Chapter 3
998 Words
I raised my head up to face the King.
"Yes, Your majesty..." I forced those bitter words out of my dry mouth.
"Oh dear, Poor child. Did they not feed you?"
I turned my head slightly to see the Queen with a concerned look on her face but I didn't reply, I couldn't.
I can't let history repeat itself.
The late second wife of King Aldric Valemont, Zareth Nocturne.
Also one of the people who died because of me.
___________________________
My nanny was a cheerful women who loved children, she treated me like her own. Also because she wasn't capable of bearing children.
She raised me for many years at her small house near the palace.
Her pay wasn't enough to make end's meet for the both of us but she still took care of me.
For my 4th birthday, she decided to take me to the palace to show me around as per my request.
I was so excited to be there, I remember how I ran around the palace for hours as she worked her chores.
But then I committed a grave mistake that cost the life of my dearest.
I stumbled across a dark room with no lights, the only source of brightness was the beaming light coming through the big window in that room which was also covered with curtains.
It seemed like the room was right in front of the woods.
Out of curiousity, I opened the curtains but then the brightness was soon covered with a huge shadow.
A hideous creature with big sharp fangs.
I froze.
My tiny legs couldn't move.
Tears rolled down my face as I choked.
It didn't seem to have vision.
Then there I made a big mistake.
I screamed on top of my lungs for help.
If only I had kept quite until it left.
The monster got alerted and broke the window's glass
The deafening crash of shattering glass sent my heart into a frenzy. Shards flew across the room, glinting under the morning light as the creature forced its way inside. Its massive frame barely fit through the window, its jagged claws scraping against the wooden floor.
The air turned heavy—thick with the scent of damp earth and something rotten.
I took a shaky step back, my breath coming in quick, panicked gasps. The creature’s head twitched at the sound. It couldn’t see me, but it could hear me.
Slowly, I pressed a hand over my mouth, trying to steady my breathing.
But then—
Crunch.
My bare foot stepped on a shard of glass.
A sharp sting shot through me, but the pain didn’t matter. What mattered was the inhuman snarl that followed.
The creature lunged.
I barely dodged as one of its long, twisted claws slashed through the air, slicing the edge of my sleeve. My tiny legs finally moved. I ran.
Or should I say- I tried to run.
Right as the monster was about to sink its claws into me, a tiny spoon flew from across the room and hit the creature. Barely making a scratch but distracting the monster for a while.
At the room's door was my nanny, her body trembling but her eyes determined to save me.
She ran towards me and stood infront of me, facing the monster.
The creature snarled, its hollow sockets locking onto my nanny as if it could sense her resolve.
She stood firm, her frail frame barely a fraction of the monster’s size, but in that moment, she felt larger than life. She raised her trembling hands, as if shielding me with her very presence.
“Stay behind me,” she whispered.
I wanted to scream, to beg her to run. But she wouldn’t.
The monster lunged.
She pushed me aside just as its claws tore through the air—and straight into her.
A strangled gasp left her lips as she staggered back, a deep wound blossoming across her chest.
“Nanny!” I cried, my voice cracking with fear.
She coughed, but even as blood stained her clothes, she didn’t collapse. Instead, she lifted a trembling arm, grabbing a shard of glass from the broken window.
With every ounce of strength she had left, she thrust it forward—
She drove the glass into the creature’s shoulder.
But it wasn’t enough.
The monster barely flinched, only letting out a low, guttural growl—more annoyed than wounded.
Her strength was failing. The shard slipped from her grasp, falling uselessly to the blood-stained floor.
She staggered, her knees buckling.
And then—she collapsed into my arms.
“Nanny?” My voice trembled as I held her. “Nanny, please—”
Her body was cold. Too cold.
I shook her gently, my tiny hands clutching at her limp form, willing her to open her eyes. To move. To say something. Anything.
But she was gone.
The weight of it crushed me. An unbearable silence. A void swallowing me whole.
A shadow loomed over us.
The monster’s hollow sockets locked onto me—blind, yet still aware.
It smelled me. Felt my presence. It knew I was there.
And this time, there was no one left to distract it.
I looked down at my nanny’s lifeless body. The warmth was already fading from her skin.
Her body was soon cold. Too cold.
Useless.
I exhaled softly. “I’m sorry.” The words left my lips, empty and weightless.
Then, without hesitation, I shoved her corpse forward.
The monster stilled. It sniffed, drawn to the fresh scent of blood, and within seconds, it lunged.
A sickening crunch followed. Flesh torn. Bones snapped.
With a guttural snarl, it tore into her, ripping flesh from bone without a second thought.
I didn’t wait, I couldn't afford to waste my chance to escape.
The moment its attention shifted, I turned and ran, slipping through the door before it could realize its mistake.
I ran away before it finished feasting upon my nanny.
- Writer
