Princess, It's Me

The Library

Stephan’s POV

I followed my Dad to the library. It wasn’t too far from Lily. We past the kitchen, went down the hall a little more, and entered the room full of books. We sat across from each other. We stayed quiet for a moment.

“How did she get in?” Asked my father. No anger or disappointment in his voice, just curiosity.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“How did you find her?”

“Basically, I had this feeling someone was there, but I wasn’t sure so I backed off. Couple more times and I still felt like someone was there. So eventually I wanted to confirm and that’s when I found her.”

“Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Beat around the bush. Tell me like it is.”

I knew what he meant. He wanted every detail and I was trying to give him only the basic, need to know information. “She was in one of the cleaning closets. She found a small opening and was able to hide behind all the cleaning supplies.”

He thought for a moment. He brought his hand to his chin and just stood there thinking.

Lily.

“Chill man, Dad’s here.”

Lily.

“She’s with Rai and Dan. She’s safe.”

Something’s wrong.

“What?”

Xavier was freaking out. I could feel him pacing. Rai and his wolf, Dan, could take care of her. He wouldn’t do anything or let anyone harm her.

“Out of all the rooms in the house, why that room?” My Dad asked.

“Umm.. well she said she was just outside in the stables. And that’s pretty close to there.” His question wasn’t really the right one. It was obvious why that room was chosen by her.

“No. Why did you choose that room?”

“Just had a feeling.”

“What feeling?”

“Just a feeling.”

He sighed, “Explain it to me and stop being short.”

“I don’t know, Dad. It was like...” I thought for a moment on what to say. He didn’t believe the whole wolf thing so I sort of stopped trying to talk to him about it and kind of hide it. “Like a pull. Sort of like when you know something is there.” God I wasn’t making any sense and it was harder with Xavier still impatiently pacing.

“You know what happens with trespassers. Why not sneak her out to avoid that consequence.” I felt that threat. Knowing him, it’s a miracle he didn’t send for her to get thrown in jail. If Xavier wasn’t so focused on not being with Lily, then he would have been growling and pushing me to protect her.

“Come on, Dad. Did you see her? She’s homeless. She has nothing. She’s skin and bone. How could I send her back out?”

“So what was you plan?”

“My plan?”

“Yes. If no one, except for you, knew she was here, then how would you have kept her safe and unnoticed?”

“I don’t know. I was keeping her with me.”

“Why not leave her in your room?”

“Because it’s not safe.”

“Not safe?”

“No, Dad. Guards go in and out of my room all the time. If they had seen her then I wouldn’t have been able to protect her.”

“When was the last time a guard went into your room?”

“Last night. I was getting ready to sleep when I heard the guard running towards the room. I grabbed Lily, laid down, covered her and myself, and pretended to be sleeping. I’m lucky that guard didn’t walk the room or go to the other side of the bed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me.”

“I do Dad. I tell you a lot of things but you don’t believe me.” And it’s true. I told him about the guards, but I guess he asked them and they said no. Then they started coming in with excuses. Like, “oh I heard something” or “I’m doing an inspection.” Load of crap. I told him about the wolf when I turned 16 and Xavier and I first connected. He thought I had read some book and my imagination was running wild. Truth be told, I did read a book, and it wasn’t based on imagination.

My father opened his mouth to say something when my head started to hurt. It was an experience I hadn’t felt before. I held my head as I crouched down. I was laying down when I felt my father’s hands shaking me. I hear muffling. I think he was asking me if I was ok and what was wrong, but I couldn’t make out his words. The pain was overwhelming. I wanted it to stop.

Xavier was feeling the same thing. His mind was on Lily. I focused on her. Xavier had mentioned something was wrong with her. I used all the force I had within me and said, “Help Lily.”

All went black.

I didn’t feel the pain anymore.

I didn’t feel Xavier.

“Xavier? Where are you?” I couldn’t feel him.

A sudden burst of light made me squint my eyes. When I regained focus I saw the most beautiful creature. A wolf. Standing there looking at me. She was pure white with a black nose. Eyes were shimmering gold.

Breathtaking.

“Who are you?” I asked. She didn’t say anything. She just turned around and ran towards the light. “Wait come back.”

I ran after her. I wasn’t running as fast as I should be. My legs felt heavy. I didn’t dare to look down in case I’d lose sight of her.

It was as if she jumped into the light and once again: darkness.

I sat there, unable to see or hear anything. I hear something above me.

Movement.

Another blinding light.

Above me a child is brought down.

The light goes away, but I can hear the child’s silent sobs.

“Hey.” I call out.

Startled I hear the child gasp.

“Hey it’s ok. Are you alright?”

Little sniffles before I hear her, “Yeah. There are bad men in my house again. Mommy told me to hide.”

“What kind of bad men?”

“They-“ the light appears again and the child vanishes like the wolf.

I continue to hear movement from above me. I follow it until another light appears. I move as fast as I can and jump into the light.

When my eyes adjust I’m in a small room. A storage room by the looks of it. Couple of boxes here and there. Light coming from the spaces between the floor boards above.

I hear sniffling in the back, behind some boxes. I slowly approach when screaming is heard above. Footsteps are heard going in the direction of the scream, then nothing.

Silence.

A window is broken, then everything is bright and hot. The sniffling turns to coughing. I see a young girl come out of hiding and go to the door. She stops before touching the handle. She sits on the floor and cradles herself.

My voice doesn’t work. I try to talk to her, but I can’t. I try to go to her, but I can’t. I’m stuck and mute.

I see the girl turn on her side and transform into the white wolf from before. This time it is just a pup. The pup runs around sniffing the ground. There is a small window on the opposite side of her hiding spot. She begins to dig with all her little might until she has made a hole big enough for her to crawl under and escape. She grabs a small bag before dragging it out and leaving.

I feel relief for the pup, but it is instantly replaced with fear as the ceiling begins to colapse and the fire spread faster and faster. I am stuck and nothing can save me. I close my eyes and hope for the best.