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Chapter 43: Alice escaping wonderland to rally the troops
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 44: Ella confronting the evil queen
I stared at the open cage as Louise's taunt of dog rang in my ears. Where had they even found a cage? I wasn?t sure Elizabeth understood her job as vermin queen. Instead of converting all the locals, she seemed to have her minions out stealing clothes, furniture, and farmyard objects. At least they hadn't claimed any more souls as far as we knew. My conscience much preferred thievery over the mass slaughter of innocent people."I shall keep you as a pet, while I drag every one of your sorry family down here and have them Turned before you," Elizabeth said."Including your father the vegetable." Louise spat the words out as she shoved me into the open pen. The gate clanged shut and she turned the key in the lock. Then she pulled the brass key out and threw it toward the silver river.I strained my ears for a splash. Did it reach the water or lie on the bank? Either way, I was reduced to a circus attraction. The cage was too small for me to stand upright and I had to kneel. In my mind
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 45
"Kill her!" Louise screamed, spinning away from Seth to point an accusing finger at me. I wondered if, as her mother's knight, she could override the order not to harm me. Somehow I doubted vermin had complex thought processes beyond, Queen say no bite, knight say bite. I hoped the queen's orders prevailed and offered me a small measure of immunity."Jack?s close," Jake whispered from beside me, and then he disappeared into the sea of vermin. After this was over, I was going to ask how he had done that. Why did they not bite him?Seth raised his foot and booted Louise from behind. She lurched forward and hit the ground. I was outraged and proud at the same time. An ignoble act from my aristocratic suitor, but I cheered that the horrid bint finally ate dirt. Seth jumped past Elizabeth and leapt up onto the queen's throne, giving him the higher ground as he cast around for a weapon.Elizabeth looked somewhat bemused, as though a serious dinner party had turned into drunken charades. S
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 46
Our army moved into place as soldiers spread out, following the curve of the vast cavern and put themselves between the wall and the vermin. Then, like fire-breathing shepherds, they herded the flock toward the centre. Vermin scuttled backwards, away from the liquid flames, and drew inward into a concentrated pack. Soldiers armed with swords worked behind the flamethrower units, beheading the undead distracted by their own flaming limbs.My mind couldn't comprehend the number of men tackling the undead. There were far more than the single truckload that followed us here, but where had they materialised from? It appeared Jack and Jake had done far more than tell the lieutenant we were in trouble; they had rallied more troops.I was annoyed Frank had allowed Alice to return, but she looked fetching dressed as a soldier and emitted a new fierce determination as she clutched the mallet. They had snuck through the enemy lines with a small squad of soldiers and reached us in time to down L
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 47
The glow worm ceiling went dark as fires burned below. One by one, the tiny worms winked out, like stars retreating as dawn approached. We no longer needed their eerie blue light to see; bonfires throughout the cavern lit the way and gave the few remaining vermin nowhere to hide. Soldiers ferreted them out, beheaded, and dragged them to the pyres."We should look for smoke in the morning, see if this cavern vents anywhere," Seth said as we watched the fumes spiral up and obscure the roof."There's so much to do," I murmured. We had vermin to find and destroy, and the catacombs were calling to be explored. How deep did these tunnels go, and what did the veiled sections of honeycomb hide? There was another task I really didn't want to perform: telling Charlotte I had killed her mother and handed over her sister to be a captive freak in London."Tomorrow, Ella. There is nothing that cannot wait until tomorrow. I think right now we all deserve a hot bath, a meal, and a decent night's
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 48
PART THREE: Rory, the SleeperThis is the way the world endsNot with a bang but a whimper.The Hollow Men by T.S. ElliotI had so much to do. We defeated Elizabeth, but the Grim War still raged and a larger enemy loomed. How had the name of Millicent deMage whispered down through the centuries to reach Elizabeth's ears? Was there a link between the pandemic and the work of Aleister Crowley, as some newspaper articles speculated? I needed to identify those struck in the original pandemic who survived. A potential clue to defeating the vermin may linger in their recovery. I had to talk to the Commodore in Dorset to find any consistency in how hives behaved. I?Seth's lips brushed over the top of my ear and stalled my frantic thought processes. "Stop worrying for a few hours. Have a bath and get some sleep. We can tackle the mountain of work tomorrow."His quiet words were a pinprick to a balloon. In an instant the turmoil blew away. I slumped against him in the dark, with my arms
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 49: Ella, worlds to be explored
The next morning my brain refused to co-operate with my body's desire to sleep late. My body rose early from bed like one of Elizabeth's mindless vermin. I needed to tell Charlotte what occurred before she heard it as local gossip. I owed her that much for the tiny glimpses of humanity she showed me over the years."What are you doing?" Alice muttered from her narrow bed. She grabbed a pillow and held it over her face, fending off a feeble ray of early sun."I have to go see Charlotte before the village is afire with the news." I nudged Alice over with my knee and then sat on a sliver of space. I peeled away a corner of pillow and met her bleary, amber gaze. "Will you be all right on your own, or do you want me to send Magda up?"Alice reached out and clasped my hand in hers. "I'll be fine with a few more hours sleep. It's not dark anymore and the infernal noise has gone away."I was surprised her internment hadn't driven her insane. A hive?s low moan worked its way into your bones
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 50: Charlotte, burning water
On my first day at the manse, I learned it is possible to burn water, or at least the pot containing it. Ella, Alice, and Magda undertook the cooking and housework. Mother said aristocrats didn't dirty their hands with manual labour, and so we sat in the parlour, staring at the wallpaper. If mother was particularly mad at Ella, she sent me below stairs to issue demands. While I had observed some of the workings of the kitchen, I had no practical experience.From what I saw, I thought I understood the mechanics of cooking, but actually making a meal was akin to some arcane magical rite. A boiled egg involved a pot, water, and an egg. But how much water? How long did the egg have to remain immersed? Did it matter if I had a chicken egg or a larger duck egg? And how did you extract a boiling hot egg from the pot without dropping both on the floor? The exact process was a mystery, as though such knowledge passed from woman to child in hushed whispers those upstairs weren't supposed to ove
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 51: Ella, discoveries to be made
The War Office detained Seth in London, and I busied myself reading a background paper on Aleister Crowley. I think it said something about our foe that I preferred to read about the Satanist over the long dead witch. I had tried to immerse myself in Millicent's diaries, but reading her words made a reptilian shiver slither down my spine. Perhaps my battle with Elizabeth was too recent, or maybe it was my childish imagination at work, but I suspected Millicent might reach through the pages of the book and pull me into her world.I struggled through one of her diaries, but even the heady coffee couldn't keep me focused on her words. I tossed the book back on the pile and retreated. Once Seth returned we could regroup and tackle her together.In late afternoon the study doors opened, and I looked up as the duke strode into his domain."Seth!" I tossed the papers and ran to his open arms. Bain was on a mission to the manse, so we were alone in the study for once.Tired lines pulled at
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