"Hm," Calhoun said, stopping before the open window. "I could have sworn I closed the window. If someone wishes to play a prank on me, they shouldn't do something so silly, I'm not a child."
"My king?" Mary called softly. She was confused as to who he was talking to. Who was he talking to? He stood before an open window and was speaking. "Who are you talking to?"n,z
Calhoun turned to glance at her. "Was it you who opened the window this morning?"
Mary shook her head. "No my king, I just got in here now."
Calhoun nodded. "I am wondering who has snuck in here to open the window."
"I don't think it was locked last night," Mary stated.
"I did lock it myself." Calhoun refuted.
"Maybe you thought you had locked it, my king," Mary said. She walked over to the window and touched the locks. "Oh look, the locks are broken. Perhaps you thought you locked them but they were broken."
"At least I knew I closed them. How come it's wide open again?" Calhoun asked. There was no logic behind it.
Mary shrugged. "Perhaps someone thought to play a prank on -"
She was interrupted by a loud bang that shook the walls of the castle down to its foundation. Mary stared wide-eyed in shock.
Calhoun raised his head to see bits and pieces of the ceiling falling off. The dust spread around the room and he smirked.
He opened his wardrobe and took out his leather pants. They were thick and stretchy, he loved to wear them for battle.
He wore an equally black vest and a leather jacket. The jacket was sleeveless since the vest was long-sleeved, and it had several pockets as well as pants. He took a comb and combed his hair.
"Get me scissors." He said. Mary scurried around and found the scissors and handed them to him.
He put the scissors to his hair and began to cut them haphazardly.
"The blade stick."
Mary handed it to him, he shaved the side of his hair even more, leaving only a small part at the center that went to the back. Calhoun stared at his reflection in the mirror.
"My king, are you going to battle or to ... You know, get a woman?" Mary asked, moving back as she asked.
Calhoun chuckled. "Who knows? I like to look good when I want to do something I love."
Mary nodded. Like that was an answer, she wouldn't ask further.
He took some dark paint and colored the rim of his eyes. He opened his drawer and there was a safe in it. He typed some numbers and it opened. There were various designs of daggers there. They seemed to have a small hole in the center and it looked empty.
Calhoun took all of them out, they were 27 in number. He took out a big cup of black liquid.
"Werewolf poison," Calhoun explained. "It is very lethal to a wolf, it could kill a human in split seconds. Just a drop, I mean."
Mary took three steps back after hearing what he had said. Why was he even letting her know about this?
He took the cup out and opened it. He took each dagger out of its sheath and would dip it into the cup. Once the tip of the dagger touched the liquid, it would get filled with the black liquid.
Mary could feel a wash of nausea. She wasn't sure she wanted to get to the end of it.
"What does it do?"
"It kills?" Calhoun repeated. "it would burn all the organs in the human's body and they would drop dead after a few seconds, their eyes will melt out of their sockets. That's how you know about this."
"What's it called?" She asked, coming forward slowly.
"I don't know. I had it during one of my rendezvous. Showed it to my father and he asked me to burn it up." Calhoun said.
"Did you?" Mary asked and she felt stupid after asking. Of course, he didn't, if he did, how could he still have it? "How did you know what it could do?"
"I tested it," Calhoun answered. "Unfortunate people they were."
Mary nodded. "I take it you would be fighting with this today."
"Yes," Calhoun answered. "Not a word about it or we would find out what it does to just the tongue."
Mary covered her mouth with her hands, taking the steps she had taken forward, and backward.
Calhoun chuckled, he filled up all the daggers and returned them into their sheath. He placed them in different pockets and some he hung on his jacket.
He stood up and walked away from the chamber, Mary following after him quickly. He went down to the kitchen and he met Geoinstructingingo the servants.
"Nobody leaves the castle," Calhoun ordered. "All of you, return to your quarters. Don't come out at all. If you do and you die, your blood is on your head."
The servants bowed to him. Calhoun nodded once. He glanced at George and the man understood. Calhoun turned and marched out of the castle. Soon as he emerged, a hand came forward to grab him but he took out a dagger and stabbed the hand. Two seconds and the man dropped dead, his eyes melting out of their sockets.
The other Fraco soldiers who had seen what happened began to retreat slowly. Jasyn noticed that the ones who had managed to get into the castle had returned and he got furious.
"What in the world is wrong with you?! Did I ask you to retreat?!" He demanded angrily.
"Sir, sir! The man stabbed Aloysius with a dagger and he dropped dead, his eyes melted from their sockets." A soldier reported.
Jasyn scowled. A simple stab? Caused him to drop dead and his eyes melted out? What the hell happened?
"How long did it take for him to die?" Jasyn asked.
"Two seconds."
Jasyn took off his helmet. His eyes were dark with anger. "Gather the soldiers, we need a plan. We can't just attack, they know and they have prepared."
Diana stood by the corner, watching everyone gather around Jasyn. Julitta stood beside her.
"Diana, how can you be so comfortable keeping Coco alone in the tent? What if the tents are attacked?"
"I will hear the cry of my child. I will come and save him." Diana replied. "I have more pressing needs."
"Like Calhoun?"
"Shh," Diana whispered. "Don't take his name out of your mouth."
Diana began to walk away. Julitta joined her, trying to catch up with her.
"Why?"
"Because he hears. At the mention of his name, his ears will perk up." Diana explained.
Julitta was wowed. She followed Diana to join the other soldiers who listened to Jasyn's orders.
"This battle is going to be tough," Jasyn yelled. "I want everyone to be on their guard, be at your best, be alert, watch your back and your brother's back."
Diana nodded. "Calhoun could kill ten of them at a go, while they were watching each other's backs. He could do so even from the back where they watched."
Julitta was even more wowed. "You don't say. He's such a strong man."
"Yeah, don't call him a man. He hates that, it's like an insult to him." Diana said. Julitta laughed.
"Diana!" Jasyn yelled. "Take your soldiers and surround the castle. Kill anyone you find." He yelled.
Diana nodded. "Sir, yes sir!"
"Soldiers, hop, let's go!" She yelled. Her group followed her. Julitta ran with her as they ran towards the castle.
"Twenty-five to the front, twenty-five to the right, twenty-five to the left, twenty-five to the gate!" Diana commanded.
"The rest of you, come with me, Julitta, come along." She ordered. They all shared themselves with the places she had ordered. Julitta followed her to the back of the castle.
"You all listen to me." Diana began. "The people we are about to fight, they are stronger than us... They are more powerful. They are more experienced and they are not humans."
"We are humans, at least you all," Diana said.
"Don't look so surprised, I am one of them."
"I won't kill you because you are all my friends. But you have a chance to save yourself now."
"Let us not join in the fight. Let us stand as guards and not attack. If you attack them, they will attack you."
"You can stay here, they would not come here. I will join them, Julitta and me. We would do it as discreetly as we can. But that is if you all will swear your loyalty to me."
"You have seen how Aloysius was killed. By a simple stab." Diana said. "Are we in this?!"
They all turned to glance at each other, murmuring amongst themselves. One lady came forward and bowed to Diana.
"You have my loyalty." The others decided to join in, doing as she had done.
"Perfect." Diana smiled. I want two of you to hurry to my tent and bring Coco out."
"Let them bring the tent here, if there is an issue, we can always come in," Julitta suggested.
"That okay?"
"Yes, commander!"
"Go go go!" Diana urged. "J, come with me."
She and Julitta turned around and they returned to the front of the castle where her soldiers stood. She watched from the corner as the castle gates were being opened. Her soldiers were preparing to fire but she held her hand up to stop them.
Calhoun had dragged the body of the soldier he had killed to the back of the castle. His soldiers were there.
"Listen, these people are weak, but they have a strong backing," Calhoun said. "Meaning they won't stop unless they win or they die."
"Winning is not an option we are giving them, so it's death."
"The title of this war is killing or be killed," Calhoun announced. "Ready?!"
"Yes!"
"Together we are...?"
"One Wisteria!!!" The soldiers clamored.
"Let the gates be opened!"
The gates were drawn back and Calhoun was expectant. The weather was cold but his blood was hot. It was hot because he craved to see the snow colored with blood. He grinned wickedly.
As the gates opened, he expected to see soldiers firing bullets at him but he saw an empty front. He held his hand out to his soldiers and they waited behind. He walked out slowly. He wasn't afraid, he was careful.
If anything happened to him, his chances of seeing all the blood being spilled would be lessened. He walked out of the gate and he saw soldiers on either side of the gate.
He smirked. "Are you here to fight or here for fancy?"
The soldiers turned to Diana but she held out her hand and they ignored Calhoun.
"Is that him?" Julitta whispered. "He looks so hot."
Diana glared at her. "Don't do that, it's gross."
"Or you feel jealous that another female finds him attractive." Julitta refuted. "Come off it girl. He is hot but not my spec. He loves blood."
"As if you don't."
"I'm a soldier, not a wild animal. No offense."
"Haha." Diana chuckled sarcastically. Her soldiers were being taunted by Calhoun and she knew it would rile them up. She didn't want them to shoot at him, it would result in their death.
"Do you think he could survive if he was shot by all of them?" Julitta asked.
"They wouldn't even land a hit if they all shot at the same time." Diana bragged. Somewhere she wasn't protecting Wisteria but the soldiers.
"I don't believe you," Julitta said, staring back at Calhoun.
"Wanna see?"
"Show me."
She released her hand and they nodded.
Calhoun noticed that their commander seemed to be the one controlling them. He turned to the foggy space.
"Who's the commander? You foolish coward! Show your ugly face and challenge me if you dare." He yelled out.
The soldiers cocked their guns and Calhoun turned to them, smirking.
"Let me have it." He said. They started firing at him. They shot with all they got and all Julitta could hear was the sound of the guns shooting. Once they were done, the smoke began to dissipate. Calhoun was no longer standing there.
Her heart began to thump in her chest. She had forgotten that they had some special bullets.
"Shit." Did she just order the death of her son's father?