Forgotten Monsters

Chapter 4- Intruder

The Smuggler didn't deal in people. It was an ethical thing. 

Other people in his profession, they didn't mind sneaking a few girls through if they got paid. Hell, some of them dealt solely in the human trade, but The Smuggler liked to think he was too good for that. He loved his little sister, and he didn't like the thought of someone feeding her poppy and selling her to whoever had the coin to buy her. People weren't objects to be bought at sold, especially not little girls.

Booze, that he could do. He supplied most of the castle with the stuff, with stronger boosters for those who were willing to pay for the added risk. He smuggled other things too, but those he never told anyone about. Top secret. He prided himself on being quite an above-board criminal, never supplying anyone with something he thought could truly hurt them. 

Until he was visited by the prince. He had been fast asleep, helped by some of his products, when he'd been resuscitated rudely. The prince was unmistakable. He crouched in the darkness, his hand stretched over The Smuggler's mouth to keep him quiet.

"I need you to sneak someone into the castle. To my room." The Prince eyed him speculatively. "If anyone sees her, her blood will be on your hands. Do you understand?"

The Smuggler had to agree, even he wouldn't defy the creature that was the source of every child's nightmares. He watched the girl sleep on his floor all night, agonizing over delivering straight into the hands of evil. Whatever the monster wanted with her, it could only be despicable, but when it was time he carried her through his passages to the Prince's quarters.

"I'm sorry." he whispered to her body as he left her helpless on carpeted floor. She probably wouldn't make it past daybreak.

oOo

 Find an escape route. 

Resa was curled up in the corner of a strange, circular room. The stone was cool beneath her legs where the material of her trousers had ridden up. The room was sparsely furnished, a cot shoved against one wall and a wardrobe towered towards the raftered ceiling. There were two windows. The one closest to her was open and the last of the summer breezes was drifting through. Through it, she could only see sky. 

Her shoulder ached. 

In the stories her mother had told her as a child people were disoriented when they woke up. Resa knew what had happened before she had fallen unconscious. She remembered the damp chill of rain, the sharp taste of blood in her mouth as she bit her tongue. A tall figure emerging from the dark. 

There was a door too. She pushed her sore body up and stumbled quickly for it. Just as her hand closed around the handle, she heard heavy footfalls echoing towards her. Backing away quickly, she threw herself towards the window. 

She was in a tower. Her vision swayed dangerously and she clutched the window frame to still the dizziness. The palace courtyard seemed to be leagues down. The people scampering below were the size of insects.

Find an escape route. 

The walls of the tower were made of jagged stones that she thought she could climb if she had to. The footsteps reached the door. She hoisted herself up onto the windowsill and shifted her weight out of the tower. Her fingertips gripped the roof of the tower, sliding across the rough surface of the tiles. Her shoulder screamed with effort, but just as the door swung open, she rolled herself onto the slanted roof of the Prince's tower. 

She heard the exact moment he realized she wasn't there. There was a muttered curse and the sound of something, probably a boot, colliding with a wall. Then there was another curse. She almost snickered, but then she realized that she was still trapped.