Without The Grace

And then his whole body...

The soldiers, holding each of my arms dragged me to the throne.

Tears were pouring down my face. I knew that this time, we could not bring back the dead. My mother was truly gone.

"Do you think this will change anything? Killing people?! Killing me?!" I yelled. "What are you trying to achieve?!"

"If I can't have you, nobody can." He hissed. "Especially not that dirty lowlife." He spat.

"Ezekiel is not a lowlife. I love him. Much more than I ever loved you anyways." I informed him angrily.

Kenneth stepped down the stairs and approached me. He leaned in so that he was close to my face. I could smell his minty breath.

"Well. Lets see how he likes having somebody taken away from him then. Shall we?" He asked grinning.

Then he straightened up. "Bring him in."

I gasped and whirled around. Ezekiel was being dragged inside the room. Except I could barely recognize him.

His face was black and blue, his right eye was swollen and bleeding, he could barely even support his own body.

"Oh my gosh," I breathed. I wrenched away from the soldiers and ran to him.

"Don't you dare touch him." Kenneth ordered stopping me in my tracks. I didn't want anything to happen to Ezekiel.

"Please." I pleaded. "Don't kill him. I'll do anything you want." I said in anguish.

Kenneth's face contorted into anger. "What? You'll marry me? You'll stay with me forever? Just to save him?!" He yelled.

"You said you didn't love me anymore!" I exclaimed.

"Well I lied!" he shouted slapping me across the face.

I gasped and touched my cheek where he hit me.

I could hear Alex and Ezekiel shouting as they strained to get to me.

I was one hundred percent sure one or two of us wasn't making it out alive. But I didn't understand how Kenneth could suddenly turn on me. Or even turn into a killer.

"If you're going to kill anyone. Kill me." I suggested reluctantly. "I still can't believe you're doing this. Why?"

Kenneth glared at me. "Why? Why?! How would you feel if you were murdered and I married your killer?!" His eyes were glistening and I almost felt bad except for the fact that he wanted to kill me.

He slumped down on my mothers throne burying his face in his hands.

I hesitated before slowly approaching him. I touched his arm. He flinched but didn't look up.

"Kenneth...it doesn't have to be like this. People...love each other, and then things change. Maybe...maybe this was a good thing and somebody out there is waiting for you." I told him.

He slowly looked up. "Do you really think so?" he asked me.

I smiled. "Yeah. I do."

His face hardened. "I don't believe you."

He stood up pushing me away. "You don't understand anything." He hissed.

As he stood, I saw a glint of red in his eyes. "Kenneth?" I said.

I looked around to see if anybody else had seen it.

Alex was limp in the arms of the soldiers while Ezekiel was blankly staring at me.

Without a second thought I took a running start and leaped onto the retreating back of Kenneth.

We both tumbled to the ground and I rolled on top of him. "Kenneth! This isn't you!"

He glared at me and rolled us over until he was on top of me.

He smirked as if happy I hd figured it out.

"What do you care? All you want is my stupid son." He hissed. The voice was no longer Kenneth's.

"Dad?" I heard Ezekiel say in disbelief.

"In the flesh." Kenneth/Hans responded grinning sickly. "Kind of anyways."

He looked down at me.

"Now, to finally get rid of you." He said wrapping his hands around my throat.

I gasped and took a hold of his wrists trying to loosen his grip.

"Kenneth. Come on. You can fight him." I urged.

Hans smiled. "Oh, but he can't. Kenneth is gone."

I closed my eyes as his grip got tighter.

"I don't believe you." I answered. "You're not that strong. You're just a pathetic spirit hoping for a bit of glory. Well guess what? You're not going to get it."

He glared down at me. "You think you're a smart little thing don't you?"

I spat in his face. "I know I'm a smart little thing." I retorted.

He tightened his grip.

I resorted to my last choice. The island.

I wasn't sure what to do. I wasn't going to pray to it and it seemed silly to even speak to it at all.

My vision began to swirl. I could hear shouting. I was running out of time.

"Knock him out!" Hans yelled, probably referring to Ezekiel.

"Pathetic boy." he muttered.

The sounds and lights started to get fainter and fainter. I felt like I was apart from my body.

It was getting darker and darker and I was floating farther and farther away from my body.

Then...I was watching everything.

It was weird. I was one hundred percent sure I was dead. But it seemed too easy. One minute I had been there and the next...I just wasn't.

The scene below me was still transpiring.

Ezekiel was free of the soldiers who were both on the ground. He raced to my body and attempted to throw Hans off of me. Except, he couldn't.

I tried to get a closer look. As if sensing my need, my body floated down to my...other body.

I gasped. Hans wrists were blue. His whole hand, from where I was gripping him was turning a light blue and slowly trailing up to the rest of his body.

Ezekiel and I stood/floated with equal expressions of surprise.

Hans looked down bewildered and tried to remove himself from my grip. He looked around frantically.

"Hey!" He shouted. "Somebody get me out of here! Don't just stand there boy!"

Ezekiel slowly backed away as the blue traveled up his arms and to his neck.

Hans struggled against my grip, pure terror on his face. That's when I realized it was ice. He was freezing.

"Aaliyah!"

My head snapped to his face. The voice was Kenneth's again. It was all so confusing that if I wasn't a floating spirit, I would have had a major migraine.

"Aaliyah. Please. Stop." He pleaded. "He's gone. Hans is gone."

I wanted to believe him but there was still something wrong and I had no idea how to make it stop.

"Aa-" the ice reached his chin. He couldn't move his face. His eyes danced around frantically. They were the only things that could move.

And then his whole body froze in a panicked position.

His eyes wide, mouth open looking down at me.