Anything For Rachel – Episode 35
#Episode_35
✒Calvin P•O•V
My phone began to ring in my pocket as I wandered the halls, but when I saw Octavia’s name I ignored the call, however, she called back relentlessly.
After a few times I finally answered. “Octavia, I don’t want to talk right now.” I groaned into it.
“This isn’t Octavia.” I heard her velvety smooth voice.
“Rachel.” I whispered.
“Where are you?” She asked with something that sounded like longing in her voice, but that couldn’t be what it was. Not after I showed her the monster.
“I don’t know.” I answered honestly. I’d just wandered, I’m not even sure which level I’m on at this point.
I heard her sigh, melting my frozen heart. “Well, when are you coming back?” She asked. “Have you talked to Lexton? Is she ok?”
“How could you be worried about Lexton right now after what I’ve just done?” I asked, astonished.
“Calvin, please just come back.” She begged. “I’m scared, and I don’t like you being away. I can’t deal with all of this uncertainty.” She told me. “We need to come up with a plan.”
“Rachel, what plan?” I asked, knowing how pointless any plan would be at this point.
“I don’t know.” She said. “But we have to try. We have to.”
“Try what? The announcement has already been made.” I reminded her. “Lexton is no longer eligible for the throne because she can no longer bare an heir. You’re the last human one, therefore, the crown automatically reverts back to you.”
“But what if you could convince the council that it’s in better interest to them to allow a vampire Lexton to win?” She asked, ever optimistic. “We have to try, just so we can at least tell Rose one day that we tried everything that we possibly could. If it still doesn’t work, then fine, I’m the queen, and Rose will have to come. We’ll just have to make them understand why we kept her away, or we kill anyone who stands against us.” She said with her usual determination building in her. She’s different, I’m realizing, than the young girl who left here five years ago. Rachel has become even fiercer than she was then, and god help anyone who tried to go against that woman. “That wouldn’t be the worst outcome would it?” She asked. “We have to at least try.” She repeated.
“Rachel, why do you even want that?” I asked her. “What I did earlier was inexcusable. I’m disgusted with myself as you should be. You shouldn’t be stressing yourself trying to fix everything, you should be running for the hills.”
“I’d never run.” She said firmly.
“Rachel…”
“Calvin.” She snapped. “Stop beating yourself up, and come up here and help us come up with something.”
“You better listen to her!” I heard Octavia call out.
“I mean it, Calvin.” She said. “If I’m meant to be here, then fine, but we have to at least try to change the council’s mind before we have to come clean about Rose and bring her here.”
“Rachel, you never cease to amaze me.”
= = = = == = = = == = == =
✒RACHEL P•O•V
= = = = = = == == = = =
I waited for what felt like forever to me.
“Rach, why don’t you come sit down?” Logan asked, sitting on the couch with Octavia and Patrick. “You’re making me nervous with all of that pacing.”
I ignored his request and kept walking my track into the carpet. “You should be nervous.” I pointed out. “I think we all should.”
“You don’t think the council will agree to your idea?” He asked and I looked over to see Octavia shaking her head as she looked down at her black boots.
“I doubt it.” I told him. “More than that though, Lexton would have to agree to it too, and after what’s happened to her, I don’t think she’d be willing, and I won’t go through with it if she isn’t.”
Patrick looked up from his paper. “You know Calvin could just force her.” He said. “She’s been living as a citizen here, so she must answer to her king.”
I stopped walking and crossed my arms over my chest. “I would never force her to do it.” I sighed. “And neither would Calvin.”
“So what do we do then?” Logan groaned. I could tell by looking at him, the way his hair was all shoved to one side and his face was unshaven, that he was stressed. I know the feeling. I’m there myself.
I covered my face with my hands and took a few deep breaths. “That’s something that we are all going to have to discuss.” I reminded him.
“Well where is he?” He snapped.
The door clicked open and Calvin stepped in tentatively. “I’m here.” He said, hanging his head in shame. I dropped my hands and sighed in relief when I saw him. With all of the bad things going on, him being out of my sight too makes me feel uneasy to no end. I need at least one certain thing in my life right now. He glanced across the room to me for only a second before dropping his eyes again. “Let me go get changed.” He muttered, disappearing into the back bedroom.
Kindly share out stories from generalloaded.com using the floating social media icon buttons on the bottom of the screen
I was glad he was changing. The blood smeared all over his shirt was jarring. It only made me remember him hovering over me viciously, and I didn’t want to think of that.
When he reemerged from the room he joined the others in the living room, standing in front of the coffee table. I went and sat in the large chair to the side and we all looked at each other for a moment. The only people who could be trusted in all of Castrum de Petra, gathered in one room.
“So?” Logan said, trying to get everyone talking. “A plan?”
Calvin shook his head and took my place in pacing. “No plan is going to work.” He said dully. “I just saw my men off to attack the rebels in Britain.” He said. “If they’re successful, when the men are done, they’ll come back here and root out any other supporters, although I feel there aren’t many. Lexton said there were two men who attacked her.” He explained. “I assume that one of them is probably the one who toyed with Rachel.”
Logan rubbed his jaw in frustration and Octavia put her hand gently on his shoulder. “If your men are able to kill the rebels, that keeps Rose out of the picture, but what about Rachel?” He asked. “What do we do now that the competition can’t go on?”
Everyone was looking at Calvin, and I could practically see the weight of everyone’s fears on his shoulders. He has been dealing with so much, more than I probably even know, and he is responsible for so many people. I know how he tortures himself, and I hate to see any more pressure put on him.
I cleared my throat to pull everyone’s attention back to me. “We don’t really have many options.” I stated the obvious. “All I can think, is maybe since the whole idea of the king needing an heir was something that King Gordo thought up, not something that was practiced for thousands of years, then the council may agree to let that condition go, and then the queen could be a vampire.” I explained. “That’s a big uncertainty though.” I admitted. “They seem pretty set on this idea of me staying, and so I am sure it is a long shot, and it would also matter what Lexton wants to do.”
“I don’t think Lexton will agree anymore.” Calvin said hushed, his face pulled together like he was deep in thought, trying to weasel out a solution from an impossible problem.
“And I don’t see the council agreeing either.” Octavia added.
“I know.” I sighed. “That’s just option A.” I said. “The one I wish for the most.”
Calvin looked over at me. “And option B?”
I fought the urge to bite at my fingernails, and I closed my eyes for a second, picturing my little angel. “Option B,” I sighed, then turned to Logan. “You take care of Rose.”
“Rachel.” Logan and Calvin said in unison.
“Just hear me out.” I told them both, trying to keep from crying.
“If the mission is a success, and no threat is looking for her anymore, I don’t want to put her through this life. All the pressure, and the danger, and the politics. There will always be people out to harm her as long as they know she’s alive, and this place is not somewhere a little girl should be raised.” I said quickly before I took it all back. “If they succeed, and she has a chance at being safe and happy, then I want you to take her, Logan. Raise our little girl, keep her safe. When things have died down here some, I will visit whenever I can, as often as I can.”
“Rachel, you can’t mean that.” Logan said, his own eyes full of tears.
“I do.” I told him. “She loves you, and I know that you would take the best care of her. She’d have a full life, normal, and perfect with you.” My voice cracked a little and I turned away from him to look up at Calvin who was standing frozen, his face hard and his eyes glassy. “Then there is option C.” I told him.
He looked down at me, pain in his eyes. “Option C?
I nodded my head. “Option C, if the mission fails, then there is too much danger out for her, and not enough time to fix that, so she will come here.” I said hollowly. “After a few weeks of course.” I added. “We would need to give everyone time to come around to the idea of her, and to let the backlash from me hiding her to die down before we bring her, but even when she is here, I want to live in the cabin.” I told Calvin. “Our little honey moon cabin in the woods. I will keep her there so that she at least will feel semi normal, and also safe during the daylight hours.”
Calvin nodded his head sadly. “You’ve got it all figured out I guess.” He sighed.
“I don’t.” I told him. “But with the announcement about Lexton, I realized that we can’t just play pretend forever and believe that everything is just going to work out because we want it to.” I explained. “Option A is the one I want, but we have to be ready to deal with B or C too.” I looked at everyone and the seriousness was heavy on us all. “No matter what, our lives are about to majorly change.”
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
.
||||||||•||||||•|||||•|||||
Story_Continues
✴✴✴✴✴✴ ✴✴✴✴✴✴
ANYTHING FOR RACHEL
