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                                                    Chapter Three

 

                                                    

 

*Where's the hand that guided me
my cry within me is let me be
crossing the endless seas of pain
fighting against torrential rain
it seems pain is the experience in life
I'm sorely tried by affliction in my life
I have to master this impossible situation
this driving force is my salvation

The world in my arms - I'm alive
Love is gain, pain is strife
In my world - I'm alive
and I can't see danger - anymore

This driving force sets me in strife
that driving force that's in my life
Whatever the pain is - I must survive
determination keeps me alive
this extreme situation makes me realize - I'm alive
it makes me realize it changed my life
Hope is the hand that guided me
secured by the hand that set me free.*

 

 

People were dancing like crazed animals around me at the nightclub.  I was too buzzed at this point to care though.  So much has happened up to this point I think it was driving me insane.  I couldn’t talk to anyone about my thoughts or my feelings, so I resorted to this drink I had in my hand, drowning out the sorrow I felt inside.  Why should I feel sad?  I guess because I missed out on a life I should’ve lived, a life my half-sister lived for me.  Animarium should be mine; it was my rightful birth-right!  The glass shattered in my hand as I felt my rage grow.

 

“Miss?  You ok?”  The bartender asked me, looking at the shattered glass in my hand and all over the bar counter.

 

I just looked blankly at him.  I wasn’t even bleeding.  “Yeah, just fine.”  I cleaned the mess up.

 

There were several other people sitting at the counter, the guy sitting next to me butted in.  “Damn woman, a fine looking broad like you with strength like that…god help your boyfriend.  You must be a wild cat in bed eh?”

 

“I looked to him.  “Excuse me?”

 

The bartender silenced him.  “Be quiet, Brandon.  It’s no wonder you can’t pick up any ladies with a mouth like that!”

 

Brandon scoffed.  “Bah!  They just don’t know a good thing when they see it.”  Then he looked at me.  “But I’ll bet you would know.”

 

Just then I saw a hand grab the guy and pull him off his seat.

 

“Hey!  What’s the big idea?” he asked surprisingly.

 

I smirked when I saw who it was.

 

“If you know what’s good for you, you’d leave now and forget you laid eyes on her.”

 

Brandon stammered.  “O.k.…lighten up, I was just having fun.”  He brushed himself of and disappeared in the crowd.

 

I chuckled.  “My knight in shining armor comes to save the day.  If word got out about this, people would think you were growing soft.”  I ordered another drink.  “Why are you here?  Are you that bored enough to follow me around?”

 

Victor Adler sat down next to me.  He was dressed in normal street clothes with a black leather jacket.  Whoever would’ve thought that this man was the dreadful Master Org?  I found out his true identity not too long ago and swore not to tell anyone about it.  Unless he pisses me off, that is… A part of me felt bad for Cole’s parents.  Cole was trying so desperately to find them, but if only he knew this man sitting next to me is responsible for their deaths.  I shook my head and snapped out of it. 

 

Why should I feel bad?  No one felt bad for me when I was abandoned.

 

“What’s wrong with you now?”  He asked.

 

“I come here to get away from my life that is hell, and I really don’t need to see you and be reminded of it.”

 

He grabbed my arm.  “Bite your tongue, woman.  I’ll forget you said that because it’s the alcohol talking.  You should feel lucky I let you wander off on your own.”

 

“Let me?  I don’t need your permission to do anything!”  I stood up.

 

“Is this guy bothering you?”  The bartender asked.

 

Victor growled.  “Butt out!”

 

“No, it’s alright… I wouldn’t piss this guy off.  He might bust a lightning bolt on you or something.”  Yeah, I definitely had too much to drink.

 

We moved to a secluded part of the room so no one could hear us.  “I let you get away with far too much, Loki.  It’s bad enough Toxica and Jindrax are constantly giving me grief, but you?”

 

I faked a curtsy and blurted, “Forgive me Master.  As you said, it’s the alcohol talking.  But I fail to understand why you are here.”

 

He leaned in and spoke.  “To personally keep an eye on you.  Tomorrow is the big day, you need to stay sharp and focused…not disorientated!” He snatched the drink out of my hand.

 

Ah yes, tomorrow.  We were to take Animaria by full force, and I am to claim my rightful place as the princess.  How dare Shayla refuse my rights!

 

“They won’t know what hit them.  They think I’m on their side, but tomorrow, the truth shall be set free.  Rest assured, my master…you have nothing to worry about.  I know what I have to do.”  Then I thought for a moment.  “I know you want it all for yourself, so what’s stopping you from destroying me?”

 

He smirked.  “As long as you remain faithful to the org cause, you have nothing to worry about.”

 

Yeah right.

 

Little did he know how attracted I am to him as much as he is to me.  I let these feelings cloud my judgment sometimes.  I think he knows how I feel, it’s like he can read my mind and it scares me.  Now I know how my mother must have felt when she fell for my father.

 

Are you insane?  This man is a creep.  You can do better than this.  Yeah…well… I seem to attract the creeps lately. 

 

“You do that often?” I asked.

 

“What?”

 

“Roam about as your human counterpart.”

 

He frowned.  “No.  If I did it too much, people would catch in to my identity.  Let them all think I’m dead, it matters little to me.”

 

“You’re risking it by being here, you know.”

 

“I love to take chances.”  He said.  “Just like you do.”

 

How true.  I adjusted my hat.  “At least you don’t have to resort to this.”  I pointed to my hat that hid the 2 horns I now bore.

 

He leaned back in his seat.  He was in deep thought.  “It could be worse.”

 

Yes, it could.  I knew about the constant suffering he endured day in and day out.  He loved a woman that ended up marrying someone else.  They were supposed to be his friends, but yet they just stabbed him in the back.  Now Cole was always a bad reminder of what could have been his.  I guess that would drive any man to the edge.  I was growing feelings towards Merrick at first, but then I saw how he and Shayla were close.  It hurt.  It was like someone grabbed my heart and stomped on it.  So yes, I know how it feels…

 

“You and I do have a lot in common, Loki.  You just don’t realize it.”

 

“Actually, I do…” I stood up.  “If anyone thinks that they can get away with hurting me, then they are so wrong.  Tomorrow is the Armageddon.  Hell hath no fury!”

 

He stood up and approached me.  “I like your way with words.”  He went to stroke my cheek, but I squirmed away. 

 

“I…should go.”  I really didn’t want to.  I wanted him to hold me to him, to show me I was worthy.  I shouldn’t have these feelings for him; I knew deep inside it wasn’t right.  But sometimes you have to fight your emotions and give in.  I also had a bad feeling that he was just being misleading, trying to trick me.  That way when I do claim the Animarium, he’ll rip it from my possession.  This is why I had to be cautious.

 

He grabbed my arm again.  A dark and rather interesting song started to play and people were starting to dance.  “Before you go, let’s just forget who we really are.  Come here.”  He pulled me to him.  It was like he had some sort of spell on me, I was in a deep trance, but I loved it.  We danced slowly… forgetting all the pain and rage that consumed us both.  The song drowned my ears and my mind drifted again…this time to when I first met Master Org…

 

                                      

 

Chapter 4...