A villain's secret

Chapter 8: A birthday to forget

Lillian's POV

Lillian woke up with a yawn as she rolled over on her makeshift bed, stretching her limbs like a cat. As always it was quiet beyond the walls of her home. The intermittent caw of a crow or bustle of wind picking up dust the only sounds. She could only imagine what it would be like to wake with the song of cheerful birds nesting in tall trees surrounding a room of her own, one with a real bed inside. As if deliberately trying to spoil her dream a crow screeched with anger before a fury of flapping wings became louder and the sounds of dead flesh being torn from bones followed. It was the same every morning. She thought of it as her own personal wake up call. Much like she imagined the ladies of the centre ring would receive from their servants.

With another yawn she nestled her body deeper into the floor. The feeling of a squishy mattress and thick feathery covers completely lost to Lillian, even as she tried to imagine the pointy stone biting into her ass was actually something soft and comfy that all the ladies had in their beds.

Although, she did feel warmer this morning. Most nights Lillian fell asleep in the middle of doing something, and rarely ever slept with a blanket or the single pillow she owned. Generally she'd give herself neck pains from sleeping in one of the wooden chairs in the kitchen. But this morning...

Opening her eyes she looked down at herself. A blanket covered her body, keeping her warm as she begun to chase the sleepiness from her mind. She could remember laying in her bed reading a book, but no memories of picking up the blanket came to her.

Suspicion tickled her mind but the warmth of the soft blue fabric was pulling her into a dreamy abyss. Whatever ghost was haunting her was one she wanted to keep if it was going to fetch her blankets each night. She rested her head back down, waiting for her mind to drift back into sleep. It was turning out to be quite a good day- as good as a morning could get alone in the graveyard for your entire kingdom. As sleep dulled Lillian's mind the sound of scuffling came from her kitchen making her giggle.

Haha, someone's in my kitchen. Oh right I forgot, the blanket ghost. Do ghosts eat? I hope not! I'll have to remember to hide the cookies.

The clang of a pot made Lillian jerk but it was the very human like angry mutter that followed that had Lillian wide awake.

Panic surged through her body, her eyes frantically searching the room.

Someone's in my house! A thief? A crazy person??! I'm gonna die!!! Lillian's thoughts filled her brain in a storm. She'd been joking about the ghost but now she wished it was true. How much harm could a spirit do compared to a living person? She'd much rather take her odds with the ghost.

Slowly she moved out of bed without rational thought or any kind of plan. She backed up until her body hit the wall, surprise making her jump. Her hand fell to the leather cover of a book at her side, the pile stacked high enough to reach her elbows. The book at the top was thick and old and the longer she looked at it the more she saw the sharp edges of its bindings as a weapon and the flat surface of its face a deadly club. She really had been spending too much time with a killer. But was there really any other choice?

Grabbing the book tight to her chest she took a second to steady her breathing before she found the will to creep forward. With the book clutched so tightly in her hands her own heartbeat seemed to thrum within the pages as if it had become an extension of her body. With a foot inside the doorway of the kitchen, book ready to strike above her head. I am a strong, scary woman!! I've got this!! Close your eyes and don't stop!! Just like with the spiders! They're more scared of me then I am of them!!

Lillian launched herself around the corner with a scream, raising the book higher above her head. She forced herself to close her eyes and just do it. As she brought the book down with as much strength as she had, directed at the silhouette of a man she'd briefly let herself see, a hand grabbed her wrist firmly stopping her attack.