Beyond the Glow

Chapter 8

Returning me to my room, Gregor was a bit tipsy. After announcing me as the secret weapon, the beer kegs had been brought out, and nearly everyone had drank and danced themselves into oblivion. He leans against my door frame heavily, then bids me a good night, and totters off down the hall. 

With a sigh, I set my lamp on the table across the room, and disappear inside after giving the bed a suspicious look. With hardly a thought, my hair uncurled, and my dress was laying on the floor. In its place I wear my nightclothes, and with a sigh; I flop onto my bed, and falling into a dreamless sleep. 

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A sound outside my lamp is all that wakes me. I can hear a grunt, as the door is pushed open. Thank goodness for the stuck hinges and uneven ground. Wistfully, I strain my ears for any sound, Maybe Gregor came back or something. But nobody calls out for me, which means whoever it is doesn't know I am here, or doesn't want to attract attention to themselves. The only sound I can hear is quiet breathing, and the rustling of things as whoever it is searches for something.

I want to go out, to see who it is, but something stops me. Maybe living with Cynthia all those years has made me paranoid, with all her rants about how someone was bound to steal me when she wasn't looking, or assassinate her for her money, but something stops me from going out there. 

Fear maybe. 

I jump as I hear a muffled curse, whoever it was didn't find what they were looking for. They throw something, and leave the room. Even then, I stay in my lamp, not sure what to do. To scared of going out in case they come back. 

But then, a scream pierces the silence. 

"He's dead!" I hear a woman's shrill frightened voice. Immediately, I push my way through the barrier, and leave the lamp. Standing in the dark room with nothing but the dying coals of the fire to guide me, I fly out into the hall, trying to find the source of the voice. A little ways down the hall, a woman stands with a lit candle staring at something by her feet. I rush down, only to stare at the ground in shock. 

Laying at my feet is the corpse of Gregor. 

A clean stab would is in his chest, and it looks like he bled out on the ground. Blood soaks the dirt at my feet, making a sticky paste that gets in between my toes. I hold my hand over my mouth as I hear more footsteps coming down the hallway. I smell of death hangs in the air, nauseating me. I rush back into my room, and collapse on my knees; struggling to keep from vomiting right there.

It passes, and I stand as Len rushes into the room. "We need to leave now." He demands. His face is set in a hard line, ignoring whatever he had been feeling before, replaced with the need to get to business. I know there is no arguing this time. With a nod, I grab my lamp and change into trousers and a shirt. I turn to Len, and we're off.

We dash down the halls as fast as we can. In between pants, I ask Len what happened. "Someone killed Gregor." He got out.

"Really?" I answered sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed." Len shot me a glare.

"What I was getting at was that whoever did it, is probably still here. And the next target is either you or me." My memory flashed back to the person in my room, good thing they hadn't known I was a genie. I would've been a goner for sure. Silently, I thank Gregor for not revealing that little tidbit of information to everyone.  

Well that was quite the motivation. Nothing like a good run for your life in the morning. "So where are we going?" 

"We are going to continue on with the plan, and the first act of that is to get you out of here."