The Lost Princess

A Crimson Dance

"I don't know about this Jonas," Eloise gripped my hand so tightly I was sure her fingers would leave bruises. For someone so small she sure had a grip.

    "Trust us, madam," Lucy stood on the other side of her. "It'll only be for a bit."

    Eloise bit her lip closing her eyes tightly she nodded. With small dragging steps Lucy helped me walk Eloise to the wooden wheelchair I had picked up the day prior when I went out to town. Eloise sits atop the pillows I placed there and I work on getting her comfortable with enough blankets to keep her warm.

    "I think that's more than enough," she giggles as I fuss about the side of her chair making sure she has enough padding. Her eyes seemed to glow in the lamplight, she was visibly excited fiddling with her fingers.

    Cu--. No.

    Clearing my throat I nodded to Lucy who nodded back. Mrs. Stevens was gone for the day resting back in her home somewhere on the property--a building I hadn't known was there. Apparently, she never went back except for the odd occasion, it had taken a mighty amount of convincing but with a lengthy detailed discussion about what to do and what not to do--as well as a pot of soup left simmering on the stove--she had gone home.

    "Outside," Eloise whispered below her breath. "Is it much different?"

    "Crestview is just as gray as when you first saw it. Maybe even grayer." Lucy grins squatting down beside Eloise. "Now madam unfortunately your eyes aren't accustomed to the light out there yet, it might be too bright--"

    "I want to see it all." Eloise's expression turns serious.

    Lucy glances at me as if asking 'what do I do now?' I give her a shake of my head. We had gotten a dark pair of sunglasses but if she wanted to see the light of day then by god I would let her.

    "Lets go." I say.

#

The walls seem to hiss as we walk through the hallway me pushing Eloise's wheelchair. Lucy holds a spiked bat walking warily beside us.

    "What are you planning to do with that?" Eloise asks curiously.

    "Protect you of course." She narrows her eyes at the wall which seems to bulge at us. "Hagwills always do."

    We rounded the dark hallway and light began to flow through--albeit it was dim but it was enough for Eloise to shudder. "This is it." 

    Carefully we made our way down the stairs, Lucy holding one end of the wheelchair and I the other. Strong as an ox, Lucy had said of herself whenever I mentioned we would need to carry the wheelchair together. I'm glad to see she wasn't lying.

    "I haven't been down here in..." Eloise trails off her eyes excitedly taking in the grand foyer tilting her head back she looks up at the painting of her original ancestors. Catherine Moore's family stares back. 

    "Let's go," I say moving to the door. I tug on the handle only to find it stuck.

    "Quit joking Jonas. Open the door." Lucy glances around the room her gaze catching in the dark corridors. 

    Something clatters in the distance and I push Eloise's wheelchair behind me.

    "Jonas--" she starts to say only to be interrupted when something sharp flys towards us landing in the wooden frame of the door. A scream rings out and I know it's Eloise because Lucy is barreling forward releasing a battle cry as she chargers our assailant.

    I clutch my abdomen feeling oddly nothing as I pull my fingers away coated in red.

    "She mustn't leave the house." A voice murmurs so close I can taste their hot breath. My head whips upwards as I try to find the source. There's another whooshing sound and Eloise screams again her scream turning into a violent sob as I lurch forward from the impact of the blade.

    "Jonas!" Lucy calls frantically but I don't see her. In fact, I only see one thing.

    Red.

#

I felt numb. Whether that be from blood loss or from the shock I wasn't quite sure. I did know that as I stood there the chances of their attackers getting Eloise was rising.

    With a speed, I didn't know I had I grabbed hold of her wheelchair and started to run. Down one of the dark hallways looking for some form of escape.

    Eloise screamed as something whizzed past is slicing into the top of my shoulder. But I paid it no mind. I could still hear Lucy in the distance no doubt putting her bat to good use. Running into one of the rooms I slammed the door shut roughly behind us using my body to keep it that way. We would have maybe a few minutes before they would be here too.

    "Eloise," I murmured pulling her hands away from her tear-stained face she sobbed at me her eyes wide and afraid. "Don't cry," I ordered feeling a bit worse for talking to my master in such a tone but when her body shaking sobs stifled to mere sniffles I felt a bit better.

    "You're hurt." She said flatly her eyes darting to the various strains of blood covering me.  

    I nodded glancing down at myself before looking at her. "I've been hurt worse."

    I hoped my admission would have eased her feelings a bit but more tears fell from her eyes. Usually with Lauren, whenever she cried and I would only feel indifference, it had often made me feel heartless or like a terrible man. Now with this small woman in front of me, I can only feel rage at those that had caused her tears and a desire to actually comfort her.

    Squatting in front of her I wiped away the stray tears. "Don't cry please madam." 

    She shook her head closing her eyes tightly. 

    "Madam pardon my rudeness today," I muttered hating how I had broken all butler decorum by touching her without her permission. Reaching to the back of the waistband of my jeans I pull out the cylindrical object I had kept on me since the night I discovered the blasted rats were real. "Now I must leave you here to deal away with our assailants." Reaching into my front pocket I pulled out my phone, pulled the earphones, and placed them in Eloise's ears. She stared at me wide-eyed as I played a random soundtrack, I was never one to listen to music. "Close your eyes and I shall return in a few moments." 

    She stared at me until I made my way to the door, I made sure to keep the cylindrical object out of her view. Placing my finger in front of my mouth in a shushing gesture she nodded and then fluttered her eyes shut.

    Turning to the still closed door I thought of the reason I had found myself back in Crestview. The way I thought I could leave everything behind if I came back to the small town which had always made me feel insignificant.

     Gritting my teeth I pulled the blades out of my abdomen letting them clatter around my feet as I cracked my neck and straightened my spine. The g*n in my hand felt light and easy as I stepped out into the hallway. 

    I ducked back hearing another blade fly past as it embedded itself to the wall. Another soon follows and I dodge again only this time I have my g*n pointed in the direction it originated from. The blaring bang it releases is only satisfactory when I hear the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. 

    Years of my father's training would not be washed away within such a short span of time. Using the darkness as cover I blend into the house, and I move towards the 'rats' aiming to take a life for each tear Eloise had shed.