DISCLAIMER: Ladedada... Blah Blah Blah!!!!! There, that's done.
ABBY'S NOTE: Due to lack of interest, "Ella Ticked Off" will be discontinued. In fact, the lack of interest is so deficient that I do not even know why I am writing this note. No one shall read it... So, to my imaginary readers out there, thanks for reviewing!
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Just Kidding. I would never do such a thing, though it must seem like I have since I haven't written in so long. I apologize for my failures as a fan fiction author. Thank you for understanding and being so patient with me. This chappie will be EXTRA long... and, if I do say so myself, extra good. Now, without further ado, I present to you: CHAPTER 9!!!
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Chapter 9
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Ella froze. In all situations that could possibly take place, this was the worst. But, since Ella was not one to be lost for words, she took command once again.
"Everybody!" She yelled. "Run to the outskirts of town! Keep going past there. Go in small groups, and don't get caught! Quick! GO!"
After a moment of indecision, all of the slaves ran in every direction. Ella saw Gin, Tem, Marian, and Mashelia, and she ran to meet them. But she was tackled from behind and brought down. Ella could no more move than the tree stump that she had hit her head on-- Simone had her.
"NOO!" Yelled a male voice in the seemingly receding night. Ella could see Gin struggling to get to her among the swarms of people, though it seemed that she was seeing it through a glass of water.
"Tempest! Get him back! Go, already!"
She saw Tem grabbing hold of Gin, helped by Marian, and dragging him away from the chaos. As soon as they, and the others, were out of sight, Ella slipped into unconsciousness, and the last thing she heard was the laughter behind her-- the laughter of triumph.
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"She's coming to, the wench," said a voice high above Ella. She found that she was sitting in a cell much like that she had been held in when she had first been captured to be sold. In fact... she realized that this was indeed the same exact cell!
She had little time to think on this revelation, since she was then slapped smartly across the face. She saw that the man who had hurt her was the same one that had taken her prisoner what seemed like such a long time ago.
"Ahh, nice to see you, too, wench. You've caused me much grief, you know? Bah!" He hobbled over to the other side of the cell. "Nobody wants a disobedient slave... and that is what you are. But you are even worse than that! You are one of the ones that not only rebels against her master, but you make others do so, too!" The man was enraged. Then, however, he turned and looked at Ella with his ghastly smile. "And you didn't help your little friends in the least bit, dearie. You misled the poor souls, and now they are all dead or worse. Yes," he continued, seeing the horror on Ella's face, "we've caught them all. Some of them put up a fight, but they were beaten quickly. Those that were too tough to handle after capture were executed. Those that are left have been sold to the... South." He said this last bit with a grin.
Ella began to weep in frustration and grief. All of them had been murdered or sold. Those that had been sold would die a slow, agonizing death, since the Southern lands were known for their cruelty to slaves. The best fate for those headed there was to be captured and eaten by ogres. There was some consolation in knowing that Gin and Tem at least would not have had to go through the horrors of the Southern life-- they would have fought to the death instead. But poor Marian and Mashelia.
The man laughed a harsh laugh and left the room. He was quickly replaced by a "visitor" that was not wanted at all: Simone.
Ella stopped her crying at once. "You vile, evil, loathsome wench! You are the thing that keeps this world in perpetual sorrow! I will make you regret what you have done!"
And with that, she flew at Simone. But, she was stopped by a guard before she could reach the girl. He held Ella back so that she could not reach her adversary.
"You think that you can stop me, Sully, but you are wrong. You do not know what a heroine I am now that I have stopped your 'friends' from escaping. I am now a rich woman from the money I earned. You see, there's a reward for stopping a slave revolt, and I claimed it. I am so heavily protected that you will never be able to harm me." Simone began to laugh.
Ella's next words came out almost like a hiss, "You will be sorry that I did not get you now. It is better this way, for, when I find you, and I will, it will be when you have forgotten me. You won't know what hit you when I catch you. It may not be now, it may not be in ten years, but I will avenge my friends."
"That's where you are wrong, Sully... You see, the people of this town are very anxious to see you tomorrow, since you lost them all their slaves. They have a present for you... A necklace of rope!"
The guard threw Ella back onto the ground as Simone sauntered out of the room, cackling.
Ella remained on the floor all night. There was nothing she could do but wait for her execution and mourn the deaths of her friends.
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Blinking her eyes in the light, Ella realized that somebody had opened the door of her cell. She could not see after the sudden change from dark to light, so she had no idea who had entered the chamber.
All she heard was a female's voice, echoing after so little sleep. "Fear not, Ella. If you believe, he will come."
And then, the light went out. Ella heard no footsteps, but that didn't seem to matter anymore. She slipped into a deep sleep that was untroubled by dreams.
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Ella awoke when she was shaken by Sorit, the kidnapper. He forced her to stand and pulled her arms behind her. He wrapped a thick rope around her hands so that she could not move them.
She was lead out to almost the same place that she had been sold. The auction block was no longer there, for it was replaced by a hangman's rope. Simone had been right... The whole town had turned up to see her hang.
The crowd jeered at her and threw things at her as she was pushed up onto the platform. Seeing the fatal contraption up close allowed Ella to see that it had been created hastily, in order to carry out the swift judgment. Ella's life was about to end, and there was nothing that she could do about it.
Then, she remembered the words that she had heard the night before from the stranger in the light. "If you believe, he will come."
What had those words meant? No matter, she would just have to believe the words. She hoped and hoped that someone would come to save her as she was made to stand up straight. She prayed that someone would save her as the noose was put around her neck. She called upon her rescuer in her thoughts as the crowd taunted her. But no one came.
At the last moment, as the block was pushed beneath her feet, a noise erupted from behind the crowd. But it was too late... the block was no longer underneath her feet-- she dropped.
The fall did not kill her instantly, since she did not weigh enough for it to break her neck. She struggled as the rope cut into her throat.
Suddenly, she was freed. She fell to the ground and saw Gin above her. The rope had been cut! But more than that, Gin was alive!
After pulling the noose from around her neck (Gin had cut her hands), Ella managed to scramble to her feet with Gin's help. She knew that this was no time to question his sudden rise from the dead, however. She ran with him to the edge of the platform where a horse was waiting. They jumped onto it and rode out of the crowd that was trying to pull them off the speeding animal.
Though they were chased by many that wanted them dead, Gin and Ella made it safely out of town. The last thing that Ella saw when she looked back was Simone having a temper tantrum. Knowing that Simone was angry and that Gin was alive gave Ella the biggest smile that she had been able to muster since this whole thing started.
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After much galloping, Gin finally slowed the horse down to a walk. As soon as they reached a secluded circle of trees, he dismounted and helped her off the horse. After a moment in which Gin seemed to be checking her for wounds, he swept her into his arms in a tight hug.
Ella was surprised, but she hugged him back just as ferociously.
"What happened? They told me that you were all dead or sold to the South!" She asked him this as soon as they'd broken their embrace.
"Like they could have killed us all!" Snorted someone from the trees. "It isn't like we'd go quietly."
"TEM!!! You're alive, too!" Ella exclaimed with happiness as Tem hopped down out of a tree.
"We all are, Ella." Another voice.
Marian and all of the others materialized out of the forest. Ella gaped in amazement, which did not happen very often, since she was very rarely surprised.
"What happened?" She asked again.
Gin explained that they had managed to elude the forces that had tried to capture them. There had been some close calls and some struggles, but each time somebody got into trouble, another person had always stepped in to help out.
"We're all safe, now that you're here. I had to come and get you."
There was a moment's silence, before...
"I told you that if you believed, he would come."
The voice belonged to a girl that Ella recognized, though she had not seen who it had been before. It was the girl from the cell that had given them food... It was...
ABBY'S NOTE: Bum bum bum! Hehe. I hope you like the cliffhanger, though many of you probably already know who it is. Please review, I'd really appreciate it. And, since I forgot earlier, here's the poll and riddle. Merry Christmas!
Poll of the Chapter:
What do you want for Christmas?
Riddle of the Chapter:
Un-mix these letters to find a word that has to do with Fan Fiction: eegiinrvw