” Conor asked feeling hopeful. Eldon walked through carrying her, but he was stoic. “She’s going to be okay, right?”Eldon gently placed her into his arms. He didn’t answer right away. “Not exactly.” The portal shut as all the Mages gathered around. “As you know, she won the war against your father with your help. However, she lost the fight.” He said quietly. “Senescence, has deemed that she i
“Soul Release.” I whispered quietly. I watched as the souls compressed into different color orbs and floated away on the breeze. Bombs started falling around me while breathing became harder. “Healing Serenity.” I’ve used a flurry of spells and I still have a small chunk of magic left. I can easily get two or three more Master spells… I think. I decided to change positions so I could get a better aim at the last large ship flying around. I still have those small ships too… I took a deep breath and sent a Blazing Hypernova up to the middle area of the small ships. They all exploded in a bright flash and the wreckage fell to the destroyed town. I looked around for the large ship, but a bullet ricocheted very close to where I stood. Suddenly, more soldiers appeared charging at me.“Frostfire Surge!” I shouted angrily. All the soldiers shouted in pain and collapsed dead around us in heaps. I pointed up at the sky as the ship tried to leave again. “Blazing Hypernova!” Due to the high level
-Karen-A blow to the back of the head put me on the ground faster than I ever thought possible. Blow after blow was delivered as I squirmed to get away, but Zachary pinned me under him and continued to land a barrage of punches. He yelled and screamed about what I had done to his family. I grabbed his ankle and let him have a taste of ‘Lightning Surge’. It bought me enough precious time to weakly get to my knees.“Recovery Salvo.” I shakily got to my feet and leaned against the wall, but he was no where to be seen. I looked around nervously, but nothing moved. I heard the bullets before I felt them. Hot metal burrowed its way into my right thigh followed by my abdomen, left arm and chest. I collapsed in heap trying to fight the massive amounts of pain I felt. “Healing Serenity!” I whispered under my breath. Damn, another healing spell… I whispered for a portal and fled to the shadows of a building across town. There were still so many ships in the air, and I was starting to feel the
-Karen-“We don’t have a choice anymore!” I snapped back frustratedly. “This is it, Conor- We fight or we die- I’m not about to let him claim victory. There is going to have to be a risk in order to win this fight. I plan on coming back, you know.”“But what if you don’t, Kay? What if Eldon doesn’t revive you?” Conor asked firmly. He cupped my face and stared me in the eyes. “What if you’re gone forever?” What if… Such a big 'what if' and its running through my mind too.I didn’t answer him right away. “I’m going to die someday. I’d rather die fighting for my family and the people I care about than to run and live in fear wondering if today will be the day. As long as I don’t exhaust my magic and turn into a demon, I should be fine.” I’ve used a small bit of my magic, but I still have more than plenty. As long as I can take them out in fifteen to twenty Master level attacks, it should be okay. Permitting this doesn’t drag out for very long.I could see he was very much not accepting o
-Karen-“Your sudden jerking movements re-opened a wound I repaired.” Bart explained as I lay still looking up at the ceiling of the empty crypt bed. “I stitched it closed but you can't be doing those type of movements yet.” I sighed feeling useless as another bomb shook the ground.“Let me put some salve on her stitches, doctor.” Valerie murmured rubbing in a sweet smelling cream. “This should help numb the stitches so they won't hurt if you do have to move.”“Thank you both.” I replied, slowly sitting up. “Those bombs have been falling for the last three days now. How much more punishment can the main floor of the Crypts take?” I asked Nathan, feeling uneasy about our situation.I could see that Nathan was very reluctant to answer. “It probably won't be much longer, honestly. We have to make some hard choices now. The only other place we can go is the Forest and that has its own set of challenges and hazards as you know.” He heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing his face from the growing pre
-Karen-At the snap of my fingers, my brother’s arms were torn from his body. Screams of agony echoed around me while the soldiers took aim at me. A soldier was yelling, but I paid him no mind. I heard the same soldier call my brother’s name, Marcus, telling him to hold on. I giggled softly enjoying this scary side of myself and met Marcus’s now terrified yet agonized gaze. “Marcus… I’m going to annihilate you and as I do, I will make sure that your soul quivers in unimaginable terror.” He some how lost more coloring in is face at my calm words“Ground Spears!” I shouted angrily punching up into the air. The soldiers that surrounded us were now high up on the points of the spears with blood gushing and dripping down the jagged rocks, more groans and moans of pain filling the air which was tainted with the scent of blood. “Soul Snatch!” I ripped the wispy soul out of the body, and he looked terrified. “Soul’s Doom!” Just like before, a white demon charged right at him and shredded his
-Karen-I woke up enveloped in warmth, but I was extremely sore. I really felt like I hit every tree branch coming down from that fall. So sweet- He changed my dress. The orchid under dress. I looked over to my right and saw Conor and Alexander cuddled up next to me both sleeping with their mouths open. Ha- My loves. “Conor!” I whispered softly. I tried to roll over and found out that was a mistake. Ah! I’m still busted up pretty badly… I grabbed his hand that was cupping my left cheek and gently squeezed it. Wake up!Without opening his eyes, “You’re the most recklessly insane person I know, Karen Anne Elizabeth. That was awe-inspiring, terrifying and thrilling all at once, but I don’t want to repeat that any time soon.” Conor said rubbing my cheek with his index finger. Mm. So warm… “We’ve only lost two ships in two separate incidents before but that was insane!” He opened an eye and leaned into me. “You have a lot of injuries still. You broke lots of bones. Bet you’re sore?”“Very!
-Karen-Conor groaned while rubbing his face and then looked up at me. He rubbed his eyes again. “Is that really you, Kay? You’re not an illusion, right?” He whispered sitting up quickly and grabbing my left hand pressing my palm to his lips. “You know I’m not upset with you- Don’t you?” I dropped my gaze feeling so much shame as I stood before him. “I-”“You may not be upset but I am.” I interrupted quietly. “I just see myself punching you and then charging at Joanne and then the nightmares I had. I may not be cursed anymore but the weight of my guilt is so heavy. I feel like I should just die and end everything once and for all. But that wouldn’t be fair to you or to Alex.” I closed the gap between us and hugged him tightly. “I love you Conor. I love you and I hate that I only hurt you… I feel like I do nothing but that.”He was silent but he held me tightly to him after he pulled me onto his lap. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get this again.” Conor kissed my cheek and nuzzled my
-Karen-Sweet kisses on my lips woke me up though it took me several minutes to realize I was in bed next to Conor. As soon as I did, I tried to move away from him. “Ah ah ah!” He captured me quickly and pulled me back to him. No. Please don’t!I completely avoided his gazes and wouldn’t let him kiss me at all. “Karen- You won’t even look at me.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Alexander cried all night after you left. Will you at least hug him?” I shook my head. “He says Mama now.” I don’t care. I can’t be here anymore! I only hurt you. I can’t continue to be a danger to you and everyone else here.I took advantage of the situation and pulled away from him. “Karen! Wait!” I left the tent as quickly as I could hearing him following me. “Please just listen to me!”All eyes were on me and it shot me right back to the memory of charging at Joanne. I dashed to the clearing and left the camp as fast as I could. I raced back to the Royal Crypt, crying the whole way. The guilt