Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Elara:

”No!”

The scream finally tore itself from my throat. It echoed through the living room so loudly that every masked figure turned toward me at once.

For one frozen heartbeat, nobody moved. Not them. Not me. Not even Felix. His eyes widened in absolute horror as he lay there on floor.

”...Elara...”

The sound of my name on his lips snapped me back to reality. I didn’t think and ran. My feet slipped against the hardwood floor as I rushed toward my family. Tears had already blurred my vision.

”Dad! Mom!”

The nearest masked man stepped in front of me before I could reach my parents. I slammed both hands into his armored chest with everything I had.

”Move!”

He didn’t even stumble. It felt like trying to push a brick wall.

”Please!” I cried, clawing at his armor. ”Please let them go!”

The man didn’t acknowledge me. Didn’t even look down. As though I wasn’t worth noticing.

Another masked figure slowly lowered his sword and spoke, ”So... The Moon Princess has finally revealed herself.”

Moon Princess?

My breathing hitched. ”W-What? I don’t know what you’re talking about! You have the wrong person! I-I’m just Eleanora!”

No one answered. Instead, every pair of eyes behind those expressionless white masks settled on me. The atmosphere changed instantly. They no longer looked interested in my parents. Or Felix. They looked... satisfied. As though they had finally found exactly what they had come for.

Dad somehow forced himself onto one elbow despite the blood soaking through his shirt. ”Run...” His voice was barely more than a whisper. ”Elara... run...”

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face as I shook my head. ”I’m not leaving you!”

Mom was sobbing openly now. ”No... please... take me instead! Leave my daughter alone!”

One of the masked men calmly kicked her aside and she hit the floor with a painful cry.

”MOM!”

I lunged toward her, but strong fingers suddenly wrapped around my upper arm. Before I could react, my entire body was yanked backward so violently that my feet left the ground.

”No!” I twisted wildly. ”K-Keep your hands off me!”

The grip only tightened. Pain shot through my shoulder as I struggled harder. I kicked, scratched, and even tried biting the hand. I tried anything and everything. Yet the man holding me never loosened his grip. It was like fighting solid steel.

”LET ME GO!”

”I SAID LET ME GO!”

The leader ignored my screaming and slowly crouched beside my father.

”You lied.”

Dad managed a weak smile despite the blood running down the corner of his mouth. ”I... protected... my daughter...”

The sword pierced downward and a wet sound filled the room. Dad’s body jerked once. Then... nothing.

”DAD!!”

Something inside me shattered.

”No...”

”No...”

”No, no, no...”

My knees buckled, but the man holding me refused to let me fall. I couldn’t even crawl to him. Couldn’t hold him. Couldn’t tell him I loved him one last time.

Mom let out a heartbroken scream that sounded almost inhuman. She threw herself toward Dad’s body despite her injuries. Her cries filled the house.

”David!”

She had never raised her voice at anyone in her life. Never. She was gentle and kind, the type of woman who apologized to furniture after bumping into it. Yet now she clawed desperately at one of the masked figures with blood-covered hands.

”I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!”

The response was merciless. A blade flashed and Mom’s voice disappeared. She collapsed across Dad’s body. Motionless.

”...Mom?”

The word came out so quietly that I barely heard it myself.

She didn’t answer. She never would again. Something warm rolled down my cheeks. I realized dimly that I had stopped screaming and struggling. My mind simply couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing.

They were gone. Both of them. Just like that. The family who had loved me for twenty years. The people who had tucked me into bed when I was sick. Who had cheered at every school event. Who had stayed awake helping me study before exams.

Gone.

Felix.

My eyes searched frantically until they found him lying several feet away. He was still breathing, but barely. Blood spread beneath him, mixing with Mom and Dad’s until I couldn’t tell whose was whose anymore.

Hope flared inside my chest.

”Felix! He’s still alive! Please!”

I looked at the masked men through tear-filled eyes. ”Please... you have already killed my parents... please don’t hurt him anymore... I’ll go with you! I’ll do whatever you want! I don’t know what Moon Princess you’re talking about. But if you think it’s me... I’ll come! So please... don’t hurt my brother.”

Silence.

The leader regarded me for several long seconds, then spoke in an emotionless voice. ”We aren’t supposed to leave anyone alive involved in your abduction, Princess.”

Ice spread through my veins. ”No...”

Felix slowly turned his head toward me. His face had become frighteningly pale. Yet somehow... he smiled. That same stupid smile he had worn my entire life. The smile that always made me feel safe.

”...Happy...” He coughed violently, blood staining his lips. ”...birthday...”

My heart broke all over again. ”No... don’t talk. We’ll call an ambulance. Everything’s going to be okay.” The lies spilled from my mouth automatically. Even though we both knew, nothing was ever going to be okay again.

Felix’s trembling hand slowly lifted off the floor. It shook so badly that he could barely keep it raised. ”...Elara...” His fingers reached toward me. Toward where I struggled helplessly in the masked man’s grasp.

Just a little farther. If I could just reach him...

I twisted violently, ignoring the pain shooting through my shoulder. ”Let me go! Please! I just want to reach him!”

The arm around me tightened until I cried out. Another pair of hands grabbed my wrists. Then another. Three men were restraining me now. Still...I fought. I kicked so hard that one of them took half a step backward.

I didn’t care. I had to get to Felix. He was waiting for me. His hand was still reaching.

”PLEASE!”

”I’m right here! Felix! I’m coming!”

His eyes never left mine. There was fear inside them. But also love, regret, and something else... as though he wanted to tell me something important. Something he had never had the chance to say.

His lips moved silently. But I couldn’t hear the words. Then... one of the masked men walked forward. Straight toward him.

”No...” My voice cracked. ”No...”

The sword rose.

”STOP!” I screamed until my throat burned raw. ”PLEASE! I’LL GO! I’LL DO ANYTHING! JUST DON’T-”

The blade plunged downward, straight through Felix’s heart. His body arched once. His fingers twitched. And for the briefest moment... our eyes remained locked.

Then... the light disappeared from them. His hand fell back into the growing pool of blood and everything became quiet.

Too quiet.

I stopped breathing. Stopped crying. Stopped feeling. There was only... nothing. Just an endless emptiness.

Then it came. Not sadness, nor grief. But Rage. Pure, blinding, and uncontrollable rage. And along with it I felt something warm and unfamiliar building deep inside me.

A scream unlike anything I had ever made ripped itself from deep inside my chest as I threw myself against the men holding me with every ounce of strength left in my body. I clawed at their arms until my fingernails split and bled. I bit one hard enough to taste blood. I kicked wildly, my vision consumed by tears and hatred as only one thought remained in my mind.

Kill them. Kill every last one of them.

The men grunted as they tightened their hold. More masked figures rushed forward to pin my arms and legs. It took four... no, five of them to stop my frantic struggle, yet I refused to give up.

I screamed my parents’ names. I screamed Felix’s name. I screamed until my voice cracked into broken sobs, but nothing brought them back. Nothing changed the sight of the three people I loved lying lifeless on the floor.

The leader watched me without emotion before giving a single nod. ”She’s awakened emotionally. Knock her unconscious before she loses control.”

”What...?”

I barely had time to process his words before I heard one of the men murmuring something under his breath before placing his hand on my head and an unexplainable sensation washed over me.

The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me whole was my family’s blood covering the floor... and Felix’s outstretched hand, forever frozen just beyond my reach.