𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓾𝓼𝓽 💫 || Trevor Belmont ||

|•| The Beginning |•|

Cold, everything was just so cold. Stela so badly wanted to slip back inside the church, maybe rekindle some of the candles to warm her up a bit, but what if mama came back when she was inside? She made a promise, one that she swore to keep to her mama before she pushed her inside the abandoned church and rushed away towards the mountains.

"I could bring a candle outside with me...maybe then mama could see the light when she comes." She murmured as she stood up from the steps to stretch her aching legs and shook them a bit to get some feeling back into them before turning to enter the old church.

Inside was cold and drafty, but not as cold as it was outside. Stela moved quickly to the front of the church where she slept, hoping that she had at least one of the more bigger candles she sometimes used to keep warm and keep the darkness away. She always hated sitting in the dark, it always left like some sort of demon was going to come out of the shadows and kill her before she even knew what was happening.

She managed to find the small knife her mother gave her and used it to defend herself, but there was a bit of a problem when the knife didn't make sparks like it normally did. Seeing that the blade had become dull, she proceeded to walk out of the church to find a rock to sharpen it like her mother showed her.

"Oh!" Stela stopped in her tracks, already halfways out the door when she saw a strange woman outside the steps of the church.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone to come out of that old church." The woman apologized quickly as Stela shifted back a bit in fear. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Here, are you hungry?" The woman pulled a half a loaf of bread from the satchel she carried and held it out to her. "I have more if you still feel hungry, and some jerky strips if you want something to add for flavor."

"I...mama says I'm not supposed to accept things from strangers." Stela said softly, even though she could feel her stomach growl in protest.

"Where's your mother?" The woman asked. "I have some more food if the two of you need some to eat."

"Mama said she'd be back, she told me to stay right here." Stela replied quietly as she gripped the candle tightly in her little hand. "I promised I wouldn't leave this place until she came back to get me. Some mean people were chasing us, screaming and yelling mean things at my mama."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise and quickly moved up the stairs to where the child was standing. "You mean you've been here all on your own? Where's your father?"

"Gone. I don't know where my aunties are at either, we got separated from them when we were running away."

"Oh you poor thing..." the woman knelt down to the girl's level and held the bread out to her. "Here, you must be very hungry, and I'm sure your mother would not mind if you had something to eat while she's gone. Would you like me to stay here with you until she comes back?"

"Can you?" Stela asked, her little face lighting up.

The older woman smiled. "Of course. I'm Lisa Tepes, and you are?"

"I'm Stela!"

💫💫🌟💫💫

"Wow! That's a big house!"

Lisa chuckled to herself as she watched Stela gawk at the sight of the castle. "That's actually a castle, it's a very big and fancy house. Much nicer than a church too."

"Do you live here?" Stela asked as Lisa led her up the stairs of the castle. "Do all castles look like this?"

"I do live here, with my husband and our son, I'm sure they'd love to meet you. And no, not all castles look like this."