Sitting with her back on the wall of the blood-stained cell, Rafaela looks ahead into nothingness. If anyone could see her now, there will be no doubt that they would see her for who she truly is. It isn't a facade. It is real. No hallucination intended and none given. The tears that stained her eyes have gone dry and her face is weary of what lies await when the cell opens again.
The fact that the moment she dreads and wished never occurred was happening sooner than expected left her still with her heart in her mouth. The fear was written all over her face. She didn't have the power or might to muster up the courage and fearless attitude that had brought her here... To her doom!
Her mind faded into moments when things weren't like this. When she never knew 'they' existed. "It is a fallacy!" She had thought for a century and a half she lived on earth. She never believed the story of the people she met in the new town she settled in when her parents died some months ago in an accident.
When her parents died, she decided to move to another place to start life anew, away from the place filled with memories of her beloved parents. If only she had believed and stayed off the mountains as the people had warned. If only she had... The tears that were supposed to fill her eyes for her regretful actions were lost. She knew why tears never came even when her heart beats in misery. She knew perfectly well that the thought it brings scares her. Soon she'd be his.
The Queen of the half dead souls and she'd be beside her King forever and rule beside him for 3 decades till another new era of King and Queen begin.
These were the words the people around the place she settled in to be her new home said.
Who would believe that? Rafaela was a wild lady. She loves mysteries and she is full of energy toward unlocking them and that was how she got here. She didn't believe it when she was told the King of the half-dead loves the mountain and then he comes at night during the full moon every 3 decades to find a Queen. His Queen.
'Bullshit!'... That was what she had termed it. How people can easily be brainwashed by such a fallacy irks her. Who did they think she is? Some nincompoop who would believe everything she hears? Shaking her head, she started digging around, searching for clues on the ladies 'taken', missing reports filed, and every other thing she could lay her hands on. She wouldn't sit around and let people mock her intelligence with words that can't be scientifically proven. She didn't graduate from school as a microbiologist and worked as one before she came here to be brainwashed with this.
After many clues were gathered, Rafaela decided to take a trip to the mountain on the night of the full moon. She needed to see for herself. She needed proof... Anything that can serve as fact to backup what she heard. She packed her bag and got the necessary things needed and left for the mountain to see. Unknown to her, she had walked to her doom.
When she got to the mountains, she moved around with her torch bright to see what lurks around. For hours she stayed in the mountains with her five senses with her. She walked around with her backpack, with food and water to last the night, and rested when she needed to.
After hours of staying in the mountains, Rafaela checked her wristwatch to see it was almost morning, and still, nothing happened. She smiled and began packing up when the air grew thicker around her. She felt like someone had dropped her in a room full of ice. She rubbed her palms together and continued packing to head back to the town to meet the people and tell them how they have all been brainwashed. But just then, she felt a rush in her adrenaline, it seems she was dropped into a volcano and she screamed so hard at the burns before she fell into unconsciousness.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a cell but it was an open cell. She sneaked around to see where she was and she was bewildered at what she saw. She was on the air. The cell she was kept in is a building standing in between the earth and heaven with no pillar holding it. She saw no one around but she could feel people's gaze on her. It was crazy! It became scary when she started hearing eerie sounds. Their words sunken fears into her;
"All hail our Queen." They chanted.
She was cold and lost. There was nowhere to run to. The voices in her head were loud and scary it made her scream in agony. She ran back to her cell where she feels a bit safer. She rested her back on the wall as she prayed for the hope that all she is seeing now should be a dream. An illusion. But she knew better.
"It is time", she heard an eerie voice whisper. She felt her body lifted as unseen hands held her in place to wear her a wedding gown. The hands pushed her forward as she moved, unable to fight. Who was she to fight? She needed no science to tell her she is with ghosts. Her body feels it and so does her heart. She walked forward as the voices followed suit until she got to an end. An open space where there was no place to put her legs unless she was to walk on nothing. Just then, she saw a staircase that moved down to earth as she continued her movement with hope in her heart.
After a long hour of walking down the stairs, she came down to earth with the surge of hope in her heart lost. Down on earth were tons of disgruntled-looking humans standing and in the middle is a man with a crown and a dagger in hand. He looks dead and yet alive and he spoke in a voice that makes her want to run.
"Welcome my bride, it is time to die." He smiled.
And right there, Rafaela knew this isn't a joke. She was pushed forward as the dagger was lifted and pushed into her heart, but before she died she felt a metallic taste of blood in her mouth. The King had cut his palm and given her his blood before he sealed it with a kiss. After some long hours of agony, he spoke again.
You need to be half dead to be my Queen and I am glad I found you. Welcome to our kingdom.
Rafaela stood up and looked at her King in distaste. She hadn't to cry as she felt bound to him. With eyes toward the mountain, she wished she had believed that there are still things that science can't prove. She wished she hadn't thrashed the words of the villagers. She wished for a lot of things but she knew better. All wishes and hope are lost. Looking at her King, she took his hand as they walked toward the stairs she came from to a castle built on air as eerie chants echoed through saying;
"All hail the King and Queen."