Even Ghosts Forget

“Cy?” I heard someone ask. I opened my eyes, making Drew smile. “Thank god, I thought I was on my own” I sat up, looking around. Kier was lying on the floor a little bit away. Luke was lying with a bloodstained shoulder, wrapped in a fabric which looked a lot like Drew’s jacket. There was no sight of Laurence. I looked up to Drew, who knew straight away what I was going to ask.
“He’s the leader, so they wanted to speak to him first” He said solemnly. I know I didn’t trust Laurence as much as the others, but I couldn’t help feeling guilty. It was my fault for not noticing the man and shooting him. If I did then maybe none of us would be in this mess.

“Why the guilty face?” Drew asked. Of course, he didn’t know. He was unconscious through most of it.

“It was my fault” I told him “if I’d have noticed that man coming, he wouldn’t have called for other guards and Laurence and Luke back where the bomb was would be okay, and I’d have been able to carry both of you out of harms way, and we’d have been able to blow it up” Drew frowned, before saying.

“well, yeah, maybe you should have been more alert, but it was all of our fault. I mean, Laurence and Luke shouldn’t have left you on your own-if they did-and me and Kier shouldn’t have been so stupid. They used this...this chemical and we stupidly breathed it in”

“Chloroform, the guards called it, and they just wanted me to find you, that was all” I explained.


“Exactly, they let you go off on your own. They shouldn’t do that until you trust us all completely and you have your confidence back” he said.

“I trust you completely. I wanted to go with you and Kier, but I wasn’t sure wether Laurence would let me”

“You should always ask, Cy. He may seem a bit bossy and arrogant, but he is a big softie, really. Oh, and thanks for trusting me, I wasn’t expecting you to trust us for ages” He smiled. I returned it.

We heard footsteps and a guard stepped in, looking at Luke, Kier then to me and Drew. He glanced between us, before his eyes finally stuck on me.

“Where’s Laurence?” Drew growled.

“Somewhere he won’t be able to get out of. Although, the way the Cardinal treated him, you could out him in the hall leading to the exit and he wouldn’t be able to get out.

“Why?” I asked, my teeth clenched.

“You guess” The guard said, looking back at Kier. He laughed. “He took a bit too much of that, good fighter though, I might even have some bruises”

Drew growled. “Well, I’m glad you like the view” He hissed. The guard glared down at him. The fact that me and Drew were sitting on the floor made him tower over us even more, blocking out the candle light from outside the cell. I shuffled closer to Drew.


“Which one of you lot is called Cyrus?” He asked. Drew glared at him.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because the cardinal wants to speak to him. If there isn’t a Cyrus, I’m sure I can make do with Kier, although he wont ever wake up again” he growled.

Drew looked at me, before saying. “I am”
“Are you sure? Because the Cardinal knows who Cyrus is, and if Cyrus doesn’t appear, then someone will get hurt” I swallowed hard, before standing up. I let out a shaky breath, before saying “I’m Cyrus Barrone” The guard smirked and took my arm roughly, tugging me out. Drew gave me a sympathetic look, I was tugged forward just as Kier started to move a little.

I was taken to a room, lit by hundreds of candles. The floor turned from stone to a blood red carpet. In front of me sat on a black throne was the same person as last time, with the gold mask.
“Hello again” They purred. They saw me looking at the carpet. “Blood red, so that it doesn’t stain as easily. Do you like it, Cyrus?” I looked back up at him, not saying anything. 
“Poor Laurence wouldn’t speak to me either. I fixed him though. Do you see the mess he made on my lovely carpet?” The cardinal pointed to a few centimeters in front of him; the carpet had a large damp patch, slightly darker red. Blood.

“What did you do to him?” I growled.

“Nothing much” The Cardinal shrugged. “He deserved it though, Cyrus”

“The only thing he deserves is his throne back!” I yelled at him. The Cardinal tutted.

“No, this is my throne. Do you really think his father would let him take over? Dear Cyrus, he was a troublemaker. He wanted power. Didn’t you ever wonder wether they were telling you the truth? You used to be my mechanist, you would fix all the machinery that went wrong in that factory. You fell one day, off the banister and landed hard on the floor. We tried to help you but your memory jut went, so we kept you in that cell, waiting for you to get your memory back. I knew you wouldn’t trust me, or anyone else, so I thought it best to keep you alone. But then They came, they took you because you can fix anything, presumably they had a large weapon they wanted you to fix after you gained their trust. They pretended you were part of their group and that I did all that harm. But why would I do that? Do you ever remember me hurting you, Cyrus?” He explained. I felt more confused than I had been when I first woke up in the cell, everything swirling around my head, weaving in and out. I was confused and found myself biting my nails.

“I know this has probably confused you, Cyrus, but you must trust me” he held out a hand. I didn’t take it. Would they really lie to me? Could I imagine Drew making friends with me just so that I can help them take the throne?

“Are you going to trust-”


“Let me think!” I snapped, interrupting the Cardinal. Could I imagine the Cardinal lying? Yes. Could I imagine Kier, Luke, Drew and Laurence lying? I’m not so sure. I don’t think Drew would, but he might be a good actor. I knew I didn’t trust the Cardinal, because why would they drug me and put me with the others, wouldn’t he treat me better than the others?

I found myself shaking my head. “Do you honestly think I’d ever believe you?” I laughed at the thought. “I know I will never know what happened before now, but the Fearless Vampire Killers are believable. You? Well, you look just the part for a villain in a story” 
“Then let me show you my face”he had a sly smile on his lips. 
“I doubt that will change anything” I said.

“Oh, it will...” He said, putting a hand to his mask.

The guard suddenly looked away. I remembered what Laurence had yelled to Kier.
I ran forwards, kicking him on the chest. His throne fell backwards, his legs splaying in the air. I ran to him, stealing his sword and holding it to his neck. A smile was spread across my face.

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!” He growled.
“Maybe I wouldn’t before I lost my memory, maybe then. But now, now I might be able to” I told him. I pressed the sword down slightly. His breathing quickened as a few beads of blood fell from his neck. The guard had turned now.

“You come anywhere near me, and I relieve his head” I told him. He smirked, probably thinking I wouldn’t be able to kill anyone. I wasn’t sure either, but I thought that when the adrenaline kicked in, I would do anything. He stepped forward. I pressed the sword further, my hand sweating from nerves. Could I really kill someone? What if I get hunted down? What if I make matters worse for everyone?

The guard suddenly ran. I swung the sword at him, not realising I had left the cardinal. Blood splattered to the ground. The guard clutched his now bleeding arm, his knees buckling from underneath him. I couldn’t do this, could I? I was about to lower the sword, when someone grabbed me from behind, throwing me to the floor. The Cardinals mask had slipped off, his eyes wide with fury. I screamed, scared of what will happen to me.

“You see? You can’t do it”He snarled. He took the sword out of my grip.

“Get off him!” I heard someone yell. It sounded a lot like Kier. Someone jumped at The Cardinal, taking him off of me. I saw a red haired man sprawled on the floor with the Cardinal, both trying to get each other under the others grasp. The sword was a few centimeters away. The Cardinal grabbed the sword.

“No!” I yelled, I ran for the sword, getting brought down by the guard. I kicked him in the stomach.

“Kier! Look out!”

Kier rolled out the way, the sword just missing his head. I struggled to get out of the guards grip, kicking him again. The guard yelled in pain. I ran out of his grip, kicking him again. I then turned to Kier who was standing, he had no sword. I grabbed the one the guard had in his belt. His arrogance probably told him that he didn’t need it to fight me. “Catch!” I yelled, throwing the sword to Kier. Dangerous, I know, but I wasn’t thinking straight. Kier caught it, holding it up to the Cardinal.
“Drew’s gone to find Laurence. Luke is keeping guards away from the door so that we have a better chance” Kier explained, waiting for the Cardinal to make a move.

“Ladies first” The Cardinal said. Kier growled. The candle’s flames still danced. I picked one up, seeing the cardinal in front of me. Kier gave me a slight nod, seeing it. I ran to the cardinal, setting
his robes alight. We ran out, seeing Luke.

“Let’s get Laurence and go. He can make a speech when he’s better” Kier ordered. I guess when Laurence was unable to be leader, Kier made the orders. We ran down the halls, the adrenaline still pumping through me. It didn’t happen in the factory, so why now?

There was a door open. Kier ran in there, so we followed. We saw Drew with an unconscious Laurence in his arms. Bruises covered the prince’s body, blood dripped down his pale hand and his shirt stuck to him from a bleed near his stomach. His hair was plastered to his head in sweat, yet he still looked elegant. As a king should.