Wee! Part one of the last chapter! Grim must save Mandy from The Darkness by morning, or else she'll die!
Warning - a lot of blood in this chapter. Ah, hell. No one reads this story anymore anyways.
Boogeyman was leaning against the wall of his tiny, dank cell, crossing his coffee-and-wine dehydrated arms over his chest. Even though he was to be executed by breaking wheel at dawn, he was as smug and satisfied with himself as he always was. Tampering with a little girl's mind was better than… oh, he wouldn't admit what it was better than.
Boogey looked at the shackle that bound his ankle to the wall. He was so used to chains they were merely a fashion accessory for him – to wear as he saw fit. He remembered giving staff at the Freaky Fred Memorial Institute for the Criminally Insane a lot of grief finding out how he got out of their pathetic restraints. He sat down, grabbed the cuff and chafed his longest fingernail against the wall until it resembled a bobby pin. Only one thing left…
"Thank you, mister," he said wryly as he elegantly grabbed the key chain from the pool of the prison guard's blood. He looked down, not a shred of remorse on his ugly mug. "Why the long face? You cost me a nail."
Boogeyman chuckled, low and ominously. "Break a leg…" The keys tinkled.
The sun was setting and colored the clear sky purple, pink and orange. Some stars were sparkling far in the distance. Mandy looked out the windows of her castle and leaned her head against the stone edging in despair at the sound of her people screaming. The sight of the burning houses made her sick with fury. Normally they would end today's work and sit down to eat. Mandy toyed with her rosary for a moment, but it did not comfort her as much without the Book of Hours suspended from her belt. It was being restored by the Secret Snake Club who, aside from being social peons, also great illuminators.
The feeling of encroaching doom laid heavily on everybody in the castle, including the servants as they dressed Mandy in battle attire; a purple dress with plates of metal sown into the corset. In half an hour she was to stand at the balcony and speak to her army to calm them down. She sat by the table by the fireplace and picked through a light meal as she heard voices outside the chamber door. Her mind wandered off to the bargaining with Mindy.
The Three Judges kept calm as Mindy stepped down on the carpet and stained it with hippocras. Mandy however, indulged in a smirk. "I can't believe you would actually hired Boogeyman and Ghastly to aid you in your ridiculous scheme. They will both betray you. Ghastly would gladly sell her grandmother down the river if she believed it would help her creativity. And Boogeyman – now he's a real fine match. He ends up killing the women around him and you're different to him, just a plaything, and a pastime at best."
Mandy frowned even deeper "But the real difference between you twerps and me is that you will lose. And when you lose I shall bind you to the rack myself with the greatest of pleasure."
Grim, seated in the background, was flabbergasted. Mandy had banned the rack as well as all torture instruments a long time ago. He went from flabbergasted to suspicious.
"Careful now," Mindy said and twirled lock of her red hair. "Your people, that is, those few who survive the night, will benefit from my plans."
"You will not lay hands on my people!" Mandy pointed at her, shaking with fury. "Guards, arrest her!"
Mindy just glanced scornfully at the guards' spears. "Come dawn, Your Majesty, you will be dead. Overthrown and forgotten!"
She cackled like a demented school girl. Mandy felt strangely powerless, yet kept her veneer at the normal diamond brand. Mindy had yet to learn how death was only the beginning, and that this was true for all warfare. All battles start with death, and ended in victory, at least for one party. This was one party where Mindy would not be on the list.
Mrs. Doolin's hair was a mess. She had heard the bad news on her way in from the wrestling academy to make sure her youngest students were safely escorted to a hideout. Grim attended classes there in his youth.
"Grim, there's been a mass escape from the prison. All the most dangerous criminals, including Boogeyman, have fled suicide watch."
Grim was aghast. He had built that block himself. "How? How could this happen? They were guarded, weren't they?"
He looked at Mandy's door and took a very deep breath. "This is getting dangerous. I fear that she's on to us. It's in her eyes."
"Unless you say something, she won't find out. Don't lose faith, Grim! That's how you failed wrestling. But now we need to take care of here and now. Remember… until dawn."
"Until dawn." Grim repeated. Then he shook off his dark thoughts, if only for a minute. "You're right. Um, you need to gather the children in and near the castle and take them to the shelter…" And then he remembered the new horror Mandy was storing in the basement. "The shelter at the east end. The basement is the first place Mindy's goons will look for them. Boogey knows where it is. And also bring Penny; she's in a weak condition. Make sure she's comfortable, and put Billy in charge."
"Is that a good idea?" Mrs. Doolin hesitated.
"He may be a cretin, but he won't let us down now."
Once again Grim looked at Mandy's door. "Only one thing left to do."
The royal army was flocked around the moat of Dimhald Castle, and it was a spectacular sight. The soldiers were all armed to the teeth, in armor and carrying banners with Mandy's monogram. General Irwin rode in on an obese old horse to the front line awaiting the Queen's orders. Already there was corporal Spider Queen and Major Nergal. It was so tragic how Officer Pud'n was absent.
The door to the balcony opened and Grim stepped out first, followed by Mandy, in her long purple war gown. Her visage was like stone.
"Loyal subjects," her charismatic but cold voice put all chattering to death immediately. "I am a leader of few words and many actions. But tonight, as I usher you into war, I know I am pushing your faith and loyalty to me to the limit. But remember – I stand at the front line. No one can harm you without taking me down first!"
The crowd cheered, and the hundreds of torches were lifted as in a toast of fire.
Mandy leaned over the balustrade, and the silver scythe sparkled in the luster of the torches.
"This war…" her words faltered in the freezing night, "Came over us so unexpectedly. Our strength is that we can beat any diseases, famine and war, no matter how unforeseen. By this time tomorrow, the guilty will be chased back to the shadows!"
Irwin looked up at his Queen. If he was still alive tomorrow he would pop the question again.
"We fight till dawn!" Mandy lifted her club and sickle to the sky, and the army cheered on even louder. The ringing of bells and beating of drums were caught by the deep catacombs below the castle, and the echo thundered inside, outside and around Dimhald.
Mandy searched through her wide cotton belt for the key to the potion room as she stepped back in from the cold. Grim followed behind her.
"A very interesting speech, Mandy," he said, with a noticeable coolness to his otherwise serious tone.
She did not notice it. "Thank you. I will be ready in a few minutes."
Grim positioned himself in front of the exit to her boudoir. His long flowing black garments waved menacingly. "For what reason? Your horse is waiting outside the west end."
His eyes narrowed. Mandy's eyes narrowed as well, and her behavior reminded him of a defiant child being accused of stealing.
"I suppose this is what you're after." He said bitterly and pulled the vial of The Darkness out from his sleeve.
Mandy took a deep breath and leapt onto him, snarling. But Grim had been anticipating a move like this. He grabbed her by the wrists as she hissed like an insane bobcat. "Give it to me!"
"No, Mandy," he said. "I am sorry. But I can't let you into fight this battle."
He dragged her into the boudoir, dropped her onto the floor and slammed the double doors safely shut.
Mandy was immediately up, kicking and shouldering the door. "Grim! Let me out of here! Let me out of here! That's an order!" She pounded the woodwork.
Grim looked down on the bottle of pure evil, and took a moment to listen to the diabolic rage in Mandy's ear-piercing screams.
Till dawn.
