Rise of a Queen

Chapter 26

The flames held no comparison to the color of Bernard's blood.

It blasted into the air from where a bullet ripped into the back of his skull and shredded through his face, eradicating any notion of identity he once had. Teeth rained into the grass, sprayed by a shower of lively scarlet, and what once was a mouth now hung wide open with saliva and blood drooling into a puddle around him. The body slumped forward, thumping loudly against the ground. Chunky liquid poured freely from a head severed in half, sockets now empty from where his eyes popped free of their containments and jostled against pale cheeks by means of fleshy roots still connected to what remained of his skull, and skin peeled backwards to reveal splinters of bone floating in a soupy mixture comprised of blood and liquified brain.

Corinth witnessed this all unfold only inches in front of her and she screamed.

I have never heard screams so loud.

She jerked her hand back to cover her face where Bernard's blood had misted across her cheeks, into her eyes, painted across her lips. Dustin and Brandon went still from their positions, mouths dropped open and expressions blanched in horror. Lumiere and I resided farthest from the body but the stench of copper reached even us, invading our senses and enticing a gag from each of us while we collectively watched the twitching of muscles of a headless corpse.

Count Marx nudged the body with the toe of his boot, wearing a face of disgust at the mess, "Off with his head, I suppose."

My stomach heaved violently, "He wanted to say something ..." My organs stalled and I nearly wretched, "He wanted ..." There was nothing in my stomach to vomit but that did not quell the stampede of dry heaves, "How could you ..."

The Count handed off the gun and stalked back towards Dustin, his boots squishing through blood and crunching over bone, "It was quite easy. Just point and aim, the gun usually does the rest." He took Dustin by the hair and held him to the side, closely examining how Dustin was violently spiraling out of control, "Oh my, you poor boy. Did you want to hear what your uncle had to say?"

"No, I just ..." Dustin was in shock and his words lagged, "I ... I just-"

"I thought you hated him?"

Dustin kept staring at the body, too mortified to look away, "I did ... but ..."

"But he was still family, right? After all this time and all of this hatred, you still thought someday you might work things out and become the Brady Bunch again?" The Count cackled boisterously, "You were living in a lie kid, he wasn't ever going to change. Up until the very end, he was the same cowardice man who abandoned the Tribe. In my opinion, that alone was enough provocation to execute him."

Dustin finally ripped his stare away, eyes shut tight and bottom lip caught between his teeth while his shoulders hunched forward, curling himself inward, "You killed him."

"Yes." The Count said emotionlessly, "I did."

"But ..." Dustin sank lower, his forehead nearly touching the grass, "He didn't deserve that ... he didn't do anything."

"Even if he was innocent, which he certainly was not, I still would have killed him. We can't have anyone knowing about your survival, yet. You should know all about that, Dustin. After all," The Count glanced towards me, "No witnesses, right?"

My legs were shaking too hard, my knees suddenly lost of strength, and they could not sustain my weight. My body dropped and the man behind me let me fall. Once on the ground, blades of grass cut into my skin and the stench of blood heightened. It was overwhelming. I gagged again and dragged myself backwards to avoid the crimson pool spreading out from Bernard's body.