Blade
Rushing to the hospital wasn't very easy because of my injuries, and it already felt like hell because I wanted to go the moment I found out that she had awaken, but because of a stubborn P.D. and a worried daughter, I spent the night in bed. I made sure to leave as early as possible with only Dr. Indurjeeth to accompany me because everyone had to rest.
Everyone was drained, it was evident in the large eye bags and slurred words we were all suffering from. Especially Sarah, who woke up crying frantically and would pray thereafter. I hadn't seen her eat anything since we had arrived here five days ago, but I knew that Charlene and Cynthia had it under control.
It was eight in the morning and it was surprisingly warm outside. I took this as a sign that she hadn't suffered any permanent damage to her brain like I had seen in those romantic dramas Lizzy loved to watch. Those things were just traumatic.
"Is she ok?" I asked while Dr. Indurjeeth drove on the highway in silence. She had strapped me tightly to my seat and threatened to give me an aesthetic if I dared to move, and I believed her.
"Who, Claudia?" She asked, just to clarify, just as she took a left turn towards the hospital.
"Yes. I want to know if she has suffered any damage. Loss of memory? Loss of confidence?"
"Loss of confidence?" She scoffed out with a teasing grin on her face. "That's fortunately not a thing."
"I don't know these weird medical things. I don't understand them and that's why I'd like for you to tell it to me straight. Just keep it simple. Is she ok?"
"You truly care about her, don't you?" Dr. Indurjeeth asked in a subtle voice, and I nodded my head sheepishly. I, unlike Bullet and Charles, was a bit more emotional and I wasn't ashamed of it. "Well you have nothing to worry about, she's better than ok. The coma helped faster than I could've predicted and I'm sure once we get there, she'll be demanding for us to take her with once we leave."
"Yeah, she definitely would. How long have you known her?" I asked nonchalantly.
"Ever since I got my degree. Immediately after I graduated, I was hired. I helped her birth all of her children and whenever they got sick, she had me on speed-dial on all of her devices."
"Wow, how have you managed to cope with all of that and still be able to have a social life?" I asked interestingly.
"I didn't. I didn't really have a family, I ran away when they tried to marry me off to a man almost thrice my age when I was thirteen. How I got from India to here is a long story, but me being here is even longer."
"Do you still speak to your family?"
She parked the car, and stopped the engine. Looking at me, she sighed heavily.
"Just my mother. My whole family has banished me, and none of it was my fault. I try my hardest to reach out especially to my dad and grandmother, but they refuse to have any of it. They've shunned me, only my mother contacts me. Barely. I'm lonely, I have no family, no husband, not even a pet because I'm allergic to dogs and I can't stand cats. So in a way, Claudia hiring me was like a blessing in disguise because it gave me an opportunity to witness what a real family looks like. The way Claudia always has everything under control is inspiring. She is a powerful black woman, and those are rare. I'm extremely thankful to God for her and I am truly dedicated to her and her family. You included. That's why I don't want you to move so much, you're just slowing down the healing process."
"Come on doctor..."
"... none of that now. Stop it or else I'll finish you off. I wasn't even supposed to have brought you here, I should've left you on bed arrest, but look where we are now. So Mr. King, you are in no position to be arguing, understood?"
I nodded my head in approval, mainly because I knew that being a doctor gave her capabilities that would end me if I even so much as thought about defying her.
Walking into the hospital, the atmosphere felt colder than usual. It wasn't the fact that people died here or that some came here to save their lives, but because there was a woman on the top floor who got her life ripped away from her. I was expecting an unresponsive Claudia who was in a shattered state and did nothing else but cry.
Walking into her hospital room, I was completely wrong. She was better than fine, she was herself again.
She sat up on the bed once she saw us enter and her penetrating glare still kept strong in her eyes, I felt like she was skinning me alive with her eyes.
"You look like shit." She snickered, and I chuckled while taking my seat next to her.
"Gee, thank you so much for the compliment, cousin-in-law. You don't look too bad yourself, Snow White."
"Who?" She said through deep chuckles.
"You. You're paler than chalk." I laughed out, and watched as she also bursted into loud laughter.
Not many people knew it, but Claudia actually had a sense of humour, and she was nice to talk to. It was extremely rare for people to figure this out, even Charles didn't know it. I felt happier knowing in that moment that I was one of the few people Claudia trusted herself with.
"Oh Blade, I feel like shit."
"I look like it, but you're the one feeling like it. How convenient." I sighed.
"Just great. Blade..."
I looked up to face her and noticed that her face was less tense than its usual. Her face was always so stern, now her muscles were extremely relaxed. She was leaning her head against the wall and her arms were on her lap.
"... I was blind." She said.
"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. She was speaking vividly and didn't look like her usual, I was worried about her now. My previous theory about her losing her mind flooded back into my messy mind.
"I always complain about Charles changing me when I didn't even realise that I was putting all of the blame on someone else. It wasn't him... it was the power." She admitted, letting a tear roll down her cheek. "The King surname had always been a curse for me, a curse I convinced myself I was trapped under, when in actual fact, I wanted it. I wanted the power, I wanted to be a King. I wanted to prove to Luther that I was capable of defeating him, but in the end I destroyed myself. I accepted this life, I let the power into my heart and now I don't know what to love with anymore. Charles was just a pawn, a scapegoat for my sins. I blamed him completely because I wanted to make him feel guilty for keeping me in his father's plan. For making me defenceless, Charles made me stronger and more capable of controlling this power."
"Claudia I don't understand."
"Don't hear my words, listen to them. Blade, I'm a Mafia Queen in a Mafia Empire. I sell drugs, I sell people, I steal, I sin, I lie, I curse, I show no mercy... I kill. I kill, Blade, I'm a killer. A murderer. The ultimate sinner, I take lives like they mean nothing. I killed them all, I have so much blood on my hands and I wash it off with power. Luther did it. Now I'm doing it. I'm turning into him, and it's just unimaginable how much I hate the man."
"Are you trying to change your ways or something?" I asked as I hadn't realised that I shed a tear or two.
"I could kill you right now and not feel bad about it afterwards." She said nonchalantly. My heart skipped a beat at how eloquently she had said that and she just chuckled. "Hera asked me if I thought of myself as a killer. I told her that I was just keeping my gloves dirty and my hands clean. I lied. I told her this to convince her, but mainly to convince myself. To try to convince myself that I still had an ounce of heart... an ounce of compassion... an ounce of... humanity. I was trying to convince myself that I was still human, shit, if that isn't broken... then I don't know. I am capable of many things Blade, you've seen it yourself, but one thing I am not capable of doing is regretting. I can't do it... I won't."
"You don't regret the war you're having with Charles?"
"I'm not fighting with Charles, he's just his father's doormat. I'm at war with Luther. He's not dead, physically he's gone, but he still lives amongst us. He's not resting in peace and won't do so until I die. So guess what I'll do? Live."
"I don't understand."
"I'm going to continue fighting. I'm Queen Claudia King, I don't go down without a nasty fight. Charles King will suffer at my mercy and I will watch him cry. I want him to cry. But I won't kill him."
"What?"
"I don't want to kill Charles."
"But Clau..."
"Him being dead isn't a grand enough punishment. I'm going to make Luther's spirit suffer, using his son."
"I still don't understand how all of this explains how you've been blind."
"You're not listening. Or at least not thinking. Charles doesn't even want me dead anymore, he knows me dying won't make a difference. Why do you think he took Hera?" She shrugged.
I thought about it for a while. If Charles didn't want Claudia dead, then why would he go to the trouble of kidnapping Hera? He knew that killing her would be too short and unsatisfying, so he might have realised that to really put Claudia the worst of hells she would have to face, he should kidnap Hera. And not just to kidnap her, but to continue the ways of his father on her. That's why Hera was in pain. Luther did it to Claudia, and now Charles was going to do it to Hera. He was trying to be his father.
Claudia looked calm though, almost at peace with herself. The Claudia I knew would've been jumping up and down, barking orders out like a vicious pit bull, and doing everything in her power to save her daughter. This Claudia was different, and my guard immediately went up. She looked like she had completely lost her conscience.
"What are you trying to say to me?" I asked in a whisper, scared out of my mind.
"I'm saying that Hera will return to me. Everyone will be safe. Charles will suffer. Everyone's destiny will fulfill itself. Everything will be as it should be. As I deem it fit."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
"It all starts with a phone call to my dear husband Charles King. Lend me your phone please."
She put her glass of water down and extended her hand out. With hesitation plastered on my face, I gave her the phone. She pressed the home key, went to the phone's keypad and dialled.
After five long and patronising rings, the phone was answered.