guardian of Darkhaven. It was a
small kingdom, so he quickly narrowed down the Boggart demons to
two. The first one, Bjorg was a harmless house pest, who got his
kicks by moving furnishings, making hideous growling and grunting
noises to scare the human hosts that have the misfortune of inviting
him in. Now the other one was a different story.
* * * *
Elise waited patiently. She stood to the side of the door with
wooden tray firmly gripped in her shaking hands. Taking a deep
breath, she held it as the door creaked open. The minute the door
closed, Elise struck.
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Using all her strength, she swung the tray at the back of the young
maid's head. It collided with the woman's skull with a sickening
crunch. She fell to the floor instantly. Elise dropped the tray and
stared down at the woman she felled with a mixture of horror, relief
and pity. She could barely catch her breath. Her heart pounded
heavily in her chest and she had to clench her fists to steady her
shaking limbs.
Tensing her muscles, Elise wasted no time in recovering from the
initial shock of thrashing another human being. She dragged the
unconscious woman to the small bed. After hauling her up on the
bed, she removed her tattered dress and stripped the clothing from the
maid's body.
Once she had dressed in the maid's dowdy brown dress, apron and
servant's bonnet, she pulled the cover over the naked woman's body,
grabbed the tray with the empty plates and walked out of the room.
"Hey you, lass! Hold on a minute!"
Elise froze. Behind her, a burly guard towered over her. She
turned her face slightly giving him a semi profile.
"I am to return the gully. My chores are waiting. Is there
something you need sir?"
It seemed like everything had slowed to a snail's pace. Elise waited
for the guard to recognize her and throw her back in the room. Or,
worse, get DeMumart, who would no doubt punish her severely for
trying to escape. The guard reached around with something in his
hand. Elise braced herself for his beefy hands to seize her.
Instead, he placed a cloth napkin on the tray, "You dropped this..."
Relief flooded Elise. "Thank you, sir."
She gave a quick curtsey and hurried down the hall. Placing the
tray down, she practically flew down the spiraling staircase. Her
breast heaved up and down with her anxious breath. Her heart
hammered beneath her ribcage, but she didn't stop.
She had to find the pendant had to get to Damien and warn him.
The problem was she had absolutely no clue where she needed to
search. If only she could somehow call on Damien to help her.
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However, the Curse of Darkhaven blocked any subliminal
communication. She needed the stone!
She focused on finding the necklace, willing herself to somehow
connect with the magic inside the pendant, in the hopes it would lead
her to the location. Hours seemed to have past as she walked around
the dark corridors that twisted and turned in an endless maze. How
could anyone find their way around this castle?
Her head pounded from all the forced concentration. What did she
expect? She only wasted time. Elise rubbed her temples, trying to
easy the dull ache throbbing behind her eyes.
The minute tension released from her muscles, an invisible force
tugged at her chest. It seemed to be prompting her to turn left. She
did. The pull became stronger. Elise barely had time to register what
was going on as her feet led her down a hall she hadn't noticed before.
Her legs moved as though someone or something else possessed
them. The sensation in her chest grew stronger.
It was leading her to the pendant! It must be! She allowed herself to
relax further. No longer walking, she ran down a staircase, turned
right into a narrow corridor and stopped at a door.
Her body tingled. Whatever had brought here, left the moment she
grabbed the door handle.. Elise took a deep breath, then turned the
handle slowly and opened the door a sliver, just enough that she