Majesty Castle

20 years earlier….

Boys will be boys and that’s exactly what they were. In the back of the castle, somewhere beyond the garden stood a fort made out of rocks, sticks and plenty of mud. Four young boys at the tender age of 8 and one at only 4 were warriors draped in capes made out of towels with swords made out of sticks. As all warriors do, they all had names that they called each other on the field of battle. They were, M Shadows, Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev and Johnny Christ

“I’m going to save the pwincess!” Johnny yelled as he ran across the field with his sword aimed at the dragon they had crafted out of a leaf pile.

“You can’t even say princess!” Jimmy shouted running after him. “I’m going to save the princess! Short shit.”

The dragon rumbled as Johnny got closer and he stopped and stared at the pile of leaves as it came to life. “GO BACK!” Matt yelled disguising his voice. “BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!” Brian added.

“There’s two of dem!” Johnny yelled looking at Jimmy.

“Better send for reinforcements!” Jimmy yelled.

“Have no fear! Vengeance is here! I aint afraid of no stupid dragon!” Zacky came galloping up on a long branch between his legs pretending it was a horse.

“TURN AROUND AND GO BACK!” Came Matt from the leaf pile. Johnny stood there wide-eyed. Jimmy and Zacky just shook their heads. It never failed to amaze them that Johnny never figured out Matt and Brian were the dragon no matter how many times they played this game.

“Out of my way pip squeak, time for a real man to save the princess!” Jimmy shoved Johnny to the side shoved his stick in the pile of leaves.

“You always get to save the pwincess.” Johnny folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

“I’m going to be King! The princess will be my Queen. That’s how come I get to save the princess!”

“Nuh uh!” Johnny protested. “You can’t be the King!”

“Why not?”

“Cuz your mommy’s dead!”

Matt and Brian stood up out of the leaf pile after hearing what Johnny said to Jimmy. Zacky dropped his stick to the ground and the four of them stood there looking at the younger boy. “Well she is!” He stood there and shrugged like it was a matter of fact.

Jimmy shoved him to the ground and pounced on him. It took both Matt and Brian to pull Jimmy off of Johnny. “What the hell is going on?” Zakk yelled as he picked up his son.

“Jimmy hit me, daddy!” Johnny yelled through his tears.

“Jimmy!” Candace looked down at him. “Why did you hit Johnny?”

“He said my mommy’s dead!” Now it was Jimmy who had tears falling from his eyes.

“Johnny, that wasn’t nice at all.” Candace put her arms around Jimmy and started back for the house. Jimmy turned around one last time and looked back at all of his friends.

“My mommy is not dead. She loves me and one day I’m going to find her and show you all!” With that he ran as fast as he could back to the house.

Present day…

“Who did it?” Shadows asked as he paced his living room floor.

“It was Peter,” Gates answered. Shadows nodded his head as he cracked his knuckles.

“What was his reason?”

“She was reading the book you had me leave for her on her nightstand while she slept.” Gates pulled his cigarette from his lips and continued. “They provoked her, the three of them. Your parents and Peter.”

Shadows was standing at his window looking out at Nightmare. The horse belonged to him and the bond they had was unbreakable. “There’s something I need to talk to you about. It’s unrelated to Allegra, but just as important.”

“What is it?” Shadows asked never taking his eyes from the window.

“Simone.”

Shadows turned from the window and faced his friend as soon as he heard her name. “What’s happened to my sister?”

“Nothing,” Gates shook his head. “Her vacation from school is over and she is set to return to boarding school at the end of the week.”

“And how is that important?”

“If they send her back, she’ll run away. We can’t let them send her back.”

Shadows sighed and sat down in a chair by the fireplace. “So, my sister throws a temper tantrum and we have to save her from going back to boarding school?”

“No.” Gates stood up and put his cigarette out in the ashtray before locking eyes with Shadows. “She isn’t your sister.”

“Are you insane?” Shadows asked leaning forward.

“I’m not insane,” Gates shook his head. “I’m not insane.” He walked back and forth across the carpet and looked up at the ceiling while letting out a breath. “I found her in the hall one night when she was supposed to be in bed. She was standing outside your parent’s bedroom and listening while they argued.”

“and?” Shadows asked.

“And I was about to drag her back to her room, but she wouldn’t let me. We heard them say that she wasn’t their daughter. They were fighting because Jon didn’t want to send her away, but Rosalie insisted she go to boarding school. She said if Simone stayed in the castle, she would eventually find out her true identity and that was out of the question.”

Shadows sat forward with his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face hard with his hands. “What the fuck?” he whispered and looked up at Gates.

“Yeah, well Simone said a lot more than that. We can’t let her go back to boarding school and she’s terrified that you won’t accept her any longer once you knew the truth.”

“Simone is my sister and that will never change. We can’t bring her here. She’ll know Allegra is here. What about your father’s fishing cabin?”

“You mean his bachelor pad?”

“Right. Never mind, take her to the fort.” Gates nodded knowing what he meant. The fort was a place that they all owned hidden away in the woods. As children, they built a fort out of rocks, sticks and mud, but as teenagers, they built a fortress out of bricks with their own hands. The only people who knew about it other than the five boys were Zakk and Nikki.

“I better go. I should warn you, they are looking for Allegra. They are claiming she stole a horse from the stable and have the authorities searching everywhere.”

“I can handle it,” Shadows nodded and watched as Gates left.

Shadows turned his gaze towards the bedroom door where Allegra lie sleeping. Beyond the door she was in and out of consciousness. He sat with her throughout the night while she slept and each time she cried in her sleep from the pain, he soothed her with a calm hand over her hair and soft words. Not once has she fully awakened, nor did she know who her host was.