The Pens of Fate [16](Saga remastered) {Jun.27, 2023}

Note from the Author

This book contains and mentions sensitive material relating to mental illnesses, several personality disorders, suicide, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder, murder, gore/violence, death, alcoholism, self-harm, depression and many others. Reader discretion is highly advised and it is important to practice self-care during and after reading. Some of the events, people, and timelines are based on true aspects of my life, so keep a clear mindset.

To my inner angels who kept fighting against the demons of my mind, I want to thank you for it. And to those inner monsters of mine, thank you for being my inspiration for the nightmares that came out of these stories. To the angels who stood beside me while I battled the evil inside of under my own skin that I kept covered, these books and stories will represent how you have been there for me. 

And to the younger me, who probably didn’t know that they were main character in their own grand tale; you were going to do great things. Don't you ever look back and question the choices that lead you to the me that I have become...

James was able to pull away from the second team and had been looking for any of Adaline's hidden messages. He looked around the shoreline where he had previously shot Ethan as the lighter blue waves pulled back and forth. Coming from the sea in front of James, grew a long vine covered in roses. Bingo, thought James as he carefully moved the thorns to reveal a message in a bottle. After cutting the bottle free, James reached into his pocket for a code key. The key was for US military’s Tap Codes and was something James taught Adaline during one of the late night conversations. James opened and unfolded the message to also find the letter that the pair passed between them. It’s Ada all right, James thought as he started to match letters to the numbers. After a few minutes, the message was clearer than the jumble of numbers it was beforehand; Shoot the green-eyed version of me, babe. She wouldn’t be killed but I need her to be weaker to escape. Do it for me please… 

Adaline looked down at their game as their face hardened. They sensed that James got the code, at least Adaline hoped he did. Adaline mouthed something unintelligible as the tattoo on their arm lit up like a light bulb after they picked up the queen and whispered into it. Check bitch, Adaline thought as they placed the piece down… 

After James made it to the world where Zach, Ethan, and Tina went through, he looked around and took in his surroundings. He knew when people say, ‘country estate,’ they usually mean a big grand house with a lot of beauty and land. But the house that James saw before him was everything that Adaline had made it to be; terrifying and somewhat nightmarish. The building rose forbidding and brutal as if it had been waiting for him to come. James stared at the unfamiliar countryside; the hills shot up like knives and the air was crisp, and to the left of the hellish house was a huge hedge maze. James’s fist tightens around the handle of the gun case as he starts to move towards the building. After James found the building’s layout relatively easy to understand, he found that the main office was on the first floor which he thought was stupid for a big bad villain type like the kind Adaline usually wrote about. At least I don’t have to climb a fucking tree to make the shot, James thought as opened the gun case to pull out a TRG 22A1 rifle. As James peered through the scope of the gun, to get the general look into the empty office, he saw the chess game in the center of the room. Sitting with her back turned to James, unaware that he was there, the green-eyed doppelganger was plotting her next move. James could tell that she was puzzled on how she was in check, clearly having no clue about what Adaline was doing. 

James’s fingers ran over his dog tags around his neck. They were anniversary gifts from Adaline and he felt they were close to him. I don’t need the kill shot. I just have to weaken the bitch. She’s not my Ada, the thoughts went through James’s mind as he saw the black queen move on its own, close to the white king. The movement startled the green-eyed girl to turn around to see James’s rifle. Before she could even scream, the sounds of the glass breaking as the bullet went through and hit her in the left eye. The girl flew back a few feet in an ungodly amount of pain. James knew that a normal person would have been killed by that but this world’s rules weren’t the same as the real one’s. Before he could watch the girl reach for her face in agony, the office door busted open. James took off in a mad dash towards the maze, not wanting to fight a crazy cult by himself… 

Tina and Zach came to the end of the maze to find a big clearing with forest on either side of it. A tea party had been set up in the middle of the clearing, along with multiple colored roses; there were four different colored sections- red, yellow, green, and blue. Zach took a few quick glances at their surroundings and instantly knew where they were and what Adaline was trying to tell them; Hell’s gates will break open and a holy war will be unleashed. Zach turned to Tina, “Alice’s garden,” Tina had a confess expression on her face, “What?” Zach pointed at each of the roses and continued, “Red is wrath, yellow is greed, green is envy, and blue is lust. Adaline loves roses and creepypastas; thus creating this world from one story in particular, Alice of Human Sacrifice.” Tina’s red eyes brightened as she felt the power of the Pen flow in her veins. Before Zach could say anything else about the story, Tina saw them; the souls of Alice. Tina looked from one section of roses to the other where a soul floated above the flowers, wide-eyed, “So they all died. WHAT IS WITH ADDIE AND DEATH!?!” Zach sighed and put his face in his hands, “Adaline likes to be moved by inspiration around them and they fought with death and continue to fight for what’s right.” Tina nodded and moved towards the roses like she was in a trance. As she walked her eyes glowed a deeper red. When she came to where the rose beds began, her mouth dropped to let out a high pitch scream. Zach ran to where Tina stood, wide-eyed and with mouth dropped, staring at the middle of the flower beds. Laying in the middle of each section was a human skeleton wrapped up in black roses and thorns. The yellow section had two skeletons in the middle and each had a gold chain around their necks. Zach bent down and picked up one of the black roses, “Black roses do not exist in nature, yet here they are.” Tina looked at him as he continued, “Their symbolism varies in culture and everyday life. Regardless, they are significant and meaningful. The black rose communicates the somber emotions of death, danger, sorrow, and revenge. Black roses can also signify obsessive love or a deep connection between anti-heroes. In fiction, black roses are often assigned to vampires, dark souls, and antagonists, signifying their evilness and dishonor.” Tina had a confused expression, “How do you know all that?” Zach smiled, “My best friend is a writer and loves roses, so put two and two together.” Tina nodded, “So what do the roses mean in this case?” Before Zach could say something, a voice was coming out of the maze. Zach and Tina dove in different directions and hid; Zach hid under the tea party’s main table and peeked out through the peach-colored tablecloth while Tina dove under one of the big rose bushes shaped to look like a rabbit. A masked figure came out from the maze holding a watering pall full of blood...