Chapter Twenty-Nine

Entry

I don't know how to describe it. I just… don't feel okay. I feel like crying and yelling and laying in my bed and never coming out. Please, I need to get out. Get me help! Damnit, save me!

  You're making a fool of yourself, get back to work. 

Phoenix.

--

Cole understood his role was important; wait with the kids by the carriage. From low to the ground in a crouch, he could hear the boisterous laughter and soft hum of pleasant music leaking from the castle. All signs that the plan hadn't started yet. Cole was still taken aback by Daisy's devilish wit to make the people sick. What a remarkable woman. 

The party atmosphere abruptly became grotesque as screams shot out of the Throne Room and echoed outside to Cole's far-away position. The plan had begun. 

Something seemed off, though. 

The screams didn't die down and there was no sign of anyone leaving the palace. It had been five minutes since the first scream; people would've fled from the hazardous room by now.

Unless something had gone unpredictably and horribly wrong.

"It's a bit odd, isn't it?" Daisy said from behind Cole. "That we haven't seen anyone leaving yet."

"Maybe they're all too sick to move?" Cole suggested.

"Maybe," Daisy said.

"Is Bird alright?" Lucas asked. 

"I'm sure she's fine, crown in hand and the quest completed," Cole comforted.

Regardless of his cool demeanor, Cole feared the worst. He didn't know if he could leave Bird and Greyson behind, per instructions should things go awry. Greyson-- what had they dragged that poor man into? 

Above all, Cole couldn't let anything happen to Phoenix.

Should Cole stay and wait, hoping that the weird signs were just coincidences? Maybe people were fleeing out a different exit? No, there would still be some stragglers leaving the front. Not even the couple escaping for a kiss could be seen. It was like everyone was stuck in the Throne Room.

Heart pounding, Cole's breath became rapid. The more nerves squirmed in his body, the more questions infested his brain. There was one looming thought, silently glaring from beneath all the others, emerging: 

What if Phoenix and Greyson got hurt? 

Cole was told to leave if something went wrong, but could he do it? Should Cole go in, leave the kids, and put Daisy in charge? 

Fog clung to their feet. It was well past the designated time for the people at the ball to start fleeing, yet silence entombed the castle. A scream ripped out of the wing where the ball was held, piercing and horrific. This was bad. Really, really bad.

"Something's wrong," Daisy said. 

"What should we do?" Screw acting all-knowing big brother, Daisy was smarter than all of them. 

"We need a plan. Let's agree that no matter what, at one this morning, we get Lucas out."

Right, right, Lucas and Daisy. Cole had to keep his younger siblings safe. But Phoenix was still his kid sister, too, could he leave her behind? 

One in the morning was an hour from now. What could go down in a whole hour?

"We need to know what's happening in there," Daisy considered, cocking her head to the side, "all we know is that people should be running in disgust from the vomit, but they're not. There're also the sporadic, random screams from the ballroom to consider as well." 

"Can I help?" Lucas perked up.

"No," Daisy and Cole both shut down immediately.

"I can't sit still," Cole said, "I have to go in and see what's going on. I'll come back in ten minutes with details."

"Bird is going to kill us if we break the plan."

"Screw the plan!" Cole hissed. "We need to get her and Greyson out of there."

Daisy flinched back and nodded. "Right. Go scout, but do not engage- regardless of what information you come across. Your role is to observe. Don't get noticed."

Cole nodded, his breath becoming uncontrollable. 

"I'll be back in ten minutes." Cole got up from his hiding spot and started walking across the gravel path and up to the main door. His boots crunched with each step he took. Before he was out of sight, Cole turned and gave a quick wink and salute to his family.

He'd see them again soon.

With a long stride, Cole made his way into the palace and to the Throne Room on the second floor. Slipping through the halls, his hair stood. No one could be seen. No guards, no people, no officials roaming the halls. 

He could hear the whispers, though. Whispers came from behind the closed doors of the Throne Room. Cole held his breath as he gingerly approached the closed door. Pressing his ear up to the door, he stood quietly and listened.