Head Maiden of Castle Dimitrescu

15

The reservoir always creeped me out. Broken down, wooden houses, odd wolf-like creatures, and an abandoned shipyard never got on my list of top ten places to visit. Silently, we walked past the sleeping wolves. Internally, I grimaced. This was almost as bad as the basement. I shuddered at the very thought. As our heads remained on a constant swivel as we clambered onto the docks. Our footsteps were silent as we trailed onto the docks and into a cave's mouth. The putrid smells of mold and still water wafted through our noses. Droplets of water splotched against the dockside. It covered our silent footsteps at the very least.

We made our way toward a cramped, broken down dock house which matched every other building in this area. A blue light flickered through the opened area of the house lit up the darkened cave. My eyes homed in on an abandoned mineshaft that laid close to the house. I hummed lowly to myself as Nikolai pointed toward the dock house. As we inched closer to it, we crouched down against it. The whole inner sanctum of Moreau's house was similar to Cassandra's room by how everything was lit in a bright blue glow, but that was the only similarity. There was a work desk that sat off to the side with a mess of papers on top of it. Moreau was huddled in his cheap black cape and fishbone crown. His hump crowded most of my view of the film he watched. I noticed the bowl of popcorn that sat alongside him. We all crouched against the broken wood of a wall.

"What do we do?" Caiden's whisper expressed her confusion as her brows furrowed. Nikolai shrugged alongside her. The two stared back at me. A thought occurred in my head, and I tapped against it. The two stayed while I turned around and slithered down the dock. I remained in a constant crouch as I made my way over toward the abandoned mineshaft I saw earlier. I crept up to it. There was a small piece of paper on the edge of the shaft that had a small heart on it. My brows furrowed as I stared at it against the flickering blue light. I shrugged after a moment and continued. Next to the shaft were crates stacked nearby. I glanced inside of an opened container and my eyes sparkled. There were rubies inside. Alcina always told me that Moreau had a side business, BUT GEMSTONES!? I grabbed a huge stone and threw it into my pants pocket. I shoved against the crates, and it fell into the mineshaft a moment later. A loud crash and bang erupted against my ears and echoed throughout the cave. I dived behind some snot-like substance and crept my way around. I watched as Moreau exited his house and made his way over to the shaft.

"Sh-shit!" Moreau cursed lowly as I watched him scratch his head. I slowly tip toed back and down into a depressed area. Mucus and other crates littered the area. I pushed down another crate and yellow gemstones scattered across the ground. My feet flew as I hid behind another set of crates. As Moreau made his way down, I stayed and waited. There was nowhere to go and hopefully he did not feel like walking around.

"Damned wolves," he muttered as he glanced over the area. An impish smile played along my lips. I had to thank the girls when I got back. They were the reason I had to get good at hiding in the first place. I waited patiently as he kicked at the stones and grumbled his way back up the depression. I hope that gave Caiden and Nikolai enough time. When I thought I was clear, I slithered my way back up the depression while taking a few gemstones along the way. I crept my way back to area I left them at when I saw Moreau enter the house. When I got there, no one was there. I gulped as my eyes widened. Did I not give them enough time? Something moving behind me caught my attention. Caiden waved me over. As Nikolai watched, I hightailed it over to a pile of snot that they hid behind. No time was wasted leaving the cave and out of earshot of Moreau. My gaze turned toward the two. They glanced between the two like chastised children before either of them spoke. A look I knew very well and internally groaned at.

"There was nothing there." Nikolai broke the silence. My eyes bulged. But there was a whole work desk!

"What do you mean nothing there!?" I snapped in a hushed tone.