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Trapped

The cottage was actually pretty cozy.

You could tell no one had lived in it in a very long time, but that was easily taken care of. Chloe cleaned the place like it was her own, consulting me for arrangements, and placements here and there. Emery was muscle, and moved whatever we wanted. He fixed the main bedroom so that the doorway was wider, and hung up a curtain over the entrance way, that we tied up unless I was asleep. He set up my bed so that I was able to see most of the house out of the entrance way. Then it was easier to stay lying down, because I still felt involved. It had been a month so far, since I had seen Kries. Itna had come once, in the middle of the night, and dropped off supplies, but that was it. He reassured me that Kries was fine, but it wasn’t the same.

“Tell him that I love him, and that I’m so sorry for arguing with him,” I cried as I tried to force the words out correctly to Itna.

“I will.”

He leaned in and hugged me.

He rubbed my belly gently.

“Oh, that reminds me. What have you told my mom and dad? Not the truth I am sure,” I interrupted his grandfather like babble at my stomach.

“Oh, uh well. We said that Chloe and you went to her sister's to visit, and that the trip back was too much for you and the baby, so you wouldn’t be coming home until it was born.”

He smiled at me hoping for approval.

“Are you serious?”

I sat up angrily.

“Umm, yes?”

He sat down; aware this would be a while.

“I have to be here until it’s born! I don’t get to go home before then? I wanted Kries to be with me when I had it.”

I felt myself beginning to panic.

Itna relaxed slightly, realizing it wasn’t the story he had told that I was upset about, but something he could fix.

“Yes, you have to have it here; your body really can’t handle another trip. But, I will keep tabs, and you let me know when you’re going into labor, and I will get Kries here.”

He patted my leg. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it would work.

“Alright.”

I hugged him, and let him leave.

“Chloe?” I asked.

“Yes?”

She stopped knitting.

“I was thinking about something Dumitro said to me.”

“Now, why would you do that?”

She continued knitting.

“He said that he was doing this to me because I was his brother’s wife, who tried to kill him. Now I get being angry at me for trying to kill him, but what does he mean brother?”

She stopped knitting, and set it all down into her basket, realizing this would take a minute. Then she came and sat on the bed next to me.

“What are you asking? Are Kries, and Dumitro brothers?”

I nodded.

“Yes, they are. You see, when Kries was a baby, his parents were taken, our daughter and her husband. Alexis and I took the baby, and kept him under our protection, while Itna sent troops to retrieve them. By the time they reached them however, they had been turned into Demons.”

A tear dropped down her cheek at the memory of her daughter. I laid my hand on hers, comfortingly.

“We can turn into Demons if there are so many of them that we can't heal the paralysis in time, as I am sure Alex told you. You see, this was the case with Kries’s parents. Well needless to say they had two kids, again, as Demons. Dumitro and Ana.”

I looked down.

Poor Kries, I couldn't even imagine growing up knowing that; it explained why they hated each other so much.

“So what is it going to take, to get Dumitro out of my life?”

I fiddled with my hands.

“Kries has to kill Dumitro,” she stated with acceptance.

“How is he supposed to do that?”

I threw my hands in the air.

Chloe smiled.

“Well what will happen is…”

Just then Emery came in.

“Chloe, do not say another word about this. Please exit the room while I speak to her,” he spoke firmly, but not unkindly.

Chloe bowed her head, and exited the room, closing the door behind her. As Emery sat down, I smacked his arm.

“Ouch! What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his arm.

“That was mean! Chloe didn’t deserve that.”

I scowled at him.

“It was not. She knew better than to say what she was saying, whether you asked or not. If I had of been Alexis or Itna, I would have screamed at her.”

He made a mocking scowl look back at me.

“Well why can’t I know?”

I pouted.

“Because you already have a risky pregnancy, and any more detail, and you’ll have nightmares that will stress your baby out. She shouldn’t have told you about his parents. He could have told you, after all of it was over.”

He rubbed my leg.

“Yes, he could have, but would he? Probably not.”

I looked down. I hated secrets.

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'Trapped', Chapter 13 of the English fiction novel: The War of Legendary Secrets