Chapter 3: To Survive
1595 Words
Royce was immediately thrown into the dungeon below the packhouse basement. She’d been in there for hours in the dark and dank cell without the hint of a visitor to quell her fears.
Back and forth, Royce paced in her cell, racked with distress and panic. More than anything, however, Royce was confused.
“How could this have happened to me?” she asked herself. “How could they have mistaken me for…”
“Seems that we’ve been set up.”
Set up? The idea was insane but even Royce knew that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Still, to fathom the idea of someone hating Royce so much that they would try to get rid of her…it was not only a befuddling thought to have but disheartening as well.
“Who though?” She whispered. “Who would do this?”
“Do you really have to ask?” said her counterpart.
“What….what do you mean?” Royce returned in further befuddlement. “Who could you possibly think would hate me so much? Sure, the Beta isn’t my biggest fan, but…he thinks too much of my father to work against me. Right?”
Royce may have been a failure in such respects as training-as a wolf in general, to be honest, but otherwise, she was a generally good and unproblematic girl. In fact, Royce prided herself on being content in the shadows. She never desired or required a lot of attention. She was the complete opposite of Persephone, which was why Royce thought that life would be easier for her. Doing what she was supposed to do and nothing more or less used to work for her. Until suddenly it didn’t.
“Persephone wouldn’t…her friends….probably a different story…but…” Royce continued to think about who could have set her up for the murder of an innocent. With a sigh, Royce sat down on the cot, dropped her head in her hands and struggled not to cry. “I just don’t know.”
“You know, “ whispered Royce’s wolf. “It is just too painful to come to terms with.”
Royce felt her wolf recede into the back of her mind. “So you’re just going to leave me to figure this out on my own, huh?”
Deep down, Royce knew that it wasn’t rocket science. Only one name kept surfacing in the back of her mind. A name that she had been trying hard to avoid thinking about. Her conscious…and Katya, her wolf, would not allow it.
Who seemed to be against her from the beginning? Who always made it a point to remind Royce that she was not living up to her biological father’s reputation? Who continuously refused to let Royce forget that she was not a real daughter of the Preston family. That if she didn’t get her act together soon, she’d be sent away?
Royce knew the name. She knew her name, but refused to say it.
“Kareen!” Katya spoke aggressively and loudly.
The wolf was tired of Royce ignoring the inevitable answer to the barrage of questions she had asked herself.
“Ka….” Royce swallowed the aching lump in her throat. “Kareen?”
The next question that Royce thought about was how could she? But she had answered that question already. Kareen didn’t like Royce. She never did.
“Now, we need to tell the alpha.”
“How do you expect that conversation to go, Katya?” Royce said with great frustration. “With no proof. How can we even be sure-absolutely sure that it is the truth?”
To this, even Katya had no answer.
Royce exhaled in frustration. “We have to figure this out for ourselve-”
Her words were immediately cut off by the sense of a presence she had suddenly sensed.
Royce looked up and though it wasn’t the alpha, she was glad to see her.
“Persephone!” Royce rushed to the cell bar, gripping it tightly. “I’m so glad that you’re here! Please, you have to help me-”
“Royce, what did you do?” Persephone interrupted. “How could you do this?”
“Do wh-Persephone, I didn’t do anything! I-I didn't do this! You have to believe me! I-”
“Then what were you doing there at the gate? Answer that!”
“I heard a commotion! I only went to check it out! That is all-”
“Okay, but why were you even out past curfew anyway? None of the younger pack members are meant to be out unless ordered by high ranking members.”
“I was out there with da-with your father!” Royce quickly corrected herself. She found herself doing that a lot. Calling the alpha dad, was something that even Royce wasn’t sure she was comfortable with. And she knew that Persephone wasn’t either.
“You couldn’t have been out there with dad. He was seeing to some personal matters.”
“I meant I was waiting for him,” Royce quickly clarified. The more she talked to Persephone, the more she realized why her innocence was hard to believe. “He was supposed to see out my punishment. Where is he?” Royce then asked. “He can vouch for me!”
“I told you, he’s seeing to some business. They didn’t want to disturb him with the news.”
“What?” Royce found this bit of news ridiculous. Not because she thought that she was more important than whatever he was tending to, but because a life was lost. It would have been in the best interest of Marsh Haven as a whole for him to know and for them to get down to the bottom of this case as soon as possible.
Of course, Persephone didn’t see it that way. She seemed to always assume the worst of her adopted sister.
“Did you really expect him to drop everything for you?” she asked frustratedly.
“N-no! No, of course not! But I…P, people have died! Children have died! We need to get down to the bottom of this.”
“You think I don’t realize that!?” She exclaimed. “Unfortunately, I have no power over what they do-”
“They! You keep saying they! Who is they?!”
Persephone sighed. “The council has come and-”
“The council?!” The council of inhumans never made special trips. Not even for situations like this. Royce was surprised to hear that they had arrived.
Persephone shrugged, but she didn’t go any further into the subject. Still, it was evident that there was something on her mind. She had something to say.
“Listen, Royce….I’m only here…to say goodbye,” she said.
“What?” Confusion set in. What was her sister talking about? “Goodbye? Where are you going?”
Again, she hesitated, and averted her gaze. “Royce…it’s…it’s not me who's going somewhere,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Then, she reached through the prison bar and pulled Royce close.
“Persephone, what…what are you talking about?”
“Roy, they’ve already decided.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re taking you away-”
The words barely left her lips when the sound of feet hitting the floor flooded the room. It was the Beta, and a few other guards. Guards that Royce did not recognize.
“Wait, wait, wait…” Royce backed away from them. “What are you doing? Wait! What are you doing?!” They yanked her up by her arms. “No! no, please! I didn’t do anything! I didn’t-” they shoved a burlap sack over her head and bound her hands. “No! No! Please! Persephone! Please! Get your father! I didn’t do this!”
“Royce, I promise I’ll find a way to get answers! We'll find a way to get you out!”
Those were the last words Royce heard from Persephone as she was dragged out of the prison.
“Where!? Where are you taking me?!” Royce demanded.
“Where all troublemakers go,” replied the Beta. “A place where you’ll learn discipline. A place where you’ll get the punishment that you deserve for what you’ve done, Caulder.”
“Beta Noland! Please! Please don’t do this! I’m begging you, please! I’m innocent!”
They finally arrived at the top of the stairs when the Beta finally decided to shut her up.
“Put her down. We don’t need disturbance.”
“N-no, please!” Royce continuously begged. “Please don-” her words were suddenly cut off by the sharp jab in her neck.
Royce knew that it was a needle, and she knew that it was some sort of tranquilizer. The first thing Royce felt was Katya going dark. She must have been put to sleep to prevent Royce, just in case she were so bold, from putting up a fight. It dulled her senses and slurred her words almost as soon as she was injected with it.
Suddenly, her legs were limp, and her mouth was numb. She could hardly keep her head up as they dragged her out of the rear entrance of the pack house and tossed her into the back of a large black truck.
The two rear doors were slammed shut and then suddenly Royce heard the engine roar to life and began to feel them pick up motion. Fear gripped Royce as she headed into the unknown.
- Writer
