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Chapter 35
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 36
We planned all afternoon until the light faded at the window, and Warrens snuck in and turned on the new electric lights. We detailed what we would need for our expedition, then we said our goodnights and I rode home. At least I had good news to share this time?Alice was alive. Wasn't she?Dinner was lively; an undercurrent of expectation ran through every comment. Or every glance, in the case of Henry. I loved these people and their unshakable belief that I would rescue Alice. But I feared disappointing them. I struggled to imagine Elizabeth keeping Alice alive, and I steeled myself in case we found only a vermin version of my best friend. I still couldn't sleep, but this time energy bubbled through me as though I were a shaken bottle of champagne. Sleep came in snatches, creeping up on me unaware, but at last morning dawned.Magda forced me to eat breakfast, declaring I couldn't charge off on a rescue mission on an empty stomach. It did no good to tell her of the nausea that gripped
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 37
Frank let out a low hiss from between his teeth that mingled with the eerie noise coming from the tunnel. "Cunning bastards. They were right under our noses."It seemed the rock formation was more than it appeared. We grabbed our machetes and hacked at the overhanging trees and shrubs obscuring the entranceway. We gained a clear view of the light-sucking hole, and a shudder worked down my spine. I couldn't see more than two or three feet, and then the world disappeared into inky nothing."Alice is in there, somewhere." Frank pointed at the pitch black. His finger jabbed at the air and his body started to follow."Nobody goes anywhere until we are fully prepared. We are walking into a trap, after all. Elizabeth knows we are coming. Her creature has probably already told her we are knocking at the front door." Seth grabbed his half-brother by the back of his collar before he disappeared into the dark."It's been too long already. I need to find her." Frank fisted his hands and ground
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 38
Louise's lips curled in a smirk. "At last, the tardy scullery maid reports for work. We do need someone to clean up around here. It's terribly dirty and I could just kill for a cup of tea."For the thousandth time, I cursed the tired action that turned Louise from a thorn in my side to an undead thorn shoved under my fingernail. Or was she? Garden variety vermin weren?t usually chatty.Ignoring her dangling insult, I narrowed my gaze. "What are you, exactly? You don't look like one of Elizabeth's mindless minions."Had she Turned from Elizabeth's bite, or had one of the vermin subsequently scratched her? It was hard to tell if her heart had stopped beating when I wasn't so sure she had one to being with. She seemed too ?well, alive.There were obvious changes from the Louise of old. This version was no longer groomed and coiffured. She wore a black shirt underneath the strange coat that looked like it once belonged to a man. Her legs were clad in trousers with stripes made of dirt
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 39
A legion of vermin now separated me from Seth. He, Frank, and Louise were surrounded by a guard of the undead, which marched them onward to their audience with Elizabeth. Splitting up was never part of our plan, but we would have to make do. I would find Alice while Seth and Frank tried to learn more about Elizabeth's plot. Then, I added an extra step to my plan?stuff Louise in a crate and ship her off to the War Office. They could consider her an early Christmas present.I also needed to tell Seth how much I loved him before the day was over. I wouldn't have him going home after this adventure thinking I merely liked him. I needed to grab him by the collar and spit out the words carved in my heart. Assuming Elizabeth didn't carve it out first in some final macabre confrontation. No, I couldn't think like that. We would triumph over her. Somehow.By the light of the glow worms, I made my way to the underground river. The water flowed like molasses on a cold morning, as though it was
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 40
We walked back through the tangled maze and past the slug-like vermin sitting on its boulder. Once again, it waved short stubby arms at us and made a gurgling roar. If the creature thought it was scary, it was sadly mistaken. Alice shook the mallet in its direction, and it gave a startled cry and fell silent."You should dispose of it, Ella." Alice's fingers curled tight around the mallet."It doesn't feel sporting to clamber up there and hit it from behind. Let's keep moving." I briefly considered seeing if it could play catch by tossing it a grenade. But the idea of raining vermin splatter on us stilled my hand. Instead, I tugged Alice along, but the vermin's black eyes tracked our movements as we pushed past its rock.We ducked under the last skeletal tree barrier and emerged on the short strip of rock that ran from maze to water's edge. The opposite bank rippled, like ripe wheat moving with a faint breeze, but this was no quaint agricultural scene. We were confronted by a black
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 41
Louise walked to the edge of the tall stones to watch my impromptu bonfire. Only Elizabeth ignored events beyond. Her soulless eyes sought me out in the gloom, alerted to my presence by the metallic song of my sword. As she narrowed her gaze in my direction, the men rose to their feet. Seth leapt for the unguarded weapons and scooped up the two blades.Alice and I ran. I kept her in my line of sight and only breathed a little easier as we reached Frank. Alice hurtled toward him and threw herself into his arms. Seemed she had decided he was a better option than a sea of vermin. He wrapped his arms around her and grabbed hold of her tighter than if she were a life preserver in a frigid ocean.Seth jumped back to the centre and handed the machete to Frank. He smiled in my direction. "Nice touch with the grenade, and handy that the Turned are now lighting up the cavern for us."The fire lent a temporary flare of reflected light to Elizabeth's black gaze that died away as she fixated on
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 42
I stood alone, surrounded by vermin. Hopefully the others would meet Lieutenant Bain in the smaller chamber and dispose of their undead guard. I tried to remember how many soldiers had emerged from the back of our single truck. Fifteen, perhaps? Not enough to turn this tide, my mind whispered.Fifteen men had to be enough, because there was no alternative with the rest stationed at the big house. The men could send Alice toward safety and the outside world before they launched an attack on Elizabeth. All I had to do was stay alive until then. Death would not claim me today. I had things left unsaid to Seth, and things not yet done, that I wanted to grab with both hands.Animated corpses drew closer to me and I shied away. I could use my time pretending I was dicing vegetables in the kitchen, or try and draw more information from Elizabeth. The creatures herded me toward the altar, where they flowed around the pile of stones to surround their queen. They left me standing before Elizab
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 43: Alice escaping wonderland to rally the troops
I'm not a fighter like Ella, nor am I brave. I have my own virtues?I'm loyal, care about people, and I'm tenacious. Lady Jeffrey's horde kidnapped me and shoved me into an eternal nightmare, but I refused to give the cow the satisfaction of dying. Going stark raving mad though, seemed likely.Chained to a tree in the middle of Hell gave me lots of time to think. I hated Frank. He had scoffed at my dreams and then broke my heart. Never would a man do that to me again, no matter how sweet his words or how spine-tingling his kisses. Then I worried if anyone would ever find me. Would I die there alone? I didn't even know if I was still in England or if I had tumbled into another world.More than anything, I cried. Soft, quiet whimpers that only I heard, and then deep, piercing shrieks that echoed above my head. I cried until I ran out of tears and my eyes swelled shut. Then I slept. When I woke there would be a tin of sardines and a mug of dirty water. Time didn?t exist in that mad world
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