Dark Fate of the Crimson Princess(Breeder#8)

Chapter 3 : Meeting with Witches

*Rion*

I slammed the door behind me. Part of me regretted making her the bologna sandwich. It wasn't that I couldn't afford to spare one, but with what was coming to her, was it even worth giving to her? A gesture of kindness before the ax chop didn't sound logical or kind to me. I tried to push down the little bit of guilt this whole situation put me through.

I reminded myself over and over under my breath, “It's for Eva. This is what we do for Eva."

I locked the bedroom door and walked out to the kitchen to make myself some dinner. It had been such a long day, but the night was still young and the job was far from over. There was one more thing I needed to do that night, and I dreaded it.

I texted Jasper, my friend and bodyguard, while my dinner was heating up in the microwave.

'Are you still on for tonight?'

The text took a while to return, long enough for my dinner to heat and the microwave to ping it was ready. As I took out my dinner and laid it on the counter to cool off, my phone vibrated and I received a response from him.

'I guess. You 'sure you still want to do this? No shame in backing out and finding another way out of this.

'I'm sure. Meet me at the gazebo at West Park in a half hour.'

'See you there.'

I ate dinner and drove over to West Park on the other side of the neighborhood, just past a few blocks of shoddy apartment buildings in the underdeveloped part of the city. It was a park large enough that several football games could be going on and there would still be room for people to walk around.

Gang exchanges were common, and most people doing illicit activities tended to mind their own business, so it was a perfect spot to meet up if you were doing something shady, like how I was doing something shady that night. I felt nervous the closer I got to the park.

Since it was dark out, there were fewer of the normal crowd and more of the not-so-normal crowd soliciting under the cover of trees near the lamp posts.

Every so often the cops would patrol the area, but everyone knew when to be slick around them. I parked the SUV in the parking lot and trudged across the wet grass to the gazebo not far from the park's entrance. As I got closer to the gazebo, I realized there were a handful of people inside it. A teenage couple was getting handsy on the far side. The guy leaning against the girl's backside reminded me of the Crimson Princess for some reason and got me hard thinking about her. I shook myself to relieve some of the tension growing between my legs.

Why was I even thinking about her like that?

I had to focus.

I looked around and saw Jasper. He was a stocky guy in his mid-twenties, a year or two older than me. His hair was razer short on the sides, but the top was a clean tuft of dark brown curls. He was the only guy who vaped that no one seemed to judge him for, mostly because he was in general a very chill guy. He nodded when we made eye contact and I walked over to him.

“Hey. Are we meeting them here?" Jasper asked before inhaling a long drag. He only smoked like that when he was nervous, and he was rarely nervous.

“Not here. I think they wanted to meet us on the eastern ridge of the park near the old baseball triangle."

He sighed and put his vape in his pocket. “Better make our way, then."

We left the gazebo. I tried to ignore the couple, but their laughter haunted me until they were out of earshot. As we walked across the grass, I thought of the girl and of her chestnut hair and how clean it was before it had gotten soiled in the garbage bin. Jasper broke me out of my thoughts with his question.

“How long do you figure we're going to wait for them?" he asked.

“I don't know. Did you have plans after this or something?"

I didn't mean to get snappy, but I supposed I was just as nervous as he was–nervous and just a little bit guilty over this whole thing. I tried to get the image of the girl out of my head, trying to push her name and face down into my subconscious, but like trying to push a balloon underwater, it just kept popping right back up in my face.

“No plans. I just don't want to be around Hestia's followers that long. You know they're creepy, right? Like, I'm saying they're creepy. I don't call people that word too often. You know that."

I sighed as we walked along the path worn by years of neglect. Bits of grass grew out of the uneven cracks in the concrete. Gum the color of tar covered the path slabs. We were getting into the seedier part of an already seedy park.

“I know who they are, Jasper," I said.

“And you're okay making a deal with a gang of powerful dark witches? I don't practice magic. I'm all muscle. I don't have the brains for it."

“I wouldn't have hired you if I didn't think you'd be able to handle it," I told him, but the truth was that I was not sure at all whether either of us could handle it. I could have been endangering us both just by going out there to meet up with Hestia's followers.

All I knew was that if it meant even a chance that I'd get Eva back, it would have all been worth it. I'd risk anything.

I tried to get the Crimson Princess out of my head and admitted to myself that I would essentially be giving her up to this band of dangerous witches.

Daphne. Her name was Daphne.

Jasper ripped me back to reality again.

“I don't know. Hestia's followers aren't super trustworthy. Do you really think they're just going to hand over Eva, just like that? Who's to say they won't just double cross you? You're not dumb, man."

“I'm not dumb, just desperate," I admitted. “The Crimson Princess' life doesn't matter as much to me as Eva's. If I get Eva back, that's all I care about."

“That's kind of brutal, but you do what you got to do," he said, shrugging.

“I'll do whatever I need to," I growled at him.

He was quiet. He knew to be quiet when I used that tone with him. We had been friends for years, and he knew when he had gone too far.

We continued walking in silence, further away from the lights of the park's entrance and closer to the old baseball triangle. The only source of light was from the old baseball lights overhead where a rectangle of the circular lights flickered and hummed, casting the pale blue light over the field and bleachers below.

The baseball bleachers were dilapidated from years of neglect and gang activity. Most of the seats were soggy benches or just concrete. Sometimes squatters used the area beneath the bleachers for a place to sleep, but it was usually filled with homeless drug addicts getting their next hit. I tried to ignore them.

Jasper and I both knew they were harmless if you didn't acknowledge them. We got to the middle of the old baseball triangle where the flickering lights made us visible.

A chilly breeze ruffled my hair, and I was glad I'd exchanged that party outfit for something more comfortable and warm. We waited for a few minutes. Jasper played a game on his phone but otherwise, it was silent. It was rare that anyone ever ventured to this side of the park.

Then I saw it, a pair of headlights flashing in our direction as they swung through the parking lot. A surge of adrenaline coursed through me, but I kept my cool. There was nothing worse than bad nerves during an exchange like this. Jasper looked up from his phone.

“That them?"

“Maybe. We'll see."

Within a few moments, three figures emerged from the car. They wore cloaks that trailed down to their shins and they stepped into the blinding light of the baseball field. There were three young women around our age, their eyes golden and their skin fair. Somehow it made them menacing. The one in the middle had black hair that went down to her chest, and she wore a red dress that fluttered in the icy breeze.

“You're Rion?" the one in the middle said.

“I'm Rion, yes," I said.

“We're Hestia's followers, but I guess you already knew that."

I hesitated, unsure what to say.

“You have something we want and vice versa, so let's get on with it."

I cracked open my mouth. It was dry and I tried to gulp down my fear of these witches, but I also had to push down that pesky guilt threatening to ruin the entire operation. I suppressed it all, trying to remind myself that it was for Eva. It was all for Eva. I finally managed to speak.

“I have the Alpha King's daughter Daphne Crimson as asked in exchange for my sister, Eva. Daphne is at my quarters at this very moment. Say the word and I can bring her over, alive and ready for you. Just give me a time and place to meet."

The leading woman grinned and said, “We will make the exchange in the Dark Forest. Don't forget that Daphne Crimson must be alive and unharmed when she is given to us. Not that we are concerned for her safety or wellbeing, I might add." She paused to grin, then continued, “But we must have her whole body to drain the blood from it."

My heart plummeted. The guilt roiled inside of me like it was its own separate entity. I spoke again.

“That's a five-day journey from here under the best conditions. It's not like I can take the train or use the main roads with the daughter of the Alpha King missing. The royals will be on my tail every second of the way."

Her grin widened. She reminded me of a cat who caught a mouse and relished watching as its life was slowly squeezed out of it.

“That's not our problem."

“I need more time to prepare for her transport. Five days isn't enough. Plus, my crew needs to take time to rest throughout the day. They've never made a journey that long on foot before."

She threw back her head in a cackle. “We know how powerful you are. If your friends are anything like you, they'll make the journey."

Her grin faded and I recognized a malicious glint cross over her eyes. She stepped closer until I could smell the pomegranate of her perfume. Her eyes narrowed and she spoke in a low, threatening tone.

“You always find a way, no matter what. I didn't teach you to be a weakling. So find yourself a way to get that girl and put her in the palm of my hand. Do we have an understanding?"

I cleared my throat and nodded.

“I didn't hear you."

“Yes, I understand."

She pulled away from me and coalesced back into her group. She spoke loudly again. “You'd better get moving. We will wait until nightfall on the fifth day. Don't be late."

With that, they turned their backs on us and headed back to the car.