A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Fourteen

Now just like Alastor, the people looking after him were very unusual and by unusual I mean they weren't even people. They were alps. Elfen like demons who could shape shift into an animals, sort of a defense skill. Due to their short height they weren't exactly much of a threat which is why they could change into one predatory animal. But alps had a habit of causing mischief which that made them very disliked in most communities so they were usually not sedentary creatures. They were always on the move. Traveling from one place to another.

However three alps in particular weren't very traditional. Number one, as I said alps aren't sedentary but these three had taken up a permanent residence in a house located deep within the forest. Number two, alps don't have any relationship other than platonic, they see no reason to because their species life line is extremely long and they are created rather than born, yet two of these alps were happily married to each other. And number three, alps don't associate with children. Though children are naive and excellent targets for trickery, children have great difficulty keeping secrets and being subtle. In other words children were more likely to expose an alp's scheme than an adult's. But despite that these alps had taken in a young boy.

Millie the only female of that group, could change into a falcon but she only transformed when it was an emergency because she much preferred to rely on her own strengths and abilities. Indeed she was a very strong and determined woman yet she had a softer side. She was instinctively nurturing and caring, in fact she was the one who had the idea to look after Alastor. When it was apparent that the boy had no family, she begged the other alps to let him stay with them for she had secretly longed to be a mother for many years.

Her husband Moxxie could change into a lynx and being among one of the especially combat challenged group, he would often take on an animal form when faced with confrontation. Though he had a gift for archery and sitting up traps. He was the most the sensible and reasonable of the three, and in some cases the only sane man. He wasn't sure about Alastor staying at first. He could tell that despite the boy's odd appearance, he was indeed a human child and he felt that it would be in everyone's best interest if he was raised by humans. But after seeing humans greet Alastor with disgust or fear, he realized that they were most likely Alastor's only hope of a home until further notice.

Blitzo the leader of the alps could change into a fox and much like the animal itself, he was crafty and cunning. He loved to court trouble and he nothing pleased him more than to con or trick unsuspecting humans that he would encounter. And while alps were all naturally mischievous, Blitzo held strong feelings of hatred toward humanity. Years ago a group of wicked people put him through a terrible period of suffering and it left with an awful prejudice toward the entire species of mankind. He was against taking Alastor in from the very start. Absolutely sure that he would only bring trouble and that the three of them were better off without him. But majority overruled leadership and in the end he had no choice but to accept the child.

"Hello!" Alastor called knocking on the door of the house, when he finally came home. "Moxxie? Millie? Blitzo? I'm back."

The door was swung open and he was embraced tightly by a very short but incredibly strong woman with black hair.

"Oh Alastor thank goodness you're safe!" She cried.

"Millie I can't breathe."

"Where have you been?! Why weren't you in your room when we came back?! Were you kidnapped?!"

"Not exactly. I sneaked out and became lost in the snowstorm."

"You sneaked out?!"

"I couldn't help it. I heard the call of the hunt."

"Oh yeah? Well you're about to hear the call of your pain when I give you a good whipping! How many times have we told you not to leave the house when we're not home?! Do you have any idea what you put us through last night?! To come back from that damnable storm only to discover that you're out there in it? You're a cruel child, you know that?"

"In my defense I didn't mean to stay out so long. In fact I had planned to come back before you all did but Mother Nature had different plans."

"Get inside and go to your room. You're lucky Blitzo isn't here because if he was he would insist that we use a belt on you."

"Where is he?"

"Because of you sneaking off, he and Moxxie have spent the whole night looking for you in that storm. As soon as they come home you are to apologize immediately."

"Yes ma'am."

"No doubt they'll be sick too so you'll have to do their chores for them til they're better. A suitable punishment if you ask me."

"Fair enough but do I have to run Blitzo's snake oil scams?"

"No. Just what he does around the house. Now go on up to your room. You're to stay there until meal time or time to do chores. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

He knew that he should be upset about Millie punishing him and in a way he was but at the moment he couldn't feel anything except giddy. He couldn't help it, all he could think about now was the snow-white colored girl he recently met. Not only was she as beautiful as a white rose but she had been very kind to him. She wanted to be his friend. He had never had a friend before. At least not a human friend.

As happy as it made him, he couldn't understand why the girl wanted to see him again. Why was she not afraid or suspicious of him like the other girl? Like everyone else who had seen him before? She and the old woman were a strange pair. He had come to their house the night before, desperately seeking shelter but he expected to be turned away by them. Now Charlotte and Dolores were naturally startled by him at first glance but then they didn't hesitate at all to show him kindness. It surprised him very much.

But it was a pleasant surprise. He was so glad to have finally met someone other than the alps who treated him respectfully. He really hoped that he would be able to visit them sometime. They really were excellent company. Well that girl in the red hood wasn't all too friendly but she was the only one who was hostile toward him and he didn't mind that. Not as long as he would be able to see Charlotte again. Dear Charlotte, the most beautiful girl in all the world.