《Fated Life》 1 Strangers ++Elizabeth''s POV++ I woke up to the sound of heavy footsteps outside my bedroom door. Slowly, I got off my bed and walked towards the door. In case I need to use something for self defense, I keep a metal baseball bat beside my nightstand. I took the metal baseball bat carefully without making a sound. My room is just near the stairs and has a clear view of the living room. Gently turning the door knob, I peeked through the small space. I saw two people wearing trench coats, both of them standing near the couch. One of them was wearing a black fedora hat and the other without one. One thing is common between them aside from the tough faces and rigid posture, both of them have a small tattoo just below their left ear. The sound of a door opening from my parent''s room alerted the men and they sat on the couch. I saw my mother coming out of their room. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun. Wrapping her pale pink robe around her, she went down the stairs and walked towards the two men sitting on the couch. "What are you doing here?" She questioned. Aiming it to the guy wearing the fedora hat. "We need her back." He said. He stood up and extended a hand to greet her, but she ignored the gesture. "What do you mean that you need her back? It''s not yet time for her to go back with you." She said. Surprised at the sudden order from him. It was her daughter that they were talking about. No mother would let their child go that easily. Listening to their conversation, my face wrinkled up. ''What does she mean about it being not yet time?'' "The King is waiting for his daughter, it''s almost time and we need her." The man answered. He nodded to his partner signaling to go to my room. Following the order, the other guy started to walk toward my direction. I quickly but carefully shut the door. My heart was pounding. I don''t know these men. Where will they take me? I don''t want to leave my family behind like this. "Laura." My father called my mom. I opened my door again just in time to see him walking out of the master''s bedroom and towards the living room where they were standing. He placed his right hand on her right shoulder in a protective manner, eyeing the two men in front of them. "Peter." She said with a resigned tone. She looked up at him then back at the two men. Apparently hearing the conversation that took place, my father sighed. They wanted to take his daughter. If the King issued the order, he has no power to go against it. "Alright, we''ll be giving her back to you however we need some time with her. We need to let her know about the truth and to give her some time to adjust. One week is all we need." "Please" Laura looked at them with pleading eyes. The guy with the hat said, "Alright, we''ll give you some time. Once a week has passed we''ll be back to fetch her, no more time extensions. The King wishes to take her as soon as possible." He tipped his hat to greet them farewell. He placed his hand back in his coat pocket and pivoted to face the front door. The other one followed. Before the man with the hat walked out, he looked to his right--at my direction--and gave a toothy grin. His pointy, elongated canines protruding. The Fedora Man turned the doorknob, pushed the door and stepped out. He was followed by his partner. I slowly closed the door, placed the bat carefully making sure that there will be no sound once I put it back. Walking slowly towards my bed, I sat down at the edge of it. ''Okay. Who are these people?'' ''What''s going on? What king?'' All of what I''ve heard is making me feel confused. Its too early in the morning to think about what happened. I''ll have to talk to my parents in the morning. Hoping that mom and dad can clear my confusion and answer my questions, I laid my body on the soft bed and covered myself with the red and black comforter. Sighing as the warmth of my blanket enveloped me, I closed my eyes. My breathing became relaxed as I sink into sleep, slowly welcoming the darkness. 2 The truth ++Elizabeth''s POV++ I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock on my bedside table. Fumbling for it I managed to turn it off without opening my eyes. I groggily sat on the bed and rubbed the sleep off my eyes, my head shaking from the thoughts of what happened last night. I got off the bed and made my way to the bathroom, grabbed the black toothbrush poured some toothpaste and brushed my teeth. I rinsed my mouth and grabbed the towel that was hanging near the bathroom sink. I need to take a shower and get ready for a boring day at school, Maggie will surely be waiting for me downstairs once I am done. After taking a bath, I dried my whole body and hair then went outside of the bathroom to get dressed. I opened the closet and took a black statement shirt that says Chocolate is Life then grabbed the black pants from the bottom drawer. After putting on the clothes that I got from my closet, I went to the kitchen where I saw my mom making pancakes. Two plates with three pieces of pancakes have been placed on the table when she saw me. She handed to me one of the plates, I placed it on the table then sat on the chair. I slowly chewed the food while staring into space. ''What the hell just happened last night.'' I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts when I felt someone poked me on my left side. Dang that was the part of me that''s really ticklish and only a few people knows that. I was about to look behind me when cold hands covered my eyes. \"Maggie.\" I said and heard a chuckle from behind me. \"Guess I could never get away whenever I do this, your guesses are always correct..\" Maggie said while trying to suppress her laughter. \"Ha ha, very funny!\" I said sarcastically while removing her hands. \"Wait for me, I''ll just get my bag from my room.\" I told her while standing up. While I was walking to my room I suddenly felt like the world is spinning. I fell down on my knees while clutching my head when a searing pain was felt inside my chest. It felt like someone is stabbing my heart again and again. I looked behind me while clutching my chest and the last thing I saw was them rushing towards me. I was walking on a corridor looking for something. I kept walking straight then turned left, there''s a wooden door that looks centuries old. I opened it, then saw a room full of books. I went inside then saw a tapestry when I turned my head to the right. In that tapestry is a woman with fair skin, red eyes and a lion sitting beside her, her right hand on the lion''s head. I walked towards that tapestry and shifted it to the left. I pressed a stone and a secret door was opened. I walked towards that door and continued walking in that damp passageway till I saw a light. There was an inner chamber and inside that chamber was a room full of different kinds of jewelry. In the middle was a necklace with an oval shaped pendant and a red jewel at the center. I walked towards it to get a closer look, the red part was a ruby and it was surrounded with white diamonds. My hands moved on it''s own and was going to grab the necklace but as soon as my skin touched the ruby I felt a searing pain in my head. I clutched my head in pain and fell down. I woke up inside a white room. ''Wait, where am I?'' I frantically moved my head around trying to look for a familiar face. On the left side of the room I saw my mom. \"Mom! What happened?\" I asked. \"You fainted and fell down the stairs dear.\" She said while walking towards me. \"Where''s dad and Maggie?\" \"Your dad is outside and Maggie is at home. She went to school to let the teachers know about what happened.\" \"Okay.\" I straightened my back, I felt a little pain while doing that so I slouched instead. \"Baby, once the doctors tell us that you can be discharged from the hospital we need to tell you something.\" She said while looking straight into my eyes. \"Alright.\" I said. After staying in the hospital for two days, the doctors told my parents that I can be discharged. My mom and dad processed the papers and took me home after that. I went straight to my room and plopped on the fluffy duvet. I am wondering what it is that they need to tell me. My eyes felt heavy and darkness consumed me. I am back in that same room from the last dream. I was not alone, a man wearing a black and red coat was on the other side of the room where the door was and started walking towards me. He tried to hold both of my arms with his hands. I tried to shake it off but somehow I couldn''t. He is stronger than me. He leaned towards my face and I felt soft lips touching my lips. This kiss was light and gentle, not rough. I felt something wet on my cheeks. I touched the part where I felt it and looked at my hand, it was red. My tears are bloody red. What am I? I woke up to the sound of my mother calling me from downstairs. I stood up and went downstairs and straight to the dining hall. The maids are serving the food. I sat on the chair facing my mother. I waited for my father to come downstairs. I can''t wait to ask them about what it is that they wanted to talk to me about. \"Mom, dad. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?\" I asked after placing my spoon and fork down. \"Shush.. Let us eat for now. We will be talking to you later in the study room.\" He shushed me then continued eating. I finished the meal then went straight to my father''s study. 3 En... I Am Alrigh She stood outside the doors of the study trying to prepare herself before coming in. "Elizabeth, sit down." Her father''s stern but gentle voice can be heard as he sat on the olive green European style armchair near the small fireplace. Her mother is sitting on the chair beside her father, her lips pursed together tightly while holding her hands together. He harrumphed before starting. "Precious, we have to tell you the truth right now. We''ve been so attached to you that we were silently hoping for this day to never come. My precious, you are not our daughter. We were given the task by our leaders to take care of a child more than a decade ago. We never had a child of our own so we gladly took you in and treated you as if you were our own. I know that this is going to be hard for you to take in but before your coming of age ceremony comes we have to bring you back to your real family." He lightly patted the back of his wife to console her as she silently cries about what''s going to happen. She was dumbstruck. Her mouth still gaping in shock of what her parents, no scratch that, what her foster parents told her. ''No no no no... this is not real. Dad, is this some kind of joke? If this is some kind of joke you''re taking it too far." She said as her head shakes in denial of what she''s been told. Still in denial, she ran out of the study while trying to wipe the tears that are falling down. She slammed the door to her room and dove under the covers. Bawling her eyes out like there''s no tomorrow. She felt a sharp pain in her heart that made her gasp. ''Pain, pain, so painful.'' A painful scream can be heard from her bedroom. Two people ran furiously to get into her room only to see her body contorting in pain. "Call them now!" he said as her mother fumbled for the phone and tried to call them. Everyone''s heart feels like it''s being pricked with tiny needles seeing her body contorting in pain, red tears flowing out from her eyes and scratches on her chest. A few minutes felt like hours while waiting for them to come and stabilize her body. Two people in black flitted to her room, one of them immediately took out a syringe filled with red liquid and injected it into her body. The spasms stopped and her body relaxed but the bloody tears are still falling down. "This is what''s gonna happen to her continuously if she''s still not confined within the palace walls before her coming of age ceremony." The man who injected the serum told them firmly and pursed his lips. "She''s not gonna be in pain anymore for the next forty-eight hours. We need to make sure she''s there before the effects of the serum fades." The second man in black told them with fangs bared. They held each others hand and nodded. "Enn.. We''ll start preparing once she wakes up." A few hours later... It feels as if her body''s been rammed by a ten wheeler truck. She painfully sat up and tried to look around. Her parents are on the couch sitting and was staring into space. She called out to them with a hoarse voice. They looked at her with a sad face, stood up and walked towards her bed. "Elizabeth, we''re so sorry but we can''t spend more time with you anymore. It''s for your own good, we don''t want this same thing to happen again." Her father said while trying to sit on the edge of her bed. "What do you mean they''re taking me back? Who are they?" questions kept pouring out of her mouth. "Your real family, the hidden royalty of Country R." "When do I go?" She asked glumly. "As soon as possible before the effects of the serum wears off" He answered with a grim face. Her mother tried to hold her hands while asking her how she''s feeling. "En... I am alright."