The Crown’s Obsession Chapter 277 - Black Sheep

Chapter 277 - Black Sheep

Madeline stayed still in the coffin. According to Calhoun, she had slept here years ago, and even though it was still able to accommodate her, it wasn't enough for her to comfortably move her hands and legs. She stared into the darkness that had not a single sign of light. It was her idea to walk through the same path when she was a little girl, but she couldn't stop her heart beating loudly in her chest.
Her ability of sight had been taken away, and she was all alone in here. Placing her hand on the ceiling of the coffin she was in, Madeline huffed for air to breathe when she heard voices in her head that were mixed along with screams that belonged to a small girl.
Madeline didn't know what happened next as she felt fog filling up in the coffin where she was lying down. The darkness had started to disappear, which was why she was able to see the fog. One moment she was in the coffin and the next, she stood back in her grandparent's house.
Looking back and forth, she saw her grandfather standing next to her, holding her wrist, "Did they leave?" he asked her grandmother, who just entered the room.
"Yes, they left. I gave them a gold coin and told them to meet Mary. The last time she was here, she said she has a house to spare. They can use the same house, and we'll know about their whereabouts," answered her grandmother.
For a while, Madeline thought her grandfather was holding her hand, but when she took a step away did she realise, he was holding the little girl's hand and not hers. Taking a few more steps away from them, she saw her younger self.
"What are we going to do, Eugene?" asked her grandmother, "We cannot keep something so vile in here. It will only attract unnecessary troubles for us."
"I tried to put her to sleep so that we could ask someone else's help, but she woke up." The man looked tired as he took the little girl to the bed and made her sit down. The couple moved away from the child, going to the corner whilst looking at the child.
Madeline noticed the way the couple treated the small girl who had a blank look on her face. Her hands weren't cleaned, and the blood was still there on her little hands.
"Who would have thought that we would end up with such bad luck. The High House, the vampires, or the other people aren't aware of this thing we have in here, Eugene. It would be better to get rid of it," said her grandmother.
Madeline could hardly believe that this was the same woman who had been doting her all these years along with her sister Beth. She could sense the hatred and displeasure in the atmosphere coming from the room. Knowing this was not a dream anymore, but she was looking at things with her eyes open, it hurt knowing this was real.
"Killing our own granddaughter, Gemma," her grandfather shook his head, "I want to spare her, but I know it's not going to help us. It will only bring more death, and maybe they will also kill our son and his wife."
"Then this is not the time to wait," came the hushed whisper from her grandmother, "Let's do this quickly. We have the grave ready. With her parents gone, we can just make a lie."
Madeline's eyes widened hearing this, and she snapped to look at her grandparents, who had decided that killing her was the right thing to do. Gone was the compassionate look in their eyes as they looked determined to kill her. Her eyes moved back and forth between them and at her little self who was sitting on the bed, not knowing what was about to come. She tried understanding them by step into their shoes, seeing how they were looking at her younger self as she had killed a girl of her own age.
She could tell that they looked at her as if she was a monster. But Madeline was very much alive, and she was breathing.
"Get me the knife. Let's make it quick and dispose the body before people start to wake up," her grandfather ordered, and her grandmother quickly complied by bringing not any knife but a butcher's knife.
Watching them without batting her lashes, Madeline saw her grandfather take hold of the knife and walk towards the little girl who had not moved. They didn't offer a word of goodbye as her grandfather brought the knife towards the girl's neck, but before he could slit the girl's throat, the little girl caught hold of his hand.
"AHHH!" her grandfather screamed that made Madeline frown and walk to where they were.
"What happened?!" her grandmother asked distressed, coming to stand right behind her husband, "Your hand! It's bleeding! Give me the knife, let me do it."
But before they could bring harm to the small girl, she raised both her hands that sent the couple flying across the room to hit against the wall. Her grandfather coughed blood, "She's too powerful to kill. She will kill us, Gemma, don't go near her!" warned her grandfather.
"Madeline, our dear child," her grandfather coaxed, "We are not here to harm you. We only want to protect you," he spoke to the little girl who stood up and had gone to the corner of the room, "Come here to grandpa." But Madeline's small self didn't listen to him.
When her grandfather went near her again, the little girl used her hands again, and he coughed more blood on the ground.
"What are we going to do?!" her grandmother panicked, "At this rate, we will end up dead in her hands. How do we stop her?"
"Most of them who turned out like this were forced to sleep because of the inability to kill them." He then dropped the knife down on the ground, while keeping his eyes on his granddaughter. "Madeline, look at this. I dropped the knife. No one is going to harm you. No one."
Her grandparents moved near her younger self, moving one step at a time, before hugging the girl. It was evident that the little girl had sensed the threat, and she clawed her grandfather, wanting to escape, but he didn't let go of her.
The man whispered something incoherent in the girl's ears, and it took a while before she finally fell asleep, "She won't be asleep for long. Quick!"
And the couple left the house in the middle of the night, making their way to the 'Carnival's Local Cemetery.' Madeline followed them in the dark and saw them push the coffin lid without touching it. Placing the little girl inside it, both her grandparents started to close the coffin lid. But as they had expected, the girl had woken up.
"Grandpa?! Grandma?!!!" the little girls' voice echoed through the gap of the lid which hadn't closed the cemented coffin entirely, "Help!!!" The little girl cried, but her grandparents turned a deaf ear over it.
"People are going to question us. What if someone opens it?" asked her grandmother, standing beside her husband where both of them stared at the cemented coffin from where screams continued to erupt.
Her grandfather had a severe expression on his face. "I will do something to get this place closed so that no one enters in here. Or maybe cover this grave so that no one finds out about it."
Her grandmother nodded, exhaling air out of her mouth.
"Rest in peace, Madeline. With all that screaming, she will be tired soon, and slowly die," stated her grandmother with lack of emotion in her voice.
One minute Madeline was standing next to the coffin, and the next minute she was inside it. Even though it was supposed to be dark, she was still able to see the insides of the coffin.
She noticed the little scratches on the ceiling of the coffin. Her fingertips trailed on it, bringing out memories of the screams that continued to ring in her head. Loneliness and pain consumed her. With darkness surrounding her once again, Madeline felt the air in the coffin deplete, and she screamed. Her hands banged the ceiling and it was immediately pushed open.
Calhoun pulled Madeline out of the coffin, bringing her down when he heard her hands banging on the wall of the coffin. The poor thing was shivering like a kitten, and he continued to hold her, gently rocking her.
"Sshh," Calhoun hushed her as she clung to him, "There's no one to hurt you," he whispered, running his hand over the back of her head to calm her racing heart.
"It's okay," he said to her, "I won't let anyone put you back in there."
Madeline held on to Calhoun as she felt the darkness continue to linger in her heart. She parted her lips to speak, "They put me there in the intention to kill me so that I would never come back," and she continued, "I couldn't find the answer of what I am."
"That's alright. Even a piece of information to the past is useful," Calhoun brushed her hair with his hand, "You are more aware of the people around you. That counts for something."
"I hurt them too," whispered Madeline, pulling away from his embrace to meet his eyes.
"They must have deserved it," he replied, and without letting her out of his arms, he stood up with his wings spreading out.
Calhoun had agreed to go through her approach of finding the truth, but she appeared to be rattled. It was time he used his own methods, even if it meant that Madeline wouldn't like it.