A headless game

Prolouge

He felt his heart twist at that, but he could do nothing. He could only shifted his weight from leg to leg and fidgeted with his sleeve as he was scolded. Oh, how he dreaded this man, not a kind word to say to anyone.
"Next thing I know, you'll be spewing that garbage about see ghosts again like you did when you were a child, with those ungodly eyes of yours"

"I understand sir, it won't happen again" he mumbled through gritted teeth. With a pat on the shoulder that required more effort from the man then it should have, due to Alec's height, the man stared into his eyes— or at least where he assumed his eyes would have been, Alec knew it was hard to tell with his tinted glasses— harshly and frowned.

"Don't let it happen again."

He shivered as he remembered the days he had disobeyed this man before. Memories he would much rather forget. "Those children shouldn't even be in here, they might damage one of those useless relics laying around here, you and I both know none of their ninny parents couldn't afford to even glance in here,"

"Well that's not...entirely true, the artifacts are—"he froze mid-sentence at the piercing look that fell upon him again. The man's gaze was like ice and the constant presence of a frown and his drawn in brows already made it hard to tell when he was truly angry. Alec had concluded that he always was.

"I'll be leaving for a few days, tomorrow" he said abruptly "I'll be leaving you to care for the shop in my absence. I want you to finish filing those papers tonight and leave them for me in the morning. You are not to leave until its finished," Alec paled at the thought, he would have to stay well past sun down and most likely work until midnight to finish the job.

He knew if he failed, his job would be thrown on a hook and he would lose the only person willing to employ him in the whole town. Sucking up what little pride and self esteem he had he gave a fake grin of confidence and a timid nod. With a judging glance the man pushed out the door and Alec sighed as he turned to walk back to his overcrowded desk.

When he sat, the old bench creaked and he winced at the sound. If it were up to him, he would get a sturdier chair and a desk that was bigger than just an old school desk, or at least a bit more accommodating than the one he currently used. He was honestly surprised that neither had given out on him yet, but he had no time to mope about his cheapskate of an employer and soon got to work.

Suddenly he heard a creak from the front door and watched as one of the school children slipped in. He recognized her as marry, one if the brightest children that visited him on a regular basis. She glanced around cautiously before walking over to his desk and looking up at him as she brushed a few dark strands that curled in form her olive colored face.

"What wrong Mary?" He asked and she lifted her tiny hands and pointed to the spot they had been seated at, then taped together her index and middle fingers on both hands to make an x.

"Name?" He asked and she nodded

"Oh, you want to know the name of the prince from the story," another nod "well, let's see..." he though back to his inspiration for the story. A dream he had had since he was a young boy. The prince from the story seemed to always be in his dreams and he knew he had a name. He could swear he had dreamt it before, but what was it?

"Arawn." As soon as the name left his mouth a chill washed over the room. That was the name always said in his dreams, but he had never actually spoken it aloud before. Despite the chill, Mary smiled up at him and he felt warm again. "Maybe you should head home, it's starting to get cold. Wouldn't want you to get sick, now would we?"

With a resined huff, she nodded her head full of curls and skipped towards the door, offering a small wave as she departed. He watched through the window until he could no longer see her and settled back down into his desk. Something felt off, but he didn't know what.