Page 82 of Captured By the Monsters
SERA
It was finally over—actually, it was just beginning, I realized. My knees felt weak. Even though the crystal had healed any physical damage, my head was still swimming with what had occurred here.
I was just grateful that my monsters were okay.
Trudging over to the leader’s desk, I sat down in his chair, staring at the row of buttons embedded in the desktop in front of me. I fingered them lightly, making sure not to press anything in case I set a bomb off somewhere.
Rowen, on the other hand, either didn’t think of this or care, because he merrily started pressing the buttons like a kid in an elevator for the first time. I smacked his hand away in a panic, but was relieved to find they merely opened secret panels and compartments within the office.
Half expecting more people to jump out, I braced myself for an attack that never came. Exhaling in relief, I noted one panel opened up to a camera labeled “broadcasting.” It took me a second to register that this was the official place where the government flashed the names of the Selected—it was also where the leader addressed everyone when he had an announcement.
Inspiration struck when I saw a TV nearby. Turning it on as well as the camera, my face filled the screen. My blond hair was sticking out all over the place and was streaked with red—presumably blood.
“Precious, what are you doing?” Axton demanded in his gruff voice.
“Addressing the nation,” I answered him, stepping up to press the button to turn on the live stream.
Axton shared a look with Rowen and Sylan, silently communicating his unease, but I forged on ahead. I knew I had messed up a lot of things by coming up here, but when the crystal had taken over during the fight, I realized it had been supporting me all along. We were connected, and the pounding of my own pulse had begged me to pull on the power of the crystal.
Just as I fed it my energy, it seemed to work the other way as well.
When I surrendered at that last moment and let it guide me, I ended up accomplishing what needed to be done. It was alive and connected to my spirit—to all of Paratiisi. I realized I had no idea what I was doing, but it did.
Just like with what I needed to do right now… I was uncertain, but I knew this needed to happen. I had to trust my gut.
The screen flashed a brief countdown while I attempted to smooth my hair and look presentable. In no time, the “on air” light lit up, and I pasted a strained smile onto my face before addressing the world.
But when I thought about the words I needed to say, the smile vanished.
“I thought I would be overjoyed to tell you all my story,” I started, voice trembling slightly as I thought of all the women I’d seen die, and all of those that had died before them.
My eyes flitted over to my monsters, who were silently giving me all the support I needed with their expressions.
Swallowing, I wet my lips before continuing. “But the truth is that I’m not,” I admitted, “because we have lost too many lives for me to get to this point. We should have never been in this position to begin with. Corrupt and savage humans and monsters are equally to blame.”
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. “My name is Serafina Adler, and I was a Selected woman that was sent to The Below. I’m back to tell you all that the information we’ve been told is a fabricated lie, and all of our lives are going to change, starting now.”
I struggled for a moment to figure out how exactly to tell them their leader was dead and that their entire way of life was crumbling before their eyes. Some people would still fight the change, struggling to accept the truth. But I was counting on those rebels and citizens that shared my disdain for this world to help usher in a new era. To prevail.
So my message needed to be for them.
“What I am overjoyed about is that when I came back to The Above, I saw brave people fighting against this oppressed life we all lived. Because as much as I wanted to think that I could fix our world alone, I couldn’t. You all helped make this new era that is upon us possible.”
Rowen shot me a thumbs up from behind the camera, and I smiled softly.
“The leader of our world is dead,” I admitted, voice ringing loud and clear. “I don’t have all of the answers for how we will move forward as a people, but what I do know is that we are free now. No one person will ever control The Above again. It starts with citizens voting to elect new leader representatives and mending rifts with The Below.”
I could almost hear people asking, Well, how is that possible?
“I am the Queen that reigns over The Below. I am healing the lands there, and we look forward to ending the treaty that has cost us so many human lives. Instead of the treaty, we look forward to peace and friendship.”
Perhaps I had been rambling for too long now. How was I supposed to wrap up such an important announcement?
Running my hand through my hair and tapping my feet against the floor, I took a deep breath and gave it my best shot. “Change can be scary, but it can also be beautiful. We will get through these uncertain times together.
“As for those who support the now dead leader and his ideals…” I trailed off and let a menacing, cold-blooded smile curl my lips as I gestured for my monsters. I kept my head staring straight into the camera, never looking away as they came and kneeled behind me to be in the frame. “Now is your chance to run and never come back. If we catch you, well, let’s just say those public torture sessions that were held here? That’s child’s play.”
Not that we would ever torture them like I was alluding to, but it was time for those people to have a healthy dose of fear. I wanted them to leave these lands so that we didn’t have anymore bloodshed.
